A bais din was involved in the breakup of a business between two partners. One of the partners, was stealing from the company. He presented partial documentation of his thefts and said he destroyed the rest, many years worth. In New York this is a serious crime for both the thefts and the destruction of the documents. The Bais Din said there was nothing they could do. What is the harmed partner to do? We are talking about several hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Second related question, after the psak was given by the Bais Din, the Rav in charge of the Bais Din ordered one of the parties to pay penalties to the other party without hearing both sides together. There was no mention of penalties in the original psak. The penalties were never written in a subsequent psak.
Last related question. Once the psak was written, there was no agreement that the Bais Din would retain any jurisdiction, nor was it written as part of the psak. The Rav of the Bais Din in now trying to insinuate himself into some of the continuing issues that should have been dealt with but were not. He has met with both sides but not at the same time. He has even accepted money that was owed to the original company, and that should have been paid to the original company, in an effort to coerce one of the parties to continue to accept his authority. What to do?
Answer:
Without knowing the situation form up close it is hard to issue any ruling, as usually there are many details which may effect the outcome of each specific question. From your words it certainly sounds like the the Bais Din’s behavior raises some concern. If the thief admitted to destroying documents, and thereby admitted to stealing, why is there nothing for the bais din to do? After having issued a psak, any added penalties would have to come with a valid explanation as to why they were originally omitted. It is not clear to me why he was accepting money and how he is coercing with this. In any event if this Bais Din’s behavior seems questionable, you should approach another Dayan you know and trust, and present him with all the details. When faced with the scrutiny of another Rabbinic figure, you should hopefully get clarity and fair treatment.
