Bais HaVaad on the Parsha, Parshas Shoftim

Double Take

September 5, 2024

Excerpted and adapted from a shiur by Dayan Yosef Greenwald

And you shall not accept a bribe, for the bribe will blind the eyes of the wise and make just words crooked.

Dvarim 16:19

The prohibition of shochad certainly applies if one of the two parties to a din Torah offers a bribe to the dayan. But the Gemara (Ksubos 105a, codified in Shulchan Aruch C.M. 9) say it applies even if the dayan receives bribes from both litigants. Why?

The Drishah (C.M. 9) and the Pnei Yehoshua (Ksubos ibid.) answer that this is a lo plug  (where a rule is applied across the board despite there being a logical distinction among the cases) mide’Oreisa. Given that one party offering a bribe will improperly impact the result, the Torah also forbids receiving a bribe from both sides, even though the result won’t be affected.

The Me’iri and the Hafla’ah answer that there could be ivus hadin (perversion of justice) even with a bilateral bribe: The halacha is that dayanim are to encourage litigants to agree to a psharah (compromise), unless the din clearly favors one side. A dayan who accepts shochad from both sides, and is therefore favorably disposed toward both, may incorrectly encourage a psharah shelo kedin.

We may suggest another answer based on the Maharal. He says that a dayan represents a seichel hanivdal (independent intellect), not under any influence, so he must be free of bias and must maintain a clear and balanced mind. Any bribe—even from both litigants—removes his ability to serve as a guf nivdal (independent party), and he then loses his status as a dayan (see Nesivos Hamishpat C.M. 9).

(Note that the Tosfos Yom Tov (Pilpula Charifta, Sanhedrin perek 2) maintains that the prohibition of shochad applies to anyone serving in a position of communal trust.)