What is a dayan? | Imamother

amother

Carnation ↓

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 7:34 pm

I'm Satmar and never heard of appointed dayanim. It's a matter of finding a dayan who's the right fit for you both in hashkafah and personality. He needs to be a person you're comfortable approaching with the most personal questions.

amother

Raspberry ↓

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 7:35 pm

amother Aconite wrote:

Whaat?? Is this true??

My dh's chusson rebbe is also a dayin so in the beginning we asked him our nidda related questions. Later, we switched to a different one.
The point is to find a dayin that you connect to, and ask him all of your questions ( nidda and beyond)

amother

↑ Raspberry

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 7:37 pm

amother Almond wrote:

I always thought that a dayan in the Chassidish world is a posek in the litvish world.

A dayin has smeicha so he can pasken halacha

amother

↑ Carnation ↓

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 7:37 pm

amother Raspberry wrote:

Yes, we did the same.

amother

↑ Jean

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 7:43 pm

amother Aconite wrote:

Whaat?? Is this true??

I was assigned a dayen im satmer chassidish. Eventually my husband switched dayen though cuz more convenient

Molly Weasley

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 7:44 pm

amother Glitter wrote:

You’re talking about ger and it’s not a Dayan it’s a commondat (sp?) I’m not ger so I can’t tell you more about it but it’s definitely not across the board in all chassidusen.

It's prevalent in other groups as well.

In regards to your question, I'll use Belz as an example.

The Belz Rebbe is called "the ruv" to his chassadim. The rank and file speak to their local Shul ruv, known as the Dayen. (bobov has a similar concept)

amother

↑ Carnation

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 7:48 pm

amother Jean wrote:

I was assigned a dayen im satmer chassidish. Eventually my husband switched dayen though cuz more convenient

Really, who did the assigning? Never heard of this. DH started with his chosson rebbe and switched to someone else who was a better fit later on.

amother

↑ Almond

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 7:54 pm

amother Raspberry wrote:

A dayin has smeicha so he can pasken halacha

Right as do most (all?) Poskim. Semicha is not enough of an indicator. My husband has semicha as well but he's not a Posek.

amother

Canary

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 8:12 pm

amother Jean wrote:

I was assigned a dayen im satmer chassidish. Eventually my husband switched dayen though cuz more convenient

Who assigned the dayan to you? I'm Satmar too and never heard of this. We initially used the dayan who dh knew from shul, but we didn't feel he was right for us. We switched to someone whose hashkafa is more similar to ours and it's working out really well.

amother

↑ Tulip ↓

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 8:57 pm

amother Almond wrote:

I always thought that a dayan in the Chassidish world is a posek in the litvish world.

That's correct.

tweety1

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 9:21 pm

amother Ebony wrote:

In the chassidish world each couple is assigned a dayan when they get married and that's who they ask their sheilos to.

What?? Now this is a first Laugh

amother

Natural

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 11:07 pm

amother Aconite wrote:

Whaat?? Is this true??

Nope! If someone is a specific chassidus they might choose to use their chassidus dayan and they might not! For example, we started out asking our chasidus dayan but he was too machmir so we switched to a different chassidus dayan! No issues at all! He is now our dayan/rav.

imaima

Fri, Sep 27 2024, 12:03 am

amother Tulip wrote:

That's correct.

No, or not exactly.
It’s fascinating it’s a frum website and people have a hard time defining what a dayan is.

↑ synthy ↓

Fri, Sep 27 2024, 5:34 am

We were “assigned” a dayen by the kehilla, as were all the couples that got married that month. They do this because in a community with 20 dayanim, it can be very hard for a newlywed chassan to know whom to ask when his wife has the first niddah question right after the wedding. It was made very clear that this is just a recommendation for our comfort, and we can absolutely use any dayen we’re comfortable with.

↑ synthy

Fri, Sep 27 2024, 5:43 am

amother Midnight wrote:

But also, this isn't really how dayanus works. All rabbanim presumably have Yoreh Yoreh semicha, for which they have hopefully passed exams in various areas of Yoreh Deah (basar b'chalav, taaruvos, niddah, etc.). Dayanim, in the Litvish world, are rabbanim who also (though theoretically, could also be "instead") have Yadin Yadin semicha and have passed exams specifically in the areas of Choshen Mishpat and are therefore qualified to sit on a Bais Din.

So by us, any dayen has semicha in yoreh dayeh, and then they also get appointed by the kehilla. I’m not sure if there are people who receive semicha but aren’t appointed as a dayen, I’ll have to ask my husband.

There are also dayanim who know choshen pishpat, we just call these a choshen pishpat dayen 🙂.

Also, these conversations are always so fun!

amother

Pearl ↓

Fri, Sep 27 2024, 6:13 am

amother Tulip wrote:

It's the chassidish version of a Rav. Same thing- someone who paskens halacha.

This is so not true.
A dayan is one that has Semicha & can pasken halacha. Not every dayan is a Rav and not every Rav or Rabbi is a dayan. Not every Rav can pasken halacha. Many chasidish rabbanim don't pasken halacha as they're not a dayan.

amother

Hunter

Fri, Sep 27 2024, 6:16 am

amother Ebony wrote:

In the litvish/ yeshivish world a dayan works in beis din. The person you ask your sheilos to is a rav even if he doesn't have a shul. And when you go to beis din you go to a dayan, but you don't go to one unless you have a case in beis din. In the chassidish world each couple is assigned a dayan when they get married and that's who they ask their sheilos to.

Which chassidus? Belz?ger?

amother

↑ Tulip ↓

Fri, Sep 27 2024, 6:33 am

amother Pearl wrote:

Right that's sort of what I meant. When I say "Rav" I meant a Posek.
Yes technically a Rav is the leader of a congregation but this is just how many people speak colloquially: "Uh oh I used a a fleishig spoon for milk, I'll call my Rav now". or "I asked a Rav for BC heter/nidda shailos/etc.." Someone who paskens. When I say I ask a Rav something its' not from my shul (my shul doesn't have a Rav even) but it's a someone who paskens.
In other words: I, and many others, use the term Rav the same way Chassidim use the term Dayan.

nursemom1

Fri, Sep 27 2024, 6:36 am

In the non chassidish world, couples ask nidda shailos to either their shul/neighborhood rav, who would need smicha to be appointed to that position in the first place, the husbands chosson rebbi, or any rav in the community that answers such shailos. We use the term Dayan for someone who sits on a bais din and is used for gittin, financial disputes, etc.