Dear Rav Kornfeld,
Is it within the scope of the kollel to help me with this question?
My son is learning to learn gemara and started at Berachos 5th perek. On 31a the gemara explains that a dayan should not daven right after having judged a case. Apparently his mind might be too preoccupied with the halachic case to concentrate properly on his davening?
In Parshas Vayigash we have Rashi explaining Yoseif's advice to his brothers that on the way back to their father they should not get into a halachic dispute - that the trip should not be a source of agitation to them.
There is an obvious difference in that in the Gemara's case its a single person, and in the case in the Chumash its multiple brothers who might be involved with chavrusa learning.
If the similarity makes this worthy of comparing please help me to find and learn from any sources that may address the comparison.
As I have thought about it more, perhaps its an insight into how a Dayan thinks?
Could this indicate that an individual normally would only get into a heated argument when discussing the matter with his chavrusa, but a dayan, who is prohibited from ever hearing one side of a case alone, also only thinks about both sides of the case simultaneously? And thus he is in fact arguing with himself while thinking about the case?
Thank you for any thoughts and guidance.
--Chaim Chesler
This is a very interesting and thoughtful question.
(1) The comparison between the Dayan and between the brothers of Yosef is certainly a good one but I would suggest that the level of concentration expected from a Dayan is actually greater than that of the brothers on the journey. One can observe this from another difference between the two cases, additional to the ones you made. We notice that we are concerned that the Dayan will continuing thinking about the Din Torah even after he has finished issuing his ruling, whilst Yosef did not advise his brothers not to learn together even before they set off on their journey.
(2) This is because there are several stages involved in a judge dealing with a case that comes before him. Firstly, after hearing the dispute presented to him, he has to think what proofs for and against can be adduced from the Gemara. To be able to do this he has to be very expert in the Gemara and has to be able to scan the entire Gemara and Poskim for sources. It is said about the famous Shaagas Aryeh, who lived at the same time as the Vilna Gaon, that he was capable of going through the whole Gemara within 3 hours and could cite proofs to solve any question that he was asked.
(3) See Gemara Sanhedrin 30a that after the contestants have been admitted to the court and their arguments have been heard, the witnesses enter. Afterwards everyone is excluded from the room, and the judges discuss the case. If the Dayanim cannot agree on the ruling, they have to take a vote.
(4) Given that the arguments in a case in Beis Din are often very sharp, it is possible to understand why the Gemara believes that it is difficult for a Dayan to concentrate on davening immediately after judging a case.
Shavua Tov
Dovid Bloom