On Sunday, May 28, in Passaic, Rabbi Chaim Komendant CPA, celebrated his completion of an in-depth, decades long study of the entire Shulchan Aruch. He has also taken bechinos on the material and received semichas to be both a rav and a dayan.
Chaim Komendant was raised in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn during the 1960s and 70s. His family—traditional Orthodox—sent him to local public schools. Chaim’s Torah knowledge came both from attending his shul’s Hebrew school and Torah study with his friend’s father. Chaim earned a Bachelor of Sciences in Accounting and Management from New York University and a Master of Science in Taxation from Long Island University.
Chaim, a practicing accountant since 1980, received his certification in public accounting in 1988. Chaim married his wife, Molly, and moved to Passaic in 1990. They are the parents of a son and daughter and grandparents of four grandchildren.
In 1992, Chaim and his partner realized they were defrauded upon completing the purchase of a private accounting practice. They took the plaintiff to adjudication in a bais din and the litigation dragged out for three years. The rabbinical judges were honest but had no business experience. They were unaware of the relevant financial regulations and laws. Hence, they had great difficulty resolving the case. Mr Komendant was very disillusioned with the whole bais din process. This was the impetus for Chaim to alter the direction of his life and devote sufficient time to gain an in-depth knowledge of halacha.
Mr Komendant, with the support of his wife, changed his schedule to learn Torah every morning while practicing accounting in the afternoon and evening. Chaim has basically continued this schedule for the past 27 years. He told the Jewish Link, “Hashem has helped me. My accounting practice remained just as successful even though I devoted half a day to learning.” Chaim’s practice is currently located in nearby Clifton, New Jersey.
In August, 1996, Mr Komendant began learning the Yoreh Deah and Orach Chaim sections of Shulachan Aruch at Passaic’s Bais Medrash L’Torah under the aegis of Rabbi Chaim Davis. After five years of learning halacha, Rabbi Komendant received his Yoreh Yoreh semicha (also covering Orach Chaim) from Rabbi Davis. Today, Rabbi Komendant teaches the Yoreh Deah class at Bais Medrash L’Torah. Rabbi Komendant studied the Choshen Mishpat section of Shulchan Aruch at Mesivta Torah Vodaas in Brooklyn for five years and received a Yadin Yadin semicha from Rav Yisroel Belsky. Rav Chaim then spent years studying the Even Haezer section of Shulchan Aruch and received his semicha for Gittin from Rav Zalman Nechamiah Goldberg of Jerusalem.
On Sunday, May 28—at the King of Delancey restaurant on Main Ave in Passaic—Rabbi Chaim Komendant made his siyum on all four sections of Shulchan Aruch, studied with commentaries such as Tur, Beis Yosef, Shach, Taz, Mishna Berurah and Aruch Hashulchan, etc. Among the speakers were Rabbi Aryeh Ralbag (av bais din of the Agudas Harabbonim and Chief Rabbi of Amsterdam), the Honorable Shlomo Mostofsky (New York State Supreme Court Justice), Rabbi Chaim Davis (rosh yeshiva of Bais Medrash L’Torah of Passaic) and Rabbi Schachne Weinberger (mara d’asra of Khal Tiferes Boruch of Passaic).
Having completed his in depth study of Shulachan Aruch, Rabbi Komendant told the Jewish Link, that he is inaugurating the bais din of North Jersey. Rabbi Komendant pointed out how there are tens of thousands of Jews in our area and no bais din to service them. He continued, “It is written in Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 26:1 that a Jew is not allowed to adjudicate in a civil court, rather must use a bais din. This is as important as keeping kosher or Shabbos. Additionally, it is written in Rambam Hilchos Sanhedrin that every Jewish community has a requirement to establish a bais din.”
The bais din of North Jersey resolves disputes involving monetary, corporate, matrimonial and other matters. Its purpose is to respond solely to claims of the involved parties in the context of a din Torah. The bais din will not involve itself with other communal matters.
The bais din of North Jersey’s administrative office is located in Clifton, while the dayanim meet for dinei Torah in two Passaic shuls. It is affiliated with the bais din of the Agudas Harabbonim to ensure that the bais din of North Jersey’s gittin will be accepted by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.
Rabbi Komendant is the menahel of the bais din. Rabbi Aryeh Ralbag is the av bais din who makes the final decision as to which dayanim will serve on each din Torah. There are six other experienced members of the bais din who serve on a rotating basis, two of whom are also halachic mediators.
Rabbi Shlomo Singer—who received Yoreh Yoreh semicha from Rabbi Komendant at Bais Medrash L’Torah—told the Jewish Link, “Rabbi Komendant is a rare person who can have both a tremendous knowledge of halacha and be a practicing professional. This gives him a unique insight into the practical application of Choshen Mishpat and how a bais din should properly function.”
By Shmuel Landesman
