From the Dayan's Desk
Rabbi Yona Reiss is a dayan — a rabbinical judge — and his "From the Dayan's Desk" shiurim grow directly out of that work. Rather than abstract theory, he takes the monetary questions that reach a beis din and explains how Choshen Mishpat resolves them, including conflicts of interest, unfair business competition, and the termination of an employee without cause. The result is Torah law you can picture happening in a real office or store.
He has served as Av Beis Din of the Chicago Rabbinical Council and earlier directed the Beth Din of America, giving him a rare, front-row view of how halacha meets contracts, partnerships, and disputes. He is also a Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University's rabbinical school. That combination lets him teach dinei mamonos with both textual depth and courtroom-tested judgment.
Where Torah meets the professional world
Reiss studied secular law as well as Torah, and he addresses questions the working world actually asks — such as his H3 Business Summit talk on whether it is permissible to be a lawyer. He does not shy away from the tension between ambition and honesty; instead he shows how halacha sets clear boundaries around competition, pricing, and fair dealing.
For anyone in business, this is unusually practical Torah. He treats a workplace dispute, or a competitor undercutting your prices, as a genuine halachic sha'aleh, walking through the sources and landing on guidance a person can use. It reframes everyday parnasa decisions as a place where mitzvos are kept or missed.
Beyond monetary law: teshuva, holidays, and thought
Reiss's recorded classes also move beyond dinei mamonos into teshuva, the Yamim Tovim, and questions of Jewish philosophy. Here the same qualities carry over: careful sourcing, orderly reasoning, and a refusal to leave a hard idea half-explained. His Elul and holiday shiurim connect the calendar to concrete avodah rather than general inspiration.
Across all of these subjects he speaks as a talmid of the yeshiva world who is comfortable with rigor. Listeners looking for clarity — the sense that a topic has been thought through to its conclusion — tend to return to his shiurim, whether the subject is a sugya in monetary law or the meaning of return during the Ten Days of Repentance.
Finding kosher Torah video for your family
FilteredTube is a kosher video service built for Jewish families — every single video is approved against one written standard before it can appear, with no open feed, no comments, and no surprises. It is a calm, safe place to look for the Torah and Jewish music you love.
If your family enjoys teachers like Rabbi Yona Reiss, search FilteredTube for the speakers and topics that matter most to you. With a daf yomi shelf, a weekly parsha shelf, topic shelves, audio-only listening for the car, and a kids mode with a PIN, kosher Jewish video is easy to reach — and the approved catalog keeps growing every day.
At a glance
Key takeaways
- Rabbi Yona Reiss is a dayan (rabbinical judge), and his "From the Dayan's Desk" series turns real beis din cases into accessible Choshen Mishpat lessons.
- He has served as Av Beis Din of the Chicago Rabbinical Council and earlier led the Beth Din of America, and teaches at Yeshiva University's rabbinical school.
- His shiurim tackle concrete workplace and business questions — conflicts of interest, unfair competition, and firing an employee without cause.
- Beyond monetary law, he teaches teshuva, the holidays, and Jewish philosophy with the same careful, well-sourced reasoning.
- Search FilteredTube for kosher, approved Torah video — the catalog grows every day.