Chaim continued to insist the din be followed with no exceptions
I do my best to avoid mediating financial disputes. They usually end with all sides disgruntled and negative feelings toward me. Yet a rabbinic colleague pleaded with me to act as an outside mediator in this case, and I agreed — though Rosh Hashanah was just days away and I had derashos to write and congregants to meet — but asking that a driver be sent to bring me to the din Torah.
Chaim*, the younger brother, was a successful businessman. His older sister, Chava*, was a struggling single mother. Their elderly father had just passed away.
Chaim, the only son, claimed he was the sole heir to the estate as the din stipulated.
Chava, the undisputed prime caregiver to their father, claimed her father had verbally indicated that his estate be divided equally, although he never took the necessary halachic steps to ensure his wishes were fulfilled.
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