Q&A: Commandments Whose Rationale Has Expired
Commandments Whose Rationale Has Expired
Question
Maybe this is too general a question, but I would like to know: when the Sages enacted a prohibition for some reason, and now that reason has disappeared or turned out to be mistaken—does the prohibition lapse? And is there a difference between a case where the reason was mistaken from the outset and a case where the reason is simply no longer applicable now? I would appreciate an answer and sources you’ve written on this, so I can look into it further.
Answer
The accepted halakhic ruling is that even if the reason has lapsed, the enactment does not lapse unless another religious court cancels it. However, Maimonides and the Raavad disagreed about whether that later court must be greater in wisdom and number or not. See Laws of Rebels, chapter 2, halakhah 2, and the commentaries and supercommentaries there.