The authority of the Gemara

שו”ת › Category: faith › The authority of the Gemara

asked 11 months ago

How are you, Rabbi? I’ve been thinking about this recently and haven’t found a satisfactory answer…

Why does the fact that the people of Israel accepted the Gemara as a commentary on the Mishnah (which is the most reliable source for a summary of the Torah that interprets the written Torah) obligate me as an individual who wants to do the truth?
And regarding the fact that the Gemara is the closest interpretation we have to the Mishnah, great, I will use it to understand the Mishnah, but why, if there is an interpretation/reasoning/ruling that is illogical/not suitable for our generation, do I have to accept their authority?

Thank you Rabbi.

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מיכי Staff answered 11 months ago

Why does the status of Mount Sinai bind me? I was not there. Because the people of Israel took it upon themselves. Why does the law bind me if it was enacted a hundred years ago? Because the people took it upon themselves. We have a question as to whether this is indeed the law, since it can be argued that the law is the will of God and not the interpretation of the sages. But His will is that we follow the interpretation of the sages, at least those who are authorized (Sanhedrin or the Gemara). And the Rabbi already wrote in his sermons that the transgression and damage to the soul of disobeying the sages is no less than the damage in the transgression itself.

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יהונתן replied 10 months ago

A. Isn't this drawing a normative conclusion from a factual assumption? Is there another a priori assumption in the background that it is morally wrong to violate what the people have taken upon themselves? And is every obligation based on a moral foundation?
B. Does the Shulchan Aruch obligate me because I am a member of the Eastern Jewish community? Since the Sephardim took it upon themselves?

מיכי Staff replied 10 months ago

A. Indeed. It is not necessarily a moral obligation. You are part of society and therefore its obligations also apply to you.
B. Not necessarily. They have not accepted it for themselves. They disagree with him and deviate from his words from time to time. And certainly when you have a different position, there is no reason to follow his method. Perhaps in the absence of a position.