Q&A: Uprooting by Passive Non-Action in Responsa: Maimonides and Nachmanides
Uprooting by Passive Non-Action in Responsa: Maimonides and Nachmanides
Question
Hello,
I remember that the Rabbi wrote somewhere about the authority of the Sages to uproot something from the Torah through passive non-action. And there is a dispute between Maimonides and Nachmanides about this (and perhaps it relates to the commandment of “do not deviate”). Could the Rabbi point me to where he wrote about this? And in general, if the Rabbi could summarize the main points for me here, I would be very grateful.
Is this also the case with the decrees regarding the second festival day observed in the Diaspora? Is that an uprooting of something from the Torah (such as tefillin)? Or is it some kind of custom, with a different definition?
Answer
The Talmud in Yevamot states explicitly that they have the authority to uproot through passive non-action. I am not familiar with any dispute about this. There are medieval authorities who wrote that there is also authority to uproot through active commission in special circumstances.
The second festival day is not connected to this, because it is a rabbinic law. Still, since it was established by formal vote, in principle another formal vote is required to permit it. See Maimonides, chapter 2 of the Laws of Rebels.
Discussion on Answer
So then I didn’t understand the question. Obviously that is an uprooting (assuming there is a commandment of tefillin every day. It is not stated explicitly anywhere, and I already commented on this and referred to an article by Rabbi Yaavetz).
He meant that the second festival day overrides the Torah commandment of tefillin.