Q&A: Degree of Halakhic Obligation
Degree of Halakhic Obligation
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I read in the last book you published, "Walking Among the Standing," that you distinguished between different levels of obligation in Jewish law: Torah-level commandments, rabbinic enactments, and tradition. You also brought sources for each level of obligation. However, you went on to say that a person can rule for himself from the Talmud, and I didn’t find what level of obligation that would have. That is, when I rule Jewish law for myself from the Talmud, is its level rabbinic, because all Israel accepted the Talmud as the Great Court, or does it have a lower level? I would be happy if you could attach a source.
Have a good day.
Answer
There is no general answer to this. Every ruling you make is an interpretation of some source. If the source is a verse or a law given to Moses at Sinai, then it is a Torah-level law, and if it is an enactment, then it is rabbinic. It has nothing at all to do with the source of the Talmud’s authority.
If you take an example, you’ll see the answer immediately. When you phrase it as a general question, it seems like something that requires discussion, but it really doesn’t.
Discussion on Answer
I don’t understand what seems strange. When the Great Court institutes something (and for this purpose the Talmud is considered like the Great Court), it is binding; and when someone else who has no authority institutes something, it is not binding. That’s all.
That seems strange to me, because if there is no obligation on one’s own authority, then enactments instituted by the Sages would not have been binding on them (because they have no source), but they are binding on us (because of "do not deviate").