Q&A: Intellectual Esteem
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Intellectual Esteem
Question
I think it would not be an exaggeration to say that much of the trust in Jewish tradition is based on intellectual esteem for its transmitters—the Torah scholars in every generation. What is the intellectual esteem for the Tannaim and Amoraim based on?
Answer
On the tradition. The two are intertwined. One should remember that there is no necessity to think they were extraordinary people (as is commonly assumed). To ground the tradition, it is enough for us that they were upright and that we accepted their authority.
Discussion on Answer
And by the same token, just as the great leaders of the generation today are human beings like you and me who can make mistakes (and also make quite a bit of use of that ability), so too with the Sages of blessed memory.
I hope it’s okay that I’m expressing my personal opinion here even though the Rabbi already answered:
In my view, this also comes as a result of seeing the great Torah scholars living today; there are people who see them and infer from them to the sages of the Mishnah and the Talmud. Just as the “great leaders of the generation” are wise, there is no reason to assume that the Sages of blessed memory were any different from them.