Q&A: And You Shall Do According to All That They Instruct You
And You Shall Do According to All That They Instruct You
Question
The justification for accepting the interpretation of the Sages of blessed memory (regarding legislation, I understood that this is a dispute between Maimonides and Nachmanides) comes from the verse, “And you shall do according to all that they instruct you.” I have several questions about this: A. Why is every person who is called a tanna or an amora necessarily considered such a genius? What is the difference between us and them? As I understand it, today’s generation is much more rational. And besides, why was the rule limited to the period of the tannaim and amoraim? Why shouldn’t we start interpreting on our own? B. From what I understand, the verse speaks specifically about the Sanhedrin. Is this an extension made by the Sages themselves? And if so, isn’t that begging the question—a interpretation of the verse by whose force the Sages derive authority to interpret the rest of the verses?
Answer
A. First, you’re mixing up genius and rationality. Those are not synonymous. But beyond that, the authority of the Sages does not come from their being wise or rational, but from the fact that we accepted their words upon ourselves as a binding framework. That is the law. This is formal authority, not substantive authority. Search here on the site for those concepts. There is also a great deal of logic in establishing such a framework, and I’ve discussed that in several places as well.
B. The obligation to the Talmud is not based on “do not deviate” or any other verse, but on public acceptance.