Q&A: Authority and Change in Jewish Law
Authority and Change in Jewish Law
Question
Hello,
I’m at the beginning of the fourth lecture, and I wanted to ask a question; I hope it’s relevant.
On what basis is it determined what the point is at which formal authority begins?
After all, even in the Talmud there are "errors," both at the factual level and at the normative level derived from mistaken facts.
Why, nevertheless, is it correct to obey and accept the Talmud / Talmudic text as the formal authority?
Answer
I didn’t understand the question. When it comes to a factual error, there is no authority at all regarding it. What does that have to do with the question of formal authority?
Discussion on Answer
I explain that there, don’t I? The Talmud was accepted by the public, and that is where its authority comes from. There are no earlier writings. The later writings did not receive that kind of authority. That is the fact.
I’m not asking about the facts, but more generally: on what basis was authority given to the authors of the Talmud? Why didn’t it stop with earlier writings, or continue with later ones?
In other words: there are errors / problems in the Talmud, so why do we nevertheless accept it as the formal authority? And who determines that this is the formal authority?