Q&A: Relying on the Sages and the Authority of Rabbis Today
Relying on the Sages and the Authority of Rabbis Today
Question
Hello, honored Rabbi!
I’ve been wondering: the Torah contains many commandments and divine directives, but I’ve noticed that in practice most of how we conduct ourselves during the day—such as prayers, blessings, and more—doesn’t come directly from the Torah, but from the Sages. Of course these things are binding by rabbinic law, but they are still only rabbinic and not Torah-level obligations. I was thinking about the fact that in our generation there are many people who study Torah day and night, and still their views sometimes feel to me far from Judaism as I understand it. What makes us think that the Sages did not make mistakes in understanding the Torah? Why do we follow the words of the Sages in everything? Why not relate to this the way the Karaites do?
Thank you very much!
Answer
First, almost everything we have comes from the Sages, including Torah-level laws of Jewish law. Aside from laws that the Sadducees also acknowledged (those explicitly written in the Torah).
Second, our commitment to them does not stem from the fact that they are necessarily correct, but from the fact that we have accepted that the Talmud is the binding framework. Commitment even to the Sanhedrin does not stem from the fact that it is necessarily correct, but from the fact that the Torah granted it authority through “do not deviate.”
And finally, the commitment is not to opinions but to halakhic rulings. The opinions of the Sages are not binding.