Q&A: The Authority of the Sages and the Limits of Interpreting Verses
The Authority of the Sages and the Limits of Interpreting Verses
Question
Hello Rabbi Michael,
I’m reading your book No Person Rules the Spirit. I’ve only just finished the first quarter of the work, but I can’t hold myself back from asking my questions. Maybe I really should wait until I finish it, and perhaps even read the whole trilogy, but my curiosity is stronger than I am.
My question is this:
From your words, you emphasize something that to a simple believer and seeker like me always sounds extreme — that the Sages were ordinary human beings, wise ones, but susceptible to every possible mistake, and not, as the masses are taught, superhuman people. And indeed, I agree; it is proven from their own words, since they themselves admit error. But is it only in matters of science that they could have erred, or also in words of Torah? In their interpretation of verses? In the Jewish laws that we read in the Mishnah?
From what I understood — and forgive me if I’m mistaken — you say there that if something specific does not fit with the laws of logic, then even if it is the Sages’ interpretation of the Torah (and perhaps even something explicit in Scripture), a person may interpret it however he wishes? You brought there the example of someone who studies external books, and that Maimonides himself did so even though he ruled otherwise. On the one hand, I understand that perhaps such things depend on the person and the time and place, but where is the boundary? Isn’t there a danger that every person will take too much authority for himself?
Also, weren’t the Sages in the days of the Talmud themselves the ones who closed the door to questioning their words, as in the phrase “revealing meanings in the Torah contrary to Jewish law”?
And maybe this leads to another question — how far does the force of the Sages’ authority reach? For example, Maimonides himself does not rule that one washes hands because of an evil spirit, but only for prayer, whereas the Sages in the Talmud, as I recall, speak about it because of an evil spirit; yet Maimonides did not believe in that and changed it somewhat..
Answer
I am not interested in dangers. I deal with truth. The truth is that if they were mistaken, then they were mistaken. Whether that is dangerous or not — decide for yourself. If something does not accord with the laws of logic, then it is wrong. One need not, and should not, interpret however one likes. Even in the factual realm, no one has authority. You can search the site for discussions about the question of halakhic authority and authority in general.
And even if the Sages instructed me to heed them in factual and logical errors, that itself would be a logical error, and I would not listen to them in that. But I think they did not instruct that either.
The authority of the Sages pertains to Jewish law, and even that only where there is no demonstrable error. This is so even with respect to a demonstrable halakhic error (see the beginning of Horayot, “one who errs regarding the commandment to heed the words of the Sages”), and certainly with respect to a factual error (such as scientific mistakes).
You yourself brought the proof that Maimonides acted this way as well. He also cited in The Guide for the Perplexed the Talmudic passage in Pesachim about the stationary sphere and the constellations revolving, in order to say that there is no authority when it comes to mistakes. According to his view, the Sages themselves instructed us this in that very passage. His son repeated this in the letter printed at the beginning of Ein Yaakov.