The Mitzvah To Obey The Wise
‘If Beis Din Issued A Ruling’
(Horayos 2b)
Our sugya explains that if a chacham who is fit to rule on halacha hears of a decision of the Sanhedrin that contradicts Torah, he is not to obey them. For if he would do so, he would err in understanding the Torah’s command to obey the wise as this mitzvah was not given to transgress prohibitions. In contrast with our Gemara, the commentators present the Sifrei’s interpretation of the verse “You shall not swerve from the thing that they tell you, right or left”: “Even if he tells you that right is left or that left is right.” It seems that one must obey the Sanhedrin even if he believes that they have completely erred.
To Obey or Not to Obey
The author of Be’er Sheva (on our sugya) distinguishes between the case considered by our sugya and that addressed by Sifrei. Our sugya regards someone who hears a ruling that clearly contradicts an explicit halacha. The Sifrei refers to a talmid chacham who disagrees with the Sanhedrin because their ruling does not appear to him to be logical, and in that instance, he must obey them.
However, according to the Rishonim, there is no disagreement between our sugya and the Sifrei. The Ramban (Sefer HaMitzvos, shoresh 1) and the Ran (on Sanhedrin 99a) state that our Gemara discusses a chacham who heard a ruling in the name of the Sanhedrin that appears to be in error. He should go to Yerushalayim to present his arguments to them and until he does so, he should be stringent and ignore their ruling, lest they erred.
But if he presents his arguments and proofs and his opinion is not accepted, he must obey the Sanhedrin. This is the instance referred to by Sifrei: “Even if he tells you that right is left or that left is right.”
One May Not Be More Strict Than the Sanhedrin
Some Acharonim suggest that the obligation to obey the Sanhedrin only forbids being more lenient than their ruling, but a person may behave more strictly than their ruling. Therefore, our sugya rules that a chacham who believes that a lenient ruling of the Sanhedrin is incorrect should be strict as regards himself. Sifrei determines that a chacham who believes that a strict ruling of the Sanhedrin is incorrect must nevertheless obey them. Nonetheless, as to strictness, this conjecture appears to be rejected by the Rishonim, who comment that one must not rule more strictly than the Sanhedrin and, as the Rambam states (Hilchos Maachalos Asuros 17:22), someone who forbids the oil of gentiles that Chazal permitted sins “because he disobeys the beis din that allowed it” (see Responsa Yabia Omer 6: Yoreh Deah 7).
