Sanhedrin 11:2-3

Sanhedrin 11:2

An elder who rebels against the court’s ruling is as per Deuteronomy 17:8, “If there should arise in judgment a matter that is too hard for you....” There were three courts: one sat at the entrance to the Temple mount, one sat at the entrance to the Temple courtyard, and one sat in the “Chamber of Hewn Stone.” They would go to the court at the entrance to the Temple mount, and the elder in question would say, “I interpreted A and my colleagues interpreted B, I taught X and my colleagues taught Y.” If this court had heard the ruling on this matter, they would tell it; if not, they would all proceed to the court at the entrance to the Temple courtyard. Again, the elder would say, “I interpreted A and my colleagues interpreted B, I taught X and my colleagues taught Y.” If this court had heard the ruling, they would tell it; if not, they would all go to the Great Sanhedrin in the Chamber of Hewn Stone, from which Torah goes out to all of Israel, as per Deuteronomy 17:10, “from the place that God will choose.” If the elder returned to his city and continued teaching in a contrary manner, he is exempt from punishment but if he issued a contrary ruling, then he is liable, as per Deuteronomy 17:12, “the man who acts presumptuously,” from which we derive that he is not liable until he actually issues a ruling based on his contrary teaching. If a student issued such a ruling, he is exempt. We see from this that his stringency (in that he violated a prohibition against issuing an unauthorized ruling) is also his leniency (in that this lack of authorization exempts him from the death penalty).

Sanhedrin 11:3

In some ways, the words of the Scribes are more stringent than words of the Torah. For example, if a rebellious elder says “There is no mitzvah of tefillin,” contradicting the words of the Torah, he is exempt, but if he says that tefillin rightly have five compartments, adding to the words of the Scribes, then he is liable. (The former statement does not constitute a valid ruling; the latter is a valid, if erroneous, ruling.)