Woops, the court made a mistaken ruling and what do I do now? TB Horayot 2

Today we begin the very last massekhet in Seder Nezikin, Horayot. No matter how educated nor how important the person’s job is, everybody makes mistakes. Owning up to a mistake is not only an individual’s obligation, but also a communal one. Massekhet Horayot discusses what sacrifices people and the court have to bring when the court makes a mistaken ruling. Because this massekhet deals primarily with sacrifices, it could have been placed in Seder Kodashim which is devoted to the sacrificial cult. Since it deals with a court that makes a mistake, it is an extension of massekhet Sanhedrin just like massekhet Makkot. Consequently, massekhet Horayot is placed in Seder Nezikin.

In one version Shmuel holds that the court is liable when it issues a pesak, a ruling. Rav Dimi expands when a court is liable by teaching peak needs to be a halakha lema’aseh. “Shmuel says: The judges of the court are never liable to bring an offering for an erroneous ruling until they say to those seeking a ruling: It is permitted for you. Rav Dimi from Neharde’a says: The judges are not liable unless they say to those seeking a ruling: It is permitted for you to perform this action.” (Sefaria.org translation) The Gemara provides an alternative narration where Shmuel’s and Rav Dimi’s positions are switched. Whichever version is correct, the Gemara holds that the court is not liable until it issues a halakha lema’aseh ruling.

The Gemara explains the reason. “What is the reason that Rav Dimi (or in the alternative version Shmuel-gg) says that there is liability only if the judges say: To perform this action? It is due to the fact that the ruling is not completed if they say only: It is permitted, as perhaps the judges were expressing a theoretical opinion and not issuing a ruling.” (Sefaria.org translation)

If the court issues a halakha lema’aseh ruling and a person follows this ruling, he is exempt from bringing a Khatat (חטאת-sin) sacrifice for he relied upon the court’s ruling. “If a court erroneously issued a ruling permitting the Jewish people to violate one of all the mitzvot that are stated in the Torah, and an individual proceeded and performed that transgression unwittingly on the basis of the court’s ruling, then whether the judges performed the transgression and he performed it with them, or whether the judges performed the transgression and he performed it after them, or whether the judges did not perform the transgression and he performed it alone, in all these cases the individual is exempt from bringing an offering. This is due to the fact that he associated his action with the ruling of the court.” (Sefaria.org translation)

However, if the person knows that the court indeed made a mistake and he still follow the court’s ruling, he has to bring a Khatat sacrifice. “If the court issued a ruling and one of the judges knew that they erred, despite the fact that the majority ruled against his opinion, or if he was a student and he was qualified to issue halakhic rulings, and that judge or student proceeded and performed that transgression on the basis of its ruling, then whether the judges performed the transgression and he performed it with them, or whether the judges performed the transgression and he performed it after them, or whether the judges did not perform the transgression and he performed it alone, in all these cases, the judge or the student is liable to bring an offering. This is due to the fact that he did not associate his action with the ruling of the court.” (Sefaria.org translation) The Gemara gives two examples of scholars who were not ordained and known as rabbis. They are Shimon ben Azzai (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simeon_ben_Azzai) or Shimon ben Zoma (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simeon_ben_Zoma). By the way, these two men entered the mystical orchard with Rabbi Akiva. This did not end well for them because only Rabbi Akiva exited that mystical orchard whole.