Rabbinic authority
[6] Aside from the injunction of lo tasur there is a separate Biblical commandment to respect and honor Torah scholars, even if one disagrees with their views.
Maximalists view rabbinic authority as extending over Jewish religious and civic life as it existed under Roman rule.
Additionally, some scholars suggest that Talmudic rabbis produced many texts concerning the destroyed Jewish Temple which in turn bolstered rabbinic authority in the post-Temple period.
This conflict appears in a well-known text in the Babylonian Talmud (Baba Metzia 59b) regarding the sage Eliezer ben Hurcanus who declared Oven of Akhnai to be ritually pure against the majority view.
The second major challenge involved the aftermath of the Spanish expulsion and the forced conversions from that period that occurred to conversos and their descendants in Europe and the New World.
The linkage of the Orthodox notion of rabbinic authority is known as da'as Torah and is a contested matter and the views are partly split along communal lines within Orthodoxy.
Rabbinic leaders from Haredi and Hasidic communities view the concept as inextricably linked to the centuries of Jewish tradition.
[17] The espoused belief in the Haredi branch of Orthodox Judaism is that Jews, both individually and collectively, should seek out the views of the prominent religious scholars.
According to modern Orthodox scholars, although the term "da'as Torah" has been used in the past, the connotations of absolute rabbinic authority under this banner occurs only in the decades that follow the establishment of the Agudas Yisrael party in Eastern Europe.
[19] Additionally, Orthodox scholars who elaborate the Haredi position are careful to distinguish between rabbinic authority in legal versus extralegal matters.
[20]: ix–xxviii Some scholars argue that with the rise of modernity, the wider availability of secular knowledge, and a reduction of commitment to religion, members of traditional Jewish communities raised challenges to the leadership role of the rabbis.
[21] According to other scholars, the notion of da'as Torah is specifically linked to the rise of the Agudat Yisrael political party during the interwar period in Poland.
[26] However, Conservative rabbis also understand that the injunction of lo tasur may follow two alternative applications in relation to the question of majority opinions in Jewish law.
The first stance rests on the metaphysical belief that there is divinely bestowed authority on the majority decisions produced by the rabbinical court.
An initial presumption among members of the movement's theological institution was that gender inequality within the rabbinate would cease to be a major issue once greater numbers of women would receive ordination.
[28] In Hasidic circles, a Rebbe or Tzaddik is often regarded as having extraordinary spiritual powers and is sought for personal advice in all pursuits of life by his followers.
