Parshat Shoftim

In Sefer HaHinuch, the middle-aged book of mitvah education, the 496th commandment is the negative commandment "not to disobey the word of the sanhedrin (great court)."  This is based on Deuteronomy 17:11: you shalt not turn aside from the word which they shall declare to you, either to the right or the left.  This seems fairly simple, but the author of Sefer HaHinuch expounds upon it in detail.  In expounding upon a relevant Talmudic passage (TB Bava Metzia 59B) on an argument between Rabbi Eliezer and the majority of other judges of the day, he writes:

The truth lay with R. Eliezer....  Yet even though the truth lay with him about this...[his opponents] brought proof from the law firmly set in the Torah -- for it commanded us always to follow the majority (in commandment 78), whether they speak truth or even err.

I was, and am, a bit surprised by the author's word choice here.  Why, if the "truth" of halacha was with R. Eliezer, do we follow the incorrect majority?  Why are we following the majority even in matters known to be flawed.  Today, we always hear of "truth" as the guiding principle in Judaism...isn't this contradictory?

I think the answer can be found by looking at two other verses within this week's portion.  First we find in commandment 491 (Deuteronomy 16:18) the need to appoint judges and officers in our communities.  The judges and officers appointed were only those "wise and understanding in the Torah's wisdom, who also knew something of other [secular] fields of wisdom."  According to our author, they underwent a thorough examination of character, intellectual ability, and morals before being appointed.

Secondly we read in Deuteronomy 18:13: Thou shalt be wholehearted with the Lord your God.  I have no doubt that those appointed to the Sanhedrin were in line with this principle. 

Rabbi Joel Roth, who taught my halacha class at the Conservative Yeshiva  this summer stressed that in order to be a posek (halachic decision-maker) you have to be able to set aside your predispositions to want to answer halachic questions in a certain way.  Of course he and nearly every rabbi that has ever been a posek is naturally predisposed to want to answer people in a certain way, especially in sensitive issues dealing with peoples' emotions.  But, while rabbis certainly should deal with these issues compassionately, they must set aside all personal thoughts and decide halacha based solely on the Torah and Jewish precedents (i.e. within the already-developed system of Jewish law).  This is how halacha can be seen as an expression of God's will -- because it stems from Sinai, not from our fleeting emotions and whims.

With this understanding of who the judges and officers were, I think we can better understand the Talmud's ruling that following the majority is more important than truth.  All of the sages were concerned with truth.  They served as poskim and the halacha is, most simply, an expression of God's will.  And in determining God's will we are most concerned with, according to Rambam, truth.  Given this, I think we must accept that at least the majority of our sages' hearts and minds were in the right place in determining halacha.  They felt as if their opinion was truth. 

All of the Sanhedrin's judges acted out of fear of God and love for the Jewish people, with the intent to determine God's will.  Therefore, in cases of dispute, we follow the majority because, if everyone is "wholehearted with the Lord," we must put our faith in the majority to ensure unity of our nation.  On occasion they may be wrong but as long as they are striving for Godliness in their work we do not need to fear being led astray.