Sanhedrin 87 – What Has the Rebellious Sage Done?

After the High Court has decided in opposition to the ruling of the rebellious sage, and the sage has returned to his town and taught and interpreted in the manner he was used to before being instructed otherwise by the High Court, he is not yet liable; but if he instructed people to act in accordance with his overruled opinion, he is liable to the death penalty as a rebellious sage, as it is stated, “but the man who will act with willfulness.”

A disciple who instructed people to act in accordance with his opinion that was overruled by the High Court is not liable – and it emerges that his stringency (no authority to decide the questions of law) is his leniency (not being liable as a rebellious sage).

Art: Arthur Boyd Houghton - The sage and the geckos