דברים, פרק י״ז, פסוק י׳

The foundation of legal and spiritual authority rests with the Great Court in Jerusalem, demanding complete obedience to its rulings. This absolute authority ensures a unified legal system, but it is also deeply connected to the sacred space where the judges convene. The obligation to follow the court's decisions applies not only to the specific case at hand [העמק דבר] but extends to all the secondary laws and minor details that branch out from the main ruling [אור החיים]. Furthermore, decisions are strictly governed by majority rule. The law is established by the consensus of the majority, and the dissenting opinion of a single judge is not followed, regardless of how exceptionally wise he might be [פני דוד]. Through this judicial process, the court transmits wisdom, objective facts, and a clear tradition passed down through the generations [רש ר הירש, אדרת אליהו].

The primary approach among commentators is that the physical location of the court is of critical importance. The authority to issue binding laws that carry the death penalty, such as in the case of a rebellious elder who defies the court, depends entirely on the judges sitting in their designated location—the Chamber of Hewn Stone within the Temple. If the court goes into exile and leaves this specific place, as historically occurred forty years before the Temple's destruction due to a surge in murder cases, it immediately loses its jurisdiction to judge capital offenses [תורה תמימה, רלב״ג, מלבי״ם]. The emphasis on this exact location stems from the belief that the place itself actively helps bring the truth to light. A person cannot challenge the court's ruling by claiming intellectual superiority, because this chosen site provides the judges with unique spiritual assistance to reach the truth, serving as the source from which God's word emerges [העמק דבר, ביאור יש״ר, בכור שור].

Beyond preserving clear, received traditions, the court also establishes new laws derived through human intellect, including decrees and enactments drawn from the underlying principles of the Torah [רש ר הירש, אדרת אליהו]. Absolute obedience is required for these newly developed laws, just as it is for the laws explicitly written in the Torah itself [רלב״ג]. Moreover, these judicial rulings are meant to serve as a foundation for further study and future investigation [העמק דבר]. The demand for obedience is so absolute that even if a particular scholar remains fully convinced that the court has made a mistake, he must accept their final ruling once they have debated the matter and rejected his arguments. The ultimate goal is practical agreement on the final law, ensuring a unified practice even if the judges themselves arrived at their shared conclusion through entirely different lines of reasoning [פני דוד].