Today’s daf continues to investigate the consequences of mistaken legal rulings that lead to widespread communal sinning and what particular transgressions render a court liable. A mishnah on today’s daf teaches:
The court is not liable unless they issue a mistaken ruling with regard to a matter for whose intentional violation is karet and for whose unwitting violation is a sin-offering. And likewise the anointed priest.
This first half of the mishnah focuses on the severity of the sin committed because of the mistaken ruling of the court or the high priest. A court is only liable for sins that were committed knowingly and for which the stipulated punishment is karet, or excision, and for sins for which an offering is required when committed accidentally.
What is karet and what kind of transgression do these parameters invoke? The rabbis understand karet to be a punishment meted out by God, not by a human court. It may mean premature death, childlessness, or the loss of one’s share in the World to Come. The Bible prescribes karet for significant violations, like desecrating Shabbat, acts of incest and defying the laws of menstrual purity.
The second half of the mishnah clarifies that these same parameters also apply to idol worship.
Neither (is the court liable to bring a sin offering) for idol worship unless the judges issue a ruling with regard to a matter for whose intentional violation is karet, and for whose unwitting violation is a sin offering.
Why specify that unwitting idol worship committed by the nation following a mistaken court ruling also must fall within these parameters for the court to be liable for a sin offering? Idol worship is such a fundamental sin, says the Talmud, that we might think a court would be obligated to bring a sin offering even if their mistake only led to a lower form of transgression. For example, says Rashi, hugging or kissing an idol is not a formal kind of worship and therefore a person who did this knowingly would not receive the punishment of karet. Yet intuitively we understand that showing affection for an idol is quite a significant mistake. Maybe the court ought to take responsibility for this too. No, says the mishnah, even for idol worship the court is only liable if it accidentally permits an act which is punishable by karet.
Next, the Talmud seeks a source for this rule.
Rava said, and some say it was Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi who said, and some say it is unattributed, that the verse states: “And when you act unwittingly, and do not perform all these commandments” (Numbers 15:22). Which is the mitzvah that is the equivalent of all the mitzvot? You must say: It is idol worship.
Which transgression is equivalent to rejecting “all these commandments”? Idol worship. The rejection of polytheism and the worship of graven images were named in the first two of the Ten Commandments. Moreover, it was one of the first laws taught by Moses when the Jews left Egypt. Certainly monotheism is the fundamental value upon which the rest of the authority of the Torah sits.
The severity of idol worship raises the obvious question: How could a court mistakenly issue a ruling that would lead people to violate such a core Torah prohibition? The Talmud doesn’t answer this fundamental question. Yet the rabbinic discourse doesn’t get taken in by the drama and in this case sticks to very formal categories when deciding punishment. One aspect of this conundrum may be to realize there may be mistakes, even ones as grave as idol worship, that may not be punishable.
Read all of Horayot 8 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on September 9, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
With your help, My Jewish Learning can provide endless opportunities for learning, connection and discovery.
