Bava Metzia 33B

בימי רבי נשנית משנה זו, שבקו כולי עלמא מתניתין ואזלו בתר תלמודא, הדר דרש להו: ולעולם הוי רץ למשנה יותר מן התלמוד.

It was during the era of R' Yehuda HaNasi that the beginning of this baraita extolling the study of Talmud was taught. The result was that everyone abandoned study of the Mishnah and pursued the study of the Talmud. It was then that R' Yehuda HaNasi taught them: And always pursue study of the Mishnah more than study of the Talmud, as without a firm basis in the fundamental halakhot of the Mishnah, talmudic discourse is futile.

מאי דרוש? כדדריש רבי יהודה ברבי אלעאי, מאי דכתיב: ״הגד לעמי פשעם ולבית יעקב חטאתם״?

The Talmud asks: On the basis of what homiletic interpretation did the tanna state that there is no virtue greater than the study of Talmud? It is just as R' Yehuda, son of R' Elai, interpreted homiletically: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a horn, and declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins” (Isaiah 58:1)?

״הגד לעמי פשעם״⁠ – אלו תלמידי חכמים, ששגגות נעשות להם כזדונות. ״ולבית יעקב חטאתם״⁠ – אלו עמי הארץ, שזדונות נעשות להם כשגגות. והיינו דתנן, רבי יהודה אומר: הוי זהיר בתלמוד, ששגגת תלמוד עולה זדון.

In the phrase “declare to My people their transgression,” these people are the Torah scholars, whose unwitting transgressions become for them tantamount to intentional transgressions. Due to their erudition, they are held to a higher standard. “And to the house of Jacob their sins,” these are the commoners [amei ha'aretz], whose intentional transgressions become for them tantamount to unwitting transgressions. Due to their lack of erudition, they are held to a lower standard. And that is the basis of that which we learned in a Mishnah (Avot 4:13), that R' Yehuda says: Be careful in the study of the Talmud, as a transgression based on an unwitting misinterpretation of the Talmud is considered an intentional transgression.