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Text Excerpt
ואמרו לאחינו שבגולה: אם שומעין — מוטב, ואם לאו, יעלו להר, אחיה יבנה מזבח, חנניה ינגן בכנור, ויכפרו כולם, ויאמרו אין להם חלק באלהי ישראל.
And in order to underscore this, tell our brothers in exile: If they obey the rabbis of Eretz Yisrael to excommunicate Ḥanina, fine; and if they do not obey us, it is as if they are seceding from the Jewish people. They should climb a mountain; Aḥiya, one of the leaders of the Babylonian Jewish community, will build an altar, Ḥananya, son of R' Yehoshua’s brother, who was a Levite, will play the lute, and all will proclaim heresy and say that they have no portion in the God of Israel.
מיד געו כל העם בבכיה ואמרו: חס ושלום, יש לנו חלק באלהי ישראל.
This message had a profound impact on the people, and immediately the entire nation burst into tears, saying: God forbid. We do have a portion in the God of Israel. They reconsidered their plans to establish Babylonia as the center of the Jewish people.
וכל כך למה? משום שנאמר: ״כי מציון תצא תורה ודבר ה׳ מירושלים״.
The Talmud asks: Why did the rabbis of Eretz Yisrael go to that extent to stop Ḥanina? The Talmud answers: Because it is stated: “For out of Zion should go forth the Torah, and the word of YHWH from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3).
בשלמא הוא מטהר, והם מטמאין — לחומרא. אלא הוא מטמא והם מטהרין, היכי הוי? והא תניא: חכם שטמא — אין חברו רשאי לטהר, אסר — אין חברו רשאי להתיר! קסברי כי היכי דלא נגררו בתריה.
The Talmud considers the details of this event: Granted, Ḥanina would rule an item pure and the rabbis from Eretz Yisrael would rule it impure; they ruled stringently. But in a case where he ruled an item impure and they ruled it pure, what are the circumstances? How could they rule pure that which he ruled impure? Was it not taught in a baraita: If a Sage ruled an item impure, his colleague is not permitted to rule it pure; if he prohibited it, his colleague may not permit it? The Talmud explains: They held that they must do so in this case, so that people would not be drawn after him; due to the exigencies of the time they overturned his rulings.