The short answer
Because the tradition treats many disputes as legitimate and worth preserving, not as failures to erase. The Talmud keeps both positions; the Mishnah in Eduyot states that both Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai are 'the words of the living God,' even though one is followed in practice.
Why people ask this
This is the heart of how Judaism handles disagreement; understanding it reframes conflict as structure rather than error.
Key terms
- Machloket
- A preserved, often legitimate disagreement.
Jewish perspectives
- Traditional: disputes are preserved because both positions have lasting value.
- The classic case — Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai — is decided for practice but both are kept.
Scholarly & historical context
The rabbinic commitment to preserving disagreement is visible from the Mishnah onward and shaped all later literature.
What is agreed upon
Many disputes are preserved deliberately.
Where the disagreement begins
Which position is followed for practice when both are kept.
Practical consequences
You may encounter 'both are right' without one being erased; that is normal.
Original sources
Related questions & knowledge graph
Ask privately
Continue exploring this question in private. Your question stays yours until you explicitly choose to share it — and sharing with a scholar always requires your consent first.
Public discussion
Public contributions are separately reviewed and approved. Beit Ha'Vaad never turns a private question into a public one without explicit consent.
Revision history
Scholarly corrections, source updates and substantive changes are versioned here. This question's current status — Source-reviewed — is shown above.