The short answer
Authority comes from the interpreter's learning and the community's acceptance of their ruling — and it is decentralized, so different communities follow different posekim. There is no single global authority.
Why people ask this
People assume authority flows from a hierarchy; in Judaism it flows from learning and communal recognition, which is why rulings differ.
Key terms
- Posek
- A recognized decisor of Jewish law.
Jewish perspectives
- Traditional: authority rests on recognized learning and a chain of transmission.
- Academic: authority is also shaped by communal acceptance and institution.
Scholarly & historical context
Since the end of centralized institutions, authority has been distributed among qualified scholars and their communities.
What is agreed upon
Recognized learning and communal acceptance confer authority.
Where the disagreement begins
Who counts as qualified, and which rulings bind which communities.
Practical consequences
Identify the posekim your community follows; rulings can differ legitimately.
Original sources
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