Sanhedrin 6b: The dayanim must know whom they are judging, before whom they are judging, and who will one day punish them, as it is written, “G-d stands in the congregation of G-d.” And so regarding Yehoshafat it is written, “And he said to the judges, see what you are doing! For you are not judging for man, but for Hashem” – and lest the dayan say, what do I need this pain? Therefore the posuk continues – “He is with you on the matter of judgment” – the dayan can only judge based on what his eyes see.
The Ramban on Shemos 21:6 comments on the use of the name “Elokim” in reference to beis din, “This teaches that Hashem is with the judges in their ruling – He acquits and convicts. And so Moshe said, “For justice belongs to G-d.” And so Yehoshafat said, “For you are not judging for man, but for Hashem, and He is with you on the matter of judgment.” And so the posuk says, “G-d stands in the assembly of G-d, in the midst of G-d He judges,” which means, “In the midst of the assembly of G-d He judges,” for G-d is the judge. And so it says, “The two men who have the dispute shall stand before Hashem.”
סנהדרין ו ע”ב: ויהו הדיינין יודעין את מי הן דנין, ולפני מי הן דנין, ומי עתיד ליפרע מהן, שנאמר (תהלים פ״ב) אלהים נצב בעדת אל. וכן ביהושפט הוא אומר (דברי הימים ב׳ י״ט) ויאמר אל השפטים ראו מה אתם עשים כי לא לאדם תשפטו כי לה׳, שמא יאמר הדיין מה לי בצער הזה ־ תלמוד לומר עמכם בדבר משפט ־ אין לו לדיין אלא מה שעיניו רואות.
רמב”ן שמות כא,ו: ולדעתי יאמר הכתוב והגישו אדניו אל האלהים, עד האלהים יבא דבר שניהם (להלן כב ח) , לרמוז כי האלהים יהיה עמהם בדבר המשפט, הוא יצדיק והוא ירשיע. וזהו שאמר (שם) אשר ירשיעון אלהים, וכך אמר משה כי המשפט לאלהים הוא (דברים א יז) . וכך אמר יהושפט כי לא לאדם תשפטו כי לה׳ ועמכם בדבר משפט (דהי״ב יט ו) . וכן אמר הכתוב אלהים נצב בעדת אל בקרב אלהים ישפוט (תהלים פב א) , כלומר בקרב עדת אלהים ישפוט, כי האלהים הוא השופט. וכן אמר ועמדו שני האנשים אשר להם הריב לפני ה׳ (דברים יט יז).
The town of Zelichov was looking for a new rav, who, they hoped, would be a charismatic personality capable of leading the battle against the new sect of Chassidism that had recently arisen. The fame of Rabbi Levi Yitzchok (later known as the Berditchever) as a great Torah scholar had spread throughout the world, but it was not yet public knowledge that he had joined the Chassidim. And the people of Zelichov were certain that someone so great in Torah could not also be a Chassid. So he was appointed as their rav.
And then the inevitable happened – it was discovered that he belonged to the Chassidic movement. There ensued a dispute in the town over what to do next. Most of the townspeople, having witnessed Rabbi Levi Yitzchok serving his flock with care and concern, wanted him to stay. On the other hand, the Torah scholars of the city were upset that the new rav had not spent much time learning with them and saying shiurim, as he was too busy with the poor and simple folk. Who would teach them Torah?
When these talmidei chachomim realized that they could not convince the people to fire Rabbi Levi Yitzchok, they decided to test him on halacha, to demonstrate for all that he was not so learned. They came up with a complicated question in Yoreh Deah, and they convinced the town butcher to present the shailah to the rav, as if this situation had actually come up in his shop. And lo and behold, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok ruled incorrectly! Finally, his opponents had irrefutable proof that he was not fit for the rabbinate.
When they confronted Rabbi Levi Yitzchok with his mistake, he responded, “Had this been an actual shailah that arose, Hashem would have granted me siyata dishmaya to give the correct psak. But it was a made-up, theoretical question, and Levi Yitzchok does not pasken on made-up questions. And not only Levi Yitzchok – every dayan has the assistance of Hashem only on actual questions, but when it comes to learning in general, when it’s not relevant to the real world, a dayan is like any other talmid chacham. The mistaken svara of a talmid chacham is also Torah, but it’s not the halacha l’maaseh. That’s why we often find in the Gemara the words “there was a story” (הוה עובדא) or “there was once a woman who came before so-and-so (ההיא איתתא דאתת לקמיה) – to show that these were real live questions and therefore the psak given was the halacha l’maaseh.”
Rabbi Levi Yitzchok continued to serve as rav of Zelichov for 10 years.
Souce: Mayim Chaim, p.174 note 29, quoting Chassidim V’anshei Maaseh, by Eliyahu Kitov
[The Ramban’s way of understanding the Gemara in Sanhedrin – that the dayanim have siyata dishmaya – is the inverse of the way Rashi understands it. According to Rashi, the dayanim need not have siyata dishmaya to “get it right” because there is no “right.” The Torah is not in Heaven; the dayanim must do their best, and then whatever they rule is by definition correct. In Rashi’s words:
עמכם בדבר משפט לפי מה שעם לבבכם, שלבבכם נוטה בדבר, כלומר בטענותיהם ־ עמכם במשפט לפי אותן דברים תשפוטו ולא תיענשו. דאין לו לדיין ־ לירא ולמנוע עצמו מן הדין. אלא לפי מה שעיניו רואות ־ לידון, ויתכוין להוציאו לצדקו ולאמיתו, ושוב לא יענש.
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, in the introduction to the first volume of Igros Moshe, quotes this Gemara with Rashi as the basis for his point that a rav need not be afraid to pasken, because whatever he paskens will be considered correct in Heaven.
It would seem that Rashi and the Ramban, although they disagree on the meaning of this Gemara, are each correct in different cases. In a case where the halacha has been decided already by earlier poskim, and has been written in the Shulchan Aruch and its commentaries, the rav merely has to know it. Since it’s difficult to remember everything, he is granted siyata dishmaya to get it right, as the Ramban says. This was the case in our story: the scholars caught Rabbi Levi Yitzchok ruling against an explicit halacha.
But in a new case that is not addressed explicitly in Shulchan Aruch, and has to be deduced by comparisons and logic, there is no one right answer. In such cases, whatever the rav rules is defined as halacha, as Rashi says.]
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