
The Chief Rabbi of Tzfat, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, spoke on Monday during a lecture in Jerusalem about the Supreme Court's rulings and said that they have no halakhic standing if they contradict the law.
Rabbi Eliyahu stressed that such a ruling is not halakhically binding and noted that his words are based on the Gemara (Talmud), Mishnah, and Maimonides.
"If the Supreme Court rules against the law and a minister or Knesset member asks me who to listen to, their ruling has no validity and the source for that is in the Gemara, Mishna, and Maimonides's halakhic rulings - practical halakhic rulings - and the sages ruled that way since that's what the Torah says."
Later, he clarified that the Torah requires a person to exercise independent judgment, and stated: "The Torah tells man to use his discretion, don't follow blindly, and anyone who demands that you follow blindly is contradicting the Torah, how can we go against the Torah, G-d forbid?"
Rabbi Eliyahu concluded that, according to the halakhic outlook, there is no obligation to obey a Supreme Court ruling when it contradicts the law. "Therefore, we hope that there won't be a situation where the judges rule against the law, since if they rule against the law, there is no need to follow their ruling."