For the source text click/tap here: Bava Metzia 30
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The Gemora asks: Wasn’t Rabbi Yishmael an elder about whom the Torah says that he is not obligated to do this if it is not according to his honor?
The Gemora answers: Rabbi Yishmael the son of Rabbi Yosi was acting beyond the letter of the law.
Rabbi Yochanan stated: Yerushalayim was destroyed because they judged according to Torah law.
The Gemora asks: What law should they have judged like - the law of the thugs!? PastedGraphic-1.png
The Gemora answers: Rather, it means that they acted according to the strict letter of the law with each other and did not go beyond the letter of the law.
וְלָא עֲבַדוּ לִפְנִים מִשּׁוּרַת הַדִּין.
We explore the limitations of the strict letter of the law in Halacha and law courts.