Nicávim / lo básámájim hi

Surely, this Instruction which I enjoin upon you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach.

It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?”

כי קרוב אליך BUT [THE WORD] IS [VERY] NEAR UNTO YOU — the Torah has been given to you in writing and orally.

FOR THIS COMMANDMENT. The meaning thereof is that it refers to the entire Torah. But the correct interpretation is that when he refers to the entire Torah, he says [as above] Every commandment which I command thee this day. Rather [the expression used here] this commandment refers to [the commandment of] repentance aforementioned, for the verses, and thou shalt bethink thyself;and thou shalt return unto the Eternal thy G-d constitute a commandment, wherein he commands us to do so. It is stated in a future tense [rather than in the imperative] to suggest, in the form of a pledge, that it is destined [that Israel will repent]. And the sense thereof is to state that if thy outcasts be in the uttermost parts of heaven and you are under the power of the nations, you can yet return to G-d and do according to all that I command thee this day, for the thing is not hard, nor far off from you, but rather very nigh unto thee to do it at all times and in all places. This is the sense of the expression, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it meaning that they confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers by word of their mouth, and return in their heart to G-d and accept the Torah upon themselves this day to perform it throughout the generations, as he mentioned, thou and thy children with all thy heart, as I have explained.

And this is known as the oven of akhnai. The Gemara asks: What is the relevance of akhnai, a snake, in this context? Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: It is characterized in that manner due to the fact that the Rabbis surrounded it with their statements like this snake, which often forms a coil when at rest, and deemed it impure. The Sages taught: On that day, when they discussed this matter, Rabbi Eliezer answered all possible answers in the world to support his opinion, but the Rabbis did not accept his explanations from him.

Rabbi Yehoshua stood on his feet and said: It is written: “It is not in heaven” (Deuteronomy 30:12). The Gemara asks: What is the relevance of the phrase “It is not in heaven” in this context? Rabbi Yirmeya says: Since the Torah was already given at Mount Sinai, we do not regard a Divine Voice, as You already wrote at Mount Sinai, in the Torah: “After a majority to incline” (Exodus 23:2). Since the majority of Rabbis disagreed with Rabbi Eliezer’s opinion, the halakha is not ruled in accordance with his opinion. The Gemara relates: Years after, Rabbi Natan encountered Elijah the prophet and said to him: What did the Holy One, Blessed be He, do at that time, when Rabbi Yehoshua issued his declaration? Elijah said to him: The Holy One, Blessed be He, smiled and said: My children have triumphed over Me; My children have triumphed over Me.

It is not in heaven: And that which it said in the first chapter of Yevamot (Yevamot 14a; and see Tosafot on Yevamot 14a, s.v. Rabbi) that the law is like the House of Hillel because a Divine Voice emerged - it is different here; since it is coming to disagree with words of the Torah, as it is written (Exodus 23:2), "After a majority to incline." Whereas there it is just the opposite, the House of Hillel is the majority [such that the law would follow them even without the Divine Voice], if it were not that we were in doubt if we follow the majority, because the House of Shammai is very sharp. And also (another answer) is that here the Divine Voice only emerged on account of the honor of Rabbi Eliezer, who said, "Heaven will prove [it]." And that which it said over there that [disregarding the Divine Voice] is [always the position of] Rabbi Yehoshua, who said that we do not pay attention to a Divine Voice - yet we do not hear it from Rabbi Yehoshua except in this incident of Rabbi Eliezer from here - it is making an exact inference there: Since he says, "It is not in heaven, the Torah was already given from Sinai," it is implied that we do not pay attention [to it] in any place.

And now there remains the second question — how could there have been a doubt in what was ascertained from the Blessed One Himself? But this aggadah is explained along the lines we have mentioned. Although they knew that in terms of absolute truth the ruling in a case of doubt was "clean," they still maintained "unclean." For since Torah decisions had been relegated to them in their lifetimes and their intellects dictated "unclean," the ruling should have been "unclean," though this ruling was at variance with the truth. For this is what human intellect dictates, and though the truth may be with the others, their view is not to be the criterion for performance in the ways of the Torah, just as the disputants of R. Eliezer did not rule "clean," although a heavenly voice had come forth declaring that this was, indeed, the halachah. And there was no doubt in their minds that this proceeded from the Blessed One, just as they entertained no doubt concerning the other signs that he performed. In spite of this, however, they said: "It is not in the heavens." And for the same reason they said: "Who shall decide? Let Rabbah bar Nachmani decide." And his decision was not meant to ascertain the truth, for they had no doubt whatsoever about this, as we have written; his decision was, rather, that the human intellect, according to Torah and the hermeneutic principles by which it is expounded, dictates a ruling of "clean." The others' ruling of "unclean" proceeded from shortcoming of intellect relative to human intellect or from insufficient Torah study in their lifetimes. Still, if those who ruled "unclean" were more numerous than the school of Rabbah bar Nachmani, who ruled clean, though his view is closer to the truth than theirs, the majority would not act on a solitary ruling of "clean." It is for this reason that the Torah decreed that the ruling of the majority must prevail and that the individual must defer to it though he is certain that they are at variance with the truth, for this was the Blessed One's intent in (Deuteronomy 17:11): "Do not turn aside…"

And Rabbi Shefatya said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: If one was deliberating about whether to do a certain action, and a Divine Voice indicated what he should do, from where is it derived that one may make use of a Divine Voice and rely upon it? As it is stated: “And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying: This is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21). The Gemara comments: This applies only when one heard a male voice in the city, which is unusual, for men are usually found in the fields, or when one heard a female voice in the fields, for women are generally not found there. Since the voice is unusual, one need not doubt it and may rely upon it. And that applies when the voice repeated its message and said: Yes, yes. And that also applies when the voice said: No, no.