The Mishna depicts the Sanhedrin as a supreme judicial and legislative institution that stood atop a highly centralized system of halachic and spiritual institutions. According to the Rambam, there were no lasting halachic debates during the era of the Sanhedrin, since through its voting process the Sanhedrin could conclusively resolve any halachic issue.
Yet it is hard to imagine the study of Torah without debate and machloket – indeed what would the Talmud look like shorn of the multiplicity of debates and disagreements that propel its dialogue forward? Because Talmudic sources do not typically elaborate their rationales, the analysis of machloket serves as the primary tool for understanding the scope, parameters and reasoning of various halachic rules.
When the Sanhedrin returns, I presume there will be other ways to uncover core ideas that animate halacha, but for right now, it is the absence of a Sanhedrin that makes Torah study possible.
