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The authority to make halakhic decisions and enactments was given to the Sanhedrin, the High Court of seventy-one Sages, which was located near the Temple. Once the Sanhedrin ruled in accordance with the majority of Sages, no individual sage was permitted to dissent. Not long before the destruction of the Second Temple, the Sanhedrin ceased to function. This means it is no longer possible to reach binding decisions when sages disagree, and rabbis cannot make enactments for the entire people. Only in cases of great necessity do rabbis make enactments to meet the needs of their time or place. Even then, the enactments become binding only if the majority of the community accepts them.
