Talmudic rabbis were free to reinterpret and reconstruct reality and institutions by complete and meticulous study. They were considered masters of divine revelation who had unique access to part of it, i.e. , the oral Torah. Also what the rabbis did was revelatory since they were models or examples to be followed if one wanted to fulfill God s will. The Talmud also tells us the sages have authority to uproot biblical law if there is a valid reason for it. It is not enough to have the Torah.
Leadership is needed for interpretation and to make authoritative decisions.
That leadership was the Sanhedrin, sages and rabbis. A story in the Talmud illustrates the authority of the rabbis over the scriptures and even over God Himself. The story is called Aknai s oven and deals with issues of ritual purity. Rabbi Eliezer stood in opposition to the majority in his ruling on this matter. Context tells us that he really surpassed them yet his ruling was not accepted.