In a civilized state here are tons of laws and regulations. We can trace them all to when they were officially legislated. For instance traffic laws or real estate laws. But what was before they were instituted? Probably "איש הישר בעיניו יעשה" - everyone was acting according to his will.
Eventually, we can take all the laws back to the time when there were no laws - "איש את רעהו חיים בלעו".
I'm trying to extrapolate the same logic to the Halacha. First, all the Rabbinical rulings can be traced back in the Gemorah to when they were instituted - some time in the middle of the second Temple and on.
But what was before? How did the Halacha look before it was ruled? Did everyone act according to his own understanding?
For instance - how did the Jews married before the Machlokes of Hillel and Shammay about Yibbum? DId they do Smicha on Yom Tov before H & S? How did they treat witnesses before the Machlokos in Sanhedrin?
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