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Why must all the lower courts accompany a questioner up the judicial hierarchy? The Rambam (רמב"ם) states that when local judges don't know an answer, they must physically go with the questioner to higher courts. The Bnos Tzelofchad narrative provides the source: when a judge can't answer a question, it becomes his obligation to learn the answer.
The shiur addresses a fundamental question raised by the Lechem Mishneh on a halacha (הלכה) in Hilchos Mamrim. The Rambam (רמב"ם) describes the judicial process during the time of the Beis Din Hagadol: when someone had a halachic question, they would first ask their local Beis Din. If the local court didn't know the answer, both the questioner and the entire Beis Din would travel together to progressively higher courts - first to the Beis Din on Har Habayis, then to the Beis Din at the entrance to the Azarah, and finally to the Sanhedrin Hagadol in Lishkas Hagazis if necessary. The Lechem Mishneh questions this procedure, asking why all the judges need to accompany the questioner. Logic would suggest that only the person with the question should travel up the chain of command. He notes that the only similar case in the Gemara (גמרא) is Zaken Mamre, where judges travel together because they are litigants in a dispute, but that doesn't apply to a simple halachic inquiry where there are no opposing parties.
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Parshas Pinchas - Bnos Tzelofchad narrative
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