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Back when I was learning Daf Yomi, I ran into an interesting lesson I'm finding difficult to find again. It was a teaching that one should learn halacha from your rebbe's teachings and not through the observation of pious people. The reason, as I recall, was that the observation can be misleading. Observing the tzaddik may not take into account that he is properly relying on a heter, or perhaps that he is relying on a chumra. Therefore, one should only learn the halacha from the lectures. I can recall this lesson vividly, but I can't remember where I learned it. I thought it might be in Moed Kattan, but I haven't found it there in my review. Can anyone help? I need the source for an article I'm working on. Thanks.

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That's interesting, because many times we find a concern that the students might see some rabbis acting some way and set the halachah that way forever, e.g. Brachos 11a, Pesachim 100a – b a Dec 28 '12 at 1:25
@ba And see Shabbos 21a – Shmuel Brin Dec 28 '12 at 1:41

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Mesechta Bava Basra 130: is the source

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And it says....? – Seth J Dec 28 '12 at 4:21
Perfect. I hadn't even thought to look there. Now that I have, I see my notes on the page. In English (per Art Scroll), the text says "The Rabbis taught in a Baraisa: one may not derive practical halacha from [an observation made by sages in the course of their] study or from [a ruling issued by sages in] a case [that came before them] unless they say to one: 'Halacha l'maisa' [this is the halacha to be followed in practice]." – Bruce James Dec 28 '12 at 13:08

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