An interesting point of Jewish Law arises in that Rav Yisroel raised the question how could the Tribe of Reuven have kept the "semikhah" alive, since they were outside the Land of Israel and the "semikhah" can be granted only in Land of Israel. He answered that since this tribe had been distant from the rest of the Jewish people before this ruling had been accepted, there is no reason to assume that they accepted this ruling, and there was a chance that they were still keeping the institution of "semikhah" alive.