How the concept of Apostates is addressed in Torah / Halakha

[Ehav4Ever]

A question was asked in another thread, "what is the Hebrew word for apostate?" I responded in that thread, but I want to expand on the answer I gave.

Before I begin, I would like to state that this thread will full of actually sources from within thousands of years of Torah based information from Mizrahi, Sephardi, Yemenite, Orthodox Ashkenazi, and Hasadic Ashkenazi communities. It is being posted in the Orthodox Judaism DIR since my understanding is that this is the appropriate place for this kind of information. For anyone reading this - if posting sources, translating said sources, the occasional need to stress a point by using bold-quotations marks, distracts or borthers - this may not be the thread for you.

what is the Hebrew word for apostate?

There isn't one word for that, there are several. It depends on what exactly they are about.

Before I give the list the quailfier is important, it is described that there are certian types of Jews who have no place in the world to come, but for the most part this would have to be a Jew who knew / knows that reality already and tries to publically deny it for very speciic reasons, normally associated with tripping up other Jews.

Here is a list from the Mishnah Torah - Hilcoth Teshuva:

1. Min (singular) / Minim (Plural) -Five individuals are described as Minim:
   • one who says there is Source of reality / nor ruler of the reality;
   • one who accepts the concept of a ruler, but maintains that there are two or more;
   • one who accepts that there is one Master [of the world], but maintains that He has a body or form;
   • one who maintains that Hashem was not the sole First Being and Creator of all existence;
   • one who serves a star, constellation, or other entity so that it will serve as an intermediary between him and Hashem.
2. Epicursim - Three individuals are described as Epicursim:
   • one who denies the existence of prophecy and maintains that there is no knowledge communicated from Hashem to the hearts of men;
   • one who disputes the prophecy of Mosheh ben-Amram (Moses)
   • one who maintains that Hashem is not aware of the deeds of men.
3. Kofrim of the Torah -There are three individuals who are considered as one "who denies the Torah":
   • one who says Torah, even one line or one word, is not from Hashem. If he says: "Mosheh (Moses) made these statements independently or anyone else," he/she is Kofer of the Torah.
   • one who denies the Torah's interpretation, the oral law, or disputes [the authority of] its spokesmen.
   • one who says that though the Torah came from Hashem, the Creator has replaced one mitzvah with another one and nullified the original Torah.
4. HaMeshumadim - there are two categories of Meshumadim: an Meshumadim in regard to a single mitzvah and an Meshumadim in regard to the entire Torah.
   • An Meshumad in regard to a single mitzvah is someone who has made a practice of willfully committing a particular transgression of the Torah [to the point where] he is accustomed to committing it and his deeds are public knowledge. [This applies] even though [the transgression] is one of the minor ones. For example, someone who has made a practice of constantly wearing sha'atnez or cutting off his sideburns so that it appears that, in regard to him, it is as if this mitzvah has been nullified entirely. Such a person is considered an Meshumad in regard to that matter. This applies [only] if he [commits the transgression of the Torah] with the intent of angering Hashem.
   • An example of an Meshumad in regard to the entire Torah is one who turn to the ways of the nations when they enact [harsh] decrees [against the Jews] and clings to them, saying: "What value do I have in clinging to Israel while they are debased and pursued. It's better to cling to those who have the upper hand." Such an individual is an Meshumad in regard to the entire Torah.
5. Mahti'ey Harabim - "those who cause the many to sin" includes those who cause them to commit a severe sin like Jeroboam, Tzadok, or Beitus; and also, those who cause them to commit a slight sin, even the nullification of a positive command.
   • It includes [both] those who force others to sin like Menasheh who would kill the Jews if they did not worship idols and those who entice others and lead them astray.
6. HaPoresh Midarchei Tzibur - A person who separates himself from the community [may be placed in this category] even though he has not transgressed any transgressions.
   • A person who separates himself from the congregation of Israel and does not fulfill mitzvot together with them, does not take part in their hardships, or join in their [communal] fasts, but rather goes on his own individual path as if he is from another nation and not [Israel], does not have a portion in the world to come.
   • "Those who proudly commit sins in public as Jehoyakim did," whether they commit slight transgressions or severe ones, have no portion in the world to come. Such behavior is referred to as "acting brazen-facedly against the Torah," for he acted insolently, in open [defiance], without feeling any shame despite the Torah's words.

There are a few more, but you get the idea that it varies. Further, it is considered by some that most Jews, post about 2nd Temple period, would not be considered to be truly in the above categories. It would be considered that due to the circumstances of the exiles and the hardships faced in many countries over the centuries that most Jews who meet he above categories are simply Am Haaretz (those who don't know Torah or weren't taught it properly) or Tinok Hasnishba (Jewish children kidnapped at birth / or young age and raised as if they were never Jewish / or not having a clear idea of what the Torah really is).

There is a concept that the idea of a true apostate from the Torah is someone who is very knowledgable, knows what the truth is but denies it - starts a movement, and so one, and not an average Jew.

 

[Ehav4Ever]

Continuing with the above, it is important to note that the Rabbi Mosheh ben-Maimon (Rambam) lived from (1138–1204 CE). One may wonder where the Rambam got the information for the list posted above. Prior to the Rambam lived Rabbi Sa'adya Gaon (882-942 CE). In his book HaEmunoth and Deoth, Article 5, Section 4, he gives a list of the following:

1. (המורד) "HaMored" - Defined as the same as the MeShumad above. A Jew who has made a practice of willfully committing a particular transgression of the Torah [to the point where] he is accustomed to committing it and his deeds are public knowledge.
2. (הבלתי שלם) "Habilti Shalem" - This is defined as a Jew who speaks against / bad mouths / degrades the doing of mitzvoth. (Generally speaking positive mitzvoth) The examples given are a Jew who speaks against mitzvoth like wearing tzitzith, tefillin, etc.
3. (החוטא) "HaHhote" - This is defined as a Jew who has a practicing of doing things that Hashem, in the Torah, commanded Jews not to do. Specifically, some of the mitzvoth like not eating unkosher food, not wearing clothing that the Torah forbids, i.e. mitzvoth of this level.
4. (הפושע) "HaPoshe'a" - Similar to the HaHhote, this is defined as a Jew who has a practicing of doing things that Hashem, in the Torah, commanded Jews not to do. In contrast though, this person transgresses the mitzvoth in the Torah that are defined as being cut off from the people, mitzvoth where the punishment is eternal (from Hashem), and transgressions where the punishement would be at the level of national treason and have the potential for punishment from the Mosaic Court in Jerusalem. Rabbi Sa'adya Gaon gives examples such as breaking Shabbat in public (in order to draw attention to it and to convince others Jews to do the same), eating publically on Yom Kippur, and eating leavening on Passover.
5. (הכופר) "HaKofer" - This is defined as a Jew who transgresses one of the foundations of the Torah. A few examples of this would be in what is called Avodah Zara, the claim that there are other powers with/beside/in place of Hashem and the like.

As with what the Rambam mentioned in other places, it is understand that for a Jew to fully be defined in the above way they would have to be someone know with 100% knowledge that Hashem exists, Hashem gave the Torah, and that they are choosing to transgress the Torah without any hinderance in their understanding. In another section of HaEmanuth Article 3, Section 7 which states (ועוד לפי שאומתינו בני ישראל אינה אומה אלא בתורותיה) which translated means, that there is no Benei Yisrael nation except with the Torah.

 

[Ehav4Ever]

In the previous post, Rav Sa'adya Gaon's statements were mentioned and that Rav Sa'adya Gaon lived from (882-942 CE). So, the question could be asked, where did Rav Sa'adya Gaon get his information from? Prior to Rav Sa'adya Gaon there was the Mishnah. In Mishnah, Avoth section 1:1 it is stated (משה קיבל תורה מסיניי) which translates into Mosheh received Torah from Sinai, which in short means that Mosheh received the Torah from Hashem.

Further, in the Mishnah, Sanhedrin 10:1 it states:

(Translation) All of Yisrael has a place in the world to come, as mentioned in Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 60:12 "And your people all are tzediqim / those who do Torah correctly forever they will inherit [the] land the sprout of My plantings, the work of My hands, to be glorified." {green text} And these are those who have no share in the world to come, those who say there is no resurection of the dead, those who say the Torah is not from Shamayim (meaning from Hashem), and the Epikorus.......{end of gree text}

As a reminder, the Rambam defined an Epikorus as:

1. Epicursim - Three individuals are described as Epicursim:
   • one who denies the existence of prophecy and maintains that there is no knowledge communicated from Hashem to the hearts of men;
   • one who disputes the prophecy of Mosheh ben-Amram (Moses)
   • one who maintains that Hashem is not aware of the deeds of men.

Now, the obvious question would be, "where do these ideas come from in the Mishnah?" The answer is from the Torah. The Torah accounts the examples that have been used Judicially in the Torah based nation and later during the exile to define these issues. Thus, because these are judicial in nature, there is no one term. The following video may shed some light on some of the areas in the Torah that cover these points.