Hot answers tagged heresy
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The discrepancy has been raised repeatedly over the centuries, by scholars Jew and non-Jew, Orthodox or not, alike.
Rabbi Shimon Schwab penned an essay on it whereby he very much raised the possibility that the non-Seder-Olam chronology may be correct, though later referring to it as a "thought experiment."
In his taped lectures on the history of the ...
10
Rema (Even Haezer 4:37, citing Beis Yosef) says of the Karaites "they are all possible mamzerim, and they should not be accepted if they want to return [to Rabbanite Judaism]." (Interestingly, Rambam, Hil. Mamrim 3:3, seems to disagree: he advocates trying to help them do teshuvah.)
It seems that there is some dispute about this nowadays, though. This ...
9
Rav Moshe Feinstein, in a t'shuva about allowing children to say a generic prayer in public school (Orach Chayim II #24), refers to the Ramba"m's statement in Mishne Torah that Adam Harishon was given one commandment - belief in God. No'ach and his descendants later got 6 more, adding up to 7. They both conclude that not only the negative aspect of believing ...
9
I don't know about heresy per se. But since Pirkei Avos (4:12) says that "your awe for your teacher should be like your awe towards G-d," the following would seem to be relevant.
There is a well-known story (this article, in Hebrew, collects over a dozen versions of it) where a yeshivah student, in his role as a Purim Rav, says something insulting about the ...
8
See the sefer Pardes Yosef on parshat Teruma chapter 25 sub ubb"b d"y [= ubibava batra daf yod] where it is described how the Besh"t was asked about a Talmudic source which says that every Torah prohibition has a permitted aspect to it, so where is heresy permitted? His answer was that in performing the mitzvah of charity, one should help the poor man as if ...
8
This story, sounds like an adaptation of the writings of Rav Kook.
Rav Kook wrote extensively on the spiritual good that came from many of the "troubles" of his time. The rise of Atheism was one of those topics.
He writes in many places that Atheism helps cleanse religion of Man's false beliefs, and Heresy helps shine light on the darkness of falsehood.
...
8
No one is exempt from Halacha. However one that was raised without knowledge is considered a Tinuk Shenishba and is not punished for what he did not know.
Regarding Olam Haba - the Mishna says Kol Yisroel Yesh Lohem Chelek L'Olam Haba - although the commentaries do limit it somewhat - even an educated Jew that breaks Jewish laws - in most instances will ...
8
Given the Rambam's statement:
Anyone who accepts upon himself the fulfillment of these seven mitzvot and is precise in their observance is considered one of 'the pious among the gentiles' and will merit a share in the world to come.
This applies only when he accepts them and fulfills them because the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded them in the ...
7
In Shu"t Mei'ein Omer pg 274 (not sure what volume, but it isn't volume 6, 7 or 8), a close student of Rav Ovadiah Yosef reports that a man once asked him if he needs to destroy a building he bought because it used to contain a synagogue of Dor De'im, a sect of Temani Jews who stick to strict Maimonidian philosophy and practice, and reject most if not all of ...
5
I haven't seen it inside, but:
"One may not count one who denies the truth of Torah Sh'baal Peh - aka The Oral Torah (and certainly one who denies The Written Torah received at Sinai via Moshe Rabbeinu) towards a minyan. [One may not count Conservative or Reform Jews towards a minyan.] Shulchan Aruch w/Mishnah Berurah 55:11, Piskei Tshuvos 55:21"
See ...
4
As I understand it:
DeRossi takes a series of statements from the Gemara (generally Aggadic, i.e. non-Halachic ones) and applied the scientific and/or historic knowledge of his time to them; some of the statements worked, and some of them didn't. And some Gemaras "just didn't make sense."
(Now hundreds of years earlier, R' Sharira Gaon of Pumbedisa had ...
4
I heard similar stories about the disciple asking the Rabbi about kindness and epikoros was by the Chofetz Chaim!
That said, just because it's in a book of collected things people said he said, doesn't mean he really said it. A Rabbi from that same area in Eastern Europe once said a little bit of everything under the sun was attributed to the Choftez ...
4
http://dafyomi.co.il/azarah/halachah/az-hl-026.htm
Rambam (Hilchos Mamrim 3:3): One who does not admit to oral Torah is
an Apikores
http://dafyomi.co.il/sanhedrin/halachah/sn-hl-113.htm
Shulchan Aruch (334:21): If Kisvei ha'Kodesh were written by an
Apikores, i.e. a devout idolater, or a Mumar to idolatry, we do not
save it. Even on a ...
4
They are largely intermarried, so I think they would likely need to convert.
However, everything they do for lifecycle events is invalid in Halachah. Therefore, it is just as easy to speculate that the vast majority of those from an uninterrupted Jewish line (without conversion) are Mamzerim, as it is that the vast majority of those who come from anyone ...
3
The Rambam in his commentary on the mishneh in Avos (2:14) writes that the idea of answering the apikoros applies only to non-Jewish apikoros, but a Jewish apikoros is so much worse in terms of disparaging and disgracing (the Torah), that it is not appropriate to argue with him at all, since he is beyond repair and beyond healing.
[יג] אמר: למד דברים שתשיב ...
3
A Jew does not convert when allegiances are switched within the various Jewish movements. A Karaite Jew with a Karaite Jewish mother will have no problems becoming an Orthodox Jew if he seeks to observe as a Sephardic Orthodox Jew. This statement is made on the basis of a statement by the Orthodox Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Netanya, Rabbi David Chelouche, who ...
3
A Torah scroll which is written by a heretic should be burned ,like you said. However, if one did not burn it and brought it into the bathroom that's also fine,but once one starts thinking about Torah in the bathroom that becomes a forbidden act (Shulchan Aruch OC 85:2). A Torah written by a heretic is not holy but if it is exactly the same as a kosher ...
3
Rabbi Kenneth Brander from the CJF (at YU) once delivered a shiur regarding the positive values of atheism. Here is a link to some of the mekorot presented, which source Rav Kook among other key rabbinic figures.
2
No. In general, if the person is willing to violate the sabbath in public and even in front of a great rabbi, we assume he cannot count for a minyan. Rabbi Nachum Rabinovitch, (All Jews Are Responsible for One Another, from "Tradition and the Nontraditional Jew") based on the Rambam, says that chilul shabbos may not disqualify them if they are a tinok ...
2
It would appear based on the article Reb Shlomo and Tu Beshevat (scroll to the bottom) that the sefer Hemdat HaYamim, which clearly contains sabbatean material has been accepted.
for those following Lithuanian tradition, both the Gra and Haayim of Volozhin accepted Hemdat Yamim.
So I would surmise that as long as no sabbatean theology is espoused ...
2
כופר בתורה שבעל פה does not mean that he denies the theoretical existence of any תורה שבע"פ but that he denies the actual תורה שבע"פ in our possession--so if someone denies the authentic תורה שבע"פ he would fall under that category. Furthermore, such a person would be included under the category of מכחיש מגידיה as someone who denies the reliability of the ...
2
One shouldn't lightly dismiss a statement of chazal that seems outdated without trying to understand something from it. Sometimes there's another level to what they are saying and sometimes the idea can be understood within modern science also. For example, some of the statements about demons can apply to other hidden harmful forces, such as bacteria (see ...
2
Rabbi Meir is not a good example of whether it is good or not to learn from an apostate. Although he was one of the most learned of the Tannaim, he made many tragically bad decisions in his life. Rashi brings down a tradition, in his comment to Avodah Zara 18b, that Rabbi Meir arranged the seduction of his wife by one of his pupils in order to prove the ...
1
"emunah" is the term you are looking for. "Emunah" is the basic understand of a jew that everything written in our sources is true an g'd is constantly with us. "emunah" must be learned specifically (like halacha), it cannot be attained otherwise. Learning chumash with rashi or a masechet in talmud might be intellectual interesting but first your emunah must ...
1
You have a mistake in your premise. Chabad Messianism does not believe the Rebbe IS mashiach, but that he can/will be. (Which is rejected by most since mashiach is a living person.)
In your question you keep saying J "was", but he very clearly was NOT the mashiach. To believe J was the mashiach is heretical, but to believe he might be [have been] is ...
1
Nechama Leibowitz, in this letter, outlines her approach to this question. I think a basic level of intellectual honesty demands that if someone says a good pshat, that we use it. If they got it right, they got it right. To the sources regarding kisvei hakodesh written by an apikores, I think one must distinguish between the ideas and the physical books. The ...
1
Offhand, these stories sound like parables.
I've heard a similar point put forth by a local Chassidish rabbi (I don't recall in whose name) as a derasha on Tehillim 41:2:
אַשְׁרֵי, מַשְׂכִּיל אֶל-דָּל; בְּיוֹם רָעָה, יְמַלְּטֵהוּ ה
How can we say אַשְׁרֵי מַשְׂכִּיל, that praiseworthy is the maskil?!
The answer is that everything is good in its place, ...
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