20th Century Jewish Religious Thought: Original Essays on Critical Concepts, Movements, and Beliefs

Heresy

Heresy Ze'ev Gries T here are three commonly used terms for heresy in Jewish literature: minut, kefirah ba-ikkar, and epikorsut. Moreover, the word heresy itself, which comes from the Greek hairesis, made its way into Hebrew literature in the Middle Ages through conflation with the Hebrew word harisah, which has a similar sound and whose root, h-r-s, in biblical usage already included the realm of meaning attached to the word heresy. The Greek hairesis, the source of the English word, originally meant "taking" in the sense of "taking away" a part of the principal body, that is to say, the division of a body to form a religious sect. The Hebrew word harisah used as a synonym for sectarianism (minut) appears in a chapter heading of an anonymous kabbalistic work, Ma'arekhet ha-Elohut , printed in Mantua in 1558 (113a): "Shaar ha-harisah bo yitbaer inyan kizzuz ha-netiot she-hu ha-minut ve-ha-epikorsut" ("The chapter on heresy, in which the matter of the 'cutting of the plants,' which refers to minut and epikorsut, will be explained"). Nor was it coincidental that the author based his explanation, in the 340 HERESY opening lines of this chapter, on Exodus 19:24: "But let not the priests or the people break through [yeharesu] to come up unto the Lord," for the word yeharesu here literally means "to break through a boundary or framework ," which is indeed how it is interpreted by the famous traditional Bible commentators Abraham ibn Ezra and David Kiml)i. 1 Moreover, it must certainly have been cognizance of the Greek term that underlay the interpretations of Onkelos and of Midrash Tanhuma Yashan, at the end of the section on Korah, to Numbers 16:1: "And Korah ... took men"; this "taking," they explained, referred to the sectarian split with the people of Israel as a whole that was initiated by Korah and his men.2 Let us now look at the three more common terms for heresy in Jewish literature. As we shall see, an analysis of the sources of their denotations reflects upon our understanding of the worldviews of those who used them. The term minut is apparently derived from the Hebrew word min, which denotes a type or species to be distinguished from others to which it may be closely related. It came to be used as a term for such heretics against the Jewish faith as the groups of Jewish Christians active toward the end of the Second Temple period and after, during the first years of Christianity.3 Some say that the word min itself was originally simply an acronym for the words maaminei Yeshu [ha-]nozri ("believers in Jesus of Nazareth"); this was Rashi's interpretation, though it was censored out of his commentaries.4 Min was also used to refer to Gentiles in general, and thence to anyone who adopted the ways of the Gentiles.5 The term kefirah ba-ikkar is a combination of two words: k-f-r, which existed in ancient Hebrew but was first used by the Sages in the sense of "deny," and ikkar, which comes from an Aramaic term meaning "root" and, in this context, refers to God. Note, however, that the meaning of the term was not the same in different periods; as used by the tannaim and amoraim it referred not to denial of the existence of God but rather to denial of the unity, providence, and omnipotence of the God of Israe1.6 In the Middle Ages, on the other hand, it was used primarily to signify the denial of some dogma or principle of the faith.7 The word epikorsut is apparently derived from the name of the Greek philosopher Epicurus, who opposed the prevalent Greek belief that the gods were provident and were not indifferent to the world and rejected the view that the soul continued to exist after death.8 Note, however, the definition of Moses Maimonides in his commentary to Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:1, in which he understands epikoros to be an Aramaic word derived from the root p-k-r, meaning heresy: HERESY 341 "Epikoros" is an Aramaic word that refers to scorning or making light of the Torah or of scholars of the Torah, and it is thus used derivatively to refer to anyone who does not believe the basic principles of the Torah or who shows contempt for the...