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43-518: Syria-Palaestina became organized under late Roman Empire as part of the Diocese of the East , in which it was included together with the provinces of Isauria , Cilicia , Cyprus (until 536), Euphratensis , Mesopotamia , Osroene , Coele-Syria , Syria Phoenice and Arabia Petraea . Under Byzantium, a new subdivision did further split the province of Cilicia into Cilicia Prima, Cilicia Secunda; Syria Palaestina

86-556: A gentile (and in the eyes of the rabbinic sages, idolatrous ) religion. In summarizing the Talmudic statements concerning heretics in Sanhedrin 90-103, Maimonides says: The following have no share in the world to come, but are cut off, and perish, and receive their punishment for all time for their great sin: the minim, the apikoresim, they that deny the belief in the Torah, they that deny

129-642: A Byzantine vassal confederacy with a capital on the Golan, forming a buffer state between the Byzantine Empire and the Arabian tribes. In 614, both Palaestina Prima and Palaestina Secunda were conquered by a joint Sasanian-Jewish army. The leader of the Jewish rebels was Benjamin of Tiberias , a man of "immense wealth" according to Middle Age sources, and by Nehemiah ben Hushiel , a Jewish Exilarch. The event came as shock to

172-619: A buffer Byzantine client kingdom in the 6th century, with the capital on the Gaulanitis - the North-Eastern border of Palaestina Secunda. In the early 7th century, the province experienced a significant demographic collapse due to the consequences of the Byzantine-Persian war and the Jewish rebellion. Following the short-lived restoration of Byzantine rule, the Muslim armies caused the flight of

215-597: A few Minim (probably including Jewish Christians ) had lived in few Galilean towns such as Sepphoris and Capernaum. However, beginning in the 4th century the Byzantine government responded to Christian interest in the Holy Land by embarking on a massive program of patronage, especially church-building, that encouraged Christians to move to Palestine. Less successfully, imperial policy tried to encourage Jews to convert to Christianity by offering protection and rewards. Eventually, as

258-515: A heretic were burned; and an animal slaughtered by a heretic was forbidden food. Books written by heretics did not render the hands impure; they might not be saved from fire on the Sabbath . A heretic's testimony was not admitted in evidence in Jewish courts ; and if an Israelite found an object belonging to a heretic, he was forbidden to return it to him. A Jew who rejected Jewish practice could receive

301-501: A result of Christian settlement in the vicinities of Nazareth and Capernaum (where a synagogue and a church lie almost across the street from each other) and Tabgha, Galilee lost its Jewish majority. Small minority of pagans - whether non-Christian Romans and Hellenists or Itureans had been populating the province during early Byzantine rule. Modern scholars concur that Palaestina Secunda, and more specifically Galilee, produced and exported high quality olive oil in large numbers. Galilee

344-618: A significant portion of the Christians to the north - into territories of northern Syria and Anatolia still ruled by the Byzantines. The province of Palaestina Secunda was a thriving center of Judaism through the 4th and 5th centuries, where the Jerusalem Talmud was compiled. The primary Jewish authority, the Sanhedrin , existed in Tiberias until the early 5th century, before being abolished by

387-456: A status similar to one who rejected Jewish belief. The mumar le-hachis (one who transgresses out of spite for God), as opposed to the mumar le'teavon (one who transgresses due to his inability to resist the temptation of illicit pleasure), was placed by some of the Rabbis in the same category as the minim. Even if he habitually transgressed one law only (for example, if he defiantly violated one of

430-470: Is a Talmudic term for a Jew who sins inadvertently due to having been raised without an appreciation for the Judaism practiced by their ancestors. As with most instances of Talmudic terminology, derived from a specific scenario but applied to wider metaphorical analogies, an individual does not literally have to have been "captured" as an infant to fall within the definition of a tinok shenishba. This approach

473-457: Is explained as "You shall not turn to heretic views ["minut"] which lead your heart away from God". The Birkat haMinim is a curse on heretics. The belief that the curse was directed at Christians was sometimes cause for persecution of Jews . Modern scholarship has generally evaluated that the Birkat haMinim probably did originally include Jewish Christians before Christianity became markedly

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516-440: Is widely held across Orthodox Judaism : they are not accountable for their distance from complete Jewish observance. That it applies to the many unaffiliated and unobservant Jews in contemporary society is the basis for the various Orthodox Jewish outreach professionals and organizations; even non-professionals make efforts to draw them closer. The present section lists individuals who have been declared heretical, independent of

559-539: The Diocese of Oriens , ( Latin : Dioecesis Orientis ; Greek : Διοίκησις Ἑῴα ) was a diocese of the later Roman Empire , incorporating the provinces of the western Middle East , between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia . During late Antiquity , it was one of the major commercial, agricultural, religious and intellectual areas of the empire, and its strategic location facing the Sassanid Empire and

602-564: The Mosaic authorship of every portion of the Pentateuch , would protest against the Maimonidean (or Talmudic; see Sanh. 99a) conception of heresy. The Talmud states that the punishment for some kinds of heretic is to be "lowered into a pit, but not raised out of it", meaning that there are types of people who may legitimately be killed. The Jerusalem Talmud states that there were, at the time of

645-600: The Neturei Karta , consider the State of Israel to be a heretical institution. Ultimately, the majority of Orthodox Jews consider individual secular Jews ; those who drive on the Sabbath ; eat non-kosher foods; and in other ways violate the ways of their ancestors to be tinok shenishbim who are not responsible for their actions (as opposed to heretics who purposefully and knowingly deny God). Tinok shenishba (Hebrew: תינוק שנשבה, literally, "captured infant" [among gentiles])

688-572: The Rashidun Caliphate . Prior to the 6th century, the province of Palaestina Secunda largely included Jews, as well as a mixed Greek and Aramaic-speaking population, who were mostly practicing Christianity. The Jews had made Galilee and the Gaulanitis their center since the defeat of the Bar Kokhba revolt of the 2nd century; and flourished through the 4th and 5th centuries, as Byzantine control of

731-453: The dietary laws out of spite for God), he was not allowed to perform any religious function, nor could he testify in a Jewish court because if one denies one divinely ordinated law it is akin to his denial of its godly origin. One who violated the Sabbath publicly or worshiped idols could not participate in the eruv chazerot , nor could he write a bill of divorce . One who would not permit himself to be circumcised could not perform

774-535: The Byzantine authorities. The last Nasi (president) of the Sanhedrin was Gamaliel VI , who died in 425. After his death, the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II did not allow for a successor, and in 429 terminated the patriarchate. The conversion of Constantine set in motion events that restored Palestine as a major theater in the development of the Christian church, as it had not been since 70. Only

817-581: The Christian society, as many of its churches were destroyed according to Christian sources of that period. After withdrawal of the Persian troops and the afterward surrender of the local Jewish rebels, the area was shortly reannexed into Byzantium in 628 CE. Byzantine control of the province was again and irreversibly lost in 636, with the Muslim conquest of Syria . It was later roughly reorganized as Jund al-Urdunn military district of Bilad al-Sham (Syria) province of

860-554: The East . The diocese included originally all Middle Eastern provinces of the Empire: Isauria , Cilicia , Cyprus , Euphratensis , Mesopotamia , Osroene , Syria Coele , Phoenice , Palaestina Prima , Palaestina Secunda , Arabia , and the Egyptian provinces Aegyptus , Augustamnica , Thebais , Libya Superior and Libya Inferior , which were grouped into the separate Diocese of Egypt under Valens (r. 364–378). During

903-647: The Jewish courts of justice never attended to cases of heresy; they were left to the judgment of the community. The sentiment against the heretic was much stronger than that against the pagan . While the pagan brought his offerings to the Temple in Jerusalem and the priests accepted them, the sacrifices of the heretic were not accepted. The relatives of the heretic did not observe the laws of mourning after his death, but donned festive garments, and ate and drank and rejoiced. Torah scrolls , tefillin , and mezuzot written by

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946-671: The Mohammedans, that the Lord has given a new dispensation instead of the old, and that he has abolished the Law, though it was originally divine. However, Abraham ben David , in his critical notes, objects to Maimonides characterizing as heretics all those who attribute corporeality to God, and he insinuates that the Kabbalists are not heretics. In the same sense all biblical critics who, like Abraham ibn Ezra in his notes on Deuteronomy 1:2 , doubt or deny

989-509: The Torah. That being said, many Orthodox Jews also hold Maimonides's Mishneh Torah in very high regard. Many Orthodox Jews consider the Conservative , Reconstructionist and Reform , and Open Orthodoxy movements to be heretical due to the concessions and changes they have made relative to so-called traditional Judaism, and even smaller numbers of Hasidic groups, such as the Satmar dynasty and

1032-457: The area dimmed, providing a great deal of autonomy for local populations. North-Eastern parts of the province were also inhabited by pagan Itureans , who lived in more significant numbers in the neighbouring Phoenicia and Phoenicia Libani provinces to the north. Christian Arab Ghassanids migrated to the province from Yemen in around 4th and 5th centuries and settled the Gaulanitis, as well as former territories of Arabia Petraea province, creating

1075-511: The belief in resurrection of the dead and in the coming of the Redeemer, the apostates, they that lead many to sin, they that turn away from the ways of the [Jewish] community. Five are called 'minim': (1) he who says there is no God and the world has no leader; (2) he who says the world has more than one leader; (3) he who ascribes to the Lord of the Universe a body and a figure; (4) he who says that God

1118-406: The ceremony on another. While the court could not compel the mumar to divorce his wife, even though she demanded it, they would compel him to support her and her children and to pay her an allowance until he agreed to a divorce. At his death, those who are present need not tear their garments as they would by a fellow Jew. The mumar who repented and desired readmittance into the Jewish community

1161-400: The course of the 4th century, several provinces were split, resulting in the new provinces of Cilicia I and Cilicia II, Syria I and Syria II Salutaris, Phoenice I and Phoenice II Libanensis (east of Mt. Lebanon), Palaestina I , Palaestina II and Palaestina Salutaris (or Palaestina III). The last creation of a new province dated in the reign of Justinian I (r. 527–565), when Theodorias ,

1204-541: The dead [derived] from the Torah, and [one who says: The] Torah [did] not [originate] from Heaven, and an epikoros ( הָאוֹמֵר אֵין תְּחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים מִן הַתּוֹרָה, וְאֵין תּוֹרָה מִן הַשָּׁמָיִם, וְאֶפִּיקוֹרֶס ." Rabbi Akiva says, "Also one who reads external literature" ( Hebrew : רבי עקיבא אומר אף הקורא בספרים החיצונים ). This is explained as "books of heretics" ( ספרי מינים , sifrē minim ) The Biblical verse, "so that you do not follow your heart and eyes" וְלֹֽא־תָת֜וּרוּ אַחֲרֵ֤י לְבַבְכֶם֙ וְאַחֲרֵ֣י עֵֽינֵיכֶ֔ם "

1247-531: The destruction of the Temple, no less than twenty-four kinds of minim. Maimonides wrote that "It is a mitzvah, however, to eradicate Jewish traitors, minnim , and apikorsim , and to cause them to descend to the pit of destruction, since they cause difficulty to the Jews and sway the people away from God." The heretic was excluded from a portion in the world to come; he was consigned to Gehenna , to eternal punishment, but

1290-467: The doings of men. The following three are called 'koferim ba-Torah': (1) he who says the Torah is not from God: he is a kofer even if he says a single verse or letter thereof was said by Moses of his own accord; (2) he who denies the traditional interpretation of the Torah and opposes those authorities who declare it to be tradition, as did Zadok and Boethus ; and (3) he who says, as do the Nazarenes and

1333-538: The former diocese came under Sassanid Persian occupation in the 610s and 620s, during the Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628 . Shortly after the Byzantine victory in the war and the recovery of the region, it was again lost, this time permanently except Cilicia and most of the Levantine coasts later reconquered, to the Muslim conquests : by the 640s, Cilicia formed the border ( Al-Awasim ) between Byzantium and

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1376-410: The fundamentals of faith); also poresh mi-darke tzibbur (he who deviates from the customs of the community). Religious fundamentalists claim that all these groups are consigned to Gehinnom for all eternity and have no possibility of a portion in the world to come . The Mishnah , in Sanhedrin 10:1, says the following have no share in the world to come: "One who says: There is no resurrection of

1419-561: The new Arab Rashidun Caliphate and its successors, while Cyprus became a disputed territory . From the old provinces of the Diocese of the East, only Isauria and parts of the two Cilicias remained under Byzantine rule, grouped under the new Anatolic Theme . Heresy in Judaism Jewish heresy refers to those beliefs which contradict the traditional doctrines of Rabbinic Judaism , including theological beliefs and opinions about

1462-418: The nomadic tribes gave it exceptional military importance. The capital of the diocese was at Antioch , and its governor had the special title of comes Orientis ("Count of the East", of the rank vir spectabilis and later vir gloriosus ) instead of the ordinary " vicarius ". The diocese was established after the reforms of Diocletian (r. 284–305), and was subordinate to the praetorian prefecture of

1505-541: The particular criteria applied in the assessment. The list below is intended to be inclusive, and thus contains both individuals who have been fully excommunicated, as well as those whose works alone have been condemned as heretical. (The list is in chronological order.) [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Singer, Isidore ; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Heresy and Heretics" . The Jewish Encyclopedia . New York: Funk & Wagnalls. The JE cites

1548-399: The practice of halakha (Jewish religious law). Jewish tradition contains a range of statements about heretics , including laws for how to deal with them in a communal context, and statements about the divine punishment they are expected to receive. The Greek term for heresy , αἵρεσις, originally denoted "division," "sect," "religious" or "philosophical party," is applied by Josephus to

1591-420: The region around Laodicea , was split off from Syria I. At about the same time, Cyprus was split off and became part of a new super-province, the quaestura exercitus . In 535, as part of his administrative reforms, Justinian I abolished the diocese, and the comes Orientis became the provincial governor of Syria I, while retaining his previous rank of vir spectabilis and his salary. The entire area of

1634-537: The singular min , for "heretic" or "Gnostic," is coined idiomatically, like goy and am ha'aretz ; see Gnosticism ). The law "You shall not cut yourselves" (לא תתגדדו) is interpreted by the rabbis: "You shall not form divisions [לא תעשו אגודות אגודות], but shall form one bond" (after Amos 9:6 , A. V. "troop"). Besides the term min (מין) for "heretic," the Talmud uses the words ḥitzonim (outsiders), epikoros , and kofer ba-Torah , or kofer ba-ikkar (he who denies

1677-406: The three Jewish sects— Sadducees , Pharisees , and Essenes . In the sense of a schism to be deprecated, the word occurs in 1 Corinthians 11:19 , Galatians 5:20 , and particularly in 2 Peter 2:1 ; hence αἱρετικὸς ("heretic") in the sense of "factious" ( Titus 2:10 ). The specific rabbinical term for heresies, or religious divisions due to an unlawful spirit, is minim (lit. "kinds [of belief]";

1720-532: Was a long-standing oil producer for centuries, as already evidenced by Josephus in the first century CE. Rabbinic literature of the Byzantine era references Galilean olive oil as well as the olive oil made at Capernaum and Scythopolis . The Palestinian-Phoenician coast's general riches was mentioned in the Expositio Totius Mundi . Diocese of the East The Diocese of the East , also called

1763-523: Was not alone and Creator of all things at the world's beginning; (5) he who worships some star or constellation as an intermediating power between himself and the Lord of the World. The following three classes are called 'apiḳoresim': (1) he who says there was no prophecy nor was there any wisdom that came from God and which was attained by the heart of man; (2) he who denies the prophetic power of Moses our master; (3) he who says that God has no knowledge concerning

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1806-505: Was obliged to take a ritual immersion , the same as the convert. If he claimed to be a good Jew, although he was alleged to have worshiped idols in another town, he was believed when no benefit could have accrued to him from such a course. The definitions of heresy are sometimes different in certain Orthodox Jewish circles. Some Haredim consider many works of Maimonides to be heretical due to his sometimes liberal interpretations of

1849-472: Was split into Palaestina Prima , Palaestina Secunda and eventually also Palaestina Salutaris (in 6th century). The major cities of the province were Scythopolis , Capernaum and Nazareth . In the 5th and 6th centuries, Byzantines and their Christian Ghassanid allies took a major role in suppressing the Samaritan Revolts in neighbouring Palaestina Prima. By the 6th century Christian Ghassanids formed

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