The Frum Apikores
The Gemara in Sanhedrin (99b) asks, who is called an apikores? Now, to us that seems to be a strange question because who doesn’t know what an apikores is? But our Sages want us to know that ‘apikores’ doesn’t necessarily mean a disbeliever. It means somebody who is in rebellion against the Torah, in rebellion against Hashem. And so the Gemara wants to know, what qualifies as rebelling against Hashem?
Among others the Gemara gives the following example: מאי אהנו לן רבנן האומר – Someone who says, “What benefit do we get from the Torah learners? From those who spend their lives studying Torah.”, he’s already in rebellion. “What’s the big benefit they give the world?” he says, לדידהו קרו לדידהו תנו – “All of their learning is for themselves, for their own benefit.”
