[Avodah] The Seven Stages of Apostasy

[Prof. Levine]

The following is from RSRH's essay Av II

"But if you will not hearken unto me and will not do all of these 
Commands and if
you will scorn My Laws, and if your soul will spurn My Judgments so
that all of My Commandments are not carried out, and so that you
renounce My Covenant-"  (Levit. 26, 14-15)

This warning is commented upon in the Sifra as follows; "Many do
not study the Law, but they fulfill it. Concerning these men, this
Scriptural quotation says: 'You will not hearken and you will not do.'
 From this we learn that one who does not study the Law will also not
continue to fulfill it.

"Many neither study the Law nor fulfill it; but they do not scorn
those who fulfill it. Referring to these men, these Scriptural verses say:
'If you will scorn My Laws.' We learn from this that one who neither
studies the Law nor fulfills it will ultimately also scorn those who fulfill
it.

"Many do not study the Law and do not fulfill it, and they also
scorn others who fulfill it; but they do not hate the sages, who teach it.
Concerning them, these verses say: 'and if you will spurn My Judgments-.'
Here we learn that one who neither studies nor fulfills the
Law, and scorns those who fulfill it, will also come to hate the sages,
who teach it.

"Many neither study the Law nor fulfill it, and hate the sages, who
teach it; but they do not oppose the observance of the Law by others.
Concerning them, these Scriptural verses say: '-so that all of My
Commandments are not carried out-.' From this we learn that one
who neither studies the Law nor fulfills it, and scorns those who fulfill
it, and hates the sages who teach it, will ultimately oppose the observance
of the Law by others.

"There are many who neither study the Law nor fulfill it, scorn
those who fulfill it, hate the sages and oppose the fulfillment of the
Law; but they nevertheless acknowledge that the Law was revealed on
Sinai. Concerning this category of people, this Scriptural passage says:
'all of My Commandments.' This is to teach that one who does not
study the Law and does not fulfill it, who scorns those who fulfill it,
who hates those who teach it, and who opposes the observance of it by
others will ultimately deny the entire Revelation of the Law at Sinai.

"A man can have fallen into all of these errors, but so far he might
not have denied the existence of God. Concerning this, the Scriptural
passage concludes with: 'so that you renounce My Covenant.' This
teaches that one who has fallen into all of these errors will ultimately
also deny the existence of God entirely!"

Hence the tradition recorded in the Sifra perceives in the individual
verses of this Scriptural warning the outline for the history of the
development of apostasy against God and His Law, an apostasy which
began innocently but continually grew.

This development passes through the following stages, as explained
in the Sifra: the study of the Law is abandoned; the Law is no longer
fulfilled; those who live according to the Law are scorned; the sages,
who teach the Law, are hated; observance of the Law by others is
~posed; the Divine Revelation is denied; the existence of God is
denied.

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