The 13 Principles

Laws of Repentance 3:6

These are the sinners who don’t have a share in the World to Come. They are cut off, destroyed, and judged because of their evil sins forever and ever and ever:

• Minim (5)
• Apikursim (3)
• those who deny Torah (3)
• those who deny the Resurrection
• those who deny the Messianic Age
• rebels (2)
• those who cause the masses to sin
• those who separate themselves from the ways of the community
• those who sin publicly in a haughty fashion
• informers (2)
• those who terrify the community for any reason other than the sake of Heaven
• murderers
• habitual gossipers
• those who undo their circumcision

Laws of Repentance 3:7

Five sinners are called Minim:

1. one who claims that there isn’t a God and the world doesn’t have a Ruler
2. one who claims that there is a Ruler but there are two or more
3. one who claims that there is one Master but He has a body or a form
4. one who claims that He was not the first Creator of everything
5. one who worships a star or a constellation (even if he only intends) that it should be an advocate between him and the Master of the Worlds

Each of these is called a Min.

Laws of Repentance 3:8

Three sinners are called Apikursim:

1. one who claims that there is no such thing as prophecy, and communication between the Creator and man is impossible
2. one who denies the prophecy of Moshe Rabeinu
3. one who claims that the Creator doesn’t know the actions of people

Each of these is called an Apikorus.

Three sinners are called deniers of Torah:

1. one who claims that the Torah isn’t from God, even if he only claims that Moshe wrote a single verse or letter on his own
2. one who denies (the Torah’s) explanations in the Oral Torah like Tzadok and Baitus
3. one who claims that the Creator exchanged or nullified the Torah (or even a single commandment), even if it was (at one point) from God

Each of these is called a denier of Torah.

Laws of Repentance 3:14

An individual in any of these 24 categories has no share in the World to Come, even if he is Jewish.

There are also sins that are less severe than these, but the Rabbis warned that those who make a habit of doing them also have no share in the World to Come, and that we should distance ourselves from them:

• one who sets a nickname for his friend
• one who calls his friend by a nickname
• one who embarrasses his friend in public
• one who takes pride in his friend’s shame
• one who mocks Torah scholars
• one who mocks his teachers
• one who mocks the festivals
• one who profanes holy things

When do these rules (that individuals in these categories don’t have a share in the World to Come) apply? When they die without repenting. But if they return from their wickedness before they die, they can regain their share in the World to Come. There’s no sin in the world that can’t be changed by sincere repentance. Even someone who denies a fundamental every day of his life, if he repents on his deathbed, he has a share in the World to Come, as it says “…“peace, peace to the far and the near”, says God, “and I will heal him”” (Isaiah 57:19). All wicked people, rebels, and sinners like them who repent, whether in public or in private, are accepted, as it says “Return, rebellious children…” (Jeremiah 3:14/22). Even though they are considered rebellious (because they repented in private and not in public), their repentance is still accepted.