Heretics are despised in Rabbinical Judaism,
Jews who deny God or the authority of the Talmud
were treated with the utmost contempt. The 12th
century Jewish philosopher Maimonides,
considered one of the greatest Torah scholars of
the Middle Ages, states Jews must hate them and
celebrate their deaths:
Laws of Mourning, chapter 1, rule 10: Y
"All who separate themselves from public custom [of the Jews], such as those who do not fulfil commandments and do not honor the holidays or do not frequent synagogues or houses of study but rather regard themselves free and [behave] like other nations, and heretics, converts and informers should not be mourned; when they die, their brothers and all other relatives should put on white garments, make banquets and rejoice, since those who hate the Lord, blessed be he, have perished."
Maimonides, Commentary on the Mishnah Y
"If a person holds all these principles [of faith] to be
sound, and he truly believes in them, he is then part of
that "Israel" whom we are commanded to love, pity, and
treat, as God commanded, with love and fellowship ...
But if a person holds one of these principles
to be defective, he has removed himself from the Jewish
community. He is and atheist,
a "heretic" and an unbeliever who "cuts
among the plantings." We are
commanded to hate and destroy him."
