HASHKOFO-----ikrim, tinok sh'nishba

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There is no opinion at all that even remotely holds anything like that. If a person does not believe in G-d or he does not believe n the Divine status of every single word in the Torah, he has absolutely no share in Olam Habah, even if he fulfills all the Mitzvos perfectly.

The reason we have 13 Ikarim is to tell us the minimum that a person must believe in order to get Olam Habah. If someone does not believe in any one of the 13 Ikarim - or even if he merely is in doubt about any of them, even if he does not deny them - he is an Apikores and has zero share in Olam Habah.

More: Not only do you lose your share in Olam Habah, you also lose your place in Klall Yisroel. There is no Mitzvah to love you; there is no Mitzvah to return you lost items, and any privilege or status conferred upon members of Klall Yisroel is forfeited by someone who is not cognizant of the truth of the 13 Ikarim.

Even more: If you do not believe in Hashem, or you do not believe in the Torah, then, ipso facto, you do not believe that a Mitzvah is a Mitzvah. If nobody commanded it, then it is not a commandment, It is merely something that you decided to do. You therefore lose credit for any Mitzvah that you do, since you do not believe it is a Mitzvah - it is as if you did the Mitzvah by accident, without intent to perform it. As if you did the Mitzvah unawares. In Halachic terminology, it is called "misasek".

Furthermore: Even if you believe in Hashem, but you knowingly disagree with what the Torah says about Hashem, in other words, you think, for instance, that Hashem has a nose, or that He is not eternal, then all the Mitzvos you do are done in the name of the wrong god! You do not get credit for such a Mitzvah.

If let's say someone drinks wine every Saturday because he believes Buddha said to do so, he does not get a Mitzvah for "making Kiddush." So, too, if you create your own avodah zorah in your mind - and any deviation from G-d's characteristics as explained in the 13 Ikarim is the wrong G-d - then all the Mitzvos that you do are done in the name of some imaginary avodah zorah, not Hashem.

Belief in the 13 Fundamentals is so important, that even a Tinok shenishbah loses his share in Olam Habah if he doe not believe in them. This is because the forfeiture of Olam Habah does not happen as a punishment for he who does not believe, but rather, it is a "Metzius," meaning, the nature of Olam Habah is such that your belief is what allows you to enjoy it.

And if you’re going to ask, what fault is it on the part of the Tinok sh'nishbah that he was never given the opportunity to believe, I will give you two answers:

One: It is no fault of his. But fault doesn’t matter. It is no fault of the tree that it was made a tree and not a person. A tree cannot come to Hashem and demand it get Olam Habah because if it would have been given the opportunity to earn it, it would have; a cow cannot come to Hashem demanding that it get Olam Habah because it was denied the opportunity; a malach cannot come to Hashem and demand it get Olam habah because it was not created as a person.

Not every creation has the opportunity to earn Olam Habah, and it is Hashem's infinite Wisdom that decides which creations get the opportunity and which don’t. Perhaps the reason Hashem did not give Snoopy a human soul was because He saw that if He would give this creation a human soul, it would just squander the opportunity to be good, and inevitably end up in hell. So in His kindliness, Hashem decides that the best thing for this creation is to be a cow.

Whatever Hashem does is for the best. So if Hashem decides that so-and-so should be a cow, that’s the best thing for so-and-so. And if so-and-so should be created a malach, or a goy, or a rock, or not be created at all, that is a decree by Hashem, and it is the best for that creation.

So if Hashem decides to create someone who can never receive Olam Habah, He can create them as a malach, a tree, a tinok shnishbah, or whatever He decides in His infinite wisdom, depending on a myriad of variables that only He can calculate. In the end, He decides what is best for that creation.

So if indeed someone never had the opportunity to earn Olam Habah, it was all part of Hashem's plan. His purpose in the world, in such a case, would be a support role in some way - as are malachim, galaxies, and plant and animal life. They, too, do not earn Olam Habah but were created for as "tactical support" for those who do.


...I did not make the Torah - Hashem did. I just broadcast it. The Halachah is that someone who does not believe in Hashem or any of the Ikarim has no share in Olam Habah. This is true even if they are merely doubtful about it. They also do not get credit for their Mitzvos. They are, in essence, practicing another religion, worse than Christianity, since the identification of what religion they practice depends on their belief system, and this person's is not that of Judaism. Nothing I can do about that.

Nobody holds that Judaism does not demand beliefs and without those beliefs you are an apikores. There were those who disagreed with the Rambam's number of Ikarim, but

(a) the halachah seforim all accept the rambam's 13

(b) those who do not, are more machmir than the Rambam and state that you are an apikores even if you disbelieve a Torah teaching that is not included in the 13

(c) others disagree because they are defining "ikarim" in a non-halachic way, that is, what components of Judaism are necessary in order for it to not fall apart?

The sefer haikarim for instance, says that the 13 components of the Rambam can be capsulated in less than 13. Nobody disagrees with the Rambam that these 13 Ikarim are true and mandated beliefs.

And as I said, there is nobody who l'halachah is more lenient than the Rambam regarding belief in the 13 Ikarim.