1. כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא שנאמר (ישעיה ס') ועמך כולם צדיקים לעולם יירשו ארץ נצר מטעי מעשי ידי להתפאר. ואלו שאין להם חלק לעולם הבא האומר אין תחיית המתים מן התורה; ואין תורה מן השמים ואפיקורס. רמבם משנה סנהדרין פרק י משנה א All Israel have a portion in the world to come, for it is written ‘Your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever…But the following have no portion: He who maintains that resurrection is not a biblical doctrine. That the Torah is not from Heaven (Torah Min Hashamayim). And an Apikoris Revelation and Torah Min Hashamayim שלושה הן הכופרים בתורה: האומר שאין התורה מעם ה', אפילו פסוק אחד, אפילו תיבה אחת--אם אמר משה אמרו מפי עצמו, הרי זה כופר בתורה; Three categories of heretics are called kofrim. They are: one who says the Torah, or even one verse or word of the Torah, is not Divine, or one who says that the Bible and the Oral Law were not given by God to Moses, but that Moses was the author of the Bible and the Oral Law; (Rambam, Hilhot Teshuva) CALEV BEN DOR וַיִּתֵּן יְהוָה אֵלַי, אֶת-שְׁנֵי לוּחֹת הָאֲבָנִים--כְּתֻבִים, בְּאֶצְבַּע אֱלֹהִים; וַעֲלֵיהֶם, כְּכָל-הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהוָה עִמָּכֶם בָּהָר מִתּוֹךְ הָאֵשׁ--בְּיוֹם הַקָּהָל And the LORD delivered unto me the two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spoke with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. (Devarim 9:10) The text could have written ‘on them’. Why was it written ‘and on them’. It could have been written ‘the words’. Why was it written ‘all the words’. …from the additional letters Rabbi Joshua ben Levi would expound: Scripture, Mishnah, Talmud, Aggadah, and even what a diligent student will teach in the future before his master was already spoken to Moses at Sinai (Talmud Yerushalmi Peah 17a) וַיְדַבֵּר אֱלֹהִים, אֵת כָּל-הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה לֵאמֹר And God spoke all these words, saying (Shemot 20.1) God spoke all of these words (Shemot 20.1). Said Rabbi Isaac. Whatever the prophets were destined to prophesy in every generation was received by them from Mount Sinai…For so did Moshe say to Israel. “but both with those who are standing here with us this day…and with those who are not with us here this day (Devarim 29:14) [in other words, rather than saying those not standing with us here this day it says those not with us here this day]. These are the souls that were destined to be created and are without substance so they could not be said to be standing. Even though they were not yet created, each of them received its share of revelation. And it was not just all the prophets who received their prophecy at Sinai, but even the Sages who arise in every generation – all of them received their share from Sinai. What could Torah Min Hashamayim mean?

2. What could Heaven mean? From Will of God From God From heaven (literally) What could Torah Mean? Chumash10 Commandments Divine Will (Instruction) Written + Oral Law All future inferences + teachings וְהַנֶּפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר-תַּעֲשֶׂה בְּיָד רָמָה, מִן-הָאֶזְרָח וּמִן-הַגֵּר--אֶת-יְהוָה, הוּא מְגַדֵּף; וְנִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהִוא, מִקֶּרֶב עַמָּהּ. כִּי דְבַר-יְהוָה בָּזָה, וְאֶת- מִצְוָתוֹ הֵפַר; הִכָּרֵת תִּכָּרֵת הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהִוא, עונָה בָהּ. But the soul that acts defiantly, whether he be home-born or a stranger, the same blasphemes Hashem; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of Hashem, and has broken His commandment; that soul shall utterly be cut off, for his sin is upon him. (Bamidbar 15: 30-31) ‘But the person who acts defiantly’ – that is who unmasks the face of Torah ‘that person shall be cut off’ that is the one who acts willfully, according to R Akiva. ‘Because he has despised the word of Hashem’ - that is the Sadducee ‘and violated his commandment’ that is the Heretic. Another opinion - ‘he who has spurned the word of Hashem’ refers to one who says, all the Torah was of divine behest, except for one matter which Moses said of his own initiative. Rabbi Ishmael says. It refers to idolatry for he has spurned the first word and that was said at the divine behest through Moses, namely ‘I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods besides Me (Sifrei) תנו רבנן כי דבר ה' בזה ומצותו הפר הכרת תכרת זה האומר אין תורה מן השמים ד"א כי דבר ה' בזה זה אפיקורוס תניא אידך כי דבר ה' בזה זה האומר אין תורה מן השמים ואפילו אמר כל התורה כולה מן השמים חוץ מפסוק זה שלא אמרו הקדוש ברוך הוא אלא משה מפי עצמו זהו כי דבר ה' בזה ואפילו אמר כל התורה כולה מן השמים חוץ מדקדוק זה מקל וחומר זה מגזרה שוה זו זה הוא כי דבר ה' בזה רבי ישמעאל אומר זה העובד {עבודה זרה} מאי משמעה דתנא דבי ר' ישמעאל כי דבר ה' בזה זה המבזה דבור שנאמר לו למשה מסיני אנכי ה' אלהיך לא יהיה לך אלהים אחרים Our Rabbis taught: Because he despised the word of Hashem…This refers to he who maintains that the Torah is not from Heaven. Another rendering: Because he has despised the word of the Lord, refers to an epikoros. Another [Beraita] taught: Because he despised the word of Hashem — this refers to he who maintains that the Torah is not from Heaven. And even if he asserts that the whole Torah is from Heaven, excepting a particular verse, which [he maintains] was not uttered by God but by Moses himself, he is included in 'because he despised the word of Hashem' And even if he admits that the whole Torah is from Heaven, excepting a single point, a particular kal vechomer deduction or a certain gezerah shawah, — he is still included in 'because he has despised the word of the Lord'. R. Ishmael said: This refers to idolaters. How is this implied? — Even as the school of Ishmael taught: Because he despised the word of Hashem — this applies to one who despises the words spoken to Moses at Sinai, (Sanhedrin 99a)

3. If not Maximalist, what is Torah Min Hashamayim? I believe that Torah min Hashamayim - the concept of Torah as Revelation - is not simply one belief in Judaism. it is the belief of Judaism - the one from which all else follows and without which nothing would follow at all. The first belief of Torah Min Hashamayim is that God speaks and through speaking enters into a relationship with mankind. Words are holy. The meaning of Torah Min Hashamayim…the words through which God binds Himself to a people and the people bind themselves to God. What is Torah? Torah is the world we enter when, through an act of active listening, we hear the voice of God. In other words, to put it more accurately, the real principle should not be called 'Torah from Heaven'. The principle should be called 'Heaven from Torah'. (Jonathan Sacks, Lecture on Revelation March 2001) How can he say then (implying they were in the land then but are not now.) When Moshe wrote the Torah were not the Canaanites in the land?...therefore it appears that Moshe did not write this here but rather Joshua or one of the prophets. If you object that our Rabbis said that whoever said ‘all the Torah is divine except for one verse which Hashem did not say but Moshe said of his own accord’ to such the verse ‘he has the spurned the word of the Lord’ applies the answer is that this applies only to the commandments and not to the narratives (Ibn Ezra) ויעבור אברם, בארץ, עד מקום שכם, עד אילון מורה; והכנעני, אז בארץ And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem, to the terebinth of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. (Bereshit 12: 5-6) Commandments not Narrative Prism to Connect with Divine The homily of Rabbi Isaac was not said simply for rhetorical loveliness…it is an expression of the desire to understand the secrets of cognitive apprehension, to understand the source of all knowledge, and knowledge of Torah in particular…we see thought expands continually, daily from generation to generation. Sages say things they did not hear from their Masters, they construct narratives, and they innovate Halachot. Is all this richness simply the fruit of human reason? Rabbi Isaac came and set forth this idea – the source of all new ideas is in the revelation of God’s presence in a prophetic event at Mount Sinai. (Abraham Joshua Heschel Heavenly Torah) Sinai as Initial Source of Inspiration Some give another reason why the dots are inserted. Ezra reasoned thus: If Elijah comes and asks ‘why have you written these words [i.e. Why have you included these suspect passages?] I shall answer ‘that is why I dotted the passages’ And if he says to me ‘you have done well in having written them’ I shall erase the dots above them. (Bamidbar Rabbah 3:13) "Let Abbaye come and raise his voice in protest at the notion that 'whoever believes that Moses and not God wrote a verse of the Torah has spurned the word of the Lord.’ Consider how many great men of Israel by whose words we live and from whose waters we drink, would have to be brought to judgement!“ (Abraham Joshua Heschel, Heavenly Torah) CALEV BEN DOR