1. There are those who would claim that Dor Daim and even all students of the [[Rambam]] are heretics by reason of their non-acceptance of Zohar and Lurianic Kabbalah.<ref>See for example Chaim Kanievsky, ''Derech Emunah'' p.30.</ref> This claim is based on the assumption that the [[Isaac Luria|Luria]]nic [[Kabbalah]] is a dogma of Judaism, binding upon all Jews. Not only the Dor Daim and ''talmide ha-Rambam'', but many other Orthodox groups, such as the followers of the Vilna Gaon and many Modern Orthodox, would disagree with this assumption (whether or not they personally accept the Lurianic Kabbalah) because it is not sustained by any testimony in the Talmud or other sources that Shimon ben Yochai authored the Zohar.
The Dor Dai response is that whether a person or school is heretical is a question of law, to be decided according to authoritative works of halakha: one is not a heretic simply for disagreeing with a widely held Aggadah interpretation, unless the ''halakha'' specifically says so. The Mishneh Torah is comprehensive in scope and is, at the very least, ''one'' of the authoritative sources of ''halakha'', so to follow it must be an acceptable way of doing is authentic Judaism. Accordingly, since the Dor Daim assert nothing that is not found within the four corners of the Mishneh Torah, and the Mishneh Torah cannot be interpreted as actually requiring belief in anything approaching teaches laws that contradict Zoharic or Lurianic Kabbalah, they cannot be heretics - unless the Mishneh Torah itself is heretical, which is not held by any mainstream Jewish group.
2. Others believe that the main problem is not that Dor Daim do not follow Kabbalah for themselves, but that they delegitimize those who do follow it. Rabbi Yihhyah Qafahh, for instance, held that one must not use parchments written by, or eat meat slaughtered by, believers in Kabbalah because these are dedicated to the service of a concept distinct from the Unfathomable Almighty Creator and therefore are not dedicated for serving the Almighty Creator. This distinct concept to which Rabbi Yihhyah Qafahh, based on certain popular Kabbalistic works, warned that such parchments etc. are dedicated is called ''Zeir Anpin'' (one of the ''partzufim'' of the 10 sephirot). Few Dor Daim take such an extreme view today, as most consider that the above reasoning makes Jewish law too uncertain in practice.
