“That the night of Yom Kippur has the same laws as the day” - Containing two paragraphs.
On Yom Kippur, its night is the same as its day in all matters; and what are its forbidden things on it: working, eating, drinking, washing, annointing, wearing sandles (leather), intercourse. But one is not guilty of the karet penalty78Karet, כרת, means "extripation" which is a punishment at the hands of heaven mentioned in the Bible. It served as a penalty for numerous sins which were committed deliberately such as idolatry, desecration of the Sabbath, eating leaven on Passover, incest, adultery, and eating some forbidden foods. For such offences, the person need not be given a previous warning as the sin is so basic and severe. The halakhah defines karet as premature death (Sifra, Emor 14:14) and baraita (Mk. 28a; TJ, Bik. 2:1, 64b) state it as "death at the age of fifty". Some amoriam refer to it as death between the ages of fifty and sixty. The Mishna (Ker. 1:1) lists thirty-six transgressions mentioned in the Torah for which karet is punishment. The word karet has also become the standard for many severe violations of the halakhah. Karet has to be for a deliberate act. If the transgression was done inadvertently, only a sin-offering is required. The punishment of karet is divine, therefore God knows if it was deliberate or not and there need not be any witnesses.
There is discussion among the tannaim whether or not the penalty of karet exempts a person from flogging (see footnote 31) which is the penalty for most toraitic law violations where the person is warned. The decision is that one should be flogged and repentence can annul a karet (Mak. 23a-b). Even though a transgressor may be punished by karet, he is still liable for any civil claims that may have arisen from his actions (Ket. 30a).
It was believed that natural death took place after sixty and if one died before that or one's life span was in any way curtailed this was considered "death by the hand of heaven" even though it had no fixed time. There was also discussion regarding the speed of death. Death in one, two, or three days before the age of sixty, or for those committing a transgression after the age of sixty was considered a sign of karet.
The medieval scholars who were very concerned with reward and punishment decided that a death from karet meant the absolute end, the maximal punishment, while ordinary sinners after being punished in Gehinnom, lived again in the world to come, a world not shared by those punished with karet. This was the view of Maimonides while Naḥmanides felt that those who died by karet continued to suffer in the world to come since the soul can never be annihilated and perish. Karet was degradation of the soul and the negation of spiritual pleasures awaiting the souls of the righteous.
Israel Moses Ta-Shma, E. J., v. 10, pp. 788-89. except for working, eating, and drinking.
All (types of) work (for whose transgression) a person is guilty on the Sabbath is also guilty on Yom Kippur. And all types of work for whose transgression on the Sabbath a person is free from punishment but are still prohibited, are also prohibited on Yom Kippur in a like manner except that on the Sabbath a conscious sin is punishable by stoning,79Stoning, sekilah, סקילה, is a Biblical form of capital punishment which was the standard penalty for crime in all ancient civilizations. In the Torah there are two explicit methods of executing a criminal or a sinner; stoning and burning. According to the Talmud, the Torah has four methods of execution: stoning, burning, beheading, and strangling, (See B. Sanhedrin 49b., ff).
Stoning was an instinctive violent expression of popular wrath, (Exodus 17:4, 8:22; Numbers 14:10; I Samuel 30:6; I Kings 12:18; II Chronicles 10:18) and often in the Bible it is the prescribed mode of execution (Leviticus 20:2, 27, 24:16; Numbers 15:35; Deuteronomy 13:11, 17:5, 21:21, 22:21, et al). Originally, the whole community participated in the stoning and were required to throw stones at the guilty person. Stonings were probably the standard form of judicial execution in Biblical times, (Leviticus 24:23; Numbers 15:36; I Kings 21:13; II Chronicles 24:21).
The Mishna (Sanh.6:4) states that a "stoning place" was established where instead of a person being pelted by stones, the convicted person would be pushed down from a high place to his death provided it was not too high so as to mutilate the body which was a concern of the rabbis. It also was not to be too low so the death would be instantaneous. The reason for the stoning place was that the scriptural rule states "The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death," (Deuteronomy 17:7) and then afterwards the "hand of all the people (should be on him)", (Deuteronomy 17:7). To insure that the witnesses put him to death they were the ones to push him and thereby be first to put him to death. Thus this method of "stoning" became acceptable as opposed to the actual throwing of stones. This also seemed the more "humane" way of carrying out capital punishment as the convicted person died more quickly and the danger of mutilation was reduced. In Maimonides' comment to Sanhedrin 6:4 he stated that it really made no difference if stones were thrown at one or if one were thrown at stones.
cf., Haim Hermann Cohn, v. 5, pp. 142-43. but on Yom Kippur it is punishable by karet.80Karet, כרת; see footnote 78. Everything that is forbidden to be moved (or handled) on the Sabbath is also forbidden to be moved (or handled) on Yom Kippur, (but it is permitted to clean vegetables and to open (shell) nuts from the Minḥah time81Minḥah, מנחה, a time designating afternoon, meaning after the six and one half hour or after 12:30 P.M. according to our present day time system. (See footnote 40 for a more complete explanation). onward when (Yom Kippur) falls on a weekday, but nowadays (presently) it is customary to forbid that.)
Hagah: If a fire occurs on Yom Kippur, it is permitted to save one meal for the need of the night (following Yom Kippur) as one (may) save on the Sabbath the afternoon meal,82The afternoon meal on the Sabbath is also referred to as Se'udah Shelishit, the third meal which is eaten on the Sabbath between the Minḥah, Afternoon Service (see footnote 40) and the Ma'ariv, Evening Service (see footnote 144). (ר״ן פרק כל כתבי),83Rabbenu Nissim on the chapter Kol Khit-vey, כתבי ר״ן פרק כל, which is a commentary on the talmudic tractate Shabbat.
For Rabbenu Nissim, ר״ן; see footnote 47. and it is already explained in section 33484See in the Shulḥan Arukh, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, chapter 334 which contains twenty-seven paragraphs on the laws that apply when a fire breaks out on the Sabbath. These same laws apply regarding a fire, according to Isserles to Yom Kippur. (as to) how to act at this time when a fire (occurs) on the Sabbath and the same law (applies) for Yom Kippur. It is customary that the children play with nuts (אגודה ומהרי״ל).85Agudah and Maharil, אגודה ומהרי״ל.
The Agudah, אגודה, is a collection of halakhic decisions derived from talmudic discussions and arranged in the order of the talmudic tractates. It was written by Alexander Suslin ha-Kohen of Frankfort who died in 1349. The Agudah was published in Cracow in 1571 and it also included novellae of his own as well as those of his predecessors, and a commentary and collection of halakhot to the minor tractates and to the Mishnayot of the orders Zera'in and Tohorot. The language of the Agudah is very concise and it is evident that it was written quickly under the threat of the persecutions of the time since Suslin died a martyr's death in Erfurt. Suslin was the last of the early German halakhic authorities. This German talmudic scholar was born Erfurt where he taught, as well as in Worms, Cologne, and Frankfort.
The Agudah, Suslin's most famous work, gives halakhic rulings in concise form and it ignores differences of opinion. He used as sources Mordecai b. Hillel and Asher b. Jehiel. It is often necessary to consult the work of these two scholars to understand fully the Agudah. Jacob Weil (see footnote 27) wrote a digest to the work called Ḥiddushei Agudah which was published in Venice in 1523 and accompanies the Agudah. Later halakhic authorities such as Jacob ha-Levi Moellin (see footnote 8) and Moses Isserles considered his decisions authoritative and they quoted from him. Isserles mentioned the Agudah often in his glosses to the Shulḥan Arukh.
Editorial Staff, E. J., v. 2, p. 585.
Maharil, מהרי״ל; see footnote 8. One should not object to them (the children) even before the Afternoon Prayer86Minḥah, מנחה; see footnote 40., and the custom is widespread with respect to the mentioned law of breaking nuts, (ד״ע).87Da'at Aẓmo, ד״ע, Isserles' own opinion; see footnote 38.