Excision

Sources

Because it was the word of יהוה that was spurned and [God’s] commandment that was violated, that person shall be cut off—and bears the guilt.

Numbers 15:31

Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the very first day you shall remove leaven from your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day to the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.

Exodus 12:15

(Bamidbar 15:30) "And the soul who acts with a high hand": This is one who perverts the Torah, like Menasheh ben Chezkiah, who would sit and cast ridicule in the face of the L-rd, saying (for example): He should not have written in the Torah (Bereshit 30:14) "And Reuven went in the days of the wheat harvest." And He should not have written (Ibid. 36:22) "And the sister of Lotan was Timna." Of one such as he it is written in the Tradition (Psalms 50:20) "You sit and speak against your brother; you cast ridicule against your mother. These you have done and I have kept silent…

Sifrei Bamidbar 112:2

4) (Vayikra 23:29) "For every soul which will not be afflicted on this self-same day will be cut off from its people." This is the punishment for (non-) application. (Vayikra 23:30) "I shall make that soul go lost": What is the intent of this? (i.e., What do we learn from this equivalence between kareth ["cutting-off"] and "aveidah" ["going lost"]?) Because "kareth" is mentioned in every place and I do not know what it is, "I shall make that soul go lost" indicates that "kareth" refers to complete destruction (and not merely to the cutting off of the soul from the body…

Sifra, Emor, Chapter 14 4

§ Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: Why is the punishment of excision from the World-to-Come [karet] mentioned three times with regard to idol worship? It is stated twice with regard to the ritual of Molekh, in the verse: “I will also set My face against that man, and I will excise him from among his people” (Leviticus 20:3), and in the verse: “Then I will set My face against that man, and against his family, and I will excise him” (Leviticus 20:5). The third mention of karet is with regard to one who blasphemes: “That person blasphemes the Lord…

Sanhedrin 64b:17-22

The good that is hidden for the righteous is the life of the world to come. This will be life which is not accompanied by death and good which is not accompanied by evil. The Torah alludes to this in [the promise, Deuteronomy 22:7]: "So that good will be granted you and you will live long."
The oral tradition explains: "So that good will be granted you" - in the world that is entirely good; "and you will live long" - in the world which is endlessly long, the world to come.
The reward of the righteous is that they will merit this pleasure and take part in this good…

Mishneh Torah, Repentance 8:1

The retribution beyond which there is no greater retribution is that the soul will be cut off and not merit this life as [Numbers 15:31] states: "This soul shall surely be cut off. His sin shall remain upon him."
This refers to the obliteration of the soul which was referred to by the prophets with the following metaphoric terms: "the pit of destruction" [Psalms 55:24], "obliteration" [ibid. 88:12], "the bonfire" [Isaiah 30:33], "the leech" [Proverbs 30:15]. All the synonyms for nullification and destruction are used to refer to it for it is the [ultimate] nullification after which…

Mishneh Torah, Repentance 8:5

AND THE SOULS THAT DO THEM SHALL BE CUT OFF FROM AMONG THEIR PEOPLE. “His offspring is cut off, and his [own] days are shortened.” This is Rashi’s language. Now in the matters of excision mentioned in the Torah there are three different expressions. One is that which states, that man shall be cut off; a second one is that which says, and the souls which do them shall be cut off, or that soul shall be cut off from before Me; and a third form of expression is that which states, that soul shall utterly be cut off, his iniquity shall be upon him…

Ramban on Leviticus 18:29:1

THAT SOUL. This does not refer to the rational soul. as those who err say. It refers rather to the connection of the soul to the body.

Ibn Ezra on Numbers 15:31:3

HIS INIQUITY SHALL BE UPON HIM. “This means only as long as his iniquity is upon him, but not after he has repented.” This is Rashi’s language, from the words of our Rabbis.
According to the plain meaning of Scripture, this expression [his iniquity shall be upon him] is like: their blood shall be upon them; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless; he hath uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity, [the meaning of all these verses being that the guilty have brought the punishment upon themselves]…

Ramban on Numbers 15:31:1

ונכרת [THAT MAN] SHALL BE CUT OFF — his offspring are cut off (die out) and his own life-time (lit., his days) is shortened (cf. Rashi and Tos. Shabbat 25a; Tos. Yevamot 2a).

Rashi on Leviticus 17:9:1

And if any male who is uncircumcised fails to circumcise the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from kin; he has broken My covenant.”

Genesis 17:14

THAT SOUL WILL I DESTROY. There is a difference between “destroy” and “cut off” (v. 29). I cannot explain the difference.

Ibn Ezra on Leviticus 23:30:1

10) "And there shall be cut off the soul": the soul, and not the congregation (for the sin of the single soul). "the soul": to include the drinker (i.e., one who dissolves the cheilev and drinks it). ("the soul) that eats": and not the soul that forces another to eat. (i.e., the forcer is not subject to kareth.) "that eats": the size that constitutes "eating," an olive-size. "from its people": But its people remain at peace, (i.e., unpunished).

Sifra, Tzav, Section 10 10

5) (Vayikra 19:8) "And the eater of it shall bear his sin, for he has profaned the holy thing of the L–rd; and that soul shall be cut off from its people." This is a prototype (binyan av) for (desecration of) all that is holy, that its punishment is kareth.

Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 1 5

And Abaye said: Everyone agrees with regard to teruma that one is only liable to add a payment of one-fifth the value of the teruma for eating it unwittingly if he is unwitting with regard to its prohibition. The Gemara asks: To whose opinion is Abaye referring in the phrase: Everyone agrees? Certainly, it is the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan. Even though, in general, he holds that unwitting with regard to karet is sufficient to render the action unwitting, the case of teruma is different…

Shabbat 69b:3

And they will not die. There is a difference between ‘being cut off’ and ‘death at the hands of Heaven.’ Death by Heavenly hands means the transgressor alone will die, but ‘being cut off’ means he and his progeny will die. Nevertheless, we find here that the excision of the one who defiles the Mikdash is called death.
The explanation for this is that it is also dealing with women, and both a woman and her progeny are not cut off, for the sons will not die because of their mother.
Therefore, the main warning here is regarding the death of the transgressor himself.

Gur Aryeh on Vayikra 15:31:1

20) "For all who do any of these abominations": all or part; "the souls (plural) shall be cut off." What is the intent of this? Because it is written "a man," I might think that a man incurs kareth by (fornicating with) a woman. Whence do I derive the same for a woman by a man? From "the souls" — two.

Sifra, Acharei Mot, Chapter 13 20

And the sixth level is [the sins that come with] a death penalty at the hands of the Heavens: The difference between [this] death penalty and excision (karet) is that the liability for the death penalty is upon him, but not upon his progeny; whereas with the punishment of excision, he and his progeny are excised. Nevertheless our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, have said (Pesachim 32b) that regarding one matter, in one aspect, death at the hands of the Heavens exceeds the severity of excision…

Sha'arei Teshuvah 3:107

אשר ישכב את דדתו AND IF A MAN SHALL LIE WITH HIS AUNT… [THEY SHALL DIE CHILDLESS] — This verse is intended to teach that the "excision" mentioned above (18:29, where "all these abominations includes the union prohibited in v. 14 of that chapter) consists in their (the offenders’) passing from this world childless.

Rashi on Leviticus 20:20:1

Relatedראו גם

Death at the Hands of the Heavens

Death Penalty

Ariri

Soul (נשמה)

Moses ben Maimon (Rambam)

Sheetsדפי מקורות

Related Sheets