The Hebrew term ''kareth'' ("cutting off" he, כָּרֵת, ), or extirpation, is a form of punishment for sin, mentioned in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

and later Jewish writings. Kareth in its simplistic meaning refers to an individual being expelled from the Nation of Israel. In the Talmud, ''kareth'' means not necessarily physical "cutting off" of life, but can also mean the extinction of the soul and denial of a share in the world to come.

Etymology

The word ''kareth'' is derived from the Hebrew verb ''karat'' ("to cut off"). The noun form ''kareth'' does not occur in the Hebrew Bible; rather, verb forms such as ''venichreta'' (" hat soulshall be cut off") are most common.

Hebrew Bible

In the Hebrew Bible, verbs that underlie the later use of the noun form ''kareth'' refer to forms of punishment including premature death, or else exclusion from the people. According to Richard C. Steiner, the phrase "to be cut off from one's people" is an antonym for "to be gathered to one's people" (e.g. ), and thus to be "cut off" in the Bible means to be deprived of the afterlife. Examples of sins making a person liable to what is later referred to as ''kareth'' include eating chametz on

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring. ...

, sexual violations, ritual impurities, and a man's refusal to be circumcised. The Book of Numbers also states that anyone who sins deliberately or high-handedly is "cut off."

Rabbinic interpretation

''Kareth'' is the punishment for certain crimes and offences defined under Jewish law (e.g. eating the life blood of a living animal, eating suet, refusing to be circumcised, etc.), a punishment that can only be given at the hand of heaven unto persons of the Jewish faith who are bound to keep the Jewish law, rather than made punishable by any earthly court. In some cases of sexual misconduct and in breaking the laws of the Sabbath, such as where there are witnesses of the act, the court is able to inflict punishment. By definition, ''kareth'' does not apply to non-Jews. ''Kareth'' can either mean dying young (before the age of 50 or 60), dying without children, or the soul being spiritually "cut off" from your people after death. According to Nachmanides, both definitions are accurate, and are applicable according to the nature of the person that committed the offense. If he was generally a good person, meaning that the good in him outweighed the evil, he is punished with dying before his time, unless he had other virtues that are cause for him to merit living out his full life, but retains his portion in the world to come. However, if the evil in him outweighed the good, he is then granted a good and lengthy life to reward him for the good that he did in his life, but upon death, he will have no portion in the world to come. According to Rabbi Yonah Gerondi, the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

itself makes a distinction as to which form of ''kareth'' is to be applied for a particular offense. In most cases, the Torah uses the term such as that in Leviticus 18:29; the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people, which he says is a reference to a punishment in this world. However, when the Torah uses a term such as that in Numbers 15:31, that person will be cut off completely, his offense will remain with him, that penalty refers to being spiritually cut off after death. There are two opinions as to what the nature of being spiritually cut off means in reference to the soul after death.

Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...

is of the opinion that this means that upon his death the "soul that left his body is completely destroyed and he dies the death of animal". Nachmanides maintains that the soul is not destroyed, but that the soul being cut off after death is a reference to the spiritual world where after death the soul exists in an exalted spiritual state, and that the penalty of Kareth is that he is not eligible to enter into that world. However, the soul lives on, and is eligible for the resurrection of the dead. ''Kareth'' is applicable only when the transgression was done on purpose, and without later proper repentance, and is applicable only to Jews. When done unintentionally, such a transgression generally requires that a sin-offering be brought. Kerithoth ("Excisions"), the plural of ''kareth'', is the seventh tractate of the fifth order Kodashim of the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Tora ...

Offenses punishable by ''kareth''

According to the

, ''kareth'' is the punishment for the following 36 offenses (where the offense is sexual intercourse, ''kareth'' applies to all consenting parties): #Sexual intercourse with one's mother #Sexual intercourse with one's father's wife #Sexual intercourse with one's son's wife #A male having sexual intercourse with another male #A male having sexual intercourse with an animal #A female having sexual intercourse with an animal #Having sexual intercourse with both a mother and her daughter within the span of his lifetime #Sexual intercourse with a married woman #Sexual intercourse with one's sister #Sexual intercourse with one's father's sister #Sexual intercourse with one's mother's sister #Sexual intercourse with the sister of one's wife #Sexual intercourse with one's brother's wife #Sexual intercourse with the wife of one's father's brother #Sexual intercourse with a menstruating woman, known as a ''

niddah Niddah (or nidah; he, נִדָּה), in traditional Judaism, describes a woman who has experienced a uterine discharge of blood (most commonly during menstruation), or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirem ...

'' #Cursing God using the

Tetragrammaton The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are '' yodh'', '' he'', '' waw'', an ...

, known as ''megadef'' (מגדף)) #Worshiping a deity other than God, known as Avodah Zarah (In Jewish law, idolatry is understood as implying an act that one does for another god and which is tantamount to what an Israelite would normally do for his own God, such as bowing down unto it, or sacrificing unto it, etc.) #Delivering one's child to Moloch # Consulting with a spirit through a process known as ''ov'' (אוב) #Violating the Shabbat by doing one of the 39 categories of activities prohibited on Shabbat #Eating of an offering while in a state of ritual impurity, known as '' tumah'' #Entering the temple or Tabernacle while in a state of ritual impurity, known as '' tumah'' #Eating of a form of animal fat known as '' chelev'' (This prohibition applies only to the suet of domesticated animals, e.g. bullocks, sheep and goats, but not to the suet of wild game animals, such as deer, gazelles, and antelope) #Eating or drinking blood (excluding the blood of fish) #Eating of an offering after the allowable time for the eating of that offering has expired. An offering in this state is known as ''notar'' (נותר) #Eating of an offering that was offered with the intention of eating of it after the allowable time for the eating of that offering has expired. Such an offering is known as ''pigul'' (פיגול) #Slaughtering an animal offering outside the boundaries of the temple or Tabernacle #Offering up an animal offering upon an altar outside the boundaries of the temple or Tabernacle #Eating '' chametz'' on

#Eating or drinking on Yom Kippur (applies to eating at least a date's bulk of food within the space of 2–4 minutes) #Violating Yom Kippur by doing one of the 39 categories of activities that are prohibited on Shabbat #Creating a replication of the holy anointing oil (שמן המשחה) that was used for the anointment of high priests and kings of the house of David that was made by Moses, using the same ingredients and precise measurements, and creating it in the same volume as created by Moses Maimonides, Commentary on Mishnah, Krithoth 1:1 #Creating a replication of the incense offering, known as the '' Ketoret'', using the same ingredients and precise measurements of the ''Ketoret'' #Anointing oneself with the holy anointing oil that was created by Moses #Failure to bring the Passover offering (Kareth, in this case, applies only to the person who is ritually pure, and not on a long journey, yet he still refuses to bring a Passover offering, in accordance with .) #Failure to be circumcised

References

* * Etshalom, Yitzchak "Shabbat and Mikdash" ''Parashat Ki Tissa' 1995-2007' http://www.torah.org/advanced/mikra/5757/sh/dt.57.2.09.html#

External links