# Kareth

The Hebrew term kareth ("cutting off" Hebrew: כָּרֵת,), or extirpation, is a form of punishment for sin, mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and later Jewish writings. The typical Biblical phrase used is "that soul shall be cut off from its people" or a slight variation of this. Several different suggestions have been made for the understanding of this punishment in the Bible and in rabbinic thought.

## 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 ("[that soul] shall 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. The former view is implied by verses stating that the punishment will be inflicted directly by God, while the latter view may be suggested by verses which distinguish between being "cut off" and executed. However, elsewhere both kareth and the death penalty are specified as punishments for the same crime, implying that kareth is not exclusion, as exclusion and death are presumably incompatible penalties. 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. Genesis 25:8), 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, 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 hands of heaven. In some cases of sexual misconduct and in breaking the laws of the Sabbath, such as where there are witnesses of the act, such sins can also be punished with the judicial death penalty. By definition, kareth does not apply to non-Jews.
According to rabbinic sources, kareth can either mean dying young (before the age of 50 or 60), or else dying without children, or else the extinction of the soul and denial of a share in the world to come. According to Nachmanides, multiple 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 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 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.

### Offenses punishable by kareth

According to the Mishnah, kareth is the punishment for the following 4 offenses
* Violating the Yom Kippur
* Eating on Yom Kippur
* Eating Chametz on Passover
* Having sexual intercourse with a niddah
Gehenna is likened to Sheol, where the wicked go to suffer when they are judged. The Mishnah names seven Biblical individuals who do not get a share in Olam Ha-Ba, lit. "the world-to-come": Jeroboam, Ahab, Menasseh, Doeg the Edomite, Ahitophel, Balaam, and Gehazi. According to the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, Menasseh got a share in Olam Ha-Ba. Midrash Konen places Ahab in the fifth department of Gehenna, as having the heathen under his charge. Absalom was consigned to the 7th circle of Gehenna, and according to the description of Gehenna by Joshua ben Levi, who, like Dante, wandered through hell under the guidance of the angel Duma, Absalom still dwells there, having the rebellious heathen in charge; and when the angels with their fiery rods run also against Absalom to smite him like the rest, a heavenly voice says: "Spare Absalom, the son of David, My servant". His half brother Amnon was said to be possibly consigned to the 2nd circle of Gehenna. The opinion that Amon was the most sinful of all the wicked kings of Judah (II Chron. xxxiii. 23) is brought out in the Talmud in tractate Sanhedrin 103b) as follows: Ahaz suspended the sacrificial worship and sealed the Torah scrolls, Manasseh burned the names of the Lord and tore down the altar, Amon made it a place of desolation [covered it with cobwebs] and burned the Torah scrolls. This is derived from the story of the finding of the Book of the Law, II Kings, xxii. 8]; Ahaz permitted incest, Manasseh committed it with his sister, Amon committed it with his mother, saying to her, I only did this to anger the Creator. And yet, out of respect for his son Josiah, Amon's name was not placed on the list of the kings excluded from the world to come. The sages also explain proverbs 24:30 as follows: I passed by the field of a lazy man, This is Ahaz. And the vineyard of a senseless man, this is Manashe. And behold, it was all overgrown with thorns, this is Amon. And its surface was covered with Nettle, this is Jehoiakim. And its stone wall was broken down, this is a reference to Zedekiah, in whose days the temple was destroyed.Amon of Judah sinned very much, but his name was not placed on the list of the kings excluded from the world to come out of respect for his son Josiah; however a midrashic fragment reads: "No sin is more grievous than idolatry, for it is treason against God. Yet even this has been forgiven upon sincere repentance; but he that sins from a mere spirit of opposition, to see whether God will punish the wicked, shall find no pardon, although he say in his heart, 'I shall have peace in the end (by repenting), though I walk in the stubbornness of my evil heart'" (Deut 29:19). Such a one was Amon, the son of Manasseh, for the (apocryphal) Scripture says: "And Amon reasoned an evil reasoning of transgression and said:'My father from his childhood was a great transgressor, and he repented in his old age. So will I now walk after the lust of my soul and afterward return to the Lord.' And he committed more evil in the sight of the Lord than all that were before him; but the Lord God speedily cut him off from this good land. And his servants conspired against him and slew him in his own house, and he reigned two years only." It is noteworthy that this very midrashic fragment casts light upon the emphatic teaching of the Mishnah (Yoma, viii. 9): "Whosoever says, 'I will sin and repent thereafter,' will not be granted the time for repentance." In the Aggadah. Jehoiakim is still undergoing punishment for his sins. Although the Babylonian Talmud does not include him among those who have no place in the world to come (cf. Sanh. 103b), the Jerusalem Talmud cites him as an example of one who has forfeited his place in heaven by publicly transgressing the law. Jair, a Judge of Israel, was punished with kareth by the Lord for forcing men to prostrate themselves before an altar of Baal: "Hear the words of the Lord ere thou diest. I appointed thee as prince over my people, and thou didst break My covenant, seduce My people, and seek to burn My servants with fire, but they were animated and freed by the living, the heavenly fire. As for thee, thou wilt die, and die by fire, a fire in which thou wilt abide forever." Thereupon the angel burnt him with a thousand men, whom he had taken in the act of paying homage to Baal." As for men who committed adultery (with another man's wife), Abba ben Joseph and Abba Arika are both quoted in the Talmud as expressing abhorrence, and arguing that such men would be condemned to Gehenna.