ALL JEWS SHALL RISE IN OLAM HA’T’CHIYA; PART 10

Translated by Boruch Merkur (Continued from last issue)

c) Kareis, soul excision, is the punishment for [serious transgressions, such as] idolatry and the like. Our Sages say about kareis, quoting the verse, “‘Hikareis tikareis ha’nefesh, etc. – that soul shall surely be cut off, etc.’: ‘Hikareis’ – [the soul is] cut off from the world; ‘tikareis’ – [it is also] cut off from Olam HaBa” (Sanhedrin 64b). And Rambam writes: “The wicked … shall be cut off and perish … [A wicked person is] cut off because of his wickedness and vanquished from existence, like an animal – that is what kareis entails, etc.” (Laws of Repentance, Ch. 85, beg.).

The opinion of Ramban in Shaar HaG’mul differs (his words are quoted with minor variations in the Mefaresh on Rambam, ibid): “Hikareis … this soul, which is supernal, cannot be nullified or eradicated. Nor does it, with death, revert to and rejoin with the four primordial elements. (Rather, after death) the soul seeks to ascend and cleave to higher realms, as is the case with all created beings – they desire to return (l’yesodam, to their elements). But material coarseness as well as the coarseness of sin separate the soul from its Creator, preventing it from doing so … This comprises the concept of kareis, which is to say that the soul is ‘cut off’ from its Divine source and foundation (nichresa m’yesoda).”

Ramban, however, contrasts the latter with a description of the following punishment [which is eternal, implying that the other category is only temporary]: “But the utterly wicked, who are punished eternally (l’dorei doros) … as it is written, ‘[They shall go out and gaze upon the corpses of the men who rebelled against Me.] Their worms shall never die [nor their fire be quenched], etc.’” (Yeshayahu 66:24). Here Ramban refers to the retribution of minim, informers, and heretics, etc., regarding whom our Sages said, “They descend to Gehinom and are punished there forever … Gehinom ceases to be, yet their punishment continues” (Rosh HaShana 17a). (See Likkutei Torah of the Arizal, Parshas Bo; Seifer HaLikkutim, Parshas Lech Lecha; Seifer HaGilgulim, Ch. 6, where it says: “The concept of kareis applies only to the [dimension of the soul called] Nefesh, but the Ruach and the Neshama … are not subject to kareis.” (Also note what is written in Emek HaMelech Shaar Olam HaTohu, Ch. 63.))

It has already been explained though in Seifer Asara Maamaros (maamer Chikur Din, halacha 5, Ch. 1) that there are six groupings on the Day of Judgement, and these [heinous sinners] belong to the sixth group. The author concludes about them: “Gehinom is locked in their face and they are punished eternally … and forevermore … It is possible that they too will be examined by the deep wisdom of ‘He [Who] devises means whereby the banished are not cast from Him.’ The latter sheds light on the saying, ‘Gehinom ceases to be, yet their punishment continues’: Our Sages interpret the verse, ‘Chitzai achaleh bam – My arrows shall be used up in them,’ as follows. Just as ‘My arrows’ are ‘used up’ (chitzai kalim) refers to mitigating the ultimate suffering, so too ‘Gehinom ceases’ (Gehinom kala) refers to the cessation of the ultimate punishment. So long as the ‘arrows’ and Gehinom exist, they never stop raging and menacing them. But ultimately these souls are not eradicated (for they too will be rectified in the general correction of souls ––Mefaresh) … The truth of the matter is that nothing is eternal save goodness (whereas suffering and Gehinom will cease to be ––Mefaresh).”

A similar approach is taken in Seifer Eimek HaMelech (Shaar Tikkunei HaT’shuva, Ch. 3), where it states regarding heinous sinners: “They are totally banished … until the words of G-d, may His name be blessed and exalted, are fulfilled with His great and abundant mercy, whereby He contrives means to not ‘cast from Him’ ‘the banished.’ When the appointed time arrives, little by little He uplifts these ‘banished’ souls, correcting them and cleansing them, beginning with reincarnating the soul … This is the concept of kareis. You might think that the soul suffers total annihilation, but that is not the case. The soul is indeed cut off from the source of life, but it reincarnates, etc.

And there, in Shaar Krias Arba, Ch. 152, the author elaborates: After the Messianic Era, G-d will renew His world. Even the place of Gehinom will be purified and sanctified, and the wicked sinners of the Jewish people will be amalgamated within the boundaries of Gan Eden … the arrows of Gehinom will cease and be purified in the sanctity of the Gan, and the holy dance with the tzaddikim will take place there.

 (To be continued be”H)

(From a letter dated Monday, the 16^th of Tammuz 5703; Igros Kodesh Vol. 1, pg. 141 ff.)