ACHREY MOS - CUTTING                                

 March 18, 1994

"You therefore shall keep My statutes and My ordinances, and shall not do any of these abominations;  ... For whosoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from among their people." Leviticus 18:26

The Bible says that the punishment for eating bread on Passover or eating food on Yom Kippur is 'korase'.  It is not altogether clear what the word 'korase' means.  Literally, the word korase means 'cutting off'.  But the cutting off of what?  The Gemorrah discusses this question, and suggests two possibilities.  According to one opinion, 'korase' means the shortening off one's own life, specifically dying before the age of 50.  Thus one is 'cutting off' the end of one's life, shortening it.  Another opinion says that 'korase' means  that one's children, chas ve shalom, die in their youth.  Therefore, the children's lives are 'cut short', or one's connection to the future through one's children is 'cut off '. 

The Ramban gives another possible interpretation of the word 'korase'.  He says that one is 'cut off' from one's own neshama.  And to give still another, but related interpretation, the Gemorrah in Chulin uses the word 'korase' in another context, that off a vascectomy in an animal, the cutting off of the duct that the sperm flow through, making the animal unable to father offspring.  Thus someone who suffers the punishment of 'korase' is similarly cut off from the future that would occur through one's offspring.

Perhaps there is an underlying meaning of the word 'korase' that encompasses all the above meanings.  It is suggested by the first Psalm:

The praises of Man are that he walked not in the counsel of the wicked,
And stood not in the path of the sinful, and sat not in the session of scorners.
But his desire is in the Torah of HASHEM, and in His Torah he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree replanted by streams of water
That yields its fruit in due season,  and whose leaf never withers
Not so the wicked: They are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

Just as a feotus in its mother's womb is tied to this mother for nourishment and life through the umbilical chord, so to we are forever tied to Hashem through an umbilical chord.  Our source of life and happiness is the nourishment we get from that umbilical chord from Hashem, just like a tree gets its nourishment from the ground that it is firmly rooted in.  We have an opportunity throughout our lives, with all of our actions, to strengthen these roots, or to weaken them.  The punishement of 'korase', then, may be where that connection is severed completely, and the person withers away, and the wind drives away his remains like chaff.

When we make this connection, these roots to Hashem, more secure, we not only strengthen our own lives, but also build a future through our deeds and our children.  Consider how strong were the roots of Hillel, whose descendents were the spiritual leaders of the Jews for 14 generations!  We shoot an arrow into the future via our children, and it is a great challenge to be so straight - through strenghtening our connection to Hashem and His ways - that the arrow of our descendants flies straight. 

When we are tempted by various averas, sins, we are choosing whether to strengthen our bond, our rootedness, our umbillical chord to Hashem or to weaken it.  Korase is the ultimate weakening of that connection, whereby it is cut asunder, cutting off all nourishment.  The momentary pleasure of any wrongful deed should be weighed against the restriction in the nourishment we get from the Creator.  And likewise, any hardship we may undergo by doing good is offset by our being more connected and nourished by our rootedness in Hashem. 

This lends another meaning to the words 'Olam hazeh' (this world), and 'Olam habah', (literally the world that comes).  This world means immediate pleasure, and the world that comes is the future, of ourselves and our descendants, that must be nourished by a connection to Hashem. 

This thought is beautifully described in two of the 'Shir Hamaalos', Psalms 127 and 128:

If Hashem will not build the house, its builders labor on vainly.
If Hashem will not guard the city, the watchman was vigilant in vain.
Children are the heritage of Hashem.
The fruit of the womb is a  reward like arrows in the hand of a warrior.

                                                          (from Psalm 127)

Praiseworthy is everyone who fears Hashem, who walks in His ways.
When you eat the labor of your hands, your are praiseworthy, and all is well with you.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine, in the inner chambers of your home.
Your children shall be like olive shoots around your table.

                                                          (from Psalm 128)