Parshat Ki Tisa

Karet: a separation from the community

By Rabbi Avi Billet

Issue of March 13, 2009 / 17 Adar 5769

Of all Torah portions, Ki Tisa has the largest number of mitzvot that include a “karet” punishment.

There are a number of definitions offered in rabbinic literature for what “karet” means; we won’t go into intricacies, but the main idea is removal from the greater Jewish community.

Karet in our parsha is designated to a. those who mix a new batch of “shemen mishchat kodesh” –– the holy anointing oil –– and using it on a non-kohen (30:33), b. people who mix up ingredients of ktoret (Temple incense), unauthorized, and smell it (30:9), and c. violators of the Shabbat (31:14).

There are at least 10 other instances in the Torah when a negative activity (eating chametz on Passover, eating Pigul –– a form of leftover meat) or the lack of performing a positive commandment (bris, korban pesach) would warrant one’s excision from the community (not to mention those that are defined as “karet inducing” in the Talmud).

Other than their punishment, there does not seem to be any official connection between these “chayav karet” commandments. And yet, there is certainly something to be learned from their proximity to one another in this parsha.

Perhaps the warnings are meant to provoke our awareness. If we follow the Ramban’s line of thinking that the Golden Calf came about after the command to build the mishkan, then the mishkan was not meant to be built as a corrective to bad behavior. As such, the message of “Terumah,” donating wealth and fancy materials to the mishkan effort, was meant to show the positive ways the items could be utilized for the service of G-d.

The kohanim (priests) in particular were more aware than anyone of the need for appropriate use of donated materials. There is no room for fishy business when it comes to appropriation of funds earmarked for holy vessels.

In this light, let us suggest that the abundance of karet-punishable offenses in the beginning of the parsha is a premonition to the chief kohen who is left in charge of the people when Moshe ascends the mountain. He and his sons are anointed in 30:30, right before the Torah mentions the first possible karet offense. Perhaps the ‘karet triple threat’ is a message to Aharon that says, “Don’t do anything that may cause people to warrant excision from the Jewish community.”

Aharon has a daunting task. He has to control a potentially mad mob in the wake of his brother’s disappearance for 40 days. No one really knows what is happening, and with Moshe out of the picture, the people become antsy.

When they confront Aharon, he tells them to do the last thing they did before Moshe went up the mountain: donate readily accessible gold, namely their earrings. This was an unauthorized donation, and Aharon fashioned it into a form which was entirely anathema to all that Moshe had taught them (32:4). This action ultimately led to the deaths of thousands of people.

The last of the karet-offenses in this parsha is a response to Shabbat violation. Shabbat, as a mitzvah in a particular context, reminds us quite eerily of the Decalogue, above which is written “Thou shall not have any other gods before Me; do not bow to them, do not fashion their images.” (Shmot 20)

In all the karet warnings, Aharon was being reminded that there are certain violations, or kinds of violations, which have no place in the Jewish community. In some cases it is an unauthorized mixture, or a misuse of donated materials, or a violation of one of the cardinal principles of the Decalogue. The specific offense Aharon might become guilty of is not the issue; the problem lay in the general violation, and in the manner that the populace gets swept into the fray of the excitement of the misdeed.

Aharon is strongly criticized for his actions here, by Moshe, by G-d, and later by the commentaries, some of whom believe it was Aharon’s sin here that caused him to die in the desert and not enter the promised land.

This is not to suggest that Aharon’s punishment was, in fact, karet. But there seems to be a parallel that is very telling, even if Aharon’s punishment came about almost 40 years down the road.

No matter karet’s form or cause, it is a punishment that cuts to the core of who we are as a people. What a person can do to “earn” it is not as important as the idea that a violation leading to it is indicative of a Jew’s non-acceptance of the rules that characterize us as both a religion and a people with a collective national identity.

The rules create a discipline and help us continue to find and improve our identification as Jews. We must continue to learn them and to learn about them to avoid falling into the trap Aharon fell into. We can not become complacent and do the things we feel are right in a particular moment (this is called ‘justification’) especially when our heart says one thing while our gut tells us it is not what we should be doing.

Avi Billet welcomes your comment and thoughts at avbillet at gmail.com.