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The “cut off” soul

Answered by Rabbi Meir Goldberg

Question


Leviticus 7:27 “Any person who eats any blood, that soul shall be cut off from its people.” Does “cut off” imply that a Jewish soul can be murdered?

Answer

It means that it is spiritually cut off from it’s root in the transcendental world because of a particular act. Sometimes this translates into being physically killed as well, but not always.

Rabbi Meir Goldberg

Follow-up question

Question

Once a soul is cut off can it be re-attached? How? If not, what happens to that person in this world and the next? Is there a definitive list of “sins” that are punished in this manner?

Answer

A soul which was cut off can be reattached by sincere repentance. This consists of regretting the sin, speaking the sin out and committing not to do it again.

One who doesn’t repent will sometimes die before fifty (though obviously not everyone who dies young dies because they sinned) or sometimes their punishment might be delayed because of their personal merits. For a fuller treatment of the subject and a list of sins, see the Gates of Repentance, Gate 3, Paragraph 119.

Rabbi Meir Goldberg
Rutgers Jewish Xperience