Our Gemara on Amud Aleph references the 36 prohibitions that incur the heavenly punishment of kares, which literally translates as being cut off, and according to rabbinic tradition, spiritual alienation and a resultant early death. Is there any significance to the number 36?

Maase Rokeach (Kodshim, Kerisus 1) provides several numerological insights.

The Gemara Sanhedrin (104a) states:

“Rava says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: For what reason were the Jewish people stricken and their plight bemoaned with the term “Eicha” (the opening of Lamentations, which is the Gematria 36)? It is due to the fact that they violated thirty-six prohibitions punishable with kares that are enumerated in the Torah.”

Furthermore, the Mishna enumerates Bris Milah as the last kares in the list because it was a bodily mitzvah, and it was the last one to go prior to the churban. Presumably, people honor a body tradition more than other mitzvos.

Additionally, the number 36 is two times 18, which is the Gematria of “Chai” (life), connoting that two lifetimes are lost. These two lives represent this world and the next. The punishment of kares causes early death in this world but also means loss of life in the World to Come.

The Torah does not have direct references to the World to Come, and in general, the Torah’s discussion of rewards or punishments focuses on the physical world. Lashes, financial penalties, sacrifices of atonement, and Sanhedrin-sanctioned death penalties are the usual consequences stated in the verses. Even more perplexing is that if we were to grant that the verses which describe the penalty of kares are referring to loss of everlasting life in the World to Come, how does this concept of kares come to embody a dual meaning of material life and spiritual life?

I believe the answer lies in the conceptualization of kares. It is not principally a punishment of death; rather, death is a consequence of the soul’s alienation and being cut off from God. Even more so, the additional consequence is loss of eternal life.

This fairly corresponds with what the Rambam (Introduction to Perek Chelek) and Tanya (Likkutei Amarim 5–6) state, and one can pay attention to the nuances in their definitions:

Rambam:

“The total form of degenerative evil is the cutting off of the soul and its destruction, such that it does not merit to remain in existence. This is the kares mentioned in the Torah. The meaning of kares is the severing of the soul… Behold, anyone who cleaves to bodily pleasures, despises truth, and chooses falsehood is cut off from that exalted level, and only severed materiality remains.”

Tanya states:

“The Divine soul… is literally a portion of G-d Above… and it is bound and unified with Him, may He be blessed… and one who transgresses a sin for which one is liable to kares… the cord of attachment is severed.”

It is notable that in both descriptions the punishment is not an action, but rather a loss of connection to God. This aligns with the idea that God does not hurt or deprive; rather, people deprive themselves of God’s benefit. There is much to say regarding the subtle differences between Rambam’s formulation and the Baal HaTanya, but not for today.