As discussed in the introduction, the subject of the entire tractate is the various offerings: the Chatas, the Asham, and the offerings that complete the atonement for those who lack atonement, and the like. The first subject is the Chatas, particularly the fixed Chatas - a female goat or a female sheep - which is brought when a person commits a Torah prohibition that involves an action. For committing the act intentionally, the Torah imposed the punishment of kares, that heavenly excision discussed in the introduction, whatever its exact meaning may be; whereas one who acts unintentionally is not liable to kares, but brings a fixed Chatas offering instead.
The next Mishnah (Mishnah 2) will teach that one who transgresses one of those prohibitions whose punishment is kares - if intentionally, he is liable to kares, and if unintentionally, by mistake, he brings a Chatas instead. Therefore, our Mishnah lists all the prohibitions for which the punishment is kares for one who commits them intentionally.
The Mishnah begins: "Shloshim v'shesh krisos baTorah" - thirty-six commandments in the Torah that carry the punishment of kares. In fact, when counting them all, as emerges from the Rambam's work, one arrives at forty-eight; the missing twelve are included and subsumed within the list of thirty-six, and some of them will be noted later on.
Structure of the Mishnah - Two Lists:
List A - Arayos: The first fifteen on the list, forbidden relationships.
List B - Other Prohibitions: The remaining transgressions for which one is liable to kares when committing them intentionally.
The order of each of the lists is from the most severe to the most lenient. For although one who acts intentionally is liable to kares for all of them, if he acted intentionally in the presence of witnesses and after the required warning - the beis din imposes a punishment that takes the place of the kares liability. This punishment may be the death penalty, and there are various methods of execution by the beis din: stoning, burning, and strangulation; and sometimes the punishment is malkos, the regular Torah-mandated lashes, thirty-nine. There are even transgressions where one who commits them intentionally and with witnesses is not punished with any physical punishment at all down here, in beis din.
List A - The Six Most Severe Arayos (Stoning):
In all the cases before us, we are dealing with one who acted intentionally: he knows who is involved and knows that the act is forbidden, and engages in the relationship anyway. Two partners are involved in every such relationship, and assuming both parties acted intentionally - both are liable to kares, even though the Mishnah focuses on the male side of the equation. However, if he did not know at all - such as someone who married a woman and it eventually turned out that she was his mother - this is unintentional, and instead of kares he will bring a Chatas. These are the first six, the most severe of the arayos, whose punishment is stoning when committed intentionally with witnesses and a warning:
"Ha'ba al ha'eim" - one who cohabits with his mother.
"V'al eishes ha'av" - the wife of his father, whether she is his mother or his stepmother.
"V'al hakallah" - his daughter-in-law, his son's wife.
"V'al hazachur" - a man who lies with a man.
"V'al habeheimah" - a man who lies with an animal.
"V'ha'ishah hamevi'ah es habeheimah aleha" - a woman who lies with an animal.
"V'al ishah u'vitah" (Burning):
The simple case is his wife and her daughter, meaning his stepdaughter, or his wife and her mother - his mother-in-law. However, although the Mishnah stated "a woman and her daughter", the Gemara explains that nine women are included in this category, not just one - here are eight more on the way to forty-eight:
His wife's daughter - his daughter or his stepdaughter, either way it is his wife's daughter.
His wife's daughter's daughter - his granddaughter, the daughter of his wife's daughter, whether his biological granddaughter or his step-granddaughter.
His wife's son's daughter - the daughter of his wife's son, a step-granddaughter or his biological granddaughter.
His mother-in-law - his wife's mother.
His mother-in-law's mother - the mother of his wife's mother, his wife's maternal grandmother.
His father-in-law's mother - the mother of his wife's father, his wife's paternal grandmother.
His daughter - and this is a slightly different case: this is not his wife's daughter, but a daughter born to him from a woman with whom he cohabited even though they are not married, and he cohabits with her as well, so that they are a woman and her daughter together.
His daughter's daughter - his granddaughter through his daughter.
His son's daughter - his granddaughter through his son.
All these nine are included in this category of one who has relations with a woman and her daughter, and the punishment for them, when done intentionally with witnesses and forewarning, is burning for both of them and not stoning - a drop of one level.
"Ve'al eshet ish" - regular adultery, one who has relations with a married woman. Intentionally - kares; and with witnesses and forewarning the punishment is strangulation, and again a drop in level. It must be emphasized that our Mishnah does not deal with beis din punishments at all; rather, the order of the transgressions is a descending order of severity, and this is expressed in the type of punishment in beis din.
The seven arayos whose punishment is malkus:
Until now we have counted eight, and seven more remain. They too carry kares for one who acts intentionally, but if he acted with witnesses and forewarning - instead of the death penalty he is lashed, and the malkus comes in place of the kares. And all of them are arayos, forbidden relations:
"Al achoto" - one who sleeps with his sister.
"Ve'al achot aviv" - his aunt on his father's side.
"Ve'al achot immo" - his aunt on his mother's side.
"Ve'al achot ishto" - his wife's sister.
"Ve'al eshet achiv" - his brother's wife.
"Ve'al eshet achi aviv" - his aunt by marriage, the wife of his father's brother.
"Ve'al haniddah" - and even with his own wife: if she is a niddah, one who has relations with her intentionally is liable for kares.
List Two - The rest of the prohibitions:
Until here are the first fifteen. The remaining prohibitions also carry kares for one who acts intentionally, and if by mistake - a chatas. This list too opens with the most severe punishment and descends from it: numbers sixteen to twenty are liable for stoning, the most severe of all the Torah's transgressions in general, alongside the six arayos that were listed above. And they are:
"Hamegadef" - the blasphemer, one who curses God. The verse uses a euphemism, "blesses God," and the intention is to one who curses God using the name of God, Heaven spare us. This is among the most severe of transgressions: with witnesses and forewarning - stoning, and without witnesses - kares. However, if he acted by mistake he does not bring a chatas, and this is an exception that we will see explicitly in the next Mishnah, because his action involves no physical deed at all.
"Veha'oved avodah zarah" - whether one worships it in its specific manner of worship (such as throwing a stone to Markulis, or relieving oneself before Ba'al Pe'or), or whether one worships it with one of the four services with which we worship God: slaughtering, burning (whether incense or an animal), pouring libations (such as a wine libation), and bowing down - full prostration on the floor before the idol. In all these: intentionally - kares; by mistake, not knowing that the matter is forbidden - a chatas; and intentionally with witnesses and forewarning - stoning.
"Vehanoten mizar'o lamolech" - according to the Gemara here, the Molech is not an idol in and of itself, but a symbol and a Canaanite cultic ritual: a person hands over one or more of his children, but not all of them, to the Molech priest, takes him back, and passes him through the fire. According to most opinions, the child does not die at all - they do not kill him but rather pass him through the fire; a completely symbolic ritual, and the Torah forbade participating in it under the penalty of kares, and with witnesses and forewarning - stoning.
"Uva'al ov" - the necromancer, who brings up the spirits of the dead and converses with them. The ba'al ov places a skull under his armpit, and from under his armpit the voice of the deceased emerges. In that same verse, the yid'oni is also included, who also inquires of the dead and receives messages from them, except that he places a bone into his mouth, and the voice emerges from his mouth. Even though the Mishnah only mentioned the ov, ov and yid'oni are two separate things, and for both one is liable for kares, and with witnesses and forewarning - stoning.
"Vehamchallel et HaShabbat" - one who desecrates Shabbos, performing one of the thirty-nine melachos, whether a primary category (av melachah) or a subcategory (toladah). Intentionally - kares; did not know it was Shabbos today - by mistake, and he brings a chatas; intentionally with witnesses and forewarning - stoning. The subcategories in general, which are also a Torah prohibition: one who sows seeds and one who plants a sapling, which is only a subcategory, are equal in all that has been stated. However, Rabbinic prohibitions are not included in this, and there is no liability for kares for them.
The remaining sixteen transgressions (malkus):
Until here are twenty. Sixteen remain, and all carry kares for one who acted intentionally; and if he acted with witnesses and forewarning - only malkus and no more, and therefore they are lighter. And they are:
"Vetamei she'achal et hakodesh" - a tamei person who eats kodashim, such as the pesach sacrifice, or a kohen who eats shelamim and the like. Intentionally - kares.
"Vehabba lamikdash tamei" - one who enters the Temple complex, into the courtyard, while tamei. Intentionally - kares. These two are exceptions, as we will see in the next Mishnah: one who does them by mistake brings a sliding-scale sacrifice, a variable chatas and not a fixed chatas, and because of this they are lighter.
"Ha'ochel chelev" - chelev is the forbidden fats, the intestinal fat, the abdominal fat that is peeled from the organs, and its prohibition is from the Torah with the punishment of kares.
"Vedam" - eating the blood itself. (It is worth noting: the red liquid that seeps from a slightly roasted piece of meat, in kosher meat that was properly kashered, is not blood but myoglobin - a completely different substance, which halachically is not blood at all.) One who eats blood is also liable for kares, or malkus.
"Notar" - the leftovers of the sacrifices. For every sacrifice, whether an animal offering or a meal offering, there is a set time for eating, a day or two days, and once its time has passed it becomes notar, and it is an obligation to burn it and forbidden to eat it. One who eats an olive's bulk (kezayis) of notar intentionally is liable for kares.
"Upiggul" - a highly technical matter: one who performs one of the four essential blood services of a sacrifice - the slaughtering, receiving the blood, carrying it to the altar, and sprinkling it on the altar - and at the time of the action there entered his mind, even for a moment, a thought to offer the blood, or to offer the sacrificial parts (eimurim), or to eat the meat outside of its designated time - this thought alone invalidates the sacrifice and renders it piggul. The sacrifice requires burning, and one who eats a kezayis of it intentionally is liable for kares. And similarly with meal offerings, wherever applicable.
"Vehashochet" and "Vehama'aleh bachutz" - two separate things: one who slaughters his sacrifice outside the Temple area, outside the courtyard, and one who offers it up outside the courtyard (a prohibition in effect ever since Jerusalem became the location of the Beis HaMikdash). For each of the two actions: intentionally - kares, and with witnesses and forewarning - malkus.
"Ha'ochel chametz baPesach" - for chametz on Pesach also carries the punishment of kares, as is well known.
"Veha'ochel beYom HaKippurim" - the measure here is not a kezayis but slightly more than that, a measure sufficient for the definition of affliction. For the verse, unlike other verses that are explicit in their halachah, teaches here from its wording: "For any soul that is not afflicted on this very day shall be cut off from its people" - whoever does not afflict himself on Yom Kippur is liable for kares, and our Talmud learns that the affliction spoken of is specifically eating and drinking. Thus, the other four afflictions - washing, anointing, wearing leather shoes, and marital relations - whether they are from the Torah or Rabbinic, do not carry kares, according to the Talmud here.
"Ve'oseh melachah beYom HaKippurim" - it is forbidden to perform melachah on Yom Kippur just as on Shabbos, and one who does so is liable for kares.
"Vehamfatem et hashemen" - Moshe Rabbeinu prepared the anointing oil when setting up the Mishkan, and miraculously that oil remained, and certainly in his days, to serve as needed for the anointing of a kohen gadol and the like. Its preparation was a one-time event, and therefore it is forbidden to compound this oil, and the preparation itself alone - kares.
"Vehamfatem et haktoret" - one who makes the incense recipe, the eleven spices that combine together for the incense that was offered on the altar in the Temple twice every day. One who makes it in order to smell it himself, to enjoy its fragrance in his home and the like - is liable for kares, and with witnesses and forewarning - malkus.
"Vehasach beshemen hamishchah" - one who anoints himself with the anointing oil that is in the Temple is also liable for kares if he did so intentionally. Now, there are those who are anointed with the oil by law: the kohen gadol, as every new kohen gadol has the oil smeared on his head in the shape of a kaf or a kaf-yud, and there is a dispute as to what that shape is - Rabbah learned that it is like the shape of an X on his head, and there are other explanations; and also the kings, King David and his descendants, when there is a dispute as to who will merit to be the next king, as happened with King Solomon - except that there they do not make an X shape on the head, but rather a sort of ring around the forehead, like the shape of a crown from the oil.
The two positive mitzvos at the end of the list:
Up to this point, we have listed thirty-four. The final two are not negative prohibitions but rather positive commandments. Therefore, there is certainly no chatas offering for them even if one transgressed them inadvertently, since one is not performing any action:
"Hapesach" - One who chooses not to participate in the Pesach offering, if he does so intentionally, incurs kares. However, even with witnesses and forewarning, there is no punishment of lashes, because it is a positive commandment.
"Vehamilah" - Every Jewish male is obligated to be circumcised, and one who chooses not to be circumcised ultimately incurs kares. Here too, it is a positive commandment, and there is no punishment of lashes administered by the earthly court. Furthermore, the concept of inadvertent transgression does not apply here, since he is not performing an action, and for this reason, there is no possibility of bringing a chatas offering for it.
In summary: In this Mishnah, we enumerated the thirty-six instances of kares in the Torah, which are divided into two lists: fifteen forbidden relations, and following them, the rest of the prohibitions - and each list is arranged from the most severe to the most lenient, as reflected by the punishment the beis din administers instead of kares: stoning, burning, strangulation, lashes, and sometimes no physical punishment at all. We noted that one who acts intentionally is liable to kares, and one who acts inadvertently brings a fixed chatas offering, as well as the exceptions: the blasphemer, whose sin involves no action; the tamei individual who ate sacrificial food or entered the Mikdash in a state of tumah, whose offering is on an adjustable scale (oleh veyored); and the two positive commandments at the end, the Pesach offering and milah, which involve no action and do not entail a chatas offering.
In the next Mishnah, we will discuss the fundamental principle that emerges from this list - intentional transgression incurs kares and inadvertent transgression requires a chatas - as well as the details of the exceptions we mentioned, with God's help.