Early rabbinic authorities decreed, coupled with “חרם²⁹Ḥerem, חרם, is the status of that which is separated from common use or contact, either because it is proscribed as an abomination to God or because it is consecrated to Him.
There are different categories of ḥerem. The Torah considers the following to be ḥerem: Israelites who worship other gods and idols. People who commit this idolatry were to be put to the sword and the objects burned. These people and objects contaminated those they came in contact with; The seven nations inhabiting the land promised to Israel - the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites (Deuteronomy 7:1-2; cf. 20:17). These people were to be totally destroyed; Whatever one privately devoted to the Lord as ḥerem is the most sacred, Kodesh Kodashim, and these objects were never to be sold nor was their status revokable (Leviticus 27:28). Cases of ḥerem in the rest of the Bible follow from these Torah laws. The term later came to mean total destruction.
The term ḥerem began to take on different meanings from the Biblical ones as time passed. Even the term ḥerem in the Bible changed its meaning. In Deuteronomy declaring an enemy as ḥerem was done to gain God’s favor by totally devoting to Him, one’s own nation and the total nation of the enemy.
After Saul the rise of the enemy ḥerem seems to have disappeared. Ḥerem came to mean, when referred to a nation that the other nation’s religion practiced evil ways that would badly influence the Israelites and therefore these people were to be separated from Israel to preserve their true belief in God (Exodus 34:11ff; Numbers 33:51ff; Deuteronomy 7:1-5; 20:16ff).
In later Jewish law the concept of ḥerem changed radically. The ḥerem of Ezra is the first indication that meant banishment and persecution. The term niddui was used in tannaitic literature to mean the punishment of an offender by his isolation from and his being held in contempt by the community at large. The term niddui was used in the Bible (Numbers 12:14) as an isolation punishment. The Pharisees employed niddui if a person did not follow their prescribed standards. A scholar was isolated for his non-compliance with the majority and no one was permitted to contact him lest they too became defiled. Niddui was a Punishment employed by the courts on the heads of the academies.
Later in the talmudic laws the term ḥerem was used again as an aggravated form of niddui. A niddui could last for two 30 day periods. After 60 days passed and the person did not satisfy the courts or the academies by changing his ways, a ḥerem was declared which was a total banishment and isolation. Another type of punishment was also established. That was a nezifah, a “reprimand”, which lasted for seven days. It was intended for shame and remorse and automatically expired while a niddui and a ḥerem had to be lifted by the courts.
A niddui differed from a ḥerem in that one who was declared niddui could have social intercourse for purposes of study or business, but one placed in ḥerem had to study alone and earn money from the small shop he was permitted to maintain. One punished by niddui or ḥerem was considered in a state of mourning and was therefore not permitted to cut his hair, do laundry, or wear shoes, except for out-of-town walks. He was forbidden to wash himself except for his face, hands, and feet but he did not have to rend his clothes. He had to live in confinement with his family only, no outsider was permitted to come near him, eat or drink with him, greet him, or give him any enjoyment (Shulḥan Arukh, Yoreh De’ah 334:2). He could not be counted as part of the three for grace after the meals nor as one of the ten for a prayer minyan. After his death, his coffin would be stoned, (one stone could be symbolically placed on the coffin). The niddui was actually considered a rather light penalty for minor offenses since it could be so easily lifted. Niddui was during talmudic times put on people by laymen and individual scholars for various reasons, not only by the courts, for reasons such as debt. Only a court designated niddui would necessitate the whole community from disassociating with the isolated person. A non-judicial niddui did not require this. A person had to be warned about a possible niddui for a non-religious offense, but for a religious one no warning was necessary. The niddui had to be publically announced but no evidence was required. The court was considered fair. A niddui by a court could be lifted by any court. A personal niddui had to be lifted by the person who imposed it and, if he was unavailable, by the nasi or leader of the community. The courts tended not to pronounce a niddui against a judge or a scholar. Flogging (see footnote 31) was considered a more appropriate punishment.
In post-talmudic times the threat of a niddui or a ḥerem was considered a way of future law enforcement. As time went on the conditions put on one who was excommunicated in the Talmud became the minimum. They became more and more severe. One who was banned could not have his sons circumcised or their children married, their children and wives were expelled from the synagogue, and they were not to be buried with any honor. He was considered as a non-Jew; his ẓiẓit fringes, were cut off, his mezuzah removed from his door, his food proclaimed unfit for Jews, and his books considered trash. The ḥerem became actually, a civil death. The man was dead to the community.
Ḥerem became more and more frequent as the punishment of excommunication by the Church increased. Jewish courts were influenced by civil courts of the land to impose ḥerem on Jews for monetary reasons, but the Jewish courts remained independent in religious matters. Rabbis became more and more reluctant to impose a ḥerem on an individual especially without the consent of the entire congregation due to the extreme hardship it imposed on the family of the isolated man. This caused the development of partial ḥerem which was less severe and only isolated the person in synagogue worship but not in daily life, for example. Niddui was then imposed for major offenses such as a man refusing to divorce his wife when it was felt that he should, a bridegroom refusing to marry his bride, or offenses such as theft or fraud.
Minor forms of ḥerem, niddui or nezifah were pronounced by the head of the rabbinical court, but a severe ḥerem was pronounced in the synagogue either before the open ark or while holding the Torah scroll. The proclaimation was made with the sounding of the shofar, the ram’s horn (see footnote 221). The people held candles and put them out symbolically when the excommunication was declared. Several Biblical verses were recited against the one excommunicated and people were warned against associating with the person put in ḥerem. The ceremony concluded with a prayer for the faithful of the congregation.
In later times the niddui and ḥerem became so frequent and common that it lost almost all of its significance and force. It became the standard rabbinic reaction to all forms of deviation from the norm of Orthodoxy. Although still pronounced they are no longer binding on the person involved or the community, nor do they carry the terror they once did.
Haim Hermann Cohn, E. J., v. 8, pp. 344-55.”, ban, that the living should not slander the dead.

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