Excommunication without a trial
Hello Rabbi Avraham,
I heard in a Torah class that there are 24 offenses for which one must be excommunicated, and of the 24, there are two offenses that lead to excommunication without a court actually performing the excommunication: striking one's fellow man, and ejaculating semen in vain. My question is, if before I repented I did these things, am I now considered excommunicated and therefore cannot join the minyan and is disqualified from testifying, and if so, how is excommunication permitted?
Best regards,
To the best of my knowledge, there is no excommunication without excommunication. What is written is that the excommunication does not have to be from the Jewish community, but from anyone else. But as long as you are not excommunicated, you are not excommunicated. Especially since today it is really not acceptable to excommunicate for this, and in any case, there is certainly no excommunication by default.
Of course, repentance is necessary for every sin, regardless of excommunication.
All the best and good luck,
Michi
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