For the source text click/tap here: Moed Katan 15
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Our Daf begins with a series of questions regarding the leper and the ostracized (excommunicated) for instance The Gemara asks whether a Menudeh (one who has been placed in Niduy, or excommunication) is permitted to be with his wife.
What is the Gemara's question? The Gemara earlier clearly states that no one may go within four Amos of a Menudeh, and this prohibition applies to his wife as well.
We learn that there are three stages of banishment from the community. The first is ostracism, or menudeh. It is a warning. The second is an intermediary stage called, according to the Ra'avad, shamta. The most serious stage is excommunication, or mucharah. The seriousness of banishment is obvious; without community, one cannot survive in the times of the Talmud.
We explore the status of nidui vs cherem then discuss some examples of the most infamous case of cherem, that of Baruch Spinoza, and follow it with the Gra's cherem on the Hassidim.
All the while we struggle between notions of rabbinic authority and personal religious freedom.