The Custom of Whipping on Erev Yom Kippur

R' Yosef Caro (1488-1575)

The entire congregation are lashed forty times after Mincha.

R' Yaakov ben Asher (c. 1269 - c. 1343)

The practice in Ashkenaz is that the whole congregation is lashed forty times in shul after Mincha so that they can direct their heart to repent from their sins.

R' Yosef Caro (1488-1575)

So writes the Rosh there.

R' Yosef Caro (1488-1575)

And regarding what our Rabbi writes, that [the purpose of the lashes is] "so that they can direct their heart to repent from their sins", so writes the Kol Bo that the practice is to administer the lashes after immersion [in a mikveh] to subdue their impure heart and prepare [themselves] to worship the honoured and awesome God in fear and awe. And I am amazed [by this explanation]; why does he not write that the reason is because the lashes atone for [our] sin. And even though we do not have judges with [authentic] semicha to lash in front of, and witnesses do not come to warn to make one liable for lashes, nevertheless it is a bit of an atonement.

R' Yoel Sirkis (1561-1640)

"The practice in Ashkenaz is that the whole congregation receives forty lashes in shul etc." The Beit Yosef writes: "I am amazed [by this explanation]; why does he not write that the reason is because the lashes atone for [our] sin etc."

However, our practice is to lash [with a whip of] minimal [size] and only as a remembrance for the lashes in the Torah. So one is compelled to say that this is not done for atonement, rather "so that they can direct their heart to repent from their sins", and this is thus established.

R' Moshe Isserles (1530-1572)

Hagah: ...And it is customary to whip with a minimal strap because this (flogging) is merely a remembrance to the genuine flogging. One should take a strap of calfskin...

R' Bahya ben Asher (1255-1340)

The myrtle branch has bitterness but a nice smell which hints that through pain comes the path of repentance, and that is that a person causes themselves to suffer and inflicts pain on their body with fasting and lashes and harsh fences in accordance with his sin and suffers in accordance with the pleasure he derived, and in this way he will ensure that his fragrance will waft heavenward.

R' Yeshayahu Horowitz [Shelah Hakadosh] (c. 1555-1630)

I have seen opinions expressed which claim that all that is needed is forsaking sin, remorse, confession and a resolution to do better in the future. Those people hold that there is no need to impose any sufferings on oneself in order to expiate for one's sins. I feel strongly that I must oppose such misconceptions. It is clearly the intent of the Torah and the position of all our sages who are loyal to the Torah that every repentant sinner has to flagellate himself, to fast, and to cause himself such pain as is commensurate with the severity of his sin and the satisfaction the sin had afforded him when he committed it.

If [the one being flogged] sullies himself, whether with excrement or with urine, he is exempt [from further lashes]. Rabbi Yehuda says [that the threshold of shame for men and women is different]: The man is [exempted if he sullies himself] with excrement, and the woman [is exempted even] with urine.

R' Yosef Caro (1488-1575)

The entire congregation receives forty lashes after the Minḥah Prayer, for because of it he will take to heart to turn away (and repent) from his transgressions.
Hagah: (1a) It was customary that the one being flogged say the confessions, vidduim, at the time that he was flogged, (1b) and that the flogger say, “And He (God) pities and will atone sins…” (Psalms 78:38), three times which equals thirty-nine words corresponding to the thirty-nine lashes, (Minhagim). (2a) And it is customary to whip with a little strap because this (flogging) is merely a remembrance to the genuine flogging. (2b) One should take a strap of calfskin, corresponding to the Biblical verse, “the ox knows his owner and the ass his master’s crib,” (Isaiah 1:3), (כל בו), (3a) The one who is flogged shall not stand nor shall he sit, but he should be in a slanting position, (מנהגים), (3b) with his face to the north and his rear should be to the south, (מהרי״ל).

R' Avraham Gombiner (c. 1635–1682)

Not exactly, rather 39

MISHNA: With how many lashes does one flog [a person sentenced to receive lashes]? Forty less one, as it is stated: “[And he shall strike him before him, in accordance with his wickedness,] by number. Forty [he shall strike him, he shall not add]” (Deuteronomy 25:2–3). [This means]: A sum adjacent to forty. Rabbi Yehuda says: He is flogged with a full forty lashes. And where is he flogged the extra [lash]? Between his shoulders.

R' David Solomon Eibeschutz (1755-1812)

Awakened. For the lashes are also with straps of donkey, as explained in Makkot 22, because it says “the ox knows his owner and the ass his master’s crib.” By contrast, here [we are not doing real,] complete lashes, and it only comes to awaken us in repentance, so it is sufficient [to use a calf strap instead].

R' Avraham Gombiner (c. 1635–1682)

It seems to me this is the opposite of what is in Section 3:5...

R' Yosef Caro (1488-1575)

If one defecates in an open place in which there are no partitions, he should orient himself to face south with his back to the north, or vice versa. However, east to west is forbidden. (With regards to urinating, any manner is allowed) (Beit Yosef in the name of Rambam)

Face to the north etc. In the Levush it is written that the law is conversely that one should face south and only that one should not have their back to the east or west for those are places where the shechina rests. And there is a difficulty, for we bow and prostrate on Yom Kippur to the east, and why do we not do this in vidui. And it seems to me one should specifically face north because the crux of the sin of a man comes because of money, and it is written "By the north wind the golden rays emerge"; one should subdue themselves to that side to inform that one's sin comes from there, so seems correct to me.

R' Yisrael Meir Kagan [Chofetz Chaim] (1838-1933)

Face to the north etc. - Some say that conversely, one's face should be to the south and their back to the north and [the Rema] only comes to say one should not have their back to the east or west, for these are places where the shechina rests. But the Taz writes that one should specifically face north because the crux of the sin of a man comes because of money, and it is written "By the north wind the golden rays emerge"; one should subdue themselves to that side to inform that one's sin comes from there, and so is the practice.

R' Yechiel Michel Epstein (1829-1908)

And the practice is to lash thirty-nine lashes with a calf-skin strap. And one can immerse and lash when they want. However, since the practice is to do vidui at mincha, it is good to do lashes and immerse before mincha, so one can do vidui in purity, and afterwards atonement.

R' Eliezer Melamed (1961-)

Some had the custom of undergoing thirty-nine lashes after Minḥa, to inspire them to repent. The person being whipped would bend forward, and the person administering the lashes would strike him on the back while reciting the verse “Ve-hu raḥum” (Tehilim 78:38) three times. He would administer one lash with each word. The lashes were not strong. It was done with any type of string or strap and meant to recall the punishment of lashes (SA and Rema 607:6). Nowadays, only a small number of people have this practice.

R' Yaakov Chaim Sofer (1870-1939)

See there the order of the four court-administered deaths. They would start by wearing a bag from their foot up to their head and they would stone him with two or three small stones. And the one being hurt takes a big stone and hits it on his heart and the chacham announces 'Such is done to the man who angers and spites his creator, woe to us from the day of judgement etc.'. And the order of 'burning' is that they light a wax candle and under his bag, on his flesh, they place three or four drops [on him] until they see that he is flinching, and [then] the chacham announces [as above]. And the order of 'beheading' is that while he is still in the bag they lie him on the ground and three or four people drag him to and fro and the chacham announces [as above]. And the order of strangulation is that they strangle him between two of them in one area on his throat or he himself does it with two hands, and he sits on his knees and the chacham announces [as above]. And before the stoning, the one being hurt says, 'Master of the world, if I have sinned before you and blemished before you with the letter yud of H-V-Y-H and the letter aleph of adonai and made myself liable by your righteous judgement of stoning, behold I accept upon myself stoning...And this is the practice of the chasidei beit el in our holy city Jerusalem every erev Yom Kippur after shacharit they lash everyone four times and afterwards they do the four court-administered deaths in the aforementioned manner.

R' Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman [Vilna Gaon] (1720-1797)

See the firs chapter of Brachot, 7a.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Yosei: A single regret in one’s heart is preferable to many lashes, as it is stated: “And she chases her lovers, [but she does not overtake them; she seeks them, but she will not find them;] and she will say ‘I will go and return to my first husband; for it was better for me then than now’” (Hosea 2:9). [Remorse is more effective than any externally imposed punishment listed in the verses that follow (Hosea 2:11–19).] And Reish Lakish said [remorse is] preferable to one hundred lashes, as it is stated: “A rebuke enters deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred lashes to a fool” (Proverbs 17:10).