Daf Ditty Shabbes 94

Of Burial and Tikkun

Jewish funeral in Vilnius (1824), National Museum in Warsaw

‫אמר רבי יוחנן משום ר"ש בן יוחי רמז לקבורה מן התורה מניין ת"ל כי‬
‫קבר תקברנו מכאן רמז לקבורה מן התורה‬

There are those who say that Rabbi Yoḥanan says in the name of Rabbi
Shimon bar Yoḥai: From where in the Torah is there a hint to the mitzva of
burial? The verse (Deut 21:23) states: “But you shall bury him [kavor
tikberennu],” doubling the verb for emphasis. From here there is a hint to the
mitzva of burial in the Torah.

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 Sanhedrin 46b

One of the burial options is a sarcophagus which is a stone coffin that apparently rich or
important people such as high priests were buried in.

The second coffin called ossuaries were reserved for common people. An ossuary is a small
coffin in which the bones of the dead were inside – that means that after a person died,
their body was buried in a burial cave and after a certain period of time the bones were
removed and placed in an ossuary.

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3
The chiddush of the Gemara is that we might have thought that Rabbi Shimon only exempts the
person who carries out the ‫ מת‬just for the sake of vacating the deceased from his house.

Yet, we see that Rabbi Shimon defines an act as a Melachah she'Einah Tzerichah l'Gufah
‫ מלאכה‬even if there is a direct need for the removal of the body in order to bury it.

This is also an act from which the person in the house derives no benefit, and for which he has
no need. It is still only an act of removing an unwanted situation from his domain.

Meiri asks, however, that burying the dead is a mitzvah, so the person in the house certainly
does benefit from the removal of the dead from his house in this case. It should be a ‫לגופה שצריכה‬
‫ מלאכה‬,so why does the Gemara tell us that Rabbi Shimon exempts the person even if the dead is
being taken to be buried?

Although the Yerushalmi concludes that this case is dealing where the dead person was a gentile,
and therefore there is no mitzvah of burying him, Meiri dismisses this approach to answer our
question.

Rashba explains that even if a mitzvah must be performed, this is not an integral part of the act
of removing the dead, and it does not change the nature of the melacha to being on which is
purposeful.

Sfas Emes explains that the question of the Meiri could hinge upon the discussion in the Gemara
in Sanhedrin (46b) concerning the very nature of burial of the dead.

‫איבעיא להו קבורה משום בזיונא הוא או משום כפרה הוא‬

§ A dilemma was raised before the Sages: Is burial obligatory on account of disgrace, i.e., so
that the deceased should not suffer the disgrace of being left exposed as his body begins to
decompose, or is it on account of atonement, i.e., so that the deceased will achieve atonement by
being returned to the ground from which he was formed?

‫למאי נפקא מינה דאמר לא בעינא דליקברוה לההוא גברא אי אמרת משום בזיונא הוא לא כל כמיניה ואי אמרת משום‬
‫כפרה הוא הא אמר לא בעינא כפרה מא‬

One opinion says that the purpose of burial is to serve as an atonement for the person who died.
The other opinion says that burial is to avoid disgrace ( ‫ בזיון משום‬.(Tosafos there explains that
the disgrace would be that of the surviving relatives. In other words, it is for the benefit of the
living.)

Explains Sfas Emes, if the reason for burial is due to ‫ בזיון‬,then removing the body on Shabbos to
bury it is a ‫ שאי מלאכה לגופה צריכה ה‬,because the person would still prefer that the entire episode
not occur, and the task at hand is only to avoid more disgrace.

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However, if the purpose of burial is to serve as an atonement for the deceased, this melacha
would be considered ‫לגופה‬, as it has positive meaning and significance. Accordingly, our Gemara
would be of the opinion that Rabbi Shimon holds that the purpose of burial is to avoid ‫בזיון‬.1

Burial as Kavod Habriyos

Decent burial was regarded to be of great importance in ancient Israel, as one can measure by the
frequency with which the Bible refers to the fear of being left unburied. It was regarded as one of
the laws of humanity “not to let anyone lie unburied.” The one thing expressed most clearly by
Israelite burial practices was the human desire to maintain some contact with the community
even after death, through burial in one's native land, and if possible, with one's ancestors.

Jacob's request, “Bury me with my fathers” (Gen. 49:29), was the wish of every ancient Israelite.
In harmony with this desire, the tomb most typical of the Israelite period was a natural cave or a
chamber cut into soft rock, near the city. Bodies would be laid on rock shelves provided on three
sides of the chamber, or on the floor, and as generations of the same family used the tomb,
skeletons and grave goods might be heaped up along the sides or put into a side chamber to make
room for new burials.

This practice of family burial was common enough to give rise to the Hebrew expressions “to
sleep with one's fathers” (I Kings 11:23) and “to be gathered to one's kin” (Gen. 25:8) as
synonyms for “to die.”

There is no explicit biblical evidence as to how soon after death burial took place, but it is likely
that it was ordinarily within a day. This was dictated by the climate and by the fact that the
Israelites did not embalm the dead. Cremation was not practiced by the ancient Israelites.

In Talmudic times, burial took place in caves, hewn tombs, sarcophagi and catacombs; and a
secondary burial, a re-interment (likkut aẓamot) of the remains in an ossuary, sometimes took
place about one year after the original burial. (An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well or site
made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains.

A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are
removed and placed in an ossuary.) Jewish custom insists on prompt burial as a matter of respect
for the dead.

According to one Kabbalistic source, burial refreshes the soul of the deceased, and only after
burial will it be admitted to God's presence. The precedents set by the prompt burials of Sarah
(Gen. 23) and of Rachel (Gen. 35:19) are reinforced by the Torah's express command that even
the body of a man who had been hanged shall not remain upon the tree all night, but “thou shalt
surely bury him the same day” (Deut. 21:23).

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Daf Digest Shabbes 94

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Some delays in burial are justified: “Honor of the dead” demands that the proper preparation for
a coffin and shrouds be made, and that relatives and friends pay their last respects.

Funerals may not take place on Shabbat or Yom Kippur; and although the rabbis at one time
permitted funerals on the first day of a festival, some modern communities prefer postponement.

Where there are two interments at the same time, respect demands that the burial of a scholar
precedes that of an am ha-areẓ (“average citizen”), and that of a woman always precedes that of a
man.

The duty of burial, although primarily an obligation incumbent on the heirs, ultimately rests with
the whole community. In Talmudic times, communal fraternal societies for the burial of the dead
evolved out of an appreciation of this duty

During COVID Pandemic recently the law of burial on Shabbos was relaxed in Bucharest.2

Man in image of God

‫ תניא אומר ר"מ משלו משל למה הדבר דומה לשני אחים תאומים‬:'‫כלומר מפני מה זה תלוי מפני שבירך כו‬
‫בעיר אחת אחד מינוהו מלך ואחד יצא לליסטיות צוה המלך ותלאוהו כל הרואה אותו אומר המלך תלוי צוה‬
‫המלך והורידוהו‬:
§ The Mishna teaches: That is to say: Were the dead man’s corpse to remain hanging, reminding
everyone of his transgression, people would ask: For what reason was this one hung? They would
be answered: Because he blessed God, a euphemism for blasphemy, and the name of Heaven would
be desecrated.

It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Meir says: The Sages told a parable: To what is this matter
comparable? It is comparable to two brothers who were twins and lived in the same city. One was
appointed king, while the other went out to engage in banditry. The king commanded that his
brother be punished, and they hanged his twin brother for his crimes. Anyone who saw the bandit
hanging would say: The king was hanged.

The king, therefore, commanded that his brother be taken down, and they took the bandit down.
Similarly, people are created in God’s image, and therefore God is disgraced when a corpse is
hung for a transgression that the person has committed. (Sanhedrin 46b)

RASHI on the verse

--‫ָמֶות‬-‫ ֵחְטא ִמְשַׁפּט‬,‫ ִיְהֶיה ְבִאישׁ‬-‫כב ְוִכי‬ 22 And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and
.‫ֵﬠץ‬-‫ ַﬠל‬,‫ ְוָתִליָת ֹאתוֹ‬:‫ְוהוָּמת‬ he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree;

2
https://www.jta.org/quick-reads/bucharest-jews-can-bury-coronavirus-dead-on-shabbat-to-avoid-cremation-a-rabbinical-
authority-rules

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 ‫ָקבוֹר‬-‫ ִכּי‬,‫ָהֵﬠץ‬-‫ָתִלין ִנְבָלתוֹ ַﬠל‬-‫כג ל ֹא‬ 23 his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but
,‫ִהים‬Ž‫ִקְלַלת ֱא‬-‫ִכּי‬--‫ִתְּקְבֶּרנּוּ ַבּיּוֹם ַההוּא‬ thou shalt surely bury him the same day; for he that is
‫ ֲאֶשׁר ְיהָוה‬,•‫ַאְדָמְת‬-‫ ֶאת‬,‫ָתּלוּי; ְול ֹא ְתַטֵמּא‬ hanged is a reproach unto God; that thou defile not thy land
{‫ }ס‬.‫ ֹנֵתן ְל• ַנֲחָלה‬,•‫ֶהי‬Ž‫ֱא‬ which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an
inheritance. {S}

Deut. 21:23

Rashi explains that it is a disgrace for the King when a person's corpse is left to hang. A person is
made in His image, and the Jewish people are His children. Rashi apparently understands that the
parable of the identical twins expresses the special relationship which Hashem has with the Jewish
people. When a Jew is hanging, it is as if the image of Hashem is hanging. In order to prevent this
disgrace, Beis Din is commanded not leave the person hanging.

RAMBAN on the verse argues that the parable of the twins does not refer to the unique
relationship between Hashem and the Jewish people. The Ramban writes that when Yehoshua
commanded that the executed kings of Canaan be taken down and buried

‫ ִצָוּה ְיהוֹֻשַׁﬠ‬,‫כז ַו ְיִהי ְלֵﬠת בּוֹא ַהֶשֶּׁמשׁ‬
-‫ ֶאל‬,‫ ַוַיְּשִׁלֻכם‬,‫ַו ֹיּ ִרידוּם ֵמַﬠל ָהֵﬠִצים‬
‫ָשׁם; ַוָיִּשׂמוּ ֲאָב ִנים‬-‫ַהְמָּﬠָרה ֲאֶשׁר ֶנְחְבּאוּ‬
‫ ַהיּוֹם‬,‫ֶﬠֶצם‬-‫ ַﬠד‬,‫ִפּי ַהְמָּﬠָרה‬-‫ ַﬠל‬,‫ְגֹּדלוֹת‬
{‫ }ס‬.‫ַהֶזּה‬
27 And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the
sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off
the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had
hidden themselves, and laid great stones on the mouth of the
cave, unto this very day. {S}

Josh. 10:27

he might have done so because of this parable of the two brothers. This clearly implies that the
parable applies to gentiles as well. Although the Ramban rejects Rashi's explanation, he says that
the true explanation is a secret ("Sod," which he does not divulge).

MAHARSHA here asks that the Ramban raises a strong question on Rashi's explanation. If
Yehoshua ordered that the kings of Canaan be buried and not left to hang, clearly the parable
applies to all people and not only to Jews.

The Maharsha answers that there are two prohibitions against leaving a dead person hanging longer
than necessary: "Lo Salin" and "v'Lo Setamei Es Admascha" -- "and you should not defile your
land" (ibid.). Rashi understands that the problem of "Lo Salin" is that when a Jew, whom Rebbi
Meir's parable considers a "twin brother" of Hashem, is hanging, it is a disgrace to the King.
However, the verse of "v'Lo Setamei Es Admascha" prohibits leaving a dead person hanging
specifically in Eretz Yisrael. Rashi agrees that any dead person, even a gentile, is included in the
prohibition against defiling Eretz Yisrael.

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BEN YEHOYADA suggests a different explanation for this parable. He explains that the twins
refer to the Neshamah and the body. Just as the physical body has 248 limbs and 365 sinews, the
Neshamah has corresponding spiritual characteristics, and thus they are called twins.

The Neshamah is referred to as the king, and the body is referred to as the thief. The Ben Yehoyada
apparently means that the prolonged hanging of the body disgraces the Neshamah, and it therefore
is prohibited.3

This parable implies the similarity in appearance of the bandit with the king, implying the
similarity of appearance of the divine with the human forcing the burial because of the possible
desecration of the king’s reputation for those who might have mistaken the death of God rather
than the mortal. For this reason, burial is for the purpose of avoiding divine disgrace…

Even more radical a notion is the anthropomorphic identity of God with man as follows:

‫אמר רבי מאיר בשעה שאדם מצטער שכינה מה לשון אומרת קלני מראשי קלני מזרועי אם כן המקום מצטער על דמן‬
‫של רשעים שנשפך קל וחומר על דמן של צדיקים‬

Rabbi Meir said: The phrase “for he that is hung is a curse [kilelat] of God” should be understood
as follows: When a man suffers in the wake of his sin, what expression does the Divine Presence
use? I am distressed [kallani] about My head, I am distressed about My arm, meaning, I, too,
suffer when the wicked are punished. From here it is derived: If God suffers such distress over
the blood of the wicked that is spilled, even though they justly deserved their punishment, it can
be inferred a fortiori that He suffers distress over the blood of the righteous.

‫ולא זו בלבד אמרו אלא כל המלין את מתו עובר בלא תעשה הלינהו לכבודו להביא לו ארון ותכריכים אינו עובר עליו‬

And the Sages said not only this, that an executed transgressor must be buried on the same day
that he is killed, but they said that anyone who leaves his deceased relative overnight with-out
burying him transgresses a prohibition. But if he left the deceased overnight for the sake of the
deceased’s honor, e.g., to bring a coffin or shrouds for his burial, he does not transgress the
prohibition against leaving him unburied overnight.

Here the Talmud suggests that the divine mourns and suffers alongside man and because of man’s
distress. Here it is the Shechinah who is crying out.

3
Daf Advancement Forum Sanhedrin 46, Y. Montrose

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Burial for the Sake of the Soul

The Prague hevrah kadisha attends to a man at death. Unknown painter, ca. 1772.
Image from the Jewish Museum of Prague

‫ ָבַּתר‬.‫ ַמאן ִאיִהי ַנְפָשׁא ְדִּאְתַדָּבּק ָבּהּ )ס''א ותתקבל( ִויַקְבּל ְבּגוָּפא )ס''א בגווה( ְוָהא אוְּקמוָּה ְלָהֵני ִמֵלי‬,‫ָבַּתר ְדָּנְפָקא‬
‫ ִדְּכִתּיב‬,‫ ָאִסיר ְלִמְשַׁבּק ֵליהּ ְבָּלא ְקבוָּרָתא‬,‫ ְוִאְשְׁתַּאר גּוָּפא ְבָּלא רוָּחא‬,‫ְדָּנְפָקא ַנְפָשׁא ִמן גּוָּפא‬, (‫כ״ג‬:‫ל ֹא ָתִלין )דברים כ״א‬
‫ ָיִהיב‬,‫ ְבָּלא ְקבוָּרָתא‬,‫ ְדִּאינּוּן יוָֹמם ָוַל ְיָלה‬,‫ ְבִּגין ְדֵּמיָתא ְדּ ִיְשָׁתֵּהי כ''ד ָשׁעוֹת‬.‫ִנְבָלתוֹ ַﬠל ָהֵﬠץ ִכּי ָקֹבר ִתְּקְבֶּרנוּ ַבּיּוֹם ַההוּא‬
‫ ְבִּגין‬,‫ וְּמַﬠֵכּב ַﬠִביְדָתּא ְדקוְּדָשׁא ְבּ ִרי¡ הוּא ִמְלֶּמְﬠַבד ְדֶּאְפָשׁר ְדּקוְּדָשׁא ְבּ ִרי¡ הוּא ָגַּזר ָﬠֵליהּ‬,‫ַחִלישׁוָּתא ְבַּשׁ ְייפוֹי ִדּ ְרִתיָכא‬
‫ ִנְשְׁמָתא ָלאו ָﬠאַלת ָקֵמי‬,‫ ְוָכל ִזְמָנא ְדָּלא ִאְתְקַבר גּוָּפא‬.‫ ְלאוָֹטָבא ֵליהּ‬,‫ ִמַיּד ְבַּההוּא יוָֹמא ְדִּאְתְפָּטר‬,‫ְלֵמיֵתיהּ ְבִּגְלגּוָּלא ָאֳחָרא‬
‫ ַﬠד ְדּ ִיְתְקָבר‬,‫ ְדָּלא ָיֲהִבין ְל ִנְשְׁמָתא גּוָּפא ָאֳחָרא‬,‫ ְבִּגְלגּוָּלא ִתּ ְנָייָנא‬,‫ ְוָלא ַיְכָלא ְלֶמֱה ִוי ְבּגוָּפא ָאֳחָרא‬,‫קוְּדָשׁא ְבּ ִרי¡ הוּא‬
‫ וְּבִגין ָדּא ָאְמָרה‬,‫ ַﬠד ְדָּקִביר ְלַּקְדֵמיָתא‬,‫ ְלֵמיַסב ִאְתָּתא ָאֳחָרא‬,‫ ָלא ִאְתֲחֵזי ֵליהּ‬,‫ ְוָדא ָדֵּמי ְלַבר ָנשׁ ְדֵּמיַתת ִאְתֵּתיהּ‬.‫ַקְדָמָאה‬
‫ ל ֹא ָתִלין ִנְבָלתוֹ ַﬠל ָהֵﬠץ‬,‫אוַֹר ְייָתא‬.

The prohibition of not leaving the corpse to rot on a tree was not because of any divine desecration
in the Zohar, rather human life maintains the divine chariot and if the corpse is left unburied ti
weakens the chariot. Furthermore, it delays the soul’s transmigration to another body which is
needed for the divine tikkun.

Here burial serves the needs for tikkun olam and the restoration of all the souls that were contained
in Adam Kadmon that need to live through this life for the ultimate restoration.

The word Guf is derived from Hebrew for "body/corpse".

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The Guf can also be referred to as the Otzer (Hebrew for "treasury"). It is the source of every
human soul. In some traditions the Guf is located in the celestial plane of Aravot, other times it is
located beneath God's Throne of Glory, which resides "above" Aravot.

Though some cite

‫ ְול ֹא ָלֶנַצח‬,‫טז ִכּי ל ֹא ְלעוָֹלם ָא ִריב‬ 16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always
‫ וּ ְנָשׁמוֹת‬,‫רוַּח ִמְלָּפַני ַיֲﬠטוֹף‬-‫ ִכּי‬:‫ֶאְקצוֹף‬ wroth; for the spirit that enwrappeth itself is from Me, and
.‫ֲא ִני ָﬠִשׂיִתי‬ the souls which I have made.

Isa. 57:16

as the source of the concept, Isaiah never uses the word, so the Talmud offers one of the earliest
direct references to the Guf and teaches that the Messiah will not come until the Guf is emptied
of all its souls

‫ טז( רב הונא אמר קיים משום דרב אסי דאמר רב אסי אין בן דוד בא עד שיכלו כל נשמות שבגוף שנאמר‬,‫)ישעיהו נז‬
‫כי רוח מלפני יעטוף וגו' ורבי יוחנן אמר לא קיים פריה ורביה לשבת יצרה בעינן והא ליכא‬

The Gemara clarifies the reasons for their opinions: Rav Huna said he has fulfilled the mitzva
due to a statement of Rav Asi, as Rav Asi said that the reason for this mitzva is that the Messiah,
son of David, will not come until all the souls of the body have been finished, i.e., until all souls
that are destined to inhabit physical bodies will do so, as it is stated: “For the spirit that enwraps
itself is from Me, and the souls that I have made” (Isaiah 57:16).

T.B. Yevamot 62a

This is given a longer, if more enigmatic treatment in a work of early Kabbalah, Sefer Bahir:

In its [? - there is no clear antecedent, perhaps the 'World to Come' discussed earlier] hand is the
treasury of souls. In the time when Israel is good, these souls are worthy of going forth and coming
into this world. But if they are not good, then [these souls] do not go forth. We therefore say, "The
son of David will not come until all the souls in the Guf are completed." What is the meaning of
"all the souls in the Guf [Body]"? We say this refers to all the souls in the body of The Adam
[Kadmon]. [When they are completed] new ones will be worthy of going forth . Bahir 184

The peculiar idiom of describing the treasury of souls as a "body," is connected to the mythic
tradition of Adam Kadmon, the primordial human. Adam Kadmon, God's "original intention" for
humanity, was a supernal being, androgynous and macro-cosmic (co-equal in size with the
universe). When this spiritual Adam sinned, his cosmic-sized soul burst asunder and humanity was
demoted to the flesh and blood, bifurcated and mortal creatures we are now. According to
Kabbalah, every human soul is just a fragment (or fragments) cycling out of the great "world-soul"
of Adam Kadmon.

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Hence, every human soul comes from a "guf ", that being the supernal body of Adam Kadmon.
Part of the project of humanity it to effect the tikkun, the restoration, of the soul of Adam Kadmon.4

4
Geoffrey Dennis, Cong. Bath Ami, and Prof. U. North Texas.

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