Rabbi's Blog

 A few weeks ago I officiated at the funeral of one of our congregants which took place in the Midwest. The family originally came from there but over the years moved to different parts of the country from the east to the west. Part of the eulogy was describing how a person, even after he or she passes away can still have an effect on the world and actually continue after death to get rewards for the next world. This woman, who lived a beautiful life into her nineties, had the ability to draw family and friends to attend her ‘Levaya’ - her funeral - from all over the country. Because of who she was and what she meant to her family, everyone came from all over the country. It is in her Zechus that others performed one of the greatest mitzvos of Halvayas HaMeis, escorting the deceased to her final resting place. 

Without much time to organize the trip to the funeral, I did not have access to material that I am used to having and therefore relied on memory to speak about the mitzvos which have no measure. Unfortunately, I had confused (yes, I made a mistake) a Mishna and a Gemara that we recite daily. The Mishna in Peah 1:1 states: “Eilu Devarim Sheain Lahem Shiur, HaPeah, HaBikkurim, V’Ha’ray’ayon, U’Gemilus Chasadim, V’Talmud Torah”. The Mishna continues, stating: “These are the things a person eats the fruits in this world, but the principle remains for the world to come; honoring your father and mother, performing kind deeds, bringing peace between people, and the study ofTorah equals them all”. Then we quote a Gemara in Shabbos 127 that states: “These are the things a person eats the fruits in this world and the principle remains for him in the next world, and they are: honoring your father and mother, kind deeds, early to the study hall morning and evening, welcoming guests, visiting the sick, providing for a bride, escorting the dead, intense prayer, bringing peace and harmony between people, and the study of Torah is equal to them all”. I mistakenly said that escorting the dead has no measure, but it is actually in the second section quoted in the Gemara Shabbos about receiving reward in both worlds. When I checked the actual sources, I found something very disturbing. The Gemara does not list all the things we say in davening, despite the fact that every siddur I checked had quoted ‘escorting the dead’ and welcoming in brides, yet the Gemara does NOT list them. 

The Rambam, in his siddur, refers to raising sons to Torah study and judging everyone favorably, but it leaves out escorting the dead and helping the bride. Why is it that helping brides and escorting the dead were added to the davening? 

In the responsa of the Maharam Shik Orach Chaim siman 2, Harav Moshe Schick (1 March 1807 – 25 January 1879), who was a prominent Hungarian Orthodox rabbi, explains this apparent issue. The Gemara in Kesuvos 17a states: “We interrupt the study of Torah in order to escort a bride and to take out the dead”. This is actually recorded as the halacha in Even HaEzer 25:2. This means the mitzvos of Halvayas HaMeis and escorting the bride are greater than Torah study. If that’s the case, how can the Mishna and Gemara conclude by saying, ‘and the study ofTorah equals them all’? Due to this reasoning the Rambam, who says that Talmud Torah is equal to all of them, specifically leaves out those two great mitzvos. Through the study of Torah one can reach all of the mitzvos. 

We can now understand the wording as we have it in the siddur. Since the fact is that gathering in a bride and escorting the dead are the greatest Mitzvos, it is obvious that those who do these mitzvos will eat the fruits in this world and the principle remains for the next world; how much more so by the study of Torah. If Torah earns a person reward in both worlds, then we must list that escorting a bride and taking out the dead that are even greater than Torah study. The Braisa in gemara Shabbos leaves out the mitzvos of honoring your father and learning ofTorah because it is explicitly stated in the Torah that these mitzvospermit a person to eat the fruits in this world while not disturbing the principle. The talmudic rule is that anything that is learned explicitly does not need to be learned out or stated any other way. 

In Jewish law and thought we are familiar with the concept of Schar Holicha, reward for travel. For instance, if two people attend the same Shul, the person who came from the further distance gets more reward than the person who was closer - if all other things are equal. I see no difference in the case of a funeral: that a person gets greater or more schar/reward for traveling from a faraway place. Where do we find the great mitzvah of escorting the dead? 

In this week’s Parshas Pinchas the Torah states in 26:12 “Uvnei Korach Lo Maysu”, “and the children of Korach did not die.” This is odd because a few parshios ago in Korach we read how Korach and his entire family was swallowed up in the earth. Many commentaries offer suggestions to whether they died or not. Almost all agree that the children of Korach repented and didn’t die a permanent, spiritual death like Korach and his followers. The wording of the verse “and the Children of Korach did not die” means they physically died, but not due to the sins of their father but rather because of something else. In fact, Chazal teach us that the Navi Shmuel came from their lineage. The Ramban says the sons of Korach were great Tzadikim and their merits protected them. 

We believe in the body and the soul. The soul, the neshama, lives on for eternity; only the body disappears. There are, however, some souls that completely die off, as in the case of Korach and his followers. Therefore, we, the living, have the opportunity to have our loved ones live on and continue to build up and earn rewards for their place in the next world. Just as the sons of Korach didn’t die, our relatives also live on in spirit and continue to eat of the fruits in both this world and the next. 

Ah Gut Shabbos 

Rabbi Avraham Bogopulsky