In Death and After
Death
Part 1
Rabbi Jochanan ben Saccai was president of the Sanhedrin for two
years. As he was on his deathbed, it is written in the Talmud that
when his disciples came to see him that he burst into tears. He
was such a religious man that he was known as "the light of Israel,
the right pillar of the Temple, and its mighty hammer". When
they asked why he was crying, he showed tremendous signs of fear and
replied: "If I were now to be brought before an earthly king,
who lives today and dies tomorrow, whose wrath and whose bonds are not
everlasting and whose sentence of death, even, is not that to
everlasting death, who can be assuaged by arguments, or perhaps bought
off by money -- I should tremble and weep; how much more reason
have I for it, when about to be led before the King of kings, the
Holy One, blessed be He, Who liveth and abideth for ever, Whose chains
are for evermore, and Whose sentence of death killeth forever,
Whom I cannot assuage with words, nor bribe by money! And not only
so, but there are before me two ways, one to paradise and the other to
hell, and I know not which of the two ways I shall have to go - whether
to paradise or to hell: how, then, shall I not shed
tears?"
Side by side with this we also read the opposite saying of R. Jehudah,
called the Holy, who, when he died, lifted up both his hands to heaven,
protesting that none of those ten fingers had broken the law of
God! It is difficult to say which one of these is more contrary to
the light and liberty of the Gospel - the utter hopelessness of the one,
or the apparent presumption of the other.
The voices of the Rabbis were very contradictory in view of the great
problems of humanity: sin, sickness, death, and the
hereafter.
When the disciples asked Jesus about "the man who was blind from
his birth", they naturally assumed that either he or his parents
had sinned. It was a devout Jewish belief that children either
benefited or suffered from the spiritual state of their parents.
They also held that an unborn child might contract guilt or evil
disposition from a parent. Any kind of sickness was regarded as
the punishment for sin and its atonement for sin.
The Rabbis were keen observers of the laws of health, and their
regulations were often far in advance of modern practice. In
Egypt, they had really concentrated on diseases and medicine, and almost
every disease had its own physician which specialized in that particular
disease. In some ways, Israel must have followed in these same
practices, as the Bible speaks of the woman who had spent all her
substance and suffered much from physicians. Also Luke was a
physician and among the regular Temple officials was a medical man whose
duty it was to attend the priests.
The Rabbis ordained that every town must have at least one physician who
could practice both medicine and do surgery, or one of each. Some
of the Rabbis themselves engaged in medical pursuits. To employ a
heretic, or Hebrew Christian, was specifically prohibited, though a
heathen could be called in if needed.
There are some sayings that are Jewish such as "Physician, heal
thyself", which is a Jewish proverb. They also had a saying
"Live not in a city whose chief is a medical man" - he
will attend to public business and neglect his patients. There
were also many bad treatments given out for the patients of the
day. Some of them even killed the patient.
The medicines recommended were generally hygienic, but either purely
medical, sympathetic, or even magical. The prescriptions consisted
of simples or of compounds, vegetables being far more used
than minerals. Cold water compresses, external and internal use of
oil and wine, medicated baths, a certain diet indicated in special
diseases. Goat's milk and barley-porridge were recommended in all
diseases attended by wasting. Jewish surgeons seem even to have
known how to operate for cataracts of the eye.
Ordinarily, life was expected to be long and full, and death was
regarded as alike for punishment for and expiation of sin. To die
within 50 years of age was to be cut off; within 52 was to die the death
of Samuel the prophet; at 60, it was regarded as death at the hands of
Heaven; at 70, as that of an old man; and at 80, as that of
strength.
Premature death was likened to the falling off of unripe fruit, or the
extinction of a candle. To depart without having a son was to die,
otherwise it was to fall asleep. David was considered to
have fallen asleep, and Joab was considered to die.
If a person had finished his work, his death was regarded as righteous
and was gathered to his fathers. Tradition has it that there were
902 different kinds of dying. The worst of these was angina, which
was compared to tearing out a thread from a piece of wool; while the
sweetest and gentlest, which was compared to drawing a hair out of milk,
was called "death by a kiss".
There were six people that it was said that the "angel of
death" had no power over- Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - because they had
seen their work quite completed; and Miriam, Aaron, and Moses, who had
died by "the kiss of God".
If premature death was the punishment of sin, the righteous died because
others were to carry on their work - Joshua on that of Moses, Solomon on
that of David, etc. There were also certain signs that were noted
as to the time and manner of dying.
-
sudden
death was called being swallowed up
-
death
after one day's illness - rejection
-
death
after two days' illness - despair
-
death
after four days' illness - reproof
-
death
after five days' illness - a natural death
Similarly, the posture of the dying was carefully marked.
-
to
die with a smile, happy countenance, or looking upward was
considered a good omen
-
to
look downward, to seem disturbed, to weep, or even to turn to the
wall, were considered evil signs
On recovering from an illness, one was to return special thanks to
God. It was also a curious superstition that if anyone announced
his illness on the first day of its occurrence, it might tend to make
him worse. Only on the second day should prayers be offered for
him. This last custom throws much light on the practice referred to in
James 5: 14. It was the custom to anoint the sick with a mixture
of oil, wine, and water, with this preparation even being allowed on the
Sabbath.
In Matthew 25:36, Jesus mentioned visitation of the sick among the
evidences of that religion which would stand the test of the judgment
day. This was a principle that was universally acknowledged among
the Jews. The great Jewish doctor Maimonides held that this duty
took precedence over all other good works. The Talmud even goes so
far as to say that whoever visited the sick shall deliver his soul from
Gehenna.
The Rabbis felt that people should imitate what they read in Scripture
that God did. They said that God clothed the naked, visited the
sick, and buried the dead. They felt that these writings from
Genesis gave them an example of what they should do to follow in His
footsteps. They felt that if they did these things for others, it
would take away part of their own suffering. It was a very
important part of their lives to take care of and visit the
sick.
In the next part we will follow how they buried the dead and all the
preparations and care they went through to do a proper job.
For more information from this book, go to the archives page at my
site www.cathydeaton.com
There are other articles of interest there also.
This text is taken from the book Sketches of Jewish
Social Life written by Alfred Edersheim. This book has been used
by permisison.