Berakhot 18b (יח:) — the Talmud in English

And the Gemara expands upon the interpretation of the verse [and the proof derived from it]:

“A son of a valiant man” —

And is it so?

Are all people sons of those who are dead?

The Gemara explains:

Rather, “a son of a valiant man” —

for even in his death he is called alive,

and from here is the source that the righteous are called alive even in their death.

“A man of many deeds, from Kabze’el” —

for he increased and gathered workers for Torah,

that is, he “gathered” students and teachers for the honor of the “God.”

“And he struck the two Ariels of Moab” —

for he left no

great man

like him, neither in the First Temple

which was called “Moab,” because David built it,

nor in the Second Temple,

for all the Sanctuaries were called “Ariel.”

“And he descended and struck the lion in the midst of the pit on a snowy day” —

some say that he broke blocks of ice,

that he broke pieces of ice,

and descended and immersed himself

to purify himself from a seminal emission, in order to engage in Torah.

Some say that he taught,

that he would study the entire

Sifra of the House of Rav,

the Torat Kohanim,

on a winter day,

on one winter day, despite its being a short day.

And Rabbi Hiyya continues to expound the verse mentioned in Ecclesiastes:

“And the dead know nothing at all” —

these are the wicked, who in their lifetimes are called dead .

As

it is stated

concerning Zedekiah [Ezekiel 21:30]:

“And you, slain wicked one, prince of Israel,”

although he was still alive in the days of Ezekiel, nevertheless Scripture calls him “slain.”

And if you wish, say

that the source that the wicked in their lifetimes are called dead is learned from the verse: [Deuteronomy 17:6]

“By the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses shall the dead man be put to death.”

Yet when they testify against him and judge him, he is still

alive,

and nevertheless Scripture calls him dead.

Rather,

the meaning is that

the dead man

is considered dead from the outset, since he is wicked and is called dead while still alive.

The sons of Rabbi Hiyya went out to the villages

to engage in the work of their estates,

and their learning became rusty,

their Torah became burdensome to them because of forgetfulness,

and they distressed

themselves

to recall

what they had forgotten.

One said to the other:

Did

our father know,

our father Rabbi Hiyya, who had passed away,

of this distress?

The other said to him: How could he know? Is it not written

Job 14:21]

“His sons are honored, and he does not know”?

The other said to him: And

is it that he

does not know? Is it not written

there 22:22]

“But his flesh upon him shall ache, and his soul within him shall mourn.” And Rabbi Yitzhak said:

The verse means that

the worm is painful to the dead —

like a needle in the flesh of the living.

And the Gemara distinguishes:

They said: With regard to their own distress

—the actual pain of their bodies, such as the bite of the worm —

they know;

the dead know, but

with regard to the distress of others —

they do not know.

And the Gemara raises an objection:

And

is it that they

do not

know the distress of others?!

But it was taught: There was an incident involving a certain pious man who

was poor, and

gave one dinar

that he possessed

to another poor man

on the eve of Rosh Hashanah during years of famine.

on the eve of Rosh HaShana, during years of famine. And his wife berated him

for giving away all his money.

He went and spent the night

in the house

of the cemetery on the second night of Rosh HaShana .

And he heard two spirits

of two deceased girls,

speaking with one another .

One said to the other: My friend, come, let us roam through the world and hear from behind the partition,

which is the barrier separating the place of the Divine Presence,

and learn what calamity is coming

this year

upon the world,

for the world is judged on Rosh HaShana .

Her companion said to her: My friend, I cannot, for I am

the daughter of poor people, and I am

buried in a mat of reeds .

Rather, you go, and whatever you hear, tell me.

She went, roamed, and returned

back.

Her companion said to her: My friend, what did you hear from behind the partition?

She said to her: I heard that whoever sows during the first rainy season,

during the season of the early rains, on the seventeenth of Marheshvan,

hail will strike him.

Hail was destined to fall near the second rainy season, and what had already been sown would have hardened, so the hail would break it. But what would be sown during the second rainy season would still remain soft, and the hail would not break it.

He went and sowed during the second rainy season,

on the twenty-third of Marheshvan.

The entire world’s crops were struck, but his was not struck. [And he thereby received reward for what he had given the poor man on the eve of Rosh HaShana, Ein Yaakov].

The entire world’s crops were struck, but his was not struck. [And he thereby received reward for what he had given the poor man on the eve of Rosh HaShana, Ein Yaakov].

The following year, he went and spent the night in the cemetery, and heard those two spirits speaking with one another.

One said to the other: Come, let us roam through the world and hear from behind the partition what calamity is coming upon the world.

She said to her: My friend, did I not tell you, I cannot, for I am buried in a mat of reeds? Rather, you go, and whatever you hear, come

and tell me.

She went, roamed, and returned.

Her companion said to her: My friend, what did you hear from behind the partition?

She said to her: I heard that whoever sows during the second rainy season will be struck by blight.

He went

ahead

and sowed during the first rainy season.

So that it would harden by the second rainy season, since blight strikes only a soft plant and not a hardened one.

The entire world’s crops were burned, but his was not blighted.

His wife said to him:

Why last year, the first year,

were the crops of the entire world struck, but yours was not, and now the crops of the entire world were blighted, but yours was not? —

He told her the entire matter.

They said: Not many days passed before a quarrel broke out between the wife of that pious man and the mother of that girl

who had been buried in a mat.

She said to her

—the pious man’s wife said to the girl’s mother—

Come and I will show you your daughter, who is buried in a mat of reeds,

which is disgraceful, since only poor people are buried in one.

The following year, he went and spent the night in the cemetery, and heard those spirits speaking with one another.

One said to the other: My friend, come, let us roam through the world

and hear from behind the partition what calamity is coming upon the world.

She said to her: My friend, leave me! Matters between you and me have already been heard among the living.

And from this the Gemara proves:

Apparently, they know

what occurs among the living, since she knew what had been said to her mother.

And the Gemara rejects this:

Perhaps another person died

and his spirit went to them after his death,

and told them.

Come and hear, for Ze’iri would deposit money with his hostess

the woman who kept his lodging.

While he was coming and going to the house of Rav,

she died,

she passed away,

and he went after her to the courtyard of death

to the cemetery.

He said to her: The money

of the orphans—

where is it?

She said to him: Go and take it from beneath the threshold beam of the house

the hollow of the threshold in which the door turns—

in such-and-such a place,

in a particular place.

And

she asked him another thing:

Tell my mother

my mother that she

should send me my comb,

my comb,

and the reed for applying eye makeup,

the stick used for applying kohl [and she said this out of anguish that she had died young],

through

the agency of

a certain woman,

a particular woman,

who will come

tomorrow

for burial.

And from this the Gemara proves:

Apparently, they know

what takes place among the living, since she knew that a woman was dying and about to die.

The Gemara rejects this:

Perhaps “Duma,”

the angel appointed over the dead,

goes ahead and announces it to them.

He informs them that so-and-so is now coming. But they do not know other matters that take place among the living.

Come and hear,

a proof that the dead know what is taking place in the world:

Shmuel’s father used to have the orphans’ money deposited with him. When he died, Shmuel was not with him, and people would call him

Shmuel

“son of one who consumes orphans’ money

[son of one who consumes the money of orphans].

Shmuel went

after

him to the courtyard of death,

the cemetery and the dead appeared to him as though they were sitting in a circle outside their graves.

He said to them: I seek “Abba,”

I am seeking my father, whose name was “Abba” .

They said to him

the dead:

“There are many ‘Abbas’ here.”

He said to them: I seek “Abba bar Abba.”

They said to him: There are also many “Abba bar Abbas” here.

He said to them: I seek “Abba bar Abba, Shmuel’s father” —

where is he?

They said to him: He has ascended to the heavenly academy!

Meanwhile, he saw

Shmuel

Levi,

his deceased colleague,

sitting outside,

sitting outside the circle in which the dead were seated.

He said to him

Shmuel said to Levi:

Why are you sitting outside,

outside the circle, and also

why have you not ascended

to the heavenly academy?

He said to him

Levi:

For they said to me: For all those two years

corresponding to the number of years

that you did not ascend to the academy

because you did not go up to the academy of

Rabbi Afes, and you caused him anguish,

and thereby caused him distress—

we do not admit you to the heavenly academy .

Meanwhile, his father arrived. He saw

Shmuel saw his father,

who was crying and laughing.

He said to him

Shmuel said:

Why are you crying?

He said to him

his father: Because

you are coming to join the circle,

you will soon die and be buried.

Shmuel continued and asked him:

Why did you laugh?

Why did you smile?

His father answered him:

Because you are highly esteemed in this world

in this world ,

very much.

He said to him: If I am esteemed,

I ask that my request be taken into consideration, and

that Levi be admitted

to the heavenly academy!

And

indeed,

they admitted Levi.

Shmuel said to his father

Shmuel said to his father:

The orphans’ money —

where

is it located?

He said to him: Go and take it from the axle of the millstone,

take it from the millstone’s axle. The money you find there:

the upper and lower

layers are

ours.

And the money

in the middle

belongs to the orphans.

Shmuel said to him

Shmuel said:

Why did you do this?

He said to him:

I divided them in this manner so that

if thieves steal, they will steal from ours.

For they will take the money they find first, above. On the other hand,

if the ground damages

the coins from below,

it will damage ours,

and the main concern is that the orphans’ money should not be lost.

And the Gemara concludes from this:

Apparently, they know

which person among the living is esteemed, for his father told him, “Because you are highly esteemed in this world” .

The Gemara rejects:

Perhaps Shmuel was different: Since he was important, they would go before him and announce, “Make way

for Shmuel,” and therefore his deceased father knew that his son Shmuel was important in this world, even though the dead do not know what takes place among the living.

And Rabbi Yonatan also retracted.

From what he had said [on the first side] that the dead know nothing.

As Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: From where is it derived that the dead converse with one another? As it is stated

Deuteronomy 34:4

“And Hashem said to him

to Moses, before his death:

‘This is the land that I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying.’”

And Rabbi Yonatan inferred:

What is the meaning of “saying”?

To whom could Moses say this, when he was about to die?

Rather, this is what

the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses:

Go after your departure from the world and

tell Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: The oath that I swore to you—

I have already fulfilled it for your descendants.