Talmud zu Mischlej 17:5

Ẓizith [of a ṭallith used as a shroud] upon a corpse should not be undone.²⁵The removal of the zizith would be an insult to the dead, which is condemned in Prov. 17, 5, Whoso mocketh the poor blasphemeth his Maker, and a dead man is the poorest of all. Abba Saul b. Boṭhnith said, ‘My father told me, “When I die, undo the zizith [in my ṭallith] because they come within the category of holiness”‘.²⁶And should be undone before the ṭallith is used as a shroud. The Sages said: It does not come within the category of holiness, so one may use it as a shroud for the dead or as a pack-saddle for an ass.

Rebbi Zeïra in the name of Rav Abba bar Jeremiah: A person may not enter a cemetery and relieve himself there.¹⁴²The connection with the preceding section is that this is a statement of Rebbi Zeïra in the name of Rav Abba bar Jeremiah, and it speaks about relieving oneself. When he did it anyway, about him the verse says (Prov. 17:5) “He who makes fun of the poor blasphemes his Maker.”¹⁴³He who relieves himself in the cemetery makes fun of the dead two-fold; first he shows his contempt for the dead and then he does something that the dead can do no more. Even graveside sermons are unacceptable in Judaism since the dead can no longer have any Torah thoughts. Clarification: The great Rebbi Ḥiyya and Rebbi Jonathan¹⁴⁴The greatest of the preachers of the first generation of Amoraïm, student of R. Simeon bar Yose bar Laqonia, a preacher of the last generation of Tannaïm who was the brother-in-law of the son of R. Simeon bar Yoḥai. were walking before the bier of Rebbi Simeon bar Yose bar Laqonia when Rebbi Jonathan stepped over his grave. The great Rebbi Ḥiyya said to him: About that they will say, tomorrow they will be with us but they hurt us. He answered him, do they know anything? Is it not written: (Prov. 9:5) “But the dead do not know anything.” He told him: you know how to read, you do not know how to preach. (Prov. 9:5) “The living know that they will die”, these are the Just who even in death are considered living; “but the dead do not know anything;” these are the wicked who even in life are called dead. From where that the wicked even in life are called dead? It is said (Ez. 18:32) “For I have no pleasure in the death of the dead;” how can a dead person die? But these are the wicked who even in life are called dead. And from where that the Just even in death are considered living? It is written (Deut. 34:4) “And He said to him: This is the land I had sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to tell.” Why does the verse say “to tell”? He said to him: go and tell the patriarchs that all I had promised I fulfilled to your descendants after you.

²⁹⁶This paragraph has no parallel in Thr. rabba. Rav Ḥuna said, when the slain of Bettar were permitted to be buried, “the good and the benefactor” was fixed. “The good” that they did not decompose, “the benefactor” that they were permitted for burial²⁹⁷The fourth benediction of Grace. Babli 31a; Berakhot 1:8 (Note 278), 7:1 (Notes 35,36), Babli 48b.. It was stated, Rebbi Yose said, 52 years Bettar existed after the destruction of the Temple. And why was it destroyed? For they lit lights after the destruction of the Temple. Why did they light lights? Because the council members²⁹⁸Greek βουλευτής. of Jerusalem were dominating the center of the city. When they were seeing a person moving to Jerusalem they said to him, since we heard about you that you are aspiring to be made judge²⁹⁹Greek ʼάρχων, - οντος. or councillor; he would say to them, that is not my intention³⁰⁰To become elected and to pay bribes for the purpose.. Because we heard about you that you intend to sell your property³⁰¹Greek ου ʼσία.; he would say to them, that is not my intention. His colleague would say to him, what are you arguing with this one, write and I shall sign³⁰²Since a sale document is valid if it is testified to by two witnesses; it needs no signature of any of the parties to the sale.. He would write and his colleague would sign. They would send the sale document³⁰³A Semitic form of Greek ʼωνή. to his house companion and told him, if X comes to enter his property, do not let him, because it is sold to us. When he heard this from them he said, if only this man’s leg had been broken before he came to Jerusalem. That is what is written³⁰⁴Thr. 3:18., they caught our steps, not to walk in our streets. They caught our steps, destroy the way to that House, our end is near, the end of this House is near, our days are fulfilled, the days of this House are fulfilled. They also did not come out well, he who enjoys disaster will not be acquitted³⁰⁵Prov. 17:5..

If one passes through graves he should not wear the tefillin or carry sacred books in his hand, because it is disrespectful [to the dead].⁹In Ber. 18a (Sonc. ed., p. 108) he is said to transgress the teaching, Whoso mocketh the poor blasphemeth his Maker (Prov. 17, 5), because the dead are ‘poor’ in that they cannot acquire merit by the study and performance of the Torah.