Midrash su Ezechiele 37:12

R. Hanina said: Whoever dies outside of the land of Israel and is buried there experiences two deaths, as it is written: And thou, Pashhur, and all that dwell in thy house shall go into captivity; and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and there thou shalt be buried (Jer. 20:6). Hence he experienced two deaths.⁸They suffer both the pain of death and the pain of interment outside the Holy Land. That is why Jacob said to Joseph: Bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt. R. Simon argued: If that is so, do not the righteous who are buried outside the land of Israel suffer because of that? What does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He constructs subterranean passages through which they revolve until they reach the land of Israel. When they reach the land, the Holy One, blessed be He, instills within them the breath of life and they rise, as it is said: Behold, I have opened your graves, and I caused you to come up out of your graves, O My people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel (Ezek. 37:12), and after that is written: I will put My spirit in you, and you will live (ibid., v. 14). R. Simeon the son of Lakish said: The following verse teaches explicitly that when the righteous reach the land of Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, instills the breath of life in them: He that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein (Isa. 42:5).

(Gen. 47:30:) WHEN I SLEEP WITH MY ANCESTORS…. Why do all the ancestors search for and cherish burial in the land of Israel?¹⁵Gen. R. 96:5(7). R. Hananiah said: R. Joshua ben Levi said: There is a reason for this (in Ps. 116:9): I WILL WALK BEFORE THE LORD IN THE LANDS OF THE LIVING. Our masters have said two things in the name of R. Helbo: Why did the ancestors cherish the land of Israel for burial? Because the dead in the land of Israel shall be the first to revive in the days of the Messiah and enjoy the messianic years.¹⁶See above, 7:23, and the references noted there. R. Hama b. R. Hanina said: The one who dies outside of the land and is buried there has two deaths. Where is it shown? Where it is stated (in Jer. 20:6): YOU ALSO, PASHUR, AND ALL WHO DWELL IN YOUR HOUSE SHALL GO INTO CAPTIVITY. SO YOU SHALL COME TO BABYLON, WHERE YOU SHALL DIE AND WHERE YOU SHALL BE BURIED, YOU ALONG WITH ALL YOUR FRIENDS TO WHOM YOU PROPHESIED FALSELY.¹⁷The burial outside Israel is seen here as the second death. R. Simon said: If so, are the righteous who are buried outside the land at a disadvantage? So what does the Holy One do? He {goes back to} [bores through] the land before them and makes them like skin bottles¹⁸See yKet. 12:3 (35b); cf. the parallel in Tanh., Gen. 11:3: “He makes cavities for them in the land and makes them (the cavities) like these caverns….” Cf. also Ket. 111b. so that they come rolling < on through > until they arrive in the land of Israel. Then, when they arrive in the land of Israel, he puts the spirit of life in them; and they arise. Where is it shown? Where it is stated (in Ezek. 37:12): BEHOLD, I WILL OPEN YOUR GRAVES … < O MY PEOPLE, AND BRING YOU UNTO THE LAND OF ISRAEL >. Then afterwards (in vs. 14): AND I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT WITHIN YOU SO THAT YOU SHALL LIVE. Resh Laqish said: Scripture clearly states that, when they arrive in the land of Israel, the Holy One puts breath in them, as stated (in Is. 42:5): WHO GIVES BREATH TO THE PEOPLE UPON IT¹⁹The antecedent of IT is ha’arets, which is usually translated here as THE EARTH but can also mean THE LAND. AND SPIRIT TO THOSE WHO WALK THEREON.

(Gen. 38:1:) NOW IT CAME TO PASS AT THAT TIME THAT JUDAH WENT AWAY FROM HIS BROTHERS AND TURNED ASIDE TO A CERTAIN ADULLAMITE WHOSE NAME WAS HIRAH. Let our master instruct us: If a ruin falls on the Sabbath, and it is not known whether Israelites are there or not, is it legitimate to clear away < the rubble > over them on the Sabbath? Thus have our masters taught (in Yoma 8:7): IF A FALLING STRUCTURE FALLS ON SOMEONE [ON THE SABBATH], AND THERE IS DOUBT WHETHER HE IS THERE OR NOT THERE, DOUBT WHETHER HE IS ALIVE OR DEAD, DOUBT WHETHER HE IS A FOREIGNER OR AN ISRAELITE, THEY SHALL CLEAR AWAY [THE RUBBLE] FOR HIS SAKE. IF THEY FIND HIM ALIVE, THEY SHALL CLEAR AWAY < THE REST OF THE RUBBLE > FOR HIS SAKE; BUT, IF HE IS DEAD, THEY SHALL LEAVE HIM.¹⁵The Mishnah text here (without Buber’s bracketed emendations) is that found in the Yerushalmi. It is written concerning the Sabbath (in Exod. 31:14): WHOEVER PROFANES IT (the Sabbath) SHALL SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH; yet our masters have taught: they shall clear away [the rubble] over one who is alive on the Sabbath. R. Eleazar ben Azariah said: If circumcision, which < affects > only one of two hundred and forty-eight < human > organs, overrides the Sabbath, how much the more would two hundred and forty-eight organs under stone override the Sabbath for someone?¹⁶Shab. 132a; Yoma 85b; Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael, Shabbata 1. R. Simeon ben Menasya says: Defile one Sabbath for him so that he may keep a lot of Sabbaths. So, if you clear away < the rubble > over someone to restore a single soul to life, I will also do for you what is written (in Ezek. 37:12): < THUS SAYS THE LORD GOD > BEHOLD, I WILL OPEN YOUR GRAVES < AND RAISE YOU UP OUT FROM YOUR GRAVES, O MY PEOPLE, AND BRING YOU UNTO THE LAND OF ISRAEL >. A certain heretic (min) asked our Rabbi: Is it possible for the dead to live again? Your ancestors do not acknowledge < the belief >, yet you do acknowledge < it >! What is written about Jacob (in Gen. 37:35)? THEN ALL HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS AROSE TO COMFORT HIM [BUT HE REFUSED TO BE COMFORTED]. If he had known that the dead would live < again >, would he have refused to be comforted and said (ibid., cont.): NO I WILL GO DOWN MOURNING UNTO MY SON IN SHEOL? Our Rabbi said to him: You are the biggest fool in the world. < It was > because our father Jacob knew through the Holy Spirit that Joseph was alive. For that reason he did not accept consolation over him. After all, one does not accept consolation over one who is alive.¹⁷Cf. Gen. R. 84:6; see Soferim 21 (43b).