Cytowanie Komentarza do Psalmów 61:5

“Speak to the priests” [21:1]. Tell the priests that they should not touch any corpse. The children of the priests should not touch a corpse, even when they are small. One can ask a question. Rabbi Yannai told the priests that they could touch Rabbi Judah the Prince, even though he had died. There is a midrash in the Zohar that disagrees.³Most probably, Zohar, III:88b. It says, as soon as the person dies, the spirits of impurity see that the soul of the person has gone to heaven and the Garden of Eden. The spirits of impurity unite with the body. They think that they will also come to heaven when they cleave to the dead body. Therefore a corpse is impure because of the impure spirits. This midrash also answers a question. Why, when a gentile or an animal die and are lying in a house, a priest may go into that house. When a Jew dies and lies in a house, then no priest can come into that house because there is a corpse in the house. The explanation is that the spirits of impurity only desire to cleave to the corpse of a Jew whose soul went to heaven. However, they do not cleave to the body of a gentile or animal. So, one may ask, since the spirits of impurity unite with a body whose soul has gone to heaven. The soul of Rabbi Judah the Prince certainly went to heaven. Why does the Jerusalem Talmud say that Rabbi Yannai announced that the priests may touch Rabbi Judah the Prince and to bury him? The spirits of impurity would certainly cleave to the body of Rabbi Judah the Prince and make him impure. The explanation is that Rabbi Judah the Prince was called “Rabbi” in the Talmud because he taught Torah to all of Israel. Thus, he was called “Rabbi” and when he died, he had taught the whole world Torah and they always recited Torah that they had learned from him. Through this, the lips of Rabbi Judah the Prince speak in the grave, as the verse says, “O that I might dwell in Your tent forever” [Psalms, 61:5]. Here the Talmud asks a question. How is it possible that King David said that he would live in two worlds at one time? The explanation is that King David said, let people say words of Torah for my sake after my death and it will be as if I would live in two worlds because the lips of my mouth speak in the grave when people will say words of Torah for my sake after my death, as the verse says, “gliding over the lips of sleepers” [Song of Songs, 7:10]. This means, the lips of the scholars speak in the grave.⁴B. Yevamot, 96b-97a. Thus, this explains the question about how could Rabbi Yannai announce that Rabbi Judah the Prince is not impure, since the spirits see that the lips of Rabbi Judah the Prince speak in the grave. They think that because Rabbi Judah is speaking with his lips, the soul must still be in him, since the soul speaks by every person. Therefore, the spirits of impurity do not cleave to Rabbi Judah the Prince. They think that he is still teaching.⁵This is most likely an original interpretation.

“A king is held captive in the tresses” [7:6]. The Yalkut writes: King David said, “O that I might dwell in Your tent forever” [Psalms, 61:5]. This means, let me live in two worlds. One asks a question, how is it possible to live at the same time in two worlds? The answer is that King David said: Lord of the Universe, let words of Torah be said because of me, in this world after my death. This will be as if I am living in two worlds, since my lips will move in the grave, just like when words of Torah are said because of me in the world. Concerning this, the verse says, “And your mouth like choicest wine… gliding over the lips of sleepers” [7:10]. The lips of the sages move in the grave where they sleep.²⁶Yalkut Shimoni, Song of Songs, Remez, 992.