Pensamento Judaico sobre Isaías 35:3

Judah ben Shaul said, “The author says: May the God of Israel, who confirms His words and vindicates the righteous in their time, be blessed and exalted.” I will now say that I found the multitude of Israel believing that the Creator, blessed and exalted, will revive their dead at the time of redemption. They interpret every passage in the Scriptures that seems to refer to the resurrection of the dead at the time of salvation according to its plain meaning. They also support this belief with traditional teachings and interpretations related to that subject. I also found a small number within the nation who do not agree that this will occur at the time of redemption, instead claiming it will happen when entering the World to Come. They base this view on a weak and flawed argument—part of which I have heard from them and part of which I have inferred from their reasoning. Since it is the duty of every righteous person to initially embrace the desired truth and reject contradictory ideas, as it is written (Proverbs 10:32), “The lips of the righteous know what is pleasing,” it is also incumbent upon them to inform the nation, clarify the matter, and turn them away from the words of fools. As it is further written (Proverbs 10:21), “The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of sense.” In pursuit of justice, even though I may not have fully attained it, I have examined this matter and scrutinized it thoroughly so that I might first establish the clearest understanding possible. Thereafter, I wrote this for our nation as a guide and a means to assist them in serving our God and enduring their exile. I conducted this work according to the guidance the Creator commanded in matters of enduring hardship, as it says (Isaiah 35:3-4), “Strengthen the weak hands, and steady the trembling knees. Say to those with fearful hearts: Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God…” When I examined whether there is a basis for the popular belief in the resurrection of the dead at the time of redemption, I investigated and found that the arguments advanced in favor of this belief stem from four sources: nature, reason, Scripture, and tradition. I began with nature because of its intrinsic precedence. I asked whether one must deny the possibility of resurrection because nature cannot achieve it, as it is not natural for the dead to return to life. However, upon reflection, I found this reasoning untenable, as it aligns only with those who believe in the eternity of matter or dualistic doctrines, for whom events occur only according to fixed and known patterns. But for those who believe in the Oneness of God, who changes the laws of nature at His will, it is impossible to deny the resurrection based on nature. All believers in the Oneness of God acknowledge that He sent prophets with signs and wonders, and greater still, created the primal elements from nothing. Thus, if one were to reject the resurrection because nature cannot accomplish it, one would also have to reject miracles such as the transformation of Moses’ staff into a serpent, the splitting of the sea, the halting of the sun in Gibeon, and other miraculous acts recorded in the Scriptures. Rejecting these would lead to denying the Creator’s power and exiting the community of believers. Moreover, resurrection is logically simpler and closer to reason than the creation of existence from nothing. I further considered whether this topic might belong to the realm of impossibilities, like bringing back yesterday or making five greater than ten. But when I scrutinized this, I found that it, too, was false. The elemental components of a body that decomposes return to their primal sources in the four elements (heat, cold, moisture, and dryness). New bodies can be formed from elements that were not part of the previous body. This vast reservoir of elemental matter ensures that bodies can be reconstructed at the time of resurrection, even if their prior elements were scattered or consumed. Moreover, the belief in resurrection is strengthened by the acknowledgment that consumed or burned bodies are not annihilated but merely separated into their component parts, all of which remain preserved for the appointed time. When I reflected upon these matters, my doubts disappeared, and my belief in this doctrine was solidified. I said: Blessed be He who is capable of all things.

By appointing a day a week when we forsake preoccupation with all matters that are of a transient nature, we have the opportunity to listen to the Torah's instruction, each person according to the level of the faculties he has been endowed with, of course. Spiritual contentment is attained through such Torah study. The Talmud Yerushalmi Shabbat 16, halachah 3, goes so far as to say that the Sabbath was given to Israel primarily to enable us to study. This is an aspect of the neshama yeteyrah, additional soul, which the Talmud Beytzah 16, says we possess on that day, due to the preparations we make to welcome the arrival of the Sabbath. This refers to preparations made by both lecturers and listeners. This is also one of the reasons we find the Sabbath described as "equivalent to all the other commandments combined." Scriptural proof is available from all three parts of the Bible. All of this is due to the intensive preparation involved in getting ready to observe the mitzvah of Shabbat. We could find additional proof in our very Parshah where we have the juxtaposition " these are the words which the Lord commanded to be kept," followed by "six days work shall be done and the seventh day shall be a holy Sabbath for you unto G-d." It seems as if the rest of Torah legislation is equated with Sabbath observance. The Rabbis who composed the grace after meals, have expressed the same juxtaposition in the insert we recite on the Sabbath. "Be pleased, O Lord our G-d, fortify us by Your commandments,"-- "and by the commandment pertaining to the seventh day." Because of the importance of this day, we find many more types of prohibitions associated with this commandment than with any other commandment. We also have the penalty of "stoning" for wilful transgression after due warning. We learn from the frequent repetition of the Sabbath laws in the Torah that even mental preoccupation with weekday matters is taboo, see Isaiah 58, 13. A true Sabbath observer is someone who does not engage in idle chatter on that day. (Shabbat 150) One's conversation should not be like that on weekdays. Some people do not speak anything but Hebrew on the Sabbath. The definition of melachah work, is usually an activity planned in advance. (machashavah) It is only this kind of work that is subject to the severe penalties of the Torah. All manner of activity which tends to sow hatred, disharmony etc. is likewise forbidden under the euphemism "do not light fire in any of your dwellings," (35,3) which appears adjacent to the main legislation. Anyone who fails to utilise the opportunity the Sabbath offers him to study Torah, is in fact contributing to his own death. It is this that Rabbi Ami had in mind when he went on record (Yerushalmi Moed Katan 2, halachah 3) "If I had found someone who would agree with me, I would have permitted work on the intermediate days of the festival.." Since the work prohibition on those days has as its purpose to free people to eat, drink and study Torah, and the people ignored the part about studying Torah, better they should at least work than belittle the sanctity of these days by not studying Torah.