Taharat Hamet: ש"ויט at Bernie's

(1) A dying man¹Heb. gosēs, the term applied when the rattle in the throat indicates that a person is at the point of death. is regarded as a living entity in respect of all matters in the world: he holds [his brother’s wife] tied to the leviratical marriage,²Cf. Deut. 25, 5ff. Should the brother die while he himself is dying, the former’s widow is precluded from marrying until she is released by the latter from his obligation to wed her (cf. Ohol. I, 6, Sonc. ed., pp. 151f). he frees [his mother] from the obligation of a leviratical marriage³If his father died and left no other children, his mother is free to remarry because the dying man is regarded as living. Even a child who survives one day frees his mother from the levirate. Cf. Nid. 43b (Sonc. ed., p. 303). and enables her to eat terumah,⁴If his mother is the daughter of a lay-Israelite married to a kohen, she may continue to eat terumah so long as he remains at the point of death. and he [may also] disqualify her from eating terumah;⁵If she is the daughter of a kohen married to a lay-Israelite, she may not eat of the terumah belonging to her father which, on the death of her husband, she is permitted to eat when she returns to his home (cf. Lev. 22, 12f). The reason is that, since her son is regarded as living, it would be contrary to the stipulation in Lev. and have no child. he inherits and transmits;⁶i.e. an estate. On inheritance and transmission, cf. B.B. 108a (Sonc. ed., p. 448). if one of his limbs is severed, it is regarded as a limb cut off from the living;⁷There is a legal difference if it is a limb severed from a living or dead body. If it was from a dead body, a piece of flesh from it, even the size of an olive, communicates defilement; but if from a living body it does not. Therefore, if one of the dying man’s limbs is severed, flesh from it does not defile because he is considered a living being. if [part of his] flesh [is severed], it is regarded as flesh cut off from the living;⁸Flesh not necessarily from a severed limb. and the blood of his sin-offering and guilt-offering is sprinkled for him until the time he dies.⁹Where a man who brought a sin- or guilt-offering died before it was sacrificed, the animal for the former had to be killed and the latter turned into the fields to graze until it died naturally. But with a dying man who brought an offering, the ritual connected with his sacrifice was carried out completely.

(2) We do not tie up his cheek-bones,¹⁰To prevent the jaw from dropping; cf. Shab. 151a (Sonc. ed., p. 771). or stop up his apertures,¹¹To prevent air from entering. or place a metal vessel or anything which chills on his navel;¹²Shab. loc. cit. reads ‘on his stomach’, that it should not swell. as it is stated, Before the silver cord is snapped asunder and the golden bowl is shattered, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain.¹³Eccl. 12, 6. None of these acts may be done because they hasten death.

(3) We may not move him, or place him on sand or salt¹⁴For ‘salt’ GRA reads ‘a vessel that chills’; cf. Tosiftha Shab. XVIII, 18. until he dies.¹⁵So that the body should keep cool and not swell.

(4) We may not close the eyes¹⁶Shab. loc. cit. (Sonc. ed., p. 772). Closing the eyes of a corpse is a very ancient practice. According to Ibn Ezra the custom is alluded to in Gen. 46, 4, and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes (cf. his commentary ad loc.). The custom was current among the ancient Greeks and Romans and is practised by the Egyptians [cf. Seyffert, Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, p. 101b, and Lane, Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, ch. XXVIII]. A man, at the moment of death, was believed to behold the Divine Presence (cf. Job 19, 27) and therefore it was unfitting that after that vision his eyes should look at anything mundane. Cf. A. Bender in Jewish Quarterly Review, VII (1895), pp. 102f. of a dying man. Whoever touches and moves him is a murderer. For R. Meir used to say: He can be compared to a lamp which is dripping;¹⁷Shab. loc cit. reads ‘a lamp that is going out’. should a man touch it he extinguishes it. Similarly whoever closes the eyes of a dying man is considered as if he had taken his life.

(5) We do not rend the garments or bare the shoulder,¹⁸Cf. Rashi to M.Ḳ. 22b (Sonc. ed., p. 140). R. Meir of Rothenberg explains the word ḥoleẓin in the usual sense of ‘removing the shoes’. or deliver a memorial address, or bring the coffin into the house until he dies.¹⁹These things should be avoided so as not to frighten the dying person.

(6) We do not summon the people²⁰Cf. 1 Sam. 15, 4, XXIII, 8 for this usage of the Heb. verb. Brüll adds the word ‘ayaroth (cf. Sanh. 47a, Sonc. ed., p. 311), ‘We do not summon the people of the townships’. or recount his good deeds. R. Judah said: If he is a scholar we recount his good deeds.²¹Because he is accustomed to have his praises sung and it would not distress him in the circumstances.

(11) When a person commits suicide [kills oneself with clarity of mind], we do not engage in activity on their behalf at all. We do not mourn for him or eulogize him. We do, however, stand in a line to comfort the relatives, recite the blessing for the mourners and perform any act that shows respect for the living. What is meant by a person who commits suicide? Not necessarily one who climbs up on a roof, falls, and dies, but rather, one who says: "I am going up to the top of the roof." If we see him climb up immediately in anger or know that he was distressed and see him fall and die, we presume such a person is one who committed suicide. If, however, we see him strangled and hanging from a tree or slain and lying on the back of his sword, we presume that he is like all other corpses. We engage in activity on his behalf and do not withhold anything from him.

...

(4) One may wait for nightfall at the Shabbat boundary to attend to the needs of a bride and the needs of a corpse, such as to bring him a coffin and shrouds. If a gentile brought flutes on Shabbat in order to play music during the eulogy and funeral procession, a Jew may not eulogize with them as accompaniment, unless they were brought from a nearby location within the Shabbat boundary and transporting them did not include any violation of halakha. If gentiles made someone a coffin and dug him a grave on Shabbat, and they then changed their minds and decided to give it to someone else, a Jew may be buried in it. However, if it was initially intended for a Jew, a Jew may never be buried in it.

(5) One may perform all of the needs of the dead on Shabbat. One may smear oil on the body and rinse it with water, and all of this is permitted provided that one does not move any of its limbs, which would constitute a violation of the laws of set-aside objects. When necessary, one may also remove a pillow from beneath it and thereby place it on cold sand in order to delay its decomposition. Similarly, one may tie the jaw of a corpse that is in the process of opening. One may not move it directly so that it will rise back to its original position, but so that it will not continue to open. And similarly, if one has a roof beam that has broken on Shabbat, one may support it with a bench or with long poles from a bed. One may not move it so that the beam will rise back to its original place, but so that it will not continue to fall. One may not shut the eyes of the dead on Shabbat because the body is set-aside. And one may not shut the eyes even on a weekday while the soul departs. One must wait until the person has died. And one who shuts the eyes while the soul departs is a murderer because he has hastened the person’s death.

(1) 1. The laws of death on a holiday, 12 Seifim: If a dead body is waiting to be buried on the first day of a holiday (a Jew should not busy himself with it, even if it will smell and it is possible to use non-Jews, but) non-Jews can busy themselves with it, even if he died that day (and see above chapter 304), and even if they can wait until the next day when it will smell. This is all referring to making the (grave), the coffin, and the shrouds. However, dressing him, heating water to purify him, and taking it out to put it in the grave is permitted even for a Jew. Rem"a: And it is best to be careful to purify him over a straw, leather, or wood, and not over sheets, lest one come to [transgress the prohibition of] wringing (Trumat Hadeshen chapter 82).

(2) If somebody dies on the first day of a holiday, it is forbidden to let him rest until the second day so that Jews can deal with him.

(3) 3. On Shabbat and Yom Kippur, not even non-Jews can deal with him, even by carrying him out by handing and putting him in a kuf (meaning, a plot) that was made the previous day.

(4) On the second day of a holiday, even Rosh Hashana, Jews may deal with the corpse, even if it has not been sitting around. They may even cut myrtle from the ground, make him shrouds and a coffin, dig out a plot, heat water for purification, or cut his hair. If the city has no Jewish cemetery, we take him to another city that has Jewish plots, even outside of the techum. We rent a boat to take him from place to place. This is all because the second day of a holiday is Rabbinically equal to a weekday when it comes to death. Even if non-Jews can deal with him, Jews do. Rem"a: In Ashkenaz and these countries, we do not do this. Rather, inasmuch as non-Jews can make the grave, coffin, and shrouds, we have them do this. Everything else is done by Jews, as on the first day of the holiday. However, if it is not possible to have non-Jews do it, Jews are allowed to do everything (Mordechai, Laws of Mourning and Trumat Hadeshen chapter 82). [The list of allowed labors] does not include the dome that is made over the grave, which we do not build on a holiday. Rem"a: However, it is permitted to cover him with dirt as is done on a weekday (Beit Yosef), and we do not follow those who are stringent in this matter. This is restricted to cases where we want to bury him that day. However, if we do not want to bury him that day, we do not perform any prohibited labor for him, even using a non-Jew, but carrying is permitted. (the laws of saying the Shma and praying when one's immediate relative has died on the first or second day of a holiday can be found above in chapter 71 paragraph 2 and below in chapter 548 paragraph 5]].)

(22) Even though the second day of a festival is only by rabbinic enactment, it equals the first day regarding anything that is forbidden. On the second day, just like the first day of a festival, funeral eulogies and fasting are forbidden, since one is required to rejoice. The only difference between the two days is that a dead person may be buried on the second day. [In a case of] anyone who profanes the second day holiday—even that of Rosh Hashanah: We strike him with lashes for rebellion, or excommunicate him—if he is not from the [Torah] students. [This punishment is meted out] whether [the violation] is with something [forbidden] on account of a Shabbat decree or with forbidden types of work or whether he went outside of the perimeter. On the second day, just like the first day of a festival, funeral eulogies and fasting are forbidden, since one is required to rejoice. The only difference between the two days is that a dead person may be buried on the second day.

(23) Thus, non-Jews should attend to the burial of one who died on the first day of the festival; but on the second day, Jewish people may attend to it, and we do all of his needs for him, such as making the bier, sewing the shrouds, cutting the [fragrant plants] and anything that is similar to this because the second day is regarded as an ordinary weekday as far as the burial of the dead is concerned. This applies even to the second day of Rosh Hashanah.