(ח) חטאת ואשם ודאי מכפרין. מיתה ויום הכפורים מכפרין עם התשובה. תשובה מכפרת על עבירות קלות, על עשה, ועל לא תעשה. ועל החמורות הוא תולה עד שיבא יום הכפורים ויכפר:
(8) The sin-offering and guilt-offering atone [for sin]. Death and Yom Kippur atone with repentance. Repentance atones for minor transgressions of positive or negative commandments; for grave transgressions, suspends the punishment until Yom Kippur completes the atonement.
What does the tradition mean when it says, "death atones?"
What is unique about death in the human life cycle? Why should death atone us?
ר' אלעזר ב"ר שמעון אשכח לההוא פרהגונא דקא תפיס גנבי... אמר תא אגמרך היכי תעביד עול בארבע שעי לחנותא. כי חזית איניש דקא שתי חמרא וקא נקיט כסא בידיה וקא מנמנם, שאול עילויה. אי צורבא מרבנן הוא וניים אקדומי קדים לגרסיה. אי פועל הוא קדים קא עביד עבידתיה. ואי עבידתיה בליליא רדודי רדיד. ואי לא גנבא הוא ותפסיה. אישתמע מילתא בי מלכא. אמרו קריינא דאיגרתא איהו ליהוי פרונקא אתיוה לרבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון. וקא תפיס גנבי. ואזיל שלח ליה ר' יהושע בן קרחה חומץ בן יין עד מתי אתה מוסר עמו של אלהינו להריגה!?
Rabbi Eleazar b. R. Shimon once met an officer (of Rome) who was there to arrest thieves...
Said the rabbi, "Let me tell you what to do. Go into a tavern at the fourth hour of the day. If you see a man dozing with a cup of wine in his hand, ask what he is. If he is a learned man, he has risen early to pursue his studies. If he is a day laborer he must have been up early to do his work. If his work is of the kind that is done at night, he might have been rolling thin metal. If he is none of these he is a thief. Arrest him!"
The report of the conversation was brought to the (Roman) court, and it sent word to him, "Let the reader of the letter become the messenger." Rabbi Eleazar b.R. Shimon was accordingly sent for, and he began to arrest the thieves.
So R. Yehoshua b. Korcha sent word to him"Vinegar son of wine!"How long will you deliver up the people of our God for slaughter?"
Some background: R. Eleazar is the son of R. Shimon b. Yochai. R. Shimon b. Yochai encouraged the people to defy Rome in every way possible. He was forced to flee and hide from the Romans. He took R. Eleazar with him. While hidden they immersed themselves in the study of Torah. R. Shimon bar Yochai was a giant of a man opposed to Roman occupation, and he tried to share his values with his son. Legend says R. Shimon b. Yochai wrote the Zohar.
What does, "Let the reader of the letter become the messenger." mean?
What does, "Vinegar son of wine!" mean?
When R. Eleazar begins advising the Roman officer, and later arresting thieves for them, what effect does this have on the community? What effect does it have on R. Eleazar himself?
Who needs atonement and why? Is atonement possible?
כי הוה קא ניחא נפשיה אמר לה לדביתהו ידענא בדרבנן דרתיחי עלי ולא מיעסקי בי שפיר. אוגנין בעיליתאי ולא תידחלין מינאי. א"ר שמואל בר נחמני אישתעיא לי אימיה דרבי יונתן דאישתעיא לה דביתהו דרבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון לא פחות מתמני סרי ולא טפי מעשרין ותרין שנין... תרי לדינא הוו קיימי אבבא, אמר מר מילתיה ומר מילתיה. נפיק קלא מעיליתיה, ואמר איש פלוני אתה חייב איש פלוני אתה זכאי. יומא חד הוה קא מינציא דביתהו בהדי שבבתא. אמרה לה תהא כבעלה שלא ניתן לקבורה! אמרי רבנן כולי האי ודאי לאו אורח ארעא. איכא דאמרי רבי שמעון בן יוחאי איתחזאי להו בחלמא. אמר להו פרידה אחת יש לי ביניכם ואי אתם רוצים להביאה אצלי אזול. רבנן לאעסוקי ביה, לא שבקו בני עכבריא, דכל שני דהוה ניים רבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון בעיליתיה לא סליק חיה רעה למתייהו. יומא חד מעלי יומא דכיפורי הוה הוו טרידי. שדרו רבנן לבני בירי ואסקוהו לערסיה ואמטיוה למערתא. דאבוה אשכחוה לעכנא דהדרא לה למערתא. אמרו לה עכנא עכנא פתחי פיך ויכנס בן אצל אביו. פתח להו.
When he was about to die, he said to his wife, "I know the rabbis are angry with me and will not treat me well. Lay me out in the loft and do not be afraid of me."
R. Shmuel b. Nachmani said, "Rabbi Yonatan's mother told me that the wife of Rabbi Eleazar b.R. Shimon told her 'I kept him in the loft no less than eighteen years and no more than twenty-four years.'...
When two came for judgement, they stood at the entrance, each one making his case. A voice came forth from the loft saying "So-and-so you are guilty! So-and-so you are innocent."
One day, she was arguing with a neighbor who said to her, "May you be like your husband, unworthy of burial!" The Rabbis said, "This is not the right way."
Some say that Rabbi Shimon b. Yochai came to them in a dream telling them, "There is a single pigeon of a pair among you, and you won't let him come to me?"
The rabbis went to take care of him, but the people of Akhbariya would not let them, for all the years that Rabbi Eleazar b.R. Shimon rested there no wild animal came to them. One Yom Kippur eve, when they were busy, the Rabbis sent word to the residents of Biri to carry out his bier. They carried him to the burial cave of his father, but they found a snake encircling it. They said, "Snake! Snake! Open your mouth and let a son enter with his father." It opened for them.
Background: I cut out a section of text that explains his body didn't decompose, or at least that it decomposed very slowly.
Why does R. Eleazar think the other rabbis won't treat his body well? How does he know?
Do the people who come for judgment come immediately after R. Eleazar's death? Justify your answer. Why do you think they sought his judgments at all? Why do you think he answers them?
Why do you think the rabbis decide to bury R. Eleazar after his wife is insulted? What was it about that incident that caused them to act?
What is meant by R. Shimon b. Yochai (R. Eleazar's father) saying the pair of pigeons is separated? What is the metaphor?
Two reasons are given for why the rabbis decided to bury R. Eleazar. Both involve R. Eleazar's family. Which do you find more compelling and why?
The people of Akhbariya believe R. Eleazar's presence protects them. What is he able to do for them in death that he wasn't able in to do in life? Have you ever seen this dynamic play out for families or communities after a death?
What do you think the snake symbolizes? Why won't the snake let the pall bearers enter the burial cave until they plead with it? Why does the snake eventually yield?
Was atonement achieved? If so by whom and for whom?