Death & Judaism

And Abraham breathed his last, dying at a good ripe age, old and contented; and he was gathered to his kin.

(17) And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, a hundred and thirty and seven years; and he expired and died; and was gathered unto his people.

(28) Moses stripped Aaron of his vestments and put them on his son Eleazar, and Aaron died there on the summit of the mountain. When Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain, (29) the whole community knew that Aaron had breathed his last. All the house of Israel bewailed Aaron thirty days.

(1) Moses went up from the steppes of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the summit of Pisgah, opposite Jericho, and God showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan... (5) So Moses the servant of God died there, in the land of Moab, at the command of God. 6) [God] buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, near Beth-peor; and no one knows his burial place to this day. (7) Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated. (8) And the Israelites bewailed Moses in the steppes of Moab for thirty days. The period of wailing and mourning for Moses came to an end.

And the dust returns to the ground As it was, And the lifebreath returns to God Who bestowed it.

Those that are born will die, and those that are dead will live [again], and the living will be judged.

We do not delay the burial of the dead. Instead, we hurry to bury him immediately. Hastening the burial is praiseworthy. For one's father and mother, by contrast, it is demeaning.

These are the customs observed by the Jewish people with regard to corpses and burial. We close the eyes of the deceased. If one's mouth hangs open, we tie the jaw closed. After washing the corpse, we stuff closed the orifices, anoint it with different fragrances, cut its hair, and dress it in shrouds of white linen which are not expensive. Our Sages followed the custom of using a cloak worth a zuz, so as not to embarrass a person who lacks resources. We cover the faces of the deceased so as not to embarrass the poor whose faces turned black because of hunger.

It is forbidden to bury the dead, even a nasi among the Jewish people, in silk shrouds or clothes embroidered with gold, for this is an expression of haughtiness, the destruction of useful property, and the emulation of gentile practices.We carry the dead on our shoulders to the cemetery.

From when does the period of mourning begin? From when the dead is buried and the filling of the grave with earth is finished, immediately the period of mourning begins...

These are [the relatives] for whom a person is obligated to mourn according to Torah law - one's mother and father, son and daughter, brother and sister [who share] his father. And from the words [of the rabbis], the husband mourns for the wife to whom he is wed, and similarly the wife for her husband. And one mourns for a brother and sister [who share] his mother.

One should not grieve excessively for the dead, and whosoever grieves excessively for him, will weep for three days, seven are for lamenting, thirty [to abstain from] cutting the hair and wearing laundried garments.

See how severe the mitzvah of mourning is! For the prohibition against ritual impurity is superseded so that a priest can tend to his relatives' burial and mourn for them. This is a positive commandment; if he does not desire to become impure, we force him to become impure against his will.

On the first day alone, it is forbidden for a mourner to put on tefillin or to eat food of his own. He must sit on a overturned bed. During the remainder of the days of mourning, he may eat his own food, sit on a mat or on the ground, and put on tefillin.

These are the matters forbidden to a mourner on the first day according to Scriptural Law and on the remaining [six] days according to Rabbinic Law. He is forbidden to cut his hair, launder his clothes, wash, anoint himself, engage in sexual relations, wear shoes, perform work, study the Torah, stand his bed upright, leave his head uncovered, and greet others, eleven matters in total.

These are the practices forbidden to a mourner for the entire 30-day period. He is forbidden to cut his hair, to wear freshly ironed clothing, to marry, to enter a celebration of friends, and to go on a business trip to another city; five matters in all.

Our Rabbis taught: during the first week a mourner does not go out of the door of his house; the second week he goes out but does not sit in his [usual] place [in the synagogue]; the third week he sits in his [usual] place but does not speak; the fourth week he is like any other person.

(10) Whatever it is in your power to do, do with all your might. For there is no action, no reasoning, no learning, no wisdom in Sheol, where you are going.

(35) All his sons and daughters sought to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, saying, “No, I will go down mourning to my son in Sheol.” Thus his father bewailed him.

(28) And Moses said, “By this you shall know that it was God who sent me to do all these things; that they are not of my own devising: (29) if these people’s death is that of all humankind, if their lot is humankind’s common fate, it was not God who sent me. (30) But if God brings about something unheard-of, so that the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, you shall know that those involved have spurned God.” (31) Scarcely had he finished speaking all these words when the ground under them burst asunder, (32) and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all Korah’s people and all their possessions. (33) They went down alive into Sheol, with all that belonged to them; the earth closed over them and they vanished from the midst of the congregation.

(5) “Further, you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of Israel’s forces, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether: he killed them, shedding blood of war in peacetime, staining the girdle of his loins and the sandals on his feet with blood of war. (6) So act in accordance with your wisdom, and see that his white hair does not go down to Sheol in peace.

(19) Oh, let Your dead revive! Let corpses arise! Awake and shout for joy, You who dwell in the dust!— For Your dew is like the dew on fresh growth; You make the land of the shades come to life.

Then [God] said unto me: ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say: Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off. Therefore prophesy, and say unto them: Thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.

Rambam's 13 Principles of Faith:
At the end of days, He will send our annointed, to redeem those who wait for the end [when] His salvation [takes place]. The dead will G-d resuscitate, in his abundant kindness, blessed be His praised name forever.

The World-to-Come is not like this world. In the World-to-Come there is no eating, no drinking, no procreation, no business negotiations, no jealousy, no hatred, and no competition. Rather, the righteous sit with their crowns upon their heads, enjoying the splendor of the Divine Presence, as it is stated: “And they beheld God, and they ate and drank” (Exodus 24:11)

(1) All Israel have a portion in the world to come, for it says, “Your people, all of them righteous, shall possess the land for ever; They are the shoot that I planted, my handiwork in which I glory” (Isaiah 60:2)...

(7) He used to say: ... if one acquires a good name, he has acquired something for himself; If one acquires for himself knowledge of Torah, he has acquired life in the world to come.

(16) Rabbi Jacob said: this world is like a vestibule (hall, lobby) before the world to come; prepare yourself in the vestibule, so that you may enter the banqueting-hall.
(17) He used to say: more precious is one hour in repentance and good deeds in this world, than all the life of the world to come; And more precious is one hour of the tranquility of the world to come, than all the life of this world.