[Avodah] Hamakom yinachem eschem

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 12:33:11AM +0000, kennethgmiller at juno.com wrote:
: The neshama has just been cut off from his ability to do mitzvos,
: and from his ability to communicate to loved ones, and from many other
: activities. Regardless of how wonderful his new life might be, it seems
: obvious to me that he would experience some degree of pain and sadness at
: being deprived of these things, and would need some period of transition
: to get used to his new life. This is the comfort that we'd be asking
: Hashem to provide to him.

R' Aryeh Kaplan wrote in "If You Were G-d" the following description of
death <http://www.innernet.org.il/article.php?aid=79>. His description of
the kaf haqela is related to what RAM wrote here, but significantly different:

    ... When a man dies, he enters a new world of awareness. He exists
    as a disembodied soul and yet is aware of what is happening in
    the physical world. Gradually, he learns to focus on any physical
    event he wishes. At first this is a frightening experience. You
    know that you are dead. You can see your body lying there, with
    your friends and relatives standing around crying over you. We are
    taught that immediately after death, the soul is in a great state
    of confusion.(19)

    What is the main source of its attention? What draws its focus more
    than anything else?

    We are taught that it is the body. Most people identify themselves
    with their bodies, as we have discussed earlier. It is difficult
    for a soul to break this thought habit, and therefore, for the
    first few days, the soul is literally obsessed with its previous
    body. This is alluded to in the verse (Job 14:22), "And his soul
    mourns for him."(20)

    This is especially true before the body is buried.(21) The soul
    wonders what will happen to the body. It finds it to be both
    fascinating and frightening to watch its own body's funeral
    arrangements and preparation for burial.

    Of course, this is one of the reasons why Judaism teaches us that we
    must have the utmost respect for human remains. We can imagine how
    painful it is for a soul to see its recent body cast around like an
    animal carcass. The Torah therefore forbids this.

    This is also related to the question of autopsies. We can imagine how
    a soul would feel when seeing its body lying on the autopsy table,
    being dissected and examined.

    The disembodied soul spends much of its time learning how to focus. It
    is now seeing without physical eyes, using some process which we
    do not even have the vocabulary to describe. The Kabballists call
    this frightening process Kaf HaKela -- it is like being thrown with
    a sling from one end of the world to another.(22) It is alluded to
    in the verse (1 Sam. 25:29), "The soul of my master shall be bound
    up in the bundle of life with the Lord your God, and the souls of
    your enemies shall He sling out, as from the hollow of a sling." The
    soul perceives things flashing into focus from all over, and is in
    a state of total confusion and disorientation.

    One of the few things that the soul has little difficulty focusing
    on is its own body. It is a familiar pattern and some tie seems to
    remain. To some extent, it is a refuge from its disorientation.

    Of course the body begins to decompose soon after it is buried. The
    effect of watching this must be both frightening and painful. The
    Talmud teaches us, "Worms are as painful to the dead as needles in
    the flesh of the living, as it is written (Job 14:22), 'his flesh
    grieves for him.'"(23) Most commentaries write that this refers to the
    psychological anguish of the soul in seeing its earthly habitation in
    a state of decay.(24) The Kabbalists call this Chibut HaKever,(25) the
    punishment of the grave. We are taught that what happens to the body
    in the grave can be an even worse experience than the netherworld.(26)

    This varies among individuals. The more one is obsessed with one's
    body and the material world in general during his lifetime, the
    more he will be obsessed with it after death. For the man to whom
    the material was everything, this deterioration of the body is
    most painful. On the other extreme, the person who was imaged in
    the spiritual, may not care very much about the fate of his body
    at all. He finds himself very much at home in the spiritual realm
    and might quickly forget about his body entirely. This is what we
    are taught. Tzadikim are not bothered by Chibut HaKever at all,
    since they never consider their worldly body overly important.(27)

    In general, adjustment to the spiritual world depends greatly on
    one's preparation in this world. Our traditions teach us that the
    main preparation is through Torah....

    (19) Taz, Yoreh Deah 339:3. Cf. Avodah Zara 20b, Pirkei Rabbi Eliezer.

    (20) Shabbos 152a, Midrash Ne'elam, Zohar 1:122b.

    (21) Shabbos 152b, Sefer Mitzvos Gadol, Esin DeRabanan 2 (Vinitzia,
    5307) p. 246a.

    (22) Shabbos, ibid., Maharsha a.l., Zohar 1:217b, 3:185b, 222b.

    (23) Berachos 18b, Shabbos 152a.

    (24) Emunos VeDeyos 6:7, Tshuvos Rashba 369, Sefer Chasidim 1163,
    Tosfos Yom Tov 2:7, Tshuvos Sh'vus Yaakov 2:97, Zvi Hirsh Chayos on
    Shabbos 13b. Cf.  Tanchuma) VaYikra 8.

    (25) Emunos VeDeyos, ibid, Nishmas Chaim 2:24, Maaver Yavak 2:7.

    (26) Midrash Chibut HaKever in Reshis Chochmah, Shaar HaYirah 12, #3.

    (27) Emunos VeDeyos, ibid. Cf. Midrash Ne'elam, Zohar 1:123a.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Like a bird, man can reach undreamed-of
micha at aishdas.org        heights as long as he works his wings.
http://www.aishdas.org   But if he relaxes them for but one minute,
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