1
The sages said that the souls of all the righteous are above in Eden, and wisdom is strengthened in the world because of what descends from Eden. How much more so for every one of those who stand in it and take their fill of its pleasure and brightness.
2
Rabbi Yitzchak said, If the soul deserves to pass through the gates of the terrestrial Jerusalem, the great angel Michael hastens to greet and walk with it. The ministering angels wonder about this and ask, "Who is that, coming up from the wilderness" (Shir Hashirim 8:5). Who rises to be among the high ones from the destroyed body, which resembles a breath, as is written, "Man is like a breath" (Tehilim 144:4)? He answers by saying, "My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is distinguished she is the only one of her mother" (Shir Hashirim 6:9). Her mother is the Throne of Glory, a mother for the soul that gives it birth, for the soul is derived from her.
3
"The daughters saw her, and called her happy" (Ibid.). This refers to the other souls, whose rank is high and who are called the daughters of Jerusalem. According to Rabbi Yosi, they are called the daughters of Jerusalem while the other ones are called the daughters of Lot. "The daughters saw her, the rest of the souls praise it and say to it, Come in peace. "The queens and the concubines praised her" (Ibid.). The queens are the Patriarchs that are queens. The concubines are the proselytes. They all praise and laud it until it enters above. Then the soul is in its ascended place, and longevity is maintained, as it is written, "And Abraham was old, advanced in age (lit. 'coming into the days')" (Gen. 24:1), as he entered longevity in the World to Come.
4
Rabbi Abba Saba (the elder) stood up and said, May peace and tranquillity come to you, Rabbi Shimon, the son of Yochai, for restoring the diadem to its former splendor. For we learned in the first Mishnah that since the soul is perfected in the supernal place, it does not return to the body. It remains in the same condition, but other souls are created and come out of it. Then Rabbi Shimon, the son of Yochai, taught that although this world is vanity and the body is a putrid drop of semen, yet the soul enters it. In the future, when everyone will be refined and the body will be more pure, sustained and complete, there will be no reason for the soul to enter it with all its completeness.
5
Rabbi Acha said, The Holy One, blessed be He, will give the very soul and very body existence in the future, but both will be whole and have completeness of knowledge so they can achieve what they did not achieve in this world.
6
"And Abraham was old, advanced in age (lit. 'coming with the days')." Rabbi Bo said that, according to Rabbi Yochanan, this refers to the world of days and not to that world which is night. Rabbi Ya'akov said those worlds are called days because of all the pleasures and the brightness that he inherits. "And Hashem had blessed Abraham in all" (Gen. 24:1) refers to the office that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him of His name, which is the letter Hei by which the world was created.
7
We learned that Rabbi Yochanan said, Metatron, the great minister, is a boy, a servant whose Rabbi, his master, rules him. He is in charge of the soul and gives it daily of the light he was ordered to give it. In the future, he will receive an account in writing from the cemetery, from Dumah for each body that he can show to his Master. He will turn that backbone into yeast to build the body under the ground, to mend and wholly revive the body, a body without a soul. Later, the Holy One, blessed be He, will send the soul to its place. This will be after it comes to the land of Yisrael.
8
Rabbi Yitzchak said, it is then written, "And Abraham said to the eldest servant of his house, that ruled..." (Gen. 24:2). If we look at this from the aspect of wisdom, what is "his servant"? Rabbi Nehorai responded, We need look only at the words "his servant", the servant of Hashem, close to His worship. Who is he? He is Metatron, who will beatify the body in the grave, as we have said.
9
Thus the words, "And Abraham said to his eldest servant" refer to Metatron, the servant of Hashem. The phrase, "The eldest servant of his house" is the beginning of the creations of Hashem. "That ruled over all that he had" means that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him power over all His hosts, namely over the upper angels.
10
We learned that Rabbi Shimon quoted Rabbi Yosi who quoted Rav saying that all the hosts of the servant receive light and delight in the splendor of the soul, as the light of the soul in the World to Come is greater than the light of the throne. It seems that the soul was taken from the throne, each had according to what was appropriate for it. Rav Nachman added that it is actually greater than the light of the throne, as it is written, "The likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it" (Ezekiel 1:26), above it in splendor.
11
When he goes to perform the errand (of Hashem), all his hosts and his Chariot are nourished by that splendor of the oul. And the soul says to him, "Put...your hand" namely, your escort, "under my thigh" (Gen. 24:2). This is the light that flows from the soul.
12
Rabbi Yehuda the son of Rabbi Shalom said that we have been taught that when he goes on an errand for the Holy One, blessed be He, He moves His upper hosts by one letter of His name, namely by the letter Yud of the name Yud Hev Vav Hei. Hei is the secret of Imma and Abba, the root of the soul's light. Rav Huna said, Yerechi ('my thigh') has the same numerical value as ram (lit. 'high'), which is what the soul says, that is, "Put...your hand," your escort, under the grade of the high and elevated, that rules over all. After the soul commanded the escort of high ones to be under Him, it told him I make you swear a great oath.
13
Rabbi Yitzchak said, It is written, "Elohim of the heaven, and Elohim of the earth" (Ezekiel 1:26). Since he already mentioned Hashem, why add "Elohim of the heaven? Rabbi Yehuda said, to show that He is Master over everything simultaneously. In one instant, He moves everything, and everything is nothing compared to Him, heaven and earth in the oath, which is the secret of the letter Yud, which indicates that this light governs all the grades and everything is as naught compared to it. Rabbi Yitzchak said that by two letters of His name He moves His whole hosts. This is to show that He is all, and there is nothing save Him.
14
"And I will make you swear by Hashem, Elohim of the heaven..." Ran Huna said, If he had been with those versed in the Baraita at the time that they revealed the secret of this verse, he would not have left them without knowing everything, for he saw great depth in their utterances. They revealed much, but man does not understand what they revealed. Come and behold, The soul causes to swear this oath of the covenant, as it is written, "That you shall not take a wife to my son" (Gen. 24:3).
15
Rabbi Yitzchak said, from here, it is understood that the soul said to Metatron, Because you are going on this mission to resurrect the dead, "you shall not take a wife for my son." This means you shall not take a body for my son. He cannot enter another body, an idolatrous body, a body not worthy of him, but only the body which is actually my own, the very one I came from. And this is what is meant by the verse, "But you shall go to my country, and to my kindred" (Ibid. 4).
16
Rabbi Yosi said, What is meant by the verse, "And take a wife to my son Isaac"? Rabbi Yitzchak replies, The very body that suffered with me in that world and had no pleasure or content for fear of its Possessor (this refers to the Luz bone). This very body shall you take to laugh with, in that rejoicing of the righteous, to take delight in it in the joy of the Holy One, blessed be He. Have pleasure with it, because it is time for laughter, as it is written, "Then was our mouth filled with laughter" (Tehilim 126:2).
17
Rabbi Yehudah, the son of Rabbi Yitzchak, said, Come and listen, An angel does only one errand, not two at the same time. There are, however, two errands to perform, to resurrect the body in the grave and to make it rise to the land of Yisrael, where the soul will be enclothed in it. But one angel does not perform two errands. Rabbi Abba said, There is one angel with an inkstand at his waist. (Gabriel) He will put a mark on the brow of each. Afterward, the great minister (Metatron) will go and mend each one, preparing it to receive its soul. This is the meaning of the verse, "He shall send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife" (Gen. 24:7). What is meant by "before you"? It indicates that (Hashem will send an angel) before your errand.
18
Rabbi Eliezer went to see his Rabbi, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai, on the first day of the month. When he arrived he told him, 'O Well for those who see, filled with drawn water, yet gushing more from its own source. What does it seek here?'
19
He answers, It behooves a man to greet his Rabbi (on Rosh Chodesh). He said to him, Not for that reason I said. I see in your face that there is a new deep secret about which you are going to ask.
20
He said to him, I see that primordial light travels by ten and conducts everything according to the secret of ten. We learned that there are ten writings, ten keys to the hospital in its hands. It takes these and ten notes in the Garden of Eden to mend the earth for the bodies of the righteous.
21
He said, Eliezer my son, you have seen more than a holy angel. The world, is created by ten, and it is conducted by ten. The holy throne is according to ten. The Torah is by ten. Its traveling is by ten. The supernal worlds are by ten. And there is the supernal one above them all, blessed be He.
22
I will tell you something else. Those versed in the Mishnah put some thought into it, as it is written, "And the servant took ten camels" (Gen. 42:10). R' Eliezer said to him, Master, I know this verse, but what is the meaning of, "For all the goods of his master were in his hands" (Ibid.)? He said to him, This is the name of his Master (the Shechinah) that went with him to bring him and to protect him. R' Eliezer said, Assuredly this is "For My name was in him" (Shemot 23:21).
23
Rabbi Abahu said, Come and behold, He who knows His name perfectly knows that He and his Name are one. The Holy One, blessed be He, and His Name are one, as it is written, "Hashem shall be one, and his Name One" (Zecharyah 14:9). That is, the name and He are one.
24
Rabbi Abba said, We should look at the verse, "And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water" (Gen. 24:11). According to Rabbi Abba, outside the city means in the cemetery. "By a well of water" refers, as we learnt, that those who are the first (to be revived) in the cemetery, are those who dealt in Torah. As we have learned, when a man comes into his grave, he is first asked if he set appointed times to study Torah, as it is written, "And he shall be the faith of your times" (Isaiah 33:6). Without question, he who responds yes, is revived first.
25
Rabbi Abba said that "at the time of evening" (Gen. 24:11) refers to Friday, Shabbat eve, the time of the resurrection of the dead. What is the meaning? We have learned that the world exists for 6,000 years and that Erev Shabbat is the 6th millennium, the ending of all. Thus "at the time of evening" means the time of ending for everything. The phrase, "At the time that the women go out to draw water" refers to the scholars of the Torah, who draw the water of Torah, the time to go out and shake off the dust.
26
Rabbi Abba added that there is more to know, as we have learned that those occupied in knowing their Master in this world and their soul to perfection in the World to Come, deserve to get out of the grave by the oath of the soul. (Metatron) comes to know which is the soul's proper body and it is written, "Behold, I stand here by the well of water" (Gen. 24:43). Although it is the scholar of the Torah, (Metatron goes)to look for perfection, as it is written, "And it shall come to pass, that the maid who comes forth to draw, and I say to her, 'Give me, I pray you, a little water from your pitcher'" (Ibid. 44), which means 'tell me by hint, the knowledge of the name, from what you conceived'.
27
"And she says to me, 'Both drink you'" (Gen. 24:44). (She knows three things) You are a servant like me; The knowledge of you does not compare with the knowledge of Hashem, blessed be He; It behooves you to conceive that you are a creature like me.
28
"I will draw water for your camels also" (Gen. 24:19) indicates that it also drew forth for his attendants from what it perceived. The words "your camels" means "your retinue." In other words, my understanding is that: 1) Your retinue was not aware; 2) "I know that I have an advantage over you"; 3) I know how you were created from the radiance that was placed with you. If the body mentions (all of these) let this sign be delivered to me. Then I shall know she is the woman. She is the body from the same soul according to the oath it made me swear.
29
"And it came to pass, before he had done speaking" (Gen. 24:15). According to Rabbi Yitzchak, Rabbi Yehudah said while he was thinking of how to try the body, it is written, "Behold, Rivkah came out," which is the holy body that is occupied in Torah. It pounds the body for knowledge of the conception of his Possessor, "who was born to Betuel" (Ibid.). Rav Yehuda said she was the daughter (Heb. bat) of El, the "son of Milkah" (Ibid.), who is a son to the king (Heb. Malkah) of the universe. "The wife of Nachor, Abraham's brother" alludes to the company of the mind, the body attached to the mind, and is the brother of the soul, and the phrase, "With her pitcher upon her shoulder" alludes to the weight of wisdom upon it.
30
"And the servant ran to meet her" (Gen. 24:17) refers to Metatron. And said, "Let me, I pray you, drink a little water of your pitcher" give me a hint of the wisdom of the knowledge of your Maker that you dealt with in the world you left. Rabbi Abba said, We have explained that after that it is written, "And I put the ring upon her nose, and the bracelets upon her hands" (Ibid. 47). Rabbi Abba said that these are the bones that were scattered here and there. He puts them together and weighs them one upon the other, as is written, "And strengthen your bones" (Isaiah 58:11). Rabbi Abba said, At that time, the body stands in the land of Yisrael, where the soul enters it.
31
Rabbi Yochanan asks, Who conducts the body to the land of Yisrael? Rabbi Zeira said, The Holy One, blessed be He, digs caverns under the ground and they roll to the land of Yisrael. Hence it is written, "And the earth shall cast out the shades of the dead" (Isaiah 26:19).
32
Rabbi Yitzchak said, Gabriel conducts them to the land of Yisrael. How do we know that? From the verse, "Will you go with this man?" (Gen. 24:58). Elsewhere, it is written, "The man Gabriel" (Daniel 9:21). Rabbi Yosi asks, Why is it written, "And Rivkah had a brother and his name was Laban" (Ibid. 29)? Rabbi Yitzchak answered, The Evil Inclination does not pass away from the world, and though it is not entirely present, some of it is.
33
Come and behold, When it was in this world, it was called Lot. In the World to Come, it will be partly canceled and called Laban, its not as corrupt as before, but as one who washed the filth off of himself. Why is there need of Laban? Rabbi Shimon said, It is needed for being fruitful and multiply. If there is no Evil Inclination, nothing is fruitful or multiplies.
34
Come and listen, Since the body was constructed and established, why is it then written, "And they sent away Rivkah, their sister, and her nurse..." (Gen. 24:59). What does the phrase "and her nurse" imply? It is the power of movement. Rabbi Yitzchak further clarifies this by explaining that this is the power of the body.
35
Rabbi Abahu opened with the verse, "Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, with me from Lebanon..." (Shir Hashirim 4:8). Rabbi Abahu said, Once the body was built and established, it is brought to the land of Yisrael to receive its soul. The soul awaits it there and comes out to greet it, as is written, "And Isaac went out to meditate in the field" (Gen. 24:63). "Come with me from Lebanon, my bride" is the soul, and "Look from the top of Amana" (Ibid.) corresponds to, "And he lifted his eyes and saw" (Ibid.).
36
Rabbi Yehuda said, If this is the soul, Abraham is satisfactory, as was said. What then is Isaac? Rabbi Abahu said, The friends said it is now called Isaac because of the increased joy in the world.
37
Rabbi Abahu said, First the soul was called Abraham and the body Sarah. Now the soul is called Isaac and the body Rivkah. Rabbi Shimon said, It was taught in the Mishnah that the soul awaited the body in the land of Yisrael forty years before the body existed. Where? At the Temple.
38
Rabbi Abahu said, Look at the verse, "And took Rivkah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death" (Gen. 24:67). When he loves the body and is comforted by it, it is time for laughter and delight in the world.
39
Rabbi Yehuda said, Now this whole portion of the scripture is made clear, but I do not know the meaning of the verse, "Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah" (Gen. 25:1). To a reasonable mind, this text is contradictory. It contradicts the explanation concerning the soul and body at the time of resurrection.
40
Rav Dimi arrived and said, I have heard an explanation for this portion, but I do not remember it. They said that the high and strong did not present it for revelation. What have we to say? Rabbi Yehudah stood up and said that the portion is revealed in the Yeshivah of our friends, the sages of the Mishnah.
41
They stood up and began walking, he, Rabbi Yeesa, and Rabbi Chiya. They found Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Shimon, who was revealing the secret of Tefilin. They came before him and asks, Master, what are you engaged in? He replies, I am recounting the reason for the Tefilin, for blessed is the man who dons Tefilin and knows the sense thereof.
42
They said, If it is well before you, Master, may you tell us something. They said, We learned from your father that the Holy One, blessed be He, in His great love for the children of Yisrael, told them to build Him a tabernacle, reflecting the supernal high Chariot, so He might come and dwell among them. This is the meaning of, "And let them make Me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell among them" (Shemot 25:8). We learned from your father that the reason for the Tefilin was hidden in this verse.
43
He said to them, Come and behold, The Temple was made to reflect the upper one in its holy Chariots. And then the Holy One, blessed be He, caused His Shechinah to dwell among them. In this manner, those versed in the Mishnah discussed the reason for the Tefilin. Any man who wears tefilin will be patterned after the upper Chariots, the lower Chariot and the upper Chariot so that His kingdom will come and the Shechinah will dwell upon him.
44
We learned that there are deep secrets in the tefilin and its patterns. There are three Chariots within them, like the high and holy ones, reflecting the secrets of the three letters of His Holy Name. For these three Chariots are the three letters YUD-HEI-VAV. The four sections govern the four letters of His Holy Name. This is therefore the secret of the Shin of three crowns and Shin of four crowns, the three kings ruling over the body and the Tefilin upon the Holy One, blessed be He, above the head Tefilin and the hand Tefilin, four sections, which correspond to the Shin with four heads.
45
Similarly, the heart rides as if on the lower Chariot. And the lower one is mounted. We have also learned that this Chariot of the arm, is below. The heart rides as if beneath. It was given to it to bring in all the heavenly hosts. So the heart rides down below and all the limbs of the body are given to it.
46
Above the heart are the four sections of the brain. The Holy One, blessed be He, is supreme ruler over them. He is King of all. And the secret of wisdom resembles the Temple, as it is written, "And make one Cherub on the one end, and the other Cherub on the other end" (Shemot 25:19). Above them is the King's Shechinah, within the four letters Yud Hev Vav Hei. Yud-Hei is on the right Cherub, and Vav-Hei on the left cherub. Within the two Chariots, the upper Chariot is on the right Cherub and the lower Chariot is on the left Cherub.
47
Similarly, the heart and the brain, the heart is on one side and the brain on the other side. Upon them is the King's Shechinah in four sections. Rabbi Elazar said, From now on, the secrets of the crowns of the letters, the sections in their bodies and the straps are an ancient tradition that Moses received in Sinai. They were already explained by allusion and the sense of all this is in the secret of the thirteen divine attributes.
48
Rabbi Yehuda said, Even if we came only for this secret, it would have sufficed. They said to him, Happy is your lot in the World to Come, for no secret is withheld from you. They said to him, We came before you, Master, to know the secret of the verse, "Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah" (Gen. 25:1).
49
He said, the explanation of this verse is revealed by the friends versed in the Mishnah. When the soul enters its holy body, these words will be said of the wicked, who will be resurrected and make better their deeds. And the soul will grant them its precious splendor, so they will know, repent and have full merit again.
50
When Solomon saw this, he wondered very much, and said, "And so I saw the wicked buried, and come to their rest...gone from the holy place" (Kohelet 8:10). Rabbi Abba quoted Rabbi Yochanan, saying it is written, "Can the Kushite change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" (Jer. 13:23), similarly the wicked who did not deserve to repent in this world and offer good deeds as sacrifices will never burn sacrifices in the World to Come. It is written, "Then again Abraham took a wife" and wanted to produce a soul for their bodies and bring them closer in repentance, as it is written, "And the souls that they had made in Charan" (Gen. 12:5).
51
Rabbi Elazar said, Look at the verse, "And she bore him Zimran, and Yokshan" (Gen. 25:2). They did many evil deeds, until they were driven from the world, as it is written, "And sent them away from his son Isaac" (Ibid.). Of them it is written, "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake..." (Daniel 12:2). Of the others, it is written, "And they who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament" (Ibid. 3).
52
Rabbi Yehuda said, This is the meaning of the text indicating that it was called Abraham at one time, and is now called Isaac in his place, as it is written, "And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that Elohim blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by Beer Lachai Roi (lit. 'the well of living and seeing')" (Gen. 25:11). Through the knowledge of the living, the life of the world, he may know and conceive what he had not conceived in this world, as it is written, "For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Hashem" (Isaiah 11:9). (End of Midrash Hane'elam)
53
R. Isaac discoursed on the verse: And the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it (Eccl. 12, 7). He said: ‘When the Holy One, blessed be He, created Adam, He took his dust from the site of the Temple and built his body out of the four corners of the world, all of which contributed to his formation. After that He poured over him the spirit of life, as it says, “and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Gen. 2, 7). Adam then arose and realised that he was both of heaven and of earth, and so he united himself to the Divine and was endowed with mystic Wisdom.
54
Each son of man is, after the same model, a composite of the heavenly and the earthly; and all those who know how to sanctify themselves in the right manner in this world, when they beget a son cause the holy spirit to be drawn upon him from the region whence all sanctities emerge. Such are called the children of the Holy One; and as their bodies were formed in sanctity, so are they given a spirit from the supernal holy region.
55
Observe that the day on which a man is about to depart from this world is a day of reckoning when the body and the soul in combination have to give an account of their works. The soul afterwards leaves him, and the body returns to the earth, both thus returning to their original source, where they will remain until the time when the Holy One will bring the dead to life again.
56
Then God will cause the identical body and the identical soul to return to the world in their former state, as it is written, “Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise” (Is. XXVI, I9). The same soul is meanwhile stored up by the Holy One, thus returning to its original place, as it is written, “And the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Eccl. 12, 7). And at the time when the Holy One will raise the dead to life He will cause dew to descend upon them from His head. By means of that dew all will rise from the dust,
57
as it says, “for thy dew is as the dew of lights” (Is. 26, 19), these being the supernal lights through which the Almighty will in future pour forth life upon the world. For the tree of life exudes life unceasingly into the universe. Life in the present dispensation is cut short through the influence of the evil serpent, whose dominion is symbolised by the darkened moon. Under the same influence the celestial waters, as it were, fail, and life is not dispensed in the world in proper measure.
58
At that time, however, the evil tempter, who is none other than the evil serpent, will be removed from the world by the Almighty and disappear, as it is written, “and I will cause the unclean spirit to pass out of the earth” (Zech. 13, 2). After he disappears the moon will no more be obscured, and the waters of the celestial river will flow on perennially. Then will be fulfilled the prophecy, “Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of the seven days, etc.” (Is. 30, 26).
59
Said R. Hizkiah: ‘If it be so that all the dead bodies will rise up from the dust, what will happen to a number of bodies which shared in succession the same soul?’ R. Jose answered: ‘Those bodies which were unworthy and did not achieve their purpose will be regarded as though they had not been: as they were a withered tree in this world, so will they be regarded at the time of the resurrection. Only the last that had been firmly planted and took root and prospered will come to life,
60
as it says, “For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters… but its foliage shall be luxuriant, etc.” (Jer. 17, 8). This alludes to the body that struck deep root, produced fruit and prospered. But of the former body which remained fruitless, which did not take root, which was unworthy and did not achieve its end, it is written, “For he shall be like a tamarisk in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, etc.” (Ibid. 6), i.e. he will not be included in the resurrection,
61
and will not see the light stored up at the Creation for the delectation of the righteous, regarding which it says, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1, 4), and also, “But unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise, etc.” (Mal. 3, 20). The Holy One will thus in the future raise the dead to life again, and the good principle will prevail in the world and the Evil One will vanish from the world, as already said, and the previous bodies will be as though they never had been.’
62
Said R. Isaac: ‘For such bodies the Holy One will provide other spirits, and if found worthy they will obtain an abiding in the world, but if not, they will be ashes under the feet of the righteous, as it is written, “and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, etc.” (Dan. 12, 2). All then will rise up and will be ranged before the Holy One, who will enumerate them, as it were, as it says, “He that bringeth out their host by number” (Is. 40, 26).
63
Observe that it has been laid down that the dead of the Land of Israel will be the first to rise, and of them it is written, “Thy dead shall live” (Ibid. 26, 19). On the other hand, the words “my dead bodies shall arise” (Ibid.) allude to the dead of other lands, since instead of “shall live” it says “snall arise”. The living spirit, in fact, will only infuse the bodies in tne Land of Israel. “Thy dead”, then, “shall live”. But the other dead bodies will rise without the spirit of life, and only after they shall have rolled themselves underground and reached the Land of Israel will they receive souls-only there, but not in other realms-so that they may be really resurrected.’
64
R. Eleazar and R. Jose were one night studying the Torah. Said R. Eleazar: ‘Observe that at the time when the Holy One will bring the dead back to life, all the souls mustered before Him will bear each a form identical with the one it bore in this world. The Holy One will bring them down, and will call them by their names, as it says, “He calleth them all by name” (Ibid. 40, 26). Every soul will then enter into its own place, and the dead will be fully resurrected, and the world will thus reach its consummation. Of that time it is written, “And the reproach of his people will he take away from off all the earth” (Ibid. 25, 8), which is a reference to the evil tempter, who darkens the faces of men and leads them astray.’
65
R. Jose, interposing, said: ‘How is it that a man whilst the spirit of life is in him is not a source of defilement, whereas after his soul leaves him he becomes a source of defilement 7’ R. Isaac replied: ‘Assuredly this is the law, and the explanation given is that the evil tempter, in the act of taking away the spirit of a man, defiles it, and thus the body is left in a state of defilement. This, however, is not the case with idolatrous nations. For since they carry defilement during life, as their souls are derived from the side of defilement, when this defilement is removed the body remains without any defilement whatever.
66
For this reason whoever forms an attachment with a woman of any of the idolatrous nations becomes defiled, and the offspring born from such an attachment receives a defiled spirit. It may be asked why, seeing that the father is an Israelite, the offspring should receive a defiled spirit. The reason is that as soon as the father attached himself to that woman, defilement entered into him. Now if the father became defiled through the unclean woman, how much more must the offspring born of her be defiled to its very spirit. Such a man, moreover, transgresses the precept of the Torah, contained in the words, “For thou shalt bow down to no other god; for the Lord whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Ex. 34, 14), i.e. He is jealous for the sanctity of the holy covenant.’