Wednesday, February 21, 2007

premonition of death

In my Monday night Talmud class, we are studying the 4th chapter of ברכות. On 28b, we are told a story about the death of R. Yochanan ben Zaqai. He was on his death bed and his students came to visit. The gemara tells us that when they entered, R. Yochanan ben Zaqai began to cry. When the students engaged his crying, R. Yochanan ben Zaqai explained that he was crying out fear of having to face G-d, the eternal, who, if angered with R. Yochanan, would hold the anger forever and if G-d wanted to punish him, the punishment would be eternal. R. Yochanan then blesses his students that they should fear G-d as much as they fear a human, indicating the idea that we have more concern for what people, who are finite, will say than for what G-d, the everlasting, will say.

The Gemara then says:
At the moment of his passing, he said to his students, 'remove the vessels because of Tum'ah, and prepare a seat for King Hezekiah who has come [to escort me].'

One of people in the class asked if R. Yochanan knew he was going to die and was experiencing a person from the past because of his righteousness. While one could very much argue that R. Yochanan might have a leg up because of his righteousness, I would tend to suggest the story might be seen in more general terms. As a chaplain, I often come across people who have a sense that their lives are coming to an end. For some, it is apparent when they begin talking about dying, for often the talk of death is a precursor to a person passing away. For others, dying is shown to be closer when the dying person begins seeing his/her dead relatives, which some might interpret as hallucinations or drug induced. In the story from the gemara, both of these scenarios play out, which I think we can read as a model for the dying.

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