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Vayehi

Genesis 47:28-50:26

I Kings 2:1-12

Jacob's deathbed scene in Vayehi, the last Torah portion in the Book of Genesis, leads a student of the Torah to believe that the Bible emphasizes the finality of death. A prevailing view best expressed by the Psalmist, "The heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth He gave over to man. The dead cannot praise the Lord, nor any who go down into silence" (Psalm 115:16-17).

In contrast to this rejection of life after death are a few biblical statements that offer the view that it is possible to escape death. One such reference states that Elijah never died, for "…a fiery chariot with fiery horses suddenly appeared and…Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind" (II Kings 2:11).

Isaiah (25:8) spoke of God who "will destroy death forever":

"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" (Isaiah 26:19).

Ezekiel's vision of the valley of the dry bones provides the most stunning example of the revival of the dead. Although intended to presage the restoration of the destroyed Israelite kingdom, later interpreters viewed this metaphor as proof of resurrection of the dead. "Thus said the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live again…The breath entered them, and they came to life and stood up on their feet, a vast multitude" (Ezekiel 37:1-10).

The Bible may not deny that the dead persist in some form, but with the exception of these citations, it provides little glorification of the eternal life frequently demonstrated by other nations, perhaps a response to the pre-eminent place that death was elevated to in surrounding cultures.

The Book of Daniel contains the only other fleeting biblical reference to life after death: "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life" (Daniel 12:2). It was this line, mechaye ha-maytim, or "God revives the dead," that later was incorporated into the liturgy in the Amidah and utilized by the rabbis of the talmudic era to develop the refined notion that death is not a permanent state.

Thus, the Bible's infrequent attention to life after death was transformed into a powerful theological position by the time of the rabbinic period. The song "Chad Gadya" ("An Only Kid") is a stunning example of an extra-biblical rabbinic text that squarely deals with this concept. This charming Jewish version of the nursery rhyme, "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly," used to entertain the juvenile set at the Passover seder, is actually a profound statement about life after death. The song records how, in rapid succession, each of the protagonists meets an untimely end, from the kid goat, eaten by the cat, to the slaughterer, killed by the angel of death.

However, this seemingly innocent rhyme ends with: "Then came God, the Holy One, and killed the angel of death." "Chad Gadya" champions the notion that God will slay death and humanity will no longer be limited by mortal years, a rabbinic period concept borrowed by early Christians to develop the concept of the resurrection of the dead.

What, if any, place should this ostensibly anachronistic belief, that once held sway over Jewish life but now seems out of step with modern life, hold for modern Jews? More important than the concept of preserving life after death is the notion that poverty and deprivation can be eliminated in this life, before death. The perfection of this world through human effort makes Jews mindful that misery and wretchedness are not inevitable. That is reason for the involvement of the Jewish community in tikkun olam — the repair of a broken world. Most modern Jews hold that it is better to work on fixing this world than to wait for a more perfect world in the next life.

Jewish tradition offers several suggestions of who will accomplish this work: those who minister to the sick at the gates of the city, the lamed-vovnicks — 36 anonymous righteous individuals whose lives of simplicity and compassion enable the world to continue to exist, and innocent children who have not been affected by society's corruption. Thus looking at the here and now provides the opportunity to transform the idea of extinguishing death into the work of extinguishing misery, poverty and war.