תניא היה ר' מאיר אומר מאי דכתיב (קהלת ז, ב) טוב ללכת אל בית אבל מלכת אל בית משתה באשר הוא סוף כל האדם והחי יתן אל לבו מאי והחי יתן אל לבו דברים של מיתה דספד יספדוניה דקבר יקברוניה דידל ידלוניה דלואי ילווניה דטען יטענוניה:
It was taught: R. Meir used to say: What is meant by that which is written, “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men, and the living will place it upon his heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2): What does it mean “And the living will place it upon his heart”? This refers to matters relating to death. [Let him realize] that if a person mourns for other people others will also mourn for him; if he buries other people others will also bury him; if he lifts up [his voice to lament] for others, others will [lift up their voices to lament] for him; if he escorts others [to the grave] others will also escort him; if he carries others [to their last resting place] others will also carry him.
Jerusalem Talmud Ketubot
HALAKHAH: “If somebody causes a vow of his wife that she should not pay condolence visits,” etc. ”If he made her vow not to lend out fine and coarse sieves, he shall divorce her and pay the ketubah, since he gives her a bad reputation among her [female] neighbors. And so if she made a vow not to lend out fine and coarse sieves, she should leave without ketubah since she gives him a bad reputation among his [male] neighbors.” ”If he made her vow not to pay condolence visits or go to weddings, he shall divorce her and pay the ketubah, since tomorrow a relative of hers will die and nobody will take notice of her. And so if she made a vow not to pay condolence visits or go to weddings, she should leave without ketubah since tomorrow a relative of his will die and nobody will take notice of him.” ”Rebbi Meïr is saying in the name of his teacher Rebbi Aqiba: ‘It is better to pay condolence visits than to go to a wedding since the former is the end of every human, and the living should take notice.’ Why does the verse say, ‘and the living should take notice’? But do so they shall: eulogize so they should eulogize, bury so they should bury, accompany so they should accompany.”
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