Rabbi Yochanan says in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Ketzarta that tears from smoke, sorrowful crying, and from the bathroom are bad for the eyes. Tears from medicine, laughter and sharp vegetables are good for the eyes. The rabbis go on to discuss some of the advantages of youth. They also speak of the Eunich, who does not have the advantages of a beautiful beard, a loving wife, nor the gift of children from G-d.
The rabbis focus in on getting older and losing their vitality, whether that is their stomachs not working properly, generally not sleeping well, not enjoying the voices of men and women in song, not having a sex drive which can motivate one to make peace at home. We learn that promiscuity results in the symptoms of old age taking hold before their time.
We learn about sitting shiva in the house of the deceased. After seven days, the deceased appeared to Rav Yehuda in his dream and said “Put your mind to rest, for you have put my mind to rest”. Rabbi Abbahu says that a deceased person can hear what we say in front of him or her until the tomb is sealed with the top-stone. Other rabbis disagree, but only about the timing, not about the deceased hearing what we say. Proof texts are provided. We are told that we return to G-d in purity, as we came. There are ways to protect our souls, we learn, including keeping our bodies pure and rested.
At the end of our daf the rabbis discuss the souls of the righteous being stored beneath the Throne of Glory. However the oracle woman raised Shmuel up through necromancy. Thus we learn that within twelve months of his death, a person’s deceased body remains while the soul ascends and descend. After twelve months, the body does not exist and the soul ascends for good.
This is an explanation of our putting headstones on graves after eleven months; all souls would ascend by that point in time.
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