Editing Techiyat HaMeytim - Resurrection of the Dead (section)

=== In the Torah ===
The source of the resurrection of the dead in the Torah is discussed at length in the Babylonian Talmud. Several verses are brought as sources:

* From the verse: "And from it you shall give Hashem's portion to Aaron the Kohen." This is puzzling on the surface, since the mitzvot of terumot and maaserot are only fulfilled in the Land of Israel, and Aaron the Kohen was not among those who entered the land? From here we learn that he is destined to be resurrected and enter the land.
* From the verse: "And I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings in which they sojourned" - "to you" is not stated, but rather "to them," implying that Hashem's promise was to give the land to the forefathers themselves; but seemingly, they died and the land was given to their children? From here we learn that they are destined to be resurrected and receive the land.
* From the verse: "Behold, you will lie with your fathers and rise up" where this nation will stray - which Hashem said to Moshe Rabbeinu before his death, and the word "and rise up" is a continuation of the description of Moshe's fate: "Behold you lie dead and behold you rise up, for you will live in the future."
* From the verse: "So that your days may increase... on the land that Hashem swore to your forefathers to give to them."
* From the verse: "And you who cleave to Hashem your G-d are all alive today."
* From the verse: "That soul shall surely be cut off, its sin is upon it" - "cut off in this world, cut off in the World to Come."

The Gemara continues:<blockquote>Our Rabbis taught: "I cause death and I bring life" (Devarim 32:39). One might think that death applies to one person and life to another, as is the way of the world (that this one dies and that one is born; Rashi). Therefore the verse states: "I have wounded and I will heal" (continuation of the above verse). Just as wounding and healing apply to the same person, so too death and life apply to the same person. From here is a response to those who say: There is no resurrection of the dead from the Torah. It was taught: Rabbi Meir said: From where do we know resurrection of the dead from the Torah? As it says, "Then Moses and the children of Israel will sing this song to Hashem." It does not say "sang" but rather "will sing," from here we learn resurrection of the dead from the Torah.

— Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin, 91b.</blockquote>However, Rambam in his Epistle on Resurrection argues that there is no clear source in the Torah for the resurrection of the dead, and the statements of the Tannaim in the Gemara are hidden allusions, to the extent that the sages themselves disagree about this - one citing this verse and another citing a different verse. According to him, since resurrection of the dead is a sign and wonder and not natural, Hashem did not want to inform about it explicitly in the time of Moshe Rabbeinu immediately upon giving the Torah when the spirit of denying prophecy was accepted among people. Only after some time, when the prophecy of the prophets and miraculous deeds spread throughout the world, did the Holy One, blessed be He, inform through the prophets about this miraculous destiny.

In contrast, Rav Saadia Gaon in his book Emunot V'Deot, seventh discourse, explains that the source of belief in the resurrection of the dead is from the verse in the Torah (which was brought in the Gemara mentioned above): "See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god with Me; I kill, and I make alive; I have wounded, and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of My hand." According to his approach, this verse, which appears at the end of the Song of Ha'azinu based on the order and events of the days of Israel and their condition, is the prophecy about the resurrection of the dead that will occur in this world after the complete redemption. In this verse, Moshe Rabbeinu prophesied the coming of the redeemer ("See now that I, even I, am He") and the resurrection of the dead ("I kill, and I make alive").

Also, Rashi in his commentary on the Mishnah in Sanhedrin explains that the severity of one who does not believe in the resurrection of the dead, whose punishment is that he has no portion in the World to Come (as explained in the Mishnah), is "even if he acknowledges and believes that the dead will live, but [claims] that it is not hinted at in the Torah, he is a denier. Since he uproots the fact that there is resurrection of the dead from the Torah..." and from his words it appears that he disagrees with Rambam.

'''In Prophets and Writings'''

Extended topic – '''Your Dew is as the Dew of Light'''

The prophecy regarding the resurrection of the dead is mentioned in many places in the books of the Prophets. The Gemara in Sanhedrin brings many sources from the prophecies of the prophets in which the prophecy about the resurrection of the dead appears and is alluded to.

The prophet Yeshayahu prophesied: "Your dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise; awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is as the dew of light, and the earth shall cast forth the shades." ("He said by way of prayer and request, bring near the day when those who were killed for the sanctification of Your name will stand in resurrection"; Metzudat David). The Gemara also explains the prophecy of the "dry bones" of the prophet Yechezkel as part of the destiny of resurrection.

Also to Daniel, Hashem informed about the resurrection of the dead and said to him:<blockquote>"And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence... But go you your way till the end be; and you shall rest, and shall stand up to your lot, at the end of days." — Book of Daniel 12:2-13.</blockquote>The Rambam in his Epistle on Resurrection and Rav Saadiah Gaon saw from these verses the clear source for resurrection of the dead. Similarly, the verse in Psalms is brought: "And they shall flourish from the city like grass of the earth" ("That Israel is destined to sprout and flourish from the city of Jerusalem, and as we say (Ketubot 111a) that the Holy One Blessed be He makes tunnels for the righteous and they go up to Jerusalem"; Rashi Sanhedrin 90b.)

==== Proofs ====
In the Gemara, logical proofs are brought that the Sages gave for resurrection of the dead, when they conducted debates with those who denied it. Some of the parables prove the ability of the Holy One Blessed be He to resurrect the dead:

* When comparing two creators, one who works with water and one who works with clay, the creator from water is considered a more expert and wondrous creator. Thus, the Holy One Blessed be He who can create a person from water, certainly can resurrect the dead from dust.
* If when a glass vessel breaks it can still be repaired, certainly a person (whom the Holy One Blessed be He created and not a physical craftsman) can be 'repaired' and brought back to life.

The Rebbe explains that the difference between these examples has practical legal implications regarding the laws of ritual impurity and purity of a person who is resurrected: According to the first example - the resurrection occurs in a way that something remains from the previous body - since it involves creation from a source as craftsmen do their work from water or clay (and "forms from it" a new body), in this case the impurity that was in the body previously remains even when it is resurrected. But according to the example from the glass vessel, the body is considered a new entity, just as the law of a broken glass vessel is that it becomes purified from its impurity.

* A parable of a king who commands his servants to build him a palace in a place empty of materials like water and dust. The servants built it. After years, the palace fell. The king commanded the servants to build a new palace in a place with building materials (a place with water and dust), but the servants refused. The king responded to them angrily: if in a place without any materials at all you succeeded in building, certainly now you can build. The moral is that it is obvious that the Holy One Blessed be He who created a person from a drop, and created an entire world from nothingness, can resurrect the dead from their dust.

==== Obligation to Believe in It ====
One who denies resurrection of the dead has no portion in the World to Come. This is a measure-for-measure punishment, since he denied resurrection of the dead - he will have no portion in it. According to Rashi's view, even a person who believes in the existence of resurrection of the dead, but does not believe that it is hinted at in the Torah, is considered a denier, as he states: "What concern is his belief to us, and from where does he know that it is so? Therefore, he is a complete denier."

The belief in resurrection of the dead is considered according to the Rambam's words as one of the 13 principles of faith. Since denial of resurrection and the perception that it is impossible stems from denial of signs and wonders and the Holy One Blessed be He's control over nature, and lack of faith in this is a deficiency in the fundamentals of religion.