Wednesday, August 08, 2007

BELZER REBBE: REAPING THE BENEFITS EVEN AFTER DEATH

Rabbi Elozar related a discussion in the Beis Medrash, but did not relate the discussion in the name of Rabbi Yochanan. When Rabbi Yochanan heard about this omission, he was perturbed.

The Gemora asks: Why was Rabbi Yochanan so perturbed in the first place?

The Gemora answered: Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav, what is the meaning of the following verse? “I will dwell in your tent in many worlds?” Is it possible for someone to dwell in a tent in both worlds? It means that David stated before Hashem: Master of the Universe, it should be Your will that after I die, they should say a statement in my name in this world (as well as my being in the next world), for Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai: Any deceased Torah scholar, in whose name a traditional statement is reported in this world, his lips move gently in the grave (it is as if he is living in both worlds).

The Belzer Rebbe said over on the last Shabbos of his lifetime: After a person dies, he is unable to perform any mitzvos or acts of kindness in order to receive reward, as the Gemora in Eruvin (22a) states: Today (this world) is the time designated for performance of His commandments, tomorrow (in the next world) is the time designated for reward.

However, there are ways that a person can receive reward even after his death. If one does a mitzvah with full intention, and as a result of that, others are influenced because of him and they also perform that mitzvah, the mitzvah of others is credited on his account. If one leaves behind Torah insights, and others relate his words, his lips move gently in the grave, and he will be rewarded for the Torah being studied.

This is the explanation of the verse [Devarim 11:21]: That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, upon the land which Hashem swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth. How will a person’s days be multiplied when he is in heaven? In the preceding verse, it is written: And you shall teach Torah to your children. If one teaches his children Torah and trains them in the proper method of serving Hashem, their torah studying and mitzvos observance will be credited to the parent. Even when one is residing in heaven, it is regarded as if he is still living on the earth, because he is reaping the benefits of his productive lifetime.

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