Parshat Eikev: Raising the Dead
Long before the Zombie craze hit the movie industry, Judaism had been speaking of Raising the Dead for thousands of years. While not in the context of horror films, Resurrection happens to be a fundamental concept in Jewish tradition. Maimonides mentions it as one of the 13 core principles of Jewish belief which are listed after the morning service in many Siddurim.
And speaking of prayers, right there near the beginning of the most important prayer of the day – the Shemoneh Esrei or Amidah – it speaks of God’s power in terms of His ability to bring the dead back to life, known as Techiat Hamatim – Resurrection of the Dead. Every day, more than once we pray:
You are eternally mighty, Lord. You give life to the dead and have great power to save. He sustains the living with loving-kindness and with great compassion revives the dead. He supports the fallen, heals the sick, sets captives free, and keeps His faith with those who sleep in the dust. Who is like You, Master of might, and to whom can You be compared, O King who brings death and gives life, and makes salvation grow? Faithful are You to revive the dead. Blessed are You, Lord, who revives the dead.
The theme of this paragraph is God’s Gevura – Might or Power. And no less than six times in this prayer we associate God’s power and might with Techiat Hamatim – Resurrection of the Dead.
Both Maimonides and the Siddur are referring to a future time, long after the arrival of the Mashiach according to most traditions, when this event will take place. Personally, when it comes to those far off future events, it’s something I rarely think about too much nor do I fret over really. It’s one of those traditions where I tell myself, “Whatever… we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” On the other hand, we might ponder such ideas as we get older, and especially after losing one’s parents. The notion that we will all be together again at some point down the line can be a comforting one.
But let’s bring it down to earth a notch so we can maybe better understand and get a handle on this Resurrection thing. Let’s talk about my bike.
I recall once when I wanted to take my bike for a ride that I saw the front tire was flat. My first instinct was to hitch it to my bike rack and drive to Big Wheel cycle shop to get it fixed. But I had a spare tube in the garage and, being that my bike is a non-traditional left-fork design (google “Cannondale Bad Boy 5” to see what I mean), it’s pretty straight forward to change a tire-tube. And I did just that.
I must say that I was quite proud of myself. I hadn’t fixed a bike tire since I was a kid. Back then we used to patch them with the tube-in-the-bucket-of-water method to find where the tiny hole was. I was happy and feeling good that I saved myself a trip to the bike shop and about 20 bucks as well. But mostly because I fixed it myself.
What’s the pleasure of fixing something? It’s not just the joy of accomplishment, which of course it is, but it’s also the pleasure of bringing back to life something that is thought to be done and gone. Getting the bike fixed, or any other repair, is like getting the thing back anew. Granted we are not talking about anything earth-shattering such as God-like Resurrection of the dead back to life, but that doesn’t take away from the pleasure we feel when we make something whole and usable once again.
In Rabbi Noah Weinberg’s signature class, The Five Levels of Pleasure he mentions that one of the highest levels of pleasure is the pleasure of Creativity. All pleasures are a reflection of God, but Creativity has a special place. In fact, when we first meet God in the Torah, what is He doing? Creating. Making life. Making something from nothing – literally.
Creating is one of, if not the most fundamental expressions of God Almighty. And so whenever we are in the Creating mode, no matter what we do – from the most sublime such as creating a life when raising a child, or running your business or creating art or music or writing, or even fixing your bike – it is very pleasurable because we are being God-like. Creativity and its cousin, Power are the truest expressions and manifestations of God. And deep down, our soul knows that. And so when we create, and when we make, and when we build, and when we fix – it allows us touch God in a very personal way by being like Him.
God didn’t make a world for it to cease and stop. He didn’t create humans and life to be final when it passes. Things come back, souls are restored, bodies get fixed, Resurrection happens. It’s what God does. And guess what? So do we when we do our own resurrecting. We might be not causing the dead to rise from their graves, but every time we create and make and fix and build our world to be a little bit better – the ground begins to shake, if ever so slightly.
They took my life but it isn’t the end
They put me in the ground but I’m back from the dead…
Lord knows I should be pushing daisies
I was six feet down but something raised me up
-Lord Huron
