Death with a Divine Kiss

Let all righteous ones pray to You at the time of finding (Psalm 32:6). [ . . . ] R. Naḥman bar Isaac said: The time of finding refers to death, as it is said: Findings [totsa’ot] at death (Psalm 68:21).

The rabbis likewise taught [in a baraita]: There were 903 types of death created in the world, as it is said: Findings [totsa’ot] at death (ibid.), and that [903] is the numerological equivalent [gematria] of that word [“findings,” totsa’ot]. The most difficult of them is diphtheria, and the easiest is a kiss. Diphtheria is like a thorn that, when she pulls it from a ball of wool, it tears backwards. And some say diphtheria is like fungi at the entrance to the esophagus. The kiss of death is like drawing a hair from milk.

Translated by Jenny R. Labendz.