Ecclesiastes Rabbah
2:24:1. Nothing is good for a person but to eat and drink (Ecclesiastes 2:24). R. Tanḥuma says it [in the name of] R. Naḥman the son of R. Samuel bar Naḥman, and R. Menaḥema [says it in the name of] R. Jeremiah and R. Meyasha in the name of R. Samuel bar R. Isaac: [In] all [references to] eating and drinking that are mentioned in this megillah [scroll of Ecclesiastes], scripture [is really] speaking of Torah and good deeds. Said R. Jonah: The foundational passage of them all is: It will accompany him in his toil [‘amalo](Ecclesiastes 8:15)—in this world [‘olamo], during the days of his life (ibid.)—to the grave. Is there food and drink in the grave, such that [they] accompany him to his grave? Rather, [these references must really speak of] Torah and good deeds. [ . . . ]
5:10:1. As the good increases, so do those who eat it (Ecclesiastes 5:10).
A Samaritan [Cuthean] asked R. Meir, “Do the dead live [again]?”
He [R. Meir] said, “Yes.”
He [the Samaritan] said, “In private or in public?”
He [R. Meir] said, “In public.”
He [the Samaritan] said, “From where can you prove it to me?”
He [R. Meir] said, “Neither from Mikra [scripture] nor from Mishnah but from the way the world works [derekh ’erets], I will reply to you.” He said, “We have a trustee in our town and everyone makes their deposits with him in private, but he returns to them in public. One came and made their deposit with him in public. How will he return it, in private or in public? In public, yes?”
He [the Samaritan] said, “Yes.”
He [R. Meir] said to him, “Do not your ears hear what your mouth speaks? People [privately] deposit by their wives a drop of white [semen], and the Holy One returns that drop as a whole beautiful person in public. The dead who depart in public, how much more so that the dead will return in public?! He [R. Meir] said to them: As one departs with shouts [mourning and laments, lit., sounds of sounds, voices of voices], so one will return with shouts [of celebration].” R. Simeon in the name of R. Jonathan of Beth Guvrin said: It is written: Sheol [the grave] and the barren womb (Proverbs 30:16)—what does one have to do with the other? Just like the barren womb [gives birth] with shouting, so too the grave [issues forth life] with shouting.
He [the Samaritan] said, “How will they come—naked or clothed?”
He [R. Meir] said to him, “Clothed.”
He [the Samaritan] said to him, “From where can you prove it to me?”
He [R. Meir] said to him, “Neither from Mikra [scripture] nor from Mishnah but from the way the world works [derekh ’erets], I will reply to you.” He [R. Meir] said, “Have you ever sowed peas?”
He [the Samaritan] said to him, “Yes.”
He [R. Meir] said to him, “How did you sow them, naked or clothed?”
He [the Samaritan] said to him, “Naked.”
He [R. Meir] said to him, “How did they come up [from the ground], naked or clothed?”
He [the Samaritan] said to him, “Clothed.”
He [R. Meir] said to him, “Do not your ears hear what your mouth speaks? Peas that you sow naked come up clothed; all the more so, would not the dead who go out clothed [in a shroud] come [back] clothed?” [ . . . ]
He [the Samaritan] said to him, “Since they come [back] alive and clothed, who provides them with food?”
He [R. Meir] said to him, “Have you ever gone to Ḥammat Gader?”
He [the Samaritan] said, “Yes.”
He [R. Meir] said to him, “In season or out of season?”
He [the Samaritan] said, “In season and out of season.”
He [R. Meir] said to him, “And how was the food there?”
He [the Samaritan] said, “[Ample,] to be found.”
He [R. Meir] said to him, “In season and out of season?”
He [the Samaritan] said to him, “In season and out of season because of the crowds. They come to buy and sell.”
He [R. Meir] said to him, “So too, he who brings the crowds [also] brings their food, as it is written: As the good increases, so do those who eat it” (Ecclesiastes 5:10). When the consumers of the good increase, so does the good increase.
He [the Samaritan] said to him, “Since they come alive, clothed, and are provided for, why do you all cry over them [when they die]?”
He [R. Meir] said to him, “Let that breath of that man [the Samaritan] expire! Does a person lose something beloved and not cry?! Rather, just as he comes [into this world] with shouts so too one departs with shouts.”
Translated byMarc Hirshman.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
