Siman 339

We learned at the beginning of Masechet Semachot: A gosses—he is like a living person in all regards: he binds for yibbum, and exempts from yibbum, etc., and it is forbidden to do anything to him that would hasten his death. And so the sages taught in the Mishnah of Shabbat (Shabbat 151b) that one who closes the eyes of a corpse with the departure of the soul—behold, this person is a shedder of blood. And even though we see that he suffers greatly in his state of gessisah, and death is better for him, nevertheless it is forbidden for us to do anything to hasten his death. For the world and its fullness belong to the Holy One, Blessed be He, and such is His Will, may He be blessed. And all the more so is it forbidden to occupy oneself on his behalf with a casket, shrouds, and burial while he is still alive.

Therefore, one may not tie the jaw of a goses, so that his mouth does not open wide. And one may not anoint him, and one may not plug his orifices, in the manner that is done for a corpse. And one may not pull the pillow from under him, in the manner that is done for a corpse. And all the more so, one may not place him on sand, nor on clay, nor on the ground. And one may not place upon his belly a bowl, nor a shovel, nor a flask of water, nor a grain of salt, as was their custom to do. And it is a kal vachomer that one may not announce his death in the towns to eulogize him. And one may not hire flutes for a eulogy or professional mourners. And one may not close his eyes until his soul departs. And all the more so, one may not perform keriah, nor bare the shoulder according to the custom in their days, and one may not eulogize him. And one may not bring a coffin into the house until he dies. And one may not begin the Tzidduk HaDin for him until he dies. And only kohanim must leave the house when he is a goses, and it will be explained in siman 370.

Our teacher, the Rema, wrote: And so too, it is forbidden to cause the deceased to die quickly. For example, one who is a goses for a long time and cannot depart—it is forbidden to remove the pillow or the mattress from under him based on the claim that there are feathers from certain birds that cause this. And so too, he shall not move him to his place. And so too, it is forbidden to place the keys of the beit knesset under his head so that he may depart. But if there is something there that causes a delay in the departure of the soul, such as if there is a knocking sound near that house, such as a woodcutter, or if there is salt on his tongue, and these delay the departure of the soul—it is permitted to remove it from there. For there is no action in this at all, but rather he is removing the impediment. Thus far his words.

An explanation of his words: For it was previously explained that one may not perform an action through which his death will be hastened, such as pulling the pillow from under him. To this he added that even if in their opinion it is a mitzvah to hasten his death because it is for his benefit—for example, if he is a gosses for a long time and they see that he has great suffering—nevertheless, it is forbidden to perform any action for this, for such is the will of Hashem, may He be blessed. And it is not only necessary to state that pulling the pillow from under him is forbidden, for in this his head moves significantly from high to low. Rather, even to move it slightly is forbidden. And even if they perform no action upon his body at all, but rather place the keys of the synagogue under his head without any movement at all—this too is forbidden, for ultimately he performs an action so that he will die quickly, even if the action is not upon the body of the gosses. However, if there is an external factor that prevents the departure of the soul—it is permitted to remove it. For whichever way you look at it: if the delay is due to this, why should he suffer? For behold, this is not due to the essence of his body. And if the delay is not due to this, behold, it will not accomplish anything. Also, the removal of salt from his tongue is not considered an action at all, for it is a slight movement. Furthermore: they presumably placed it to prolong his life, and consequently it is permitted to remove it. And there are those who hesitate regarding this. (See Taz subsection 2, and Nekudot HaKesef and in Be'er Heitev. And in truth, there is no concern regarding this.)

He further wrote that some say one may not hew a grave for him, even if the grave is not with him in the house, until he dies. And it is forbidden to hew any grave to be left open until the next day if they will not bury the deceased in it on that same day, and there is danger in the matter. Thus far his words. And regarding that which he wrote that one may not hew a grave for him, the Acharonim wrote that it is permitted by the law as long as the sick person does not sense the matter. However, one must be careful on Erev Shabbat close to Shabbat, lest they not have enough time to bury him except through the desecration of Shabbat. And to desecrate Shabbat is forbidden, and consequently they will not bury him and will have to leave it open, and in this there is indeed danger. Therefore, it is forbidden to dig a grave while he is alive on Erev Shabbat, unless we estimate that even if there will not remain enough time to bury him, however, at any rate there will be enough time to return and fill the grave with earth (Bach and Shach subsection 6). And it requires further study if, after all the caution, there did not remain enough time before Shabbat, whether it is permitted to tell Cutheans to fill it with earth on Shabbat since there is danger in the matter, or since the danger is not explicitly stated in the Gemara, the instruction to a non-Jew is forbidden. And it appears to my humble opinion to permit it in a case of great need, because this is a tradition from Rabbi Yehuda HeChasid that there is danger in the matter, and his words are certainly received from the ancients. And the law requires deliberation. (And there is no difficulty from the fact that a living person prepares tachrichin for himself, for that is when he is healthy. But when he is in danger—it is like opening one's mouth to the Satan, Heaven forbid.)

That which has been explained, that a gosses is like a living person for all matters—this is when he is before us. However, one to whom they said: "We saw your relative as a gosses these three days"—he must mourn for him, for he has certainly already died, as the majority of those in the state of gosses are headed for death. However, his wife is forbidden to marry, and we forbid her from mourning, and also the sons shall not say "Kaddish," so as not to come to a stumbling block where she might marry. For regarding a married woman, they were stringent not to follow the majority, like water that has no end and the like. (See Beit Shmuel in siman 17, subsection 18. And it has already been challenged by many great ones.)

If, Heaven forbid, there is a fire in the house—it is necessary to remove it from the house so that it does not burn. And so too, a corpse is removed from the place of the fire, and this takes precedence over the rescue of books. However, to rescue a living child takes precedence over the rescue of a corpse, and a healthy living person takes precedence over a dangerously ill living person (the Gaon Rabbi Akiva Eiger in the name of Sefer Chasidim).

We say Tzidduk HaDin at the time of the departure of the soul. The mourners recite the blessing after the departure of the soul: "Blessed... the True Judge" and they perform keriah. The laws of keriah will be explained in siman 340. Once a person is inclined toward death, it is not permitted to leave him, so that his soul does not depart while he is alone. For the soul is bewildered when it departs from the body and does not see upright people. And how good it is if there are ten from Israel at the time of the departure of the soul, for then it encounters the Shekhinah. Aside from this, it is a mitzvah to stand at the time of the departure of the soul, as it is said (Psalms 49:11): "That he should live on forever and not see the pit, for he sees that wise men die." And all the more so if the deceased is great in Torah, and one is blessed by him before his passing—this is a very great matter. One who stands at the time of the departure of the soul and there is no one else with him—it is forbidden for him to leave him even if the time of prayer will pass (ibid.).

Our teacher, the Beit Yosef, wrote: It is the custom to spill all the drawn water in the neighborhood of the deceased. Thus far his words. And "neighborhood" means two houses besides the house of the deceased. The early authorities wrote the reason: in order that they should know that someone died, and they will not need to say it verbally because of "one who brings an evil report," etc. And there is an allusion to this: "And Miriam died there, and there was no water for the congregation." According to this, on Shabbat and Yom Tov it is forbidden to spill, for then it is forbidden to announce any sorrow. And so is the simple custom among us, not to spill the water on Shabbat and Yom Tov. And also according to this reason, there is no obligation to spill all the water, obviously. The source of the law is from the Kol Bo, and he wrote this as the primary reason. And afterwards he wrote: And some say that the reason is because the Angel of Death drops a drop of the poison of death into the water. And they brought another incident regarding this, see there. Certainly this reason is secondary to the first reason, and I wonder at those who are very stringent in this as if it were an explicit Gemara. And there are those who wish to forbid cooked food if they cooked it with the water, and this is nothing but a matter of wonder. Behold, even regarding dangers explained in the Gemara, our sages, of blessed memory, also said: And now that many have trodden upon it, "The Lord preserves the simple" (end of the eighteenth chapter of Shabbat 129b and Yevamot 72b), and all the more so in a matter such as this. And what shall the large cities do, where in three courtyards hundreds of householders are found? And what shall the poor person do in the winter when it is difficult to obtain water? Therefore, it appears in my humble opinion to be very lenient in the matter, and so I have seen from the great authorities of instruction. And during the winter time when the water is covered, and likewise if there is trouble to obtain the water and they are covered, one should be lenient. And on Shabbat and Yom Tov one should not spill at all. And any water that is for a mitzvah—"one who keeps a mitzvah shall know no evil thing." (And one must be careful at the time of death that a limb does not extend outside the bed, and those standing there shall see and supervise this. And it is proper that they occupy themselves with words of holiness, as was written in the book Ma'avar Yabbok.)