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Who was the rabbi who "raised the dead" metaphorically by taking a man's son under hi
#1
The subject says it all: Who was the rabbi who "raised the dead" metaphorically by taking a man's son under his wing and making him a great Torah scholar - elevating the father's spiritual station as the progenitor of such a tzaddiq. I read this after the death of my wife and want to find the source again. If someone can find it i would greatly appreciate it. Reddit /r/judaism autodeleted the question for i dont know what reason, but like never allowed it to post. So just PMng people who might know someone who knows someone who might know
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#2
See page 3 of the following 6 page PDF file
Yarhzeit.pdf (shulcloud.com)

Hope this helps Cool
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#3
[quote pid="6432" dateline="1653241432"]
back againSee page 3 of the following 6 page PDF file
Yarhzeit.pdf (shulcloud.com)

Hope this helps Cool

[/quote]

Thanks! That helps, but doesn't have the particular narration i am thinking of. Still, you are right, it is very much all interwoven. i think i found the source though...


It is said that the sages of the Talmud were of such a spiritual caliber that they were able to "raise the dead." In fact, none other than Rabbi Akiva was said to be able to "raised the dead.”


What did this mean?

Metaphorically, by taking a man's son under his wing and making him a great Torah scholar, Rabbi Akiva elevated the father's spiritual station as the progenitor of so great a tzaddiq as he became.

The story is told that Rabbi Akiva was walking in a cemetery and came across a naked man who was dark as coal and carrying a huge load of sticks on his head. Assuming that he was alive, Rabbi Akiva asked how he had gotten into the situation of needing to do such difficult work, and offered to go to any means necessary to redeem him.

The man asked Rabbi Akiva to get out of his way.

"What's the story here", asked Rabbi Akiva.

"I'm actually dead", the man replied, "and every day they send me to cut down trees."

"What was your job when you were alive", Rabbi Akiva asked.

"I was a tax collector", the man replied, "and I would favor the wealthy and kill the poor."

Rabbi Akiva asked him, "“Haven’t you heard anything from those appointed to punish you about how you might be relieved?”

“I did hear from [those appointed over me] one impossible thing", he replied. "They told me the only way to get out of this situation is if I had a son who stood up in the minyan and declared ‘Barkhu et Ha’Shem Ha’Mevorakh,’ and they answer after him, ‘Yehei Shmei Rabah Mevorakh.’ If that were to happen, I would immediately be released from this punishment. I didn't have a son, but I left behind a pregnant wife. I don't know if she gave birth to a son. If she did give birth to a son, who would possibly teach this son Torah, since nobody in the world liked me?"

Immediately, Rabbi Akiva decided that he would go search and see if the man did in fact have a son who he could teach Torah and teach to lead prayers."

Rabbi Akiva asked the man who was being punished, "What's your name?", and the man answered, "Akiva.”

He asked him, "What's your wife's name?", and he answered "Shoshbinah.”

He asked "Where are you from?", and the man responded, "Ludkiah.”

Immediately Rabbi Akiva put himself through great difficulty to find the man's family. When he made it to the town, he asked about the man. "May that man's bones erode", the people responded. He asked about the man's wife. "May her memory be wiped out for all time", they said. He asked about the child. They responded, "He isn't even circumcised".

So Rabbi Akiva immediately circumcised the boy, [the same day that he found him]. Rabbi Akiva put a book in front of the boy, but the boy couldn't seem to learn anything at all, until Rabbi Akiva fasted for 40 days [on behalf of him.]

A heavenly voice emerged, asked, "You're fasting on behalf of this kid?"

Rabbi Akiva responded, "Master of the Universe, have I not prepared him before you?" Immediately, Ha’Shem opened up the boy's heart, and he was able to learn Torah, the Shema’ and Birkat Ha’Mazon. Rabbi Akiva stood him up in front of the community to recite Barkhu, and they recited, "Barukh Ha’Shem Ha’Mevorakh.”

Immediately, they released the boy's father from his punishment. Immediately, the boy's father came to Rabbi Akiva in a dream, saying to him, "May it be God's Will that you rest for all time in the Garden of `Eden, for you saved me from the punishment of Gehennom.

Rabbi Akiva responded with a verse from Psalms, "God's name is forever, God's memory passes from generation to generation."

Therefore, the custom developed for someone who doesn't have a father or mother to say Barkhu or Qaddish on Motzei Shabbat [when the souls of those in Gehennom, who have been in temporary reprieve for Shabbat, are returning to Gehennom].

This is the meaning of "raising the dead," not a physical reanimation of a corpse, but the elevating of the dead in the realm of Yetzirah.

[From Machzor Vitry, Laws of Shabbat 102. Machzor Vitry is an 11th-century prayer book that incorporates legal rulings, composed by Rabbi Simcha of Vitry, a French scholar and disciple of Rashi].

What we do for the dead matters so much. Seeing the effects of it day after day is illuminating more and more the reality that the world of Yetzirah is the REAL, and this world of `Asiyah is the shadow… or more accurately, the hologram… rather than the reverse.

The Zohar states that if it were not for the intercession of those souls who reside in that afterworld, our world would not endure for a moment. They support and protect us in so many ways, it is truly honorable to intercede on their behalf too and support them.

Interesting, no? We should reflect.
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#4
Glad to be of help Cool
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