Pt1 Mourning Rituals and Communal Practices: Blessings, Wine, and Rabban Gamliel’s Burial Reform (Ketubot 8b)

This is the first part of a two-part series. The outline of the series is below.

This sugya discusses various anecdotes, customs and blessings associated with mourning and burial.¹

The bulk of the sugya consists of ritual, literary speeches that Reish Lakish directs his meturgeman, Yehuda bar Naḥmani, to deliver. The speeches cover themes of consolation, divine justice, communal solidarity, and divine praise.

Each of these sections follows the same structure:

1. An instruction is given:

אמר ליה: קום אימא מלתא כנגד פלוני

2. A formalized speech begins:

פתח ואמר

The verbal phrase פתח ואמר is a standardized way of introducing speeches in the midrash.²

Here’s a list of the speeches:

1. כל קביל ינוקא (for the deceased child)

2. כנגד שבחו של הקדוש ברוך הוא (for praising God)

3. כנגד אבלים (for comforting mourners)

4. כנגד מנחמי אבלים (for blessing those who comfort mourners)

5. כנגד כל ישראל (for blessing all of Israel)

Outline

1. Reish Lakish’s Delayed Condolence Visit

2. Yehuda bar Naḥmani’s Speeches

   1. Speech 1: A Harsh Theological Interpretation of Tragedy

      1. Version 1 (Deuteronomy 32:19)

      2. Version 2 (Isaiah 9:16)

   2. Speech 2: Call for Divine Praise and the Power of Resurrection (Job 9:10)

   3. Speech 3: Consolation for Mourners

   4. Speech 4: Blessing for Comforters of Mourners

   5. Speech 5: Blessing for the Jewish People

3. Drinking Practices in the House of Mourning

4. Addition and Repeal of More Cups

5. Rabban Gamliel’s Burial Reform

The Passage

Ketubot.8b.4-14

Reish Lakish’s Delayed Condolence Visit

Reish Lakish delayed visiting Rav Ḥiyya bar Abba, his children's teacher--of either Bible (מקרי) or of Mishnah (מתני)--after the latter's child (ינוקא) died (שכיב).

On the second day, he brought (דבריה) his “disseminator”,³ Yehuda bar Naḥmani (יהודה בר נחמני).

כי הא דרב חייא בר אבא

מקרי בניה דריש לקיש הוה,

ואמרי לה: מתני בריה דריש לקיש הוה.

שכיב ליה ינוקא.

יומא קמא -- לא אזל לגביה.

למחר -- דבריה ליהודה בר נחמני מתורגמניה.

This is similar to that incident involving Rav Ḥiyya bar Abba,

who was the Bible teacher of the sons of Reish Lakish,

and some say that he was the Mishna teacher of the son of Reish Lakish.

His child died.

On the first day, Reish Lakish did not go to comfort him.

The next day, he took Yehuda bar Naḥmani, his disseminator, with him to comfort Rav Ḥiyya bar Abba.

Yehuda bar Naḥmani’s Speeches

Speech 1: A Harsh Theological Interpretation of Tragedy

Reish Lakish commanded his disseminator to “stand and say something regarding the death of the child”.⁴

Yehuda then “opened and said”, citing verses about divine anger.⁵

אמר ליה:

קום אימא מלתא כל קביל ינוקא:

פתח ואמר:

Reish Lakish said to his disseminator:

Stand and say a matter of comfort with regard to the death of the child.

He began and said:

Version 1 (Deuteronomy 32:19)

Yehuda cited a verse homiletically interpreted to mean that divine anger (כועס) extends to children when a generation angers (מנאצים) God.

״וירא ה׳

וינאץ

מכעס בניו ובנותיו״,

דור שאבות מנאצים להקדוש ברוך הוא —

כועס על בניהם ועל בנותיהם,

ומתים כשהם קטנים.

“And YHWH saw it

and He abhorred them,

due to the provocation of His sons and His daughters” (Deuteronomy 32:19).

A generation in which the fathers abhor the Holy One, Blessed be He,

He is angered at their sons and their daughters, and they die when they are small.

Version 2 (Isaiah 9:16)

Another version of the story goes that the deceased was a youth,⁶ prompting a harsher verse⁷ about widespread corruption and divine wrath.⁸

ואיכא דאמרי: בחור הוה.

והכי קאמר ליה:

״על כן על בחוריו  לא ישמח ה׳ 
ואת יתומיו ואת אלמנותיו  לא ירחם

כי כלו חנף ומרע 
 וכל פה דבר נבלה

בכל זאת לא שב אפו 
ועוד ידו נטויה״.

[...]

And there are those who say that the child who died was not a small child, but a youth,

and this is what the disseminator said to him:

“Therefore YHWH shall have no joy in their young men, 
nor shall He have compassion on their orphans and widows,

for everyone is a flatterer and an evildoer, 
and every mouth speaks obscenity.

For all this His anger is not turned away, 
and His hand is still outstretched” (Isaiah 9:16).

[...]

Speech 2: Call for Divine Praise and the Power of Resurrection (Job 9:10)

Reish Lakish then instructed his disseminator to declare God's praiseworthiness (שבחו).

The disseminator proclaimed God's greatness,⁹ might,¹⁰ and awe-inspiring deeds, emphasizing His power to revive the dead (מחיה מתים) and perform countless (אין חקר / אין מספר) wondrous acts (נפלאות / גדולות).¹¹

The statement concluded with the blessing: "Blessed are You, Lord, Who revives the dead."

אמר ליה:

קום אימא מלתא כנגד שבחו של הקדוש ברוך הוא:

פתח ואמר:

״האל הגדול \ 
ברוב גדלו,

אדיר וחזק \ 
ברוב נוראות,

מחיה מתים \ 
במאמרו,

עושה גדולות  עד אין חקר 
ונפלאות  עד אין מספר.

ברוך אתה ה׳ \ 
מחיה המתים״.

Reish Lakish said to his disseminator:

Stand and say a statement with regard to the praiseworthiness of the Holy One, Blessed be He.

He began and said:

God, Who is great / 
in the abundance of His greatness,

mighty and strong / 
in the abundance of His awesome deeds,

Who revives the dead / 
in fulfillment of His statement,

Who does great deeds beyond comprehension,
wondrous deeds without number.

Blessed are You, Lord / 
Who revives the dead.

Speech 3: Consolation for Mourners

Reish Lakish instructed his disseminator to offer words of comfort to mourners.

The disseminator acknowledged their sorrow and urged them to reflect on the inevitability of death, which has been part of existence since Creation (ששת ימי בראשית).

He emphasized that many have already faced this fate and many will follow, concluding with a blessing for divine consolation.

אמר ליה:

קום אימא מלתא כנגד אבלים,

פתח ואמר:

״!אחינו

המיוגעים \ המדוכאין באבל הזה,

תנו לבבכם \ לחקור את זאת.

זאת היא עומדת לעד \ נתיב הוא מששת ימי בראשית.

רבים שתו \ רבים ישתו.

כמשתה ראשונים \ כך משתה אחרונים.

אחינו!

בעל נחמות \ ינחם אתכם.

ברוך מנחם אבלים״.

[...]

Reish Lakish said to him:

Stand and say a statement with regard to the mourners.

He began and said:

Our brothers!

who are exhausted / who are overwhelmed by this mourning,

set your heart¹² / to examine this:¹³

This is what stands forever / It is a path from the six days of Creation, i.e., death exists since Creation, and it is well known that this is the fate of man.

Many have drunk from the poisonous cup of death / and many will drink.

As was the consequence of the drink of the first who have drunk / so too will be the consequence of the drink of the last who will drink.

Our brothers!

may the Master of solace / comfort you.

Blessed are You, Lord, Who comforts the mourners.

[...]

1. See further discussion of this sugya in this Hebrew Wikipedia entry:

ברכת אבלים – ויקיפדיה

2. See my note in a previous piece on this.

3. מתורגמניה.

See Jastrow:

אמורא [...] speaker, lecturer, interpreter [...] one who, in lengthy popular discourses, expounds what the lecturer (Tanna, [see] תנא) says before him in brief and in a low voice; often called מתורגמן.

And compare Wikipedia, “Targum“:

A targum (Imperial Aramaic: תרגום, interpretation, translation, version; plural: targumim) was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible […] that a professional translator (מְתוּרגְמָן mǝṯurgǝmān) would give in the common language of the listeners when that was not Biblical Hebrew.

And see also Wikipedia, “Dragoman“:

A dragoman was an interpreter, translator, and official guide between Turkish-, Arabic-, and Persian-speaking countries and polities of the Middle East and European embassies, consulates, vice-consulates and trading posts […]

In Arabic the word is […] tarjumān, in Turkish tercüman. Deriving from the Semitic quadriliteral root t-r-g-m, it appears in Akkadian as "targumannu," […] and in Aramaic as targemana.

Hebrew makes a distinction between מתרגם (metargem)—referring to a translator of written texts—and מתורגמן (meturgeman) referring to an interpreter of spoken conversation or speeches. The latter is obviously more closely related to the other languages mentioned, though both are derived from the same Semitic root.

There has been speculation of a Hittite origin of the term […]

4. כל קביל ינוקא - i.e. to offer words of comfort regarding the child’s death.

The Aramaic idiom כל קביל is archaic/literary (or of Palestinian origin) and does not appear elsewhere in the Talmud Bavli. The more standard equivalent is the rabbinic Hebrew term כנגד (Jastrow: “towards, opposite, corresponding to“), which is used in the parallel phrasing of speeches #2-5 (see my introduction). It has late biblical origins, see the 30 occurrences in the search results linked here.

It means "because," "on account of," or "in return for."

Breakdown:

כָּל (kal) – "all" or "every"

קֳבֵל (kabel) – "before," "in front of," "against," or "concerning" (compare the cognate Hebrew here - “before‏, in front‏‏‏‏‏“ - and Arabic here - '“fore, front, in the presence of, before, near, in the direction of, toward“)

Together, the phrase functions as a causal or explanatory conjunction, akin to "for this reason" or "because."

5. I.e. divine punishment. For another talmudic passage on the death of children as divine punishment for sins, see my recent piece.

Two versions of what Yehuda said here are given, quoted in the next sections)

6. בחור - i.e. as opposed to a young child.

7. Isaiah 9:16 - this verse is also cited in my recent piece, see there for the section on “vulgar speech”, which is paralleled here, and hence I’ve elided here.

8. In this section and the next, I’ve (experimentally) used poetic formatting to emphasize the literary and poetic qualities of the passages.

9. גדול - on this epithet for God, see my previous piece; “in the abundance of His greatness” - ברוב גדלו - is based on Psalms 150:2: כרב גדלו.

10. אדיר וחזק - see ibid.

11. A direct quote of Job 9:10.

12. תנו לבבכם - a biblical idiom, see I_Chronicles.22.19: תנו לבבכם - “set your minds”.

13. לחקור את זאת - see a similar expression in Psalms.44.22 - הלא אלהים יחקר־זאת - “God would surely search it out.”