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Simcha Feuerman
Psychology, Torah and the Daf Yomi

Spiritual Standstill and Buried Feelings Bava Basra 101-103

101

Spiritual Standstill

Our Gemara on Amud Beis tries to figure out how to properly allocate and position the number of graves described in the Mishna, and reconcile it within the stated dimensions of this space. One idea that was considered was that some bodies were buried standing up. The Gemara firmly rejects this as absurd, since this would be a disgraceful manner to lay a corpse. The Gemara declares:

This is like a burial of donkeys and is disrespectful.

This statement also can be interpreted allegorically. A standing position represents standing still. Yechezkel (1:7) describes angels as having legs that are straight, with no joints. This implies they never need to sit or bend down. Toldos Yaakov Yosef (Bo 73) interprets this to mean that, unlike humans who must constantly be working on growth, angels are static and do not need to develop abilities – they are what they are. If so, the message is as follows: One who is buried standing up, i.e., someone who stagnated in life and didn’t grow, is as if he is a donkey.

Related to this we find a derush from Eretz Chemda (Vayechi 6:1) which suggests that Esau wanted to be squeezed into the Machpeila burial cave by being interred standing up. Of course, Esau who did not express any higher aspirations than physical gratification, would be fine if he were buried standing up, representing no growth. And as a final thought, the Torah ethic not only expects growth, but movement and growth. The verse states (Devarim 6:7-9):: 

Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up…inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Notably, Rabbenu Tam’s (Tosafos Menachos 3a) offers an objection to Rash’s opinion that the Mezuzah should be affixed vertically based on our Gemara’s burial protocols, which indicate that a vertical position is not respectful. If we apply our idea, which equates standing with spiritual stagnation, here too we can interpret Rabbenu Tam’s idea allegorically: The mindfulness of Torah and its teachings that must pervade our home, which are symbolically expressed via the Mezuzah on the doorpost, must be a include a growth mindset and not stuck in one place. 

102

Buried Feelings 

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph and Tosafos discuss the restrictions on disinterring and disturbing the dead.

There are various reasons offered for this prohibition. The Gemara later on (154a) implies that exposing the decomposed body to viewing eyes is disrespectful of the body, and the person who once occupied it. Gesher Chaim (26:10), based on a Yerushalmi, rules that even if the body is fully decomposed and so there is no rot, it is inherently a disgraceful to allow what was once a bold creation, full of life and power, to now be inert. I wonder if that partly explains the ritual of covering the blood of a wild animal after slaughtering it. There is something tragic about taking the life-power out of a grand creature, and though we will use its flesh and skin for utilitarian purposes, we still pay some respect to its lifeblood by covering it. (See Chinuch 187 who gives a different reason.) 

Rav Moshe Feinstein (YD II:151) quite simply learns that disinterment is forbidden because it is a nullification of the mitzvah of burial. And finally we have a mystical explanation from Beis Yosef (YD 363): The dead actually become emotionally disturbed if their crypts are violated. It somehow causes them to fear they are being summoned for judgment. He shows a number verses which allude to the dead wanting peace in their grave, such as Iyov 3:13 and Shmuel I:28:15.

Whatever the reason, a civilization can be judged in how it shows respect for its dead, especially in times of distress. Burying the dead, particularly the grim work that a chevrah kadisha does in recovering body parts after a devastating destructive event or act of terror, pushes back against the nihilistic feelings of despair. They might act like animals, and slaughter us like lambs, but we will retain our dignity.

103

Playing the Field

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph quotes the verse that describes the Biblically mandated process of redeeming a field that one declared hekdesh (consecrating it for the Temple treasury). It is redeemed according to a standardized scale of fifty shekels of silver per an area fit to sow a ḥomer of barley.

Mei HaShiloach (Volume II, Leviticus, Bechukosai) wonders about the purpose of this process. Why would the Torah enshrine a process of the owner redeeming the field?  If the Torah described the process of a public auction as the primary way to cash in the field, this would make sense as the owner donates the field, while the treasury could shrewdly sell it for more. This is like people who donate stocks or cars to charities which then sell them off at a profit. But why should the person go back on his declaration? And if the original donor wanted to fund hekdesh and he had the cash on hand, why not donate it directly?  Mei HaShiloach suggests that this action is performed by someone who has wealth and assets, but feels he is becoming seduced by the trappings and demands of materialism.  He declares the field hekdesh, even though he plans to buy it right back, as he needs this property. This is done solely to break his attachment to the material and remind himself that it really comes from God.

Another peshat could be similar to what Tur HaAruch (Vayikra 14:34) says is the reason some Jewish homes were afflicted with blemishes that required cutting out parts of it, or even total demolition (VaYikra, chapter 14): Some of the homes had left over residue of impurity from the prior idolatrous owners. They were so toxic that they could not be countered or overcome without complete excision.  So too, perhaps a person might feel his field to be cursed with bad mazal. By making it the possession of hekdesh, and then buying it back, this would allow it to be cleansed and start fresh.

Each of these reasons cover a different kind of corruption and contamination. The first one of arrogance is an internal state and association to the field that must be reset, and the second one is an external impurity that must be removed. Regardless of which explanation we go with, and both can be true, we see that sometimes purification or turning over a new leaf requires a physical act or change of status in order to concretize the resolve. This is one of the inescapable aspects of psychology and spirituality, symbolic physical acts motivate and activate.  As we dip the apple in the honey, or throw our sins in the water, we can understand this as prayer via action. The Gemara (Kerisus 6a), declares: Symbolic actions are significant and thus one should eat various foods that serve as good omens for the new year.

About the Author
Rabbi, Psychotherapist with 30 years experience specializing in high conflict couples and families.
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