New York (VINNEWS/Rabbi Yair Hoffman)  Tinton Falls, in Monmouth County, 17 miles from BMG is known for having the highest waterfall on New Jersey’s coastal plain as well as having an outlet center. Who would have ever thought it wuld also serve as a reference point to have us learn more about Tchias HaMeisim.

How so?  It now has one of the first in the nation’s revived – Toys R Us. The chain went bankrupt in 2017, closed its stores, and seemed gone for good. Now it has come back.

The two subjects have nothing to do with each other, l’havdil.  Tchias HaMeisim is one of the thirteen fundamentals of our emunah. But when people talk about something that “came back from the dead,” it is a good moment to learn what the Torah actually teaches about the real thing.

I have a remarkable sefer called, “Techiyas HaMeisim” by Rabbi Zev Aryeh ben Chaim Efraim Steiglitz and much of teh information below comes from that sefer.

Basic Belief

The Mabit (Beis Elokim, Sha’ar HaYesodos 53) writes that Tchias HaMeisim is one of the foundations of the Torah. A person who does not believe in it has no real share in the Jewish faith. Rav Saadia Gaon (Emunos V’Deos 7) adds that a person who denies Tchias HaMeisim will not take part in it, even if his other deeds were good. The punishment matches the sin.

The belief is rooted in the Torah itself. The Gemara (Berachos 15b) compares the grave to a mother’s womb, based on the pasuk in Mishlei (30:16). A womb takes in and gives out. So too the grave, which takes in the dead, will one day give them back. The Gemara (Pesachim 68a) brings another raya from the pasuk “I put to death and I bring to life; I wounded and I will heal” (Devarim 32:39). Just as the same person who is wounded is the one who is healed, the same person who dies is the one who will come back to life.

It Is Not Hard for Hashem

The Mabit explains why this is not beyond belief. When a person breaks a clay pot, he cannot put it back together exactly as it was. Even a goldsmith who melts down a gold cup and recasts it ends up with a new cup that only looks like the old one. People can make new things, but they cannot bring back the very same thing that was lost.

Hashem can.

He will bring back the very same person, with the same body and soul. For Hashem, restoring what once existed is kav’yachol an easier step than creating something new. This is because Hashem prefers not violating one of the laws of teva that he put into the world.  (This is, by the way, one of the lessons of Megilas Esther.)

Two Tchias HaMeisim

Many meforshim hold that the dead will rise at two different times. The first resurrection will come at the beginning of the Days of Mashiach. The Aruch LaNer (Sanhedrin 90b), based on the Gemara in Yoma (5b), writes that Moshe, Aharon, and Aharon’s sons will rise then to teach the people, just as they did when we left Mitzrayim.

The Ritva (Rosh Hashanah 16b) and the Radbaz (Teshuvos 2:839 and 3:1069) add that the tzaddikim who died in galus will also rise at that time. They suffered without ever seeing the good fortune of Klal Yisrael, and now they will see it, along with the building of the Beis HaMikdash.

The second techiya is for everyone else, and according to the Radbaz it will come later, close to the seventh millennium. The Rif on Ein Yaakov (Sanhedrin 92a) also describes two resurrections, one in the days of Mashiach and one in the World to Come. The Gaon of Vilna (Aderes Eliyahu, Devarim 3:26) teaches that all of Klal Yisrael will rise in the merit of Moshe Rabbeinu.

The Order of Events

The Zohar (Toldos 139a) teaches that the Beis HaMikdash will be built first, then the exiles will be gathered in, and forty years later the dead will rise. Those forty years will bring many troubles and wars, “and fortunate is the one who escapes them.”

The Rash (Ma’aser Sheni 5:2) seems to say that Tchias HaMeisim comes before the building of the Beis HaMikdash. The Aruch LaNer (Niddah 61b) resolves this by explaining that the great tzaddikim will rise early, even before the general resurrection. The Gaon of Vilna, quoted in HaKesav VehaKabbalah (Devarim 32:35), explains that the words of Kaddish, “ba’agala u’vizman kariv,” “speedily and soon,” mean that all the stages of the geulah, including Tchias HaMeisim, will come close together, one after another.

When Will It Happen?

There are several opinions about when the general resurrection will take place. Some say at the end of the sixth millennium. The Ran (Sanhedrin 99a) explains that it depends on how long the Days of Mashiach last, with opinions of forty, seventy, or four hundred years. The Zohar also speaks of forty years.

Rabbeinu Bachya (Devarim 30:15) finds a hint in the word re’eh, “see,” whose numerical value is 206. He says Tchias HaMeisim will come 206 years after the geulah. The Ramban, in his commentary on Shir HaShirim (8:12), explains the pasuk “two hundred for those who guard its fruit” to mean that the dead will rise two hundred years into the sixth millennium, after the wars are over.

Rav Saadia Gaon (Emunos V’Deos 7) adds a sobering note: a person who dies during the seven years of the war of Gog will not rise.  Hopefully, we won’t pasken like this.

Where Will the Dead Rise?

Some say the dead will rise all over the world. Others say they will rise only in Eretz Yisrael, and those buried elsewhere will roll through underground tunnels until they reach the land. The Chesed L’Avraham (3:22) writes that the dead of Eretz Yisrael will rise on the very day Mashiach comes, while those outside the land will rise later.

The Mabit (Beis Elokim 55) makes an interesting exception. He holds that Moshe Rabbeinu and the generation of the midbar will rise where they are buried and then walk to Eretz Yisrael. They were on a mitzvah journey to the land when they died, and Hashem will let them finish it. The same may be true of anyone who died on the way to Eretz Yisrael.

Who Will Merit to Rise?

Rabbeinu Bachya (Kad HaKemach, Evel 2) explains that the pasuk “many of those who sleep in the dust will awaken” (Daniel 12:2) refers to Klal Yisrael. The Mabit (Beis Elokim 53) writes that the resurrection is for tzaddikim, since resha’im are called “dead” even while they are alive.

Chazal (Kesubos 111b) teach that the light of Torah is what revives the dead. Those who learn Torah will rise. The Chafetz Chaim (Chovas HaShemirah 13) points out that the Gemara concludes that even people who did not learn will rise in the merit of supporting Torah.

Women earn this merit by helping their husbands and sons learn (Berachos 17a), and the Chazon Ish is quoted as saying that a woman also earns it through her tznius. A person who dies al Kiddush Hashem will also rise.

Several everyday mitzvos earn this reward as well. Chazal (Devarim Rabbah 7:1) teach, as explained by the Shevet Mussar in Einei HaEdah (Ki Savo), that answering Amen earns a place at Tchias HaMeisim. The Chida (Chomas Anach, Yeshayahu 32) explains that a person who gives tzedakah generously “will stand” at Tchias HaMeisim.

The Mabit (Beis Elokim, Sha’ar HaTefillah 17) writes that every generation that prayed for the geulah will be brought back to see it. That is why one of the first questions asked of a person in the next world is “Did you anticipate the salvation?” (Shabbos 31a).

Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld (Toras Chaim 82) even suggests that buried Sifrei Torah may one day be restored, since nothing is ever truly lost before Hashem.

The Bodies of Tzaddikim

The Ya’aros Devash (2:7) explains that the bodies of complete tzaddikim do not decay in the grave, as the Gemara says (Shabbos 152b). The Bigdei Yesha, based on the Midrash and the Alshich, explains why. Before a tzaddik dies, Hashem shows him his reward. Both his body and his soul are comforted, and his body rests in the grave as if asleep.

Tzaddikim Will Revive the Dead

The Gemara (Pesachim 68a) teaches that in the future, tzaddikim will revive the dead, just as Eliyahu and Elisha did. The Alshich (Yeshayahu 12; Zechariah 8:4) explains that this is why tzaddikim will then be “called by Hashem’s Name.”

The Gemara (Chullin 7b) also teaches that “tzaddikim are greater in death than in life.” The proof is a dead man who was thrown into Elisha’s grave, touched his bones, and came back to life (Melachim II 13:21). During his lifetime, Elisha needed great effort to revive the Shunamite’s son. After his death, a single touch was enough. The Beis Yisrael (Derush 34) discusses this at length and cites a Midrash that the man was the tzaddik Shalom ben Tikvah, who gave water to every traveler entering his city. His own tzedakah helped bring him back.

Must Everyone Die First?

The Ramchal (Ma’amar HaIkarim) writes that everyone must die, at least briefly, before Tchias HaMeisim. The Michtav M’Eliyahu (vol. 4, p. 150) explains that death removes the last traces of the sin of Adam HaRishon. The Maharil Diskin (Bamidbar 18:28) disagrees that everyone will die at once, since the world can never be completely empty of people.

Will the Body Live Forever?

This is a famous machlokes. The Rambam (Hilchos Teshuvah 8:2, and in his Ma’amar Techiyas HaMeisim) holds that those who rise will live very long lives and then die again, since Olam HaBa is for souls alone. The Ra’avad strongly disagrees and holds that they will live forever in their bodies, though those bodies may be as strong as angels.

The Kesef Mishneh suggests that the two really disagree only about terms. The Lechem Mishneh explains that the Rambam sees Tchias HaMeisim and Olam HaBa as two separate worlds. The Ramah (Abulafia) sided with the view that the resurrected will never die again, and the Shelah (Toldos Adam) explains the Rambam’s reasons for a temporary bodily reward.

Closing Thoughts

Why might Toys R Us have shut down in the first place?  Perhaps it involved a measure of Gaavah.  Their jingle was “The World’s Greatest Toy Store is Toys Are Us.”  We see two things:  We should stay away from Gaavah b’tachlis haRichuk. But we also see Hashem allows for Teshuvah.  If the news from Tinton Falls gets people talking about techias haMeisim, let it lead to more learning, and to the chessed, Torah, and tefillah that will bring that day.

The author can be reached at [email protected]