But Maimonides' view was not accepted without dispute. It was indeed
quite easy to cite Rabbinic passages in which the world to come is
identified with the bodily Resurrection. Against Maimonides were produced
such Talmudic utterances as the following: 'Said Rabbi Chiya b. Joseph,
the Righteous shall arise clad in their garments, for if a grain of wheat
which is buried naked comes forth with many garments, how much more shall
the righteous arise full garbed, seeing that they were interred with
shrouds' (Kethub. 111 b). Again, 'Rabbi Jannai said to his children,
Bury me not in white garments or in black: not in white, lest I be not
held worthy (of heaven) and thus may be like a bridegroom among mourners
(in Gehenna); nor in black, lest if I am held worthy, I be like a mourner
among bridegrooms (in heaven). But bury me in coloured garments (so that
my appearance will be partly in keeping with either fate),' (Sabbath,
114 a). Or finally: 'They arise with their blemishes, and then are healed'
(Sanh. 91 b).
The popular fancy, in its natural longing for a personal existence
after the bodily death, certainly seized upon the belief in Resurrection
with avidity. It had its roots partly in the individual consciousness,
partly in the communal. For the Resurrection was closely connected with
such hopes as those expressed in Ezekiel's vision of the re-animation
of Israel's dry bones (Ezek. xxxvii.). Thus popular theology adopted
many ideas based on the Resurrection. The myth of the Leviathan hardly
belongs here, for, widespread as it was, it was certainly not regarded
in a material light. The Leviathan was created on the fifth day, and
its flesh will be served as a banquet for the righteous at the advent
of Messiah. The mediaeval poets found much attraction in this idea,
and allowed their imagination full play concerning the details of
the divine repast. Maimonides entirely spiritualised the idea, and
his example was here decisive. The conception of the Resurrection
had other consequences. As the scene of the Resurrection is to be
Jerusalem, there grew up a strong desire to be buried on the western
slope of Mount Olivet. In fact, many burial and mourning customs of
the Synagogue originated from a belief in the bodily Resurrection. But
even in the orthodox liturgy the direct references to it are vague and
idealised. Two passages of great beauty may be cited. The first is taken
from the _Authorised Daily Prayer Book_ (ed. Singer, p. 5):
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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