Zohar, Chayei Sara 19/ספר הזהר·חיי שרה י״ט

53R. Isaac discoursed on the verse: And the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it (Eccl. 12, 7). He said: ‘When the Holy One, blessed be He, created Adam, He took his dust from the site of the Temple and built his body out of the four corners of the world, all of which contributed to his formation. After that He poured over him the spirit of life, as it says, “and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Gen. 2, 7). Adam then arose and realised that he was both of heaven and of earth, and so he united himself to the Divine and was endowed with mystic Wisdom.

54Each son of man is, after the same model, a composite of the heavenly and the earthly; and all those who know how to sanctify themselves in the right manner in this world, when they beget a son cause the holy spirit to be drawn upon him from the region whence all sanctities emerge. Such are called the children of the Holy One; and as their bodies were formed in sanctity, so are they given a spirit from the supernal holy region.

55Observe that the day on which a man is about to depart from this world is a day of reckoning when the body and the soul in combination have to give an account of their works. The soul afterwards leaves him, and the body returns to the earth, both thus returning to their original source, where they will remain until the time when the Holy One will bring the dead to life again.

56Then God will cause the identical body and the identical soul to return to the world in their former state, as it is written, “Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise” (Is. XXVI, I9). The same soul is meanwhile stored up by the Holy One, thus returning to its original place, as it is written, “And the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Eccl. 12, 7). And at the time when the Holy One will raise the dead to life He will cause dew to descend upon them from His head. By means of that dew all will rise from the dust,

57as it says, “for thy dew is as the dew of lights” (Is. 26, 19), these being the supernal lights through which the Almighty will in future pour forth life upon the world. For the tree of life exudes life unceasingly into the universe. Life in the present dispensation is cut short through the influence of the evil serpent, whose dominion is symbolised by the darkened moon. Under the same influence the celestial waters, as it were, fail, and life is not dispensed in the world in proper measure.

58At that time, however, the evil tempter, who is none other than the evil serpent, will be removed from the world by the Almighty and disappear, as it is written, “and I will cause the unclean spirit to pass out of the earth” (Zech. 13, 2). After he disappears the moon will no more be obscured, and the waters of the celestial river will flow on perennially. Then will be fulfilled the prophecy, “Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of the seven days, etc.” (Is. 30, 26).

59Said R. Hizkiah: ‘If it be so that all the dead bodies will rise up from the dust, what will happen to a number of bodies which shared in succession the same soul?’ R. Jose answered: ‘Those bodies which were unworthy and did not achieve their purpose will be regarded as though they had not been: as they were a withered tree in this world, so will they be regarded at the time of the resurrection. Only the last that had been firmly planted and took root and prospered will come to life,

60as it says, “For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters… but its foliage shall be luxuriant, etc.” (Jer. 17, 8). This alludes to the body that struck deep root, produced fruit and prospered. But of the former body which remained fruitless, which did not take root, which was unworthy and did not achieve its end, it is written, “For he shall be like a tamarisk in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, etc.” (Ibid. 6), i.e. he will not be included in the resurrection,

61and will not see the light stored up at the Creation for the delectation of the righteous, regarding which it says, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1, 4), and also, “But unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise, etc.” (Mal. 3, 20). The Holy One will thus in the future raise the dead to life again, and the good principle will prevail in the world and the Evil One will vanish from the world, as already said, and the previous bodies will be as though they never had been.’

62Said R. Isaac: ‘For such bodies the Holy One will provide other spirits, and if found worthy they will obtain an abiding in the world, but if not, they will be ashes under the feet of the righteous, as it is written, “and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, etc.” (Dan. 12, 2). All then will rise up and will be ranged before the Holy One, who will enumerate them, as it were, as it says, “He that bringeth out their host by number” (Is. 40, 26).

63Observe that it has been laid down that the dead of the Land of Israel will be the first to rise, and of them it is written, “Thy dead shall live” (Ibid. 26, 19). On the other hand, the words “my dead bodies shall arise” (Ibid.) allude to the dead of other lands, since instead of “shall live” it says “snall arise”. The living spirit, in fact, will only infuse the bodies in tne Land of Israel. “Thy dead”, then, “shall live”. But the other dead bodies will rise without the spirit of life, and only after they shall have rolled themselves underground and reached the Land of Israel will they receive souls-only there, but not in other realms-so that they may be really resurrected.’

64R. Eleazar and R. Jose were one night studying the Torah. Said R. Eleazar: ‘Observe that at the time when the Holy One will bring the dead back to life, all the souls mustered before Him will bear each a form identical with the one it bore in this world. The Holy One will bring them down, and will call them by their names, as it says, “He calleth them all by name” (Ibid. 40, 26). Every soul will then enter into its own place, and the dead will be fully resurrected, and the world will thus reach its consummation. Of that time it is written, “And the reproach of his people will he take away from off all the earth” (Ibid. 25, 8), which is a reference to the evil tempter, who darkens the faces of men and leads them astray.’

65R. Jose, interposing, said: ‘How is it that a man whilst the spirit of life is in him is not a source of defilement, whereas after his soul leaves him he becomes a source of defilement 7’ R. Isaac replied: ‘Assuredly this is the law, and the explanation given is that the evil tempter, in the act of taking away the spirit of a man, defiles it, and thus the body is left in a state of defilement. This, however, is not the case with idolatrous nations. For since they carry defilement during life, as their souls are derived from the side of defilement, when this defilement is removed the body remains without any defilement whatever.

66For this reason whoever forms an attachment with a woman of any of the idolatrous nations becomes defiled, and the offspring born from such an attachment receives a defiled spirit. It may be asked why, seeing that the father is an Israelite, the offspring should receive a defiled spirit. The reason is that as soon as the father attached himself to that woman, defilement entered into him. Now if the father became defiled through the unclean woman, how much more must the offspring born of her be defiled to its very spirit. Such a man, moreover, transgresses the precept of the Torah, contained in the words, “For thou shalt bow down to no other god; for the Lord whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Ex. 34, 14), i.e. He is jealous for the sanctity of the holy covenant.’