Life After Death
How Charity and Torah Protect Life: Mystical Teachings on Death, Judgment, and Divine Mercy
Charity, the power of prayer, and how Heaven judges every soul
We are taught that giving charity saves a person from death. Through the mitzvah of charity, spiritual light is drawn from Tiferet to Malchut, and this adds life to a person. Life is added to a person in two ways: through Torah study and through giving charity… The word tzedakah (charity) also includes the idea of shalom — bringing peace into the world, as it says: “The work of righteousness shall be peace.”
Rabbi Yosi said: “It is certainly so. Charity is called peace, and through this mitzvah people are saved from death.” (Zohar, Miketz 199; Matok MiDevash, p. 224)
Rabbi Akiva Witnesses How Charity Saves from Death
It is told of a pious man who regularly gave charity. Once he traveled by ship, and a storm overturned the vessel and it sank. Rabbi Akiva saw this and prepared to testify in court that the man had died so his wife could remarry. But before he did, the man appeared before Rabbi Akiva.
Rabbi Akiva asked him: “Are you the one who drowned at sea?”
He replied: “Yes.”
Rabbi Akiva asked: “Who lifted you out of the sea?”
He answered: “The charity I performed.”
“How do you know it was your charity?” Rabbi Akiva continued.
The man replied: “When I sank to the depths of the sea, I heard the waves roaring and saying: Let us raise this man out of the sea, for he practiced charity all his days.”
Rabbi Akiva then declared: “Blessed is God, the God of Israel, who chose the words of Torah and the words of the Sages, for they stand forever: ‘Cast your bread upon the waters…,’ and ‘Charity saves from death.’”
Saving a Sick Person from Judgment
When a person becomes ill, he is judged in Heaven in the chamber of Gevurah, called the “Chamber of Merit.” An angel advocate (apotropos) stands to argue on his behalf, presenting claims as to why the sick person deserves to live.
These arguments may include:
This person still has future accomplishments needed in the world.
His death will not atone for the generation, for his role is unique.
Why should he die before his time?
Therefore, the sick person must repent so his sins do not obstruct the angel’s defense. Then the arguments will be accepted in Heaven and his judgment concluded for life. (Zohar, Beshalach 61; Matok MiDevash, pp. 279–280)
The Prayer of the Poor Is More Accepted
“Fortunate is the one who considers the poor…” The reward of a poor person is great before God because he endures poverty. God listens especially to the poor who have a broken and humbled heart, for they are closer to the King.
Rabbi Shimon adds that everyone appears before God with both body and soul, but the poor appear only with their soul, for their body is crushed. God is closer to the soul than to the body. Therefore, the prayer of the poor is accepted more readily. (Zohar, Beshalach 61; Matok MiDevash, pp. 280–283)
Poverty Saves a Person from Death
Just as a dead person’s face changes, similarly a poor person’s face changes from shame when he must beg.
Poverty removes from him the force of the “venom of death.”
The serpent (the evil inclination/angel of death) “bites” him with various hardships to cleanse his sins.
Through this poverty he is spared harsher suffering and death. As the Sages said: “A poor person is like a leper” — and just as leprosy isolates a person, so does poverty. Poverty serves as atonement in place of afflictions and severe punishments. (Vilna Gaon; Tikunei Zohar 66; Matok MiDevash, p. 343)
Whom Does God Kill?
After a person dies, what does the verse “God causes death…” actually mean? Whom does He kill?
He kills the force of the sitra achra (the evil spiritual force) that clung to the person’s soul during life. When the sitra achra sees the Divine radiance, it immediately dies and detaches from the soul.
The moment that force dies, God immediately gives life to the holy spiritual force, the Divine soul, restoring it to full existence.
God does all of this at once: He destroys the sitra achra and revives the soul. (Zohar, Balak 235; Matok MiDevash, p. 232)
When Wicked People Are Saved from Death
How can it be that a wicked person, judged in Heaven during severe illness, is found innocent and recovers? Because God alone supervises a person’s judgment and sees into the future:
He sees that the person will later repent and perform good deeds.
Or He sees that the person will give birth to a righteous child.
Therefore, even if the person lacks merit now, God judges him favorably for the sake of what will come. (Zohar, Vayechi 257; Matok MiDevash, p. 513)
