Resurrection of the Dead: A Great Miracle in the Messianic Era

One of the thirteen principles of faith is that Hashem will resurrect the dead in the future. This is one of the greatest and most wondrous miracles that will occur with the coming of the Messiah.

Maran Rav Shach zt"l, in the year 1940, lost his young daughter, and he went to the Gaon Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski zt"l to seek words of comfort. The Rabbi told him that he too had lost an only daughter at a young age, and "If your Torah had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction" - meaning that Torah was what comforted him. Rav Shach asked: "And what will be the mother's comfort?" He answered: In the Shemoneh Esreh prayer we say "and keeps His faith with those who sleep in the dust." We need to strengthen our faith that death is sleep, just a longer sleep, but we believe that the resurrection of the dead will happen soon, and then our mouths will be filled with laughter and our tongues with singing. When we live with this faith, we can pass through this period more easily.

Rabbi Aryeh Levin zt"l requested that they write on his tombstone that whoever comes to his grave should say: "I believe with complete faith in the resurrection of the dead."

Regarding the resurrection of the dead - our Sages cited the verse: "When Hashem returns the captivity of Zion - we were like dreamers. Then our mouths will be filled with laughter and our tongues with singing." There will be a great and immense joy that has never been matched.

The Holy Zohar says (Bereishit 118b): In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will beautify the bodies of the righteous, like the beauty of Adam when he entered the Garden of Eden. Rabbi Levi said: The soul while still in its elevated state is nourished by the light from above and is clothed in it, and when it enters the body in the future, it will enter with that very light, and then the body will shine like the brightness of the firmament, as it is said (Daniel 12): "And the wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament." And then all creatures will know that the soul entering them is the soul of life, the soul of delights that received pleasures from above and delights the body, and everyone marvels at it saying (Song of Songs 7): "How beautiful and how pleasant you are, O love, with delights!"! ... And at that time, the Holy One, blessed be He, will rejoice in His world and will rejoice in His creatures, as it is said (Psalms 104): "Hashem will rejoice in His works." And then there will be laughter in the world which does not exist now, as it is said (Ibid 126): "Then our mouths will be filled with laughter"... Rabbi Abba said: On the day when the Holy One, blessed be He, rejoices with His creatures, there will be no joy like it since the world was created, and the righteous who remain in Jerusalem will never return to dust, as it is said (Isaiah 4): "And he who remains in Zion and he who is left in Jerusalem shall be called holy."

"Then our mouths will be filled with laughter" - this joy will be joy with "laughter," and why? Because interesting and joyous things will happen before our eyes. For example: A man whose son was born and then the father died young at age 25, will rise to life, and whom will he see before his eyes? His son who lived long - and he is now 90 years old! And so a 90-year-old elderly man will call a young man - "Father." And we will merit to see and know all kinds of relatives whom we never had the chance to know, and to meet people we knew and haven't seen for many years, so that the joy and exultation will be abundant. (Book "Divrei Aggadah" Parshat Beshalach)

In the book "Yesodei HaTorah" [by Rabbi Shimon Agasi zt"l], it is explained that the great wonder in the resurrection of the dead is that Hashem will not create the bodies of the dead anew, but will raise that very same body, which has already turned to dust! That very body that has completely decayed and whose flesh has perished - will once again receive renewed life.

- And there are bodies of the dead whose graves have been plowed, and the wind has carried their dust in all directions, or many dead were thrown together into a pit or to the back of a cave, and blood touched blood on the day of great killing and the weight of war. And how many were food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth and the fish of the sea, and similarly all sorts of different incidents that happened to the dwellers of dust and those who descended to the pit. And now - who is it that can gather and weigh and measure all these particles of dust, and collect the dust particles of each and every body separately?

Only He who rules in His might throughout the world - His is the arm with might, to select and gather and collect all the particles of dust, of this body separately, and of that body separately, even if they are scattered in the four corners of the earth or between the teeth of lions. And not only that, but Hashem returns the dust of each limb to that very limb itself, meaning the particles of dust coming from the eye He returns them to the eye, the particles of dust from the ears - to the ears, and the hands - to the hands, and the feet - to the feet, each particle to its exact place in the body!!!

And now, come and see, who is it that can count all those billions of dust particles, and who can arrange and set all the particles in their original position and place?! And if a person contemplates this, he immediately recoils backwards, and fear and trembling will come upon him from the dread of the King who is awesome and terrible, mighty and strong, powerful and mighty, to whom belongs the power and ability and the wondrous might, strength and power like these, blessed be His name and exalted be His remembrance forever, Amen. (Yesodei HaTorah, The 13th Principle)

Rolling Through Tunnels

However, Hashem resurrects the dead only in the Land of Israel! As it is said (Isaiah 42:5): "Thus says God, Hashem... who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk therein [in the Land of Israel]." If so, the righteous who were buried outside the Land, such as Moses and Aaron and all the other righteous in the four corners of the world - how will they live and come to the World to Come?

Rather, at the time of the resurrection of the dead, the Holy One, blessed be He, descends from the highest heavens, and sits on His throne in Jerusalem, and Hashem calls to the ministering angels and says to them: "My children, I did not create you except for this hour, so that you might give Me satisfaction!" The ministering angels respond and say before Him: "Master of the Universe, we will stand before you in everything you desire!" Hashem responds and says to them: "Go, roam the four corners of the world, and lift up the four corners of the earth, and make tunnels upon tunnels in the ground of the earth for every righteous person in the Diaspora, to the Land of Israel, and bring to Me every righteous person, and they shall come to the Land of Israel and I will resurrect them!"

Immediately, every angel and angel, and every seraph and seraph, and every minister and minister, and every legion and legion go, and roam the four corners of the world, and lift up the four corners of the earth, and they shake off the wicked from the earth, and after this they make tunnels upon tunnels in the ground of the earth for every righteous person in the Diaspora, and bring them through tunnels to the Land of Israel to Hashem in Jerusalem, and Hashem stands Himself and revives them and raises them to their feet.

And how does Hashem resurrect the dead for the World to Come? Hashem takes a great shofar in His hand and blows it, and its sound goes from one end of the world to the other. With the first blast, the entire world trembles; with the second blast, the dust separates; with the third blast, the bones of the righteous gather; with the fourth blast, their limbs warm up; with the fifth blast, their skins form; with the sixth blast, spirits and souls enter their bodies; with the seventh blast, they live and stand on their feet in their garments! And the righteous will arise in several garments whose fragrance travels from one end of the world to the other like the scent of the Garden of Eden! (Otiyot d'Rabbi Akiva, letter 9)