Parshas Noah
By Rabbi Dovid Zauderer
When I was learning through the weekly Torah portion this week, I came across a synonym for “death” that is not commonly used. And it got me thinking about other synonyms for death…
[A synonym is a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language, for example shut is a synonym of close. Of course, our Sages teach us that in the Torah there are no true synonyms - as every single synonym has a different nuance and meaning.]
In Genesis (6:17), G-d tells Noach that there will be a great flood … “and everything that is in the earth – yigva - will expire”. Now the most common Hebrew word for death is mi-sah, but here the Torah uses the term yigva to describe the death of those who will perish or expire in the Flood. According to many Torah commentators, including Ibn Ezra, Radak, etc., it has a connotation of quick death without prolonged sickness.
The Talmud in Bava Basra 16b explains that wherever the term yigva is used together with the term asaf, as in the verse, “And Abraham expired and died … and he was gathered to his people.” (Genesis 25:17), it refers to the death of righteous people.
[Ed. note: Whenever I see the word expire used as a synonym for someone who dies, I think of the Ba’al Shem Tov’s commentary to the phrase in Psalms 34:13 “Which man desires life?” that every man is allotted only a certain amount of words for his entire lifetime. Once he has used up his quota he must depart from this world. His time has literally expired! – dz]
Two other Hebrew synonyms for death I can think of that teach us a powerful lesson about life and death:
~ niftar (lit., “[he is] exempt”), with the implicit lesson that until a man dies he is “obligated” in Torah and mitzvah observance
~ she’halach l’olamo (lit. “he went on to his world”) – this tells us that after a lifetime of struggle and achievement, the dead person will rest for all eternity in Olam HaBa - in the world that was created just for him.
Death has many synonyms in English as well, although they are mostly arbitrary and not intrinsically meaningful [as the English language was not created by G-d but by human beings].
Here’s a list of a few English synonyms for death that I came up with: deceased, demise, expired, eternal rest, loss of life, passing, departed, mortality, lifelessness.
Can you come up with anymore?
And how about these Yiddish gems?:
Avek (lit. “away”), toyt, geshtorben
Let’s conclude with the following two Aramaic synonyms for death found in the Talmud and elsewhere [Ed. note: These two synonyms for death usually reserved for great Tzaddikim -dz]:
~ nukh naf-shay, (lit., “his soul can rest”). Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin explains in Ruach Chaim (6:1) that during a person’s lifetime he can never truly rest, as he finds himself in a constant battle with the Yetzer Hara (evil urge) who wants him to sin, and can only ‘take it easy’ after he is laid to rest when he dies.
~ shavak chaim le’chol chai (lit.,“he left life for all who live.”) “What happens upon the petirah of a true tzaddik? When the righteous pass away, the middas hadin (the power of rigorous judgment) leaves the world and their death brings forgiveness for the sins of the generation (Zohar, Acharei Mos 56b). Furthermore, the Midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah 14:4) teaches that when a great Torah scholar passes away, his Torah becomes more accessible. Rav Tzadok Hakohein of Lublin (Machshavos Charutz, chapter 17) explains that the Torah which was his very own when he was alive is granted to the rest of Klal Yisroel upon his death. Rav Hutner (Igros, page 164 and 175) and Rav Moshe Shapiro (see Mimaamakim, Vayikra, page 119) add that this concept explains the Aramaic term Chazal use for the death of a tzaddik – shavak chaim le’chol chai, meaning that “he left life for all who live.” Although the passing of a tzaddik is an irreplaceable loss, whoever cared about him and truly feels his loss is elevated spiritually at the moment of his death.
May we all merit to see a time when בלע המות לנצח ומחה ה' אלקים דמעה מעל כל פנים
“He will swallow up death forever; the L rd, our G-d will wipe tears away from all faces.”
(Isaiah 25:8)
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