The Attachment That Kills
On page 18 (חי, “alive”), the Talmud tells the story of a woman who will not let go of death, that is, of this world.
The innkeeper, physically dead and alive in the Beit HaHaim, asks for her comb and kohl: she remains attached to this world.
According to the course, the 903 kinds of death range from the askara, the hardest, to the neshika, the kiss, the softest.
The lesson: learn quickly to let go in this world.
On page 18 (חי = alive), the Talmud tells a story about a woman who will not let go of death.
Ze'iri leaves money with an innkeeper before going off to the yeshiva. While he is studying, the innkeeper dies.
Ze'iri goes to look for her in “Hatsar Mavet” (the courtyard of death) and asks: “Where is my money?”
She answers: “Go and take it from under the water pipe. And tell my mother to send my comb and my kohl (makeup) with So-and-so who is coming tomorrow.”
The course's explanation: she was an innkeeper. She had to be beautiful all the time to attract customers. Her whole life was identified with her appearance, so much so that even after her death she still desires makeup.
Physical state: dead (the body in the grave).
Spiritual state: alive (the soul has returned to the Beit HaHaim, the House of the Living).
Her problem, according to the course: she is alive now, in Olam HaEmet, but she cannot enjoy this life, because she is still attached to death (this world). By asking for her makeup, she clings to the world of death instead of enjoying the life where she now is.
תּוֹצָאוֹת (totsaot, plural) has a gematria of 903: there are 903 kinds of death created in the world.
The hardest: the askara (croup, choking), “like a thornbush in a sheep's wool being pulled backward.” Why so hard? According to the course, the soul is so attached to death (this world) that it does not want to leave for life.
The softest: the neshika (the kiss), “like drawing a hair out of milk.” Why so soft? According to the course, the soul has let go of death and departs joyfully toward life.
“The worm is as painful to the dead as a needle in living flesh.”
How can the soul feel the worms eating its body? The course's answer: because it is alive (returned to Olam HaEmet) but still attached to its body, which is in death.
Imagine a very rich man on his deathbed: “My empire! My buildings!” He clings to death (this temporary world).
When he dies physically, he will be alive (Olam HaEmet). But he will suffer because he will not want to let go of death. He will still ask: “Where are my buildings?”, just as the innkeeper asks for her makeup.
If you attach yourself to death (this world), when you return to life (physical death) you will be alive but unable to enjoy it. You will be like the innkeeper: in the House of the Living, but a prisoner of her desire for death.
Quiz — The Attachment That Kills
Five questions to check