כל עצמותי תאמרנהThe Dead Sing on Their Graves

kol atzmotai tomarnahIn Gamatria ↗

When the Sabbath ends, the dead stand up and praise.

Caleb went to Hebron to pray at the graves of the patriarchs, and from him comes the custom of praying at a parent's grave on the yahrzeit. The nefesh there hears the prayer and tells the ruach, the ruach tells the neshamah in Eden, and the souls wake the patriarchs, who pray before the Throne. A soul not yet admitted wanders and mourns its body among the worms; a pure body turns quickly to dust. On Sabbaths and new moons the ruach rises and brings light back down. At their close the nefesh takes the body's form, and the dead stand on their graves giving praise. Hence 'all my bones shall say', in the future tense. Kaidanover adds that a sudden good thought is an hour of favour, and a sudden gloom may warn of a decree: pray at once.

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