Why does the verse state: “And the living will take it to heart”? Perform an act of kindness so they will perform it for you: Accompany [the dead] so they will accompany you; eulogize, so they will eulogize you; bury, so they will bury you; perform kindness, so kindness will be performed for you. Rabbi Mana said: “And the living will take it to heart” – these are the righteous who position their death opposite their heart.32They are always cognizant of their own mortality.
Why do they pound their hearts?33When something bad occurs (Matnot Kehuna), or when they confess their sins (Maharzu). It is to say that everything is there.34The heart is the source of their decisions and actions. This is understood from the verse, “and the living will take it to heart.” Another matter, “and the living will take it to heart” – this is He who lives eternally, who rewards a person for each and every step [he takes] in performing acts of kindness, as Rabbi Yona said: One may not inquire regarding halakhot before the bier of a dead person.35This is because doing so mocks the one who is dead, who is no longer capable of engaging in Torah study.
But did Rabbi Yoḥanan not ask Rabbi Yannai before the bier of Rabbi Shimon ben Yehotzadak: ‘If one consecrated his burnt offering for Temple maintenance, is one liable in its regard for misuse of consecrated property?’36If one consecrates an animal as a burnt-offering and then consecrates its hide to the Temple treasury, does that second consecration take effect? If so, and the animal is sacrificed without first being redeemed from the Temple treasury, one who derives benefit from the hide would surely be liable for misuse of consecrated property.
He answered him: ‘Since the priests can delay the slaughter, he is liable for misuse.’ It is said that [Rabbi Yannai] answered him when he was at a distance [of more than four cubits from the bier]. It is taught: It is prohibited for the pallbearers to wear shoes, due to the concern that the shoe of one of them will rip and he will be delayed in performance of the mitzva. Rabbi Zeira fell to the ground while speaking.
They came to stand him up, and they found that he was afflicted in his speaking.37He had become very weak while delivering a eulogy and was unable to continue (Etz Yosef). They said to him: ‘Why did this [occur]?’ He said to them: ‘[I began to contemplate] the world to which we are going [after death].’ That is what is written: “And the living will take it to heart.”