The dead do not simply lie still. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by undefined Gaster in 1899, the righteous dead have a vast habitation with a brook flowing from the Garden of Eden and a field beside it. Every Sabbath eve, between the afternoon and evening prayers, their souls emerge from their hidden dwelling to eat in that field and drink from that brook.
This creates a strange obligation for the living. Any Israelite who drinks water during that same window between afternoon and evening services on Sabbath eve is said to be robbing the dead of their portion. The timing matters. The dead depend on it.
When the congregation calls out on Sabbath eve, "Bless the Lord, who is blessed," the souls return to their graves. But God does not leave them there in stillness. He revives them, stands them on their feet alive, and they rise from their graves to sing praises. The text quotes the verse, "The pious exult in honor, and they sing upon their resting-places."
This resurrection is not a one-time event. It happens every Sabbath and every new moon. The dead rise, come before the Divine Presence, and prostrate themselves before God. The text asks a pointed question about the verse "all flesh shall come to worship Me"—what does "people of the earth" really mean? Those who are hidden in the earth. The buried. Even death, in this tradition, observes the rhythm of the Sabbath.