The Weekly Daf #68
Sanhedrin 44-50
Week of 24 Iyar - 1 Sivan 5755 / 24-30 May 1995
By Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, Dean, Ohr Somayach Institutions
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   This issue is dedicated in the memory of Shalom Simcha Steinlauf Z"l
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                            For Whom the Eulogy?

Is the purpose of the hesped eulogy said at a funeral to honor the
survivors or to honor the departed?

This is not a mere theoretical question.  One practical implication arises
in a case where the man makes a request before his death not to be
eulogized.  If it is the honor of his survivors which is at stake his wish
is ignored while if it his own honor which is the issue his wish will be
honored.  Another ramification is a situation in which no such request was
made but the survivors refuse to pay the expense of hiring a professional
eulogizer.  If it is their honor they have a right to waive it while if it
is the honor of the departed they can be compelled to hire the eulogizer.

The question is resolved on the basis of a statement by Rabbi Nossen to the
effect that one who is not eulogized is considered as having suffered a
disgrace in this world which will serve as an atonement for him in the
World to Come.  This is considered conclusive proof that a eulogy's purpose
is to honor the departed.
                                                              Sanhedrin 46b

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                            Divine Commiseration

When a man suffers as a result of being executed for his sins Hashem, as it
were, commiserates with him and says:  "How heavy with pain is My head, how
heavy with pain are My arms."

If this is how the Omnipresent One relates to the shedding of the blood of
the wicked, observed Rabbi Meir, how much more so does He suffer along with
the blood of the righteous.
                                                              Sanhedrin 46a
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