Tehillim 39 – A Man's Shadow for 30 Days

Zohar on Tehillim – A Man's Shadow for 30 Days

Tehillim 39:7 – “Ach b'tzelem yithalech ish...” – (Man moves only as a shadow). Rabbi Yose said: “When a person's days draw near their end, for 30 days they proclaim it throughout the Universe, and even the birds of the sky announce it. And if he is worthy of it, for 30 days they proclaim it among the righteous in Gan Eden as well.” We have learned: Throughout all these 30 days, the soul leaves him each night, ascends, and sees its place in the World to Come. Yet this son of man knows and suspects nothing, and he no longer rules over his soul as he did before. Rabbi Yehuda said: “From the very beginning of these 30 days, a person's shadow grows dim, and his image, visible on the earth, disappears.” Rabbi Yitzchak said to Rabbi Yehuda: “My soul leaves me each night and does not shine for me in dreams as it did before. And furthermore, when I pray and approach ‘Who hears prayer’ (the 16th blessing of the Amidah), I then gaze at the shadow of my image on the wall, but I do not see it. And I say to myself: Since my image has disappeared and I have become invisible, it means that the herald has already gone forth and proclaimed it. For it is written: ‘Ach b'tzelem ish...’ – (Man moves only as a shadow).” As long as a person's image has not disappeared, he moves about and his spirit remains firmly within his body. When the shadow of his image disappears and becomes invisible, it means that he is leaving this world. Until the sun sets, this holy soul, which is taken from a person thirty days before he departs this world, is the shadow that he has lost and cannot find. And why has the shadow disappeared from him? Because the holy soul has disappeared and left him. This is evident from what is written: “For our days on earth are a shadow.” (Job 8:9) (Zohar I, 217a–218b; “Zohar,” Vayechi, p. 227, section 1, translated by M. A. Kravtsov, Jewishbook)