"You who repose in the dust: Awaken and sing joyful praises!"
(Yeshayahu 26:19)
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ISBN 1-8814-0018-2
5756 • 1995
At some point very early in life, each of us becomes aware of how narrow the range of our vision inevitably is. Just as our mortal eyes cannot look further back than the day we were born, they cannot see further ahead than a certain other day in our physical lifetimes. Little wonder, then, that whenever we encounter a word about that uncharted future from the mouth of one of our Sages or Rebbeim, whose telescopic eyes (so to speak) have been shown its secrets, every such teaching is precious. Besides, for many Jews today, the Talmudic phrase hilchesa diMeshicha ("a law for the Days of Mashiach") no longer speaks of an era that is so far ahead that it becomes irrelevant and inconceivable: it speaks of an era that the Rebbe has assured us is just around the corner.
To Live and Live Again: An Overview of Techiyas HaMeisim Based on the Classical Sources and on the Teachings of Chabad Chassidism is a pioneering work. It was researched, written and annotated by Rabbi Nissan Dovid Dubov, emissary of Chabad-Lubavitch to the South London Jewish community, based at Chabad House, Wimbledon. Rabbi Dubov's research gleans from the Tanach, Talmud, Midrash, Halachah, Kabbalah and Chassidus, and echoes the underlying harmony of these seemingly diverse disciplines as repeatedly demonstrated in the published talks and letters of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
The chapter headings of this work indicate its imposing scope, ranging from "The Purpose of Creation" to "Reincarnation," from "Life After the Resurrection" to "Who Will Rise?" The volume concludes with the full translated text of two related maamarim first delivered by the Rebbe: "To Understand the Concept of Techiyas HaMeisim, the Resurrection of the Dead", and "All Israel Have a Share in the World to Come".
To Live and Live Again was edited by Uri Kaploun, meticulously laid out and typeset by Yosef Yitzchok Turner, its cover was designed by Avrohom Weg, and it was coordinated through all its stages of publication by the Director of Sichos In English, Rabbi Yonah Avtzon.
Rosh Chodesh Kislev, 5756 [1995]
The thirteenth Principle of Faith enumerated by Maimonides is belief in Techiyas HaMeisim, the Resurrection of the Dead. Resurrection figures frequently in our daily prayers and is echoed in many of our daily customs.
Though Rabbinic literature abounds with references to this subject, few are aware of its details. Certainly for the English reader, many of the primary sources are not easily accessible. Hence the present work, an overview which ranges from the Scriptures to contemporary Rabbinic writings, and is based primarily on the published talks and letters of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson.[1][*]
The writing of this book forms part of the worldwide program of study about the Messianic era and thereafter, initiated by the Rebbe. It is the hope of the author that through the publication of this and similar works, we will all merit the coming of Mashiach and the Resurrection speedily in our own days.
I would like to close with a warm word of gratitude to Rabbi Yonah Avtzon, Uri Kaploun and Yosef Yitzchok Turner of Sichos In English for their loving attention to every detail, and to my wife for her constant support and encouragement in our joint shlichus.
Rabbi Nissan Dovid Dubov
Wimbledon, U.K.
Rosh Chodesh Kislev, 5756 [1995]
Notes:
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* A responsum by the Rebbe on the Resurrection was originally published in Kovetz Lubavitch, then in Teshuvos U'Biurim, and later in the Rebbe's Igros Kodesh (Letters), Vol. I, p. 141ff.
