Midrash su Shabbat 23:5
עוֹשִׂין כָּל צָרְכֵי הַמֵּת, סָכִין וּמְדִיחִין אוֹתוֹ, וּבִלְבַד שֶׁלֹּא יָזִיזוּ בוֹ אֵבֶר. שׁוֹמְטִין אֶת הַכַּר מִתַּחְתָּיו וּמַטִּילִין אוֹתוֹ עַל הַחֹל בִּשְׁבִיל שֶׁיַּמְתִּין. קוֹשְׁרִים אֶת הַלֶּחִי, לֹא שֶׁיַּעֲלֶה, אֶלָּא שֶׁלֹּא יוֹסִיף. וְכֵן קוֹרָה שֶׁנִּשְׁבְּרָה, סוֹמְכִין אוֹתָהּ בְּסַפְסָל אוֹ בַּאֲרֻכּוֹת הַמִּטָּה, לֹא שֶׁתַּעֲלֶה, אֶלָּא שֶׁלֹּא תוֹסִיף. אֵין מְעַמְּצִין אֶת הַמֵּת בְּשַׁבָּת, וְלֹא בְחֹל עִם יְצִיאַת נֶפֶשׁ. וְהַמְעַמֵּץ עִם יְצִיאַת נֶפֶשׁ, הֲרֵי זֶה שׁוֹפֵךְ דָּמִים:
Tutti i bisogni di chi è morto possono essere seguiti (su Shabbath). Può essere unto [con olio] e sciacquato [con acqua. E le sue aperture superiore e inferiore possono essere chiuse con un panno o qualcos'altro, in modo che il vento non vi penetri e si gonfi.], Fintanto che lui (quello presente) non agita un arto [cioè, che non si muove e solleva la mano, il piede o le ciglia, è vietato spostare una persona morta o uno dei suoi arti, anche se è permesso toccarlo. E così con tutto il muktzeh—è consentito toccarlo e vietato spostarlo. Ed è vietato persino toccare un uovo covato su Shabbath o in una festa, poiché, a causa della sua rotondità, "il suo toccare è il suo muoversi".] Il materasso può essere rimosso da sotto di lui in modo che venga a sdraiarsi sulla sabbia ed essere preservato [e non putrefatto rapidamente a causa del calore delle lenzuola e dei tappetini. Ma non può essere mosso per posizionarlo sulla sabbia, come detto sopra: "purché non mescoli un arto".] La sua mascella potrebbe essere chiusa [se si aprisse]—non spostarlo in alto [cioè, non chiudere ciò che era già aperto, poiché ciò avrebbe comportato lo spostamento di un arto], ma [per assicurare] che non (si aprisse) ulteriormente. Allo stesso modo, se una trave si fosse rotta, potrebbe essere supportata da una panca o un reggisella [il cui status è quello di un mobile) articolo]—non per sollevarlo, [per quello sarebbe boneh ("costruzione")], ma [per assicurare] che non (rompa) ulteriormente. Gli occhi di un morto non possono essere chiusi su Shabbath, [anche dopo che è scaduto, questo costituendo lo spostamento di un arto], e (possono anche) non essere chiusi nei giorni feriali. E se uno chiude gli occhi di un uomo mentre sta morendo, è uno spargitore di sangue, [perché la minima cosa può accelerare la sua morte.]
Ruth Rabbah
“For a live dog is better than a dead lion” (Ecclesiastes 9:4) – in this world, one who is a dog can become [strong as] a lion, and one who is a lion can become a dog. However, in the future, one who is a lion cannot become a dog, and anyone who is a dog cannot become a lion. Hadrian, may his bones be crushed, asked Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya: He said to him: ‘I am better than Moses, your master.’ He said to him: ‘Why?’ ‘Because I am alive and he is dead, and it is written: “For a live dog is better than a dead lion.”’ He said to him: ‘Are you able to issue a decree that no man shall light a fire for three days?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ In the evening, both of them climbed to the wall of the palace and saw smoke rising at a distance. He said to him: ‘What is that?’ He said to him: ‘The governor is ill, and a doctor went in and visited him. He said to him: You will not be cured until you drink hot water.’ He said to him: ‘May his spirit be blasted.129He said this to Hadrian, using the third person out of deference to the emperor. While you are still alive, your edict is void. Moses our master, from the moment that he decreed upon us: “You shall not kindle fire in all your habitations on the day of Shabbat” (Exodus 35:3), no Jew has ever kindled fire on Shabbat, and his edict has not been voided even now. And you say: I am better than he is?’
“Lord, make my end known to me, and the measure of my days, what it is; [I would know how impermanent I am]” (Psalms 39:5) – David said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, make known to me when I will die.’ He said to him: ‘It is a secret that is not revealed to a person, and it is not possible for it to be revealed to you.’ “And the measure of my days, what it is” – He [God] said to him: ‘Seventy years.’ “I would know how impermanent I am” (Psalms 39:5) – make known to me on which day I will die. He said to him: ‘On Shabbat.’ He [David] said to Him: ‘Subtract one day for me.’ He said to him: ‘No.’ He said to Him: ‘Why?’ He said to him: ‘One prayer that you are destined to pray before Me is more precious to Me than a thousand burnt offerings that Solomon your son is destined to sacrifice before Me, as it is stated: “One thousand burnt offerings Solomon offered upon that altar”’ (I Kings 3:4). He said to Him: ‘Add one day for me.’ He said to him: ‘No.’ He said to Him: ‘Why?’ He said to him: ‘The dominion of your son is pressing, as Rabbi Shimon bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: There are many dominions, and one of them does not enter into the dominion of another even a hair’s breadth.’ He died on Shavuot that coincided with Shabbat. The Sanhedrin entered to pay their respects to Solomon. He said to them: ‘Can I move him [the body] from place to place?’ They said to him: ‘Is it not a mishna: One may rub with oil and wash [a corpse], provided that he does not move a limb?’130Mishna Shabbat 23:5.
He [Solomon] said: ‘The dogs of father’s house are hungry.’131He feared they would desecrate the corpse. They said to him: ‘Is it not a mishna: One may cut pumpkins before an animal and an animal carcass before dogs?’132Mishna Shabbat 24:4. What did he do? He took a curtain and spread it over him [David’s body], so the sun would not beat down on him. Some say that he summoned the eagles and they spread their wings over him, so the sun would not beat down on him.