Midrasz do Szabbat 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:
Wszystkie potrzeby zmarłego mogą być zaspokojone (w szabat). Może być namaszczony [olejem] i opłukany [wodą. A jego górne i dolne otwory mogą być zatkane szmatą lub czymś innym, aby wiatr nie wchodził do środka i nie puchł.], O ile on (obecny) nie porusza kończyną [tj. Nie porusza się i podnieść rękę, stopę lub rzęsy, zabrania się poruszania martwej osoby lub którejkolwiek z kończyn, nawet jeśli wolno jej dotykać. I tak z wszystkimi muktzeh—wolno go dotykać i przesuwać. I nie wolno nawet dotykać jaja wylęgającego się w szabat lub w święto, ponieważ z powodu jego okrągłości „jego dotyk jest jego ruchem”]. Materac można wyjąć spod niego, aby położył się na piasku i być chronionym [i nie gnić szybko z powodu ciepła prześcieradeł i mat. Ale nie można go ruszać, by położyć go na piasku, jak stwierdzono powyżej: „dopóki nie poruszy kończyną”]. Jego szczęka może być zamknięta [gdyby się otwierała]—nie po to, aby go podnosić [tj. nie zamykać tego, co już zostało otwarte, gdyż pociągałoby to za sobą przesunięcie kończyny], ale [zapewnić], aby nie (otworzył się) dalej. Podobnie, jeśli belka została złamana, może być wsparta na ławce lub słupku łóżka [o statusie ruchomego] przedmiotu]—nie po to, żeby go podnieść, [bo to byłby boneh („budowanie”)], ale [aby zapewnić], że nie (pęknie) dalej. Oczy zmarłego nie mogą być zamknięte w szabat [nawet po jego śmierci, co stanowi ruch kończyny], i (mogą również) nie być zamknięte w dni powszednie. A jeśli ktoś zamyka oczy umierającemu człowiekowi, jest rozlewaczem krwi [bo najmniejsza rzecz może przyspieszyć jego śmierć.]
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.