(Fol. 105b) We are taught: "Why do the sons and daughters of a man die when young? Because he should be able to shed tears and mourn when an upright man dies." How is it possible to take a pledge for a sin which a man will commit later? It intends, however, to say thus: "Because he did not shed tears and did not mourn at the death of an upright man"; for whoever sheds tears and mourns at the death of an upright man will have his sins forgiven in return for the honor he gave to the dead. We are taught that R. Simon b. Elazar said in the name of Chilpha b. Agra, who spoke in the name of R. Jochanan b. Nuri: "He who tears his garments while in wrath, or he who breaks his vessels while in wrath, or he who throws away his money while in anger, shall he regarded in your eyes as one who worships idols, because such is the treacherous habit of the evil-inclination: today he says to one 'Do so' and to-morrow 'Do something else' until he tells one to go and worship idols and the man obeys and worships." R. Abin said: "What is the Biblical passage to prove this? There shall not be within thee a foreign god; nor shalt thou bow thyself down to any strange god (Ps. 81, 10). What is the foreign god within a man's body? It is the evil-inclination." But if one [does so not because he really is furious but] desires to inspire fear in his household [to compel obedience to his orders] then he is permitted to do these things; as, when R. Juda wanted to show his disapproval of the acts of his family, he once pulled out the thrumbs [of his garment]; R. Acha b. Jacob used to take broken vessels and shatter them. R. Shesheth used to throw fish-brine upon the head of his male-slave [to impress upon him the necessity of obeying his orders] and R. Abba broke the cover of a pitcher.
R. Simon b. Pazi said in the name of R. Joshua b. Levi, who spoke in the name of bar Kappara: "Whoever sheds tears upon the death of an upright person, the Holy One, praised be He! will number and store it in His treasure, as it is said (Ps. 56, 9.) My wandering hast Thou well numbered; put Thou my tears into thy bottle; behold they are numbered by Thee." R. Juda in the name of Rab said: "Whoever is slow to mourn the death of a Chacham (scholar) is destined to be buried alive, as it is said (Jos. 24, 30.) And they buried him on the border of his inheritance at Timnath Serach, which is on the mountain of Ephraim, on the north side of Mt. Ga'ash. i.e., Ga'ash (storm). We infer from this that the mountain stormed at them (Israel) and wished to destroy them [because they did not mourn the death of Joshua] . R. Chiya b. Abba in the name of R. Jochanan said: "Whoever is slow to mourn the death of a scholar will not live long. This is a retaliation, as it is said (Is. 27, 8.) In measure, by driving him forth, thou strivest with him." The following objection was raised to R. Jochanan by R. Chiya b. Abba: "And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that lived many days after Joshua (Judg; 2, 7.) [Hence they were not punished.]" "Thou Babylonian!" said R. Jochanan to him, "it says many days but not many years." According to this interpretation, the passage (Deu. 11, 21.) In order that your days may he multiplied, and the days of your children, would also mean days and not years. When it alludes to a blessing, it is different. R. Chiva b. Abba in the name of R. Jochanan said also: "If one brother dies, all the remaining brothers should feel anxious [examine their deeds]. If a member of a society should die, let the whole society become anxious. According to some, this is so only when the most important one among them should die, and according to others, only when the least important one should die."