134. We learned "And the time drew near for Israel to die" (Beresheet 47:29). Rabbi Yehuda said, Woe to the world, who do not see, nor hear or know that on each and every day, a herald resounds in 250 worlds.
135. We learned about a certain world above, THE NUKVA. When the herald goes forth AND MAKES IT WHOLE, the world shudders and trembles. Two birds come out from that world, that live under the tree in which is the appearance of life and death.
136. One bird goes to the south side, and the other bird to the north side; the one goes with daybreak and the other when the day darkens. Each cries out what it heard from the herald.
137. Later, they wish to return to their place but their legs stumble on a hollow in the great abyss and they are trapped there until midnight, when the herald proclaims, "And like the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared" (Kohelet 9:12).
138. Rabbi Yehuda said, When man's legs are trapped and his time draws near, that day is called "the day of Hashem" when he returns the spirit to Him. We have learned that at that time, the holy crown visits the spirit OF THAT MAN. What is it? According to the verse, "The days of our years are seventy" (Tehilim 90:10) it is the seventh crown of all, NAMELY THE NUKVA, WHICH IS THE SEVENTH, FINAL, SFIRAH.
139. If THE NUKVA comes TO MAN from the side of Gvurah, NAMELY BINAH ABOVE THE SEVEN SFIROT CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD, YESOD AND MALCHUT, it is written, "Or if by special strength (Heb. gvurot), eighty years" (Tehilim 90:10) since the crown of Gvurah is the eighth. From that time onward, life cannot be prolonged, as it says, "Yet their pride is but trouble and wretchedness" (Ibid.), for when there is no foundation, the building will not endure.
140. Rabbi Yehuda said, Happy are the righteous when the Holy One, blessed be He, wishes to take back their spirits to Himself and suck their spirits from within them. For we have learned that when the Holy One, blessed be He, desires to recall the spirit, if it be a righteous spirit, it is written, "And the spirit returns to the Elohim who gave it" (Tehilim 12:7).
141. If it is not found to be righteous, woe to that spirit, which must bathe in the burning fire and be purified in order to be sucked into the body of the King, NAMELY THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE. If it is not corrected, woe to that spirit, which rolls like a stone in the hollow of the sling, as it is written, "And the souls of your enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the hollow of a sling" (I Shmuel 25:29). We learned that if the spirit is worthy, much good is stored for it in that world, as it is written, "Neither has the eye seen, that an Elohim, beside You, should do such a thing for he that waits for Him" (Yeshayah 64:3).
142. Rabbi Yosi said, When the time approaches for a man TO DIE, it is proclaimed in the world for thirty days THAT HIS TIME HAS COME TO DIE. Even the birds in the sky proclaim it, and if he is righteous, it is proclaimed for thirty days among the righteous in the Garden of Eden.
143. We have learned that all these thirty days, the soul ascends from him each night to go up and look at its place in that world, yet the man does not know ABOUT THIS, nor does he care or have control over his soul during these thirty days like before, as it is written, "There is no man who has power over the spirit to retain the spirit" (Kohelet 8:8). Rabbi Yehuda said, At the beginning of the thirty days, the man's shadow is darkened, and the shape OF THE SHADOW is not seen upon the ground.