Yehuda Maccabi a prayer for the dead

Mirosław Rucki

Abstract

For had he not expected the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead, whereas if he had in view the splendid recompense reserved for those who make a pious end, the thought was holy and devout. Hence, he had this expiatory sacrifice offered for the dead, so that they might be released from their sin (2Ma 12:44-45).
Alluding to those sentences from The Books of the Meccabean many Catholic authors encourage people to pray for the dead. In preamble of The Second Book of the Meccabean Poznań Bible we can read that “comtemporaneous Jewish maintain the belief of effectiveness of offering and pray for the dead”, and thanks to comment to verse 12,45 we find out that Judah directed the contribution so priests in Jerusalem made a propitiation, those who had left this world in sin can get God’s forgiveness which give them opportunity for resurrecting. What aim and sense had the offering for the dead? Since Torah did not predict such a pray , it had no sense and could not be made. On the other hand if the offering made by Yehuda Meccabens had some kind of sense, predicted by Torah, we can not ascribe to it any other sense, because prays for souls suffering in Purgatory are not predicted by Torah.

Keywords:

Yehuda Maccabi, prayer for the dead, Torah