The entirety of Psalm 104 is a song of Creation: King David traverses the whole of the works of Creation - the heavens and the earth, the water and the springs, the flora and fauna, day and night. In this section of the psalm, we arrive at the culmination of this progression: the question of life and death, the renewal of Creation, the resurrection of the dead, and the joy that will be before Him, Blessed be He, when the world attains its ultimate rectification. We will study the verses in their order, alongside the insights of Rashi, Radak, Ibn Ezra, Malbim, the holy Zohar, the Ketav VeHaKabbalah, and the holy Shelah.
תְּשַׁלַּח רוּחֲךָ יִבָּרֵאוּן וּתְחַדֵּשׁ פְּנֵי אֲדָמָה׃ (ל) - "You send forth Your spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth." (30)
Rashi explains that this refers to the resurrection of the dead. Radak cites two external views here: Some scholars of inquiry maintained that every living creature will rise after death, meaning that souls are destined to reincarnate and return to the world, though they do not return to the exact same original matter. On the other hand, the leading philosophers asserted that the soul will never return to the body, as Job said, "Until the heavens are no more, they will not awake."
However, Radak explains, according to our faith - we, the seed of Israel and those who hold fast to our faith - souls return to the very same original matter from which they departed, at the time of the resurrection of the dead. This is the true meaning of the resurrection: souls return to their original matter, just as occurred with the dead whom Ezekiel revived in the valley of Dura, and as God, Blessed be He, promised us. Hashem promises that the dead are destined to live, and this will occur in a miraculous and wondrous manner, not through natural means. Do not ask how a person will return to a body that has already decayed, to bones that have already crumbled - the answer is that it is a wondrous miracle, not the natural way.
Even so, one who contemplates this will find that it is actually close to nature. You take one tiny seed, place it into the ground, and from it an entire tree grows. A small seed contains everything within it. Our Sages say that the bone of the luz functions in the very same way: that bone situated at the back of the neck, at the place of the tefillin knot, which endures forever. This applies when a person is worthy and deserving of rising at the resurrection of the dead; if one is not worthy, it too decays. Moreover, this bone is nourished by the fourth meal (Melaveh Malkah) that a person eats, and through this it maintains its endurance.
Therefore, one should make every effort to eat the fourth meal with bread and not forfeit it. In the winter days this is not difficult, but during the summer it is not simple at all: one finishes Seudah Shelishit at eight in the evening, and then at ten, eleven, or midnight needs to eat the fourth meal. In any case, one should strive to eat at least a kezayit of bread. And this is what the verse means: "You send forth Your spirit, they are created" - they will return and be as though created anew, by way of a wondrous miracle and not according to nature; "and You renew the face of the earth" - and through this, they will return and be renewed upon the face of the earth.
Radak emphasizes: all of this applies exclusively to man. There is no resurrection of the dead for domestic animals or wild beasts. Even though up to this point the psalm spoke of all creatures, here it refers to man alone, as only human beings experience the resurrection of the dead. As to whether the resurrection will include all people - this is a dispute among our Sages, and the majority of Talmudic passages hold that the resurrection of the dead is for the righteous and not for the wicked.
On the other hand, we find regarding notorious wicked people that they too will arise "to shame and everlasting contempt." That is, they will rise in order to witness how everyone they sought to destroy is exalted by the Holy One, Blessed be He. The Holy One, Blessed be He, will bring Hitler back to life so that he will see: here is the nation you sought to annihilate, behold them in their glory, and see what Gehinom you yourself inhabit! It emerges, then, that there will indeed be a resurrection for the wicked, but it will be for shame and everlasting contempt.
However, genuine resurrection will be granted only to those deserving of it through their deeds, because they instilled life into their physical bodies. And how does a person enliven his body? Through the observance of the 613 mitzvot. We possess 248 limbs and 365 sinews, and with each and every mitzvah a person imparts vitality to one of his limbs or sinews, and with this vitality he will rise at the resurrection. One who did not fulfill mitzvot - with what will he rise? What vitality does he possess? All of his limbs and sinews are in a state of death. Even during his lifetime he was considered dead, and seeing him move is merely like the severed tail of a lizard, which signifies nothing. His soul has already been cut off, for he does not observe the mitzvot. But when a person fulfills the mitzvot, these commandments bind him to eternal life, and with them he will rise at the time of the resurrection.
On the other hand, the Radak cites an explanation that applies the verse to all living creatures. But how can this be? Do animals also experience the resurrection of the dead? To this he explains: "You send forth Your spirit, they are created" - others will be created. These will perish, and You send forth Your spirit so that others are created in their stead. It is not that those who died are reborn; rather, these die and others are born in their place, in the manner of "A generation goes, and a generation comes."
Now, according to the esoteric concept of reincarnation (gilgul), the kabbalistic teachings ask: ostensibly, it should have said "a generation comes, and a generation goes," since a generation first arrives and only later departs. Rather, this hints at the mystery of reincarnation: the generation that departed is the very one that returns and comes back, reincarnating into the world. According to the plain meaning of the text (peshat), however, the verse means that one generation departs and a brand-new generation arrives. According to this, it also applies to animals, which do not reincarnate, but simply have a new generation succeeding the previous one.
And in the words of the Ibn Ezra: the species endure while the individuals perish. Humanity as a whole endures, the animal kingdom as a whole endures, and what happens is merely that the individual is lost - this person dies and that one is born, this beast dies and another beast is born, yet the collective endures. "And You renew the face of the earth" thus refers to the newborn, as new life continuously enters the world.
תַּסְתִּיר פָּנֶיךָ יִבָּהֵלוּן תֹּסֵף רוּחָם יִגְוָעוּן וְאֶל עֲפָרָם יְשׁוּבוּן׃ (כט) - You hide Your face, they are terrified; You take away their breath, they perish and return to their dust. (29)
The Radak explains: all abundance in the world stems from the light of Hashem's countenance, and when Hashem hides His face, no one can find help from any other source. "You take away their breath [tosef rucham], they perish" - You gather in their spirit, in the sense of "He gathers His spirit and His breath to Himself" (Iyov 34:14); "and to their dust they return" - man returns to the dust, just as he was originally.
Rashi explains that tosef is an expression of cessation and destruction, as in "they are completely finished [safu tamu]" (Tehillim 73:19). So too in the haftarah of Tisha B'Av: "I will utterly consume them [asof asifem]" (Yirmeyahu 8:13) - I will cut them off. Similarly, "nor shall their remembrance cease [lo yasuf] from their descendants" (Esther 9:28), and in other places where we find this type of expression.
The holy Zohar teaches that when they come to take a person's soul, an angel calls out, "Who would not fear You, King of the nations?" (Yirmeyahu 10:7), and no one hears these words except the departed person alone. For it is said: "Tosef rucham yigva'un" - expounded as tosefet, that he is granted an addition of wisdom at the moment he departs. The Zohar interprets this verse beautifully: in the moments before death, a person receives an added spirit (tosefet ruach), and the sacred books explain that he then receives all parts of his soul.
We find similarly regarding tzaddikim that in their final moments, they said they could see those coming to greet them. It is told of the grandfather of the Penei Yehoshua, the author of Meginei Shlomo - who composed this renowned, magnificent work to answer the questions on Rashi and rescue him, as it were, from the formidable objections of Tosafot - that at the time of his passing, he said he saw Rashi coming to greet him into the World of Truth, for Rashi, so to speak, owed him a debt of gratitude for resolving all the challenges against him.
A story was once related about a person who was lying in the hospital in his final hours. A visitor came to see him and was about to sit on the bed, but the patient said to him: "No, no, do not sit there!" When asked what was wrong, he replied: "Don't you see him? He is sitting right there, do not sit there." He was already seeing the Angel of Death. This is "tosef rucham yigva'un": before a person passes away, an added spirit enters him, and he is able to see things that no one else can see.
A woman once recounted about her father, who, Heaven forbid, carried many sins. He suffered considerably and would constantly complain that he already wanted to die, asking why Hashem had left him here and demanding that He take him already, even uttering words toward the Holy One, blessed be He, that would make one's ears tingle. On one occasion, he reached a critical condition, on the very threshold of death. By Hashem's kindness, the medical team managed to stabilize his vital signs and he returned to life - and from that moment on, he fell silent. It was understood from him that he had seen there was nothing for him to yearn for in hurrying Above, and from then on he refused to say another word.
The holy books offer a parable: a person just prior to death resembles a flame, which flares up and grows taller just before the candle goes out, and only then is extinguished. In the same way, an extra measure of spirit is granted before a person's passing, enabling them to see and perceive things they do not normally sense - and then the candle goes out. At times, this also manifests physically. One often hears from families: "We were already coming to discharge Father from the hospital; he had survived a severe crisis, and thank God they stabilized him and he felt much better - but when we arrived, his vitals suddenly crashed, and Heaven protect us, he passed away." This is not an isolated occurrence. Prior to departure from this world, there is often a sudden surge of strength. "And Israel gathered his strength and sat up in bed," followed immediately by "and he expired." We see that such a surge occurs, not only spiritually but also physically, and then the person passes on. This is the root of the verse: "You add their spirit, they expire."
יְהִי כְבוֹד יְהֹוָה לְעוֹלָם יִשְׂמַח יְהֹוָה בְּמַעֲשָׂיו׃ (לא) - "May the glory of Hashem endure forever; may Hashem rejoice in His works." (31)
The Radak explains: Once David finished depicting the entirety of the work of Creation, he declared, "May the glory of Hashem endure forever," in the spirit of the verse, "And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good." Everything is the handiwork and glory of Hashem, and He rejoices in His works. Having described the details of Creation here, David conveys that this brought joy before Him, blessed be He. Yet, if the Holy One, blessed be He, so desires, He can return everything to void and chaos, as stated in the following verse: "He looks at the earth and it trembles." By His will He sustains Creation, and by His will He can dissolve it.
A second explanation: "May the glory of Hashem endure forever" refers to the final Redemption. When is Hashem's glory manifest in His creation? When man fulfills Hashem's will. Through the fulfillment of His will, the Name of the Creator, blessed be He, is magnified and glorified, bringing, as it were, joy to the Holy One, blessed be He. In Creation as it currently stands, there is sometimes sorrow, so to speak, and sometimes joy: regarding the generation of the Flood it is written, "And Hashem regretted," and "He was grieved at His heart"; similarly, with the generation of the Dispersion and the people of Sodom, we see a reality devoid of joy before Him in His works. In contrast, concerning the Messianic era, it is written: "For then I will turn to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call upon the Name of Hashem, to serve Him with one accord." At that time, the wicked will perish from the world: "And all the arrogant and all evildoers shall be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up." Concerning that era it is said, "May the glory of Hashem endure forever; may Hashem rejoice in His works" - when the wicked have ceased. Regarding this, the next verse says, "He looks at the earth and it trembles": when Hashem looks at the earth and it trembles, thereby bringing an end to the wicked, then Hashem will rejoice in His works.
It is essential to emphasize what the Radak highlights here: joy and sorrow in reference to God, blessed be He, are expressed purely allegorically, for He experiences neither joy nor sorrow, nor does He change from one state of being to another. Rather, just as a human being rejoices in the success of his endeavors and grieves when they fail, so too is this expressed regarding God, blessed be He, as a metaphor, to make the matter intelligible to human ears.
The reason for this is straightforward: joy or sorrow implies that something within oneself has changed - previously one was sad and now happy, or vice versa. In Hashem, blessed be He, change is entirely inapplicable. All change occurs in a recipient of action, meaning in response to an external factor. If I did not know something and someone explained it to me, I now know; with the Holy One, blessed be He, it is impossible for knowledge to be added to Him by a created being. If someone felt down, and another arrived with joyful tidings and gladdened them, that person was acted upon by the other, who produced an effect within them. With the Holy One, blessed be He, being acted upon is utterly inapplicable; no creature can act upon Him or influence Him, and therefore no change can occur in Him. Thus, "may Hashem rejoice in His works" and "He was grieved at His heart" are allegorical and metaphorical, meant to accommodate human understanding and help us grasp these concepts.
And if one should ask: But does the verse not explicitly state, "I regret," and "He was grieved at His heart"? The answer is that this is how Torah conveys to us, creatures formed of clay, the gravity of a misdeed. Scripture describes it as though it causes grief to the Holy One, blessed be He, to teach us that the act was wicked; it does not refer to His essence, blessed be He, in which sorrow is inconceivable.
What does apply? As we say, "Ascribe strength to God" - meaning that man generates, as it were, a positive influence and even infuses strength into the Heavenly host. As explained in Nefesh HaChaim, these matters are stated in reference to the Sefirot. The Sefirot are not the Holy One, blessed be He, in His essence, but rather emanations brought forth from Him. Relative to them, it is appropriate to say that man increases the light within the Sefirot and thereby expands the flow of divine abundance, or diminishes the light and thereby constricts the abundance. The Sefirot are a reality Hashem established to be affected by our actions; yet in the Holy One, blessed be He, in His very essence - the Source of light for all the Sefirot - no change can ever occur. This is what the Radak is emphasizing: do not be confused; "may Hashem rejoice in His works" does not pertain to His essence, blessed be He, in which there is no change, neither joy nor sorrow.
The Malbim explains: "May the glory of Hashem endure forever" connects to what was stated earlier - "You send forth Your spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth," meaning that new creatures are created here, as if restarting the world anew. Through creation continually standing in its renewal, like the glory seen at the time of the original Creation, Hashem will also rejoice in His works.
For if individuals - specific creatures - were to live here permanently, it would not be evident that the Holy One, blessed be He, is renewing creation, as existence would appear perpetual, as though whoever was here would remain here forever. Furthermore, people would rebel against Hashem's word. And that is indeed what occurred in the early generations: Why did they live seven hundred, eight hundred, nine hundred, and a thousand years? Because they were confident that they would live on and on, and consequently saw no reason to rush to repent. A five-hundred-year-old was like a child - "for the youth shall die a hundred years old," at a hundred one was still just a youngster. At five hundred years old, Noach was only beginning his mission, and until the age of five hundred he had no children. In such a reality, there was no urgency to repent, and that was the problem; therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "his days shall be a hundred and twenty years" - and their lifespans were shortened.
The Malbim therefore states: Had man lived here forever, the continuous renewal of creation would not be discernible; moreover, people would defy the glory of Hashem, imagining that they themselves are primordial - "I have already been living here for five thousand years on my own, so why should I bow to anyone?" But through death, everyone recognizes their Creator and thereby honors Him, and then Hashem rejoices in His works. A generation goes and a generation comes, while Hashem's work endures forever. Hashem rejoices in His works through the constant turnover in the world: no person thinks of himself as primordial, nor does he feel he will remain here forever, and as a result, he repents, and as a result, it becomes clear to all that the world is constantly renewed.
In the sefer Ksav VeHaKabbalah, he cites the author of HaPardes to explain the verse according to the words of Chazal in Kiddushin (30b): "There are three partners in a person - his father, his mother, and the Holy One, blessed be He," and Chazal have already taught that the honor due to parents is equated with the honor due to the Omnipresent. It turns out that this applies only as long as the father and mother exist in this world. But at the time of the resurrection of the dead, when the Holy One, blessed be He, creates everything anew, a new reality emerges ("new faces have arrived"), and the partnership of the father and mother is nullified. For what did they contribute? The flesh - and the flesh rotted, and the body has already decomposed in the grave. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: Now this is My work alone. And then, "Hashem alone will be exalted on that day" - to Him alone must we give thanks, and not to father or mother.
And should you say: At least the luz bone remained, which he received from his parents? To this he replies that it is considered as if it does not exist, having turned to dust and being unfit for anything; it is the Holy One, blessed be He, Who renews everything, and consequently, everything is attributed to Him.
And this is what is written here: "You gather in their spirit, they perish and return to their dust" - when man expires and returns to his dust, and later, at the time of the resurrection of the dead, "You send forth Your spirit, they are created," and the Holy One, blessed be He, renews them, then "May the glory of Hashem endure forever." At that point it will become clear that the mitzvah to honor Hashem never ceases, for the honor of Hashem is eternal, whereas honoring one's father and mother is temporary and belongs only to this world. There the partnership dissolves: Hashem's honor is forever, whereas the honor due to father and mother has already ended and ceased the moment the person passed away. And what is the reason? "Hashem will rejoice in His works" - through Hashem bringing down the dew of resurrection, which is now His work alone and not the work of father and mother; there is no longer a partnership here, for only the Holy One, blessed be He, is the Creator.
The Shelah HaKadosh notes carefully: "Hashem will rejoice in His works" is phrased in the future tense, because the world is not yet complete in its goodness, and only in the future will Hashem rejoice in His works. And the Shelah says: Yismach (ישמח - will rejoice) has the same letters as Mashiach (משיח). When will Hashem rejoice in His works? When the world is perfected, when Mashiach arrives - then there will truly be reason for genuine joy.
The conclusion of the chapter teaches us the secret of renewal. "You hide Your face, they are terrified" - our entire existence depends on the light of His countenance, and when it is withdrawn, man expires and returns to his dust, and within that very expiring there is "You gather in their spirit" (tosef rucham), an addition of spirit and vision granted prior to departure from this world. "You send forth Your spirit, they are created" - referring to the resurrection of the dead, which will occur miraculously and wondrously for those worthy of it through the merit of the 613 mitzvos that gave life to their limbs; or according to a second interpretation - referring to the succession of generations, where the collective species endures while individual members perish. And from this renewal comes "May the glory of Hashem endure forever, may Hashem rejoice in His works": the joy does not pertain to His very Essence, blessed be He, in which there is no change whatsoever, but rather is an expression of the fact that creation continually stands in renewal and that creatures recognize their Maker. And in the future to come, when the wicked will perish and the world will be rectified, "yismach" - the letters of Mashiach - will be fulfilled in its entirety.