[ExGeeEye]

Interesting. I was particularly struck by this:

The third line starts with נ'פ which is an abbreviation for נפשו נפטר which means "His soul died," followed by the date in Hebrew according to the Jewish calendar.

As a Christian, I believe the soul to be immortal, and thought that the case in Judaism as well. Or is there a typo?

Either way, thanks for the education.

And חַג שָׂמֵחַ

[leebee vmizrach]

No, it's not a typo. The first word, נפשו , which transliterates to "nafsho," means "his soul." (The word נפש, which transliterates to "nefesh," means "soul" or "spirit," and when modified in grammatical declension to "nafsho" means "his soul.")

[Charles Henrickson]

The Hebrew word nephesh can mean "soul" or "life." See, e.g., Genesis 2:7, where the Lord God breathes into man the breath of life and the man becomes a living "nephesh." When man breathes his last, his nephesh dies, in one sense. But note also the last line of the inscription, which is a prayer that the person's nephesh will be bound up into eternal life. That, btw, is a paraphrase from 1 Samuel 25:29.

[naturalized]

As a Christian, I believe the soul to be immortal . . . .

So, then, what's the point of the resurrection? Everyone dies. Some get resurrected and go to heaven. Some don't.