Admonishing the Jews and challenging Them to wish for Death

Allah the Exalted admonishes the Jews who were entrusted with the Tawrah and were ordered to abide by it. However, they did not abide by it, and this is why Allah resembled them to the donkey that carries volumes of books. Surely, when the donkey carries books, it will not understand what these books contain because it is only carrying these books using its strength. This is the example of those who were entrusted with the Tawrah; they read its letter but did not understand its meanings nor abided by them. Rather, they even corrupted and changed the Tawrah. Therefore, they are worse than the donkey, because the donkey cannot understand. They, on the other hand, could have understood using their minds, but their minds were of no benefit. This is why Allah the Exalted said in another Ayah,

أُوْلَـئِكَ كَالأَنْعَـمِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ أُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْغَـفِلُونَ

قُلْ إِنَّ الْمَوْتَ الَّذِي تَفِرُّ‌ونَ مِنْهُ فَإِنَّهُ مُلَاقِيكُمْ (Say, “ Indeed, the death from which you [ try to ] run away has to visit you,…62:8). In other words, the Jews’ running away from longing for death despite their aforesaid claim is tantamount to running away from death itself. The Holy Prophet ﷺ is instructed in the verse to tell them that the death from which they are fleeing would inevitably catch up with them. If that would not happen instantly, it would certainly happen sometime later. Thus it is impossible for anyone to avoid or avert death in any way.

Laws pertaining to Avoiding the Causes of Death