Shalom, this video is about the Alomhaba eternal life. I have previous videos on various elements of what happens after we die including number 27 what Jews believe the last three of Maimonides principles are about this. Jewyu number 30 the Jewish view of the me messianic era and Jewyu 57 resurrection form a Jewish perspective. So this one is about the larger term of Alomhaba the world to come, what happens to us when we die? There is very little in the bible that even hence at this, there is Ezekiel 37, which talks about resurrection of a dead body that Ezekiel sees from god. The book of Daniel about how people arise from the dead but actually very little. Most of the ideas of Alomhaba were Rabbinic.
I want to share with you some of the central passages form the Mishna, from the great path tracked called Perkeavoth of our fathers which has some of the fundamental ideas here. And then, a little bit about Maimonides the most important medieval Rabbi who explained it in his legal codes. Firs of all we have in Perkeavoth chapter two Mishna 20. Rabi Tarfon saying the day is short, the task is great the workers indolent and the reward bountiful and in the master insistence. So what is that reward exactly and this goes to the large question of what happens to seemingly the injustice of the world where righteous are punished and the wicked prosper sometimes in this world. Rabbi Heller wrote that best seller book like bad things happen to good people.
But here Rabbi Tarfon is saying 2000 years ago, the reward is bountiful so what is the reward? Now we cannot take this literally in terms of this world, there is a great novel that I highly recommend called as a driven leaf by Rabi Milton Steinberg which deals with a story in Atamad of this Rabbis watching a father and son walking along and the father. Says to the son go climb that tree if you would and get me some eggs, I am hungry but make sure the mother bird is not there. Now the significance of those two stories, in that story in the two Mitzvoth unto your father and the birds nest Mitzvah, they are the two Mitzvoth in the whole Torah, which promise a long life. So the Rabbi are saying that boy is going to live a very long time and of course he climbs the tree and at the end of the story he falls down and dies.
So obviously the Torah does not mean literally but what is these reward we are talking about. The man Rabbi Tarfon goes on to say, you are not obliged to finish the task but neither are you free to decease from it. If you studied much Torah your reward will be abandoned, your employer can be relied upon you to reward you for your labors. No high for the reward of the righteous is in there future time. Latid Lavo does that mean next month, or does mean in the future life and a world beyond this world. There are some other very important passages from Perkeavoth that give us more evidence of the early Rabbinic ideas. For example Rabbi Akiva, the most important sage of the second century thought everything is alone against the pledge and that is spread over all the living. The shop is open, the shop keep her extents credit, the ledger is open, the hand the chords who ever may barrow may do so.
The collectors make round the exact payment from everyone with her without consent. They have a reliable record, the verdict is a just one and everything is ready for the final accounting. Clearly Rabbi Akiva is suggesting here that God takes score of our deed and there is a final accounting.
Now some of the more specific ideas in chapter 4 from Rabbi Yannai, he poses the question, the tranquility of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous are beyond human understanding. Now Rabbi Yakof, this is one of the most important passages from Perkeavoth chapter 4 verse Mishna 22. Repentance in good deeds in this word even for one hour are better than the eternal life in the world to come. So do good deeds in repentance in this world is better for one hour, it is better than all the life for the world to come. Now why could that be? Because the world to come there is no opportunity to do Mitzvoth to good deeds and repent because life is perfect. So doing in this world which is hard is blissful.
But then it goes on to say never the less, one hour of Bliss in this world Yasha Shaakad one hour of bliss in this world to come. In the world to come is more exquisite than all of the life in this world, one hour there in the world to come that is how blissful the world to come is.
Now how do you achieve that world to come? It is hard to know how God measures it but certainly people who live good lives get a reward and Maimonides one of the things he says, most importantly is that the wicked people, they get cut off there basic punishment as they do not get to enjoy the world to come, there lives ends at the grave. That is his view, other people view that there is a more serious punishment. There is also a debate as I explained in some of the other videos between Maimonides and nahmanidies ask to what if there is anybody. Maimonides basically, did not believe, there is any body, there is no eating and drinking in the world to come, nahmanidies thought that there is a bodyof sorts. So that is some of the very basic general ideas here about the world to come.
About faith and I believe completely in the world to come, in fact the Tahmad says if you do not believe then you do not get it. Because a wonderful story told by a Rabbi and it is really a Rabbi about a hundred years ago who tried to explain form his perspective, his name was Tukachinsky. He used that metaphor of two twins in a womb and they are about to be delivered and one says to the other, I know something is happening and I think we are going to emerge from here. I think there is something beautiful out there and I really decide to disagree I think things are so perfect in here.
There cannot be anything out there, so we do not know, so whoever gets out first send the message back to the other one about what is out there. Clearly we cannot get a message back. Some of this people have near death experiences, claimed that they had similar experiences of seeing a white light. We really cannot get a message from the other side but we believe with perfect faith as Maimonides thought that there is a reward and punishment for the righteous and the wicked that the messiah is going to come. That there is resurrection of the dead and we believe as the mission teaches here that one hour of bliss in the world to come is better than all of the bliss in this world. We just do not have specifics about it because Judaism is so this worldly oriented. But have faith, let us live honorably, let us repent from our transgressions and inherit a portion of the world to come.
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