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News: December 2006

Ask the Rabbi: The Gift Of Living

The question usually goes something like this: “Rabbi, what do Jews believe about the afterlife?” This is a question that I have received on a number of occasions in a variety of settings. And the truth is that Judaism does not have a very clear explanation for what happens after we die. In his book entitled, “The Death of Death, Resurrection and Immortality in Jewish Thought,” Rabbi Neil Gillman explains that there are two main doctrines concerning the afterlife in Judaism.

The first doctrine posits that there will be some type of Resurrection by G-d of at least some human beings during a Messianic Era. As you can tell from this sentence, this doctrine is not very well defined and in fact is only found in three biblical passages. When it comes to resurrection in Jewish thought, the technicalities of the way in which this phenomenon will occur are less important than the belief that G-d has the ability to resurrect the dead in the first place. In short, the concept of Resurrection is just as much about G-d’s power as it is about what happens after someone dies.

The second doctrine posits that we all have a soul that separates from the body after death and continues to exist with G-d. (As an aside, it is important to note that in Judaism this soul is considered to be on equal footing with the body.

They are both considered to be gifts from G-d, which is why Judaism demands that we treat them with equal respect.) And where do these souls go? This is also not so clear. While we do not exactly believe in heaven and hell, and certainly do not have a doctrine of people being eternally condemned to hell, there is a Jewish notion about going up to a good place, or temporarily down to a bad place depending on the way in which one lived his/her life.

This “good place” is called Olam HaBa, the world to come, and is a place where study and living a life of mitzvot are understood to play a prominent role. The “bad place” is referred to as Gehenom, and takes its name from the valley in the old city of Jerusalem where people used to dump their trash. No one is presumed to stay in this place for more than a year. That is why the Mourner’s Kaddish, which was traditionally understood as a way to help “raise the soul” to the world to come is only said for a maximum of eleven months.

There is a reason that Judaism is not so clear about what happens after we die. As Jews we are supposed to spend our lives worrying more about how we live, than what happens after we die. This point is expressed clearly in a midrashic passage (Avot D’Rabi Natan 31b) in which Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai states that if someone comes to announce that the Messiah has arrived and you are planting a tree, you should finish planting your tree first and then go and check it out.
Judaism is a religion that is concerned with this world.

The entire enterprise of Jewish living from study, to prayer, to ritual and ethical practice is meant to bring G-d’s presence into this world, constantly striving to leave this world in better shape than it was when we entered into it. Judaism acknowledges that we all worry about issues of mortality, understands that loss is very painful, and strives to provide structure and meaning to those who have lost a loved one.

At the same time, it reminds us that we must live our lives worrying less about where exactly our loved one is, and more about how we can use the memory of their lives to influence the way in which we live our lives. This is the central message behind the Yizkor memorial prayer in which we pledge to give tzedakah in order to honor the memory of the person we have lost. Tzedakah is more than just a monetary donation. When we recite this passage recalling those whom we have lost, we pledge to live lives of tzedakah, of righteousness - lives that will honor their memory.

In the end the question about Jewish views on the afterlife does have some answers.

But the real question for us is not what happens after we die, but what we do with the gift of living.

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