Reasoned Chaos

B”H

This note is a expose on something that came to me after my last note. I was asked how the Jewish faith accounts for the concept of Salvation, and subsequently, the afterlife. This topic, is very appropriate for me, as I recently experienced a death in my family. So everything I espouse here is what I truly believe to happen postmortem. That being said, again, if my beliefs happen to conflict with yours, no offense is intended.

Well, to begin, Jews have never really been concerned with the afterlife. This is evident in the relative silence concerning the matter in Torah,Writings and Prophets; when compared to the Christian New Testament, and Islams Koran, the silence is deafening. In fact, many Biblical Scholars are of the opinion that early, pre-Rabbinic, Judaism did not maintain any dogmatic concern about the afterlife. To some extent this has carried over to traditional Rabbinic Judaism as well. There is a interesting speculation that I have come across, which may explain part of this lack of concern.

The Jews, especially after the Egyptian enslavement, desired to distance themselves from their pagan surroundings. I personally believe that G-d commanded them and subsequent generations to do so. Pagan obsession with the afterlife was a common and very marked phenomenon in the ancient world. Obsession with death reigned in most ancient religious realms. The Egyptian society from which the Hebrew slaves emerged was obsessed with death and afterlife. The holiest Egyptian literary work was called The Book of the Dead, while the major achievement of many Pharaohs was the erection of the giant tombs called pyramids, which served as giant physical conduits for the god-kings to reach the afterlife. In contrast, the Torah is obsessed with this world, so much so that it even forbids its priests from coming into contact with dead bodies (Leviticus 21:2).

Now, we must remember, when we are talking about the Jewish beliefs about the afterlife a “lack of dogmatic concern” is not analogous to a “lack of belief.” That must be made very clear. Judaism just has the bad habit of not obsessively, in my opinion selfishly, concerning itself with the idea that one will receive great reward in the afterlife. Someone made the dangers of this obsession painfully and irritatingly clear to me when they suggested that we receive “perfect bodies’ in the afterlife. Bodies void of any 20th century conception of a defect, that is. Well here is my answer to that: Our bodies are a conduit for the soul to engage itself with this world. It is a tool or capsule that allows the G-dly soul to interact, change, and bring light into the world. Once the tool breaks down and is eventually deceased, its purpose is discontinued. Therefore, any concept of possessing a body in the world after is plain ridiculous, unless you believe that the world after is merely another place that requires the soul to interact with it in a concealed manner….OK, I have somewhat strayed from my objective.

Anyway, the lack of any scriptural concern with the after world in Judaism’s sacred texts leaves the individual up to the task. Many movements have had their own conceptions of the afterlife. I will relate a view that predominates Jewish thought. At least my Jewish thought…

What is understanding? Yeah, what is that? Well, In my opinion understanding is salvation! Not belief, understanding. Yep, its that simple. Also, in this belief system 99.99999% of souls will be in some sort of pain for a period of time in the world after. The only exception is in the case of a true Tzadik, of which there have been very few. Here is the explanation: When one dies and comes for Judgement before Hashem, they are played, essentially a vidoe tape of there life. What they did, everything from the greatest Mitzvah to the most horrible transgression, is played out right before them. Nothing is concealed. Olam HaEmes–the World of Truth. This is when we truly begin to UNDERSTAND our shortcomings and in some cases lack of faith. What make a person feel true remorse, a punishment or knowing that their action has caused and inflicted pain on another. Unless you are a sociopath, I hope it is the knowledge of the destruction you may have caused. Remember remorse is pain. Now, after the first viewing a second “video” is played. This video depicts how the individuals life could have been. The good deeds squandered, the light that could have been. Again, upon seeing this, the soul is in a state of great pain. The pain I describe is not the emotional pain that we all can imagine. It is a pain that is so targeted,the Truth being made so clear, that the soul begins to be purified through this suffering. The purifying process, the pain inflicted allows the soul to break down the barriers and truly connect to G-d.

Instead of the unbelieving/evil individual being punished in a “lake of fire” they are brought to a deep understanding of there misdeeds. As one can Imagine, the worse the life lead, the more painful the purifying process. Alot of people have asked: Why would G-d want the souls of the wicked to come back to him. Well for one, he is a loving and merciful G-d (yes Jews believe that too) and for scriptural purposes, the soul of man is breathed into him by G-d (Bereshies 2:7) ). “On this verse, the Zohar states that “one who blows, blows from within himself,” indicating that the soul is actually part of God’s essence. Since God’s essence is completely spiritual and non-physical, it is impossible that the soul should die.” So, what happens to the soul that is a part of the one true G-d, it logically must return: “The dust will return to the ground as it was, and the spirit will return to G-d who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:17)

Understanding as Salvation. Leading to a spiritual return to G-d.