Olam Haba
The world to come (olam haba) is one of the fundamental beliefs of Judaism , which is closely related to eschatology and Jewish messianism.
It really refers to two different concepts:
- The world of souls (olam haneshamot ), where the soul of man, separated from his body after death, receiving compensation for his actions in the world of the living.
- This world, once arrived in its fullness after the coming of the Messiah at the End of Days ( gr. eschaton)
At the time of the Mishna and the Talmud , the current meaning was first set forth above, but the second was from then until today.
Summary |
Although Judaism places great stress on the importance of life "in this world" (although the "lower world" concept is not a non-Jew), all Jewish sources speak of a life after death. Jewish tradition says that the human soul, by its very nature of divine breath (breathed into the nostrils of Adam), is immortal, and although that intrinsically linked to the body , it survives after death. The Eternal Life is sometimes described in terms of "Olam Haba", but also Gan Eden (Garden of Delights Heavenly, ie, the Paradise ), to Sheol (the grave) or Guehinnom (Valley of Hinnom, real furnace, more or less equivalent to the " purgatory ").
Views in Medieval rabbinism
Although all classical rabbinic sources dealing with the afterlife, there is considerable dispute among medieval sources about the nature of existence to the "End of Days", after the Messianic time.
Moses Maimonides (who was strongly criticized for this) describes a completely spiritual existence, for the souls he calls "disembodied intellects," that is to say lacking body. Strongly criticized for this approach, which seemed to ignore the principle of resurrection, he had to justify himself, and explained that if there was indeed a resurrection at the coming of the Messiah, they resurface eventually grow old and die, and their souls would be living the way he had described.
Whether or not Maimonides believed in the resurrection of the dead was one of the most passionate debates of later centuries. Himself had in his principles of faith, but nagid Samuel ben Eliya handed frankly question his true intentions. He wrote the Igueret T'hiyat Hametim (Epistle on the resurrection of the dead), but according to some, including Maurice-Ruben Hayoun , it was a work of his students, not himself.
One response to that of Maimonides was Nahmanides , with all the erudition, spirit of moderation and conciliation that distinguish it: according to him, there would be an existence on earth intensely spiritual, to the point where "physicality" and spirituality merge.
Both believe that the existence of a level of understanding and connection to the Divine Presence is reached extremely high, consistent with previous rabbinical teachings in the world to come, God Himself will teach the Torah to His subjects.
There are many opinions in the rabbinic literature on what happens to the soul of the deceased after his death, his experiences, his destination. Conventional steps, but not mandatory, are:
- Hibbout haQever, the pain of the grave;
- Duma, the angel of silence, which appears to Rav when it is gathered in a cemetery;
- Kaf Hakel, the "catapult" the soul;
- Guehinnom ( hell or purgatory ? cf. below) and Gan Eden ( Paradise ).
All rabbis agree to write these concepts are well beyond human comprehension, so these ideas are expressed in the form of parables and analogies.
The subject of Guehinnom (literally "Valley of Hinnom ") is relatively well defined in rabbinical literature. Although usually translated as " hell ", it should be noted that this" hell "differs significantly from the idea that it makes Christianity : for the latter, it is a place of eternal torment, where God does not penetrate and where are precipitated sinners, unrepentant and non-Christians (this last point, prevailing at the time of Dante Alighieri , has been heavily discussed).
In Judaism , the Valley of Hinnom is a fiery furnace permanent (as are other places in the East), terrible, but torture, if any, are not eternal: after the majority of the literature rabbinic, there remains twelve months, and exceptions, as Elisha ben Abouya (which, as the Babylonian Talmud , did not leave until the death of Rabbi Yohanan and, as the Jerusalem Talmud , will emerge to the coming of the Messiah ) are exceedingly rare. It is for this reason that even the closest relatives of deceased Jews can not recite the Kaddish for mourners over a year, that Shiv'ah not last more than a week, nor more than a month shloshim. (See Mourning in Judaism )
According to some, Guehinnom is a furnace where the spiritual soul is purified for its ascent to Gan Eden.
The view most widely accepted in the Kabbalah , and movements derived from them, as Hasidic Judaism , is that the world will come after the end of this reality, and that the salary of the realization of the mitzvot will the standard of living for the souls, reincarnated in the body.
Other views
Other views have always existed, who denied the existence of an afterlife. Thus, the third chapter of Pirqe Avot , one of the treaties Mishnaic among the most studied, opens with the following sentence:
Akavya Mehalalel Ben said: Think of three things and you will not come to sin: Know where you come from, where you go, and before whom you are accountable for! Where are you from? A drop fetid! Where are you going? In a place of dust and vermin! To whom must you report? Before the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He!
Similarly, Rabbi Hayim of Volozhyn explains the Mishna 10:1 Treaty Sanhedrin (All Israel has a share in the world to come etc..) in the sense that any Bible Verses
The question is whether these beliefs are or not, their source in the Tanakh. Some verses seem to be leaning in this direction, others refute. Following is a partial list of verses in favor of one or the other "edge".
In favor of an afterlife
- The Tanakh speaks in several notable instances of people "gathered to their people," for example:
This gathering is described as an event separate from the physical body's death and burial.
- Some sins are punished with karet (entrenchment within the People) - see Gen. 5:14 p.m. and Ex 31:14. The karet is traditionally understood as a spiritual retrenchment, which cuts the soul of its share in the world to come (see Mishna Sanh. 10:1).
- The Torah also forbids any attempt to communicate with the spirit of the dead Lev. 19-20 , Deut. 18 , which may indicate a life after physical death as a condemnation of pagan rites. However, the book portrays the King of Kings Saul contacting a witch to summon the spirit of the prophet Samuel to have a conversation post-mortem.
- Job 19:26 is considered a reference to the afterlife: "When my skin is destroyed, it will rise, when I have more flesh I shall see God."
- Is 26:19 frankly explicit promise of resurrection , therefore, a beyond (before resurrection) or at least a way to come (which is necessarily later).
- The Ecclesiastes 12:7 distinguishes between bodily death and that of the soul: "Then shall the dust return to earth she is, and the soul returns to God who gave"
However, the most explicit reference to the future world is in Daniel 12:2 : "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and others to shame, for the eternal shame. "
A troubled world after
It is from this same Tanakh we can argue that the promises made by God to the people of Israel - rewards or punishments - seem to relate to this world and not another (ao good harvest, peace, famine, plagues).
Some verses seem to suggest an afterlife in which we can neither praise nor thank God, though they do not exclude a future world where everyone receives compensation for his acts:
- Psalm 6:5 : He who dies has no remembrance of thee, Who praise thee in hell ?
- Psalm 115:17 : This is not the dead praise the Lord, neither any who go down into silence;
Other verses seem to simply exclude a world after death:
- Job 7:7-10 : Remember that my life is a blast! My eyes will not see happiness. The eye looking at me not look at me more, I seek your eye, and I am no more. As the cloud dissipates and goes, he who goes down to Sheol shall come up no, He will not return to his house, and the place he lived not know him any more
- Eccl. 9:5-6 : For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know nothing, and there's more reward for them, since their memory is forgotten. And their love, their hate and their jealousy have already perished, and they will never have any part in anything that happens under the sun.
References
- Jacob Gordin, Writings
- Maurice-Ruben Hayoun "either Moses Maimonides"
- English article , which cites:
- Yitzchak Blau "Body and Soul: Tehiyyat ha-metim and Gilgulim in Medieval and Modern Philosophy", The Torah U-Madda Journal, Volume 10, 2001
External Links
- Questions and answers regarding afterlife (United States)
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