Tree of Souls
Page 107
Studies:
“Maimonides’ Fiction of Resurrection” by Robert S. Kirschner.
“Resurrection as Giving Back the Dead: A Traditional Image of Resurrection in the Pseudepigrapha and the Apocalypse of John” by Richard Bauckham.
640. HOW THE RESURRECTION WILL TAKE PLACE
On the day that God brings the dead back to life, He will take dust of the earth and dust of the dead and knead them together, and out of the two kinds of dust He will draw bones and sinews. Then God will give the word to the angels in charge of the Treasury of Souls, and out of the treasuries they will take every single soul, thrust each one into a body, and instantly all humankind will stand up.
This is a description of the resurrection of the dead that closely parallels the original creation of Adam. Just as God took the dust of the earth to make Adam, here God combines the dust of the earth and the dust of the dead and re-creates human beings, giving them souls from the Treasury of Souls. In this view of the resurrection at the End of Days, those who have died will not receive their original bodies, but new ones. See “The Treasury of Souls,” p. 166.
Sources:
Eliyahu Zuta 20:31-31.
641. THE WORLD TO COME
There are no bodies in the World to Come, only the souls of the righteous, who are bodiless, like the ministering angels. Since there are no bodies, there is no eating or drinking, nor anything that human bodies require in this world. So too there is no sleep or death, sadness or mirth. That is why the sages said, “The World to Come has neither eating, nor drinking, nor sex in it, but the righteous sit with their crowns on their heads and enjoy the splendor of the Shekhinah.” Thus the souls of the righteous exist there without toil, but the knowledge they acquired in their lifetimes remains with them. Indeed, because of it they merited the life of the World to Come. Thus the crowns that they wear are the crowns of knowledge. And there, in the World to Come, they enjoy the splendor of the Shekhinah, for now they can grasp the truth of God that they did not know when they were burdened with a body.
Whoever believes in the two worlds—this world and the World to Come—will be considered a descendant of Abraham. But whoever does not, will not be considered his seed.
This myth is a reminder that life in the World to Come will be radically different from life in this world, and, in fact, will lack many of the pleasures associated with the living, such as the enjoyment of eating, drinking, and sex. Even the crowns that rabbinic literature describes as being worn by the righteous in heaven are here presented in metaphorical terms—as crowns of knowledge. It seems clear that this more naturalistic description of the World to Come was intended to counter rabbinic and folk traditions of heavenly rewards that consist of gold and other precious items, such as the golden tables said to be awaiting the righteous in Paradise, as described in B. Ta’anit 24b-25a.
Sources:
B. Berakhot 17a; Midrash Rabbah 53:16; Hilkhot Teshuvah 8.
642. THE GREAT AGE
When the whole of creation, visible and invisible, comes to an end, each person will go to the Lord’s judgment. And all who are judged righteous will be gathered together into the great age, and it will be eternal. For all time will perish, and afterward there will be neither years nor months nor days, and hours will no longer be counted. There will be instead a timeless, single age. Then those who have been judged righteous will have the great indestructible light of Paradise, and it will serve as the shelter of their eternal residence. And the faces of the righteous will shine forth like the sun.
Even after existence ends, the righteous will be sheltered eternally by the light of Paradise. Thus Paradise, with its attendant rewards, will continue to exist when everything else is gone.
Sources:
2 Enoch 65:6-11.
643. LIFE IN THE WORLD TO COME
What will life be like in the World to Come? God will be seated in His great academy, and seated in His presence will be the righteous of the world, along with their wives, their sons, their daughters, their manservants, and their maidservants. The needs of their households will all be provided for them. There will be no hunger or thirst or sexual desire, but the righteous will feast on the splendor of the Shekhinah.
Here the righteous not only have God as their teacher, but this myth portrays a vision of the afterlife as a continuation of life among the living, where they will be surrounded by their families, servants, and all that they required when they were alive, except for food and drink. The study of Torah, in classes led by God or one of the great patriarchs or sages, is a standard feature in descriptions of the World to Come. But in Eliyahu Rabbah other, more elemental rewards of the World to Come are described, where the righteous continue to be surrounded by their families in the afterlife.
Sources:
Eliyahu Rabbah 4:19.
644. THE CHORUS OF THE RIGHTEOUS
In the days to come, God Himself will lead the chorus of the righteous. He will sit in their midst in Paradise, and they will dance around Him like young maidens, and point to Him with a finger, saying: “For God—He is our God forever; He will lead us evermore” (Ps. 48:15).
But there are those who say that this dance will take place in Gehenna, where there is a great deal of space. How can the righteous live in the habitation of the wicked? The righteous will implore mercy for the wicked, and their sins will be pardoned.
This is a portrait of the afterlife that presents it as a place of great rejoicing, where the righteous will dance around God and celebrate His glory. This, then, is the reward of the righteous for occupying themselves with Torah study in this world.
The surprising alternate version, where the righteous dance in Gehenna instead of in Paradise in order to implore mercy for the wicked, adds a merciful purpose to their dance that provides them with a mission in the World to Come. The implication is that even in Paradise the righteous have a duty to assist others, as they did in this world.
Sources:
B. Hagigah 12b; B. Ta’anit 31b; Leviticus Rabbah 11:9; Makhon Siftei Tzaddikim on Genesis 7:7.
Studies:
“Some Aspects of Afterlife in Early Rabbinic Literature” by Saul Lieberman.
645. FAT GEESE FOR THE WORLD TO COME
In one of his travels Rabbah bar Bar Hannah came across two geese. Because of their fatness, their feathers had fallen out. Rivers of oil flowed from under them. Rabbah asked one of the geese if he would deserve to eat from it in the World to Come. One of the geese raised a foot, as if to say, this will be your portion. The other goose raised a wing, as if to say, this is your portion from me.
A feast for the righteous is one of the rewards for the righteous in the World to Come. One of these rewards is a great banquet, for which these geese are being saved. They are so fat and succulent that rivers of oil flow from under them. See the following myth, “The Messianic Banquet.”
Sources:
B. Bava Batra 73b.
646. THE MESSIANIC BANQUET
In the time to come God will prepare a banquet for the righteous from the flesh of Behemoth, Leviathan, and the Ziz, as it is said, He prepared a lavish feast for them (2 Kings 6:23). God will say to them, “Do you want cider or citrus or grape wine?” Then God will leave His glorious throne, and sit with them. Who will be seated at the table? The Patriarch Jacob along with scholars and distinguished students. The rest of Leviathan will be spread on the walls of Jerusalem, and its radiance will shine from one end of the world to the other. So too will God make a sukkah for the righteous with the skin of Leviathan.
Others say that God will serve the Messiah-ox and messianic wine at the banquet. The Messiah-ox makes its home in Paradise, where it waits to fulfill its destiny when the Messiah comes. Then it will be slaughtered and served at the messianic banquet. Then God will bring the righteous wine that had been preserved from grapes from the six days of Creation. Only once before has it been served: when Jacob served wine to his father, Isaac, at the time he brought the food that Rebecca had prep
ared. Since Jacob had no wine with him, an angel provided some for him, and the angel brought that messianic wine. And he gave it into Jacob’s hand, and Jacob handed it to his father, and he drank.
Of all the patriarchs, why is it that it will be Jacob who will join them at the feast? When the children of Israel sin, only Jacob in the Cave of Machpelah feels defiled. So when the gladness of redemption comes, Jacob will rejoice in it more than any of the other patriarchs, for he alone will be called to the feast.
This myth describes a great feast, prepared by God, that will take place after the coming of the Messiah. It finds its origin in this messianic prophecy in Isaiah 25:6: The Lord of Hosts will make on this mountain for all the peoples a banquet of rich viands, a banquet of choice wines—of rich viands seasoned with marrow, of choice wines well refined. Those most deserving will taste the flesh of Leviathan. Here the righteous are described as scholars and distinguished students, reinforcing the notion that study of the Torah is the most important occupation of all. In addition, they will be joined by the Patriarch Jacob. The inclusion of Jacob alone suggests the tendency to elevate Jacob to great heights because of the identification of Jacob and Israel. See “Jacob the Angel,” p. 364 and “Jacob the Divine,” p. 366.
The Book of Paradise, a midrashic satire by Itzik Manger, has the blind Isaac, living in heaven, mark his portion on the Messiah-ox, which will be slaughtered when the Messiah comes. This satirizes Isaac’s apparent love of the taste of venison. In one episode, someone plays a trick on the Messiah-ox by telling it that the Messiah has come—and therefore it is about to be slaughtered. In terror the ox runs out of Jewish heaven into Christian heaven—heaven consists of three parts, according to Manger, the third being Muslim heaven—and the Christians refuse to give him back. This requires a series of messages between King Solomon and Saint Paul, who rule Jewish and Christian heaven respectively. Eventually, the Messiah-ox is returned in Manger’s novel, but it is badly underfed, and there is some question about whether it is fit to be served at the messianic banquet.
In the frame story of Manger’s satire, the angel Shmuel Abba is commanded to be reborn, and he manages to get the angel who is to deliver him to earth drunk by giving him messianic wine. On the day the angel is born, he sits up in the cradle and he tells the history of his life in Paradise to his astounded parents and all those who assemble to hear him.
Sources:
Targum Pseudo-Yonathan 27:25; B. Bava Batra 75a; Midrash Tehillim 14:7; Seder Gan Eden (version B) in Beit ha-Midrash 3:131-140.
647. THE MESSIANIC TORAH
The Torah of the mundane world is worthless compared to the Messianic Torah of the World to Come. This Torah will taught by the Messiah, or, some say, even by God Himself. This is the Torah that God delights in, which is studied by the righteous in the World to Come. It begins with aleph, the first letter of the alphabet, while the earthly Torah begins with bet, the second letter.
Study of the Torah will continue in the World to Come, but the Torah that will be taught there will be far more profound than the Torah of this world. This is the Torah that God delights in, and from which the righteous learn in the heavenly Garden of Eden. This notion of a transformed text is also found in the traditions concerning the first tablets of the Law that were given to Moses on Mount Sinai. See “The First Tablets,” p. 266.
For the kabbalists, such as Hayim Vital of Safed in the sixteenth century, the true meaning of the Torah was not in its literal meaning, but in the secret, inner meanings. Further, redemption—i.e., the messianic era—could only be achieved by means of kabbalah. Hayim Vital’s description of the Torah of this world as relatively “worthless” might seem shocking, but since the mundane dimension of the Torah concerns rules relevant to human beings, it has no relevance in the World to Come. In fact, in one midrash Moses convinces the angels that they have no need for the Torah, since it is relevant only to humans. However, kabbalists are discarding only the literal level of the Torah; the higher levels of interpretation are considered to contain infinite mysteries.
The notion of a Messianic Torah grows out of the tradition that there are two Torahs in Judaism, an Oral Torah and a Written Torah. See “The Two Torahs,” p. 277. For more on the tradition that the Messiah will teach Torah in the World to Come, see “The Messiah’s Yeshivah,” p. 518.
Sources:
Etz Hayim, Introduction to Sha’ar ha-Hakdamot 4a-b; Likutei Torah.
Studies:
“Not All is in the Hands of Heaven: Eschatology and Kabbalah” by Rachel Elior. “Good and Evil in the Kabbalah” in The Mystical Shape of the Godhead by Gershom Scholem, pp. 56-88.
The Messianic Idea in Judaism by Gershom Scholem, pp. 59-81.
“From Theosophy to Midrash: Lurianic Exegesis and the Garden of Eden” by Shaul Magid.
648. A TABERNACLE FOR THE RIGHTEOUS
In the time to come God will bring the skin of Leviathan and make a tabernacle for the righteous, as it is said, Can you fill his skin with tabernacles? (Job 40:31). If a man is worthy, a tabernacle will be made for him. If he is not worthy, a mere cover of fish skin will be made for him, as it is said, And his head with a fish covering (Job 41:7). The rest of the skin of Leviathan will be spread by God on the walls of Jerusalem and the roof of the sanctuary, and its splendor will shine from one end of the world to the other. Then the righteous of Israel will sit, eat, drink, be fruitful, multiply, and enjoy the splendor of the Shekhinah.
This myth is obviously a companion to “The Messianic Banquet.” Just as “The Messianic Banquet” describes the extravagant banquet God will provide to the righteous in the World to Come, so this myth describes the kind of shelter they will receive, as food and shelter are a person’s most essential concerns. The implication is that each person will have an individual shelter, a sukkah made of the skin of Levia-than, or, if one is not worthy of that, made of fish skin.
A further example found in Talmud says that God will provide a necklace for the righteous in the World to Come, but if they are not worthy of it, they will receive an amulet instead.
These related myths not only describe the kind of rewards expected in the messianic era, but also imply that people can expect to retain their individuality as well as their desire for privacy in the World to Come, and that God will fulfill these needs. Even the need to be fruitful and multiply will be fulfilled. As Seder Gan Eden puts it, “Every woman among the Israelites will give birth to children every day.”
Sources:
B. Bava Batra 75a; Seder Gan Eden (version B) in Beit ha-Midrash 3:131-140.
649. THE NEW JERUSALEM
It is stated that “New moon after new moon, and Sabbath after Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship Me” (Isa. 66:23). How is it possible that “all flesh” shall fit into Jerusalem every new moon and every Sabbath? Because in the End of Days, when there is a new heaven and a new earth (Isa. 66:22), Jerusalem is destined to expand its length and breadth, and become as large as the whole of the Land of Israel, and the Land of Israel as large as the world.
The mystical transformation of Jerusalem so that there will be room for “all flesh” to enter there from one new moon to the next as well as from one Sabbath to the next is linked with the myth of the transformation that will take place in the messianic era, so that all the righteous, including those living outside the Land of Israel, will come to Jerusalem, and there will be room for all of them. That will be the initiation of messianic Jerusalem.
Sources:
Pesikta Rabbati 1; Yalkut Shim’oni, Isaiah 472, 503; Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 143b; Song of Songs Rabbah 7:4; Yalkut ha-Makhiri, Isaiah 49:19; Arugat ha-Bosem by Abraham ben Rabbi Azriel.
Studies:
Midrash Yerushalem: A Metaphysical History of Jerusalem by Daniel Sperber, pp. 111-117.
650. MESSIANIC JERUSALEM
When all the population is resurrected and gathered together in the messianic era, where will they all stand? They will all say, The place is too crowded for me; make room for
me to settle (Isa. 49:20). So God will add to Jerusalem a thousand gardens, a thousand palaces, and a thousand mansions, until the future Jerusalem is three times the size of the present one. Then God will enlarge Jerusalem until it rises to the heavens. God will raise it from one heaven to another, until it reaches the seventh. Some say: until it reaches the Throne of Glory.
How does it rise? With clouds sent by God, while each of the righteous has a canopy of his own, as it is said, Over all the glory shall hang a canopy (Isa. 4:5). As soon as Jerusalem reaches the Throne of Glory, God will say, “You and I will walk together through the universe.”
Others say that Jerusalem will expand on earth until it reaches Damascus, for Jerusalem is destined to widen on all sides, and the exiles will come and repose beneath it as they would beneath a fig tree.
This myth wrestles with the problem of where to fit all the righteous who are resurrected at the End of Days. Jerusalem just isn’t big enough to hold everyone, so it is proposed that God will raise Jerusalem to heaven. An alternate version suggests that the boundaries of the city will simply be expanded, something that has already happened with the modern state of Israel, though not all the way to Damascus. See “The New Jerusalem,” p. 510.
Some versions say that God will provide seven canopies for every righteous person, or that God will make a canopy for every one according to his status.
Sources:
Song of Songs Rabbah 7:5; Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 31; B. Bava Batra 75a; Sefer Eliyahu in Beit ha-Midrash 3:68-78.