Q&A: The World to Come
The World to Come
Question
Hi Rabbi Michael Abraham,
I saw in your remarks that you’re skeptical about the very sources for Heaven and Hell, and more generally about whether there is anything after death; only on the basis of reason itself do you believe it exists.
I’m not coming to criticize you or anything like that, I just want to hear your opinion about these sources.
Regarding consulting the dead, it says: “and a charmer, and one who consults a ghost or a familiar spirit, or one who inquires of the dead.” From here one could learn that, theoretically, it is possible to inquire of the dead.
There are a few more sources on this issue ^
But in any case it keeps repeating itself. Also, in Ecclesiastes it says:
“The end of the matter, all having been heard: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil.”
There are more, but that’s the style, and I assume you know them.
What do you think?
Answer
According to Maimonides, one who inquires of the dead is simply a fool. It’s an act that has no real factual basis. As is well known, the medieval authorities (Rishonim) disagreed about this.
And judgment is not necessarily about the World to Come either.
Discussion on Answer
One could argue that the expression is based on the common belief in the World to Come, but that doesn’t mean that this is really the reality. But it seems more likely that it is in fact a factual description, especially “and he was gathered to his people.”
By the way, it’s interesting that when God offers Israel to accept the Torah, He says nothing at all about reward and punishment, neither in this world nor in the World to Come. Recompense is mentioned only later. It seems from this that the real goal is to heed God’s voice מתוך understanding that it will somehow be worthwhile, even without knowing exactly how that will be expressed.
What about the expression “and I will lie down with my fathers” (when he did not die in the same place as his fathers), or “and he was gathered to his people”?
The plain meaning is that he goes to join his fathers and his people. If no one exists after death, the expression has no logical meaning.