Baruch Spinoza, Ethics
Maimonides, Introduction to Perek Helek from the Commentary on the Mishnah
כִּֽי־עָפָ֣ר אַ֔תָּה וְאֶל־עָפָ֖ר תָּשֽׁוּב׃
For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.
All his sons and daughters sought to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, saying, “No, I will go down mourning to my son in Sheol.” Thus his father bewailed him.
Deliver me as befits Your faithfulness. (6) For there is no praise of You among the dead;
in Sheol, who can acclaim You?
[When] I lie down with my fathers,
carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burial-site!
He said:
I will do according to your words.
(א) וּבָעֵ֣ת הַהִיא֩ יַעֲמֹ֨ד מִֽיכָאֵ֜ל הַשַּׂ֣ר הַגָּד֗וֹל הָעֹמֵד֮ עַל־בְּנֵ֣י עַמֶּ֒ךָ֒ וְהָיְתָה֙ עֵ֣ת צָרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־נִהְיְתָה֙ מִֽהְי֣וֹת גּ֔וֹי עַ֖ד הָעֵ֣ת הַהִ֑יא וּבָעֵ֤ת הַהִיא֙ יִמָּלֵ֣ט עַמְּךָ֔ כׇּל־הַנִּמְצָ֖א כָּת֥וּב בַּסֵּֽפֶר׃ (ב) וְרַבִּ֕ים מִיְּשֵׁנֵ֥י אַדְמַת־עָפָ֖ר יָקִ֑יצוּ אֵ֚לֶּה לְחַיֵּ֣י עוֹלָ֔ם וְאֵ֥לֶּה לַחֲרָפ֖וֹת לְדִרְא֥וֹן עוֹלָֽם׃ (ג) וְהַ֨מַּשְׂכִּלִ֔ים יַזְהִ֖רוּ כְּזֹ֣הַר הָרָקִ֑יעַ וּמַצְדִּיקֵי֙ הָֽרַבִּ֔ים כַּכּוֹכָבִ֖ים לְעוֹלָ֥ם וָעֶֽד׃ {פ}
(1) “At that time, the great prince, Michael, who stands beside the sons of your people, will appear. It will be a time of trouble, the like of which has never been since the nation came into being. At that time, your people will be rescued, all who are found inscribed in the book. (2) Many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, others to reproaches, to everlasting abhorrence. (3) And the knowledgeable will be radiant like the bright expanse of sky, and those who lead the many to righteousness will be like the stars forever and ever.
תַּנְיָא, בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים: שָׁלֹשׁ כִּתּוֹת הֵן לְיוֹם הַדִּין: אַחַת שֶׁל צַדִּיקִים גְּמוּרִין, וְאַחַת שֶׁל רְשָׁעִים גְּמוּרִין, וְאַחַת שֶׁל בֵּינוֹנִיִּים. צַדִּיקִים גְּמוּרִין — נִכְתָּבִין וְנֶחְתָּמִין לְאַלְתַּר לְחַיֵּי עוֹלָם, רְשָׁעִים גְּמוּרִין — נִכְתָּבִין וְנֶחְתָּמִין לְאַלְתַּר לְגֵיהִנָּם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וְרַבִּים מִיְּשֵׁנֵי אַדְמַת עָפָר יָקִיצוּ אֵלֶּה לְחַיֵּי עוֹלָם וְאֵלֶּה לַחֲרָפוֹת לְדִרְאוֹן עוֹלָם״, בֵּינוֹנִיִּים — יוֹרְדִין לְגֵיהִנָּם,
It is taught in a baraita: Beit Shammai say: There will be three groups of people on the great Day of Judgment at the end of days: One of wholly righteous people, one of wholly wicked people, and one of middling people. Wholly righteous people will immediately be written and sealed for eternal life. Wholly wicked people will immediately be written and sealed for Gehenna, as it is stated: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall wake, some to eternal life and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2). Middling people will descend to Gehenna to be cleansed and to achieve atonement for their sins.
The Gemara returns to the topic of the source for resurrection in the Torah. Rava says: From where is resurrection of the dead derived from the Torah? It is derived from a verse, as it is stated: “Let Reuben live and not die, in that his men become few” (Deuteronomy 33:6). This is interpreted: “Let Reuben live” in this world “and not die” in the World-to-Come. Ravina says that resurrection is derived from here: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awaken, some to everlasting life, and some to reproaches and everlasting disgrace” (Daniel 12:2). Rav Ashi says proof is derived from here: “But go you your way until the end be; and you shall rest, and arise to your lot at the end of days” (Daniel 12:13).
MISHNAH: All of Israel have a part in the World to Come. But the following have no part in the World to Come: One who says that the resurrection of the dead is not biblical, or that the Torah is not from Heaven, or the Epicurean. Rebbi Aqiba says, also one who reads outside books, or who whispers over a wound and says, any sickness that I put on Egypt I shall not put on you, for I am the Eternal, your Healer. Abba Shaul said, also one who pronounces the Name by its letters.
The World-to-Come is not like this world.
In the World-to-Come there is no eating, no drinking,
no procreation, no business negotiations,
no jealousy, no hatred, and no competition.
Rather, the righteous sit with their crowns upon their heads, enjoying the splendor of the Divine Presence, as it is stated:
“And they beheld God, and they ate and drank” (Exodus 24:11), meaning that beholding God’s countenance is tantamount to eating and drinking.
The ultimate good, the final end is to achieve this supernal fellowship, to participate in this high glory in which the soul is forever involved with the existence of God the Creator, who is the cause and source of its existence and its goal. This has already been explained by the earlier philosophers. This is incomparably good, for how could that which is eternal and endless be compared with anything transient and terminable.
[T]he individuals who will return to their bodies will eat, drink, marry, and procreate, and they will die after a long life, like those who will live during the messianic age. The life, however, that is not followed by death, is life in the world-to-come, since it will be bodiless. It is my view, a valid assumption with every intelligent person, that the world-to-come is made up of souls without bodies, like the angels [...] It thus becomes clear that the existence of the entire body is needed for certain ends, nourishment for its maintenance and reproduction of the like for its continued presence. Now, since these ends are discarded and unneeded in the world-to-come. The reason being, as the sages have all made clear, that there is no eating in it, nor drinking nor intercourse – it is obvious there is no body. God creates absolutely nothing in vain, makes things only for things. Far, indeed, far be it from Him that His sophisticated acts bear any similarity to the work of the makers of idols.
[...]
I wrote this tract only for the common people who had begun to doubt what I had stated explicitly, and for those who reproached me for brevity when I spoke of the Resurrection. Those who are truly learned are satisfied with a suggestion; they need neither repetition nor prolonged exegesis; they need only summary statements, as I have done with the profound questions in the Guide and in all my works. I followed the method related by the sages: He said to him: Explain it, but answered: A sage needs no explaining. He said Repeat it, but he answered: A sage requires no repetition. From this it becomes clear that discourse with the wise stands in need of neither repletion nor elucidation: Instruct a wise man, and he will grow wiser [Prov. 9:9]. But the common people need both, precept after precept, precept after precept, now here, now there [Isa. 28:13]. The sense of it is that they understand but little, they comprehend a bit, a little here, a little there. But the right thing to do is to address each group according to its capacity.
Do not imagine that these most difficult problems can be thoroughly understood by any one of us. This is not the case. At times the truth shines so brilliantly that we perceive it as clear as day. Our nature and habit then draw a veil over our perception, and we return to a darkness almost as dense as before. We are like those who, though beholding frequent flashes of lightning, still find themselves in the thickest darkness of the night.
Podcasts