Why isn't life after death discussed throughly in the Torah? Part 8 of 8

Hi,

"When Gd wished to give the Torah to humanity, to publicize His mitzvot and His religious laws and prohibitions via His prophets throughout the world, as in (Shemot 9:16), 'In order to tell of My Name in all the land.' He created great signs, which are recorded throughout the Torah, until these caused people to believe in the prophecies of the prophets and the creation of the world… 

"And He did not transport them from matters of this world, with reward and punishment. And he continued thus until these cornerstones were strengthened and held as true for the flow of generations, and no doubt remained in the prophecies of the prophets and the creation of signs. And then the prophets told us that which Gd had told them, of resurrection of the dead, for [then] it was easy to accept this."

(Rambam, Maamar Techiyat haMeitim (Statement on the Resurrection of the Dead))

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Why isn't life after death discussed throughly in the Torah? Part 7 of 8

Hi,

"The material rewards mentioned in the words of this covenant could not have included any spiritual promises, for these promises included the entire nation. Bountiful rain, the blessing of the crops, victory over foes and other items mentioned here include the entire nation… But spiritual rewards are only for each Israelite individually. Regarding material benefits, the world or the city or the nation is judged with its majority… "

(Commentary of Don Isaac Abarbanel to Vayikra 26:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Why isn't life after death discussed throughly in the Torah? Part 6

Hi,

"Early idolaters promised great material success and benefits… And when He wished to make us complete in the truth of His faith, Gd came and gave us His Torah and prohibited us from those types of service, and so He needed to say [that there would be material rewards], lest one think that in halting those types of service, the material benefits would also be lost, as was said by the early ones and as the accursed women said, 'Since we ceased to burn offerings for the queen of the heavens, and to pour libations for her, we have lost all. (Yirmiyah 44:18)' It would not be so. Just the opposite – by distancing ourselves from those types of service, greater and greater benefits and successes, without measure, would flow upon them under the supervision of Gd."

(Commentary of Don Isaac Abarbanel to Vayikra 26:1)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Why isn't life after death discussed throughly in the Torah? Part 5

Hi,

"The early ones, all of the seed of Adam and Noach's descendants, other than special individuals like Shem, Ever and Avraham, served the stars and denied Divine supervision of individual human beings. Those who believed in an eternal world followed them, and thought that Divine influence was entirely automatic, and nothing of its nature would change due to Divine wish... 

"Therefore, when Gd wished to purify Israel He arranged before them the deeds they would perform, to educate them [to know] that this world was created from total nothingness, and all of this came from Gd, in accordance with His Will and not automatically, and that He could alter nature at will, and that there were deeds Gd desired and deeds which angered Him… 

"If Gd had promised spiritual rewards in His covenant of guarding the mitzvot and His Torah, the Children of Israel would not have believed this, for they did not yet believe in Divine supervision! Therefore, He needed to promise them that which they could grasp with their senses, indicating definitively that He was supervising."

(Don Isaac Abarbanel, commentary to Vayikra 26:1)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Why isn't life after death discussed thoroughly in the Torah? Part 4

Hi,

"The third answer [of seven that he presents, from various sources] is that persistence of the spirit, and its reward in accord with its perfection, are inherent in the nature of humanity. Spiritual success [survival?] is not one of the concepts which is received only from Divine religion; the conclusion of sense and logic mandates that Creation and the path of perfection of natural forms should include it, as philosophers have received in their analyses.

"It is known that the promise of the Divine Torah is not that nature should continue in its natural way, for then there would be neither reward nor punishment. All of her promises involve direction by Divine supervision, not the natural order. Therefore this was tied specifically to mitzvah observance and fulfillment, through supernatural miracles."

(Don Isaac Abarbanel to Vayikra 26:1)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Why isn't life after death discussed thoroughly in the Torah? Part 3

Hi,

"In my view, the Torah was given to everyone, and not only to one person. Olam HaBa [the next world] would not be comprehensible to only one in one thousand, for it is deep."

(Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra, Commentary to Devarim 32:39)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Why isn't life after death discussed thoroughly in the Torah? Part 2

Hi,

"The first answer [of seven that he presents, from various sources] is that the good and bad mentioned in the passages of the [biblical] covenant are neither reward nor punishment for mitzvot. True reward or punishment would be spiritual, affecting the soul in the world of souls, and reward for mitzvot is not in this world. The Torah did not want to mention reward for mitzvot and their true punishment, so that one would serve his Creator altruistically, not due to expectation of punishment."

(Don Isaac Abarbanel to Vayikra 26:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Why isn't life after death discussed thoroughly in Torah? Part 1

Hi,

"Rabbeinu Hai said that it was not necessary to explain the matter of olam haba, for it was known by transmission."

(Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra to Devarim 32:39)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The Divine Presence at Death

Hi,

"Before a person dies, he sees the Shechinah [Divine presence].

"If he merits it, then the shechinah does not leave him until he is buried, as it is written [Psalms 85:14], 'Righteousness will walk before him, putting its feet upon the road.'"

 (Vilna Gaon, Aderet Eliyahu to Bereishit 18:1)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Life after death

Hi,

"Spiritual entities do not have physical pleasure and do not comprehend it, for they lack our senses, with which to experience what we experience. One of us who would be purified and would reach that status posthumously would also cease to experience physical pleasure and would not desire it; this would be like a great emperor wishing to lose his throne and return to playing with a ball in the street. At some point he certainly did prefer the ballgame over an empire, when he was young and foolish, just as we prefer physical pleasure over the spiritual."

(Rambam,Commentary to Mishnah, Introduction to 10th chapter in Sanhedrin)

Have a great day,
Mordechai