[Avodah] Olam Haba is static

[Rich, Joel]

-----Original Message-----
From: avodah-bounces at lists.aishdas.org
[mailto:avodah-bounces at lists.aishdas.org] On Behalf Of Michael Makovi
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 3:27 AM
To: A High-Level Torah Discussion Group
Subject: [Avodah] Olam Haba is static

A tangent from Areivim of the same title. The question was whether a
meit in Olam haBa can raise his own level, or whether he needs the
living to elevate him; I took the following tangent. The current title
doesn't fit my tangent, but I can't think of a better one, so I'll stick
with it.

I was glancing at the Daat Mikra Tehillim the other day, and in Psalm
16 or 33, I think, on one of those lo ha-meitim yehalelu kah types of
pesukim scattered throughout Tehillim, Daat Mikra noted that this gives
many meforshim difficulties - how can this possibly be the case in Olam
haBa??!!

In the introduction to the Soncino Tehillim, it is simply said,
something to the effect that Torah teaches that this life is valuable,
as the only place one can do mitzvot and serve G-d. Therefore, Tehillim
rarely if ever mentions the afterlife (according to the commentaries to
individual Psalms; references to being saved from Sheol and such, are
interpreted as being saved from early death and such).

I'm inclined to agree with Soncino, but Daat Mikra had a very
interesting solution, similar to Soncino's but a step further: ditto the
line about this life being valuable as the only place you can
practically serve G-d, but an addition: surely the dead DO praise G-d,
but in a different, perhaps inferior way: we say that the natural world
praises G-d, but surely the praises from man are superior to the praises
from rocks and trees! Similarly, the dead may very well praise G-d, but
not as competently as the living do, in their deeds and mitzvot in this
world.

(As an aside, my personal favorite explanation of techiat ha-meitim is
that of Rav Berkovits in the end of G-d Man and History, viz.: techiat
ha-meitim is simply the resurrection of all the dead into Olam haZe,
period. The Messianic Era comes, and everyone is resurrected to live in
it for all eternity, plain and simple. If so, Olam haBa would simply be
a temporary layover on the way to techiat ha-meitim; being death and
resurrection, someone has to go *somewhere*, after all, but this
somewhere would have little intrinsic significance.

Rabbi Isidore Epstein in Faith of Judaism takes a Ramban-ish perspective
on techiat ha-meitim:
For the first half of his analysis, he goes on about how important
Judaism sees Olam haZe as, and therefore we have techiat ha-meitim (i.e.
because the physical world is so great and valuable, we aren't dead
forever). This whole section of his analysis I am thrilled with, up to
the point when he (very abruptly IMHO) says that however, techiat
ha-meitim is largely (maybe 50%) spiritual and not truly/completely in
Olam haZe/physical.

I'm not even really sure I understand Rabbi Epstein, because the shift
is truly so abrupt and perplexing. But if I understand him, then it
seems too complex; everything he said until this point leads to the
conclusion that techiat ha-meitim ought to be resurrection into Olam
haZe, Messianic Era, end of discussion. I'm inclined to accept
everything Rabbi Epstein says up to this point, but then tack on Rav
Berkovits's fantastically simple idea that techiat ha-meitim is simply
resurrection into THIS world, plain and simple, and discard the second
half of Rabbi Epstein's analysis, viz. his explanation of why techiat
ha-meitim is half spiritual if logically, according to the foregoing
words of his, it ought to be wholly physical.

My doing this preserves Rabbi Epstein's ta'am for techiat ha-meitim
(viz. physical is great) in the first half, but eliminates the need for
his complex justification/defence in the second half (viz. techiat
ha-meitim is only half physical, despite physical being so great as
himself has just spent several pages explaining). With Rav Berkovits, I
can say "physical is great, and so techiat ha-meitim is wholly
physical", end of discussion; very simple.)

Mikha'el Makovi
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