Boo! Anyone out there?

If you're not relaxing by, enjoying a cocktail and swimming in a pool with warm sunny weather...

I'm sorry.

With Rabbi Simmons

Question

What do Jews believe about the afterlife? Do we have spirits? How will we be resurrected when the messiah comes? Is there a heaven and hell? What is hell like?

Answer

The creation of man testifies to the eternal life of the soul. The Torah says, "And the Almighty formed the man of dust from the ground, and He blew into his nostrils the SOUL of life" (Genesis 2:7). On this verse, the Zohar states that "one who blows, blows from within himself," indicating that the soul is actually part of God's essence. Since God's essence is completely spiritual and non-physical, it is impossible that the soul should die. (The commentator Chizkuni says this why the verse calls it "soul of LIFE.")

That's what King Solomon meant when he wrote, "The dust will return to the ground as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12:17)

For anyone who believes in a just and caring God, the existence of an afterlife makes logical sense. Could it be this world is just a playground without consequences? Did Hitler get away with killing 6,000,000 Jews? No. There is obviously a place where good people receive reward and bad people get punished. (see Maimonides' 13 Principles of Faith)

The question of "why do bad things happen to good people" has a lot to do with how we look at existence. The way we usually perceive things is like this: A "good life" means that I make a comfortable living, I enjoy good health, and then I die peacefully at age 80. That's a good life. Anything else is "bad."

In a limited sense, that's true. But if we have a soul and there is such a thing as eternity, then that changes the picture entirely. Eighty years in the face of eternity is not such a big deal.

From Judaism's perspective, our eternal soul is as real as our thumb. This is the world of doing, and the "world to come" is where we experience the eternal reality of whatever we've become. Do you think after being responsible for the torture and deaths of millions of people, that Hitler could really "end it all" by just swallowing some poison? No. Ultimate justice is found in another dimension.

But the concept goes much deeper. From an eternal view, if the ultimate pleasure we're going after is transcendence - the eternal relationship with the Almighty Himself, then who would be luckier: Someone who lives an easy life with little connection to God, or someone who is born handicapped, and despite the challenges, develops a connection with God. Who would be "luckier" in terms of eternal existence? All I'm trying to point out is that the rules of life start to look different from the point of view of eternity, as opposed to just the 70 or 80 years we have on earth.

So what is the afterlife exactly?

When a person dies and goes to heaven, the judgment is not arbitrary and externally imposed. Rather, the soul is shown two videotapes. The first video is called "This is Your Life!" Every decision and every thought, all the good deeds, and the embarrassing things a person did in private is all replayed without any embellishments. It's fully bared for all to see. That's why the next world is called Olam HaEmet - "the World of Truth," because there we clearly recognize our personal strengths and shortcomings, and the true purpose of life. In short, Hell is not the Devil with a pitchfork stoking the fires.

The second video depicts how a person's life "could have been..." if the right choices had been made, if the opportunities were seized, if the potential was actualized. This video - the pain of squandered potential - is much more difficult to bear. But at the same time it purifies the soul as well. The pain creates regret which removes the barriers and enables the soul to completely connect to God.

Not all souls merit Gehenom. It is for people who have done good but need to be purified. A handful of people are too evil for Gehenom, and they are punished eternally. Pharaoh is one example.

So what about "heaven?"

Heaven is where the soul experiences the greatest possible pleasure - the feeling of closeness to God. Of course not all souls experience that to the same degree. It's like going to a symphony concert. Some tickets are front-row center; others are back in the bleachers. Where your seat is located is based on the merit of your good deeds - e.g. giving charity, caring for others, prayer.

A second factor in heaven is your understanding of the environment. Just like at the concert, a person can have great seats but no appreciation of what's going on. If a person spends their lifetime elevating the soul and becoming sensitive to spiritual realities (through Torah study), then that will translate into unimaginable pleasure in heaven. On the other hand, if life was all about pizza and football, well, that can get pretty boring for eternity.

The existence of the afterlife is not stated explicitly in the Torah itself, because as human beings we have to focus on our task in this world. Though awareness of an eternal reward can also be an effective motivator.

For further study, see Maimonides' Foundations of the Torah, "The Way of God" by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzatto, and the commentary of Nachmanides to Leviticus 18:29.

May the Almighty grant you blessings, success - and eternal life!

Sources:
* Zohar, Mishpatim, Exodus 1:1
* AriZal - Sha'ar Hagilgulim

With blessings from Jerusalem,

Rabbi Shraga Simmons

Have you heard about the largest church in the world?

Yes, the brainwashing that is the crusading religious right (Christians are famous for that. They even murdered billions to get as popular as they are now)

Heaven is not a location but refers to the inner realm of consciousness

Ummm have you ever tasted the twisted cheetos? They put me in a state of heaven!

My mind is part of God's. I am very Holy

God is in one, God is in all.

Christians are confused

Or maybe they have true battles to fight... like poverty

The "new age" teacher giving lessons on her website.... has started The Peace Alliance... to establish a U.S. Department of Peace. What can we do?

Establish peace?

It's interesting that Oprah is spending a lot of her time providing for the poor and feeding the hungry, while this ministry is spending energy into a witch hunt. Sexist I say, sexist!

Now for some more rediculous Kool-Aid. *gulp gulp*

Oh, I’ve jumped on the Twitter bandwagon not too long ago. So if anyone is on it and wants to add me my screen name is the same as LJ- twitter.com/lost_logic

Also if any of you use Facebook, feel free to add me http://www.facebook.com/people/Tyler-Matthew-Chadwick/547140034

Reading through a latest issue of Foreign Policy magazine intrigued me to find out what possibly is ”The Most Dangerous Place in the World”. It isn’t Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere in the Middle East.

I was also glimpsing through Dead Aid, which brings up some pretty interesting points and theories why aid to Africa is too simple of an idea for such a complicated continent.

Ivri Lider has an interesting music video out. I’ve always found UFC kind of fighting to be so slightly erotic, kind of like what wrestling is to a lot of gay men. Just check out the video, especially to see what happens near the end at 4:00!



Does anyone have an English translation? I hope Ivri finishes up his English debut album soon!

I was sitting next to a woman today at Starbucks whom I came close to bitch slapping. She was venting to someone on her cell phone about how fired up she is over Obama. It’s not whether she agrees with him or not that was pissing me off. It was all the negative insults that was coming out of her mouth. Things like, “I am SO fired up. He is going to go down in history as the WORST and most idiotic President ever!” Continuing to criticize him for his on the spot photo opt with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and saying how she hopes the United States gets attacked during his administration so he’ll learn his lesson. There were many things she was saying that I could’ve argued about, but what I don’t get about far right Republicans is their hope to see Obama fail. What-the-fuck. What the fuck you ignorant piece of shit cunt?! Even if McCain won I would NEVER hope to see him fail. I don’t want ANY President to fail (George W. Bush failed in so many ways) and bring the rest of us down with him/her. The ignorant piece of shit cunt rambled on how she Republicans need to take back Washington. It’s not a god damn game with teams competing against each other you pathetic excuse of a human being. I hope some rich ass Republican takes all your fucking money and teabags you in your sleep.

Alright, enough of that. I told myself I wouldn’t let people like that irritate me. I’m a better person than that….

So! On a much more uplifting note- today was a gorgeous day. I jogged over the causeway and saw five dolphins swimming in the river. They were so beautiful and playful. Even though I’ve seen them in the wild before, it’s still a pretty amazing sight.

It’s the 6th Anniversary of Madonna’s American Life. I remember buying the album before class, my first year in college, and it kind of depresses me that it has been six years since. But that was a great album for Madonna and totally got washed by the political headlines attached to it. While in fact there was little politics in the album, but was more about social awareness. It remains to be one of my favorite Madonna albums.

There has been this really eerie anti-gay rights commercial by the National Organization for Marriage circulating on the web (most of the viewers are probably those who just had to watch this obscurity). But Steve Colbert made his own version which was freaking hilarious.

It's funny when guys have their female friends asking you to dance with him. I don't think I've ever asked one of my girlfriends to do such a thing, but I did the favor any way to a couple songs just to be polite. He looked like a younger, twinkier version of Jim Carry. But he was sweet.

Michelle and I discovered some nearby protected natural Florida wetlands. If it wasn't for Michelle I would rarely seek out such places on my own. Keep in mind Michelle is a born and raised Manhattan lesbian who is fascinated by Florida's natural habitat, which is obviously nothing like she had up there. It was a pretty exciting experience though, but also a bit scary since we saw about ten alligators in the wild. They live so close yet I've only seen wild gators a couple times in my life. Michelle, having been a super fan of Steve Irwin, was a little braver than me. We stepped onto an observation deck and spotted a big gator lying only a few feet from where we were walking. Is this even safe??

So at last, here are several pictures from our little adventure!


( Swamps and gators... oh my! )

Thanks to turi for linking these clips.

Anderson Cooper: It's hard to talk when you're teabagging



Somebody needs some teabagging in their life





Everybody is talking about teabagging