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Share“Religious agnosticism in some aspects of this whole area is not only legitimate but altogether desirable. As Maimonides [1135-1204] says, we simply have no idea of what pure spiritual bliss in the Hereafter is like. Agnosticism on the basic issue of whether there is a Hereafter would seem narrowness of vision believing what we do of God. But once the basic affirmation is made, it is almost as narrow to project our poor, early imaginings on the landscape of Heaven.”
All Israelites have a share in the world to come...however these have no share [in spite of being Israelites]:one who says there is no resurrection of the dead from the Torah and [one who says] the Torah is not from Heaven...
ואמר רבי חייא בר אבא אמר רבי יוחנן כל הנביאים כולן לא נתנבאו אלא לימות המשיח אבל לעולם הבא עין לא ראתה אלהים זולתך
And Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: All of the prophets only prophesied their prophecies of consolation with regard to penitents but with regard to the full-fledged righteous it is stated: “No eye has seen it, God, aside from You.”
() אַתָּה גִּבּור לְעולָם אֲדנָי. מְחַיֵּה מֵתִים אַתָּה רַב לְהושִׁיעַ:
() בחורף: מַשִּׁיב הָרוּחַ וּמורִיד הַגָּשֶּׁם:
() מְכַלְכֵּל חַיִּים בְּחֶסֶד. מְחַיֶּה מֵתִים בְּרַחֲמִים רַבִּים. סומֵךְ נופְלִים. וְרופֵא חולִים וּמַתִּיר אֲסוּרִים. וּמְקַיֵּם אֱמוּנָתו לִישֵׁנֵי עָפָר. מִי כָמוךָ בַּעַל גְּבוּרות וּמִי דומֶה לָּךְ. מֶלֶךְ מֵמִית וּמְחַיֶּה וּמַצְמִיחַ יְשׁוּעָה:
() בעשי”ת: מִי כָמוךָ אַב הָרַחֲמִים. זוכֵר יְצוּרָיו לְחַיִּים בְּרַחֲמִים:
() וְנֶאֱמָן אַתָּה לְהַחֲיות מֵתִים: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה', מְחַיֵּה הַמֵּתִים:
(undefined) You are mighty forever, O Lord, You revive the dead, You are mighty to save.
(NaN) (During the days between the eighth day of Sukkot and Passover include: You cause the wind to blow and the rain to descend.) (During the days between Passover and the eighth day of Sukkot include: You bring down dew.)
(NaN) You sustain the living with loving kindness, You revive the dead to life with great mercy, You support the fallen and You heal the sick; You free the captives and preserve Your faith with those asleep in the dust. Who is like You, Master of mighty deeds? Who can be compared to You, O King Who causes death and restores life, and causes Your salvation to sprout.
(NaN) (During the Days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur include: Who is like You, Father of mercy, Who in mercifully remembers His creatures for life.)
(NaN) You are faithful to restore the dead to life. Blessed are You, O Lord, Who brings life to the dead.
() אֱלהַי. נְשָׁמָה שֶׁנָּתַתָּ בִּי טְהורָה הִיא. אַתָּה בְרָאתָהּ. אַתָּה יְצַרְתָּהּ. אַתָּה נְפַחְתָּהּ בִּי. וְאַתָּה מְשַׁמְּרָהּ בְּקִרְבִּי. וְאַתָּה עָתִיד לִטְּלָהּ מִמֶּנִּי. וּלְהַחֲזִירָהּ בִּי לֶעָתִיד לָבוא. כָּל זְמַן שֶׁהַנְּשָׁמָה בְּקִרְבִּי מודֶה אֲנִי לְפָנֶיךָ ה' אֱלהַי וֵאלהֵי אֲבותַי. רִבּון כָּל הַמַּעֲשים אֲדון כָּל הַנְּשָׁמות: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' הַמַּחֲזִיר נְשָׁמות לִפְגָרִים מֵתִים:
(undefined) My God, the soul which you have placed within me is pure. You have created it; You have formed it; You have breathed it into me. You preserve it within me; You will take it from me, and restore it to me in the hereafter. So long as the soul is within me, I offer thanks before You, Lord my God and God of my fathers, Master of all creatures, Lord of all souls. Blessed are You, Lord, who restores souls to the dead.
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Rabbi Milton Steinberg, Basic Judaism:
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“Death cannot be and is not the end of life. Man transcends death in many altogether naturalistic fashions. He may be immortal biologically, through his children; in thought, through the survival of his memory; in influence, by virtue of the continuance of his personality as a force among those who come after him; and ideally, through his identification with the timeless things of the spirit.”
There is, furthermore, the mystery of my personal existence. The problem of how and whether I am going to be after I die is profoundly related to the problem of who and how I was before I was born. The mystery of an afterlife is related to the mystery of preexistence. A soul does not grow out of nothing. Does it, then, perish and dissolve in nothing?
Human life is on its way from a great distance; it has gone through ages of experience, of growing, suffering, insight, action. We are what we are by what we come from. There is a vast continuum preceding individual existence, and it is a legitimate surmise to assume that there is a continuum following individual existence. Human living is always being under way, and death is not the final destination...
Do souls become dust? Does spirit turn to ashes? How can souls, capable of creating immortal words, immortal works of thought and art, be completely dissolved, vanish forever?