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ACHAREY MOT 5784
What Happens Acharey Mot—After Death?
Today’s Torah portion opens with Hashem speaking to Moses acharey mot (after the death), after the death of 2 sons of Aaron. Last year on this Torah portion Shabbat I spoke in general about the concept of acharey mot—after death. This morning, I would like to go a little deeper. Death is so final. It’s irreversible; it’s painful; it’s unbearable. And yet, having a sense of acharey mot—of what happens after death—can be helpful in facing it.
We have in this Torah portion, perhaps my favorite verse (Lev. 18:5): Ushmartem et chukotai v’et mishpatai asher yaaseh otam, vachai bahem, Ani Hashem (You shall observe My decrees and My judgments, which you shall carry out and live by them—I am Hashem). The simple understanding of this verse is that if you guard Hashem’s statutes … if you keep the mitzvot, then through them you’ll get life. What an amazing verse!
The problem is obvious. This doesn’t seem to play out in the real world. Not everyone who observes Hashem’s mitzvot is immune to fatal heart attacks and terminal cancer! We see wicked people who neglect and disobey Gd’s laws are, nevertheless, alive and well—robust and healthy. And in the end, everyone dies. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be any discernable difference in the longevity of those who keep the Torah’s mitzvot and those who don’t. So where is this life that the Torah promises for keeping the mitzvot?
I want to share with you 3 approaches. The Talmud (Yoma 85a) explains: Vachai bahem v’lo yamut bahem (You shall live by them [means] and not die by them). The Talmud tells us this verse teaches that the fulfilment of a mitzvah should never cause a threat to human life. You should live by the mitzvot and not die by them. So, if one is ill on Yom Kippur and needs to eat, one should eat and not die. Or, an Israeli soldier can drive to his unit or go to war on Shabbat to save lives. “You should live by the mitzvot and not die by them.” Isn’t that beautiful?
The 2nd approach is found in Rashi’s commentary: “You shall live by them means in Olam Haba, (in the World to Come), for if you should say that this refers to this world, is it not a person’s destiny to die?” In other words, even if you keep Gd’s Torah, your body won’t live forever, but your soul will buy a share in the next world acharey mot (after death).
What exactly happens acharey mot (after death) when we come to Olam Haba (the World to come, the world of the souls)? Kabbalah tells us that after you die, you’ll see a panorama of your life unfold before you much like a movie. There is no forgetting in the world of the souls—no matter how old you are. You’ll feel great elation and pride when you view the good things you have done and great pain and shame when you view the bad things. The pain and shame is part of your judgment or soul correction. This kind of judgment continues for a time—up to a year for one who has not lived a Gdly life. Then the soul enters its place in the Olam Haba.
There’s a famous Mishnah (Sanhedrin 90a): Kol Yisrael yeysh lahem cheylek laOlam Haba (All Israel has a share in the World to Come). Note the Mishnah does not teach, “Every Jew will have a share,” but “Every Jew has a share.” Then the Mishnah continues: V’eylu sh’eyn lahem cheylek laOlam Haba (And these are the ones who have no share in the World to Come). In other words, we have a share, but we can lose it. It depends on what we do with our lives. Have you or I lost our ticket to the next world?
Who are the losers according to the Mishnah?
1. Those who say Revival of the Dead is not from the Torah;
2. those who say the Torah is not from Gd; and
3. those who reject Gd.
What is absolutely startling is that these 3 categories do not include people who commit terrible crimes. Those who have committed some of the most grievous sins—even capital offenses—can still end up in the World to Come if they truly regret and repent sins.
The 3 categories of people who do not get are those who don’t believe. Why don’t they get in? Simple! If you don’t believe there is an afterlife, you don’t get it!
The 2nd category describing those who don’t go to Olam Haba are those who deny the Torah is from Gd. Wow! That would exclude most Reform and Conservative Jews. Yosef Albo (15 cent. Sefer haIkrim), however, teaches: “If by virtue of your education and thinking, you … make an intellectual error [and by ignorance you reject Gd’s authorship of the Torah], you are NOT excluded.” One can make a case that most non-religious Jews today fit into this category. What do they know about Gd, Torah and mitzvot?
The 3rd category—one who denies the existence of Gd—is one who rejects Gd, and therefore, Gd rejects him.
So, according to the Mishnah there are 3 beliefs a Jew must have. 1st, there is a Gd Who created the world and cares about His Creation. And because He cares, because He loves us, because He wants the optimal relationship with us, Gd gave us the Torah as His guide for how to be in this relationship. This becomes the 2nd principle: Belief in Torah. This implies there are rules to the world—and we ought to be good and not evil because Gd wants us to be good and will reward us for it. But it also implies Gd will see to it that we are responsible for our actions.
If we believe in the Torah, then—as I said before—the good guys should have it good and bad guys should have it bad. But when we look at the world we realize, “It ain’t necessarily so!” Sometimes we see that good guys have a really difficult life. There might be several ways to explain. It could be because of one’s previous lifetime of bad behavior. So, if one is abused in this lifetime, it may be because he/she was an abuser in a previous lifetime and had that lesson to learn in this world. Or, it might be because someone appears to be a good guy but is really not. We never really know people. And sometimes it’s because people have free will and do bad things. And the thing is, if you suffered—not because of anything bad you did—Gd must make it up to you either in the next world or in your next reincarnated lifetime.
So on our verse vachai bahem (to live by them) we’ve discussed the Talmud that says, “You shall live by them [mitzvot] and not die by them.” Then we had Rashi who says this refers to Olam Haba (the World to Come). The 3rd approach is the Lubavitcher Rebbe, z”l, who has an amazing take on our verse. Vachai bahem (to live by them) can also be understood as, “to put life in them.” In other words, when you do a mitzvah, put life into it. Don’t do it by rote. Appreciate its message.
When a Siddur falls to the floor, our tradition is to kiss it as we retrieve it. A Chumash falls? Kiss it. Of course they are holy, they have Hashem’s name within them. And yet whenever I ask if one permitted to drink Coke from a Kiddush cup?, almost all will answer “No!” Why? People feel that the reciting of a Kiddush over the wine has imbued the cup with a certain holiness. I agree.
Ever see someone drop their kipa and then kiss it? According to Jewish Law, we can cover our heads with a baseball cap, a fedora, or a kipah. Does that mean we must kiss the baseball cap if it falls? I have never corrected a person who has kissed their kipa when it fell because they feel as if they’ve elevated a mere head covering to holy status.
And that—the Lubavitcher Rebbe teaches—is a Jew’s task in this world. Jews are supposed to elevate the mundane to the Holy. On Friday night we can take 2 hurricane candles, or tea candles and make a bracha on them and … now they’re Shabbos candles! Holy! We can lift a glass of dinner wine, make brachot over it and our Cabernet Sauvignon turns into holy Kiddush!
So, my friends, live a Gdly life of chai bahem, putting life into what you do, whever you go—imbuing holiness into everything, even into inanimate objects—so that acharey mot, after you die in 120 years, may your soul soar straight to Olam Haba (to Heaven in the World to Come). Amen!
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