An Interreligious Conversation with MvdG: Part One
May 27th, 2007
By HOLLY IN CINCINNATI, Copy Editor
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TMV Co-Blogger Michael vdG will ask me questions on his own blog and I will answer them here as time permits.
Michael begins by asking me what Jews believe about an Afterlife. My best answer is, it depends!
When I was a child, this was not a topic we discussed at synagogue. Actually, I grew up Classic Reform and we called our house of worship “Temple” rather than “synagogue.” Here’s the synagogue I grew up with in Toledo Ohio USA, known then as The Collingwood Avenue Temple and known today as The Temple Congregation Shomer Emunim. Shomer Emunim (Guardian of the Faithful) was our Hebrew name back then but we didn’t use it. Reform Judaism has changed so much since my childhood that Classic Reform Judaism really no longer exists.
Here’s how I answered Michael earlier today by email:
I do good deeds in memory of my late father - that’s enough of an afterlife for me, although I can handle the the idea of becoming a part of the Mind of God (no self-awareness). I don’t believe in or expect an afterlife but would rather be buried in my current synagogue’s cemetery. I’d be in good company!
I recommend the book: What Happens After I Die? Jewish Views of Life After Death by Rifat Sonsino and Daniel B. Syme, Paperback, $12.95, URJ Press Item 571201 which
Offers a wide spectrum of Jewish responses to the question of life after death. Classical answers are drawn from traditional Jewish literature. Modern Jewish thinkers, from all denominations in the Jewish community, add their personal notions of life after death.
Some Other Books I Haven’t Read Yet:
Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel: The Ultimate Victory of
the God of Life By Jon D. Levenson, Yale University Press, 274 pages, $40. REVIEW in The Forward.
The Death of Death: Resurrection and Immortality in Jewish Thought by Neil Gillman, Jewish Lights.
Does death end life, or is it the passage from one stage of life to another? In The Death of Death, noted theologian Neil Gillman offers readers an original and compelling argument that Judaism, a religion often thought to pay little attention to the afterlife, not only presents us with rich ideas on this subject—but delivers a deathblow to death itself. Combining astute scholarship with keen historical, theological and liturgical insights, Gillman outlines the evolution of Jewish thought about bodily resurrection and spiritual immortality. Beginning with the near-silence of the Bible on the afterlife, he traces the development of these two doctrines through Jewish history. He also describes why today, somewhat surprisingly, more contemporary Jewish scholars—including Gillman—have unabashedly reaffirmed the notion of bodily resurrection.
Beyond the Ashes: Cases of Reincarnation from the Holocaust by Rabbi Yonassan Gershom
Of course, the medieval sage Maimonides’ 13th Principle of Faith reads
13. I believe with perfect faith that the dead will be brought back to life when G-d wills it to happen.
but some question whether Maimonides, who was a great rationalist, really believed that. Maimonides is also referred as the Rambam and Rabbi Moses ben Maimon.
Anyway, some believe in reincarnation and others believe in resurrection but most believe that after death we live on in our good deeds and, if we have them, children.
An afterlife is not nearly as important in Judaism as it is in Christianity. The ancient Egyptians (from whom we fled in the Exodus) were obsessed with Death - we Jews are focused on Life.
This entry was posted on Sunday, May 27th, 2007 at 1:08 pm and is filed under Death, Judaism, Religion. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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