Class 1 - The Final Waiting Room

Onkelos bar Kalonikos...wanted to convert to Judaism. He went and raised Titus from the grave through necromancy, and said to him: Who is most important in that world where you are now? Titus said to him: The Jewish people...Onkelos then went and raised Balaam from the grave through necromancy. He said to him: Who is most important in that world where you are now? Balaam said to him: The Jewish people...Onkelos then went and raised Jesus the Nazarene from the grave through necromancy. Onkelos said to him: Who is most important in that world where you are now? Jesus said to him: The Jewish people...

(17) You have affirmed this day that ה׳ is your God, in whose ways you will walk, whose laws and commandments and rules you will observe, and whom you will obey. (18) And ה׳ has affirmed this day that you are, as promised, God’s treasured people who shall observe all the divine commandments,

(16) Rabbi Jacob said: this world is like a vestibule before the world to come; prepare yourself in the vestibule, so that you may enter the banqueting-hall.
(17) He used to say: more precious is one hour in repentance and good deeds in this world, than all the life of the world to come; And more precious is one hour of the tranquility of the world to come, than all the life of this world.

...The following are the things for which a man enjoys the fruits in this world while the principal remains for him in the world to come: Honoring one’s father and mother; The performance of righteous deeds; And the making of peace between a person and his friend; And the study of the torah is equal to them all.

(Hillel) used to say...If one acquires for himself knowledge of Torah, he has acquired life in the world to come.

...Rabbi Nehorai says: I set aside all the trades in the world, and I teach my son only Torah, as a person partakes of its reward in this world and the principal reward remains for him in the World-to-Come, which is not true of other professions, whose rewards are only in this world. Furthermore, if a person comes to be ill, or old, or undergoes suffering, and is unable to be involved in his trade, behold, he dies in hunger. But with regard to the Torah it is not so, since one can study it under all circumstances. Rather, it preserves him from all evil and sin in his youth, and provides him with a future and hope in his old age...

If one finds his lost item and his father’s lost item, tending to his own lost item takes precedence. Similarly, if one finds his lost item and his teacher’s lost item, tending to his own lost item takes precedence. If one finds his father’s lost item and his teacher’s lost item, tending to his teacher’s lost item takes precedence, as his father brought him into this world, and his teacher, who taught him the wisdom of Torah, brings him to life in the World-to-Come. And if his father is a Torah scholar, then his father’s lost item takes precedence. If his father and his teacher were each carrying a burden and he wants to assist them in putting down their burdens, he first places his teacher’s burden down and thereafter places his father’s burden down. If his father and his teacher were in captivity, he first redeems his teacher and thereafter redeems his father. And if his father is a Torah scholar, he first redeems his father and thereafter redeems his teacher.

Whoever possesses these three things, he is of the disciples of Abraham, our father; and [whoever possesses] three other things, he is of the disciples of Balaam, the wicked. A good eye, a humble spirit and a moderate appetite he is of the disciples of Abraham, our father. An evil eye, a haughty spirit and a limitless appetite he is of the disciples of Balaam, the wicked. What is the difference between the disciples of Abraham, our father, and the disciples of Balaam, the wicked? The disciples of Abraham, our father, enjoy this world, and inherit the world to come, as it is said: “I will endow those who love me with substance, I will fill their treasuries” (Proverbs 8:21). But the disciples of Balaam, the wicked, inherit Gehinnom, and descend into the nethermost pit, as it is said: “For you, O God, will bring them down to the nethermost pit those murderous and treacherous men; they shall not live out half their days; but I trust in You” (Psalms 55:24).

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: In the world to come the Holy One, Blessed be He, will make each righteous person inherit three hundred and ten worlds, for it is written: "That I may cause those that love me to inherit yesh (numerical value of; and that I may fill their treasuries" (Proverbs 8:21)...

Thus said GOD of Hosts: The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth month, the fast of the seventh month, and the fast of the tenth month shall become occasions for joy and gladness, happy festivals for the House of Judah; but you must love honesty and integrity.

Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,All you who love her!Join in her jubilation,All you who mourned over her—

When the condemned man is at a distance of about ten cubits from the place of stoning, they say to him: Confess your transgressions, as the way of all who are being executed is to confess. As whoever confesses and regrets his transgressions has a portion in the World-to-Come...And from where is it derived that Achan’s confession achieved atonement for him? It is derived from here, as it is stated: “And Joshua said: Why have you brought trouble on us? The Lord shall trouble you this day” (Joshua 7:25). Joshua said to Achan as follows: On this day of your judgment you are troubled, but you will not be troubled in the World-to-Come...

Ben Zoma said...Who is rich? He who rejoices in his lot, as it is said: “You shall enjoy the fruit of your labors, you shall be happy and you shall prosper” (Psalms 128:2) “You shall be happy” in this world, “and you shall prosper” in the world to come...

(1) All of the Jewish people, even sinners and those who are liable to be executed with a court-imposed death penalty, have a share in the World-to-Come, as it is stated: “And your people also shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land forever; the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, for My name to be glorified” (Isaiah 60:21). And these are the exceptions, the people who have no share in the World-to-Come, even when they fulfilled many mitzvot: One who says: There is no resurrection of the dead derived from the Torah, and one who says: The Torah did not originate from Heaven, and an epikoros, who treats Torah scholars and the Torah that they teach with contempt. Rabbi Akiva says: Also included in the exceptions are one who reads external literature, and one who whispers invocations over a wound and says as an invocation for healing: “Every illness that I placed upon Egypt I will not place upon you, for I am the Lord, your Healer” (Exodus 15:26). By doing so, he shows contempt for the sanctity of the name of God and therefore has no share in the World-to-Come. Abba Shaul says: Also included in the exceptions is one who pronounces the ineffable name of God as it is written, with its letters.(2) Three prominent kings mentioned in the Bible and four prominent commoners who are described in the Bible as men of great wisdom have no share in the World-to-Come. The three kings are: Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and Ahab, both of whom were kings of Israel, and Manasseh, king of Judea...
The four commoners are: Balaam, son of Beor; Doeg the Edomite; Ahithophel; and Gehazi.(3) The members of the generation of the flood have no share in the World-to-Come...The members of the generation of the dispersion have no share in the World-to-Come...The people of Sodom have no share in the World-to-Come...The spies who spread an evil report of their visit to Canaan have no share in the World-to-Come...The members of the generation of the wilderness have no share in the World-to-Come...(4) The residents of an idolatrous city have no share in the World-to-Come...

Rabbi Elazar of Modiin said: one who profanes sacred things, and one who despises the festivals, and one who causes his fellow’s face to blush in public, and one who annuls the covenant of our father Abraham, may he rest in peace, and he who is contemptuous towards the Torah, even though he has to his credit [knowledge of the] Torah and good deeds, he has not a share in the world to come.

...Rabbi Akiba said...the whole world is not as worthy as the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel; for all the writings are holy but the Song of Songs is the holy of holies...

(1) The wicked sons of Israel have no portion in the world to come, nor will they live in the world to come, as it is said (Malachi 3:19), for behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, etc. The words of Rabban Gamaliel, Rabbi Yehoshua, says, "They are not for the world to come." And further on, he says (Psalms 157:6), "The Lord is the protector of the foolish," etc. And further on, he says (Daniel 4): "Grow up, O tree, and prune its branches, but the main part of its roots is in the valley of the fire." Rabban Gamaliel said, "What am I doing?" (Malachi 3:19), who will not leave them root or branch. He said to him, "There is no place for the commandments and the songs of commandments for them and their fathers in the world, something else. The root is the soul, and the branch is the body. And the sons of the wicked idolaters will not live, nor will they be judged." The Lord says, "All the wicked idolaters have no portion in the world to come." As it is said (Psalms 9:18), "The wicked will return to ask her, all the nations that have forgotten God, the wicked will return to ask her." Rabbi Yehoshua said to him, "The wicked of Israel, all the nations, have forgotten God. These are the wicked of idolaters." If the Scripture had said, "The wicked will return to ask her, all the nations," and he remained silent, he would have said as you say, "These are the wicked of Israel and the wicked of idolaters." Now, when the Scripture said, "Forget God," are there any righteous people among the idolaters who have a share in the world to come? The House of Shammai says, "There are three sects: one for the life of the world to come, and one for disgrace and eternal shame. One for eternal life. These are the completely righteous, one for disgrace and eternal shame. These are the completely wicked, equal in that they go down to Gehenna and whine and come up and are healed, as it is said (Zechariah 13:9), "And I brought the third into the fire," etc., and about them Hannah said (1 Samuel 2:6), "The Lord kills and makes alive." And the House of Hillel says (Exodus 34), "And the Lord is very gracious toward me, and about them he says (Psalms 157:1). I loved that it would be heard, because it is about them that the entire section is said: The criminals of Israel in their bodies and the criminals of idolaters in their bodies. They will descend into their hell and be judged there for twelve months, their souls consumed and their bodies burned, and hell will spew them out and they will become ashes, and the wind will scatter them and scatter them, and you will become ashes under the feet of the righteous, as it is said (Malachi 3:21). And the wicked will be crushed because they will be ashes [and so on]. But the traditions, the heretics, and the disbelievers in the Torah, who deviate from the ways of the people, and who do not believe in the resurrection of the dead, and everyone who sinned and caused the multitudes to sin, such as Jeroboam and Ahab, and who changed their lives in the land of the living, and who spread their hands in dung, their hell will be closed before them, and they will be judged there for generations to come, as it is said (Isaiah 66:24). And they will go out and see the corpses of the people, etc., and the grave will be consumed, and they are not vessels, as it is said (Psalms 49:15), and their grief will be for the destruction of the grave, and who caused them to spread their hands in dung, as it is said (I Kings 1:11). 8:13) Son, I have built you a house of dung. The generation of the flood have no part in the world to come, and they shall not live in the world to come, as it is said (Genesis 9). And He wiped out the entire universe, etc., of the heavens in this world, and wiped them from the earth in the world to come. Rabbi Yehuda ben Batira says (Genesis 6:3) And He said, "My Spirit shall not judge man, nor shall My Spirit judge them, nor shall My Spirit judge them in any other world." And He said, "The place says, "I do not return My Spirit to judge." Rabbi Menachem son of Rabbi Yosi says, "They shall not judge." The place says, "I do not judge when I pay wages to the righteous. But the spirit of the wicked is harder for them than anything else, as it is said (Isaiah 33:11). "Your spirit shall be consumed by fire. The generation of the tower, they have no part in the world to come, and they shall not live in the world to come," as it is said (Genesis 11:4). And the Lord scattered them from there over the face of all the earth in this world, and they ceased to build for the world to come. The people of Sodom have no part in the world to come, and they shall not live in the world to come, as it is said (Genesis 13:13). And the people of Sodom, the wicked and sinners, etc., in this world, are very much to the Lord in the world to come. They speak evil of each other, each against his fellow, and sinners in fornication, are very much to the Lord in shedding blood, spies, they have no part in the world to come, and they do not enter the land, as it is said (Numbers 14:23-24). And all the wicked will not see it, nor will their congregation, they have no part in the world to come, and they will not live in the world to come, as it is said (Numbers 16:33). And the earth will cover them, etc., in this world, and they will perish from among the congregation in the world to come. The words of Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Yehuda ben Batira, say, "They are not, and about them he says (Psalms 119:16), "I erred when I was lost, etc. It is said here, "A loss," and it is said below, "A loss." What is a loss? What is a loss? What is a loss? What is a loss? What is a loss? What is a loss? What is a loss? What is a loss? What is a loss? The generation of the wilderness, they have no part in the world to come, as it is said (Numbers 14:2). In this wilderness, they will be orphaned in this world, and there they will die, as it is said (Psalms 119:16). 25:11) Which I have sworn by my name, etc., the words of Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Eliezer says, "In their absence, and concerning them he says (Psalms 50:5) Gather my saints to me, etc. What is the Talmud to say, "In their absence, I have sworn, and I will return to myself?" Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha says, "These words were not spoken but concerning generations, gather all my saints to me, because they performed acts of kindness for me, and made my covenant, because they were cut off by Eli, a sacrifice, because they were slain by me and sacrificed by Rabbi Shimon ben Nanas." He says, "In their absence, and concerning them he says (Isaiah 51:11) And the redeemed of the Lord shall return, etc. The ten tribes have no portion in the world to come, and they are not their life in the world to come, as it is said (Deuteronomy 29:27) And the Lord will cast them out of their land in anger, in wrath, and in great fury in this world, and will cast them into another land in the world to come." Rabbi Shimon ben Nanas, from there, Rabbi Yehuda, a man from Kfar Ikhus, from this day onward, if their deeds in this day are not like this day. In the absence of or not in the absence of, and our masters said that these and those have a portion in the world to come, as it is said (Isaiah 27:13). And it shall come to pass in that day that a great trumpet shall be blown, and they that are lost in the land of Assyria shall come, and the Assyrians, these are the ten tribes, and they that were cast out in the land of Egypt, these are the generation of the wilderness, these and those, and they shall worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

(13) And in that day, a great ram’s horn shall be sounded; and the strayed who are in the land of Assyria and the expelled who are in the land of Egypt shall come and worship GOD on the holy mount, in Jerusalem.