Sin death and beyond
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SIN, DEATH AND BEYOND: M.M.NINAN<br />
The Torah indicates in several places that the righteous will be reunited with their loved ones<br />
after <strong>death</strong>, while the wicked will be excluded from this reunion.<br />
Gen. 25:8 (Abraham), 25:17 (Ishmael), 35:29 (Isaac), 49:33 (Jacob), Deut. 32:50 (Moses <strong>and</strong><br />
Aaron) II Kings 22:20 (King Josiah). are spoken as "gathered to their people." This gathering<br />
is described as a separate event from the physical <strong>death</strong> of the body or the burial, indicative of<br />
a divine realm where the righteous are united together. For those who are anti-social <strong>and</strong><br />
commits unforgivable sin are said to be "cut off from his people." Gen. 17:14 (uncircumcised<br />
man) <strong>and</strong> Ex. 31:14 (who violates sabbath). This punishment is referred to as kareit (kah-<br />
REHYT) which literally means, "cutting off," translated as "spiritual excision", <strong>and</strong> it means that<br />
the soul loses its portion in the World to Come.<br />
The philosophical implication of life after <strong>death</strong> evolved only after the return from exile. Before<br />
the Exile, the Hebrews believed that the soul after <strong>death</strong> went to a house of dust which they<br />
called "Sheol," to abide for a brief time before fading completely from existence. This belief<br />
was identical to all other Semitic versions of the afterlife. Therefore, Hebraism was primarily a<br />
this-world religion before the Exile. It was the exile period that formed the later concepts of<br />
Judaism.<br />
The Persians where the Jews lived during the exile assimilated many of the Zoroatrian beliefs.<br />
contact with Zoroastrian monotheism influenced Jewish monotheism. They believed that the<br />
souls of the good would reunite with the principle of good in eternal bliss; the souls of the evil<br />
would reunite with the principle evil to suffer until the final defeat of evil. This was necessary to<br />
explain the cosmic justice. One of the words for "heaven" in the Bible is Paradise - <strong>and</strong> this<br />
word, from the ancient Iranian words pairi-daeza, "enclosed garden," is one of the very few<br />
definite Persian loan-words in the Bible.<br />
A clear statement of resurrection <strong>and</strong> after life can be seen in Dan. 12:2<br />
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