Resurrection & the Messianic Era | Why Create Us... If We All Die?

And when God created Adam and Eve, the truth is they were created to live forever. Death is an aftermarket addition to the entire story of creation. Creation is forever life. Belief in Tchiat Hametim it seems to concern an event that may not occur for a very very long time. So, the question now is why is belief in it so essential to our faith as Jews? And what practical relevance does it have for a Jew living today? Wow, that was long. I got distracted. I'm going to read it again. Just kidding. We'll start with the basic idea that first of all every every law and every truth in the Torah that have been given to us by God is is essential and eternal. And we don't have the right to dismiss any any truth that that are God's and that he chose to reveal to us. And so, since the Torah itself when when learned correctly uh testifies to the truth of of the resurrection of the dead Tchiat Hametim, so we are duty-bound to accept it. And not accepting it would include us in in in the groups of people that that that um put aside the laws and and truths of the Torah, heretics. We have no no we don't have the freedom to negate and reject a truth that Moshiach told us about. And he is of course all of the Torah comes through Moshiach. So, that's the basic idea of why it's so central and so important and why we must be aware of it. I think just as a side point, the fact that it's taking almost 6,000 years to see this happen, after so much time people forget things. Since it's been taking so long for this to happen, so that's why it's so important to be emphasized and stressed. Because had we have given up hope on Tchiat Hametzvah, so we would be giving not only hope up hope on on an important mitzvah, but the central idea that is the the ultimate purpose. Now, I want to address a a point a point and then from here I think we could appreciate and understand really really how important more, especially leading closer and closer to it happening God willing. What is what is more difficult for God to do so to speak? Nothing is really difficult, but from our perspective what can we say is more difficult for God? To create a life from from a nonexistence or to recreate something that was alive and to bring it back to life? So, the truth is it's a lot easier to bring back someone that was alive to life than to create a life from nothing. So, that's that's the bigger the bigger challenge is to create. Now, we believe that God created us from nothing. For some reason we're so attached to this physical world and the idea of death being so permanent that it's hard for us to truly embrace and face the fact that we will all be resurrected body and soul and that that is a such an intense idea for us that looks at death as so permanent that it's it's a big test of our faith. The harder it is to believe in something the bigger the reward is for believing in it. Add to the fact how long we've been living with this faith and not giving up on it makes this a tremendously meritorious mitzvah of ours that we hold on to believing in God no matter what that we will be resurrected and those that have passed will be resurrected and in fact that is the ultimate purpose. Let let's let's go back to the beginning of the story of creation when God created Adam and Eve. The truth is they were created to live forever. Death is an aftermarket addition to the entire story of creation. Creation is forever life. And it suits a God that's infinite and perfect to create something that is forever and perfect. And the ultimate life is a forever perfect life. It's only after the sin of Adam and Eve that death became a part of the story of life. Now, what would it mean if that death was a permanent death because God got so upset and say angry that he decided that I no longer want you to live forever, Adam and Eve. It would make no sense because God is perfect and the foundation of creation is is a forever unconditional perfect love. And since Adam and Eve were brought into existence and us together with all of humanity in this entire world, we're brought into existence solely because God decided that he wanted to love. That love is infinite, forever, perfect, and unconditional in its in its highest level. It is channeled through this concept of reward and punishment, but it's in its source, in its origin, it is an absolute 100% infinite unbound love. And that is what Adam and Eve were created with, that love. And the entire world, the foundation of this entire world is that love every moment. And so death is only a part of a process of rectification. Death is a way for us to fix the damage and blemish in the world. And so And death is a temporary thing. What do you say about T'chiyas HaMeisim? So, we know that the Rambam has 13 principles of faith, and the 13th, last one, is the belief in T'chiyas HaMeisim, the resurrection of the dead. And the question is, again, very short, what is so important about T'chiyas HaMeisim? Especially in light of the fact that it's not going to occur for many, many years. Let's say I don't believe in it. Why is that so important and so relevant and so fundamental to me living as a day-to-day Jew? So, of course, we know the res- resurrection of the dead is the ideal that righteous Jewish souls will come back in the end of time and live in a perfect existence. But really, that's not the full story. Because T'chiyas HaMeisim is a central ideal and a central principle, a central concept in the real in creation of the world. Hashem created an entire world, an entire existence. Many, many things over many, many years. People, animals, time, rocks and trees. And the mission in the end of others says that everything in this world was created for the glory of God. And God created everything to glorify him with a potential. Every human being has its potential. Every moment has its full potential. And God created that potential into existence. Now, what does it mean when a person doesn't live to his potential? What does it mean when a moment of time is not being lived to its potential? What does that mean? Does that mean that God wasted it? Does that mean that God created something that was wasted? Does that mean that God put a reality in the world that really didn't come to its fullest? How could that be? How is that possible? Especially that he created it really to honor him and for his glory. So, what happens to that? So, we are told by the cabalists and the great rabbis over many years that really in the end of the day every existence will reach potential. Everything in this world that God created will in the end come to its fullest potential that God created it, its full capacity that God had in mind for it to do. All of energy, all of matter, everything, every human being. But really all of creation will ultimately come to its full potential. We in our lives are just living in the beginning of a story. Part one. Now, we look at it and we're very focused and hyper-focused on this act in this scene because we're alive now. And then we see, sadly, people die and it's as if it's over. But we know that there's a world after this. Where there's going to be the world of of of of justice, the world where you get you get reward for your good deeds and you get punished for your bad deeds. But apparently, that's not the end. Because there's Olam Haba. There's Yom Shekulo Shabbat. There are many worlds and many existences that are going to happen after this world. And somehow in that process, everything is going to come to its full potential. And this is really the idea of Techiyas HaMeisim. That any moment in life, any person who we deem is dead, Meisim, dead, he killed the time. He killed his ability. He killed his potential. He killed what what could have been. That's not exactly true. It's true for our life. And it's true for the existence we're in right now. And we have to live every moment to its fullest. I'll explain why in a minute. But in the end of the day, there will be a Techiyah. There will be a resurrection. There will come a time and place in this world that everything will come to its full potential. And that will happen through the grace of God. And through the purpose. That is the entire purpose of this world. Otherwise, why did he create it? Now, why do we have to live in this world in the in the best way possible? Because it's best to do the best you can in the beginning. Because who knows what the Who knows what other processes have to happen if you mess up in this world? Who knows what's going to be in the end? God created us and he wants us to do our best. And he gave us mitzvahs and he gave us commandments. And he expects us to do what we're meant to do. And we try our best. And it'll be good for us to do the best can. And God doesn't waste our time and doesn't direct us in the wrong way. All the mitzvahs will lead us to good. And staying away from sin will lead us to even better. But we should know, and we have to live with this fundamental truth, that in the end of the day, it's not all lost. In the end of the day, we do the best we can. But in the end of the day, everything will come to its purpose. And there will be a resurrection of every single dead moment, dead potential, dead ideal that will all come to its full glory. And that is in the end of the day to glorify Hashem's name in the way that he intended. >> Let's look at another aspect of this and then it will all I think really will look so much appreciate this even more. Body and soul seemingly are two separate creations. A soul is spiritual and a body is physical. So we have two opposite types of beings that God decides to put together in a as like I call it a couple into a body and soul that function together in this world. A soul comes from the the heavenly world and the body comes from earth. The truth is according to Pirkei De Rabbi Eliezer, a great great great deep book from one of the greatest sages, according to more mystical and spiritual ideas, both body and soul both have their origin in the higher spiritual realms. It's just that body was sent to earth and after the sin became blemished and the soul remains more spiritual and more pure, but the the odd couple combination of body and soul is in order to bring back body and soul together in a love and unity that was what it was meant to be from the beginning. And so look at what happens after a person lives their life. After after 70, 80, 100 years person dies and the body is buried in the earth. And the soul goes to Gan Eden ultimately. And so the soul is in this wonderful place, we'll call it a a world of pleasure and bliss and and and it's unbelievable. The soul is in a great place and it's having a great time, but it's not a perfect experience. Why? Imagine two partners in life, husband and wife that spent their entire lives together becoming such developing a oneness to such a degree that that separating would be like tearing one thing apart. Imagine tearing a one thing into two. Body and soul after 70, 80 years in this world form an unbelievable oneness connection through the way the Torah and the mitzvahs, serving Hashem, the bond is is infinite. It's It's It's a oneness. They literally become one. And then at the end of this entire wonderful life, BODY AND SOUL ARE TORN APART. Body is buried in the earth and the soul is in the wonderful five-star resort in heaven. That cannot be the end of the story. What kind of loyalty is that? What kind of payback is that for a loyal body that was the house and the vessel and vehicle that the soul did everything it could do? Without a body, a soul can't do anything. Without a soul, a body can't do anything. The ultimate partnership of body and soul is also meant to represent this beautiful love relationship between a husband and wife and it should be a forever love. And therefore, it has to be that ultimately the end of this is body and soul coming back together to live together in the perfect state that we were meant to attain after 6,000 years of the hard work that we've been through, the Jewish nation as a as a whole and each individual. There's not a day that goes by that I don't suffer, that you don't suffer, that we all don't suffer. And all the people alive today and all the people alive from day one, the amount of hard work and suffering that we've invested into our world to come is is is just an indication of how unbelievable it's going to be because love is greater than God's punishment. God's love is infinite and and God's punishment is only a means to an end. And so, everything we've been working for and working towards is this unbelievable amazing unity and oneness, us body and soul and and and body and soul together with God in a perfect, infinite, eternal world. And so, not knowing what we're here for and why we're suffering and why we're working so hard and why we They given up would be just like a blind person being strolled through the streets not even understanding where he is and what he's doing and why he's doing it. And so of course we have to believe and live with this and hold on to it because this is what we're living for. This is what we're serving Hashem for. To fulfill his ultimate ratzon and will to to give us and bring us to this perfect world.