Hope — the world to come, the Messiah and the resurrection · The essentials of Judaism

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Judaism is a faith of hope. Jews believe that history is going somewhere: that one day God's kingdom will be recognised by all the world, that a descendant of King David, the Messiah (Mashiach, "anointed one"), will bring an age of peace, justice and knowledge of God, and that the dead will be raised to life. Jews also believe in the world to come (olam ha-ba), where the soul lives on with God. But Judaism is far more concerned with this world, and with living well in it, than with describing the next. The Mishnah compares this world to a corridor before the world to come: prepare yourself in the corridor, so that you may enter the hall (paraphrased; Mishnah, Avot 4:16).

What it is and how it's lived

Thirteen principles, three hopes

Maimonides' Thirteen Principles end with three about the future (paraphrased; Commentary on the Mishnah, Sanhedrin 10):

11. Reward and punishment: God rewards those who keep the commandments and holds accountable those who break them.
12. The Messiah: as the Ani Ma'amin puts it, though he may delay, I wait for him every day.
13. The resurrection of the dead.

The Messiah

The Hebrew Bible does not use "Messiah" as a title, but the prophets describe a king from David's line, filled with God's spirit, who will judge the poor with righteousness, and an age when:

"They shall not hurt nor destroy In all My holy mountain; For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:9, JPS 1917)

Maimonides wrote that the Messiah will be a human being, a descendant of David, who will lead the people in the Torah, gather the exiles, rebuild the Temple and bring peace; the world will continue in its natural way, but the whole world will turn to serve God together (paraphrased; Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings 11–12). He also warned against calculating the date. In the meantime, every daily Amidah prayer asks for the coming of the "branch of David".

Jews do not believe the Messiah has yet come, because the world is not yet at peace and the prophets' promises are not yet fulfilled. Every Saturday night, as Shabbat ends, families sing to Elijah the prophet (Eliyahu ha-Navi), whom the prophet Malachi says will come before "the great and terrible day of the LORD" (Malachi 3:23). At the Passover seder a cup of wine is poured for Elijah and the door is opened for him.

Resurrection

The second blessing of the Amidah, said three times every day, praises God "who revives the dead" (mechayeh ha-metim). The Mishnah counts belief in the resurrection among the basics of the faith (paraphrased; Mishnah, Sanhedrin 10:1). The clearest biblical verse is in Daniel:

"And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence." (Daniel 12:2, JPS 1917)

and Ezekiel's vision of a valley of dry bones that come to life:

"Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O My people" (Ezekiel 37:12, JPS 1917)

The world to come

The Mishnah teaches that all Israel have a share in the world to come (paraphrased; Mishnah, Sanhedrin 10:1), and the righteous of all nations share in it too (paraphrased; Tosefta Sanhedrin 13:2). Jewish tradition speaks of Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden, paradise) and of Gehinnom, a place of purification that for most souls lasts no more than twelve months (paraphrased; Mishnah, Eduyot 2:10); this is one reason a mourner says Kaddish for eleven months, not twelve. The Talmud admits the limits of what can be known: no eye has seen what God has prepared (paraphrased; Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 34b, on Isaiah 64:3).

Its inner meaning

The hope is not to escape the world but to repair it. Jews speak of tikkun olam, "repairing the world", a phrase from the Aleinu prayer, which hopes "to perfect the world under the kingdom of the Almighty". Every act of justice and kindness brings the messianic age closer.

A famous teaching says that if you are holding a sapling and someone tells you the Messiah has come, first plant the sapling, then go out to greet him (paraphrased; Avot de-Rabbi Natan B 31).

Key texts

"And He shall judge between the nations, And shall decide for many peoples; And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruninghooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war any more." (Isaiah 2:4, JPS 1917)

Hebrew (Isaiah 2:4, closing words):

לֹא־יִשָּׂא גוֹי אֶל־גּוֹי חֶרֶב וְלֹא־יִלְמְדוּ עוֹד מִלְחָמָה

"But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; And none shall make them afraid" (Micah 4:4, JPS 1917)

"And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, And the leopard shall lie down with the kid" (Isaiah 11:6, JPS 1917)

"And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers" (Malachi 3:24, JPS 1917)

Common misunderstandings, answered gently

"Jews don't believe in life after death." Classical Judaism teaches the immortality of the soul, the world to come and the resurrection of the dead. It simply speaks about them with reserve, and puts the weight on how we live now.
"Jews are waiting for a supernatural saviour." In Maimonides' account the Messiah is a human leader, and the messianic age is recognised by what it brings: peace, justice and the knowledge of God.
"Hell is eternal punishment." Mainstream rabbinic teaching describes Gehinnom as a limited time of cleansing, not endless torment.

Across the movements

Orthodox Jews hold to a personal Messiah and the bodily resurrection, as in the traditional Amidah. Masorti prayer books keep "who revives the dead", often understood in more than one way. Reform and Liberal Judaism generally speak of a messianic age brought about by human and divine partnership rather than a personal Messiah, and many Progressive prayer books say God "gives life to all" (mechayeh ha-kol).

Reflection

If you were holding a sapling when the great news came, would you plant it first? What "sapling" are you holding now?

In the other traditions

Christianity: Christians believe Jesus is the Messiah (Christ, "anointed one"), that he rose from the dead, and that he will come again; they too look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come, as the Nicene Creed says.
Islam: belief in the Last Day is one of the six articles of faith: Muslims believe in resurrection, judgement with justice and mercy, and Paradise; they also await the return of Jesus ('Isa) as Messiah (al-Masih) before the end.

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