CONTENTS

Is That All There Is?
No, Says Judaism

L

os Angeles —Some
time ago, I attended a
funeral at which a
prominent rabbi officiated.
To probably everyone pres-
ent, there was nothing
unusual; the service was
traditional Conservative
and the rabbi's remarks
about the deceased were
moving.
Then at the grave site, the
rabbi spoke about Judaism's
attitude toward death.
"Judaism does not believe in
a life after death," the rabbi
said. "Rather, we live on in
the good works we do and in
the memories of those we
leave behind." As this is

If there is nothing
after this life, then
the Nazis and the
Jewish children
they threw alive
into Auschwitz
furnaces have
identical fates.

what most contemporary
Jews believe, few people at
the funeral would have
found reason to take particu-
lar notice of these remarks.
But I was furious. The
rabbi had told Jews, at a
moment when they were
most impressionable, a pro-
found untruth. Any Jew who
says that Judaism does not
believe in reality beyond
death is offering his own, not
Judaism's beliefs.
Now there is nothing
wrong with a rabbi or any
Jew offering his own views.
Having some non-traditional
views myself, I certainly can
respect views that differ
from the tradition.
But simple intellectual
honesty demands that
whenever a Jew represents
Judaism, it is made clear
that the views espoused dif-
fer from that of thousands of
years and Judaism.
As regards a hereafter,
Judaism is not at all am-
bivalent. (See the 11th chap-
ter of the Talmudic Tractate
Sanhedrin, and Maimonides'
Thirteen Principles of
Faith.) And the entry under
"Afterlife" in the En-

Dennis Prager is the editor
of Ultimate Issues, where
this essay first appeared (c)
1989 Jewish Telegraphic A-
gency)

24

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DENNIS PRAGER

cyclopedia Judaica begins:
"Judaism has always main-
tained a belief in an after-
life."
Now, it is certainly true
that Judaism gives us no de-
tails about what happens af-
ter death. And it is equally
true that Judaism wants
Jews to preoccupy them-
selves with this world.
Our task, in the often
quoted words of the para-
graph after the prayer
Aleynu, is "To repair the
world under the rule of
God." This world. One of the
reasons that Judaism pro-
hibits a Kohen, a priest,
from coming into contact
with the dead — a prohibi-
tion that is, to the best of my
knowledge, unique among
the world's religions — is
that this world and life, not
the next world and death,
must be the priest's sanctify-
ing preoccupation.
But the Jewish affirmation
of this world in no way
implies that this is all there
is.
Jews who deny the exis-
tence of any reality beyond
this life are not only denying
a basic teaching of Judaism,
they are denying what is log-
ically axiomatic to God's ex-
istence.
Since Judaism, and all
monotheistic religion, is
predicated upon the exis-
tence of a God who is non-
physical and beyond nature,
who is just and loving, this
physical existence of ours, by
sheer logic, cannot be the
only reality. It defies logic to
hold that the non-physical
God would create a world
whose only reality is physi-
cal.
It is equally illogical that a
just and loving God would
create a world wherein the
sum total of the existence of
any of his creations would be
cruel suffering.
To state this case as stark-
ly as possible, if there is
nothing after this life, then
the Nazis and the Jewish
children they threw alive
into Auschwitz furnaces
have identical fates. If I be-
lieved such a thing, I would
either become an atheist or
hate this God who had cre-
ated such a cruelly absurd
universe. In either case, I
certainly would cease
leading a Jewish life.
There are yet other prob-
lems with believing that this
life is the only reality. Those
who hold this position are
likely to be led to one of
three negative conclusions
about life.
One is hedonism. If this
Continued on Page 14

CLOSE-UP

ONTENT

OPINION

PEOPLE

Celebration Of Life

92

JOEL REBIBO
A Holocaust survivor fulfills
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Torah.

ON CAMPUS

75

Classroom Dilemma

99

SUSAN WDMER-GLIEBE
Michigan colleges try to minimize
holiday problems for observant students.

DEPARTMENTS

26
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48
66
86

Notebook
Inside Washington
Community
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88
102
104
106
112
117
146

Travel
Lifestyles
Business
Engagements
Births
Single Life
Obituaries

CANDLELIGHTING

99

September 22, 1989 7:13 p.m.
Sabbath ends Sept. 23 8:30 p.m.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

7

