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Be Here Now
The afterlife is central to Jewish thought, and living a righteous,
loving life will pave the way.
JULIE EDGAR
News Editor
ar fewer Jews than gentiles
believe in the notion of an
afterlife.
Yet, the Torah makes ref-
erence to the survival of the spirit
(ruach) after the death of the body, to
Heaven and Hell, and to the idea of
reincarnation, said Rabbi Shmuel Irons,
who delivered a lecture Tuesday
evening on "How To Prepare for the
Afterlife."
And despite adherence to "secular
religions" like socialism and commu-
nism and the widely-accepted Darwin-
ian view that life derives from the elec-
trical impulses in our brains, he said,
Using secular texts that contain
accounts of people who had "near-
death experiences" and references
from the Torah, Zohar and Talmud,
Irons said many people have reported
similar visions when they experienced
a brief death, among them the
reunion with the spirits of departed
relatives. Some say their lives flash
before them and they experience a
sense of deep shame for their wrong-
doings.
Others interviewed by doctors
report seeing "angels," and one psychia-
trist wrote a book (Many Lives, Many
Masters) based on claims by a patient
that she had led many past lives and
that "masters" lead the way from life to
life.
the reason we're back is to perfect our-
selves," he said. The Vilna Gaon, still
considered one of the foremost rab-
binic authorities, interpreted an argu-
ment in Talmud between two different
schools of thought to mean that one
must take stock of his actions and
behavior "because, in all probability,
that is what you are here to correct,"
he said.
Hell, or Gehinnom, he noted, is a
Jewish belief, although polls — the
same ones that showed Jews do not
generally believe in the afterlife —
show Jews don't believe in the idea.
Some souls hover between Heaven
and Hell, wandering the earth until
they find other bodies to occupy, he
said.
Making his way back to books by
Dr. Raymond Moody (Reflections On
Lift After Lift), Dr. Ian Stevenson
(Where Reincarnation and Biology
Intersect) and Dr. Brian Weiss, who
wrote Many Lives, Many Masters, Irons
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Rabbi Shmuel Irons: Helping people to improve themselves.
scientists have concluded there is life
after death.
Irons' talk, at the Kahn Jewish Com-
munity Center in West Bloomfield,
drew close to 200 people. It was the
18th in his series of lectures on self-
improvement, some of which have
drawn close to 600 people, according
to Mindy Soble, producer of the series.
"It's the biggest Torah class in
Detroit," she said.
Irons, who authored a series of tapes
on Jewish history titled "Epic of the
Eternal People," is co-founder and dean
of the Kollel Institute in Oak Park.
The Zohar, a series of kabbalistic
books that contain midrashim, homi-
lies and discussions of Torah, supports
these empirical accounts, noting that
when a person dies, he is met by
deceased relatives who escort him to
his new place. A central tenet of
Judaism is that we are judged by our
actions and behavior.
One reason for the Jewish tradition
of quick burial, Irons noted, is so the
soul can be incarnated in another
body, although not everybody is rein-
carnated, he said.
"The teachings of Judaism believe
said people who reported near-death
experiences all came back to say the
most important part of living is loving
and giving. They also had been privy
to a realm where all knowledge was as
one. .
Preparing for the afterlife means
realizing there is such a thing as the
afterlife, he noted. Purifying oneself
through the study of Torah and
through prayer and kindness toward
others are the pathways to benevolent
judgement by a higher authority.
"Ultimately, you are not going to
grow until you-open your mind and
start reading and studying," Irons
said. "Every instant is precious."
Two members of the audience, Art
and Sheila Schussler, called Irons
insp i r i ng. "
"His wisdom and his knowledge are
such that I would personally compare
him to Rabbi Schneerson, may he rest
in peace, or the Vilna Gaon, may he
rest in peace," Mr. Schussler said. ❑
"