The preface to Pirkei Avot which is studied weekly between Pesach and Shavuot is a passage from a Mishnah in Tractate Sanhedrin: ‘Every Jew has a portion in the World to Come, Olam Haba’.
The meaning of the phrase ‘World to Come’ in this context is the time of the resurrection of the dead, as is shown by the continuation of the Mishnah: ‘and these are the people who do not get Olam Haba – those who deny that the Resurrection is hinted in the Torah’. The Talmud comments that this is ‘measure for measure’ – since this person denies the validity of the Resurrection, he is not resurrected.
The alternative meaning of Olam Haba is ‘the Garden of Eden’, Gan Eden, meaning the realm where the souls of the righteous ascend after leaving this world. The Rebbe explains that Gan Eden, even the lowest level of Gan Eden, is reserved for the righteous, while, as our initial quotation states, Olam Haba is open to every Jew.
Now this is intriguing, because the Divine revelation in the Resurrection is far higher than that of Gan Eden. Nonetheless, every Jew will experience the Resurrection but Gan Eden is reserved for the righteous. [One might have thought that a lower level of revelation (Gan Eden) would apply to everyone, and the higher level, Olam Haba, would be for the few. But in fact it is the other way round, and this raises a question, why should this be so.]
We will understand more by considering another aspect of Olam Haba – the souls will return to their physical bodies. The revelation of G-d to the souls in Gan Eden is specifically to the soul after it has left the body. [We generally understand this to be because the body cannot ‘take’ the intense revelation of the Divine in Gan Eden]. By contrast, the revelation of G-d in Olam Haba is specifically to souls which have returned to their bodies. It is true that the body as it is resurrected will be purified to an exceptional degree. Even so, a physical body is surely more limited than the soul, which is not physical. So why is it that the greater revelation of Olam Haba is specifically to souls which have returned to their bodies?
This is the Torah – a man
This verse means that Torah is like a person, and just as a person has a body and a soul, so too does the Torah. This refers to the Mitzvot of the Torah, which are described as ‘limbs of the King’, and are the ‘body’ of the Torah, while Torah teaching in itself is the ‘soul’. The relation that a person has to the Torah corresponds to this division: one’s body relates particularly to the Mitzvot, which are generally practical and carried out by the body, while the person’s soul relates to Torah study in itself.
Now it is known, that while Torah study is higher than the Mitzvot, in fact the root of the Mitzvot is higher than Torah study. Because Torah is the Wisdom of G-d, while the Mitzvot are the Will of G-d, [corresponding to Keter, higher than Wisdom].
Similarly with the body and soul of the person. Even though the soul keeps the body alive, the spiritual root of the body is higher than the soul. The love that G-d has towards the Jewish people as regards their souls is so to speak a ‘natural’ love, like the love of a father to his child. That means it is a love which relates to the specific quality of the soul.
But the love of G-d towards the body of the Jew is on a higher level. It comes from the fact that G-d chose the Jewish people to be His people, a choice which comes from the Essence of G-d, and which relates to the essence of the Jew, beyond any distinctions.
This corresponds to the idea that observance of the Mitzvot applies to every Jew, whatever his or her spiritual level, while Torah study depends on the nature and situation of the person. [Some people study Torah at almost every waking moment, others just a brief amount daily, or even less; some study profound depths of Torah, others only simple easily comprehensible teachings.] Further, we learn that even sinners of Israel are ‘as full of Mitzvot as a pomegranate is full of seeds’. But by contrast there are great differences in levels of Torah study.
This is why the revelation of Olam Haba applies to every Jew, and specifically when the souls are in their bodies. Because it is a revelation from the Essence, which relates to the Essence of the Jew, expressed in his or her body, rather than just the soul. Further, the revelation in Gan Eden relates to the Torah which a person has studied in the world, while the revelation in Olam Haba relates to the Mitzvot which they carried out [or could potentially have carried out].
This helps us understand the grandeur of the Torah teachings which will be revealed in the time of the future, of Moshiach and of Olam Haba, because this grandeur of Torah will be fed by the exalted power of the Mitzvot, which will then be revealed. (As is known, that when a person studies Torah in order to know what to do in practical fact, rather than just in theoretical terms, their understanding of Torah is much deeper.)
May it be that through our actions and service of G-d, especially in spreading the wellsprings, we should come very soon to actually learn the Torah of Moshiach, from the mouth of Moshiach, very soon!
