QUESTION If a Jew keeps the mitzvos and he learns Torah but he doesn’t change internally (as many people are familiar with), will he not get any reward in Olam HaBa (the Next World), since he never changed his pnimiyus and he remained with all of his material desires?
ANSWER There are always inner changes and growth that a Jew will gain, just by keeping mitzvos and learning Torah [even if he doesn’t try to have any inner, spiritual growth]. They might be very minimal changes, or even very tiny changes. Even with the smallest changes that a Jew gains merely from keeping mitzvos and learning Torah earns him reward in the Next World. It is possible that there were some areas of his character which didn’t go through any change at all, and there also may be areas where his character became worse on this world, and there may be other areas of his character will changed for the better. Any good changes of character which a Jew gained on this world become transformed into his reward in the Next World, from the seventh century and onward. However, in Gan Eden, reward is given also for any actions that are done even if a person didn’t go through any changes because of them.
