One of the principles of the Jewish faith delineated by the great rabbi and philosopher Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) is the belief in “life after life” — that is, that even after a person’s passing the soul continues to live on in a spiritual world.
Not only does the soul live on in a world apart from our own, but it is actually forever connected to the world in which it once lived.
This idea is, in essence, at the core of the common Jewish practice of saying the Kaddish prayer and the observance of the yahrzeit (anniversary of death) of the deceased.
The degree of the continued connection of the departed soul to our world is dependent on the positive spiritual effect it has had during its lifetime. For only the good and G-dly deeds — study of Torah and performance of mitzvahs, G-dly acts — are eternal.
Furthermore, the Zohar (the fundamental book of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism) states that truly righteous people, whose entire lives were devoted completely to the service of G-d, are not only connected but actually share in the experience of life in this world. They are aware of what’s going on here, they feel our pain and pray for us.
This principle is to be found in the commentary of Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzkhaki, 1040-1105) on the Torah portion Khukat (Numbers 19:1-22:1), which was read on the Shabbat of June 27-28, on the verse (Numbers 21:15) “and the Egyptians mistreated us and our patriarchs.”
Rashi comments that although our patriarchs were never physically mistreated in Egypt, “this teaches us that the ancestors feel the pain when tragedy befalls the Jewish people.” Similarly, our patriarchs join in the happiness that we experience.
On July 1, hundreds of communities throughout the world will mark the 20th yahrzeit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson (1902-1994), of righteous memory.
The phenomenon of the Rebbe’s life remarkably continues to grow and, indeed, is demonstrated 20 years later.
The Rebbe dedicated his life to find the good in the world; to elevate it to become more G-dly. In the words of the former United Kingdom chief rabbi, Jonathan Sachs, “The Rebbe has undertaken the most daring spiritual initiative ever… to unite heavens and earth.”
During his lifetime, the Rebbe witnessed the success of his work in bringing life to a shattered people rising from the ashes of the Holocaust. He filled them with hope, gave them direction and created programs, means and tools, to regain their spirit, their inner sense of purpose and pride, their essential Jewishness.
But his real effect, his vision of a renaissance for the entire spectrum of the Jewish people, has blossomed even more fully after his passing, continuing to gain momentum with every day.
From the time the Rebbe ascended to the leadership of the Chabad Lubavitch movement in 1951, he has called upon all rabbis, deans of schools, Jewish leaders and, indeed, every Jewish individual to join in the responsibility of reaching out and helping others claim their birthright, Torah Judaism.
During his lifetime, the Rebbe saw the seeds of his ideas begin to sprout. Now, 20 years later, there is hardly a Jewish group who has not adopted the Rebbe’s program. And the world stands in awe at the influence of his message, studying his teaching and guidance, awestruck by the unimagined growth of his plants.
His teachings, his life’s goal continue to live on, growing in strength and depth with the passage of time.
Let us all hope that the Rebbe’s vision of a perfect world will come to fruition. In the words of the prophet, quoted by Maimonides at the end of his magnum opus the Mishnah Torah, “and the world will be filled with the knowledge of G-d like water covers the ocean bed” with the coming of Moshiach (the Messiah) speedily in our days.
Rabbi Yisroel Shmotkin is executive director of Lubavitch of Wisconsin.
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