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In this week’s Torah portion of Shelach we find a discussion about one who worships idols intentionally, who cannot atone for his sin through an offering. If he was warned and nevertheless sinned in front of two witnesses in the days of the Sanhedrin and Beis Hamikdash, he can incur the death penalty of stoning. The pasuk addresses an idolater who either was not warned or two witnesses didn’t view his bad deed, where capital punishment may not be enforced rather the Torah says, “…that person will surely be cut off, his sin is upon him,” “הכרת תכרתו הנפש ההיא עונה בה” (Bamidbar 15:31).
The gemara in Sanhedrin 90b says the double language of being cut off means both from this world and The World To Come. Indeed, the gemara there says that this is one of the biblical sources for resurrection of the dead. (Click here for Hebrew text.)
The Chiddushei HaRa”n on this gemara explains that “The World To Come is only for those who will be resurrected because after the resurrection they will be elevated to gain pleasure from the shine of the Shechina, Holy Presence. This is what is meant in Brachos 17a that The World To Come does not have eating or drinking, rather the righteous will be sitting with crowns on their heads basking in the shine of the Holy Presence. This means to say that even though they will be alive in physical body and soul, they will still be able to live without eating or drinking, just like Moshe on the mountain (Devarim 9:9) and Eliyahu after he ascended to Heaven (Melachim Beis 2:11). And according to this The World To Come is a name given to the time period of the resurrection of the dead. This is the view of many Rishonim including the Yad Rama (Sanhedrin 90a), and the Ramban (Shaar HaGemul perek 3). But the Rambam (Hilchos Teshuva 8:2) holds that The World To Come is the name given to the world of souls after the body dies (again). This is an ancient argument based on firmly rooted Rabbis, Medrashim, and Aggadata that argue on each other.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
With this backdrop in mind we find earlier on in this Torah portion a description of the death sentence of the generation of desert, Dor Hamidbar, who accepted the slander of the spies about the Land of Canaan. There the Torah writes: “In this wilderness shall they cease, and there shall they die” (Bamidbar 14:35). The mishna in Sanhedrin 110b says that the generation of the desert have no share in the World To Come as it says, “they shall cease” in this world and “there they will die” in The World To Come. The Chiddushei HaRa”n on that gemara says, “It definitely seems that only on that wicked generation do they say that they will not return in the future, meaning they don’t have a share in the World To Come because they removed themselves from Hashem and spoke negatively about the Land of Israel. But in regards to their offspring, definitely whether little or many, they will return in the days of Moshiach and they will serve Hashem. They are the expelled Jews that Hashem will gather, as it’s guaranteed that no tribe will be wiped out (Bava Basra 115b). Also in Yechezkel (47:13, 48:1-34) [when talking about the future] it mentions all the tribes and how each one will be divided a portion of the Land. There is no Jew that G-D forbid argues on this.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
The Dor Hamidbar, the generation of the desert, reached spiritual heights unfathomable to us, levels of prophesy even greater than Yechezkel ben Buzi when crossing the red sea. Temporarily reached the level of Adam HaRishon upon receiving the Torah at Har Sinai. And even after they sinned, they weren’t wiped out; rather, they had forty years to repent, which they undoubtedly did, and were deserving of such miracles as food falling from Heaven, water streaming from a rock, and protection from the elements by clouds in the day and fire at night. They had no need to work and their whole days were filled with Torah learning and other ways to serve Hashem in the most optimum way possible. So why were they punished so severely that they have no share in The World To Come? We speak and accept lashon hara, slander, day in and day out, and do many other transgressions; still in all, as the Ra”n emphasizes, we, the offspring,
| are guaranteed a share in the World To Come. This is even if at face value the sins that we commit seem to be much more severe than what they did? (Parenthetically, there are some who have and will lose their share if their sins are too severe; see perek Chelek the 13th chapter Sanhedrin for more details). |
However, we must say, that this is clear proof to the concept that the greater one is the more strictly Hashem judges them. Expectations are higher; Hashem therefore scrutinizes deeds and intentions like a thin blade of hair. Therefore, because of their level, the Dor Hadeah, the generation of knowledge, lost their chance in to The World To Come over their betrayal “because they removed themselves from Hashem” and slandered Hashem’s land of Israel. They were called the generation of knowledge as they knew Hashem and felt His “presence” and witnessed open miracles more than any other generation in history. They were also referred to as the Dor Hamidbar, the generation of the desert. Even though they had high levels of faith and trust in Hashem, followed Him blindly through the desert, learned His Torah and said Naaseh Vinishma, making an unwavering commitment to His cause and service, still in all, because on some minute level they experienced discouragement after hearing and then accepting the negative report of the spies about a land, not even about another person, still, at their level, this imperfection was magnified to the point of the severe punishment they undoubtedly deserved. This is the way Hashem’s reward and punishment work. We have to feel thankful for Hashem’s mercy and that He factors in hiskatnus hadoros, the shrinking (in mind, emotion, spiritually and even physically) of each generation as it passes. Therefore, the expectations are less and that is why we have a much better chance of making it to Olam Haba, and the bar to ruining that chance is set very high. The question that we have in motivating ourselves is what can we do to qualitatively earn a better part in Olam Haba for ourselves on an individual level? Good Shabbos, Rabbi Dovid Shmuel Milder |