Question asked in heaven

singleagain

Thu, Jul 13 2023, 8:22 am

BH Yom Yom wrote:

And not one of the six (?) questions BD shel maalah asks a person when they get up to shamayim.

So I saw this quote in another thread and I didn't want to go off on a tangent there... But I don't think I've heard of this concept in Judaism before.

I know there's a secular book about 7 people you meet in heaven... But I'm guessing this isn't that.

Java

Thu, Jul 13 2023, 8:27 am

The Talmud tells us that when a person dies and his soul goes to heaven, the heavenly court of judgment asks six questions: “Raba said, Did you do business with honesty and integrity? Did you fix set times for studying Torah? Did you participate in the commandment to be fruitful and multiply? Did you await the Redemption? Did you engage in the pursuit of wisdom? Did you have fear of Heaven?” (Shabbat 31a)

singleagain

Thu, Jul 13 2023, 8:28 am

Java wrote:

Ah.. thank you. Now that you say it, I do have a big recollection of learning it at some point in my life. I just didn't remember this

And I realize I could have googled it, but I thought it would be an interesting discussion

Java

Thu, Jul 13 2023, 8:31 am

It's not really possible to know whether this is something that actually happens after death, or whether it's apocryphal/metaphorical like many things in Gemara... Nobody's come back yet to tell us lol

seafood

Thu, Jul 13 2023, 8:36 am

singleagain wrote:

No, I understand that we can't know but it's interesting to hear these ideas because you know I guess this makes you think. Why are these six things important?

I believe it was Rav S. R. Hirsch (but correct me if I'm wrong) who said that Hashem will ask, "...and have you seen my alps?"

singleagain

Thu, Jul 13 2023, 8:37 am

seafood wrote:

I believe it was Rav S. R. Hirsch (but correct me if I'm wrong) who said that Hashem will ask, "...and have you seen my alps?"

Ohh.. now there's an interesting thought as well....

keym

Thu, Jul 13 2023, 8:38 am

singleagain wrote:

No, I understand that we can't know but it's interesting to hear these ideas because you know I guess this makes you think. Why are these six things important?

I mean these things really are the basics of our religion.
Did you set aside time to learn Torah? Did you actively seek wisdom? Those go to the heart of a Jew- Torah.
Did you engage honestly in business? That's about Emes, about being a moral upright person.
Did you try to engage in Priya Vrivya to the best of your ability? That's about the continuation of the nation.
Did you wait for Mashiach? That's about our belief that Hashem can do things and will keep His Promise.
Eta: I skipped the last one. Did you have Fear of Heaven - again basic premise of Judaism

singleagain

Thu, Jul 13 2023, 8:40 am

keym wrote:

That is a fair point. Didn't quite think of it in those terms

But there are so many other things that are important to us as people you know. So like what about treating each other with kindness and respect and things like that? Why isn't that one of the questions

Java

Thu, Jul 13 2023, 8:42 am

singleagain wrote:

Most of those things can fall under the umbrella of fear of heaven
Someone with true fear of heaven will most of the time be a decent person

NechaMom

Thu, Jul 13 2023, 8:45 am

Java wrote:

Most of those things can fall under the umbrella of fear of heaven
Someone with true fear of heaven will most of the time be a decent person

Still, I think it deserves its own question. On the other hand, I have no doubt that a Baal chesed and Baal middos will get loads of schar so I don’t care if it will be specifically in question form.

keym

Thu, Jul 13 2023, 8:52 am

singleagain wrote:

If you think about it, these questions are personal where only the person themselves can truly answer.
I think we're meant to learn something about that.
I mean everyone can see or know if you're a kind person a respectful person.
But only you know if you were honest and didn't inflate a price slightly (honest in business). Only you know if you truly made an attempt to engage in Pirya Vrivya and not just make excuses, only you know if you truly did your best to learn Torah, if you feared Heaven and waited for Mashiach.
I think, and I take away that it's a personal responsibility kind of question to make a person really think.
What type of person are you when it's only you and the Heavenly Court.
Kind of sobering to me.

Obviously, I'm not talking to you personally.

PinkFridge

Thu, Jul 13 2023, 8:54 am

singleagain wrote:

Of course. This is so important.
But why are we being kind and respectful? Because of our humanity? Or because we were commanded to? I'm not knocking kindness done because our hearts were touched, and done by people of other faiths, etc. This shows fundamental goodness. But we have to remember that the template for all kindness, respect, etc. is the Torah and v'halachta b'drachav, walking in Hashem's path. We are acting this way because Hashem commanded us to.

(Now of course, we can't make people our mitzvah objects, our lulavim. Like, as (I hope) an apocryphal story goes, a man sees a midget and runs and picks him up and shakes him and says the bracha of meshaneh habriyos.)

pinkpeonies

Thu, Jul 13 2023, 9:17 am

PinkFridge wrote:

Beautifully said!!

zaq

Thu, Jul 13 2023, 10:24 am

singleagain wrote:

That comes under having fear of Heaven. The six questions are the chapter headings; pretty much everything else can be filed under one or another of them.