Download Jewish Sources on Resurrection

Jewish Sources on Resurrection
Judaism has always resisted the establishment of required fundamental beliefs, primarily
because we have no centralized authority that is capable of pronouncing final judgment.
However, Rabbis have made attempts throughout the generations to establish basic concepts.
Philo asserted that there are five basic principles of Judaism: 1. God is and rules; 2. God is one
3. The world was created; 4. Creation is one; 5. God's providence rules Creation.
The Saadia Gaon listed eight basic principles: 1. The world is created; 2. God is one and
incorporeal; 3. belief in revelation (including the divine origin of tradition; 4. man is called to
righteousness and endowed with all necessary qualities of mind and soul to avoid sin; 5. belief in
reward and punishment; 6. the soul is created pure; after death it leaves the body; 7. belief in
resurrection; 8. Messianic expectation, retribution, and final judgment.
RAMBAM developed the thirteen articles of faith and described them as "the fundamental
truths of our religion and its very foundations." 1. Belief in the existence of the Creator, who is
perfect in every manner of existence and is the Primary Cause of all that exists. 2. The belief
in G-d's absolute and unparalleled unity. 3. The belief in G-d's non-corporeality, nor that He will
be affected by any physical occurrences, such as movement, or rest, or dwelling. 4. The belief in
G-d's eternity. 5. The imperative to worship G-d exclusively and no foreign false gods. 6. The
belief that G-d communicates with man through prophecy. 7. The belief in the primacy of the
prophecy of Moses our teacher. 8. The belief in the divine origin of the Torah. 9. The belief in
the immutability of the Torah. 10. The belief in G-d's omniscience and providence. 11. The
belief in divine reward and retribution. 12. The belief in the arrival of the Messiah and the
messianic era. 13. The belief in the resurrection of the dead.
Many have argued that in his later writings RAMBAM did not maintain adherence to the view
that all thirteen of these articles are necessary. His successors reduced the list to three: Belief in
1) God, 2) Creation (or revelation), and 3) providence (or retribution).
Is resurrection a fundamental belief within Jewish tradition?
(Pharisees vs. Sadducees)
Gevurot
,‫ ְמ ַכ ְלכֵּל חַ יִּים בְּ ֶ ַֽחסֶ ד‬. ַ‫הוֹשׁיע‬
ַֽ ִ ‫ ַרב ְל‬,‫ ְמ ַחיֵּה ֵמ ִתים ַ ַֽא ָתּה‬,‫ַא ָתּה גִּ בּוֹר ְלעוֹ ָלם אֲ ֹדנָי‬
,‫סוּרים‬
ִ ֲ‫וּמ ִתּיר א‬
ַ ,‫ וְ רוֹ ֵפא חוֹלִ ים‬,‫ סוֹמֵ ְך נוֹפְ ִלים‬,‫ְמחַ יֵּה מֵ ִתים בְּ ַרחֲ ִמים ַרבִּ ים‬
‫ ֶ ַֽמ ֶלְך ֵמ ִמית‬,‫וּמי ַֽדּוֹמֶ ה ָלְּך‬
ִ ‫ ִמי ָכ ַֽמוָֹך ַ ַֽבּעַ ל גְּ בוּרוֹת‬,‫וּמ ַקיֵּם אֱ מוּנָתוֹ ִלישֵׁ נֵי עָ ָפר‬
ְ
‫ ְמ ַחיֵּה‬,ָ‫ בָּ רוְּך ַא ָתּה יְ י‬.‫ וְ נֶאֱ ָמן ַא ָתּה ְלהַ חֲ יוֹת ֵמ ִתים‬.‫וּמצְ ִ ַֽמיחַ ְישׁוּעָ ה‬
ַ ‫וּמחַ יֶּה‬
ְ
.‫הַ מֵּ ִתים‬
You are forever mighty, Adonai, restorer of the dead, great in the power to save. You
sustain the living with kindness and revive the hopeless with great mercy. You support
the fallen, heal the sick and release the captive. You maintain the faith of those who
sleep in the dust. Who is like You, master of the mighty, and who compares to You,
Sovereign of life and death, Source of salvation. You are the faithful guardian of all.
Blessed are You, Adonai, Master of life and death.
Tanach - Daniel Chapter 12
1. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who has charge of your
people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a
nation till that time; but at that time your people shall be saved, every one whose name
shall be found written in the book.
2. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting
life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
3. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who
turn many to righteousness like the stars for ever and ever.
Talmud - Mas. Sanhedrin 90b
Sectarians asked Rabban Gamaliel: Whence do we know that the Holy One, blessed be
He, will resurrect the dead? He answered them from the Torah, the Prophets, and the
Hagiographa, yet they did not accept it [as conclusive proof]. ‘From the Torah’: for it is
written, And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers and rise
up [again]...’(Deuteronomy 31:16) ‘From the prophets’: as it is written, Thy dead men shall
live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the
dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out its dead... (Isaiah
26:19)‘From the Hagiographa: as it is written, And the roof of thy mouth, like the best
wine of my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to
speak. (Song of Solomon 7:9)
Talmud - Mas. Sanhedrin 91b
It has been taught: R. Meir said, Whence do we know resurrection from the
Torah? From the verse, Then shall Moses and the children of Israel sing this song unto
the Lord (Exodus 15:1): not sang but shall sing is written: thus resurrection is taught in the
Torah. Likewise thou readest, Then shall Joshua build an altar unto the Lord God of
Israel (Joshua 8:30): not built, but shall build is written: thus resurrection is intimated in the
Torah.