The 5 Questions You are Asked in Heaven

The questions you are asked in Heaven “on one foot”:

Nobody has been dead for a long time and then come back to life to give us a report of what happens. Therefore, there are many valid possible ideas in Judaism. This is one rabbi’s idea as recorded in the Babylonian Talmud.

Prologue

Context: This is from the Babylonian Talmud, Masechet (Tractate) Shabbat, which is about Shabbat (logically enough). The Mishnah talks about how you can put out a lamp on Shabbat evening so a sick person can get rest (Mishnah Shabbat 2:5). This led to a discussion of sick vs. dead people, and that brought up a seeming contradiction in Ecclesiastes, leading to a seeming contradiction in Proverbs about when you should answer fools. From there, the Gemara talks about how Sages responded to fools, which led to stories of Hillel and fools, including the “on one foot” story. While talking about how Sages dealt with things, the Gemara talks about how Reish Lakish interpreted Isaiah 33:6 (answer: as alluding to the 6 sections of the Mishnah), and that brings us to how Rava interprets the same verse.

The verse under discussion is “And the faith of your times shall be a strength of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is his treasure” (Isaiah 33:6).

What questions would you ask a soul to determine judgement after a person dies?

The First Question

Why is this the first question instead of “Did you pray 3 times a day?”

The Second Question

Rashi comments on this that it can be hard to make time for things. How have you continued your Jewish learning?

The Third Question

How have you passed on your values and knowledge?

The Fourth Question

In what way have you maintained hope?

The Fifth Question

When have you had to sift through competing claims?

Epilogue

What extra benefit does “fear of G-d” provide beyond learning Torah and doing mitzvot?

Appendix A: The Full Text

Appendix B: Telushkin’s Wisdom

Jewish Wisdom, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin (1994)

Note that the first question asked in heaven is not “Did you believe in God?” or “Did you observe all the rituals?” but “We’re you honest in business?” Unfortunately, despite many texts that insist on the primacy of ethics, most Jews associate being religious solely with observing rituals. Throughout the Jewish community, when one asks “Is so-and-so a religious Jew?” the response invariably is based on the person’s observance of ritual laws: “He (or she) keeps kosher, and observes the Sabbath; he is religious”, “She does not keep kosher or observe the Sabbath; she is not religious”.

From such responses, one could easily conclude that Judaism regards ethical behavior as an “extracurricular activity”, something desirable but not essential.

The above passage unequivocally asserts that ethics is at Judaism’s core; God’s first concern is with a person’s decency.

The second question concerns Torah study, for Judaism teaches that through studying Torah, a person learns how to be fully moral, and how to be a part of the Jewish people.

Third comes having children (those who are childless can adopt). Rabbi Irving Greenberg notes that raising a family fulfills the “covenantal obligation to pass on the dream and work of perfecting the world for another generation.”

Fourth is hoping for and working toward this very perfection. The first three questions address “micro issues,” matters that would be sufficient were Judaism exclusively addressed to the individual. But Jews also are part of a people and a broader world, and Judaism imposes upon the Jewish people the obligation to help bring about Tikkun Olam, the repair (or perfection) of the wold. In a frequently quoted passage in the Ethics of the Fathers (2:21), Rabbi Tarfon teaches: “It is not your obligation to complete the task [of perching the world], but neither are you free to desist ]from doing all you can].”

One final thought about this Talmudic passage. When a Jewish baby is born, the prayer offered expresses hope that the child will be able to respond affirmatively to the first three questions: May the parents rear this child to adulthood imbued with love of Torah and the performance of good deeds, and may they escort them to the wedding canopy. This prayer is recited in the synagogue or at another naming ceremony for a girl, and at the boy’s circumcision. My friend Rabbi Irwin Kula notes that the fourth question is alluded ot through the kisei Eliyahu, the chair for Elijah, that is set up at every circumcision. In Jewish tradition, Elijah is the prophet who will usher in the world’s redemption.

Appendix C: “The Seven Questions You’ll be Asked by the Heavenly Tribunal”

Note that this splits the fifth question into 2 parts and adds another question from elsewhere in Jewish tradition

When my father died young, I began to take stock of my own life. I even wondered: If I died at his age, how would I make a case for myself before the heavenly tribunal?

I was surprised to learn that none of my own priorities for a life well lived was among the top seven measures the Talmudic sages believed to be the most important (Shabbat 31a).

Here are the questions our tradition says you will be asked when you pass from this world:

1. “WERE YOU HONEST IN BUSINESS?”

The first question the tribunal will ask is, “Did you deal honestly and faithfully with people in your business practices?”

Why start here? Perhaps because our sages understood that it’s human nature to look after number one first, to get all we can for ourselves. If we can’t have it, then the tendency is to seek an advantage over others, even if it means cutting corners, lying, and deceiving. But if we can be impeccable in this most fraught arena, chances are, we can navigate the rest of life more honorably as well.

2. “DID YOU MAKE TIME FOR YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE?”

Specifically: “Did you set aside time for Torah?”

Our sages understood how easy it is for busy people to dispense with Torah learning, rationalizing that it has only marginal value in their lives. Yet Torah always has been the epicenter of Jewish identity, the pathway to God, and the way Jews have nurtured the heart, mind, and soul. Even if we are nonbelievers, Torah has been the central source helping Jews perpetuate, preserve, and enrich our collective Jewish memory.

When we neglect this aspect of our lives, we lose our connection with our identity, and we lose touch with what has made us

who we are as a people.

3. “DID YOU BUSY YOURSELF WITH CREATION?”

This question also focuses on Jewish continuity: “Did you busy yourself with procreation?”

The underlying issue here is far broader than parenting. Each of us is responsible for creating something lasting, something that will ripple through time and feed those who come next. In your time on earth, the Talmudic sage Raba asks: Were you busy planting seeds?

4. “WERE YOU HOPEFUL?”

In its traditional phrasing, this question asks about belief in salvation and the coming of the Messiah at the end of days. It may not seem relevant in modern life, but viewed more broadly, it challenges us to maintain a life-affirming attitude, to focus on the half-full glass. Staying positive and hopeful may be the most difficult challenge we ever have to face. Raba teaches that we’ll be measured in heaven – or can measure our own lives – by how well we try.

5 – 6. “DID YOU SEEK WISDOM AND LEARN TO DISCERN WHAT’S TRUE AND WHAT’S FALSE?”

Raba is talking here about our capacity to differentiate between true and false and right and wrong, as well as our ability to be critical and self-critical. In a way, he’s talking about our ability to see the impact of even our smallest actions upon others and to understand the cumulative power of those actions.

Raba asks, “Are we being honest and kind? Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel affirmed the importance of kindness when he reportedly said, “When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I’m old, I admire kind people.”

7. “HAVE YOU BEEN TRUE TO YOURSELF?”

This final question is based on a story from the Talmud: “Before his death, Rabbi Zusya said, ‘In the coming world, they will not ask me, ‘Why were you not Moses?’ They’ll ask me, ‘Why were you not Zusya?’” (Martin Buber, Tales of the Hasidim)

In the end, the question asked of each of us is simple: “Were you true to yourself, do what you were meant to do, and do your best with what you were given?”

If we spend our lives yearning to be someone else, who will be me and who will be you? The greatest bit of wisdom in this final question is to learn to accept yourself as unique – never has there been anyone exactly like you – and to be empowered to impact in the world as only you can.

Rabbi John Rosove is the senior rabbi of Temple Israel of Hollywood and national chair of the Association of Reform Zionists of America. This article is adapted from Why Judaism Matters: Letters of a Liberal Rabbi to His Children and the Millennial Generation (Jewish Lights Publishing/Turner, 2017).

https://reformjudaism.org/7-questions-youll-be-asked-heavenly-tribunal

Appendix D: Six Questions at the Gates of Heaven

Q. Is it true that six questions are asked of everyone when they knock at Heaven’s door?

A. What the Talmudic text says (Shabbat 31a/b) is, “When they bring a person to judgment they say to him, Were your dealings honest? Did you devote time to Torah? Did you engage in procreation? Did you look forward to salvation? Did you reason wisely? Did you deduce one thing from another?”

On the day of the final account and reckoning when you want to know, “Do I deserve the heavenly life of the next world?”, you will be asked by means of these questions, “Did you aspire towards heaven in this world?

The six things are deduced from the verse (Isa. 33:6),”There shall be 1. faith 2. in your times, 3. strength, 4. salvation, 5. wisdom and 6. knowledge”.

They are basic human activities, not necessarily measures of achievement but marks of commitment. To take two examples, one does not need to become a great scholar but to give time to Torah; one does not have to produce a set number of sons and daughters but to make procreation possible.

In the Talmud, Resh Lakish links each of the six with one of the six sections of the Mishnah:

“Faith” is Zera’im, “Seeds”: a person’s trade or profession must be aspire to be worthy of God.

“Your times” are Mo’ed, “Sacred Times”: every occasion must be dedicated to the Almighty.

“Strength” is Nashim, “Women” (i.e. marriage and divorce): one’s personal and family life must bring strength to the family and community.

“Salvation” is Nezikin, “Damages” (i.e. civil and criminal law): the law must bring peace and quality to society.

“Wisdom” is Kodashim (“Sacred Things”): the intricate rules of Jewish law require careful study and analysis.

“Knowledge” is Tohorot (“Pure Things”): the standards of pure and impure require attention based on study.

The six are essential for a good Jew, but they all require the additional dimension of piety, Yirat HaShem.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/342685

Appendix E: The Questions You’ll be Asked When You Get to Heaven

When they escort a person after his death to the heavenly tribunal, they ask: Did you conduct your business faithfully?
Did you set aside time to study Torah?
Did you create relationships?
Did you hope for redemption? Did you delve into wisdom? Did you learn from experience?
Adapted from Tractate Shabbat 31a

This is a striking list of what the heavenly tribunal thinks is the measure of a life.

Are you surprised by what is asked first about faithfully conducting your business? Faithfully connotes honestly in this context, that is faithful to ethical principles. It also suggests being faithful to your own sense of how to conduct your business whether it is the treatment of customers or those who work for you.

How many questions are universal and how many are specifically Jewish?

What might you have added to this list of questions? What might you have omitted? How might you have reframed some of these questions?

The question of did you create relationships in the original text says did you engage in having children? Some of the traditional commentators understood that to mean did you help others have children, for example help an orphan find a mate. It can also be understood to mean did you create a legacy that will continue after your death. Often children were thought to be that legacy, but it could be the relationships you had with other people, or the impact of your accomplishments etc.

I am struck by the sense of growth and change underlying many of these questions. Did you live your life hoping (and working) for a better world? Did you seek to grow in wisdom and understanding of yourself and how to be in the world? The last question is literally did you learn one thing from another meaning did you learn from your mistakes and successes throughout your life.

These all suggest that life is about change and growth. These questions are useful to think about long before you face the heavenly tribunal. What are the values and principles that shape your life. It is always possible to strive to better live up to these values. As we get older, we gain a perspective from our experience that can lead to wisdom about what is important in the time we still have.

These questions would be useful framing questions in the context of What Matters. How do I think about my life? What do I want to share with my loved ones in the last stages of that life? What is the legacy that I want to give expression to while I still can? They will help shape the answer to what would you wish for in order to comprise good days in the last stage of your life.

Michael Strassfeld, Rabbi Emeritus, Society for the Advancement of Judaism

https://mmjccm.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/The_Questions_Youll_Be_Asked_When_You_Get_to_Heaven.pdf