by Ra'Anan Elozory

Created on: March 24, 2010   Last Updated: March 25, 2010

The entrance requirement for getting into the next world is usually death.

Since the next world is really about closeness to Infinite Goodness and the warm pleasure it provides, only a person similar to that Infinite Goodness will have pleasure there as a consequence of his earthly attempts to imitate that Goodness.

The vast majority of the world can attain that pleasure by following the Seven Noachide Laws of:

1) not murdering

2) not stealing

3) not worshiping false gods

4) not performing sexually immoral acts (which obviously needs a detailed definition)

5) not eating a limb removed from a live animal

6) not cursing G-d

7) setting up a judicial system that brings criminals to justice.

For Jews, however, imitating Infinite Goodness is more involved since Jewish ancestors involved themselves more in nuance in connecting to G-d. While those who built the Tower of Babel sought to "keep G-d up in heaven," Jews sought and seek to unite heaven and earth in that G-dly Infinite Goodness.

This culminated in the transformation of the Jews of Egypt upon their exodus to a different spirituality as a result of acquiescing to anything G-d requested of them; male circumcision and total immersion into waters of a certain specification which is the same way that conversion to Judaism is performed today.

Since Jewish ancestors desired that G-dliness be revealed even on earth in the form of G-d openly dwelling down here, this desire is reflected in building a "home," so to speak, for G-d. This was done first in the mobile tabernacle (a trailer as a first home?) and later as Solomon’s Holy Temple in Jerusalem . As startling as it may seem, the whole Temple service was really based on the far-superior home life of the first man who reached out in search of G-d: Abraham and his interaction with his wife, Sarah, as with the rest of humanity whom he touched.

Though some may see the temple service as very irrelevant, it’s only because they’ve not learned that the altar in the Holy of Holies is a pale reflection of Abraham and Sarah’s table to where they brought poor guests to feed in imitation of G-d bringing us to "His" table, the bounty of this earth. Abraham and Sarah worked together to feed their guests and to comfort them with words of kindness. We should carefully note that when we read or hear of the Tabernacle and Temple altars, we should bring lessons of meticulousness to our own tables and meticulously bring in guests and feed them and make them

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