ULTIMATE REALITY–JUDAISM–SYNTHESIS (end)

THE PERCEIVED WORLD

While I think ultimate reality with respect to place is ambiguous in the Jewish tradition, overall thinking converges on the cosmos of human perception as the only or real world. Philo, following Plato is the one exception as he believes in an ideal world of spirit and perfect forms which is also the domain of the deity. While there is certainly room to infer from the Old Testament, hidden domains within the cosmos -such as paradise, heaven, and Sheol – there is little in the Torah to suggest a non-material location of utopian immortality other religions designate as ‘heaven.’

Later thinkers seem to understand these mythical locations more transcendentally. For example, paradise is most appropriately seen as symbolic: the condition of freedom from suffering coupled with proximity to the divine. Sheol is better conceived as the oblivion or non-existence awaiting the wicked who also remain permanently disconnected from God. Heaven, such as it is implied, appears to be a state of deep, direct connection with God and consequent transcendental immortality produced by faith, purity, ethical action, and contemplation. Resurrection of persons on earth does not appear, even by allusion, in my reading of the later thinkers (although of course I may have missed it).

CONCLUSION

Despite its ancient origin within a community of mostly uneducated individuals, Judaism is, to be sure, a highly intellectual tradition enriched by the contributions of its deeply contemplative followers. One is amazed at the level of sophistication of its sages despite their ignorance or de-emphasis of science. One is no less amazed by their fidelity to Hebrew revelation notwithstanding exposure to and embrace of philosophies such as Platonism, Aristotelianism, mysticism, and existentialism. Judaism, in short, is truly a “universal religion.”

In the end, ultimate reality in Judaism includes (1) abstract features of Truth, the Infinite, Being, Non-being, and material/spiritual dualism, (2) the eternal, unitary, supreme, and finally incomprehensible God, and (3) His creations – the real world, the Old Testament, and the divine law. The good life for the Jew is straightforward enough – trust in, love for, imitation of, and relation to the divine. Little more should be expected of any faith.