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The Seven Questions You're Asked in Heaven: Reviewing and Renewing Your Life on Earth
How do you get to the heart of a life well lived?
Its all about the questions. If you can hear the questions and apply them to the way you live your life on earth today, then when the time comes, your soul will be ready to take that stairway to heaven, prepared to answer the Seven Questions with a resounding Yes!, and take your rightful place among the angels.
from the Prologue In this charming, inspiring and wise guide to a well-lived life, beloved teacher Ron Wolfson provides an advance copy of the Seven Questions youll be asked in heavenwhether youre a believer or a non-believer. The answers to these questions will help you shape a life of purpose and meaning on earth today. Supported by wisdom from the Jewish tradition, lifes experiences, and personal anecdotes, Wolfson tells you about these transformative questions and explores the values that are at the heart of a life that matters. He offers funny, insightful and poignant stories of how peopleancient and contemporaryhave answered the Seven Questions through their everyday actions. He encourages you to reflect on your own life goals and provides ideas both big and small for achieving them.
Its all about the questions. If you can hear the questions and apply them to the way you live your life on earth today, then when the time comes, your soul will be ready to take that stairway to heaven, prepared to answer the Seven Questions with a resounding Yes!, and take your rightful place among the angels.
from the Prologue In this charming, inspiring and wise guide to a well-lived life, beloved teacher Ron Wolfson provides an advance copy of the Seven Questions youll be asked in heavenwhether youre a believer or a non-believer. The answers to these questions will help you shape a life of purpose and meaning on earth today. Supported by wisdom from the Jewish tradition, lifes experiences, and personal anecdotes, Wolfson tells you about these transformative questions and explores the values that are at the heart of a life that matters. He offers funny, insightful and poignant stories of how peopleancient and contemporaryhave answered the Seven Questions through their everyday actions. He encourages you to reflect on your own life goals and provides ideas both big and small for achieving them.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
4 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 31, 2021
Every now and then you read a book that is so important, you sit up and take notice. Dr. Ron Wolfson wrote just such a book: The Seven Questions You’re Asked in Heaven, Reviewing an Renewing Your Life on Earth. Every page has caused me to pause and think, think deeply. While Jews do not have a well defined concept of heaven, there is a strong belief in an afterlife. What it will be like is less clear. What matters is how we live our life here. So the Rava in the Talmud prepared an entrance exam to heaven. Five questions. These are in Shabbat 31a. They are:
o Did you deal honestly in your business practices?
o Did you busy yourself with procreation?
o Did you set aside time for Torah?
o Did you hope for deliverance?
o Did you seek understanding and did you understand one thing from another?
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1805-188), the founder of modern Orthodoxy in Germany added a question
• Did you see My Alps?
And Rabbi Zusiya added the seventh crying on his own deathbed said he would be asked, not “Why were not as good as Moses? but why were you not Zusiya.”
Seven questions. That’s it. Or is it? I am reminded of the Jewish kid who comes home from school. His mom asks not “What did you learn today,” but rather, “What good question did you ask today?” Wolfson weaves these questions together, with personal anecdotes, additional questions, contemporary stories, wisdom of the Jewish tradition and space to write your own reflections. He has enriched my own preparation for the High Holidays immeasurably. More than preparing for the High Holidays, he as asked questions that will help me lead a more meaningful, deeper life and then perhaps, when the time comes, merit a place in the world to come.
Added: We used this book as preparation for Selichot to prepare for the High Holy Days. It was masterful. Here is my blog post to go with it. https://www.theenergizerrabbi.org/202...
o Did you deal honestly in your business practices?
o Did you busy yourself with procreation?
o Did you set aside time for Torah?
o Did you hope for deliverance?
o Did you seek understanding and did you understand one thing from another?
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1805-188), the founder of modern Orthodoxy in Germany added a question
• Did you see My Alps?
And Rabbi Zusiya added the seventh crying on his own deathbed said he would be asked, not “Why were not as good as Moses? but why were you not Zusiya.”
Seven questions. That’s it. Or is it? I am reminded of the Jewish kid who comes home from school. His mom asks not “What did you learn today,” but rather, “What good question did you ask today?” Wolfson weaves these questions together, with personal anecdotes, additional questions, contemporary stories, wisdom of the Jewish tradition and space to write your own reflections. He has enriched my own preparation for the High Holidays immeasurably. More than preparing for the High Holidays, he as asked questions that will help me lead a more meaningful, deeper life and then perhaps, when the time comes, merit a place in the world to come.
Added: We used this book as preparation for Selichot to prepare for the High Holy Days. It was masterful. Here is my blog post to go with it. https://www.theenergizerrabbi.org/202...
October 1, 2020
I picked up Wolfson’s book after I heard him speak at a conference probably eight or nine years ago. Then I started my junior year of college, and ever since I hadn’t thought much about it. I’ve been rethinking a lot of things in my life lately, and so when I felt a longing for a book to engage me more deeply in my faith in a way that could also illuminate broader life goals, this book naturally came to mind.
Perhaps I had simply hoped it would solve all my existential crises, but whatever the reason, I was disappointed.
The book is incredibly easy to read, not very long and full of quick passages that highlight a biblical story or personal anecdote. While not the most riveting, nothing is so heavy or serious that I felt much friction moving forward; it felt like something I might bring to read casually at the beach or keep on my side table to read a few pages here and there throughout the day. For some, this is probably a benefit—in fact, I appreciate a book that does away with unnecessary fluff and sticks to the point. Unfortunately, I felt the subject matter itself was lacking.
The book, for better or worse, is written in such a way that although it’s founded upon Jewish beliefs and values, it’s accessible and applicable for people of all faith backgrounds and probably the non-religious as well. Unfortunately, I felt this made the whole book feel remarkably trite and generic. While it gave me some good reflection prompts that I might come back to, most of these are topics I’ve reflected upon in the past and most of the ideas he spoke about are ones I’ve previously engaged with during my many years of growing up and living with Jewish values and practices. Perhaps, for someone less inherently inclined to introspection and well-versed in Jewish thought than I am, the book might appear more revelatory than it did for me.
Qualms aside, I think the strength of this book is that it would make for great communal reading: it’s light, provides clear prompts, and offers many tangible examples for how the different questions can be looked at and answered in our individual lives. If you’re part of religious or spirituality-based reading group, I’d highly recommend this title.
Perhaps I had simply hoped it would solve all my existential crises, but whatever the reason, I was disappointed.
The book is incredibly easy to read, not very long and full of quick passages that highlight a biblical story or personal anecdote. While not the most riveting, nothing is so heavy or serious that I felt much friction moving forward; it felt like something I might bring to read casually at the beach or keep on my side table to read a few pages here and there throughout the day. For some, this is probably a benefit—in fact, I appreciate a book that does away with unnecessary fluff and sticks to the point. Unfortunately, I felt the subject matter itself was lacking.
The book, for better or worse, is written in such a way that although it’s founded upon Jewish beliefs and values, it’s accessible and applicable for people of all faith backgrounds and probably the non-religious as well. Unfortunately, I felt this made the whole book feel remarkably trite and generic. While it gave me some good reflection prompts that I might come back to, most of these are topics I’ve reflected upon in the past and most of the ideas he spoke about are ones I’ve previously engaged with during my many years of growing up and living with Jewish values and practices. Perhaps, for someone less inherently inclined to introspection and well-versed in Jewish thought than I am, the book might appear more revelatory than it did for me.
Qualms aside, I think the strength of this book is that it would make for great communal reading: it’s light, provides clear prompts, and offers many tangible examples for how the different questions can be looked at and answered in our individual lives. If you’re part of religious or spirituality-based reading group, I’d highly recommend this title.
June 4, 2018
Even though the author states you can use this book if you're not Jewish it really makes more sense if you have a Jewish background. The seven questions come from three rabbis. The different chapter tackle each question and then extrapolate It was interesting. The transliterated Hebrew is translated/explained. Most of the book is in English, Bibliography/suggested reading at end. You'll get more from it if you're well-versed in revered Jewish figures or are somewhat observant. I don't think these actually will be asked but it is a good way to learn to live to make the world a better place(tikkun olam...repair the world.) I would rate it two and half stars...it's between okay and I liked it.
April 18, 2021
This was for a book club. The concept was interesting and there were some good ideas. However, the chapters were so disjointed that it made it unenjoyable to read. It felt like the author went around and asked people these questions and then wrote down all their responses in different paragraphs and called it a chapter.
March 24, 2019
Absolutely fabulous! Sprinkled throughout with stories of Jewish tradition (which are filled with deep meaning and purpose), this text presents thought-provoking questions for living a more intentional life - now. Well worth reading, and re-reading!
October 9, 2016
The title pretty much tells you what you need to know about this book. Filled with anecdotes, it's a little schmaltzy but it works: provoked good discussion with friends, book club members, and loved ones. This is the kind of book that one should probably re-read yearly (maybe in the 10 days?) to help check in on where a person is, was, and can be in the future.
Want to read
October 5, 2011so far love it - library book may look for copy to purchase
how to return long ago - just rechecked it out hope to finish soon
how to return long ago - just rechecked it out hope to finish soon
December 6, 2016
Provocative questions that cause one to pause and think about the choices one makes throughout life.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews