Ask the Rabbi Quotes

“There are a number of references to Satan in the Jewish Bible. It is doubtful if Jews ever took these references literally. In Judaism, Satan was the mythical figure of all the evil forces in the world. At times, he was identified with the Tempter, the evil impulse, which prompts peo¬ ple to heed the worst side of his nature. But even this notion was never too deeply rooted, for Judaism teaches that God is the Creator of both good and evil, and God’s dominion alone is real. [...] Satan in Jewish lore is most identified with the evil impulse, the lower passions that are a hindrance to man’s pursuit of the nobler things in life.”
― Rabbi Ron Isaacs, Ask the Rabbi: The Who, What, When, Where, Why, & How of Being Jewish

“Gehinom, or Gehenna, passed into use as a metaphoric designation for the place of punishment in the hereafter. According to a Talmudic view, the doors of Gehenna close behind apostates, informers, promoters of sin, and tyrants for many generations. According to the mystical holy book, the Zohar, sinners are punished for twelve months, half of the time in fire and half in snow. Among those who do not face Gehenna, a Talmudic passage includes the very poor and diseased. Despite the many differences of opinion as to the meaning of Gehenna, it is nowhere considered to be a dogma or a doctrine of faith that Jews are required to profess. Even those rabbinic sages who delighted in describing the torments of Gehenna and other shadowy places were usually aware that they were permitting their imagination to roam freely.”
― Rabbi Ron Isaacs, Ask the Rabbi: The Who, What, When, Where, Why, & How of Being Jewish

“Jewish mystics who embrace a belief in reincarnation posit that the soul has an independent life, existing before and after the death of the body. The soul, they say, joins the body at an appropriate time, remains with it for a specified period, and then takes leave of the body about the time of death, prepared to assume its next assignment in the physical world. A soul can return again and again in different bodies, and how it conducts itself in each reincarnation determines its ascent or descent in the next visit.”
― Rabbi Ron Isaacs, Ask the Rabbi: The Who, What, When, Where, Why, & How of Being Jewish