Pemikiran Yahudi Ulangan 11:14: Akeidat Yitzchak

The third group of people, namely believing Jews, who while steadfast in their belief, would still welcome specific statements in the Torah concerning afterlife, need to appreciate the following. Afterlife is much more than a promise held out in return for specific religious observances. Man's superiority over other creatures on this earth could hardly be demonstrated by anything other than the survival of his soul. Solomon grapples with the problem in the book of Kohelet, and concludes that this is the only thing which makes man stand out over the animals. "Who perceives that the spirit of man is the one that ascends on high, while the spirit of the beast descends down into the earth?" (Kohelet 3, 21) David and many others do not tire of expressing their longing for the blissful state of afterlife. Abigail refers to it, the Talmud is full of references to it. When one reads the promise of reward in our Parshah, one finds at the end, after the mundane rewards have been listed, "I will place My Residence amongst you." For the believers this is enough. For the scoffers nothing would be enough, since they only believe what their own eyes have seen, anyways.

At the time the ten commandments were given, the cherubs mounted on the holy ark were not included in the prohibition of reproductions of things in heaven or on earth, since up to the moment of their construction they were original, nothing like it had ever existed. Once they had been constructed however, the very fact of their existence made them subject to the prohibitions included in "do not make images." The reason G-d describes Himself as a "jealous HUSBAND," is to emphasize the husband/wife relationship. This explains the extreme patience G-d has demonstrated towards other nations serving idols. Only because Israel is related to Him by marital vows, does the "husband" display jealousy if He is cheated. The punishment that may extend to the fourth generation for those that hate G-d, i.e. who commit acts of idol worship of one form or another, is only the result of mercy. Were G-d to eliminate the aspect of mercy present in that kind of punishment, the second generation already would never have seen the light of day, since the generation guilty of idol worship would have been wiped out. The sin of the golden calf is a prime example. Had G-d wiped out the Jewish people at that time, the chances offered subsequent generations would have been lost then and there. On the other hand, reward for good conduct will be a factor as much as two thousand generations hence.