Most of us have at least fleetingly thought about what happens after we die. Where do we go, and what will we do there? Does the life we lead during our time on earth dictate where we end up? The final chapter of Tractate Sanhedrin, which we start today, focuses on the afterlife. The mishnah on this daf begins as follows:

All of the Jewish people have a share in the World to Come, as it is stated: And your people, all of them righteous, shall possess the land for all time; they are the shoot that I planted, My handiwork in which I glory. (Isaiah 60:21)

This is a curious statement, especially since (spoiler alert) it’s upended by the second half of the mishnah, which enumerates all the exceptions to this general rule and forms the basis of the discussion that will occupy the rabbis for the rest of this chapter. For today, though, let’s focus on unpacking this auspicious introduction.

When the rabbis declare that every Jew has a share in the World to Come, they support this position with a verse found towards the end of the Book of Isaiah which describes the whole people as righteous and eternal possessors of the promised land. This verse is also the penultimate line in the haftarah for Parashat Ki Tavo, one of the seven haftarot of consolation read between Tisha B’Av and Rosh Hashanah. The theme of the haftarah is the messianic era, which is the context in which the rabbis creatively connect the word l’olam (forever) regarding the land in the Isaiah passage with Olam Ha’ba, the World to Come. 

What exactly is the World to Come? In some rabbinic texts, it’s the Garden of Eden. In others, the rabbis view the World to Come as a house of study or a banquet hall in which God is the host. For example:

Rabbi Jacob said: This world is like a vestibule before the world to come; prepare yourself in the vestibule, so that you may enter the banqueting hall. (Pirkei Avot 4:16) 

Not everyone thinks that the World to Come will be a place of physical comfort and feasting, however. Maimonides describes an entirely spiritual world where “there are only souls, where the souls enjoy the Divine Presence.” (Mishnah Torah, Repentance, 8:2)

Regardless of whether the World to Come includes what we think of as physical pleasures or not, we still need to deal with the Talmud’s reliance on Isaiah’s statement that all Israel are righteous. We know that isn’t true. After all, we just spent the preceding ten chapters of Sanhedrin studying methods of execution for those that commit capital crimes. So how can we understand this notion that “all” of God’s people are righteous? 

In his commentary on Pirkei Avot, the Maharal of Prague writes: “For the World to Come: He merits life in the World to Come without a commandment, as it is said (Sanhedrin 90a), ‘All of Israel have a share in the world to come.’ And you should know that it is so; for if not, what is the need for one commandment above his merits?” (Derekh Chayyim 6:11:42)

This is an astonishing statement. According to the Maharal, all Jews have a share in the world to come not because of mitzvot that they did in their lifetime, but regardless of any commandment that a person did or did not fulfill. If that’s the case, then seemingly the entire system of reward and punishment for adhering to God’s commandments has no bearing on whether or not a person gets into the World to Come. How can this be?

I’ll offer two suggestions. The first is practical: When the Talmud says that all Israel has a share in the World to Come, it does not say an equal share. A person who spends their life doing mitzvot, therefore, should surely merit a larger portion (whatever that might mean) in the hereafter while a person who is executed for murder (and thereby, it should be noted, has paid for that crime in this world) might merit a smaller portion. 

The second is emotional: I would venture to guess that many of us have, at one time or another, said to a child, grandchild or other young person with whom we are close a variation of “nothing you ever do could make me not love you.” God, as the quintessential parent, loves us no matter what, and the ultimate expression of that love is the promise that when we die, we will, by virtue of that relationship, inherit a portion in the World to Come. That is, unless we forfeit it in one of the specific ways listed in the second half of the mishnah.

Read all of Sanhedrin 90 on Sefaria.

This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on March 17, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.