Editing Maimonides (section)

===Eschatology===
{{See also|Jewish eschatology}}

====The Messianic era====
Perhaps one of Maimonides' most highly acclaimed and renowned writings is his treatise on the Messianic era, written originally in [[Judeo-Arabic]] and which he elaborates on in great detail in his Commentary on the [[Mishnah]] (Introduction to the 10th chapter of [[Sanhedrin (tractate)|tractate Sanhedrin]], also known as {{transliteration|he|Pereḳ Ḥeleḳ}}).<!--

Though they're no longer linked to what was previously the entire text of Maimonides on the messianic era quoted in this section (removed per WP:NOFULLTEXT), the notes below *could* be expanded upon in a properly-written subsection on this topic:

'''Notes:'''
{{notelist|notes=
{{efn|name=b|The Judeo-Arabic word used by Maimonides is מעלומהא, or "that which is known by her (i.e., by the soul)," meaning, the ''ens intelligibile''. Some translate this word as "perceived intellect."}}
{{efn|name=c|See: [[Mishne Torah]] (''Hil. Teshuvah'', chapter 8), for more on what is meant by "the world to come."}}
{{efn|name=d|See: Mishne Torah (''Hil. Yesodei HaTorah'' 4:8[14]) for a discussion on the soul. Elsewhere, in ''Hil. Teshuvah'' 8:3, Maimonides writes: "Every 'soul' that is mentioned here in this context isn't the [animated] spirit that stands in need of a body, but rather the 'form of the soul,' which is the knowledge [attained by the mind] with which one comprehends the Creator according to its ability." See also the ''Guide for the Perplexed'', part iii, the last chapter, on the fourth kind of perfection.}}
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{{efn|name=e|This last addition, "but things that can be easily misconstrued," is written in Maimonides' original Judeo-Arabic text, but was omitted in the translated printed texts. Rabbi [[Yosef Qafih]] points out the omission, and inserts it in his new translation. See: ''Mishnah, with Commentary of Maimonides'' (ed. Yosef Qafih), vol. 2, Rav Kook Institute, Jerusalem 1963 (Hebrew)}}
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====Resurrection====

Religious Jews believed in immortality in a spiritual sense, and most believed that the future would include a messianic era and a resurrection of the dead. This is the subject of [[Jewish eschatology]]. Maimonides wrote much on this topic, but in most cases he wrote about the immortality of the soul for people of perfected intellect; his writings were usually {{em|not}} about the resurrection of dead bodies. Rabbis of his day were critical of this aspect of this thought, and there was controversy over his true views.{{efn|According to Maimonides, certain Jews in Yemen had sent to him a letter in the year 1189, evidently irritated as to why he had not mentioned the physical resurrection of the dead in his {{transliteration|he|Hil. Teshuvah}}, chapter 8, and how that some persons in Yemen had begun to instruct, based on Maimonides' teaching, that when the body dies it will disintegrate and the soul will never return to such bodies after death. Maimonides denied that he ever insinuated such things, and reiterated that the body would indeed resurrect, but that the "world to come" was something different in nature. See: Maimonides' {{transliteration|he|Ma'amar Teḥayyath Hamethim}} (Treatise on the Resurrection of the Dead), published in ''Book of Letters and Responsa'' ({{lang|he|ספר אגרות ותשובות}}), Jerusalem 1978, p. 9 (Hebrew).}}

Eventually, Maimonides felt pressured to write a treatise on the subject, known as "The Treatise on Resurrection." In it, he wrote that those who claimed that he believed the verses of the [[Tanakh|Hebrew Bible]] referring to the resurrection were only allegorical were spreading falsehoods. Maimonides asserts that belief in resurrection is a fundamental truth of Judaism about which there is no disagreement.<ref>Kraemer, 422</ref>

While his position on the [[World to come|World to Come]] (non-corporeal eternal life as described above) may be seen as being in contradiction with his position on bodily resurrection, Maimonides resolved them with a then unique solution: Maimonides believed that the resurrection was not permanent or general. In his view, God never violates the laws of nature. Rather, divine interaction is by way of [[angel]]s, whom Maimonides often regards to be metaphors for the laws of nature, the principles by which the physical universe operates, or Platonic eternal forms.{{efn|This view is not always consistent throughout Maimonides' work; in {{transliteration |he|Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah}}, chapters 2–4, Maimonides describes angels that are actually created beings.}} Thus, if a unique event actually occurs, even if it is perceived as a miracle, it is not a violation of the world's order.<ref>Commentary on the Mishna, Avot 5:6</ref>

In this view, any dead who are resurrected must eventually die again. In his discussion of the [[Jewish principles of faith|13 principles of faith]], the first five deal with knowledge of God, the next four deal with prophecy and the Torah, while the last four deal with reward, punishment and the ultimate redemption. In this discussion Maimonides says nothing of a universal resurrection. All he says it is that whatever resurrection does take place, it will occur at an indeterminate time before the world to come, which he repeatedly states will be purely spiritual.

====The World to Come====
Maimonides distinguishes two kinds of intelligence in man, the one material in the sense of being dependent on, and influenced by, the body, and the other immaterial, that is, independent of the bodily organism. The latter is a direct emanation from the universal [[active intellect]]; this is his interpretation of the {{transliteration|grc|noûs poietikós}} of Aristotelian philosophy. It is acquired as the result of the efforts of the soul to attain a correct knowledge of the absolute, pure intelligence of God.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

The knowledge of God is a form of knowledge which develops in us the immaterial intelligence, and thus confers on man an immaterial, spiritual nature. This confers on the soul that perfection in which human happiness consists, and endows the soul with [[immortality]]. One who has attained a correct knowledge of God has reached a condition of existence, which renders him immune from all the accidents of fortune, from all the allurements of sin, and from death itself. Man is in a position to work out his own salvation and his immortality.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

[[Baruch Spinoza]]'s doctrine of immortality was strikingly similar. However, Spinoza teaches that the way to attain the knowledge which confers immortality is the progress from sense-knowledge through scientific knowledge to philosophical intuition of all things {{lang|la|sub specie æternitatis}}, while Maimonides holds that the road to perfection and immortality is the path of duty as described in the [[Torah]] and the rabbinic understanding of the [[oral law]].{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Maimonides describes the world to come as the stage after a person lives their life in this world as well as the final state of existence after the Messianic Era. Some time after the resurrection of the dead, souls will live forever without bodies. They will enjoy the radiance of the Divine Presence without the need for food, drink or sexual pleasures.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mishneh Torah, Repentance 9:1 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah%2C_Repentance.9.1?lang=bi&with=Commentary&lang2=en |website=sefaria.org |access-date=2 August 2021 |archive-date=1 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801074355/https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah,_Repentance.9.1?lang=bi&with=Commentary&lang2=en |url-status=live }}</ref>