Editing Nachmanides (section)

== Views on death, mourning and the resurrection ==
In Nachmanides's ''Torat ha-Adam'', which deals with mourning rites, burial customs, etc., Nachmanides sharply criticizes writers who strove to render man indifferent to both pleasure and pain. This, he declares, is against the Law, which commands man to rejoice on the day of joy and weep on the day of mourning. The last chapter, entitled ''Shaar ha-Gemul'', discusses reward and punishment, resurrection, and kindred subjects. It derides the presumption of the philosophers who pretend to a knowledge of the essence of [[God]] and the [[angel]]s, while even the composition of their own bodies is a mystery to them.<ref name="jewishencyc"/>

For Nachmanides, divine [[revelation]] is the best guide in all these questions, and proceeds to give his views on [[Jewish eschatology|Jewish views of the afterlife]]. He holds that as God is eminently just, there must be reward and punishment. This reward and punishment must take place in another world, for the good and evil of this world are relative and transitory.<ref name="jewishencyc"/>

Besides the animal [[Soul (spirit)|soul]], which is derived from the "Supreme powers" and is common to all creatures, man possesses a special soul. This special soul, which is a direct emanation from God, existed before the creation of the world.<ref name="jewishencyc"/> Through the medium of man it enters the material life; and at the dissolution of its medium it either returns to its original source or enters the body of another man. This belief is, according to Nachmanides, the basis of the [[levirate marriage]], the child of which inherits not only the name of the brother of his fleshly father, but also his soul, and thus continues its existence on the earth. The resurrection spoken of by the prophets, which will take place after the coming of the Messiah, is referred by Nachmanides to the body. The physical body may, through the influence of the soul, transform itself into so pure an essence that it will become eternal.<ref name="jewishencyc"/>

{{quote|In this world, the Sages apprehend through the Holy Spirit seven sefirot [. . .] In the Days of the Messiah the eighth sefirah will be apprehended, and they [the Sages] hint to it. In the World to Come, the apprehension will be complete with all ten sefirot, and they allude to them|”Shaar ha-Gemul”, Nachmanides}}

Nachmanides thinks that at the coming of Messiah the knowledge is deeper and also the [[Kabbalah]] may be known with Holy Spirit with ten [[Sefirot]] while before this the Holy Spirit could achieve only seven Sefirot. Ten Sefirot include [[Chokhmah]], [[Binah (Kabbalah)|Binah]] and [[Keter]] also with the seven because thinking with Messiah is very strong and all truth must be really known.

{{quote|…since we must be closer than they [the Sages] to the End, and perhaps even really close given the long duration of the exile that has already passed, perhaps the decree decreed upon him [Daniel] to conceal it has lapsed, because the underlying reason for it is null, namely, that “it pertains to far-off days” (Dan 8:26). Because he said “many will wander (yeshotetu) and knowledge will increase” (Dan 12:4), it is hinted to us from here that we may contemplate (le-shotet) the End in this book and increase the opinions about it. When he says, “but the enlightened will understand” (Dan 12:10), we learn that when the End approaches, the enlightened will understand these hints<ref>Moshe Halbertal. “Nahmanides. Law and Mysticism” Yale University Press, New Haven & London 2020 ISBN 978-0-300-14091-0 (p. 287)</ref>|Nachmanides}}

Nachmanides gives much importance to the messianic era, especially in relation to the end of the 4 exiles, the last of which is that of Edom identified in Rome. He considers many prophecies of the [[Tanakh]] concerning the Messiah and in particular the [[Book of Daniel]]: here he considers the exact moment before the messianic revelation while admitting not to be completely aware of what should happen in every detail. It is however evident that divine knowledge will be widely spread and this has always been a topic of debate even among the Jewish wise men (the Chakhamim) following the prophets and the rabbis of the [[Talmud]].