In a post one year ago: here a rosh yeshiva is quoted as saying, "Anyone who tells you they are religious because of the next world is fooling themselves and fooling you."
I wonder how he would respond when asked, why is it that Paradise motivates a Moslem to kill himself, or does he not believe that Moslems are firm believers in reward in the next world and live, or die, as the case may be, to attain it?
It is rather incredible how Arab family men say goodbye to their wives and children and then blow themselves up.
In the spirit of learning from everyone and everything we see, if Arabs are that motivated to drastic action because of belief in the Next World, we need to strengthen our own belief in the Next World.
When a non-Jew initiates his own death under the impression that he will be rewarded with great pleasure in the afterlife, pleasure that he conceives of in very gross physical terms, as is reportedly the case with many Muslim suicide bombers, may their names be erased, and in Islam in general, such martyrdom stems from the Nefesh HaBehamis. This is not comparable to a Yid's Mesiras Nefesh, which stems from the Nefesh Ha'Elokis.
ReplyDeleteBut your point that we should think more about Gan Eden/Olam Haba is definitely well taken.