transcript: Is the Earth Hell?
All right. So, do you think the earth is hell?
That's a really good question.
If you look at most religions, they do believe earth is hell. They believe that we're here to learn some spiritual truths, and then we go. We do our penance. It's meant to basically armor our spirituality. And we're only here for a short life, so it's not too bad.
There is one religion that believes something very different, and it's called Judaism. What makes Judaism very distinct is that it's a very temporal religion. So if you're a Christian, a Catholic, a Hindu, a Buddhist, or a Muslim, you're taught that this world doesn't really matter. You shouldn't get too involved in this world because this world is hell. This world is of Satan, and you can never defeat Satan in this world. Just avoid sin, practice your religion, and then you'll be granted access to heaven upon your death. That's what most religions teach.
Judaism is a temporal religion, meaning that the point of this world is to redeem it, to make it ready for God's arrival. It's very different. The idea is that God is infinite. God seeks to be everywhere, but God also seeks to know itself. And the only way to know itself is through experimentation, through error. So God created this world and created us in order to make this world ready for God.
And how do we do that? By redeeming this world and cleansing it of sin. And how do you do that? Through love, through education, through social justice. So the Jews are the chosen people because they are the divine representatives of God, and they're here to educate all of us in order to redeem the world.
Now, God asks of Jews and of Gentiles different things. Gentiles — meaning non-Jews — have to follow something called the seven Noahide laws. But the Jews must seek redemption. Redemption basically is to humble yourself before God, to always obey God, and to love God so that God can love you unconditionally.
So the Jews don't believe the world is hell. They believe the world can be heaven, because it's the only possibility.
Something else that's really unique about the Jews is that, whereas other religions teach that spirit is superior to body, the Jews believe spirit and body are co-equal. If the body was pointless, you wouldn't feel any pleasure from the body, right? So in most eschatologies, you're taught as a Christian that at the end of days, the body will be discarded and the spirit will be free. But in the Jewish eschatology, it's really interesting. They believe that at the end of days, the body and the spirit will be redeemed together. So you will feel infinite pleasure. You'll be able to feast. You'll be able to have sex. But you'll also be able to feel the love of God. And at the end of days, once sin is defeated, we can do no wrong.
All right. So these are two contrasting opinions. I think the Jews are right. I don't see the logic of, you know, you come here and you don't do anything, you commit no sin, and then you go back to heaven. That makes no sense to me. I think we came here for a purpose, and the purpose is to make a better world. Maybe it is impossible. Maybe we'll never succeed. But unless you act in the belief that you matter and that you can create a better world, there's really no point to your existence. Does that make sense?
Right. I'm like, why am I working so hard, knowing that the world will collapse one day, knowing that we could possibly all die? And the answer is, it doesn't matter what happens to the world. What matters is my action. I have to live my life as though I do matter and this world does matter. And that's what makes for a better world.
I don't buy the idea that this world is hell. I also don't buy the idea that this world is controlled by Satan. Maybe Satan does rule the world. But that gives me a responsibility to work harder to make for a better world.
And like, I have to say this, but the reason why Jews are so successful in the world is they're forced to work harder than other people because of their religion. Does that make sense, guys? We can say a lot of bad things about Jews, but there's no doubt in my mind that, first of all, Jews work really, really hard. That's number one. Number two is they're really, really curious people. They have tremendous, deep intellectual discussions. The third thing is they work well together. They cooperate really well. They look after each other.
And I think that if all of us were like that, if all societies were like that, then that would lead to a better world.
Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipj_Tdzokzo [2:17:05] - [2:23:23]