Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Olam HaBa
עולם הבא
The World to Come (Olam HaBa)
The reward of the righteous: delight in the radiance of the Shechinah. Some places mean the souls’ Gan Eden, a glow received through contraction; others the world of the resurrection, in bodies; others both.
The word עולם הבא is the Sages’ “World to Come”, the reward. In Kabbalistic usage Binah (Imma) is itself called העולם הבא or עלמא דאתי (“Binah and Tevunah are called the World to Come”, LT Shir HaShirim 41:38); there it names a Sefirah, the source of that reward, not a time or place.
Where it’s explained
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 7, ¶9The World to Come is the souls’ delight in the radiance of the Shechinah. Since souls are created and limited, it can be revealed to them only through a contraction of Or Ein Sof (the yud), so that what they grasp is a “something” (yesh). The yud itself has its own entry (beyud-nivra-olam-haba).
פי׳ העוה״ב הוא תענוג הנשמות שנהנין מזיו השכינה
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 1, ¶15“One hour of teshuvah and good deeds in this world is better than all the life of the World to Come”: the World to Come is radiance from the light that fills the worlds, and it is teshuvah and good deeds that draw into it power from the light that encompasses them; they make the radiance and delight of Gan Eden.
כי העוה״ב הוא שנהנים מזיו השכינה הוא זיו והארה מרובה ותוספת תענוג הנשמות
- Likkutei Torah, Reeh 4, ¶13The World to Come reveals the radiance through many descending levels, each person according to his deeds and level, so its sufferings far exceed this world’s; in this world G‑d Himself (Anochi) is present to all who call Him.
לפי שעוה״ב הוא גילוי הזיו שהגילוי הזה הוא דרך ירידת והשתלשלות המדרגות שהן רבות ושונות
- Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 2, ¶10The World to Come is the world after the refinement (birur): good is already separated from evil, so there one cannot change what was drawn in this world. This world, the world of refinement, is where one can turn from evil to good.
כי עוה״ב הוא עולם שלאחר הבירור
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 7, ¶18Like Yom Kippur, which is from Binah (Imma Ila’ah), the World to Come has no eating and drinking: the World to Come is from Binah.
כמו העוה״ב שאין בו אכילה ושתיה ועוה״ב הוא מבחינת בינה
Stated differently
What “the World to Come” is: the souls’ Gan Eden (souls without bodies); the levels of Gan Eden together with the days of Mashiach; Gan Eden and the resurrection both; or only the world of the resurrection (not Gan Eden), the days of Mashiach not being it
פי׳ העוה״ב הוא תענוג הנשמות שנהנין מזיו השכינהThe World to Come is the delight of the souls, who enjoy the radiance of the Shechinah.
נמצא שהם העושים הזיו והתענוג שבג״ע. ולכן גדלה מעלתם מכל חיי העוה״בTeshuvah and good deeds make the radiance and delight of Gan Eden, so they are greater than all the life of the World to Come.
ומה שהיה ראוי לידון בגיהנם בעוה״ב מחשבין כנגדו יסורי עוה״ז הקליםWhat one deserved to be judged for in Gehinnom in the World to Come is offset by the light sufferings of this world; the World to Come, the souls’ comprehension and delight, comes through gevuros and contractions.
כי עולם הבא ר״ל ג״ע הוא עולם הדין מבחי׳ ממכ״עThe World to Come, that is, Gan Eden, is a world of judgment, from the light that fills the worlds (memalei), far from sovev; in this world sovev is drawn down through Torah and mitzvos.
והנה העוה״ב שהוא משכן הנשמות בלא גופין מתגלה בחי׳ הזיו מן המצות בבחי׳ גילויThe World to Come, the dwelling of souls without bodies, is where the radiance drawn by the mitzvos is openly revealed; the mitzvos draw the life of the World to Come for the righteous, who sit and delight in the radiance of the Shechinah in Gan Eden.
כמו עוה״ב ותחה״מ ואלף הז׳ יום שכולו שבת ומנוחה לחיי העולםLists the World to Come, the resurrection, and the seventh millennium as distinct levels, one above the other, all of them radiance.
כל ימי חיי עוה״ב לשון רבים שיש כמה ג״ע תחתון וג״ע עליון וימות המשיח גבוה מעל גבוה“All the life of the World to Come” is in the plural because it holds many levels, the lower Gan Eden, the upper Gan Eden and the days of Mashiach, one above the other, through fifty thousand jubilees; all of it is only one radiance.
מתחלה צריך להבין ענין עוה״ב שהוא ג״ע ותח״הThe World to Come is Gan Eden and the resurrection; citing the Ramban, the main reward of the World to Come is at the resurrection, which is higher than the upper Gan Eden.
וגם הנה אמרו על אחר מוטב דלידייניה וליתי לעלמא דאתי הוא ג״עIn “better he be judged and come to the World to Come” the World to Come is Gan Eden; in “all Israel have a share in the World to Come” it means that they will rise at the resurrection.
ולכן כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעוה״ב בתחית המתיםAll Israel have a share in the World to Come, at the resurrection; the reward of the righteous for the souls, in Gan Eden, is only for a time.
דעוה״ב אינו ר״ל ג״ע עולם הנשמות אלא הוא עולם התחיהThe World to Come of which the Sages said “there is no eating there” does not mean Gan Eden, the world of souls; it is the world of the resurrection, with physical bodies nourished by the radiance of the Shechinah.
כי ימות המשיח אינו עוה״ב שלאחר התחיה. שזהו מתן שכרן של צדיקיםThe days of Mashiach are not the World to Come that follows the resurrection, which is the reward of the righteous.
Main sources
Torah Ohr, Yisro 9, ¶14Torah Ohr, Yisro 9, ¶15Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 7, ¶9Likkutei Torah, Matos 1, ¶15Likkutei Torah, Reeh 4, ¶13Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 2, ¶10Likkutei Torah, Shabbos Shuvah 2, ¶3Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 4, ¶2
Where it appears
In 189 paragraphs of 111 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 10 ¶9 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 6 ¶8 ¶10 ¶12 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 1 ¶2 ¶19
- Likkutei Torah, Eikev 3 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 6 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Korach 1 ¶8 ¶29
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 1 ¶5 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 3 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 4 ¶15 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 1 ¶3 ¶4 ¶5 ¶6 ¶8 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 2 ¶2 ¶3 ¶10 ¶17
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 6 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 11 ¶7 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 1 ¶1 ¶9 ¶10 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 22 ¶31
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 4 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 5 ¶26
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 8 ¶1 ¶6 ¶10
- Torah Ohr, Ki Sisa 1 ¶21
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 4 ¶4 ¶41
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 9 ¶14 ¶15 ¶16 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 5 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Behar 2 ¶6 ¶12 ¶19 ¶29
- Likkutei Torah, Devarim 1 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 4 ¶2 ¶3 ¶12 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 16 ¶6 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 41 ¶1 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 3 ¶7 ¶20 ¶36
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 2 ¶24
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 7 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 12 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 3 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 42 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 8 ¶8 ¶18
- Torah Ohr, Chayei Sarah 3 ¶6
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 12 ¶18
- Torah Ohr, Vayigash 1 ¶6 ¶7
- Torah Ohr, Vayishlach 2 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 6 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 15 ¶2 ¶19
- Likkutei Torah, Beshalach 1 ¶3 ¶5 ¶6 ¶10 ¶11 ¶12 ¶14 ¶19 ¶21
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 1 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 14 ¶2 ¶8 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 10 ¶5 ¶20
- Likkutei Torah, Tazria 3 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 4 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 9 ¶25
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 7 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 2 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Va’eira 4 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Shabbos Shuvah 2 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 5 ¶1 ¶3 ¶4 ¶5 ¶6 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 3 ¶23
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Savo 1 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 1 ¶2 ¶17 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 2 ¶9 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 4 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 4 ¶1 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 30 ¶5 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, V’Zos HaBerachah 4 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 10 ¶16
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 2 ¶12
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 15 ¶7
- Torah Ohr, Toldos 2 ¶16 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 2 ¶41
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 7 ¶55 ¶56
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 6 ¶6
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 7 ¶9 ¶10
- Torah Ohr, Noach 1 ¶3 ¶5 ¶8
- Torah Ohr, Tetzaveh 1 ¶5 ¶7 ¶17
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 1 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Savo 3 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 7 ¶18 ¶23
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 3 ¶23 ¶27
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 5 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 5 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 2 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 7 ¶8
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 9 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 20 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 21 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 3 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 13 ¶20
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 1 ¶3
- Torah Ohr, Chayei Sarah 2 ¶2 ¶3 ¶6 ¶8
- Torah Ohr, Noach 3 ¶20
- Torah Ohr, Terumah 1 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 6 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Acharei 2 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 6 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 4 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 17 ¶25 ¶26
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 5 ¶17
- Likkutei Torah, Yom Kippur 2 ¶16 ¶17
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 7 ¶46
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 4 ¶7
- Torah Ohr, Vayechi 3 ¶2 ¶12 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 16 ¶19
- Torah Ohr, Ki Sisa 2 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 3 ¶25
- Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 3 ¶6
- Torah Ohr, Vayeishev 1 ¶16
- Torah Ohr, Chayei Sarah 4 ¶4
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 1 ¶8 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Toldos 3 ¶15 ¶22
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 7 ¶21
- Torah Ohr, Vayishlach 5 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Acharei 1 ¶26
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 5 ¶6
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 12 ¶8
- Torah Ohr, Vayeishev 4 ¶13
Written with AI from the paragraphs of Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, each entry checked by a second AI reader and every Hebrew quote checked by code; not yet reviewed by a person. Our English: CC BY-NC 4.0.