Q:
You said before that an atheist will absolutely not get Olam Haba. But if we have a principle that Hakadosh Baruch Hu does not deny the reward of any creature, so shouldn’t even atheists get reward?
A:
That’s true. But we’re talking now about Olam Haba. An atheist will not get Olam Haba. He gets some reward in this world but not Olam Haba.
Q:
But what about an atheist soldier in the Israeli army who is killed? He’s going to be dying the next minute. So there’s no Olam Hazeh?
A:
If he’s dying the next moment? So in Gehinom he will have some reduction; that’s all, but he will not be zocheh to Olam Haba. Because that’s a klal. Nothing will help.
You have to understand this. We live in this world not to do good deeds alone. We live in this world only for Hashem. It’s the greatest misconception to think that you can work for ideals and turn your back on Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And this big misconception has been fostered by an atheistic society. But anybody who knows a little Torah knows that it doesn’t begin. There’s no question about it.
So therefore let’s say Motzei Yom Kippur when Golda Meir and Dayan were broadcasting to the Jewish nation to muster, to summon their courage. Let’s say Golda Meir; I don’t know if she fasted, but she doesn’t eat kosher. Dayan does not eat kosher. So with their unclean mouths from a treife meal they got up and they’re speaking to the Jewish nation on the radio.
They don’t mention a word about Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Here is what they said. ‘We trust in our army.’ That’s the only trust we express.
So it’s a nation headed by atheists. So the fact that they are fighting for the State of Israel does not mitigate this at all because the State of Israel without Hakadosh Baruch Hu is exactly the same as the State of Albania. Nothing will help.
You see, all the rabbis who talk in the opposite vein are talking because they want to please the people. The newspapers that write in this vein want to please the people. You know why? Because it’s money. Everybody speaks for the purpose of getting something out of the people; and therefore they say what the people want them to say.
But the truth is that it’s as simple as could be – there is no such thing as a Jew who doesn’t believe in Hakadosh Baruch Hu. If he doesn’t believe, he’s not a Jew. And al pi din he’s chayav to be put to death. An atheist is moridin velo ma’alin. I won’t translate that because there might be some hotheads but that’s the din of an atheist. So what kind of a Jew is that and what kind of sechar in Olam Haba could there be?
And these ridiculous rabbis and these ridiculous radio broadcasts that are making kedoshim out of them, it’s only because they’re appealing to the public. They’re lowering themselves to the level of the ignorant multitude.
So for old ladies in Florida who are sitting now and discussing our tapes and saying our tapes are against Israel; these poor beheimos, they just don’t understand. Anybody who is against Hakadosh Baruch Hu is not Israel, is not a Jew; he is nothing at all.
And we won’t budge. We shouldn’t budge from that because it’s ABC. It’s elementary. There cannot be any Olam Haba! Olam Haba means to live forever with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. The only ones who live with Him are the ones who believe in Him.
It could be that if a man, an atheist, in his last moment did some very heroic deed of kindliness, it could be in our charity towards him we’ll credit him maybe in his last moment when he was losing his life for a good deed, that maybe he was thinking about Hakadosh Baruch Hu. That’s the only condition that we could allow.
But suppose we would ask him when he’s dying, ‘You don’t believe?’ and he says ‘I don’t believe’ then there’s nothing to talk about. Then he’s exactly like an Eskimo who did good deeds. He won’t get Olam Haba if he doesn’t believe in a creator.
Q:
But it’s not their fault. They don’t know. It’s a tinok shenishba.
A:
But this you already heard. A tinok shenishba; if a person is an atheist even though it’s not his fault that he is an atheist so he isn’t worthy. He has lost this opportunity.
It’s not a question of blame here. We have to have emunah. Does Hakadosh Baruch Hu owe any man Olam Haba? Hakadosh Baruch Hu doesn’t owe it to anybody. He doesn’t owe it. It’s just a gift. It’s a gift given in the virtue of our forefathers.
Does Hakadosh Baruch Hu owe Olam Haba to virtuous birds or virtuous horses? No. And men, also not. It’s enough that they lived. He owes them nothing. When a man’s time is up, he has no claims on Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Olam Haba is just a gift. Nobody can demand Olam Haba.
Just for the piece of bread we eat every day and for the glass of water we drink, we have to work and do mitzvos; because we have to pay for it. Nobody can claim he deserves the Next World. The only ones who get it are those who are identified with our forefathers, and our forefathers had only one ideal and that’s to serve Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And therefore there’s no such thing as a kofer getting Olam Haba.
TAPE # 39 (October 1973)
