Rav Avigdor Miller on Olam Habah for Goyim
Rav Avigdor Miller on Olam Habah for Goyim
Q:
If gentiles don’t have Olam Habah, then how can we criticize them for being interested in the gashmiyus and ta‘avos of this world?
A:
Olam Habah has more than one meaning. We have to know there’s such a thing as gentiles in the World to Come – there will be gentiles. But it doesn’t mean that they are going to be in the status of the צדיקים יושבים ועטרותיהם בראשיהם, tzaddikim who sit with the crowns on their heads. Tzaddikim who wore hats, who wore yarmulkas, who wore black hats, who wore shtreimlach, women with their heads covered, so Hashem is going to give them a crown on their heads: עתיד הקב”ה להיות עטרה בראש כל צדיק וצדיק – All the people who kept the Torah and were loyal, Hashem will give them a crown on their heads, a crown of glory, and they will sit with this crown and they’ll be נהנים מזיו השכינה – they’ll be enjoying the splendor of the Shechina.
Now, the gentiles won’t have that; there will be goyim only that they won’t be included in this great happiness. But they’ll have an existence; certainly it’s possible for them to exist. If a goy does what’s right, he certainly will be rewarded to some extent. Now, I am not able to tell you exactly what will be his matzav in nitzchiyus, his exact situation there, but אין הקב”ה מקפח שכר כל בריה – Hashem will not hold back reward of anybody. If a person lived with decency in this world, with righteousness, so Hakodosh Boruch Hu is not going to deny him a certain reward. He’s not promised what’s promised to the children of Avraham Avinu: אל תירא אברם שכרך הרבה מאד – Your reward is very great; that means Olam Habah for you and your children forever and ever. But anybody else who does good things, even a gentile, you should know that Hakodosh Boruch Hu will remember them and He will give them a reward according to what they deserve to get.