Food, the Afterlife, and Death Practices
An interesting topic we ran into in the “Shulhan Shel Arba: The Fourth Gate” a Jewish text by Rabbenu Bahya ben Asher, is the idea of the afterlife. Taking the class, Perspectives on Death and Dying, maybe has made me more aware of this theme in world religions, but nevertheless I find it to be fascinating. So many different religions believe in an afterlife, and a common thing to see within an afterlife is the common idea still indulging in food. In “Shulhan Shel Arba: The Fourth Gate” we discussed how the body in the afterlife becomes limitless, so that one can eat without boundaries and growth. You can indulge in two feasts, one for the body, and the one for the soul and the mind. You will eat manna, which is described as being, “like wafers in honey”, Behemoth, bird, and fish. This is all while being served to you by Moses, who is probably the most important and celebrated prophets in Judaism. As we see from holidays such as Purim and hamantaschen and Shabbat and it’s focus on the...