Dedicated Anonymously
כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל יֵשׁ לָהֶם חֵלֶק לְעוֹלָם הַבָּא שֶׁנֶאֱמַר וְעַמֵךְ כּוּלָם צַדִיקִים לְעוֹלָם יִירְשׁוּ אָרֶץ נֵצֶר מַטָעַי מַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי לְהִתְפָּאֵר“All of Israel have a share in the World to Come, as it is stated [Isaiah 60:21]: ‘And Your people are all Tzaddikim [righteous].’ They shall inherit the land forever. They are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, in which I take pride.” [Sanhedrin 90a]
Why do we say Kol Yisrael before Pirkei Avos?
Pirkei Avos has contradicting opposites. On one hand it's teaching us how to be a mentch, meaning that we are at a low state and we have to be taught to be a mentch. On the other hand, it's virtues of piety, beyond the letter of the law, meaning that we are at a higher state and Pirkei Avos is taking us even higher.
On one hand we say Pirkei Avos between Pesach and Shavuoth, and some say it until Rosh Hashanah, because our bodily desires are stronger in the spring and summer and we need the strength to overcome them. Reciting Pirkei Avos gives us the added strength necessary to overcome our urges. According to this, the reason that we say Pirkei Avos is because of the low state we are at. On the other hand, people who don't have bodily desires also have to say Pirkei Avos.
This Mishnah explains these dichotomies.
In this Mishnah, the world to come, refers to the world of the living, when Moshiach will come and after the resurrection of the dead, it will be neshamas in bodies and we will have eternal life. As opposed to Gan Eden, heaven, which is the world of neshamas. This is the reward for doing the mitzvos, which we do mainly with our bodies, physical action, therefore the reward will be for our bodies. The neshama will also enjoy the reward because it was together with the body when the mitzvah was done. That is why we are equal, in that we have a portion in the world to come, because we can all do physical actions equally. And since every Jew does mitzvos, as our sages say, "Even the sinners of Israel are full of mitzvos as a pomegranate (is filled with seeds)," therefore, "All of Israel have a portion in the world to come."
When it comes to Gan Eden, the world of neshamas, not everyone has a portion. Because it's mainly the reward for the Torah that was studied. When it comes to Torah study, everyone is different, one person has greater abilities than the other.
It is obvious that the reward will be greater in the world of the living than in Gan Eden, because all of the neshamas in Gan Eden will be resurrected into bodies when Moshiach comes. And if it's a lesser revelation, why would they be punished to get a lower level of revelation of G-dliness, a lesser reward? Therefore we must conclude that the revelation of the time of Moshiach is greater.
If the revelation of the time of Moshiach is greater than Gan Eden, then why is it that the lesser reward of Gan Eden is for a select few, as it's more difficult to get in, and the greater reward of the time of Moshiach is easier to get, as "All of Israel have a portion in the world to come."?
On the surface, the reason that we are all equal when it comes to doing mitzvos, is because physical action seems to be the lowest of all our faculties, behind thought and speech, it doesn't take much to do a physical action, one can do the act of a mitzvah without much thought.
But when you look deeper, you realize that action is the greatest of all, it's the only thing that fulfills Hashem's deepest desire, that we make this world into a home for His deepest essence, the true Him, dwelling openly in this lowly physical world. This by definition, is what the coming of Moshiach is all about, this is the reward, the revelation of Hashem's deepest essence. This is done by doing mitzvos, which are Hashem's will, His essence. And the reason that our mitzvos can accomplish this is because the source of our bodies are from Hashem's essential will, as we say in Yom Tov davening, "You chose us," true choice comes from ones essence, His essence chose our bodies, therefore we can fulfill His essential will, the mitzvos, with our bodies. Every one of us is the "branch of His planting," and "the work of His hands," and because of this, we feel Hashem's will, His purpose, some more some less, and we do what is necessary to fulfill His purpose. When it comes to fulfilling Hashem's purpose, we are all equal. And this is the most important thing, as our sages say, "It's not the study that is the main thing, rather the action."
Therefore, when our work is done, and the Divine purpose will be completed, the reward will be specifically to neshamas in bodies and it will become clear that not only did Hashem choose our neshamas, but also our bodies. When we finish our work of refining the world, the world will become a home for Hashem, and as it will become clear to us that Hashem also chose our bodies, then we will also understand that the eternal life in the time of Moshiach will be for our bodies as well.
In light of this explanation, we will understand why Kol Yisrael is said before Pirkei Avos.
In order to explain how learning and keeping the words of Pirkei Avos - which refines and purifies the body - pertains to every one of Israel, we preface Pirkei Avos with, "All of Israel have a portion in the world to come," meaning the world of the living, neshamas in bodies. Because even the bodies of the Jewish people are the work of Hashem's hands, and only through His handiwork could He "take pride," because we bring His initial and essential desire to fruition.
Therefore, every one of us has to keep the words of Pirkei Avos, and this is seen in two opposite extremes.
There isn't a body that can't be refined. Being that it's the work of Hashem's hands, it isn't possible that it can't be refined. And even more, because the body is the work of His hands, not one of us will be left behind, ultimately our bodies will be refined.
At the same time, there isn't a person that is free from refining his or her body according to their ability. This is the true meaning of, "virtues of piety," to work on one's body, to refine and purify it. Because only through His handiwork could He "take pride."
What we should take from this is that Hashem takes pride in each and every one of us, and we have the ability to bring Moshiach by refining our place in the world through our mitzvos and actions, and by refining our bodies through the words and the virtues of piety of Pirkei Avos.
May we merit to see the coming of Moshiach, which will come through our efforts. May he come soon.
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