The Jewish Belief in Resurrection: Sources, Teachings, and Stories of Faith

The Mishnah in Sanhedrin (Chapter 10, Mishnah 1) declares: “These have no share in the World to Come — one who says there is no resurrection of the dead.”

Maimonides (Rambam), in his commentary on this Mishnah, writes: “The resurrection of the dead is one of the fundamental principles of the Torah. There is no religion and no connection to the Jewish people for one who does not believe in it. But it is for the righteous.”

In Mishneh Torah (Laws of Repentance 3:6), Rambam rules: “These have no share in the World to Come, but are cut off, lost, and judged forever for the greatness of their wickedness and sins — the heretics, the apostates, the deniers of the Torah, and those who deny the resurrection of the dead.”

Biblical Sources for Resurrection

Several biblical verses directly refer to resurrection of the dead:

• Devarim 32:39: “See now that I, I am He, and there is no god with Me. I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal, and none can deliver from My hand.”

• Yeshayahu 26:19: “Your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust, for your dew is a dew of lights.”

• Daniel 12:2: “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting disgrace.”

• Daniel 12:13: “But you, go your way until the end; you shall rest, and then arise to your destiny at the end of days.”

Another powerful source is the Vision of the Dry Bones in Yechezkel (Ezekiel 37:1–14), where God brings a valley of dry bones back to life as a sign of Israel’s ultimate redemption and resurrection.

The Malbim’s Commentary on Yechezkel

On Yechezkel's vision, Rabbi Meir Leibush (the Malbim) explains: These words can be taken literally, referring to the final resurrection at the end of days. God will open the graves of all the dead, fulfilling Daniel’s prophecy that “many who sleep in the dust shall awake.”

The Malbim adds that the miracle in Yechezkel's time — when bones came together, flesh covered them, and they rose alive, was itself a sign of the future general resurrection and redemption of Israel.

Resurrection as Nature and Miracle

Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler (1892–1953), in his classic work Michtav Me’Eliyahu (vol. 1, p. 177), explains how resurrection can be understood by looking at nature itself:

We accept that when a seed is planted, decays, and then sprouts into a new plant, it is “natural.” If however we saw the same thing in a cemetery — bones turning into a living person, we would call it a miracle.

Rabbi Dessler argues that there is no real difference between nature and miracle, as both are simply the will of God. What we call “nature” is simply the miracle we are accustomed to seeing every day.

He cites the Talmudic teaching of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa: “He who said to oil that it should burn, can say to vinegar that it should burn.” For one who truly sees God’s hand in everything, there is no difference between natural law and miracle.

A Story of Faith in the Holocaust

Rabbi Ezriel Tauber, a lecturer and author, shared his mother’s unwavering faith in resurrection during the horrors of the Holocaust:

“Four of my siblings were born during the years of the war, between 1940–1944. The first three were miraculously saved, but when my mother was pregnant with her fourth child, she was deported to Auschwitz. The Nazis performed cruel experiments during her labor and murdered the baby. Yet through this, my mother’s life was spared. 

Her friends asked her: ‘How can you bring children into the world now, when it endangers both you and them?’ My mother replied: ‘I know the risks, but I must do my duty, and God will do His.’

Years later, I asked her: ‘Mother, did you ever really believe you and your children would survive?’ She answered: ‘I knew I was no safer than anyone else, and of course I feared for our lives. But I never regretted bringing children into the world. I am a Jew, and I believe in the resurrection of the dead. No child is ever truly lost. Each one is eternal and will live again, despite the Nazis.’” (Pirkei Machshavah – The 13 Principles of Faith by Rambam, pp. 281–282)

The Hope of Eternal Life

The Jewish belief in resurrection is more than a doctrine — it is a hope that has sustained the people through exile, suffering, and even the Holocaust.

As the prophet Yeshayahu (25:8) declares: “He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; and the reproach of His people He will remove from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.”

May we merit to see this promise fulfilled soon.