Many conflicting explanations on the same subject usually means that nobody knows the answer. Rambam writes that תחית המתים is only for tzaddikim, which makes me doubt that he believed in it.
Torah is about living a righteous life in this world. It doesn't provide any information about life after death.
Although when Chazal make a very aggressive point of offering many conflicting explanations (as they did in this case), it seems that they had something going on. I'm frustrated because I don't really know what that was.
I believe it should be understood in the context of the struggle against Christianity, which preached that Jesus will come back on earth and all true believers will be resurected. This is also the explanation for the popular meaning of כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא, which isn't the plain meaning of the verse ועמך כולם צדיקים. Rav Boruch Shlichter (Yashar) explains it alone these lines.
I'm not sure that particular Christian belief was widespread as early as the Tana'im. But I do suggest in the original article that there might have been some resistance to תחית המתים among Jews at the time.
Many conflicting explanations on the same subject usually means that nobody knows the answer. Rambam writes that תחית המתים is only for tzaddikim, which makes me doubt that he believed in it.
Torah is about living a righteous life in this world. It doesn't provide any information about life after death.
Although when Chazal make a very aggressive point of offering many conflicting explanations (as they did in this case), it seems that they had something going on. I'm frustrated because I don't really know what that was.
I believe it should be understood in the context of the struggle against Christianity, which preached that Jesus will come back on earth and all true believers will be resurected. This is also the explanation for the popular meaning of כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא, which isn't the plain meaning of the verse ועמך כולם צדיקים. Rav Boruch Shlichter (Yashar) explains it alone these lines.
I'm not sure that particular Christian belief was widespread as early as the Tana'im. But I do suggest in the original article that there might have been some resistance to תחית המתים among Jews at the time.