On “The Good Place”, the humans meet the Judge, who gives each of them an individualized test that they all must pass or none of them can go on to the real Good Place. On the podcast, Elliot Goldberg and Jon stress test the Talmud’s six-part afterlife questionnaire on Eleanor, Tahani, Jason and Chidi, and wonder why all-knowing beings love binge-watching more than reading the New Yorker.
Text: Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a (Follow this link to see in original context, where you can scroll back to see a series of statements that try to sum up Jewish ethics and learning)
Rava said: At the time that they bring a person to judgment, they say: Were you faithful in business? Did you designate times for Torah study? Did you deal with “be fruitful and multiply”/Did you build a family? Did you hope for salvation? Did you engage in dialectics about wisdom/contemplate philosophical truths? Did you understand/differentiate one matter from another?...
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