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In the Zohar (Noach, Chapter 13, Verse 89) we find the following:

וְאִלְמָלֵא דְהָדְרוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל וְחָאבוּ קַמֵּיהּ קֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, לָא הֲווֹ מֵתִין לְעָלְמִין, דְּהָא אִתְפַּסַּק מִנַּיְיהוּ זוּהֲמָא דְנָחָשׁ. כֵּיוָן דְּחָבוּ, כְּדֵין אִתְבָּרוּ אִינוּן לוּחֵי קַדְמָאֵי, דַּהֲווֹ בְּהוֹ חֵירוּ דְּכֹלָּא, חֵירוּ דְּהַהוּא נָחָשׁ, דְּאִיהוּ קֵץ כָּל בָּשָׂר.

And had Yisrael not sinned before the Holy One, blessed be He, they would have never died, for the pollution of the serpent had been purged from them. But because of their sin, the first tablets, which brought freedom from all sins, freedom from the serpent - who is "the End of all Flesh" (THE ANGEL OF DEATH) - were broken.

It states that if the Jews hadn't committed the sin that caused the first set of Tablets to be broken, then they would have never died.

Does anyone know if this lack of death would have applied to non-Jews also? Would the gentiles have lived forever too, after Matan Torah?

Deuteronomy
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Mars Sojourner
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  • Even if not presumably they'd all convert to ride the wave of immortality – Nahum Mar 10 '24 at 17:24
  • What do you mean "would have applied to non-Jews also"? Are you asking if, at that time, the whole world became immortal too? Or just that if non-Jews had accepted the Torah, they would have become immortal? – Rabbi Kaii Mar 10 '24 at 17:54
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    ישראל שעמדו על הר סיני פסקה זוהמתן עובדי כוכבי' שלא עמדו על הר סיני לא פסקה זוהמתן https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%A9%D7%91%D7%AA_%D7%A7%D7%9E%D7%95_%D7%90 – The GRAPKE Mar 10 '24 at 18:06
  • @Nahum why do you believe that insincere converts would be accepted? – Deuteronomy Mar 10 '24 at 18:24
  • @Deuteronomy Ulterior motivations while accepting Torah umitzvos is diff than non acceptance. Altho BD doesn't accept them ab initio there's a workaround, see https://rambam.alhatorah.org/Full/Issurei_Biah/13.15#e0n6 – Nahum Mar 10 '24 at 18:42
  • @Nahum if we didn't officially accept them during the reign of Dowid and Shelomo, it is unlikely that we would have accepted them at a time when arguably an even greater potential for ulterior motive being at play would be present... as for those accepted by hedyototh (with a status pending), it would be hard to compare the circumstances, where it seems that the mechanisms of national governance were much closer at hand during the Midbar period, which would likely militate against its occurrence. – Deuteronomy Mar 10 '24 at 19:54
  • @Deuteronomy If you prefer, it'd be comparable to the end of times, when all will see the light, see end of this halacha https://rambam.alhatorah.org/Full/Melakhim/11.4#e0n6 and https://rambam.alhatorah.org/Full/Melakhim/12.5#e0n6 – Nahum Mar 10 '24 at 20:12
  • @Nahum a) the Rambam's universalism there (or lack thereof) is debated. b) you'd need some historical process to get to that point... that vision of "end times" is based on our historical context wherein certain ideas of ours have been disseminated and circulated among the nations... in this alternate reality, wherein we have not sinned, we were not dispersed among the nations, and our ideas (and various bastardizations of it) did not reach iyyeh hayam, there's a lack of a historical process.... anyway, this is all beyond speculative, so probably not worth spending much more processing lol – Deuteronomy Mar 10 '24 at 21:13
  • This is the OP. I would like to respectfully clarify that, my question was asking, if the goyyim would have lived forever too, after Matan Torah. Ty. – Mars Sojourner Mar 10 '24 at 21:44
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    I imagine it would be similar to the times of Moshiach, about which there's a dispute. But note that according to chassidus the dispute is about the spiritual standing of non-Jews, and both opinions in fact agree that literal death will cease. – shmosel Mar 10 '24 at 22:08

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