all the knowledge they acquired during their life on earth which enabled them to enter the World to Come. This knowledge is their crown, as King Solomon said (referring to wisdom), "The crown with which his mother crowned him." (Song of Songs (3:11). Proof that the crown is a symbol of knowledge is seen in the verse "Everlasting joy will be on their heads." (Yeshayahu 5:11). Joy is not a tangible object that can rest on someone's head. By the same token, when the Sages speak of a "crown," they mean something intangible, namely, knowledge.
The phrase, "deriving pleasure from the radiance of God's light of knowledge," means they will grasp the truth of the Holy One, blessed be He, which they could not fathom while confined in the physical body.
[8:3] When we use the term "soul," in this context we do not mean the soul that needs the body. Rather, "the form of the soul," which is the knowledge of God it acquired according to its ability and its understanding of abstract ideas and other matters. This is the "form," we discussed in the fourth chapter of Hilchos Yesodei Hatorah, and it is the soul we are speaking about in this context. Since this life is not connected to death-for death happens only to a (physical) body, and there are no bodies in the World to Come, life in the World to Come is called "the Bond of Life." As it is written, "The soul of my master will be bound up in the bond of life." (Samuel I, 25:29). This is the greatest reward and the unsurpassed good. It is (the good) for which all the prophets yearned.
[8:4] Scripture uses many symbolic terms to describe the World to Come. "The mountain of God," (Psalms 24:3), "His holy place," (ibid.) "the holy path," (Yeshayahu 35:8), "The courtyards of God." (Psalms 65:5, 92:14), "the pleasantness of God." (Psalms 15:1), "the palace of God." (Psalms 5:8), "the house of God," (Psalms 27:4), and "the gate of God." (Psalms 118:20). The Sages metaphorically called this good that is set aside for the righteous "the banquet." Commonly, this ultimate good is referred to as "the World to Come."
[8:5] The worst punishment possible for the soul, is to be cut off, not meriting life in the World to Come. And so it is written, "His soul shall be utterly cut off, and his sin shall remain upon him." (Numbers 15:31). This refers to the destruction of the soul which was described by the prophets in figurative terms as, "the pit of destruction." (Psalms 55:24), "the fire pit." (Yeshayahu 30:33), and "the grave." (Proverbs 30:15). All the terms used to portray destruction and obliteration are applied to the cutting off of the soul, for it is the final destruction. After this, there is no renewal and the loss is irretrievable, never to be restored.
[8:6] Do not imagine that the good of the World to Come, and the reward for doing the mitzvos and being an upright person is eating and drinking delicacies, having relations with beautiful women, wearing garments of linen and embroidery, dwelling in ivory palaces, using silver and gold dishes, etc., as imagined by the foolish, uneducated people, who are steeped in immorality. The Sages and wise men know that these physical pleasures are vain and empty pursuits, without any purpose. The only reason that in this world we think they are of benefit is because we have a body and physical form. These things are needed for the well being of the body. The soul longs for them only because the body needs them, to meet the person's physical needs keeping him healthy. When the body passes away, these desires vanish.