quick jewish question?

Question

do jews belive in heaven and hell? or just heaven. or just hell?

Answer 1

as said, Judaism does not have a hell like christianity.

there are 2 things which are frequently misunderstood as being "hell" in judaism.

one is Gahenna, which is what KC Superstar is referring to, in fact by most jewish belief, *EVERYONE* spends at least a moment here, as nobody is perfect.

the other is Sheol, which is much more graphic... basically if you don't let go of your immediately past life, and move on properly.... basically you remain in your body. ... literally... effectively buried alive.. but not alive. fully aware and feeling it as your buried, and your body rots and such...
of course, this is only as long as you hold on, you can accept that you've died, and plead to god, and so on, and move on as you were supposed to. in your most extreme other direction... in theory anyway, you could remain in that state until basically you cease to exist. this is of course, a very difficult, and long term thing to do... and far from the standard realm of possibility.

maybe being concious of your dead body rotting in a dark hole in the ground feels like burning, and people remembering it from their previous life misunderstand it!

oh, which comes to the other point... Judaism does *NOT* dictate much of any belief about the afterlife. but it DOES "allow for" belief in reincarnation. in fact some aspects of jewish belief just about assume it, but in a very subtle way.

and to Cork... no.
Not a single Jewish person believes in jesus as the messiah, or the son of god, or any more divine than any of us. by jewish standards such is Polytheistic Idolotry.

further information in attached links.

Answer 2

Yes, although not in the Christian definitions of the terms.

Jewish Heaven: If you lived a righteous life, you'll eventually enter Heaven. The Jewish saying is that "the righteous of all nations shall have a part in the World to Come". The World to Come is the perfected world, and will come about with the coming of the Messiah.

Jewish Hell: Similar to the Roman Catholic Purgatory. Depending on how many sins you committed, and how serious they were, you will undergo punishments to be purified for entrance to Heaven. Hell lasts for no longer than 12 months.

Answer 3

neither. we do have have something similar to heaven, though.

EDIT

Gan Eden - somewhat equivalent to heaven
Gehinom - this is where you go to make up for the sins you have committed. no fire or anything like that. its sort of like you realize the effect your sins had on the world, and so its spiritually painful. and temporary. please note its not a place of punishment.

also there is a belief that when the messiah comes, the souls of the dead will return to eternal paradise on earth. also there is the belief in reincarnation.

some jews believe in all of these things, some jews don't believe in any. its a personal choice, judaism doesn't have much to say about the afterlife in general.

but the 4 mentioned above the most accepted beliefs in judaism and jewish theology.

Answer 4

Depends on which Jew you ask. Seems like most Jews Ive discussed it with are athiest/agnostic. But they still call themselves Jews because Judaism is a culture and people as well as religion.

Answer 5

Yes, because Jews are descendants of Abraham.

Answer 6

HEAVEN AND HELL IS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
ORTHODOX JEWS FOLLOW TORAH AND NOT TEACHING OF JESUS.

MESSIANIC JEWS FOLLOW CHRIST.

BOTH HEAVEN AND HELL REAL...
JUST VIEW DIFFERENTLY.

Answer 7

There is no concept of hell in Judaism, it takes a particularly sick mind to come up with that one!

Answer 8

The ones with the curls do, the ones with the beards do, the one that are circumcise do, all others are in Exodus.

Answer 9

aaahhhh.....