Jewish ppl can you help?

Question

I read somewhere thaat according to Jewish teachings there is no heaven and hell. Is this true? If so how then will God reward you for all your good deeds of this life?

Thanks!!

What was the thumb down for are ppl offended? No one has answered this yet.......

Answer 1

In general, and in contrast to some other religions, in day-to-day life Jews don't pay much attention to questions like this. The focus of Jewish life is living according to god's will as expressed in the Torah. What happens afterwards is up to god.

And basically, beliefs in resurrection and afterlife vary.

Some believe in gehenna, which is not like the christian hell. It's a kind of purgatory, but there's only a brief stay, around a year. It is a spiritual forge where the soul is purified for its eventual ascent to Gan Eden [Heaven], and where all imperfections are purged.

Here's a site with more info:
http://www.shamash.org/lists/scj-faq/HTML/faq/12-08.html

Answer 2

Do Jews believe in the hereafter such as life after death?

THE AISH RABBI REPLIES:

The afterlife is a fundamental of Jewish belief.

The creation of man testifies to the eternal life of the soul. The Torah says, "And the Almighty formed the man of dust from the ground, and He blew into his nostrils the SOUL of life" (Genesis 2:7). On this verse, the Zohar states that "one who blows, blows from within himself," indicating that the soul is actually part of God's essence. Since God's essence is completely spiritual and non-physical, it is impossible that the soul should die. (The commentator Chizkuni says this why the verse calls it "soul of LIFE.")

That's what King Solomon meant when he wrote, "The dust will return to the ground as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12:17)

For anyone who believes in a just and caring God, the existence of an afterlife makes logical sense. Could it be this world is just a playground without consequences? Did Hitler get away with killing 6,000,000 Jews? No. There is obviously a place where good people receive reward and bad people get punished. (see Maimonides' 13 Principles of Faith)

The question of "why do bad things happen to good people" has a lot to do with how we look at existence. The way we usually perceive things is like this: A "good life" means that I make a comfortable living, I enjoy good health, and then I die peacefully at age 80. That's a good life. Anything else is "bad."

In a limited sense, that's true. But if we have a soul and there is such a thing as eternity, then that changes the picture entirely. Eighty years in the face of eternity is not such a big deal.

From Judaism's perspective, our eternal soul is as real as our thumb. This is the world of doing, and the "world to come" is where we experience the eternal reality of whatever we've become. Do you think after being responsible for the torture and deaths of millions of people, that Hitler could really "end it all" by just swallowing some poison? No. Ultimate justice is found in another dimension.

But the concept goes much deeper. From an eternal view, if the ultimate pleasure we're going after is transcendence - the eternal relationship with the Almighty Himself, then who would be luckier: Someone who lives an easy life with little connection to God, or someone who is born handicapped, and despite the challenges, develops a connection with God. Who would be "luckier" in terms of eternal existence? All I'm trying to point out is that the rules of life start to look different from the point of view of eternity, as opposed to just the 70 or 80 years we have on earth.

So what is the afterlife exactly?

When a person dies and goes to heaven, the judgment is not arbitrary and externally imposed. Rather, the soul is shown two videotapes. The first video is called "This is Your Life!" Every decision and every thought, all the good deeds, and the embarrassing things a person did in private is all replayed without any embellishments. It's fully bared for all to see. That's why the next world is called Olam HaEmet - "the World of Truth," because there we clearly recognize our personal strengths and shortcomings, and the true purpose of life. In short, Hell is not the Devil with a pitchfork stoking the fires.

The second video depicts how a person's life "could have been..." if the right choices had been made, if the opportunities were seized, if the potential was actualized. This video - the pain of squandered potential - is much more difficult to bear. But at the same time it purifies the soul as well. The pain creates regret which removes the barriers and enables the soul to completely connect to God.

Not all souls merit Gehenom. It is for people who have done good but need to be purified. A handful of people are too evil for Gehenom, and they are punished eternally. Pharaoh is one example.

So what about "heaven?"

Heaven is where the soul experiences the greatest possible pleasure - the feeling of closeness to God. Of course not all souls experience that to the same degree. It's like going to a symphony concert. Some tickets are front-row center; others are back in the bleachers. Where your seat is located is based on the merit of your good deeds - e.g. giving charity, caring for others, prayer.

A second factor in heaven is your understanding of the environment. Just like at the concert, a person can have great seats but no appreciation of what's going on. If a person spends their lifetime elevating the soul and becoming sensitive to spiritual realities (through Torah study), then that will translate into unimaginable pleasure in heaven. On the other hand, if life was all about pizza and football, well, that can get pretty boring for eternity.

The existence of the afterlife is not stated explicitly in the Torah itself, because as human beings we have to focus on our task in this world. Though awareness of an eternal reward can also be an effective motivator.

For further study, see Maimonides' Foundations of the Torah, "The Way of God" by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzatto, and the commentary of Nachmanides to Leviticus 18:29.

May the Almighty grant you blessings, success - and eternal life!

* Zohar, Mishpatim, Exodus 1:1 * AriZal - Sha'ar Hagilgulim

Answer 3

Here's the truth:

Judaism believes in Heaven set aside for the righteous. There is a prayer said before a Jew dies the last line of which is, "May I merit a place in the Paradise you have set aside for the rightous."

Judaism also believes in hell for the wicked, which is extremely varied, though only certain really bad people go forever, most people get out. Interestingly, in Judaism, it is much easier for a Jew to get sent to hell forever than a non-Jew.

THere is a traditional Jewish holy book called Reishis Chochma (Heb. The Beginning of WIsdom), which is filled with descriptions of hell. Hell is 60 times bigger than earth, is half fire and half ice, and filled with avenging angels.

Many Rabbis don't talk about these things because they offend the people who pay them.

Answer 4

HERE IS YOUR ANSWER:

You probably saw something that reffered to the heaven and hell that YOU believe in. But in Judaism, a HUGE part of it is the concept of "The World To Come" (Ha'olam Haba). The World To Come is like the "next world", a form of heaven, where all souls go to and remain there once they complete their mission on this earth.

You see, we believe that every soul that was brought down to this earth came down here with a mission; its own obligation to fulfill while in this world. Once it fulfills this mission, it gets it's own reserved place in the world to come.

Some people, who are a on a hier level than others, get a hier position, like people who die for being a Jew (everyone in the Holocaust) gets the hiest position.


NOW the same applies for Hell-Jews believe in a form of hell, but that is somewhat different than yours. With us, hell isn't some underground place, but a place right "next door" to heaven. It is a place where we get a chance to clense ourselves of the sins and "stink" of the evil from this world. It's like taking a shower before going to the king's party: We need to clean ourselves out before greeting the Almighty (G-d).

Also about Hell (Gehinom): There is a contradiction on weather Hell/Gehinom is actually a HOT place, or a COLD place. I believe it is hot, because it's the hot that always cleans out everything, and even "kashers" (makes kosher) our eating utensils etc.

Answer 5

I'm only slightly Jewish heritagewise.

I would like to know more about Jewish religion too, I'm just sort of curious. I'm afraid of offending anyone so am even afraid to ask anyone cuz of that. People get really sensitive about it I noticed.

I don't have a clue

Answer 6

The only "belief" all Jews will agree on is that God is One. Jews seldom focus on the afterlife because Judaism is about this life and how we live it. Our God is a just God who will punish us according to our sins.
.

Answer 7

There is such a thing as heaven and hell in Judaism it is just vastly different from Christianity.

Answer 8

im not jewish and i'm not sure but i think that if you are one of the "chosen people" (the jews) it is a reward in and of itself. i don't know what they believe happens after death though.

Answer 9

Which Jewish teaching?

Long time ago, heaven & hell

nowadays, not so much.

Answer 10

you should probably stop focussing on doing good things in order to be rewarded, and start focussing on doing good things because its the right thing to do.