The other day someone told me Jews believe reincarnation, which I'm pretty sure is flat-out wrong. But I'm also pretty sure they don't subscribe to the Christian view of Heaven/Hell. So what exactly is the Jewish view of an afterlife, if there is one?
2006-12-29 15:24:04 · 5 answers · asked by Matt C 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
This guy is a Messianic Jew.
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Chayei-Olam/chayei-olam.html
2006-12-29 15:30:06 · answer #1 · answered by firebyknight 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of course jews don't believe in reincarnation.
And there really is not view of the "afterlife" either. Again, that's largely a christian myth.
Here's an interesting point for you. In the jewish traditions, a prayer for the dead is said at specific points during the morning and evening prayer services every day for 11 months, and only 11 months. That because it would only be said for a full year for someone who was truly evil, and no one is considered to have been that evil.
Thank you for asking a question instead of trying to incite an argument. If only everyone on this planet dealt with uncertainties in the same manner, we would all of us be much better off than we are.
2006-12-29 15:31:07 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Truthfull, we don't have a dogma about the afterlife and we don't consider it much. Different Jews believe in different things, including a version of reincarcation. However, we all share a view that we should concentrate on making this life and this world a better place through our actions and reaping those rewards here, rather than worrying about what will come later.
2007-01-02 04:59:47 · answer #3 · answered by MaryBridget G 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some Jews actually DO believe in reincarnation, though in the sense that we would be reborn into higher worlds as part of the repairing of the shattered emanation of light from G-D.
Hell is not conceived of in Judiasm. It is, as an infinite punishment, unique to Christianity and Islam. Heaven is not much discussed, though references to it occur in the Talmud. The primary idea though is that worry about Heaven is unproductive, that all things will make their way back to G-D in the fullness of time and that any other result would be failure on the part of G-D... and G-D does not fail. If all things will make it back, then we should worry only about the here and now, and let the later worry about itself in its own fullness of time.
2006-12-29 15:31:00 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Yes, many Jews believe in reincarnation, but we don't obsess about the afterlife. Jews are judged on what we do, not what we believe!
http://www.jewfaq.org/olamhaba.htm#Resurrection
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2006-12-29 15:32:46 · answer #5 · answered by Hatikvah 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋