Is it true that Jews don't believe in Hell?

Question

Either Heaven or no Afterlife?

Answer 1

Not in the Christian sense.

What we believe in is euphemistically called "The World to Come". Not much is taught on it (at least not in open sources.) It is not a world as we know itg, nor are there beautiful gardens and winged angels playing harps with golden halos arounf their heads. At the same time- their is no fire abd brimstone or eternal damnation and burning in the fires of hell...

The world to come is a sprititual realm- souls try to cluster around the pure essence of God, to close to the holy for the sake of being near it- because souls yearn to be as close to God as possible. but it is not as simple as that either. Teh world to come is not a simplistic realm of one level- in Masechta Chagigah it is said that the outer courtyards to God's abode has seven levels - each of ascending holiness, each soul wanting to be as high as possible. It briefly states that beyond these levels you have the inner courtyard and abode itself- but stops there with the statement "Beyond here we do not enquire". Maybe it elaborates further in the Kaballah- I have no idea on that.

Hell is completely absent from Judaism. There is no devil in Judaism as it is not possible for an angel to rebel (only humans have free will- angels can only perform specific tasks). What is generally misinterpreted as hell is the concept of Sheol or Gehinnom. This refers to the burning the soul feels at the heavenly trial after death. but the burning is not a literal one- it is the burning of shame that it feels at realising how it has transgressed, when it could have been so much more! Think of how, for us with physical bodies, the shame of being shouted at by a parent/teacher/ boss can feel like burning- how much worse for a soul which is a pure being and has no physical imperfections or mental imperfections to give it excuses! but though it states that this "burning" feels like an eternity- it truth, it never lasts for more than 12 months. God is mush too loving to give out eternal punishments, just as a loving parent would never punish a child for forever.

Answer 2

The Jewish belief in afterlife is murky. If you read the
Torah, and the old testament there is very little mention of afterlife. The evolution of Jewish theories on the afterlife intertwines concepts of the messiah and that of the traditional view of Heaven. Honestly I don;t that many Jews even know what the Jewish conception of the afterlife is.

Basically, when the messiah comes, there will be heaven on earth. Untill then, Your soul gets to stay in the Garden of Eden hotel

Answer 3

We do not believe in hell the way Christian religions do, that's for sure. In a nutshell the traditional belief is that after one dies there is a period of up to 12 months during which time the soul is separated from G-d and is purified. After this time the soul is with G-d. You can interpret "separated from" and "with" any way you want to, since obviously no one really knows. We do believe, as I've said, in an afterlife and in Heaven (which is called "Gan Eden", the Garden of Eden, in Hebrew). For more info please see the link below

Answer 4

No it is not true but rare. There is a common belief that the soul is eternal and that some souls do indeed receive eternal punishment others are purified in Gehenon, which is similar to the Christian belief in purgatory, before entering heaven.

Another belief is that not all people have the same access to the pleasures of heaven but that one is rewarded according to the goodness of his life.

In Christ
Fr. Joseph

Answer 5

I suppose this depends on what sort of Jew you are talking about. Most Jews living in Israel today are secular.

Answer 6

To the person above, don't push your beliefs on others...

I don't think they believe in the afterlife, and they don't believe in Jesus either.

Answer 7

idk