what do jews believe about the afterlife?

Question

also-

lately i've been studying midrash here and there, just as a way to understand the old testament/ tanach, and to gain a different perspective of where my religion (christianity) came from. i'm slowly picking up on bits and pieces of hebrew, and i know a few of the basic words (though undoubtedly not enough), pertaining to this subject, and i think i may be sharp enough to pick a few more, so long as they're used in context and mixed in with english. can someone post a link that could help? i haven't been able to find much, but i'm fascinated by what i've read so far.

Answer 1

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 it, nor are there beautiful gardens and winged angels playing harps with golden halos around their heads. At the same time- their is no fire and brimstone or eternal damnation and burning in the fires of hell...

The world to come is a spiritual 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. The world to come is not a simplistic realm of one level- in the Talmud, 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.


Essentially, we are brought to the heavenly court (God) and judged. Satan (literally the accusser) is the prosecutor and wants to introduce all our sins into the equation. God is merciful, and drops some of the sins before the trial begins (Rambam, Hilchos Tteshuvah). After that, the soul basically watches two movies- one is- what your life was- the other, what your life could have been. The soul feels shame at the lost opportunities, at what it could have been vs what it is. It is this shame that feels like an eternity of burning. 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 much too loving to give out eternal punishments, just as a loving parent would never punish a child for forever.

Edit: DrDeath- Judaism and Christianity are theologically different religions. Disagreeing about Jesus is just the tip of the iceberg. The nature of God, the world to come, of angels, of our relationship to God, and much more differ. There are actually very few similarities between the two!

Answer 2

Christianity initially did not settle for Christmas. besides the indisputable fact that it stepped forward. further, Judaism of previous did not believe in an afterlife. The source fabric to confirm that actuality is the Bible itself. At John 11, Mary and Martha, the two Jews, expressed there perception in a destiny resurrection, not an afterlife. At activity 14, activity himself expressed the perception of a resurrection for some destiny time. And at Genesis 3, Adam became into advised that he might "return to the airborne dirt and mud." A perception in the afterlife probably derived from rebellious non secular ideals instigated by utilising the inhabitants on the tower of Babel at Genesis 11. After the language became into perplexed, the perception in the afterlife might have stepped forward and infiltrated into all religions.

Answer 3

Its the weakest part in the Jewish believe. Jews do not believe that God updated their laws when he sent new laws by Christ and later by Mohamed Peace up on both.
GOD Laws are made of three Books: The Old Testament, The new Testament and Quran as a conclusion all originated from the middle east. How can you understand GOD LAWS with out reading GOD Conclusion?

Answer 4

Because of how Jesus "s and his message was treated Jews have inherited a struggle to justify thier ancient faith. But Shakespear and his kind to name a few: Blake,Wordworth,Colleridge and Keats alert the people of truths hidden and unexposed in the Bible.One of which is the need to be weary of one's action because of the reality of sin's pull to "death".The wages of sin is death.The degree of sin corresponding to your death in the next life.Macbeth did fear the after life but he was not wise enough to know that he was wrong to go on sinning.

Answer 5

The only real (original) difference between Judaism and Christianity is the debate over jesus being the messiah...all the after-life beliefs were the same.

Answer 6

The general view is that all the righteous (regardless of religion) will go to heaven. Those who are unrighteous will have to atone for their sins in Gehinnom... After they have atoned for their sins they may then ascend to heaven.

Answer 7

http://www.jewfaq.org/olamhaba.htm

Answer 8

They live in heaven and gentiles live in hell.....evangelists will serve them as slaves......