Please enlighten me on the Judaism view of hell.?

Question

Is there a lake of fire according to Judaism?

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 itg, 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 oput 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.

Answer 2

A religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs. That doesn't mean they have to have a god of peace the same can be said about Norse. Also if you remember the Crusades were under the authority of the Christians and as far as I am concerned that is not what I call peace. Just because the Jews didn't believe that Jesus was the christ doesn't mean they are not a religion, I mean many people would say the same thing about the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith because in their view he was teaching a false religion just like the Jews thought Jesus was doing.

Answer 3

Hell is the traditional English translation of the Hewbrew word sheol, found 65 timesin the Hebrw Bible,26 timesinthe Apochrypha and 10 times in the New Testament. Both Sheoland Hades refer to a general dwelling place of souls after death . This sphere was minly supposed to be found in the underworld.It was also called "the pit" ,"the bottomless place",or "the lower parts" of the world Postexilic Judaism reserved a particular section of hell for the punisnment of sinners. Concerning the location of hell,the biblical references are colored by the usual cosmology of antiquity,which divided the unlverse into "heaven,earth and the underworld. The concpt of hellhowever,didn't depend on cosmology, but rather on concern for the destiny of the dead. there was a general conviction that existence continued in some way after it's seperation from earthly life,an event that implied seperation from God,the source of all life. The connection of God with heaven and the"burial of the dead in the ground gave reason to localize the realm of death in the underworld, and evenually to let the souls of the wicked dwell in a deeper section than those of the righteous. Such spacial aspects of hell were meant to give distance of the deceased from God or their nearness to God concrete expression. There is much, much more if you care to know T4

Answer 4

the view of the afterlife is so diverse among jews, it really just depends on who answers this. some believe in something a little bit like the christian heaven and hell, some believe there's only one destination (the ''world to come''). some believe the sins a person commits manifest themselves as demons that torture the sinner all through eternity, and some simply believe we just die, and that's it. as far as i can tell, there's really not a single, unified belief about the afterlife, which isn't surprising, because the tanach (old testament) doesn't contain much information dealing with that particular concept. this is even briefly noted in the new testament book of john. you have to pay attention to catch it. there's a verse or two about saducees and the pharisees having differences because of their beliefs about the afterlife.

i'll star this so that one of my contacts can answer for you if he sees it today, but you have to realize that today is the sabbath, and you probably won't get much help because of that. if i were you, i'd try again tomorrow.

love, peace, and chicken grease,
drew

Answer 5

Daniel 12:2 proclaims "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt." Judaism does not have a specific doctrine about the afterlife, but it does have a tradition of describing Gehenna. Gehenna is not Hell, but rather a sort of Purgatory where one is judged based on his or her life's deeds. The Kabbalah describes it as a "waiting room" (commonly translated as an "entry way") for all souls (not just the wicked). The overwhelming majority of rabbinic thought maintains that people are not in Gehenna forever; the longest that one can be there is said to be 11 months, however there has been the occasional noted exception. Some consider it a spiritual forge where the soul is purified for its eventual ascent to Olam Habah (heb. עולם הבא; lit. "The world to come", often viewed as analogous to Heaven). This is also mentioned in the Kabbalah, where the soul is described as breaking, like the flame of a candle lighting another: the part of the soul that ascends being pure and the "unfinished" piece being reborn.

When one has so deviated from the will of God, one is said to be in gehinom. This is not meant to refer to some point in the future, but to the very present moment. The gates of teshuva (return) are said to be always open, and so one can align his will with that of God at any moment. Being out of alignment with God's will is itself a punishment according to the Torah.

Also, Subbotniks and Messianic Judaism believe in Gehenna, but Samaritans probably believe in a separation of the wicked in a shadowy existence, Sheol, and the righteous in heaven.

In general, Jewish thinkers have focused on the ways to lead a good life on Earth and improve this world, leaving concerns about death and beyond until the appropriate time. Judaism has stressed the natural fact of death and its role in giving life meaning. Of course, issues of death are inevitably important. The fear of death, concern about the fate of our own soul and those of our loved ones, ethical concerns that some people die unfairly, all these and many other issues are discussed in Jewish literature. Since God is seen as ultimately just, the seeming injustice on Earth has propelled many traditional Jewish thinkers into seeing the afterlife as a way to reflect the ultimate justice of human existence.

Traditional thinkers considered how individuals would be rewarded or punished after their deaths. There are a few rare descriptions of life after death. Traditionalists gave the name Gehenna to the place where souls were punished. Many Jewish thinkers noted that since, essentially, God is filled with mercy and love, punishment is not to be considered to be eternal. There are, similarly, many varying conceptions of paradise, such as that paradise is the place where we finally understand the true concept of God. It is also possible that there is no separate Heaven and Hell, only lesser or greater distance from God after death. In addition, punishment might be self-determined on the basis of suffering in kind the suffering the person brought about. That is, Judaism doesn't have a clear sense of Heaven and Hell, with different places in Hell for different punishments. Rather, the idea is that God uses the afterlife to provide ultimate justice and for the wicked to seek some sort of final redemption.

Judaism does not believe people who are Gentiles will automatically go to Hell or that Jews will automatically go to Heaven on their basis of their belonging to the faith. Rather, individual ethical behavior is what is most important. Many traditional Jews believe that Judaism provides the best guide to leading such an ethical life.

You're probably expecting me to depict a haunting scene of ghosts and goblins. But the Jewish concept of "heaven" and "hell" cannot be more different than the description found in medieval Christian texts or cartoons.

Yes, Judaism believes in punishment and reward in the afterlife. But in Judaism:

Hell is temporary -- not permanent.

Hell is a therapy -- not an imprisonment.

Hell is a consequence -- not a punishment.

Hell is a washing machine -- not a furnace.

Answer 6

No such thing as hell in Judaism. There is a place called Gehenna where people go to get cleansed of their sins...the max stay there is about 12 months. But people won't stay there for life.

Answer 7

There is no Hell in Judaism. They spend about year in "darkness", the same time that the body was laid in the cave before being put into a sarcophagus, where they are re-educated before joining God.

Answer 8

There is no universally shared view of Heaven and Hell among the Jewish sects. In fact, there never has been.

Answer 9

Allonyoav said it all

Answer 10

kabaahal teaches God is love...there is no hell just on going education....