Question for Jews on heaven and hell?

Question

What is your view of people who don't convert to the Jewish faith? Will GOD punish them forever in Hell? Since Muslim and Christians follow the Old Testament laws (to some degree) and worship the same GOD, will they see heaven? What is heaven like? Is there something you must do in order to enter heaven?

Answer 1

No heaven or hell, not like in the Christian or Muslim viewpoint.

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 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.

So, the only thing a n on-Jew has to do is adhere to the Seven Noahide commandments and they will be righteous and merit a place in the World to come.

Answer 2

You're in luck because I've talked to several rabbis about this kind of thing. First of all, Jews don't believe in heaven or hell. The belief is that when you die, you go to a place where if the better person you were, the closer you are to God. (I'm a bit sketchy on the details. Judaism focuses very little on the afterlife, so there are few points that the Torah elaborates. The weird, mystical stuff is in the Kaballah, which not many laymen read.) However, Judaism teaches that once the messiah comes, the dead will be resurrected on Earth.
Now for the part about gentiles (non-Jews). The view is that Jews must follow all 613 commandments of the Torah, whereas gentiles must follow the Noahide Commandments. They're essentially, don't murder, no adultery, no incest, etc. The only Noahide Law that is not common sense is the idea that one must be a monotheist (worship a single god). That means that a Muslim, for instance, could easily be close to God in the afterlife. Christianity, though, is tricky to comment on because of the Trinity, which says that 3 gods make up a single God, so that's mostly montheistic, but still a little confusing. As for gentile observing the Torah's commandments, that's opitional.
In short, Jews have no concept of heaven or hell, just a belief that if you're good, you'll get some sort of reward. Jews believe that monotheists can be righteous by following the Noahide Commandments. Polytheists, by definition, are breaking one of the Noahide Laws, so they can't be fully rewarded. (Just sinning once won't be the difference between being a good or bad person. Nobody is perfect and everybody sins during his or her life.)

Answer 3

No, they will not burn in hell, because we do not believe in hell.

Non-Jews only have 7 laws to follow. They are:

1. Do not murder.
2. Do not steal.
3. Do not worship false gods.
4. Do not be sexually immoral.
5. Do not eat a limb removed from a live animal.
6. Do not curse God.
7. Set up courts and bring offenders to justice.

Pretty simple. If they do these and lead good lives, they will get to Paradise.

We don't know what heaven is like. Judaism focuses on this life, not the afterlife. Our official position is we don't know.

Yes: be good. If you're gentile, you have 7 laws. If you're Jewish, you officially have 613

Answer 4

Hello friend and shalom, It is the majority understanding in Judaism that HaShem (G-d) chose a people for himself to be a witness to the world and not to be the sole beneficiaries of eternity. There is not normative belief in the Jewish traditions of heaven or hell, these were later additions to Judaism and are still not accepted by all. Personally speaking, I believe in eternity but I also feel that it is prudent to leave eternal matters to the Master of the Universe.

Answer 5

There is no concept of "eternal damnation" in Judaism at all. So "hell" as you know it is not even in the equation. As for heaven, well, there are several Jewish thoughts on the afterlife, and none really equate to the concept of "heaven" that Christianity has. And as to specific details, they are not discussed very often in Judaism, and not entirely agreed upon either.

Answer 6

Jews don't believe in hell. Non-Jews just need to follow the 7 laws G-d gave to Noah which most people follow anyways

Answer 7

Jews aren't concerned with making people Jewish that aren't Jewish already. We do accept converts, but only after they really, really have considered it. In fact, it is tradition for Rabbi's to dissuade people from converting. It is a long, life changing process. In traditional Judaism, there is a lot of responsibility to being a Jew, and it is not to be taken lightly. Most spiritual beliefs, (like for example the belief the messiah has already come), are irrelevant.

Jews believe that the righteous of all nations have a place in the world to come.

The Jewish version of the afterlife is disputed and different from the Christian one, (I am not as versed in the Muslim version). The MOST IMPORTANT thing to a Jewish person is Chai, life...this life. Jews are not as concerned with the afterlife. We perform our mizvot, acts of goodness, not for punishment or reward, but because we are commanded to do so.

There is something of a hell, gehanna, and person will only go there for 12 months, and they have to be really, really wicked. Punishment forever isn't a Jewish concept. After those 12 months it is disputed, some say the soul is destroyed, some say it exists in remorse. It is a place of purification as well.

There is a version of heaven that only the very righteous go to, a place of spiritual perfection. The descriptions vary, but generally it is a place of bliss...but not for us to understand, as we aren't there.

Although I am no expert, I think many Jews believe the soul waits for the Messiah to come, in which if they are righteous, they will be reborn in the world to come, the messianic age.

The way you enter heaven, or more importantly for Jews, the way to be reborn in the messianic age is to follow the mizvot, or perform good deeds. It is somewhat paradoxical, I imagine to a non-Jew...but I have to emphasize the deeds aren't performed to get into heaven...heaven is like...the bonus you get for getting all the questions right on the quiz.

Some spiritual advice is from the Pirkei Avot (a book of the Mishnah) is: "Be not like servants who serve their master for the sake of receiving a reward; instead, be like servants who serve their master not for the sake of receiving a reward, and let the awe of Heaven [meaning G-d, not the afterlife] be upon you."

It is also noted, many Orthodox, (and some non-Orthodox, I imagine!), believe in reincarnation. It is a mystical concept...but one of the basic tenets is the eventual Resurrection of the dead once the Messiah comes. Mystical sects, like the Chasidim CAN believe in the reincarnation of souls of the righteous to continue Tikkun Olam, mending of the world, to facilitate the Olam-Ba, the world to come.

Hope this helps and I got it right!

Answer 8

The questions you're asking are all based in Christian and Muslim views.

They don't really make any sense from inside Judaism.

Answer 9

We do not believe in Hell and all the righteous of the world will regardless of faith have a share of the world to come.