Jewish beliefs about the afterlife

[Cerin]

As you know, Christians were asked to share their understanding of hell. This has got me thinking that I don't know what Jews believe about an afterlife.

So I wonder if our Jewish posters could share what they believe their religion teaches about our existence, if any, after our life on earth is over.

I'm particularly interested in the question of, if there is a continued existence, what effect being Jewish in this life has on one's eternal disposition. In other words, do Jews and non-Jews share the same experience?

Thank you in advance!

[anthriel]

Cerin, this is wonderful! I was just wondering this same thing at work, today. (Strange how your mind wanders whilst staring into a microscope )

Thank you for starting this topic!

[Cerin]

A microscope? Why did I think you had some kind of office job, missy?

[anthriel]

CERIN! You called me missy!!!




You have SO made my day.









I am also extremely pleased that I have not imbued every single one of you with every single detail of my life; I was thinking the other day that you guys probably feel like you know everything about me, whether you ever wanted to or not, including my blood type and how often I floss.

Which, just to bring everyone up to date, is A pos and not as often as I should.


But anyway, no, I am a microbiologist. Hence, well, the microscope.


[/derail]

[nerdanel]

Anthy - but you have never told us what type of floss you use! And I would be more than willing to call you missy - I just suspect it'd earn me a couple extra boy howdys!

Cerin, as you know, I am not Jewish. My primitive understanding of Jewish eschatology derives primarily from a religion course I took in college known simply as "Death" (great course, by the way, although it was a bit morbid, for some reason ).

Traditional Judaism believes in an afterlife, in which the soul exists in olam haba, the World to Come. There is no notion of a separate "heaven" and "hell". Judaism is split on whether there is a physical resurrection of bodies, or whether the soul simply exists in communion with the Divine.

To the extent that there is a "hell" concept, it is embodied in gehinom, a purification/sanctification of souls that occurs for a finite period of time - this concept may have some small amount of overlap with the Catholic purgatory. Gehinom can offer scope for repentance or a celebration of one's life, depending on one's actions here on Earth. After the finite period of time (traditionally thought to be twelve months, although there now seems to be some reluctance to avoid human time measurements), the soul can enter into communion with the Divine/heaven.

Judaism believes that there are many paths to the Divine, and that the righteous of all religions have a share in the World to Come. It was this teaching that first drew me to the religion....its respect for people of all religious persuasions and backgrounds who are reaching towards the Divine, striving to be better people. This is one part of the reason that Judaism does not proselytize actively, for there is no need. There is no concept of a soul being "unsaved" purely by virtue of its non-Jewishness.

Interestingly - and I hope Frelga or Impy or Jn will correct me if I have misunderstood this - but Jewish views on the afterlife seem to be somewhat separate from Jewish views on Mashiach and the Messianic age.

Conservative, Reconstructionist, and Reform Jews tend to exhibit a broader range of views on death and the afterlife than do modern Orthodox and the Chasidim. Among liberal western Jewry, there seem to be far more differences of opinion regarding whether there is an afterlife at all, and whether gehinom is a reasonable concept. (Similarly, where the Orthodox believe that Mashiach, the Messiah, will usher in the messianic age, many liberal Jews have relinquished this belief altogether.)

Judaism, generally, takes a very deferential stance on the afterlife - or so my reading has seemed to indicate. When I read books on Jewish eschatology, I'm left with the feeling of people trying to speculate about something they know is so much bigger than themselves that their minds aren't even capable of grasping it fully. That is something else that resonates with me - that there is no prescriptive, "Jews believe A, B, C, D, and E about the afterlife" - but rather, a spectrum of views reflecting an enlightened human understanding of a subject for which only Divine understanding could fully suffice.

[Impenitent]

See above.

(Although one addition: the more progressive streams of Judaism - ie, not the orthodox - tend to work towards a messianic age rather than trusting to 'a' messiah. And I do mean work: the process of tikkun olam or repairing the world (in partnership with the concept of the divine, by works of righteousness and lovingkindness) is a very important focus.)

[Cerin]

Thank you, tp.

eta: I wonder, then, about the standard for judging 'righteousness', and what becomes of those who are deemed unrighteous, if only the righteous share in the World to Come?

[Frelga]

AFAIK The standard for righteousness is performance of the mitzvot - commandments - in Torah and other good deeds that are not directly mentioned but are seen to derive from the specific commandments in form or spirit. For Jews, that means all 613 mitzvot mentioned in Torah or as many as apply to them. For the rest, it's just the 7 Noahic commandments.

To the second question, the short answer is threefold. We don't know. We are curious. But it's not really important.

The longer answer is copied from Wikipedia.

Reward and punishment
The mainstream Jewish view, clearly expressed in the Bible and rabbinic literature, is that God will reward those who observe His commandments and punish those who intentionally transgress them. Examples of rewards and punishments are described throughout the Bible, and throughout classical rabbinic literature. See Free will In Jewish thought.

In contrast, philosophical rationalists such as Maimonides believed that God did not actually mete out rewards and punishments as such. In this view, these were beliefs that were necessary for the masses to believe in order to maintain a structured society and to encourage the observance of Judaism. However, once one learned Torah properly, one could then learn the higher truths. In this view, the nature of the reward is that if a person perfected his intellect to the highest degree, then the part of his intellect that connected to God - the active intellect - would be immortalized and eternally enjoying the "Glory of the Presence" for all eternity. The punishment would simply be that this would not happen; no part of one's intellect would be immortalized with God. See Divine Providence In Jewish thought.

The common understanding of this principle is accepted by most Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews; it is generally rejected by the Reconstructionists.

According to the Kabbalah (not a universally-accepted set of doctrines) God judges who has followed His commandments and who doesn't and to what extent. Those who do not "pass the test" go to a purifying place called Sheol lit. gloom (sometimes referred to as Purgatory, sometimes Hell) to "learn their lesson". There is, however, for the most part, no eternal damnation. The vast majority of souls can only go to that reforming place for a limited amount of time (less than one year).

The concept of "life after death" in the Jewish view is therefore fuzzy, but whatever its nature, is a reward from God, not a punishment, and is not guaranteed to everyone. Jews are encouraged to concentrate more on the life they live now than on a possible afterlife, and to ritually remember (yizkor) those loved ones who have died, as an important (and possibly the only) form of continuation for their lives.

Back with more later.

[Impenitent]

One proviso to what Frelga has posted - in accordance with the Orthodox view, there are 613 mitzvot which one must follow on a daily basis. In the more progressive streams of Judaism, this injunction is not taken so literally.

I'd say that in Judaism there is nothing which is universally accepted except for the unity of the Divine.

[Frelga]

Thanks, Impipsh, good point.

I recall having gone through this conversation with Cerin back on b77. In fact, I'm going to quote my post from Hal's Born Again thread, because it came out of a bit of research which I am not up to repeating.

Cerin, I told you I wasn't qualified to answer. The words "good spot" were rather flippant and poorly chosen. That is the whole point: I don't know what the alternative is, and - I can't think of any more circumspect way to say it while still being precise - I don't care. As I see it, the topic of afterlife in Judaism is something for the mystically inclined to argue over, Manwë-style. It does not affect the daily life of an average Jew.

There is some speculation that when we leave the limited physical world, our souls will be able to look back on our lives and then we will see clearly what our acts meant and regret not leaving up to our own ideal.

Here's an excuse to bring up one of my favorite Hassidic tales. They say one of the renowned Hassidic rabbis, Zusia, suddenly began to weep in the middle of a service. After being questioned about his distress, he explained, "In the coming world, they will not ask me: 'Zusya, why were you not more like Moses?' I fear that they will ask me: 'Zusya, why were you not more like Zusya?'"

Maybe that is the answer to your question, I can't say. Maybe someone else can address it better.

And some of you have encountered this post on TWO boards already but I'm going to post it again. I happen to rather like it and besides we went skiing again last week.

My son had his first skiing lesson this weekend.

Yes, I'm in the right thread, please bear with me.

There he went, in his bright orange jacket, with the ski instructor I've never seen before, to the chairlift and up the big, scary mountain. Before he did, I had to sign a paper saying that this activity carries a risk of INJURY and DEATH - in capital letters. My son is too little to make safe choices up on the slope and anyway he can't control everything that can happen.

Now, it is matter of immense importance to me that he stays safe and whole. But I know that if I were to keep him back and never let him take a risk, I would do much greater harm to him than a spill on the slopes could do. So I waited for him to come back, ready to receive him the way he came - whether happy and proud of his new skill (which proved to be the case, thank Heaven!), or scared and crying, or God forbid injured. If he did something stupid, like took his helmet off or lost his gloves, I would probably grumble a little, but he would still get a hug and a kiss and a snack from me.

This is what I believe of the afterlife, if there is one. I think God sends us into this big, scary world to take our risks and learn from our spills. And at the end, God will be there, ready to take us the way we come - happy, crying, or God forbid broken to pieces - and there will be a hug and a kiss and maybe even a snack. We will probably look back at the stupid things we did, and say we are sorry, and mean it for a change.

It's not strictly on the subject of Jewish beliefs, but as Impish pointed out, there is no universally accepted view of afterlife - some belive in physical resurrection, others in reincarnation, still other in Sheol. I'm Jewish, ergo the above is an example of a Jewish belief.

[Impenitent]

I'm Jewish, ergo the above is an example of a Jewish belief.

[Cerin]

Thank you Imp and Frelga.

[vison]

One of my favourite authors is Chaim Potok. Recently I re-read "The Book of Lights", which is a hard read because it's about a hard thing. The protagonist is a rabbi and army chaplain serving in Korea. He and a friend, also a Jew, visit Hiroshima. There is a lot more. Potok is a wonderful writer.

The book is about a lot of things: a character, Malkuson, says, " Prayer is not the only commandment. The study of texts is also commanded. There are those who tell us that even the scientific study of ancient texts is a sacred act."

I like that, even if it's off topic.

Malkuson also says, " . . .What is of importance is that there may be nothing. We have always aknowledged that as a possibility. What is important is that if indeed there is nothing, then we should be prepared to make somthing out of the only thing we have left to us -- ourselves. . . "

That last sentence is powerful. That's how I think, and I got a shiver along my bones when I read it the first time.

I don't recall that in any of Potok's books any of his characters mention an afterlife. They are generally very busy trying to live the life of a religious and observant Jew in America. What I know of Judaism, I learned from reading Potok, Elie Wiesel, and Isaac Bashevis Singer. I'm learning more here, thank you generous people.

[Jnyusa]

What Imp and Frelga and tp said.

I don't know what happens after we die - there are any number of beliefs that strike me as equally plausible - but it is much less important to me than doing what I believe to be right here and now.

Repentance for wrongdoing was explained to me as important but less important than rightdoing. A person who had done ill all their life and repented would come to God with a clean slate but a blank slate.

This is slightly off-topic, but since the meshiach has been mentioned ... I was listening to a radio talk show last summer about Jewish-Moslem relations, and one of the callers was a follower of the Lubbavitcher Rebbe. He claimed that the L. Rebbe is the meshiach, and soon this will be revealed to all the world ... [bites tongue] ... Has anyone else heard from other sources that the Lubbavitcher Rebbe is claiming to be the meshiach or that his followers were making this claim on his behalf? This was news to me!

Jn

[Frelga]

Vison, love your quote.

Jn, first time I heard that one.

[vison]

What the heck! I'm a gentile, and I had heard that about the Lubavitcher rebbe!

Where did I read it, though? That is the $64 question. I wish I could remember.

[Jnyusa]

One Rabbi at the synogogue of my childhood used those words, "blank slate," to describe what we attain on Yom Kippur. The point simply being that repentence alone is not enough.

I like the analogy because it leaves room for a kind of perfect forgiveness without relieving us of subsequent duty.

Jn

eta: sorry, I cross-posted with vison. this post was in response to Frelga's above.

[Impenitent]

Oh, yeah! The Lubbavitcher Rebbe, though deceased, is still somehow expected by certain of his followers to arise and reveal himself.

Melbourne is full of this; vans all over the place with the rebbe's face plastered on them, with urgent messages for Jews to don tefillin so that the rebbe/moshiach can reveal himself.

A sad sign of the desperation of the times.

But this personal messianic cult is very strange and disturbing; it sprang up during his lifetime and he did not take any steps to dispel it.

[Jnyusa]

I get all their promotional mailings but I throw them away without reading them. Next time I should probably read what they send.

Jn

[vison]

I thought there was a thread about the Light in Valinor, but if there is, I can't find it.

I found this beautiful quotation: "There are lights upon lights, one more clear than another, each one dark by comparison with the one above it from which it receives its light. As for the Supreme Cause, all lights are dark in its presence." This quote is from The Zohar, the Book of Splendour, the book of Kabbalah.

I like the thought expressed in these words, and they reminded me of the Two Trees.

(Don't worry, I'm not "into" Kabbalah, like Madonna, or anything. I just read a lot!)