Life after death
Although Jewish sacred texts refer to a ‘world to come’ (The Hebrew name for the spiritual afterlife. It is also used to describe the Messianic age.), Jews have always placed greater emphasis on life today on Earth than on life after death. For this reason, no single understanding of the afterlife has dominated Jewish belief.
The Law; teaching. The word Torah can be used in a narrow sense to mean the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (The Five Books of Moses) and also in a wider sense to include the whole of the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud. refers to an afterlife in which Jews will reunite with family members who have died. Other parts of the The collected 24 books of the Jewish Bible. There are three sections: Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim (TaNaKh). May also be spelled Tenakh. refer to a place called In early Judaism, a place of darkness. In later tradition, a place of purification or waiting., where the souls of the dead wait for purification.
Gan Eden and Gehenna
The A work that is part of rabbinic oral law and made up of the Mishnah and the Gemara (a commentary on the Mishnah). contains further ideas about life after death. Many Jews now believe that they will spend their afterlife in either The garden of Eden, used by Jews to mean heaven or paradise. or In Judaism, Hell.. Gan Eden is a place of paradise for the righteous where they can experience closeness with God. Some Jews see Gehenna as a place of torment and punishment. However, other Jews see it as a place of purification where people are shown their wrongdoings so they can learn from them.
Resurrection
Most Jews believe in A Jewish belief that people will rise from the dead when the Messiah (or Mashiach) comes.. In his These principles were written by the Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides, who believed the whole Jewish faith could be understood through these fundamental truths., Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (1135 - 1204), a leading Jewish philosopher, medical writer and codifer of Jewish law. talked about a revival of the dead.
However, Jews have various interpretations of when resurrection will occur. Some Jews believe it will occur during the Messianic age, whereas others believe it will only happen after this period. Some believe that everyone will experience resurrection, whereas others believe that only the righteous will be resurrected.
Judgement
Jews believe that God judges how good or evil people have been throughout their life:
God will bring every deed into judgement.
Many Jews believe that God’s judgement will determine their fate in the afterlife and that they will be either rewarded or punished accordingly.
Different Jewish beliefs
Jewish people have many different beliefs on life after death. Jews who live by the Torah and rabbinic law (halakhah) and who only accept changes that can be supported by the Torah. and Jews who have adapted their laws and practices as modern life has changed. Jews particularly disagree on the idea of resurrection.
Orthodox and Reform Jewish beliefs on resurrection
| Orthodox Jews | Reform Jews |
| There will be a physical resurrection of the body. Therefore, many procedures that they consider to cause damage or destruction of the body after death are forbidden. Orthodox Jews will bury their dead rather than cremate them for this reason. | The resurrection will be a spiritual one. Therefore, the body will not be needed as it is simply a vessel of the soul. |
| Orthodox Jews | There will be a physical resurrection of the body. Therefore, many procedures that they consider to cause damage or destruction of the body after death are forbidden. Orthodox Jews will bury their dead rather than cremate them for this reason. |
|---|---|
| Reform Jews | The resurrection will be a spiritual one. Therefore, the body will not be needed as it is simply a vessel of the soul. |