When I was a kid and I went to Hebrew school, I never heard anyone mentioning anything about the Jewish tradition believing in any kind of afterlife, and now it seems that his is a part of the religion…Did I miss something? Was there some sort of adjustment of the laws that I am not aware of? Or was this always the case?
It sort of depends on what kind of Hebrew school you went to. After-life is more emphasized in Orthodox than in Reform, but there is considerable variation within the branches.
Generally speaking, Judaism certainly believes in a Messianic Era and a God of perfect justice and mercy. Since there’s not perfect justice in this life, we suppose that there is some after-life in which wrongs are righted.
However, there is very little emphasis on after-life. We do not perform the mitzvot (obligations, commandments) in hopes of being rewarded by personal salvation. It is perfectly possible to be a traditional, practicing Jew and not believe in an after-life. The goal of proper behavior is its own reward, the purpose of life is to live it, and the after-life is left to God’s judgement and mercy.
This is somewhat in contrast to traditional Christianity, where the goal of life is personal salvation after death. In Judaism, the goal of life is to live well and do the right things.
Thank you. You have definitely cleared up a few things! (I wanted to display the happy orthodox man, but I couldn’t. Hmmmmm.).
From what I have learned, Judaism first incorporated a belief in an afterlife from Greek influence in the frist two centuries BCE. 1st Enoch, I believe, is the best example of how these Greek ideas developed within Judaism at that time. From my understanding of that text, Enoch travels to Sheol (the underworld). In Sheol there are different sections where, depending upon your righteousness in the previous existence, you are separated to spend the rest of eternity; or until the kingdom of God comes. Apparently, the most righteous are in a section that contains a fountain. Hope that helps you in the origns of an afterlife within Judaism.
Just to nitpick and be a general pain-in-the-ass:
Yes, Christianity emphasizes personal salvation, but the degree of living for the afterlife varies from one denomination to another. Some of the more fundamentalist or conservative traditions present it as a major reason for living your life in a certain way, or as a carrot to entice you to live properly. Other traditions, such as Anglicanism, put much more emphasis on living properly for the rewards it brings to you now. As a life-long Anglican/Episcopalian, I tend to live my life more along the Judaic lines than waiting for my just reward after I die. For me, the whole heaven/hell issue is secondary to what I’m supposed to accomplish while I’m alive, and to piss off as few people as possible while I’m doing it.
Vlad/Igor
You probably didn’t miss anything. As CK says, it tends not to be emphasized at the “kid in Hebrew School” level. During that phase in a child’s education, the emphasis is on understanding and learning to enjoy the rituals of Judaism they see in practice or can practice themselves. It’s only when one is a little further along that religious study will include such dry (from a juvenile perspective) subjects as religious doctrine - including afterlife beliefs.
There is clearly, in the Scriptures, a belief in the continued existence of the soul after death. The most clear reference to it is I Samuel chapter 28, where King Saul has the witch of Endor raise the soul of Samuel from the grave for consultation.
The belief in an afterlife at all, combined with a generalized belief in the concept of divine reward and punishment, makes it almost imperative that there is a belief in reward and punishment in the afterlife - i.e., Heaven or Hell. Whether these are “places” in the sense that they are portrayed in the classic works of medieval Christian writers or whether these are just descriptions of certain states of being is a matter of pure speculation.
The importance of the afterlife in Jewish belief can be summed up succinctly in the statement in the Mishnah, Tractate Avot: “This world is likened to an antechamber, and the world to come is likened to a banquet hall - prepare yourself in the antechamber, and you will then be able to enter the banquet hall.” Clearly, the entire purpose of Earthly existence is to be virtuous enough to be allowed entry into the next world.