The thread turning into a Pascal’s Wager thread made me ponder this. According to everything I know about the subject of the Afterlife in Judaism, there is none yet. Jews are holding out for the Messiah to help them enter into Heaven.
Now, of course, Christ is the Messiah in Christianity and therefore followers of Christ are accepted into Heaven after death. (After any Purgatory needed). But how is the soul handled in Judaism? Is it in Limbo? Some sort of Purgatory? A spiritual cybergenics lab?
From what I know, Jews are held from Heaven untill the Saviour comes to Earth. And since Jews considered Christ a prophet, not the Messiah, what happens to the souls of the dead?
Please add any other info relevant I haven’t thought of for this subject.
Catholic speaking, so take this with as much salt as you like.
There is no one, set Jewish doctrine on the afterlife. Even devout Jews can and do vary drastically in their beliefs on this score.
Among the observant Jews I know, opinions I’ve heard range from “There must be SOMETHING after death” to There probably isn’t anything after this life." But interestingly, neither opinion is held all that passionately. You see, the Afterlife is NOT and never has been the main focus of Judaism, which has always been far more concerned with the way we live and behave in THIS world.
So, what would be the purpose of living a secular life based on God? (using the word God as an all-knowing Afterlife-type dude) This would make Judaism a living philosophy with no consequence after death. But with all the tradition and non-secular laws to live by (i.e. 10 Commandments) it would be a self-contradictory religion. Meaning, not a religion, but a social-contract type deal.
After 5,000 years of persecution because of the religion, I suspect the religion must have some sort of reward eventually of Paradise. Unless someone wants to make the argument that Jews are just hated always and need a reason to live on. But this doesn’t make sense when taking into account what Jews have been through, and still follow the religion. If there’s no reward in the Afterlife, the followers are nothing more than masochists. I doubt this is the case.
I feel I’m taking this thread into GD, and if I am, I’d ask for a mod to move it. Or I’m reading too much into the quoted post. In that case, I’m still honestly wondering how Jews view eternity with God.
Judaism follows the same God that Christians do, but are still waiting for the Messiah. I’m trying to find out what is believed by Jews about the Afterlife if they died today.
Judaism does not teach that the arrival of the Messiah is necessary for souls to enter the afterlife. The Messiah will be an Earthly king of Davidic descent, who will bring about a redemption on Earth of the Jewish nation from the gentile nations’ subjugation. This will usher in an era of spiritual renaissance on Earth.
At some point afterward, the virtuous dead will return to life to experience the splendor that is the Messianic age. However, that is distinct from the afterlife.
Judaism (Orthodox, at least) very much does believe in the afterlife, and in reward and punishment therein.
What’s not quite settled is the nature of Heaven and Hell (to use the common parlance). Some say they’re actual “places” on the spiritual plane, some say they denote levels of closeness to or distance from G-d, some say they are the feelings that the soul feels based on its life experiences, once unshackled from the body (e.g., fiery Hell is the feeling of burning shame one experiences when the soul realizes that sin was ultimately not worth it). Possibly these are all true in some sense of spiritual dimension that we’re not readily capable of conceiving while still in physical form.
But there is certainly (according to traditional Judaic belief) reward and punishment in the afterlife, and it is important. The Talmudic sages have compared this world to a hallway, and the world to come to a banquet room, in the sense that one should use the hallway for the purpose of preparing to enter the banquet room. Those who are not properly prepared will not be properly able to participate in the bamquet.