First things first. Keep in mind that Judaism is more concentrated on our actions and life on earth than on the afterlife. It is important to remember that even within Judaism different ideas about the afterlife exist, and it is basically impossible to prove or disprove one theory or another for obvious reasons. Every person is different, and because we believe that G-d cares about us, we know better than think that everyone follows one prescribed path. Therefore, the more you research, the more details, exceptions, and interpretations you will most likely find. Some ideas remain pretty well accepted, though. Interestingly, most of them do seem to fit together, even though many commentators focused on different aspects of the afterlife. This is a topic that we don't really have first-hand accounts of!
Jews most certainly believe in an afterlife. It is most often referred to as Olam HaBah, The World to Come. (I have also heard Olam HaBah as a term used to refer to the Messianic Age as well.) There are various stages of the separation of the soul from the body before and after death, and different places it goes. In addition, some believe that the soul is made up of different spiritual components, and that sometimes those individual components can even have different duties and places they go after our bodies die.
Although Jews don't believe in Hell as a place of eternal damnation, we believe in a place called Gehennom, which is an unpleasant rehabilitation of the soul (the closest parallel is the Catholic concept of Purgatory). We also believe in Heaven, where almost all souls go after they are purified.
GEHENNOM
Before a soul can enter Heaven it has to be purified. There are many interpretations about how this is accomplished. The basic idea is that the soul needs to be purged of all its ties to this physical world. This concept makes sense on a fundamental psychological level. In life, especially after we go through a traumatic event, we need a period of time in which to heal, accept, and detach ourselves from the event before we can move on with our lives. We all know that in life, things don't always work out ideally. Most of us carry emotional and or psychological baggage that sometimes skews our views of new things we encounter. However, in the World to Come, this is not an option. In order to be able to experience the abundant G-dliness, our souls must be cleansed of sin and earthly associations. This is what Gehennom is for.
Unlike some Christian views, however, the souls of most ordinary people will stay in Gehennom for less than one year. Keep in mind that we don't know if time works the same way there, so it might feel like a lot longer for the souls who are there. According to many sources, souls in Gehennom are given a "break" on Shabbat and Yomim Tovim. Just like physical rehabilitation that we might go through in life, the souls' stay in Gehennom is hard and unpleasant. But for almost every soul, Heaven awaits. The only souls that might not make it there are the most evil of evil. In short, if you live a pretty good life, you will be able to move on the Next World, but your stay in Gehennom will be determined by what you do here and now.
HEAVEN
Heaven, which is called Gan Eden, or the Garden of Eden, is considered the Kingdom of G-d where all souls aspire to ultimately go. According to some interpretations, Gan Eden has two levels, an upper one and a lower one. In the lower level, souls experience emotional bliss, and in the upper level, intellectual bliss. One explanation says that Gan Eden is a place of learning the Torah and the secrets of life, and so for the pious, this is Heaven. For the wicked, however, it feels like Hell. Yet another midrash describes that in both Gan Eden and Gehennom, people cannot bend their elbows. In both places, all the inhabitants are seated around a long table where a tantalizing feast has been prepared. However, the people stuck in Gehennom continue to starve because they cannot reach their mouths with their arms, while the people in Gan Eden continually enjoy the feast, as they have learned to feed each other. Finally, another midrash explains that every good deed we do plants a tree in the Garden of Eden, so that when we get there, we get to experience our own personal comfort from our accomplishments.
The Torah states that Jacob was "gathered to his people," and by this we infer that we will be reunited with our ancestors and family members when we die. Whatever way you look into it, Gan Eden is a place of abounding G-dliness that we cannot even begin to comprehend until we get there.
Please remember, though, that unlike some other religions, Judaism does not concentrate on the afterlife as a motivation to do things. We believe that the most important thing is to concentrate on being a good person during your life. If you accomplish that, all the rest will follow. Many rabbis even shy away from discussing the afterlife for fear not only that we can't completely understand it, but that it should never be the primary force behind our actions or thoughts. The most important concept to grasp about the afterlife is that we believe that G-d will take care of us, and that is all we really need to know.
Comments
| That is a nice explanation! Could we hear more? | Submitted by Kira - 4/26/2004 9:02:39 PM |
| I just had a friend who died so luckily I read this to learn more information. | Submitted by Stephanie - 9/7/2004 8:24:35 PM |
| This was very interesting for me to read about because I also had a friend who died recently. | Submitted by Alana - 12/6/2004 10:33:01 PM |