What is the present day Jewish concept of the afterlife?
Although Judaism concentrates on the importance of the Earthly world (Olam Ha’zeh — “this world”), all of classical Judaism posits an afterlife. Jewish tradition affirms that the human soul is immortal and thus survives the physical death of the body. The Hereafter is known as Olam Haba (the “world to come”), Gan Eden (the Heavenly “Garden of Eden”, or Paradise) and Gehinom (“Purgatory”). There is much rabbinic material on what happens to the soul of the deceased after death, what it experiences, and where it goes. At various points in the afterlife journey, the soul may encounter: Hibbut ha-kever, the pains of the grave; Dumah, the angel of silence; Satan as the angel of death; the Kaf ha-Kela, the catapult of the soul; Gehinom (purgatory); and Gan Eden (heaven or paradise). All classic rabbinic scholars agree that these concepts are beyond typical human understanding. Therefore, these ideas are expressed throughout rabbinic literature through many varied parables and analogies. Gehin
I’m Jewish 🙂 We don’t really focus on the afterlife much; Judaism really stresses THIS life, far more than considering what may or may not come next. It’s a very practical religion, in many respects. We do have the concept of Gan Eden – garden of eden. We believe that the righteous of ALL faiths reach heaven/garden of eden. And we have no equivalent to the Christian concept of eternall hell and brimstone!! There is a reference in Jewish texts to a ‘purification’ of the soul, which lasts around a year, maybe longer for the really wicked among us! It is made clear that this is highly unpleasant – but I think it’s more about a separation from G-d than anything else. There is also the idea of reincarnation, as well, within Judaism, but not all Jews will agree with this. Our concept of the afterlife is not that clearly defined. Hope this helps a bit.
It’s Shabbes. The slow response shouldn’t be surprising. I’m only on because I’m full of the cold and can’t sleep. There is no single Jewish concept of the afterlife. There are a good many ideas, of course, but bottom line is we can’t know. So instead of fussing about that, we focus on what we do know for certain — that our actions will affect the lives of others, including those yet to be born. We say of someone who’s died, May his/her memory be for a blessing, in recognition of the positive that the person did during life. Ritually, we mark the separation from close family and friends by saying a version of the prayer which is used to separate the different prayer services. It’s in Aramaic and has a lovely rocking cadence in the language. The Mourner’s Kaddish can only be said when there are at least ten Jews present, which means that we go to great lengths to make sure that we have a quorum. Outsiders see that as legalistic. In practice, however, it means that the mourner is well s
