Judaism & Beliefs About the Afterlife (AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062))

Ideas in Judaism About Life After Death

• Judaism does have ideas about an afterlife but does not have a single, agreed-upon teaching about life after death

• Life on earth is viewed as preparation and there is a focus on what happens in this life rather than the next:

  • The Mishnah teaches Jews that life on earth is preparation for Olam ha-ba, “the world to come”, which many Jews look forward to

• The term Olam ha-ba can be used to refer to the afterlife as well as the Messianic Age on earth

• Jewish people believe in life after death because it is written in the Torah and because it gives life meaning and purpose

• Rosh Hashanah is sometimes called the Day of Judgement as Jews think about their deeds over the last year:

  • God is a God of justice and mercy and is a judge of how the duties of the Torah are followed

  • At the festival of Rosh Hashanah, God judges every person

Judaism & Judgement

• Many Jews believe that God judges how good or bad people have been in order to decide their destiny in the afterlife

• Jewish people who believe in God’s judgement believe the decision on whether they should be rewarded or punished is based on how well they have followed the Mitzvot

• There are different views among Jews as to what happens on the Day of Judgement

• Many Orthodox Jews believe that the Day of Judgement, or Yawm ad-Din, will occur after the coming of the Messiah:

  • Orthodox Jews believe that after they die, each person’s physical body will be resurrected

• Therefore, cremation and any action that changes the body after death, like autopsy, is forbidden

• Orthodox Jews refer to resurrection daily in their prayers and also at funerals

• Some Jews, including some Reform Jews who do not accept the idea of a Messiah, believe that they will be judged as soon as they die:

  • Reform Jews believe that only the soul will be resurrected. The body is not needed because in life it was simply a container for the soul

  • The references to resurrection have been taken out of the prayer books (siddur) for Reform Judaism

• Others believe they will be judged twice: firstly by God when they die, and secondly by the Messiah on the Day of Judgement

• Some Jews believe that on the Day of Judgement, everyone will be resurrected so that they can be judged:

  • They find evidence for this in the Book of Daniel:

• Others believe that only those who are morally good will be resurrected and that hell exists as punishment for those who have not lived righteous lives

Judaism, Sheol, Gehinnom and Gan Eden

• Most Orthodox Jews believe that people who follow the laws given by God will be sent to Heaven after their body dies. However, there is no exact description of Heaven in Jewish scripture

• The Talmud does speak of Olam ha-ba in connection to the afterlife, and sometimes uses the term Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden), referring to a heavenly realm where souls reside after physical death

  • The term Gan Eden to describe heaven suggests a return to the blissful existence of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before the “fall”

  • Others see it as a place of sunshine where people of all nations will sit and eat together when the peaceful Messianic Age comes

  • Many Jews believe that people may experience pain and suffering in this world but that the afterlife will be free of misery

  • Others believe that Gan Eden is not necessarily a physical place but instead is a state of consciousness or a place where the soul feels close to God

  • It is believed that the virtuous will be reunited with loved ones and that their souls will live on

• Jews who have lived a sinless life will be sent straight to Gan Eden. However, it is possible that souls could be sent to Sheol or Gehinnom (or Gehenna)

  • Sheol is a place of waiting where souls are cleansed and purified and is similar to the Catholic view of purgatory

  • Gehinnom is a place to be punished and a place of torment

• Those who believe in life after death may hold differing views about whether or not there exists a place for eternal punishment

• Some believe that the souls of those who have committed serious acts of evil - for example, murder, will never move on from this place of torment as they cannot be changed for the better

Judaism life after death