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Originally Posted by NotforSale
The Jewish Faith holds no real answer to the question, and the Torah says nothing about an Afterlife. The subject is wide open, and, no definitive answer lies within the teachings or doctrine of the Jews.
"Many faiths have definitive teachings about the afterlife. But in answer to the question "What happens after we die?" the Torah, our most important religious text, is surprisingly silent. Nowhere does it discuss the afterlife in detail.
Over the centuries a few possible descriptions of the afterlife have been incorporated into Jewish thought. However there is no definitively Jewish explanation for what happens after we die.
Why Doesn’t the Torah Discuss the Afterlife?
No one knows exactly why the Torah doesn't discuss the afterlife. Instead, the Torah focuses on "Olam Ha Ze," which means "this world." Rabbi Joseph Telushkin believes that this focus on the here and now is not only intentional but directly related to the Israelite exodus from Egypt."
http://judaism.about.com/od/judaismb...sh-Beliefs.htm |
They do believe in an afterlife, the Jewish term for it is Olam Ha-Ba. And the Torah does speak of the afterlife.
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Some scholars claim that belief in the afterlife is a teaching that developed late in Jewish history. It is true that the Torah emphasizes immediate, concrete, physical rewards and punishments rather than abstract future ones. See, for example, Lev. 26:3-9 and Deut. 11:13-15. However, there is clear evidence in the Torah of belief in existence after death. The Torah indicates in several places that the righteous will be reunited with their loved ones after death, while the wicked will be excluded from this reunion.
The Torah speaks of several noteworthy people being "gathered to their people." See, for example, Gen. 25:8 (Abraham), 25:17 (Ishmael), 35:29 (Isaac), 49:33 (Jacob), Deut. 32:50 (Moses and Aaron) II Kings 22:20 (King Josiah). This gathering is described as a separate event from the physical death of the body or the burial.
Certain sins are punished by the sinner being "cut off from his people." See, for example, Gen. 17:14 and Ex. 31:14. This punishment is referred to as kareit (kah-REHYT) (literally, "cutting off," but usually translated as "spiritual excision"), and it means that the soul loses its portion in the World to Come.
Later portions of the Tanakh speak more clearly of life after death and the World to Come. See Dan. 12:2, Neh. 9:5.
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Even the 13 Principles of Faith, which they faithfully recite every day after morning prayers in the synagogue, show belief in the afterlife:
1. Belief in the existence of the Creator, who is perfect in every manner of existence and is the Primary Cause of all that exists.
2. The belief in G-d's absolute and unparalleled unity.
3. The belief in G-d's non-corporeality, nor that He will be affected by any physical occurrences, such as movement, or rest, or dwelling.
4. The belief in G-d's eternity.
5. The imperative to worship G-d exclusively and no foreign false gods.
6. The belief that G-d communicates with man through prophecy.
7. The belief in the primacy of the prophecy of Moses our teacher.
8. The belief in the divine origin of the Torah.
9. The belief in the immutability of the Torah.
10. The belief in G-d's omniscience and providence.
11.
The belief in divine reward and retribution.
12. The belief in the arrival of the Messiah and the messianic era.
13.
The belief in the resurrection of the dead.
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