What does Judaism teach about life after death verses that of the Jews?

Answer 1

If you read Torah, and just Torah, from the time of Adam to Moses, everybody dies, and that's it. We are born, we live, we die: from dust to dust.... The rest is wishful thinking.

But the idea of resurrection first became prevalent in 1st Century CE Judea when the Romans occupied it. It was not a new idea: look at Egypt from where the Jewish people were freed. But it seems clear that during that period the idea of resurrection became very prevalent. After death and the body completely decayed, the person's bones were then placed into an "ossuary" or little stone casket of sorts. Perhaps it was a reaction to the oppressive Roman occupation, that if this life was not good then there was perhaps a better one? Resurrection and reincarnation ideas also were imported from the East. Roman soldiers who had been in India brought the ideas back with them; so also traders came back with it. Think about it: leprosy, which was unknown prior to that time period, is thought to have come back with Roman soldiers from India. Desperate people come up with desperate ideas.

These ideas became overlays to "strict" Judaism of that period. Just as early Christianity made the resurrection of Christ core to its beliefs.

Since the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, however, and then into the diaspora, the idea of life after death in Judaism waned again. Today it is believed by a small minority at best. While there are certain prayers said at the erection of a headstone that would seem to have one believe that the deceased loved one lives on in the shelter of God, the reality is that it has not been tradition to salvage the bones of the dead or believe they will be resurrected any time later, for nearly two millenia.

Mainstream Judaism teaches that life ends with death, but the memory of the deceased live on in the living, which is why the anniversary of the death of a person is observed by family as part of the weekly Shabbat services, during Yom Kippur during the afternoon memorial service, and at other times.

Mainstream Judaism teaches that it is the life we make here on earth that counts, and is one reason why Yom Kippur and the chanting of Kol Nidre is so important. It teaches that while God may clear the slate for us for the coming year because we are human, and imperfect and frail, so that we always have another chance, as between person to person it is our responsibility to make things right because it is our task.

There is no traditional prayer in any Jewish service that refers to it. And that's pretty much the fundamentals.

Answer:What follows is a critique of the above answer.

1. He states: "everybody dies, and that's it." Wrong. God says to Abraham (Genesis 15:15) "You (Abraham) will come to your fathers in peace and will be buried in good old age". This refers to the world of the souls. It does not mean to be buried with his forefathers, since Abraham was not buried with them. Such verses are stated many times.

2. The above answer states: "The rest is wishful thinking." Wrong. The tradition that the soul continues to exist and is treated in accordance with the person's actions while he/she was alive, is one of the central beliefs of Judaism, as codified by the Rambam (Maimonides), and is accepted by all religious Jews. The afterlife is detailed at length in the midrashim and the Talmud. A full 20 pages of Talmud (Sanhedrin 90-110) are given to this subject. We may also add that other religions, and all ancient societies, possessed the tradition of life after life. It is mankind's shared tradition.

3. The above answer states: "the idea of resurrection first became prevalent in 1st Century CE Judea when the Romans occupied it." Wrong. The prophets, who came centuries earlier, are replete with explicit references to the afterlife (such as Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12:13).

4. The above answer states:"leprosy was unknown prior to that (1st century) period." Wrong. Laws concerning leprosy are stated in the Torah at length (Leviticus ch.13-14), fourteen hundred years before the 1st century.

5. The above answer states: "These ideas became overlays to Judaism." Wrong. Religious Judaism, while borrowing words and perhaps also mannerisms from other cultures, has never borrowed fundamental beliefs. A quick perusal of the thirteen beliefs codified by Maimonides will underline this fact. Jewish idolaters were transgressors and their influence has not survived among us; while our belief in the afterlife continues to flourish.

6. The above answer states: "the idea of life after death in Judaism waned." Wrong. The midrashim, commentaries, and books of Jewish outlook, belief, thought, Chassidut and mussar have continually referred to this belief, with no change or lessening.

7. The above answer states: "certain prayers...would seem to have one believe that the deceased lives on in the shelter of God." Fact: these Yizkor prayers don't "seem." They mention the continued existence of the deceased's soul in the clearest terms.

8. The above answer states: "There is no traditional prayer in any Jewish service that refers to it (the afterlife)." Wrong. Our three-times-daily prayers speak of the revival of the dead; and the World to Come is spoken of in the Sabbath Yotzer Ohr and the daily Uva Letzion prayers.

9. And one last point: the above answer apparently makes a link between the ossuary-custom and belief in the next world. Fact: the opposite is not true. If later generations ceased from the ossuary-practice, it had no bearing on the strength of their belief in the afterlife. That belief has continued unabated among religious Jews without regard to the specifics of burial customs.