Where do Jews go when they die?

Answer 1

Judaism spends little time discussing what happens when we die, in fact, there's not a lot of mention of this subject in the Tanach (Jewish Bible).
There are some loose theories of what might happen though:

• When we die, our souls are cleansed of any wrongdoings. This is done by our accounting of every action done in life. It's believed that this process takes no longer than 12 months but most people don't do enough bad in life to warrant it taking a full 12 months.
• Our souls return to God to wait for the world to come.
• Our souls may be reincarnated into different people so that we have additional chances to work to become closer to God.
• Those souls that choose to be truly evil in life, cannot survive the process of cleansing and cease to exist.

Answer 2
Same with others, their bodies will revert back to its chemical elements and will become food for other creatures...
Job 7:9 As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.
Christian answer:
a) My understanding is that Jews go to Sheol which is a holding place for the dead. It seems to be split into two areas: A place of comfort (known as paradise) and a place of torment (hell). When Jesus died on the cross He descended into Sheol, but upon His ressurection He led the righteous inhabitants to the Third Heaven where the Father lives, shifting paradise from Sheol (down) to God's Realm in Heaven (up). At the end of time God will judge all of those left in Sheol.

b) To the former poster: You cannot derive doctrine from the Book of Job without doing your research, which clearly you did not. The Bible does not preach falsely or tell lies, but it does accurately record falsehoods that have been preached and lies that have been told. The passage you highlight comes from the mouth of Job at a time of despair after he has lost his family, land and cattle. He is speaking without understanding, and it is not until later that God speaks to him and informs Job that (and I paraphrase) he has got no idea what he's talking about and therefore should shut his mouth! Needless to say God gives back to Job 3 times what he lost.

• Jewish Answer:

One of the central beliefs of Judaism, as stated in the Talmud (Mishna, Sanhedrin 11:1) and codified by Maimonides (1135-1204), is that the soul continues to exist and is treated in accordance with the person's actions while he or she was alive. This applies to all people, whatever their religion.
The Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) doesn't dwell at length on the afterlife; and nor does Judaism spend a lot of time speculating on its details. However, that is not meant to diminish its importance. Rather, the Torah implies that we are to use the bulk of our energies in keeping God's ways in this world, with our feet firmly planted on Earth, while nonetheless not losing awareness of our beliefs.
Our ancient sages stated the importance of being aware of the next world: "This world is a mere entrance-hall before the afterlife" (Mishna, Avot ch.4).
All outstanding accounts are settled after this life. Some cases illustrate this point, since this entire world wouldn't be enough to reward a Moses or punish a Hitler. And while we're alive, knowledge of the future world serves as one of the motivations to keeping God's will.
The Tanakh does not delve into detail of the rewards of the righteous because religions could compete with more and more poetic promises. Also because belief in the afterlife was shared by all ancient societies and needed little reiteration. Besides, it would be like describing the colors of a sunrise to someone who was blind from birth.
It is, however, referred to briefly in Torah verses such as Genesis 15:15, which states that "You (Abraham) will come to your fathers in peace and will be buried in good old age." Coming to his fathers does not mean simply to be buried with them, since Abraham was not buried with his ancestors. Such verses are stated many times.
The prophets are more explicit with such references (see Isaiah 26:19 and 66:24, Daniel 12:13, Zechariah 3:7, 1 Kings 8:30, 2 Kings ch.2, Ecclesiastes 12:7). The afterlife is spoken of at length in the Talmud. More than 20 pages of Talmud (Sanhedrin 90-110, Rosh Hashanah 16-18, and other passages) are given to this subject.

Answer 2

One of the central beliefs of Judaism is that the soul continues to exist and is treated in accordance with the person's actions while he or she was alive. This applies to all people.
All outstanding accounts are settled after this life. Some cases illustrate this point, since this entire world wouldn't be enough to reward a Moses or punish a Hitler. And while we're alive, knowledge of the future world serves as one of the motivations to keeping God's will.
Judaism does not delve into detail of the rewards of the righteous because religions could compete with more and more poetic promises. Also because belief in the afterlife was shared by all ancient societies and needed little reiteration. Besides, it would be like describing the colors of a sunrise to someone who was blind from birth.
It is, however, referred to briefly in verses such as Genesis 15:15. The prophets are more explicit (see Isaiah 26:19 and 66:24, Daniel 12:13, Zechariah 3:7, 1 Kings 8:30, 2 Kings ch.2, Ecclesiastes 12:7). The afterlife is also spoken of at length in the Talmud.

See also the Related Links.

Link: God exists

Link: The key beliefs of Judaism

Link: How do you know there are a heaven and hell?

Answer 3

In Jewish beliefs, there is a belief in an afterlife where the soul goes to be judged by God. The specifics of the afterlife can vary among different Jewish traditions and interpretations, but the ultimate goal is to be reunited with God.