Afterlife & Messiah 🌍

Afterlife

1. The Torah focuses more on life on Earth than an afterlife - Jews are encouraged to lead good lives for the sake of life on Earth, rather than the hope of what’s to come.

2. The Tenakh talks about Sheol, where the souls of the dead live as shadows for eternity.

3. But ideas about the afterlife gradually developed - beliefs are now largely based on ideas in the Talmud

   • Many Jews believe life after death is spent in Gan Eden

   • Some see Gan Eden as a place of banquets and sunshine. Others have a more spiritual view of it as a closeness to God. Only if you’ve lived a blameless life will you be sent straight to Gan Eden when you die.

   • Most souls go to Gehinnom before they reach Gan Eden. Some see it as a place of torment, where people are punished. Some see it as a place for purification, where people are shown the wrong they did in this life. The truly wicked don’t move on - some think they’re tormented forever, others that their souls are destroyed.

4. God judges how good or evil people have been, to decide their fate in the afterlife. Some Jews see this as a motivation for good behaviour in this life, others argue that you should do good things simply because they are good.

   • “God will bring every deed into judgement … whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14)

   • “Many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, others to reproaches, to everlasting abhorrence”. (Daniel 12:2)

5. Some Reformed Jews don’t believe in the afterlife, as it’s not explicitly mentioned in the Torah. Others believe we live on in how we’ve influenced others during our lives

6. The term olam ha-ba (the world to come) is also used for the afterlife. It’s sometimes used to refer to the Messianic Age, rather than where souls go straight after death

7. Many Jews also believe they will eventually be physically resurrected. Belief in resurrection is important in Judaism. Maimonides listed it as one of his 13 principles of faith.

Messiah

1. Many Jews believe that the Messiah, an inspirational leader, will bring an era of perfect peace and prosperity called the Messianic Age. He’ll establish God’s kingdom on Earth and everyone will acknowledge God. (Unlike Christians, Jews don’t believe that Jesus was the Messiah)

2. Jews believe that the Messiah will be human - not divine as Jesus is for Christians. He’ll be a male descendant of the Jewish King David and will himself be “a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right” (Jeremiah 23:5). He will spread God’s laws throughout the world, reunite the Jewish people in Israel (the Promised Land) and rebuild the Temple there.

3. It is thought that the prophet Elijah will appear just before the Messiah comes

4. It’s believed that people will be judged by God and the Messiah on their actions. Some Jews believe everyone will be resurrected so they can be judged. Others think only the righteous will be resurrected to share in the Messianic Age.

   • “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Daniel 12:2)

     • Orthodox Jews believe that the physical body will be resurrected, intact, in the Messianic Age. Because of this, the body shouldn’t be cut after death (autopsies are frowned upon) and cremation is forbidden. A Jewish cemetery is called the ‘House of Life’ (Bet ha-Chaim), which reaffirms the view that the body will be resurrected.

     • Progressive Jews believe that the body is simply a vessel for the soul (which they believe carries on without the body), and reject the idea of physical resurrection. So Progressive Jews accept cremation and organ donation.

5. Not all Jews believe a Messiah will come though. Many Progressive Jews believe instead that people themselves can bring about a peaceful and prosperous age on Earth through their own good actions.

One of the reasons for the lack of agreement about the afterlife is that Jews believe the present is more important, and they should focus on living in a way that is pleasing to God. The idea that it is best to focus on the present rather than the afterlife is told in a story by Rabbi Benjamin Blech. ‘Life after death’:

• “A very wealthy man, not known for his piety, stood in a long line of those waiting to have their lives assessed by the heavenly court. He listened attentively as those who were being judged before him recounted both their spiritual failings and achievements. A number if them seemed to have the scales weighted against them until they suddenly remembered acts of charity they had performed, which dramatically tipped the scales in their favour The rich man took it all in and smiled to himself.

  When it was his turn, he confidently said, ‘I may have committed many sins during my lifetime, but I realise now what has the power to override them. I am a very wealthy man and I will be happy t