Salvation in Judaism?

[Agnosthiest]

Hello again, dear friends.

Is there salvation in Judaism?

A heaven/paradise for the righteous?

A hell for the evil-doers?

A judgement day?

What happens after we die?

What are the minimum requirements for righteousness for both jews & gentiles?

Thanks.

[varian]

I like reading the answers to the questions that you ask of the Jewish members on this forum, but somehow, I get the idea that you are not a 'hardcore' agnostic or atheist. But, don't worry, I'll keep it under my hat. (draw an imaginary hat on this guy)

[Aviva]

Hello again, dear friends.

Is there salvation in Judaism?

A heaven/paradise for the righteous?

A hell for the evil-doers?

A judgement day?

What happens after we die?

What are the minimum requirements for righteousness for both jews & gentiles?

Thanks.

In Jewish thinking, the righteous of all nations have a place in the world to come - not just Jews.

Orthodox Jews believe in physical resurrection of the body on Judgement Day - that's why they bury their dead rather than cremate them (and that's why the Holocaust was so utterly tragic, as the dead lost their physical bodies as well as their actual lives).

As far as I'm aware, there isn't a theology of heaven and hell in Judaism. There's a place called Gehenna which is a sort of purgatory and Jews say the Kaddish prayer for their relatives in order to smooth the passage of their soul in the year after their death.

[Mediocrates]

What do you mean by salvation?

[Aviva]

What do you mean by salvation?

Good point.

Salvation is a Christian concept and, as there's no original sin in Judaism, there's not the same sense of needing to be saved or redeemed.

[Jewscout]

Good point.

Salvation is a Christian concept and, as there's no original sin in Judaism, there's not the same sense of needing to be saved or redeemed.

well G-d does redeem and save but it's not like something that is necessary like in Christianity...the salvation and redemption one can find in Judaism is a more tangible concept, like being redeemed from slavery, as opposed to that in Christianity where you are being saved from eternal damnation due to sin.

same words...different meanings

[Agnosthiest]

Salvation, like in Christianity & Islam, being rewarded with a pleasant afterlife.

What do you mean "World to Come"? And why Orthodox jews? Isnt afterlife a core message of judaism that all jews can agree on?

What is that ‘world to come’? is it a perfect world, a paradise?

Does all good people get resurrected? What happens to the burned people? What happens to people who died being evil? Like Hitler.

[Aviva]

Salvation, like in Christianity & Islam, being rewarded with a pleasant afterlife.

Judaism is all about living a good life in this life, rather than in the next one.

What do you mean "World to Come"? And why Orthodox jews? Isnt afterlife a core message of judaism that all jews can agree on?

No, Jews don't agree on many things. Progressive Jews generally don't believe in the coming of the Messiah, for example.

The World to Come is "olam va'ed" - the everlasting world. I guess it's a little like the Garden of Eden world or the world when the Messiah has come.

Does all good people get resurrected? What happens to the burned people? What happens to people who died being evil? Like Hitler.

I'm not sure about the answers. Interesting questions, though.

[Agnosthiest]

Judaism is all about living a good life in this life, rather than in the next one.

No, Jews don't agree on many things. Progressive Jews generally don't believe in the coming of the Messiah, for example.

The World to Come is "olam va'ed" - the everlasting world. I guess it's a little like the Garden of Eden world or the world when the Messiah has come.

ooooh, does this mean there is no 'extradimensional' afterlife? that resurrected people will be living on this same planet, this same reality? and that 'paradise', would be this same planet after the Messiah transforms it?

I'm not sure about the answers. Interesting questions, though.

Just tell me what you think.

[Aviva]

ooooh, does this mean there is no 'extradimensional' afterlife? that resurrected people will be living on this same planet, this same reality? and that 'paradise', would be this same planet after the Messiah transforms it?

Bingo!

That's a good way of putting it.

[Agnosthiest]

How about "Eternal Life"?


And are the things you are saying in the Torah itself? How do jews get these ideas?

[Aviva]

How about "Eternal Life"?


And are the things you are saying in the Torah itself?

I don't think there's much mention of this in the Torah. There's probably in the Talmud, though and I know Maimonides discusses this subject.

[Womble]

Is there salvation in Judaism?

Not in the Christian sense of the word. In Judaism, there is no "original" sin for which one couldn't atone by one's actions, and therefore there is no need for a Savior. Repentance, honesty, and doing your best to live your life right is what "saves" you.

A heaven/paradise for the righteous?

This is disputed. Some say there is. Some say there isn't, but after the resurrection of the dead you get another shot at an earthly life, and that's when you are rewarded.

A hell for the evil-doers?

Definitely not. Hell is something that has to do with eternal damnation, and in Judaism we do not believe that there are sins beyond God's capacity to forgive. Therefore, no one is condemned forever and there is no hell. Opinions vary about what happens to the evil-doers. Some say they are punished enough in their earthly life by their own hands (it does often appear that evil-doers' deeds tend to come around to haunt them). Some say that after we die, our souls are purified, and that's when you are struck by the realization of all the things you have done wrong, and all the damage you've caused by your sins- and your pains of conscience are your punishment.

There is a Midrash that suggests an interesting version of afterlife. According to it, after we die we all go up to the Big Yeshiva in Heaven, where Moses himself teachers us Torah for all eternity. For the righteous among us, the revelation of the secrets of creation and of the infinite hidden meanings of the Torah is the greatest of rewards. For the wicked, an eternity of studying Torah is an eternity of unbearable boredom- which is the most terrible of sufferings

A judgement day?

Yup.

What happens after we die?

You probably won't like that answer much, but Judaism simply doesn't deal much with the subject of afterlife. What happens to us after death is in God's hands, and we tend to trust Him.

What are the minimum requirements for righteousness for both jews & gentiles?

For the Jews- fulfilling all the commandments of the Torah. For the Gentiles- living according to the Seven Commandments of the Sons of Noah. It is not an absolute requirement, however. What truly matters is not whethere or not you have covered the whole list of commandments, but whether or not you have honestly tried to.

[Mediocrates]

The term in Judaism is more or less "in the world to come" which is left intentionally vague. We're not left with a concrete visions of what that means.

[varian]

Is there salvation in Judaism?

Here's something I read on another string.

"...In Judaism, it leads to national salvation - not just a nation that wants to have a state, but a nation that wants to serve God. That's the idea behind the Hebrew text of the Bible. ..."
http://www.israelforum.com/board/sho...923#post219923

A heaven/paradise for the righteous?

"...In Judaism, it is going to be as in Isaiah - peace between nations, not just one nation, but between all nations. People will not have any more need for weapons and nature will be changed - a beautiful end of days and the kingdom of God on earth. ..."
http://www.israelforum.com/board/sho...923#post219923



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