Any practicing Jews on the board?

[Pyper]

Aside from the fact that I'm just curious, I have a theological question. Christianity, as do many many world religions, revolves around a reward and punishment system. Do good and obey religious laws, and you are rewarded with eternal life, paradise, etc. Do bad, and you are punished with fiery pits, coming back as a cockroach, etc.

But according to what I was taught as a Catholic, eternal life was only granted to humans by God when Jesus arrived and sacrificed himself. So if Judaism is pre-Messiah, is there an afterlife in Hebrew theology? Is there a heaven or a hell? And, if the answer if yes, are these truly Hebrew beliefs, and not just a contamination with Christian theology?

Religious scholars, expert web-searchers, feel free to jump in with info.

 

[Nora]

Here's a good discussion of the Jewish view of the afterlife.

Jewish FAQ

The thing is, we're not focused on a concept of paradice. The focus is on living life properly to begin with, and enjoying the time spent on earth.

 

[red_rose]

Here you go, Pyper.

http://www.jewfaq.org/olamhaba.htm

 

[red_rose]

You would post right when I did, wouldn't you!? lol

By the way... I'm not Jewish.

Well, I'm 1/4 Jewish. Heh. (I'm just a curious cat.)

 

[Spinaroonie]

The ones I know don't practice anymore... they just do it.

 

[Pyper]

Thanks for the info, guys. I asked my dad, who was raised Jewish but is non-practicing, about this and he said he was taught there was a heaven, but didn't really know the specifics.

 

[Nora]

red_rose is a copycat!


I think it's safer to say that the Christian notion of a hell was based on Gehenom, rather than the other way around, btw. Here's another good discussion: click here

 

[Laurel]

Practice Makes Perfect.

 

[SamEyeAm]

Pyper, as Nora said, our focus is on living our lives on earth in accordance with God's will. We believe that God has intentionally given to humans the task of completing his act of creating the world. Everything we do should be geared toward using what God has given us to create a heaven on earth.

I don't think very much at all about what happens after I die. I know that then I will face God, and that I will be accountable for the life that I have lead and the choices that I make each and every day. My religion encourages me to try to use every action, every interaction that I have with another person, an animal, society, or the environment, to leave that part of the world a little better off than how I found it. Does that help to explain it?

 

[Pyper]

Yes, thank you all. Sounds like a very good philosophy to live by.