Torah and Jewish Idea > Torah and Jewish Idea
Afterlife
Igor Schwarzman:
Many thanks for your answers!
So Judaism has a kind of "paradise" and "hell". But I've still a few questions:
- Does someone directly come to Gehinnom after death to be purified until the Messiah comes? I heard every human being comes to Sheol after death until this day.
- Gehinnom is a place of spiritual purification and psychological punishment (because of being ashamed about the own wicked deeds) but not of physical punishment, like hellfire in Christianity, did I got this right?
- You wrote that for most people, Gehinnom takes only 12 months, but that there are also very few wicked people who will eternally remain there. Are there specific uncleanable sins? Would Hitler be such a person?
muman613:
--- Quote from: Igor Schwarzmann on December 08, 2011, 12:58:28 PM ---Many thanks for your answers!
So Judaism has a kind of "paradise" and "hell". But I've still a few questions:
- Does someone directly come to Gehinnom after death to be purified until the Messiah comes? I heard every human being comes to Sheol after death until this day.
- Gehinnom is a place of spiritual purification and psychological punishment (because of being ashamed about the own wicked deeds) but not of physical punishment, like hellfire in Christianity, did I got this right?
- You wrote that for most people, Gehinnom takes only 12 months, but that there are also very few wicked people who will eternally remain there. Are there specific uncleanable sins? Would Hitler be such a person?
--- End quote ---
These questions are difficult to answer but I will take a shot at answering them:
1) I believe that there is a difference between Gan Eden/Paradise and the Messianic age and the Resurrection of the Dead. Various sages have different understandings of the nature of these. But Gehinnom is only a short period of time for most average Jews. Gan Eden is not the Messianic era, it is a place where the disembodied spirit exists in spiritual closeness to G-d.
2) No, Gehinnom is primarily meant for spiritual purity but I have heard it said that it is not pleasant and it is very painful. While this cannot be physical pain because after death we have no body, but it is a pain which we cannot even fathom in this world. No doubt it is not a nice experience thus it is a punishment for our transgressions.
3) Yes, Hitler is a prime example of a person for whom Gehinnom would be everlasting. For a Jew there are three very serious sins, though I am not sure if they are 'unpardonable' and these are 1) Idol Worship, 2) Murder, 3) Sexual immorality. It is better for a Jew to die than commit these three transgressions.
http://www.askmoses.com/en/article/135,164/Does-Judaism-believe-in-Heaven-and-Hell.html
--- Quote ---Judaism does have a concept of reward and punishment in the afterlife. However, since words we use bring to mind certain images, particularly “Heaven” and “Hell,” it is better to use the Jewish terminology which comes without the baggage.
When someone dies, the disembodied soul leaves this sensory world and enters “Gan Eden,” the spiritual Garden of Eden (a.k.a. “Heaven”). In the Garden of Eden, the soul enjoys the “rays of the Divine Presence,” a purely spiritual enjoyment dependent on the Torah learning and good deeds done while in a body. Every year on the yahrtzeit, the day of passing, the soul ascends to another level closer to G-d. This gives it tremendous pleasure.
Before entering the Garden of Eden, though, a soul must be in a state of spiritual excellence, for it cannot enjoy the Divine Presence to the fullest degree with the pleasures and coarseness of our physical world still engraved on it. These would give the soul poor “reception” of divine radiance, and must be removed.
If a person sinned in this lifetime, as most of us do, then, to continue the radio analogy, we have serious interference. In order to restore the level of purity the soul had possessed before entering the physical world, it must undergo a degree of refinement commensurate to the degree which the body may have indulged itself. This means there is quite a bit of cleaning to be done. This cleaning process hurts, but is a spiritual and mental process designed not for retribution, but to allow one to truly enjoy his/her reward in Gan Eden.
This cleaning process is called “Gehinom,” or, in the vernacular, “Hell.”
--- End quote ---
See also : http://www.chabad.org/search/keyword_cdo/kid/11611/jewish/Gan-Eden.htm
Igor Schwarzman:
Thank you again for answering. Also thank you for the links. They are very interesting. Now I know more.
But this is still unclear for me:
- Gehinnom is a place for spiritual punishment. But why does Isaiah 66:24 then mention a \\\"fire that is not extinguished\\\"? Is this meant to be metaphoric, that the \\\"fire\\\" symbolizes the spiritual pain, or something physical?
- Is there a difference between treatment of Jews and Goyim in afterlife?
- What is with Sheol? Before I heard about Gehinnom, the Messianic Era, and Gan Eden, I mostly heard about Sheol for afterlife. What is it actual?
muman613:
--- Quote from: Igor Schwarzmann on December 09, 2011, 11:11:50 AM ---Thank you again for answering. Also thank you for the links. They are very interesting. Now I know more.
But this is still unclear for me:
- Gehinnom is a place for spiritual punishment. But why does Isaiah 66:24 then mention a \\\"fire that is not extinguished\\\"? Is this meant to be metaphoric, that the \\\"fire\\\" symbolizes the spiritual pain, or something physical?
- Is there a difference between treatment of Jews and Goyim in afterlife?
- What is with Sheol? Before I heard about Gehinnom, the Messianic Era, and Gan Eden, I mostly heard about Sheol for afterlife. What is it actual?
--- End quote ---
Basically Sheol is the lowest part of Gehinnom. It is a belief that there are seven levels of Gehinnom...
http://www.jewishmag.com/8mag/worlds/worlds1.htm
--- Quote ---Subterranean Worlds
Over and above the many instances of worlds in outer space noted in the Talmud, Zohar and elsewhere, there is, even more surprisingly, abundant reference to a hollow planet earth, with multi-layered worlds existing right beneath our feet. In fact, it's a case of, 'as above, so below' -- echoing the Kabbalistic 'unified theory of knowledge'. Just as there are said to be 'seven Heavens', so too is it recorded that there are seven nether worlds, one above the other, each inhabited by its own species. Indeed, one notable source, the 17th century Kabbalistic classic, Hesed L'Avraham by Rabbi Avraham Azulai, tells us that there are as many as 365 different species of beings living under the earth's surface. These are said to be half human and half animal, perhaps something like the legendary centaur.
--- End quote ---
I hope some of this will answer your questions:
Regarding what Sheol is:
--- Quote ---http://www.torah.org/qanda/seequanda.php?id=53
The word "sheol" occurs in Gen. 37,42, and 44, in Num. 30 and 33, in Job, and many other places in the Bible. Many of its uses imply that it is an underworld inhabited by (the spirits of) the dead, though in many cases it is used only as a term for the lowest point in the universe. Apparently sheol is a place of silence (dumah); see Psalm 115:17. The reference to sheol in 1 Samuel 2:6 and Psalms 30:4 suggest that the dead will be brought back from there at the resurrection. There are about a dozen references to legends about sheol in Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, and a brief discussion of sheol in the article "Netherworld" in the Encyclopedia Judaica (vol.12, cols. 996-998).
--- End quote ---
--- Quote ---http://www.vbm-torah.org/archive/jewphi/47a.doc
We find many Scriptural references to Sheol, to where souls depart after death. Sheol exists; it is an actual place. Sheol is figuratively described as the lower land, bearing resemblance to the grave. We cannot describe the exact essence of Sheol, but we will not be mistaken if we view it as a place of static existence. This is existence without life, a static existence with no action, anger, or injustice. If our world is the world of action, Sheol is the world of rest for the weary.
--- End quote ---
And:
--- Quote ---http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=494:belief-in-heaven-is-fundamental-to-judaism&catid=39:inspiration&Itemid=512
Sins that were not cleansed prior to death are removed by a process described as Sheol or Gehinom. Contrary to the Greek and Christian view of eternal damnation in Hades or Hell, the “punishment” of Sheol, as described in the Jewish Scriptures, is temporary.
This is why King David said, “You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay” (Psalm 16:10).
Additionally, the prophet Samuel says, “He [the Lord] brings down to Sheol and brings up again" (I Samuel 2: 6), and the prophet Jonah described it in the following way, “I called out of my affliction to the LORD, and He answered me; out of the depth of Sheol cried I, and you heard my voice” (Jonah 2:3).
Judaism’s view of hell more closely resembles purgatory. However, the pain the soul experiences is not physical. It has been compared to psychological anguish, shame and healing upon reviewing the history of one’s life in a body, and how it wasted opportunities to serve G-d. This may explain why people who have near death experience often claim their entire life flashed in front of them.
--- End quote ---
Igor Schwarzman:
Thank you for making clear what Sheol is. Your links are always interesting, I never heard about the 18000 planets before.
But I'm still unaware of the following:
1. If Gehinnom is a place for spiritual punishment, why does Isaiah 66:24 then mention a 'fire that is not extinguished'? I also heard Chaim sometimes saying about wrongdoers on Ask JTF that they will come to a 'warm place' in afterlife. Is this meant to be metaphoric, that the 'fire' symbolizes the spiritual pain?
2. Is there a difference between the treatment of Jews and Goyim in afterlife?
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