Atheist Jew, but keeping the most basic Torah laws, what will wait him in the afterlife?

Question

I am asking about a Jew. He is 100% materialist, atheist in his world view.

He keeps the most basic laws of Judaism: keeps Sabbath (not so strictly as Orthodox Jews do, but keeps), doesn't eat pork and doesn't mix milk and meat. (I don't know if he has brith, but I am nearly sure, that he has.) Not every weekend, but he is a regular visitor in a local synagogue.

I think, he does it because although he doesn't believe the religion, he wants to honor his religious friends and ancestors. Furthermore, this is the way of life he is accustomed to.

I think it would be nicer if he would do what God wants from him. But, somewhere I've read, that Judaism is more like law as simply a religion. And he keeps the law on a basic level.

So, what will happen to a Jew, keeping basic laws, but not believing anything over the pure matter?

Answer 1

One who does not believe in the principles of Judaism does not merit the World to Come. This is stated clearly at the beginning of the chapter of Talmud that discusses the topic:

כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא שנאמר (ישעיהו ס, כא) ועמך כולם צדיקים לעולם יירשו ארץ נצר מטעי מעשה ידי להתפאר ואלו שאין להם חלק לעולם הבא האומר אין תחיית המתים מן התורה ואין תורה מן השמים ואפיקורוס
MISHNA: All of the Jewish people, even sinners and those who are liable to be executed with a court-imposed death penalty, have a share in the World-to-Come, as it is stated: “And your people also shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land forever; the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, for My name to be glorified” (Isaiah 60:21). And these are the exceptions, the people who have no share in the World-to-Come, even when they fulfilled many mitzvot: One who says: There is no resurrection of the dead derived from the Torah, and one who says: The Torah did not originate from Heaven, and an epikoros, who treats Torah scholars and the Torah that they teach with contempt.

The idea that Judaism is merely a religion of laws without concern for belief is a common misconception. As far as I can tell is that it comes from the Christian perspective that Judaism is a dry religion of laws and rote practice, which they believe Jesus replaced with a focus on belief. This is convenient and lazy caricature they use to explain why Christianity replaced Judaism.

The truth is that Judaism is an all-encompassing religion, that deals with the physical, the mental, and the spiritual aspect of people, as the author of the classic work Duties of the Heart explains in his introduction.

Answer 2

From the TaNaKH and from the Talmud, we read about these two ultimate "afterlife"-destinations, inclusive of a time-frame:

"And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence."

(Daniel 12:2)

Death is like sleep. Just as we wake-up from sleep, we also wake-up from death.

Yochanan Ben-Zakkai said, "I have two paths before me, one of the Garden of Eden and one of Gehenna, and I do not know on which they are leading me;"

(www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.28b)

Dying is like walking, a continuous process of being, and therefore "after death" (upon the continuous process of being), we encounter a fork on the road, one fork leads to Gan-Eden, and the other to Gehenna.

Master of the Universe, You have judged properly, You have acquitted properly, You have condemned properly, and it is befitting that You have prepared Gehenna for the wicked and the Garden of Eden for the righteous.

(www.sefaria.org/Eruvin.19a)

This quote, from the Talmud, tells us the courtroom time-frame after death or "afterlife", there is judgment ("You have judged properly"), which either leads to acquittal ("You have acquitted properly") or condemnation ("You have condemned properly"). A sentence of condemnation condemns one into the hellish "Gehenna"-Destination, whereas an acquittal leads into the heavenly "Garden of Eden"-Destination.

Thus is the "afterlife" nature, according to Orthodox Judaism as fleshed-out in both the above sources from the TaNaKH and Talmud.

Answer 3

G-d says, “if only Me they would abandon but My Torah they would observe.” This means that an atheist Jew who keeps Torah is a Jew in good standing in the eyes of G-d.