Questions tagged [afterlife]
The afterlife tag has no usage guidance.
46
questions
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chayei olam: “everlasting life” or “long life”?
I am an Italian noahide.
I see that, in the translations of the Tanakh and of the Hebrew sources in general edited by Jews , the expression "chayei olam" is constantly rendered with "...
2
votes
3answers
49 views
Locality and directionality in the world of immaterial souls
IIRC, in all prophecies and Rabbinic stories about Heavens, all Heavenly entities are local (let alone embodied), they have a certain location, they are not "all-around" or everywhere, and ...
0
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0answers
71 views
Can one have a relationship with a deceased rebbe?
Shalom fam,
Longtime fan of this forum, but this is the first time I’ve ever posted.
Anyhow, is one able to have a relationship with a deceased rebbe? Meaning, can one learn Torah from a deceased ...
0
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2answers
236 views
What is a dybbuk?
I heard that a dybbuk is kind of like a soul that came back from heaven and inhabits a body.
1. Does anyone have any more information that would make the concept easier to picture?
2. Is there a ...
0
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1answer
188 views
Is Gilgulei Neshamot ever mentioned in Shas?
I have heard that somewhere in Shas, there is a case of Gilgul neshama mentioned. Is there actually such a case, and where is this to be found?
2
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1answer
232 views
What do we make of the witch of Endor?
The Torah forbids necromancy [Lev. 19:31 and 20:6,27; Deut. 18:11]. Yet King Saul goes to the witch of Endor, who brings up the dead prophet Samuel for him. Samuel responds:
Why have you ...
2
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1answer
107 views
Letter from the Chofetz Chaim about non religious martyrs
I once heard that the Chofetz Chaim has a letter in which he writes that even someone who is totally non-religious, if they are killed because they are a Jew, they have a portion in the world to come ...
3
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2answers
425 views
Where is Gehenom located?
Where is Gehenom located? After Korach and his followers got swallowed up by the Earth, they fell right outside the gates of Gehenom, and are (presumably) till this day yelling משה אמת ותורתו אמת (...
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1answer
177 views
The name of גיהנום
Why is Hell (גהינום) named after גיא בן הינום , the Valley of the son of Hinom? And what is גיא בן הינום anyways? Why don’t we just call it Sheol like the Torah does?
5
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3answers
159 views
In the afterlife, will the person's embarrassing moment be revealed before everyone?
Shalom!
Is it true that in the afterlife, there will be video tapes played in front of everyone, showing our most embarrassing and most shameful acts that we've committed in this lifetime?
0
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1answer
192 views
What Jewish denominations believes in an afterlife?
What Jewish denominations believe in an afterlife?
It appears there is a judgement of the world to come but that doesn't specify if there is an afterlife or not. This question makes me think Judaism ...
3
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1answer
144 views
Do the Rabbanim know more than King Solomon about the reality of post-death?
I believe it's accepted in the mainstream that Kohelet is authored by King Solomon in his wisdom.
In it, he writes:
19- For there is a happening for the children of men, and there is a happening ...
7
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2answers
194 views
The purpose of punishment in the Afterlife
This follows my previous question "can-one's-merits-in-the-world-to-come-be-traded"
In my humble understanding, the general purpose of punishment is to make someone better, to make a person change, ...
0
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2answers
61 views
Can a soul be redeemed, based on Psalm 49?
Psalm 49:8:
"אָח לֹא־פָדֹה יִפְדֶּה אִישׁ לֹא־יִתֵּן לֵאלֹהִים כָּפְרוֹ׃
וְיֵקַר פִּדְיוֹן נַפְשָׁם וְחָדַל לְעוֹלָם׃
וִיחִי־עוֹד לָנֶצַח לֹא יִרְאֶה הַשָּׁחַת׃ "
teaches that (all the) wealth ...
1
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1answer
205 views
How is it determined whether someone goes to Heaven or to Hell?
I was told by a Chabad rabbi that the determination of reaching Heaven or Hell (Gan Eden or Gehinnom) is done through the weighing of aveiros (sins) and mitzvos (good deeds). This was, of course, a ...
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0answers
70 views
Judaism's view of pagans/polytheists [duplicate]
How does Judaism view pagans or polytheists? Will they be burnt in hell for eternity like what Christianity and Islam say?
-1
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3answers
159 views
Will the Jewish Messiah save us from hell?
Will the Jewish messiah save us from hell?
Is there any basis the Jewish Messiah will save people from Hell? I guess this could be interpreted before death or after? It appears hell isn't the same ...
0
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1answer
100 views
Do animals have a share in the world to come? [duplicate]
Is it stated anywhere what happens to animals when they die? I think it is stated somewhere they have no share in the world to come, so what happens to them after they die? This topic interests me ...
-1
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1answer
168 views
Is burning in hot excrement a genuine possible punishment in gehinnom?
מסכת גיטין נ"ז:
...כל המלעיג על דברי חכמים נידון בצואה רותחת
Is this a genuine punishment that adherents of Orthodox Judaism believe to be carried out? Does it pertain to both Jews and none-Jews?...
2
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0answers
75 views
The phase between death and resurrection comparable to sleeping?
Tehillim 13:4 talks about the the sleep of death (אִישַׁן הַמָּוֶת),
Yeshayahu 26:19 reads something like my dead bodies shall arise--awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust (הָקִיצוּ), Daniel 12:2 ...
5
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2answers
2k views
What happens when the neshama has an aliya?
there is a common practice to learn torah for someone who is deceased 'l'iluy nishmato/a' - to raise her/his soul. There is also a common (american/ashkenazik?) custom for a relative of a deceased ...
2
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0answers
69 views
Logic tells me that, once the soul ascended, the physical body should no longer remain - why is it not the case?
Please bear with me on this, I'm very serious about what I'm seeking an answer to and I see that this board treats people with Derech Eretz. So I hope that even if no answer is available, I wont be ...
3
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1answer
185 views
Is it possible to lodge an appeal for a soul that has gone to Gehenom?
Unsong is a work of online serial fiction by Scott Alexander which is based heavily on Judaism. (I highly recommend it to Jews and Gentiles alike.). As I discussed in my earlier question here, the ...
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1answer
104 views
Why are there two worlds separate from one another
HaShem created an Olam HaZeh/Yemos HaMashiach/Le'asid Lavo world, and He also created an Olam Haba/Gan Eden world.
Why is it necessary to have two worlds that do not interact with each other? What ...
3
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1answer
174 views
Who is in charge of Gehennim?
In Mishlei 5:9, there is an entity called אַכְזָרִי that somehow takes years from people who are rebellious:
פֶּן־תִּתֵּ֣ן לַאֲחֵרִ֣ים הוֹדֶ֑ךָ וּ֝שְׁנֹתֶ֗יךָ לְאַכְזָרִֽי:
Rashi explains that ...
2
votes
2answers
419 views
Did 1st century Jews believe in immortality of the soul?
Did Jews in the 1st century generally hold to the belief that humans are by nature immortal, or did they believe in some form of conditionalism (sorry if that's not the correct term, as I'm coming ...
2
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1answer
81 views
Connection Hell and Hinnom?
Why are the Jewish concepts - of what often is translated as - 'Hell' and which is often seen as a place for cleansing, purification, refining and correcting the soul (purgatory), related and ...
2
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2answers
570 views
Atheist Jew, but keeping the most basic Torah laws, what will wait him in the afterlife?
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 ...
2
votes
1answer
499 views
What is the fate of non-Jews in the afterlife? [duplicate]
From what I've read before, according to Jewish belief, if a non-Jew follows the Noahide Laws, he/she will not suffer in the afterlife. Are there any verses in the Torah/Tanakh to support this?
If ...
1
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1answer
98 views
Where in Judaism does it describe the journey of the soul in the afterlife? [duplicate]
Where in Judaism does it describe the journey of the soul in the afterlife? Sources, that I am looking for stem from kabbalah teaching or the zohar. Also,I am searching for primary sources, so if they ...
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0answers
21 views
Has cryonics been treated in Rabbinic literature? [duplicate]
Has it been treated by rabbinic literature? If yes, what does it say about cryonics?
7
votes
1answer
434 views
Can a soul be destroyed to non-existence?
Can a soul die (make choices that will lead to its being completely destroyed)?
The Zohar 1:131a states that the souls of transgressors will became ashen cinders under the feet of the righteous. From ...
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5answers
2k views
References to resurrection and the afterlife in the Jewish Bible?
I am a Christian and have been studying what we call the Old Testament, and been surprised to have difficulty to find a reference to afterlife in the Jewish books of the Christian Canon. I know that ...
3
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0answers
90 views
what are the rewards for the righteous in Olam Haba?
I am looking for some sources from chazal on what rewards await the righteous in olam haba (the afterlife). preferably some kind of comprehensive treatise rather than bits and pieces.
6
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0answers
149 views
Reform Conversions and Olam Ha-Ba [duplicate]
If a Gentile decides to convert through the Reform movement for the purposes of being ethically monotheistic, practicing traditions relating to Judaism, and having a community, would they be punished ...
6
votes
2answers
475 views
What is the tzror hachaim (bond of life)?
On tombstones one finds the acronym for t'hay nafsho/ah tzrurah b'tzror hachaim (may the soul be bound to the bond of life).
What is this bond of life? Do we have any sources which explain what this ...
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4answers
2k views
What is the Orthodox Jewish view of the afterlife?
What is the nature of life after death, according to Orthodox Judaism as it exists today? I have tried to read up on this, but I often hear very conflicted views... I mean I once read that Sheol is ...
3
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0answers
109 views
What does Judaism say about pets in the World to Come? [duplicate]
What does Judaism teach about animals in the World to Come? Pets hold such a beloved place in the now and appear, more than other animals, to have there own will in their actions. Is there hope that ...
7
votes
1answer
848 views
what happens to non-Noahide non-Jews after death?
I've heard many Jews and Noahides say that only a non-Jew who follows the Noahide Laws "has a share in the world to come." Yet is this a universal belief in Judaism (ie, do other authorities hold ...
2
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1answer
2k views
What does Kares actually mean?
I want to give a shiur in Shul about Shabbat and how it Rambam and others say that one gets Kares if one doesn't keep it and it says in the Chumash 'that he is cut of from his people'.
A person came ...
4
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1answer
176 views
Life after death? [duplicate]
Can anyone direct me to a book or commentary on Jewish thoughts on what happens after death, and the evolution of those ideas. I understand that Judaism is centered on how to live life, but from I can ...
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2answers
1k views
As an atheist, what awaits me after death?
I'm putting together a Pascal's wager piece of sorts, and wanted to see what modern religions think atheists deserve. So if Judaism pans out to be the one true religion, what'll happen to me (an ...
4
votes
2answers
192 views
Soulmate for someone who died unwed
I had a friend who was dating a woman. They were close but not "in love". Anyway, he passed away and she moved on. Well, she met someone new and they are in love.
My question is, what does G-d do ...
6
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5answers
608 views
Do Animals Have an Afterlife
What does Torah say about an afterlife for animals? Is there somewhere animals go after they die? Please include the sources of your answers.
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3answers
361 views
What afterlife awaits a Tinoq Shenishba who studies Torah but fails to observe major halacha?
Rambam says that one who does not believe even one of the 13 principles of faith does not get into Olam HaBa.
Here is my question: The same Rambam spoke about the concept of a Tinok shenishba bein ...
8
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3answers
393 views
Does a marriage last beyond death?
Looking for some sources as to the connection (if any) between husband and wife in the afterlife, at least in the simple case where neither remarried.
