9
votes
Accepted
What is prevailing opinion among Jews at the current time regarding a future resurrection?
Most of the traditional world holds by Rambam's 13 principles of faith, the thirteenth of which is:
The belief in the resurrection of the dead.
The Men of the Great Assembly, who included prophets, ...
- 14.7k
5
votes
Accepted
Who is in charge of Gehennim?
Numerous works reference a master of Gehinnom.
For example the Talmud (Sanhedrin 52a) states:
מאי דכתיב בחנפי לעגי מעוג חרק עלי שנימו, בשביל חנופה שהחניפו לקרח על עסקי לגימה - חרק עליהן שר של ...
- 36k
5
votes
Does Judaism have a concept of purgatory and if so what's the evidence?
The concept of purgatory appears to be a situation in which a person is punished for his sins but eventually is redeemed after his punishment is over. As an example we see in Kaddish: Eleven or Twelve
...
- 43.5k
4
votes
Does the Tanakh teach some will suffer eternal conscious torment?
The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah 17b (based on the last verse in Isaiah) says as follows:
אֲבָל הַמִּינִין וְהַמָּסוֹרוֹת וְהָאֶפִּיקוֹרְסִים שֶׁכָּפְרוּ בַּתּוֹרָה, וְשֶׁכָּפְרוּ בִּתְחִיַּית הַמֵּתִים, ...
- 3,357
4
votes
Significance of the Temple in the Days of the Messiah
When someone is in love, they feel a need to give. For example, a husband could buy his wife flowers that she looks at for a few minutes while putting them in a vase and a couple of glances at Shabbos ...
- 9,971
3
votes
Accepted
What Jewish denominations believes in an afterlife?
See Wikipedia - Jewish eschatology
Until the late modern era, the standard Jewish belief was that after
one dies, one's immortal soul joins God in the world to come while
one's body decomposes. ...
- 48.7k
3
votes
Do the Rabbanim know more than King Solomon about the reality of post-death?
The punctuation of words makes sense.
To understand the answer, one need to know the rules of definite article in hebrew. In hebrew it is a letter "hey" adjointed at the begining of a word. In hebrew,...
- 23.1k
3
votes
Will the Jewish Messiah save us from hell?
(To clarify Ezra a bit)
The Jewish Messiah does not change anything on a personal level! One who sinned would be still accountable to G-d, and stand before the Heavenly Court and bear the ...
- 28k
3
votes
Accepted
Will the Jewish Messiah save us from hell?
Judaism has an afterlife of sorts, other than Heaven, in Gehinnon, as described in more detail in this answer.1 Gehinnon is not like the Christian Hell, however.
While some get no afterlife at all (...
- 57k
3
votes
According to Rambam, where do the souls of the righteous dwell in the period between the death of their bodies and the resurrection?
The same place. The Rambam only recognises two worlds, this world, which includes era of Moshiach, and Olam Haba (i.e. Olam HaNeshamot, Gan Eden). Souls without bodies exist in the latter, before they ...
- 14.7k
3
votes
Accepted
Will Hashem reign alone?
I don't think the author of Adon Olam meant to make an authoritative prediction. I think he just meant to say: "Even if the entire world as we know it should cease to exist, God will still be ...
- 23.6k
2
votes
What is the fate of non-Jews in the afterlife?
The Talmud (Sanhedrin 105a) understands from Psalms 9:18 "Return...to the depths [of Hell] all the nations that forget God" that only the wicked among the nations descend there, while all other non-...
- 6,535
2
votes
Connection Hell and Hinnom?
It seems you're alluding to the discussion on this answer and the comments there. The Midrash quotes in Fred's comment there explains that fathers would place their children in fires as offerings for ...
- 34.7k
2
votes
What happens when the neshama has an aliya?
R. Hai Gaon has a respnsum about how the actions of the living can impact the dead. While he first notes the possibility that certain things can be done to relieve the punishment of the dead, he ...
- 50.3k
2
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to lodge an appeal for a soul that has gone to Gehenom?
The Yerushalmi's version of that story has it that he saved him while Rabbi Meir was still alive. When onlookers asked him if Heaven will really listen to him, he answered:
אמר לון ולא כן תנינן ...
- 40.8k
2
votes
Will the Jewish Messiah save us from hell?
In Christianity, the Messiah is seen as a figure who redeems people from their sins and saves them from punishment for them in Hell.
In Judaism, however, the Messiah is purely a political figure. We ...
- 19.2k
2
votes
Is burning in hot excrement a genuine possible punishment in gehinnom?
Rambam appears to offer a metaphorical interpretation of this statement:
Introduction to Commentary to Mishnah
ואמרו כל המלעיג על דברי חכמים נידון בצואה רותחת ואין לך צואה רותחת
גדולה מן הכסילות ...
- 50.3k
2
votes
Can a soul be redeemed, based on Psalm 49?
Rashi (v. 16) explains:
אך אלהים יפדה נפשי. אבל אני שהטיתי למשל אזני, אלהים יפדה נפשי שלא אלך אל שאול כי יקחני בחיי ללכת בדרכיו:
“But G-d will redeem my soul” - but I, that I turned my ear to ...
- 34.7k
2
votes
Where is Gehenom located?
The Gemara in Eiruvin 19a brings from Rav Yirmiyahu Ben Elazar who explains that there are 3 different entrances to gehenom. One entrance is located in the desert which swallowed up Korach and his ...
- 42.7k
2
votes
Is Gilgulei Neshamot ever mentioned in Shas?
No there are no explicit sources. In fact Rav Saadia Gaon in Emunos V'Deos explicitly rejects this concept and considers it a non Jewish concept. The Rashash in the back of the gemara in Bava ...
- 42.7k
2
votes
What do we make of the witch of Endor?
The story of the witch of En-dor in I Samuel 28 is obscure and seems rather strange. The Torah prohibits communication with the dead and yet Saul does just that.
“So Saul disguised himself, dressed ...
- 1,518
2
votes
How would Pharisees of the 1st century AD have interpreted Ecclesiastes 9:5-10?
The Aramaic Targum (Composed: c.0 - c.600 CE), translates verse 5 as follow:
For the righteous know that if they sin, they will be considered as dead in the world to come. Therefore, they guard their ...
- 11.7k
2
votes
What does this from Rosh Hashanah 17a mean?
The Ben Yehoyada provides two understandings:
He explains that generally gehinnom acts as a tikun, a rectification for the judgement of the rest of the world but not so for the judgement of reshaim (...
- 34.5k
2
votes
What does Tanya say about gehinnom
Tanya Likutei Amarim ch. 8 writes (translation Chabad)
But with regard to forbidden speech, such as scoffing and slander and
the like, which being prohibited stem from the three completely
unclean ...
- 54.1k
2
votes
Locality and directionality in the world of immaterial souls
All these directional terms are meshalim. Above refers to closeness to G-d, and below is more distant. G-d is metaphorically at the top, as all his creations are below him. G-d created a hierarchy of ...
- 9,564
2
votes
Man's Duty in this World
Man's duty and goal can be looked at from two vantage points: 1). From Hashem's view 2). From our own.
According to the Ramchal (Derech Hashem, Daat Tvunos, etc...) Hashem wanted to give and so he ...
- 1,397
2
votes
Will Hashem reign alone?
I can make an attempt at answering "what it means" with Hashem's help, however I don't know what you mean by "is there a halachic source" as what would the halacha be? If you could ...
- 14.7k
2
votes
What should we do if a ghost reaches out to us first (as opposed to us reaching out to/consulting ghosts)?
The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch in סימן קסו - שלא לנחש לעונן ולכשף says
:סעיף ה'
אָסוּר לִדְרוֹשׁ בִּמְכַשְּׁפִים אֶלָּא בִּמְקוֹם סַכָּנַת נְפָשׁוֹת, אוֹ אִם בָּא לוֹ אֵיזֶה חֳלִי עַל יְדֵי כִשּׁוּף אוֹ ...
- 44.7k
2
votes
What should we do if a ghost reaches out to us first (as opposed to us reaching out to/consulting ghosts)?
There's a story in the Talmud (Brachot 18) about a fellow who goes to sleep in the graveyard for a few years in a row, on Yom Kippour evening.
He hears ghosts (souls/spirits of young girls buried ...
- 44.7k
2
votes
What should we do if a ghost reaches out to us first (as opposed to us reaching out to/consulting ghosts)?
A literal reading of Ketubot 103a would seem to suggest that R. Yehuda HaNasi would come and interact with his family after his death:
תנו רבנן, בשעת פטירתו של רבי, אמר: לבני אני צריך. נכנסו בניו ...
- 46.6k
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