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#12
07-07-2006, 09:36 PM
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Re: What\'s the deal with Judaism?
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] What do the Jews believe relative to God and afterlife? If there really aren’t any “requirements” to be a practicing Jew what happens when one dies? I mean like heaven/hell stuff. I think they don’t “believe” in that. I really am looking for more insight into Judaism in general. [/ QUOTE ] I'm not sure of the specifics, but I've been told that after death, there is either a "heaven" or "purgatory" (placed in quotations because I'm not sure of the exact terminology. Basically, you are either ready to accept paradise, or you must wait until you are ready to accept it. So, there is no "hell". [/ QUOTE ] On Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) the prayer is to be "inscribed in the book of life." There is no specific promise as to what the good part of that is, and no discussion of what alternative(s) there are. No paradise, no eternal damnation, no purgatory. Just the undefined hope to be inscribed in the book of life. My personal understanding of this is that the "value" of being a good or righteous person is just that. It is better to be good (I'm not offering a definition) even without a promise of any reward. In fact, only without reward or punishment is it really possible to define your actions and beliefs as good. You are supposed to strive to live a better life. On Yom Kippur, you atone (confess) to all sins, not only the ones you think you have committed. It is not possible to life a pure life, free of sin, and this is not expected or demanded. I think this is where the concept that the OP described is relevant. If there is no reward or punishment for not "following the rules," then you are free to construct the rules as you see fit. 
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#13
07-08-2006, 07:12 PM
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Re: What\'s the deal with Judaism?
Here's the orthodox "afterlife" dealio. When you die, you get sent to this place called Gehena, kind of like hell. But of course there is no "devil", and it is for a limited time. The time spent there lasts from 1-11 months, at which point they (as in the soul) goes to Heaven where it "joins" G-d, and at some time you are reborn, depending on how you lived your life. People that had a good previous life will have success and prosperity in the following life. However, bad people can become animals.
Going back to Gehena, when someone related to you dies (father, mother, sister, brother, son, daughter) (or some people include grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.) you say a prayer for 11 months called Kaddish. It is said for 11 months, as that is the maximum someone can be in Gehena. But I lied ;-o. It is really twelve months, but that is reserved for the truely evil and wicked (just hitler so far). Thus the Kaddish is not said for a full twelve months, as you do not want to compare your relative to hitler. That's the basic story. Some minor details could be wrong. Of course, different sects of Judaism believe different things, but this is the old fashioned view. Edit: Just wanted to mention that as I stated, it is a 1-11 month "stay", as no one is as pefect as God. Someone akined Gehena to taking the most embarassing moment of your life, and feeling the embarassment constantly.
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#14
07-08-2006, 07:19 PM
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Re: What\'s the deal with Judaism?
Now about Jews and believing:
Unlike Christianity, Jews believe that there is more than just believing. One cannot be an evil person, yet confess their sins and go to heaven because of Christ. Jews believe that actions matter. While you technichally don't need to believe in God, the actions you do is what counts (based off of the Torah (old testament), and other things such as the Tanach (the combination of the Torah (T), Prophets (Neviim in Hebrew) (N), and the Writings (Ketuvim) (Ch) - T + N + Ch = Tanach), the word of the Rabbis who were in charge of the land (forgot the name), etc. So while you don't need to believe, most people that don't believe don't follow through with the actions. On the other hand, it is not enough to just believe.
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