The afterlife is here on earth: One strand of Jewish thought sees heaven as a transitory place where souls reside after death.Levine expresses this truth most eloquently: “Jewish beliefs in the afterlife are as diverse as Judaism itself, from the traditional view expecting the unity of flesh and spirit in a resurrected body, to the idea that we live on in our children and grandchildren, to a sense of heaven (perhaps with lox and bagels rather than harps and haloes).” The afterlife can take many forms: Professor A.J.The closest we get is the fate of apostate (a person who renounces God, faith and morality in this world), who is said to be “cut off from his kin.”
Our actions, not our specific beliefs, determine our fate. The righteous of any people and any faith have a place in it. Heaven has open door policy: Heaven is not a gated community.The Hebrew word for skies, shamayim, also came to refer to heaven. In the rabbinic tradition it’s known by a number of names, including the yeshiva shel mallah, the school on high. In the Bible it’s an underworld called Sheol. There is an afterlife: Texts from every era in Jewish life identify a world where people go when they die.We can identify, however, several core teachings.
Jewish wisdom offers no definitive answer. What happens when we die? Do we see our loved ones? Do we know them? Do they know us? The questions are endless.
Among the greatest mysteries we face is the afterlife.
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