Sheol ( / ˈ ʃ iː . oʊ l , - əl / SHEE -ohl, -uhl ; Hebrew : שְׁאוֹל Šəʾōl , Tiberian: Šŏʾōl ) in the Hebrew Bible is the underworld place of stillness and darkness which lies after death .
124-637: Within the Hebrew Bible, there are few – often brief and nondescript – mentions of Sheol, seemingly describing it as a place where both the righteous and the unrighteous dead go, regardless of their moral choices in life. The implications of Sheol within the texts are therefore somewhat unclear; it may be interpreted as either a generic metaphor describing "the grave" into which all humans invariably descend, or an actual state of afterlife within Israelite thought. Though such practices are forbidden,
248-404: A Berakah is said also at evil tidings. Hence, although the experience of God is like none other, the occasions for experiencing Him, for having a consciousness of Him, are manifold, even if we consider only those that call for Berakot. Whereas Jewish philosophers often debate whether God is immanent or transcendent , and whether people have free will or their lives are determined, halakha
372-403: A spiritual realm, while in others, the individual may be reborn into this world and begin the life cycle over again in a process referred to as reincarnation , likely with no memory of what they have done in the past. In this latter view, such rebirths and deaths may take place over and over again continuously until the individual gains entry to a spiritual realm or otherworld . Major views on
496-402: A belief in rebirth/ metempsychosis was held by historic Greek figures, such as Pythagoras and Plato . It is a common belief of various ancient and modern religions, such as Spiritism , theosophy , and Eckankar . It is found as well in many tribal societies around the world, in places such as Australia, East Asia, Siberia , and South America. Although the majority of denominations within
620-554: A centralized authority that would dictate an exact religious dogma. Because of this, many different variations on the basic beliefs are considered within the scope of Judaism. Even so, all Jewish religious movements are, to a greater or lesser extent, based on the principles of the Hebrew Bible or various commentaries such as the Talmud and Midrash . Judaism also universally recognizes the Biblical Covenant between God and
744-493: A concrete state of afterlife, or one which envisions Sheol as a metaphor for death as a whole. To the latter's end, certain editions of the Bible translate the term Sheol as generic terms such as "grave" or "pit" ( KJV , NIV , etc.), while others ( NAB , NASB , etc.) preserve it as a proper noun. Distinguishing Sheol between a realm and a metaphor is the crux of several unanswered questions surrounding its nature. Perhaps owing to
868-704: A duplication of the Pyramid Texts , which would serve as a guide for Egyptian pharaohs or queens in the afterlife. Only if the corpse had been properly embalmed and entombed in a mastaba , could the dead live again in the Fields of Yalu and accompany the Sun on its daily ride. Due to the dangers the afterlife posed, the Book of the Dead was placed in the tomb with the body as well as food, jewelry, and 'curses'. They also used
992-401: A great propensity for the souls of sinners, and where pleas to Yahweh cannot escape. Ezekiel , during his prophecy of Egypt 's downfall, describes Egypt metaphorically descending into Sheol as a dead man would, where all the spirits of the dead, as well as other fallen empires, such as Assyria , jeer and mock its fall from might. The remaining mentions of Sheol lie in the poetic literature of
1116-441: A man, to bring back his soul from the pit to... the light of the living' (Job 33:29–30)." Reincarnation, called gilgul , became popular in folk belief and is found in much Yiddish literature among Ashkenazi Jews . Among a few kabbalists, it was posited that some human souls could end up being reincarnated into non-human bodies. These ideas were found in several Kabbalistic works from the 13th century and among many mystics in
1240-464: A means of experiencing God". Reflecting on the contribution of the Amoraim and Tanaim to contemporary Judaism, Professor Jacob Neusner observed: The rabbi's logical and rational inquiry is not mere logic-chopping. It is a most serious and substantive effort to locate in trivialities the fundamental principles of the revealed will of God to guide and sanctify the most specific and concrete actions in
1364-580: A means to learn the contents of God's revelation, but an end in itself. According to the Talmud: These are the things for which a person enjoys the dividends in this world while the principal remains for the person to enjoy in the world to come; they are: honoring parents, loving deeds of kindness, and making peace between one person and another. But the study of the Torah is equal to them all. (Talmud Shabbat 127a). In Judaism, "the study of Torah can be
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#17327761429001488-527: A more diverse set of ideas developed. In some texts, Sheol is considered to be the home of both the righteous and the wicked, separated into respective compartments; in others, it was considered a place of punishment, meant for the wicked dead alone. When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek in ancient Alexandria around 200 BC, the word " Hades " (the Greek underworld ) was substituted for Sheol. This
1612-463: A newfound plethora of interpretations. With the codification of Rabbinical Judaism and the Talmud , Jewish theology concerning the afterlife had largely abandoned the concept of a single destination for all mankind after death and adopted the more recognizable model which espoused a place of reward for the righteous, and a place of punishment for the wicked called Gehinnom . Subsequently, Sheol , and
1736-523: A parallel oral tradition, illustrating the assumption that the reader is already familiar with the details from other, i.e., oral, sources. Halakha , the rabbinic Jewish way of life, then, is based on a combined reading of the Torah, and the oral tradition—the Mishnah, the halakhic Midrash, the Talmud and its commentaries. The halakha has developed slowly, through a precedent-based system. The literature of questions to rabbis, and their considered answers,
1860-493: A period of reflection on their earthly actions and are made aware of what they have done wrong. Some view this period as "re-schooling", with the soul gaining wisdom as one's errors are reviewed. Others view this period as spiritual discomfort caused by past wrongs. At the end of this period, not longer than one year, the soul then takes its place in the world to come. Although discomforts are made part of certain Jewish conceptions of
1984-523: A permanent king, and Samuel appointed Saul the king. When the people pressured Saul into going against a command conveyed to him by Samuel, God told Samuel to appoint David in his stead. Rabbinic tradition holds that the details and interpretation of the Law, called the Oral Torah or "Oral Law," were originally unwritten traditions based on the Law given to Moses at Sinai. However, as the persecutions of
2108-555: A positive commandment is to be fulfilled: The ordinary, familiar, everyday things and occurrences we have, constitute occasions for the experience of God. Such things as one's daily sustenance, the very day itself, are felt as manifestations of God's loving-kindness, calling for the Berakhot . Kedushah , holiness, which is nothing else than the imitation of God, is concerned with daily conduct, with being gracious and merciful, with keeping oneself from defilement by idolatry, adultery, and
2232-701: A reward for his act of faith in one God, he was promised that Isaac , his second son, would inherit the Land of Israel (then called Canaan ). Later, the descendants of Isaac's son Jacob were enslaved in Egypt , and God commanded Moses to lead the Exodus from Egypt. The Law was given at Sinai —the Torah , or five books of Moses. These books, together with the Nevi'im and Ketuvim , are known as Torah Shebikhtav , as opposed to
2356-530: A seminal role in the formation of Western civilization through its impact as a core background element of Early Christianity . Within Judaism, there are a variety of religious movements , most of which emerged from Rabbinic Judaism , which holds that God revealed his laws and commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of both the Written and Oral Torah. Historically, all or part of this assertion
2480-402: A sequence of human and animal forms. Traditional Hinduism teaches that each life helps the soul (jivas) learn until the soul becomes purified to the point of liberation . All major Indian religions , namely Buddhism , Hinduism , Jainism , and Sikhism have their own interpretations of the idea of reincarnation. The human idea of reincarnation is found in many diverse ancient cultures, and
2604-639: A wide body of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Among Judaism's core texts is the Torah , the first five books of the Hebrew Bible , a collection of ancient Hebrew scriptures. The Tanakh, known in English as the Hebrew Bible, has the same contents as the Old Testament in Christianity . In addition to the original written scripture, the supplemental Oral Torah
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#17327761429002728-483: Is Maimonides ' thirteen principles of faith , developed in the 12th century. According to Maimonides, any Jew who rejects even one of these principles would be considered an apostate and a heretic. Jewish scholars have held points of view diverging in various ways from Maimonides' principles. Thus, within Reform Judaism only the first five principles are endorsed. In Maimonides' time, his list of tenets
2852-529: Is "possible, but not certain". Edward Lipiński regards this connection as proven. Some scholars argue that Sheol understood anthropomorphically fits the semantic complex of the other ancient Near Eastern death deities such as Nergal , Ereshkigal or Mot . The Second Temple Period wrought several radical theological changes within the Israelite population, and marked the transition from Israelite religion to modern Judaism . The idea of Sheol underwent extensive modification and became widely diversified, with
2976-487: Is a system through which any Jew acts to bring God into the world. Ethical monotheism is central in all sacred or normative texts of Judaism. However, monotheism has not always been followed in practice. The Hebrew Bible (or Tanakh ) records and repeatedly condemns the widespread worship of other gods in ancient Israel . In the Greco-Roman era, many different interpretations of monotheism existed in Judaism, including
3100-544: Is also the source of the Hebrew term for Judaism, יַהֲדוּת Yahaḏuṯ . The term Ἰουδαϊσμός first appears in the Koine Greek book of 2 Maccabees in the 2nd century BCE (i.e. 2 Maccabees 2:21, 8:1 and 14:38) . In the context of the age and period it meant "seeking or forming part of a cultural entity". It resembled its antonym hellenismos , a word signifying people's submission to Hellenistic cultural norms. The conflict between iudaismos and hellenismos lay behind
3224-592: Is an Abrahamic monotheistic ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jewish people . Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of observing the Mosaic covenant , which was established between God and the Israelites , their ancestors. The religion is considered one of the earliest monotheistic religions in the world. Jewish religious doctrine encompasses
3348-694: Is an "ancient, mainstream belief in Judaism". The Zohar makes frequent and lengthy references to reincarnation. Onkelos , a righteous convert and authoritative commentator of the same period, explained the verse, "Let Reuben live and not die ..." (Deuteronomy 33:6) to mean that Reuben should merit the World to Come directly and not have to die again as a result of being reincarnated. Torah scholar, commentator and kabbalist, Nachmanides (Ramban 1195–1270), attributed Job's suffering to reincarnation, as hinted in Job's saying "God does all these things twice or three times with
3472-550: Is an esoteric tradition in Judaism in Kabbalah , Rabbinic scholar Max Kadushin has characterized normative Judaism as "normal mysticism", because it involves everyday personal experiences of God through ways or modes that are common to all Jews. This is played out through the observance of the halakha , or Jewish law, and given verbal expression in the Birkat Ha-Mizvot , the short blessings that are spoken every time
3596-684: Is called the Jerusalem Talmud . It was compiled sometime during the 4th century in Palestine. According to critical scholars , the Torah consists of inconsistent texts edited together in a way that calls attention to divergent accounts. Several of these scholars, such as Professor Martin Rose and John Bright , suggest that during the First Temple period the people of Israel believed that each nation had its own god, but that their god
3720-544: Is determined directly by the actions of the individual in the ended life. Theist immortalists generally believe some afterlife awaits people when they die. Members of some generally non-theistic religions believe in an afterlife without reference to a deity. Many religions, such as Christianity , Islam , and various pagan belief systems, believe in the soul's existence in another world, while others, like many forms of Hinduism and Buddhism , believe in reincarnation. In both cases, these religions hold that one's status in
3844-463: Is heavily associated with and most often thought of as Orthodox Judaism . 13 Principles of Faith: — Maimonides In the strict sense, in Judaism, unlike Christianity and Islam, there are no fixed universally binding articles of faith, due to their incorporation into the liturgy. Scholars throughout Jewish history have proposed numerous formulations of Judaism's core tenets, all of which have met with criticism. The most popular formulation
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3968-483: Is no reference to reincarnation in the Talmud or any prior writings, according to rabbis such as Avraham Arieh Trugman, reincarnation is recognized as being part and parcel of Jewish tradition. Trugman explains that it is through oral tradition that the meanings of the Torah, its commandments, and stories are known and understood. The classic work of Jewish mysticism, the Zohar, is quoted liberally in all Jewish learning; in
4092-458: Is not uncommon among many Jews, including Orthodox. Other well-known rabbis who are reincarnationists include Yonassan Gershom , Abraham Isaac Kook , Talmud scholar Adin Steinsaltz, DovBer Pinson, David M. Wexelman, Zalman Schachter , and many others. Reincarnation is cited by authoritative Biblical commentators, including Ramban (Nachmanides), Menachem Recanti, and Rabbenu Bachya. Among
4216-518: Is one of the earliest known in recorded history. When the body died, parts of its soul known as ka (body double) and the ba (personality) would go to the Kingdom of the Dead. While the soul dwelt in the Fields of Aaru , Osiris demanded work as restitution for the protection he provided. Statues were placed in the tombs to serve as substitutes for the deceased. Arriving at one's reward in afterlife
4340-674: Is premundane and has no peer or associate; (3) the whole universe is created; (4) God called Moses and the other Prophets of the Biblical canon; (5) the Law of Moses alone is true; (6) to know the language of the Bible is a religious duty; (7) the Temple at Jerusalem is the palace of the world's Ruler; (8) belief in Resurrection contemporaneous with the advent of the Messiah; (9) final judgment; (10) retribution. In modern times, Judaism lacks
4464-606: Is referred to as responsa (Hebrew Sheelot U-Teshuvot ). Over time, as practices develop, codes of halakha are written that are based on the responsa; the most important code, the Shulchan Aruch , largely determines Orthodox religious practice today. Jewish philosophy refers to the conjunction between serious study of philosophy and Jewish theology. Major Jewish philosophers include Philo of Alexandria , Solomon ibn Gabirol , Saadia Gaon , Judah Halevi , Maimonides , and Gersonides . Major changes occurred in response to
4588-519: Is reflected in the New Testament where Hades is both the underworld of the dead and the personification of the evil it represents. The Talmud offers several thoughts relating to the afterlife. After death, the soul is brought for judgment. Those who have led pristine lives immediately enter the Olam Haba or world to come . Most do not enter the world to come immediately but experience
4712-422: Is reflected in the New Testament where Hades is both the underworld of the dead and the personification of the evil it represents. Sheol is mentioned 66 times throughout the Hebrew Bible. The first mentions of Sheol within the text associate it with the state of death, and a sense of eternal finality. Jacob avows that he will "go down to Sheol" still mourning the apparent death of his son Joseph . Later on,
4836-600: Is regarded as the first Jewish diaspora . Later, many of them returned to their homeland after the subsequent conquest of Babylon by the Persian Achaemenid Empire seventy years later, an event known as the Return to Zion . A Second Temple was constructed and old religious practices were resumed. During the early years of the Second Temple, the highest religious authority was a council known as
4960-756: Is represented by later texts, such as the Midrash and the Talmud . The Hebrew-language word torah can mean "teaching", "law", or "instruction", although "Torah" can also be used as a general term that refers to any Jewish text that expands or elaborates on the original Five Books of Moses . Representing the core of the Jewish spiritual and religious tradition, the Torah is a term and a set of teachings that are explicitly self-positioned as encompassing at least seventy, and potentially infinite, facets and interpretations. Judaism's texts, traditions, and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity and Islam . Hebraism , like Hellenism , played
5084-418: Is that halakha should be viewed as a set of general guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose observance is required of all Jews. Historically, special courts enforced halakha ; today, these courts still exist but the practice of Judaism is mostly voluntary. Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, but in the sacred texts and
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5208-454: Is the central concept in understanding biblical views of the afterlife . It is "not mere sentimental respect for the physical remains that is...the motivation for the practice, but rather an assumed connection between proper sepulture and the condition of happiness of the deceased in the afterlife". Wojciech Kosior has argued that "Sheol" in the Hebrew Bible refers to an underworld deity . Some additional support for this hypothesis comes from
5332-739: The Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam do not believe that individuals reincarnate, particular groups within these religions do refer to reincarnation; these groups include the mainstream historical and contemporary followers of Kabbalah , the Cathars , Alawites , the Druze , and the Rosicrucians . The historical relations between these sects and the beliefs about reincarnation that were characteristic of neoplatonism , Orphism , Hermeticism , Manicheanism , and Gnosticism of
5456-544: The Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy ), 2 Macc. ii. 21: "Those that behaved themselves manfully to their honour for Iudaisme." At its core, the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh is an account of the Israelites ' relationship with God from their earliest history until the building of the Second Temple ( c. 535 BCE ). Abraham is hailed as the first Hebrew and the father of the Jewish people. As
5580-716: The Enlightenment (late 18th to early 19th century) leading to the post-Enlightenment Jewish philosophers. Modern Jewish philosophy consists of both Orthodox and non-Orthodox oriented philosophy. Notable among Orthodox Jewish philosophers are Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler , Joseph B. Soloveitchik , and Yitzchok Hutner . Well-known non-Orthodox Jewish philosophers include Martin Buber , Franz Rosenzweig , Mordecai Kaplan , Abraham Joshua Heschel , Will Herberg , and Emmanuel Lévinas . 13 Principles of Hermeneutics: — R. Ishmael Orthodox and many other Jews do not believe that
5704-790: The Great Jewish Revolt (66–73 CE), the Romans sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple. Later, Roman emperor Hadrian built a pagan idol on the Temple Mount and prohibited circumcision; these acts of ethnocide provoked the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–136 CE), after which the Romans banned the study of the Torah and the celebration of Jewish holidays, and forcibly removed virtually all Jews from Judea. In 200 CE, however, Jews were granted Roman citizenship and Judaism
5828-420: The Hebrew Bible , is a place of darkness ( Job 10 :21–22) to which all the dead go—both the righteous and the unrighteous—regardless of the moral choices made in life (Genesis 35:37; Book of Ezekiel 32; Isaiah 16; Job 30 :23), a place of stillness ( Psalm 88 :13, 94 :17; Ecclesiastes 9:10), at the longest possible distance from Heaven ( Job 11 :8; Amos 9 :2; Psalm 139 :8). The inhabitants of Sheol were
5952-738: The Kohanim and Leviyim (members of the tribe of Levi ), some only to farmers within the Land of Israel. Many laws were only applicable when the Temple in Jerusalem existed, and only 369 of these commandments are still applicable today. While there have been Jewish groups whose beliefs were based on the written text of the Torah alone (e.g., the Sadducees , and the Karaites ), most Jews believe in
6076-688: The Maccabean Revolt and hence the invention of the term iudaismos . Shaye J. D. Cohen writes in his book The Beginnings of Jewishness : We are tempted, of course, to translate [ Ioudaïsmós ] as "Judaism," but this translation is too narrow, because in this first occurrence of the term, Ioudaïsmós has not yet been reduced to the designation of a religion. It means rather "the aggregate of all those characteristics that makes Judaeans Judaean (or Jews Jewish)." Among these characteristics, to be sure, are practices and beliefs that we would today call "religious," but these practices and beliefs are not
6200-748: The Oxford English Dictionary the earliest citation in English where the term was used to mean "the profession or practice of the Jewish religion; the religious system or polity of the Jews" is Robert Fabyan's The newe cronycles of Englande and of Fraunce (1516). "Judaism" as a direct translation of the Latin Iudaismus first occurred in a 1611 English translation of the Biblical apocrypha (the Deuterocanonical books in
6324-698: The Patriarch Abraham as well as the additional aspects of the Covenant revealed to Moses , who is considered Judaism's greatest prophet . In the Mishnah , a core text of Rabbinic Judaism , acceptance of the Divine origins of this covenant is considered an essential aspect of Judaism and those who reject the Covenant forfeit their share in the World to Come . Establishing the core tenets of Judaism in
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#17327761429006448-544: The Roman era as well as the Indian religions have been the subject of scholarly research. Unity Church and its founder Charles Fillmore teach reincarnation. Rosicrucians speak of a life review period occurring immediately after death and before entering the afterlife's planes of existence (before the silver cord is broken), followed by a judgment , more akin to a final review or end report over one's life. Heaven ,
6572-508: The Rosh and Leon de Modena . Saadia Gaon, in Emunoth ve-Deoth (Hebrew: "beliefs and opinions"), concludes Section VI with a refutation of the doctrine of metempsychosis (reincarnation). While rebutting reincarnation, Saadia Gaon further states that Jews who hold to reincarnation have adopted non-Jewish beliefs. By no means do all Jews today believe in reincarnation, but belief in reincarnation
6696-504: The halakha whereas its ultimate goal is to bring the holiness down to the world. Mordecai Kaplan , the founder of the Reconstructionist Judaism , abandons the idea of religion for the sake of identifying Judaism with civilization and by means of the latter term and secular translation of the core ideas, he tries to embrace as many Jewish denominations as possible. In turn, Solomon Schechter 's Conservative Judaism
6820-535: The oral law . These oral traditions were transmitted by the Pharisee school of thought of ancient Judaism and were later recorded in written form and expanded upon by the rabbis. According to Rabbinical Jewish tradition, God gave both the Written Law (the Torah ) and the Oral Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai . The Oral law is the oral tradition as relayed by God to Moses and from him, transmitted and taught to
6944-465: The rabbis and scholars who interpret them. Jews are an ethnoreligious group including those born Jewish, in addition to converts to Judaism . In 2021, the world Jewish population was estimated at 15.2 million, or roughly 0.195% of the total world population, although religious observance varies from strict to none. In 2021, about 45.6% of all Jews resided in Israel and another 42.1% resided in
7068-464: The "opening of the mouth". Ancient Egyptian civilization was based on religion. The belief in the rebirth after death became the driving force behind funeral practices; for them, death was a temporary interruption rather than complete cessation of life. Eternal life could be ensured by means like piety to the gods, preservation of the physical form through mummification , and the provision of statuary and other funerary equipment. Each human consisted of
7192-477: The "shades" ( rephaim ), entities without personality or strength. Under some circumstances, they were thought to be able to be contacted by the living (as the Witch of Endor contacts the shade of Samuel for Saul ), but such practices were forbidden ( Deuteronomy 18:10). Whereas the Hebrew Bible appears to describe Sheol as the permanent place of the dead, in the Second Temple period (roughly 500 BC – 70 AD),
7316-415: The Conservative movement. The following is a basic, structured list of the central works of Jewish practice and thought: The basis of halakha and tradition is the Torah (also known as the Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses). According to rabbinic tradition, there are 613 commandments in the Torah. Some of these laws are directed only to men or to women, some only to the ancient priestly groups,
7440-473: The Earth's surface and often include entrances to hell from the land of the living. Other afterlife destinations include purgatory and limbo . Traditions that do not conceive of the afterlife as a place of punishment or reward merely describe hell as an abode of the dead , the grave, a neutral place (for example, Sheol or Hades ) located under the surface of Earth. The afterlife played an important role in Ancient Egyptian religion , and its belief system
7564-504: The Earth, looking down at the small planet, from far away. In Book VI of Virgil 's Aeneid , the hero, Aeneas , travels to the underworld to see his father. By the River Styx, he sees the souls of those not given a proper burial, forced to wait by the river until someone buries them. While down there, along with the dead, he is shown the place where the wrongly convicted reside, the fields of sorrow where those who committed suicide and now regret it reside, including Aeneas' former lover,
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#17327761429007688-433: The Great Assembly, led by Ezra the Scribe . Among other accomplishments of the Great Assembly, the last books of the Bible were written at this time and the canon sealed . Hellenistic Judaism spread to Ptolemaic Egypt from the 3rd century BCE, and its creation sparked widespread controversy in Jewish communities, starting "conflicts within Jewish communities about accommodating the cultures of occupying powers." During
7812-481: The Hebrew Bible. Job mentions Sheol in several of his laments, calling it his "home" as he lies in anguish, and yearning for death to take him there to put an end to his suffering. Sheol is also mentioned in several Psalms , again, as the grave of humanity. Other biblical names for Sheol were ’Ăḇaddōn ( אֲבַדּוֹן 'ruin'), found in Psalm 88:11, Job 28:22 and Proverbs 15:11 and Šaḥaṯ ( שַחַת 'corruption'), found in Isaiah 38:17, Ezekiel 28:8. Even within
7936-497: The House of Hades). Hermes would leave the soul on the banks of the River Styx , the river between life and death. Charon , also known as the ferry-man, would take the soul across the river to Hades, if the soul had gold: Upon burial, the family of the dead soul would put coins under the deceased's tongue. Once crossed, the soul would be judged by Aeacus , Rhadamanthus and King Minos . The soul would be sent to Elysium , Tartarus , or Asphodel Fields . The Elysian Fields were for
8060-517: The Jews increased and the details were in danger of being forgotten, these oral laws were recorded by Judah ha-Nasi in the Mishnah , redacted c. 200 CE . The Talmud was a compilation of the Mishnah and Gemara , rabbinic commentaries redacted over the next three centuries. The Gemara originated in two major centers of Jewish scholarship, Palestine and Babylonia ( Lower Mesopotamia ). Correspondingly, two bodies of analysis developed, and two works of Talmud were created. The older compilation
8184-439: The Oral Torah, which refers to the Mishnah and the Talmud . Eventually, God led them to the land of Israel where the tabernacle was planted in the city of Shiloh for over 300 years to rally the nation against attacking enemies. As time passed, the nation's spiritual level declined to the point that God allowed the Philistines to capture the tabernacle. The people of Israel then told Samuel that they needed to be governed by
8308-537: The Tanakh codify it as emblematic of the death which necessitates one's entry into it. 1 Samuel describes Yahweh as the one who brings souls down to Sheol, and 2 Samuel further cements Sheol as humanity's ultimate destination, post-mortem. 1 Kings uses "going down to Sheol" as a metaphor for death, describing those who go down to it both "in peace" and "in blood". The prophet Isaiah expounds on Sheol to great lengths during some of his sermons, personifying it as possessing an ever-increasing hunger for living men, with
8432-452: The United States and Canada, with most of the remainder living in Europe, and other groups spread throughout Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Australia. The term Judaism derives from Iudaismus , a Latinized form of the Ancient Greek Ioudaismos ( Koinē Greek : Ἰουδαϊσμός , from the verb ἰουδαΐζειν , "to side with or imitate the [Judeans]"). Its ultimate source was Hebrew : יהודה , romanized : Yehudah Judah ", which
8556-429: The Zohar, the idea of reincarnation is mentioned repeatedly. Trugman states that in the last five centuries, the concept of reincarnation, which until then had been a much-hidden tradition within Judaism, was given open exposure. Shraga Simmons commented that within the Bible itself, the idea [of reincarnation] is intimated in Deut. 25:5–10, Deut. 33:6 and Isaiah 22:14, 65:6. Yirmiyahu Ullman wrote that reincarnation
8680-421: The afterlife derive from religion, esotericism , and metaphysics . Some belief systems, such as those in the Abrahamic tradition , hold that the dead go to a specific place (e.g., paradise or hell ) after death, as determined by their god, based on their actions and beliefs during life. In contrast, in systems of reincarnation, such as those of the Indian religions , the nature of the continued existence
8804-411: The afterlife is determined by their conduct during life. Reincarnation is the philosophical or religious concept that an aspect of a living being starts a new life in a different physical body or form after each death. This concept is also known as rebirth or transmigration and is part of the Saṃsāra /karma doctrine of cyclic existence. Samsara refers to the process in which souls ( jivas ) go through
8928-419: The afterlife, or in exceptional cases, enter heaven alive. Heaven is often described as a "higher place", the holiest place, a paradise , in contrast to hell or the underworld or the "low places", and universally or conditionally accessible by earthly beings according to various standards of divinity , goodness , piety , faith or other virtues or right beliefs or the will of God . Some believe in
9052-432: The afterlife, the concept of eternal damnation is not a tenet of the Jewish afterlife. According to the Talmud, extinction of the soul is reserved for a far smaller group of malicious and evil leaders whose very evil deeds go way beyond norms or who lead large groups of people to utmost evil. This is also part of Maimonides' 13 principles of faith . Maimonides describes the Olam Haba in spiritual terms, relegating
9176-580: The ancient Israelites; the Babylonians had a similar underworld called Aralu , and the Greeks had one known as Hades . As such, it is assumed that the early Israelites apparently believed that the graves of family, or tribe, all united into one, collectively unified "grave", and that this is what the Biblical Hebrew term Sheol refers to: the common grave of humans. Therefore, the family tomb
9300-652: The ancient Near Eastern literary materials. It has been proposed that Sheol is the Hebrew derivative of Shuwala ( Akkadian : 𒋗𒉿𒆷 šu-wa-la ), an underworld goddess of Hurrian origin, attested in Hattusa in Anatolia, Emar and Ugarit in Syria, and Ur in Mesopotamia, often alongside other underworld deities such as Allani or Ugur . According to Assyriologist Lluis Feliu, a connection between Sheol and Shuwala
9424-504: The authority of the rabbinic tradition , and the significance of the State of Israel . Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and halakha are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, and that they should be strictly followed. Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more traditionalist interpretation of Judaism's requirements than Reform Judaism. A typical Reform position
9548-483: The basis of the Talmud. According to Abraham ben David , the Mishnah was compiled by Rabbi Judah haNasi after the destruction of Jerusalem, in anno mundi 3949, which corresponds to 189 CE. Over the next four centuries, the Mishnah underwent discussion and debate in both of the world's major Jewish communities (in Israel and Babylonia ). The commentaries from each of these communities were eventually compiled into
9672-471: The belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of mankind. According to the Hebrew Bible, God promised Abraham to make of his offspring a great nation. Many generations later, he commanded the nation of Israel to love and worship only one God; that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate God's concern for the world. He also commanded the Jewish people to love one another; that is, Jews are to imitate God's love for people. Thus, although there
9796-532: The dead: the faithful saints who await resurrection in Paradise , the merely virtuous who await their reward, the wicked who await punishment, and the wicked who have already been punished and will not be resurrected on Judgment Day. The Book of Enoch is considered apocryphal by most denominations of Christianity and all of Judaism. The book of 2 Maccabees clearly describes the dead waiting for future resurrection and judgment, along with prayers and offerings for
9920-564: The deceased to alleviate their sins. The author of the Gospel of Luke recounts the story of Lazarus and the rich man , which shows people in Hades awaiting the resurrection either in comfort or torment. The author of the Book of Revelation writes about God and the angels versus Satan and demons in an epic battle at the end of times when all souls are judged. There is mention of ghostly bodies of
10044-462: The demon Ammit . Egyptians also believed that being mummified and put in a sarcophagus (an ancient Egyptian "coffin" carved with complex symbols and designs, as well as pictures and hieroglyphs) was the only way to have an afterlife. What are referred to as the Coffin Texts , are inscribed on a coffin and serve as a guide for the challenges in the afterlife. The Coffin texts are more or less
10168-416: The earth to hurl Korah and his conspirators into Sheol. Sure enough, as he finishes his speech, Yahweh splits the earth open, causing Korah, his family, and all of his possessions to, as the text describes it, "enter Sheol alive." In Deuteronomy , Moses sings that the anger of Yahweh is a flame which burns in the "depths" of Sheol, consuming the entire earth from the bottom up. Subsequent mentions of Sheol in
10292-462: The establishment of the authority of rabbis who acted as teachers and leaders of individual communities. Unlike other ancient Near Eastern gods, the Hebrew God is portrayed as unitary and solitary; consequently, the Hebrew God's principal relationships are not with other gods, but with the world, and more specifically, with the people he created. Judaism thus begins with ethical monotheism :
10416-489: The evidently abstract nature of Sheol, there is some physicality to it: it was clearly understood to be subterranean, which is further supported by its association with the term bōr ( בור , "pit"), found in Isaiah 14:15, 24:22, and Ezekiel 26:20. It is a "land" ( eretz ), contains "gates", is apparently compartmentalized, and there are numerous mentions of its "deepest depths" and "farthest corners". The idea that both
10540-540: The evolution of its interpretation, certain elements of Sheol as described in the Hebrew Bible appear contradictory. Those in Sheol remember nothing, not even Yahweh, yet elsewhere its inhabitants possess an otherwise impossible perception of earthly events, even those which occur after their demise. Pleas to Yahweh cannot escape Sheol, and yet, Yahweh remains its unequivocal master. Those who descend into Sheol cannot escape it, yet Yahweh raises souls from it. Furthermore, despite
10664-604: The future heroes of Rome who will live if Aeneas fulfills his destiny in founding the city. Other eschatological views populate the ancient-Greek worldview. For instance, Plato argued for reincarnation in several dialogues, including the Timaeus . The Poetic and Prose Eddas , the oldest sources for information on the Norse concept of the afterlife, vary in their description of the several realms that are described as falling under this topic. The most well-known are: Sheol , in
10788-486: The heavens, Seven Heavens , pure lands , Tian , Jannah , Valhalla , or the Summerland , is a common religious, cosmological , or transcendent place where beings such as gods , angels , jinn , saints , or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned , or live. According to the beliefs of some religions, heavenly beings can descend to earth or incarnate , and earthly beings can ascend to heaven in
10912-410: The inhabitants of Sheol can, under some circumstances, be summoned by the living, as when the Witch of Endor calls up the spirit of Samuel for King Saul . While the Hebrew Bible appears to describe Sheol as the permanent place of the dead, in the Second Temple period (roughly 500 BCE – 70 CE) a more diverse set of ideas developed. In some texts, Sheol is considered to be the home of both
11036-476: The interpretations that gave rise to Christianity. Moreover, some have argued that Judaism is a non-creedal religion that does not require one to believe in God. For some, observance of halakha is more important than belief in God per se . The debate about whether one can speak of authentic or normative Judaism is not only a debate among religious Jews but also among historians. In continental Europe , Judaism
11160-468: The late 16th century. Martin Buber 's early collection of stories of the Baal Shem Tov 's life includes several that refer to people reincarnating in successive lives. Among well-known (generally non-kabbalist or anti-kabbalist) rabbis who rejected the idea of reincarnation are Saadia Gaon , David Kimhi , Hasdai Crescas , Yedayah Bedershi (early 14th century), Joseph Albo , Abraham ibn Daud ,
11284-545: The longest of any woman. It believes the false door is a 'door to the Afterlife'. According to the archaeologists, the door was reused in a structure in Roman Egypt . The Greek god Hades is known in Greek mythology as the king of the underworld , a place where souls live after death. The Greek god Hermes , the messenger of the gods, would take the dead soul of a person to the underworld (sometimes called Hades or
11408-465: The many volumes of Yitzchak Luria, most of which come down from the pen of his primary disciple, Chaim Vital, are insights explaining issues related to reincarnation. His Shaar HaGilgulim ("The Gates of Reincarnation") is a book devoted exclusively to the subject of reincarnation in Judaism. Rabbi Naftali Silberberg of The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute notes that "Many ideas that originate in other religions and belief systems have been popularized in
11532-628: The media and are taken for granted by unassuming Jews." Mainstream Christianity professes belief in the Nicene Creed , and English versions of the Nicene Creed in current use include the phrase: "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come." When questioned by the Sadducees about the resurrection of the dead (in a context relating to who one's spouse would be if one had been married several times in life), Jesus said that marriage would be irrelevant after
11656-504: The modern era is even more difficult, given the number and diversity of the contemporary Jewish denominations . Even if to restrict the problem to the most influential intellectual trends of the nineteenth and twentieth century, the matter remains complicated. Thus, for instance, Joseph Soloveitchik's (associated with the Modern Orthodox movement ) answer to modernity is constituted upon the identification of Judaism with following
11780-489: The next few centuries. Later, two poetic restatements of these principles (" Ani Ma'amin " and " Yigdal ") became integrated into many Jewish liturgies, leading to their eventual near-universal acceptance. The oldest non-Rabbinic instance of articles of faith were formulated, under Islamic influence, by the 12th century Karaite figure Judah ben Elijah Hadassi : (1) God is the Creator of all created beings; (2) He
11904-586: The ones that lived pure lives. It consisted of green fields, valleys and mountains, everyone there was peaceful and contented, and the Sun always shone there. Tartarus was for the people that blasphemed against the gods or were rebellious and consciously evil. InTartarus, the soul would be punished by being burned in lava or stretched on racks. The Asphodel Fields were for a varied selection of human souls including those whose sins equaled their goodness, those who were indecisive in their lives, and those who were not judged. Some heroes of Greek legend are allowed to visit
12028-574: The physical body, the ka , the ba , and the akh . The Name and Shadow were also living entities. To enjoy the afterlife, all these elements had to be sustained and protected from harm. On 30 March 2010, a spokesman for the Egyptian Culture Ministry claimed it had unearthed a large red granite door in Luxor with inscriptions by User , a powerful adviser to the 18th Dynasty Queen Hatshepsut who ruled between 1479 BC and 1458 BC,
12152-491: The possibility of a heaven on Earth in a world to come . In Hinduism , heaven is termed Svarga loka . There are seven positive regions and seven negative regions to which the soul can go after death. After completing its stay in the respective region, the soul is subjected to rebirth in different living forms according to its karma . This cycle can be broken after a soul achieves Moksha or Nirvana . Any place of existence, either of humans, souls or deities, outside
12276-497: The prophesied physical resurrection to the status of a future miracle unrelated to the afterlife or the Messianic era . According to Maimonides, an afterlife continues for the soul of every human being: soul now separated from the body in which it was "housed" during its earthly existence. The Zohar describes Gehenna not as a place of punishment for the wicked but as a place of spiritual purification for souls. Although there
12400-414: The prophets and the transfiguration . The non-canonical Acts of Paul and Thecla speak of the efficacy of prayer for the dead so that they might be "translated to a state of happiness". Hippolytus of Rome pictures the underworld ( Hades ) as a place where the righteous dead, waiting in the bosom of Abraham for their resurrection, rejoice at their future prospect; the unrighteous are tormented at
12524-500: The realm of Jewish thought, the understanding of Sheol was often inconsistent. This would later manifest, in part, with the Sadducee – Pharisee ideological rift which, among other things, disagreed on whether relevancy should lie more prominently in the world of living or in the realm of an afterlife. The lack of a clear belief structure surrounding Sheol lends the idea to a number of interpretations: namely, one which imagines Sheol as
12648-510: The related terms Abaddon , Bor , Shakhat , etc., were reduced to synonyms for this realm of punishment. In Mandaeism , the World of Darkness (i.e., the underworld ) is sometimes referred to as Sheol ( Classical Mandaic : šiul ) in the Ginza Rabba and other Mandaean scriptures . "Sheol ... is the OT word for the underworld or unseen world of the dead where departed spirits go ... It
12772-589: The resurrection as the resurrected will be like the angels in Heaven. Jesus also maintained that the time would come when the dead would hear the voice of the Son of God , and all who were in the tombs would come out; those who have heard his "[commandments] and believes in the one who sent [Him]" to the "resurrection of life", but those who do not to the "resurrection of condemnation". The Book of Enoch describes Sheol as divided into four compartments for four types of
12896-455: The revealed Torah consists solely of its written contents, but of its interpretations as well. The study of Torah (in its widest sense, to include both poetry, narrative, and law, and both the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud) is in Judaism itself a sacred act of central importance. For the sages of the Mishnah and Talmud, and for their successors today, the study of Torah was therefore not merely
13020-482: The righteous and the wicked, separated into respective compartments; in others, it was considered a place of punishment, meant for the wicked dead alone. When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek in ancient Alexandria around 200 BCE, the word " Hades " (the Greek underworld ) was substituted for Sheol, owing to its similarities to the Underworld of Greek mythology . The gloss of Sheol as "Hades"
13144-403: The righteous and unrighteous eventually descend to Sheol appears to be an unspoken assumption in the Hebrew Bible - thus Jacob and David have no reservation in acknowledging their eventual residency, even as the later prophets spoke of Sheol lying in wait for the wicked. The origins of the concept of Sheol are debated. The general characteristics of an afterlife such as Sheol were not unique to
13268-431: The sages ( rabbinic leaders) of each subsequent generation. For centuries, the Torah appeared only as a written text transmitted in parallel with the oral tradition. Fearing that the oral teachings might be forgotten, Rabbi Judah haNasi undertook the mission of consolidating the various opinions into one body of law which became known as the Mishnah . The Mishnah consists of 63 tractates codifying halakha , which are
13392-403: The same formula is repeated when describing the sorrow that would befall Jacob should another of his sons, Benjamin , not return to Israel with his remaining brothers. Sheol makes its next appearance during the episode of Korah in the Book of Numbers . After Korah attempts to rouse the Israelites to rebel against Moses , Moses vows that Yahweh will prove his legitimacy by splitting open
13516-419: The shedding of blood. The Birkat Ha-Mitzwot evokes the consciousness of holiness at a rabbinic rite, but the objects employed in the majority of these rites are non-holy and of general character, while the several holy objects are non-theurgic. And not only do ordinary things and occurrences bring with them the experience of God. Everything that happens to a man evokes that experience, evil as well as good, for
13640-496: The sight of the " lake of unquenchable fire " into which they are destined to be cast. Gregory of Nyssa discusses the long-before-believed possibility of purification of souls after death. Pope Gregory I repeats the concept, articulated over a century earlier by Gregory of Nyssa, that the saved suffer purification after death. In connection with this, he wrote of "purgatorial flames." Judaism Judaism ( Hebrew : יַהֲדוּת , romanized : Yahăḏūṯ )
13764-586: The sole content of the term. Thus Ioudaïsmós should be translated not as "Judaism" but as Judaeanness. Daniel R. Schwartz, however, argues that "Judaism", especially in the context of the Book of Maccabees, refers to the religion, as opposed to the culture and politics of the Judean state. He believes it reflected the ideological divide between the Pharisees and Sadducees and, implicitly, anti-Hasmonean and pro-Hasmonean factions in Judean society. According to
13888-456: The tangible world (heaven, hell, or other) is referred to as otherworld . Hell , in many religious and folkloric traditions, is a place of torment and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell as an eternal destination , while religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations. Typically, these traditions locate hell in another dimension or under
14012-578: The two Talmuds, the Jerusalem Talmud ( Talmud Yerushalmi ) and the Babylonian Talmud ( Talmud Bavli ). These have been further expounded by commentaries of various Torah scholars during the ages. In the text of the Torah, many words are left undefined, and many procedures are mentioned without explanation or instructions. Such phenomena are sometimes offered to validate the viewpoint that the Written Law has always been transmitted with
14136-476: The underworld. The Romans had a similar belief system about the afterlife, with Hades becoming known as Pluto . In the ancient Greek myth about the Labours of Heracles , the hero Heracles had to travel to the underworld to capture Cerberus , the three-headed guard dog, as one of his tasks. In Dream of Scipio , Cicero describes what seems to be an out of body experience , of the soul traveling high above
14260-469: The warriors and shades, Tartarus (where the titans and powerful non-mortal enemies of the Olympians reside) where he can hear the groans of the imprisoned, the palace of Pluto , and the fields of Elysium where the descendants of the divine and bravest heroes reside. He sees the river of forgetfulness, Lethe , which the dead must drink to forget their life and begin anew. Lastly, his father shows him all of
14384-507: Was a demanding ordeal, requiring a sin-free heart and the ability to recite the spells, passwords, and formulae of the Book of the Dead . In the Hall of Two Truths, the deceased's heart was weighed against the Shu feather of truth and justice taken from the headdress of the goddess Ma'at . If the heart was lighter than the feather, they could pass on, but if it were heavier they would be devoured by
14508-504: Was a place of stillness, darkness, ..." Afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's stream of consciousness or identity continues to exist after the death of their physical body. The surviving essential aspect varies between belief systems; it may be some partial element, or the entire soul or spirit, which carries with it one's personal identity. In some views, this continued existence takes place in
14632-542: Was centered on a pantheon of gods much like in Greek mythology . According to the Hebrew Bible , a United Monarchy was established under Saul and continued under King David and Solomon with its capital in Jerusalem . After Solomon's reign, the nation split into two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel (in the north) and the Kingdom of Judah (in the south). The Kingdom of Israel was destroyed around 720 BCE, when it
14756-602: Was challenged by various groups such as the Sadducees and Hellenistic Judaism during the Second Temple period ; the Karaites during the early and later medieval period; and among segments of the modern non-Orthodox denominations. Some modern branches of Judaism such as Humanistic Judaism may be considered secular or nontheistic . Today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism ( Haredi and Modern Orthodox ), Conservative Judaism , and Reform Judaism . Major sources of difference between these groups are their approaches to halakha (Jewish law),
14880-716: Was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire ; many people were taken captive from the capital Samaria to Media and the Khabur River valley. The Kingdom of Judah continued as an independent state until it was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar II of the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 586 BCE. The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the First Temple , which was at the center of ancient Jewish worship. The Judeans were exiled to Babylon , in what
15004-599: Was criticized by Hasdai Crescas and Joseph Albo . Albo and the Raavad argued that Maimonides' principles contained too many items that, while true, were not fundamentals of the faith Along these lines, the ancient historian Josephus emphasized practices and observances rather than religious beliefs, associating apostasy with a failure to observe halakha and maintaining that the requirements for conversion to Judaism included circumcision and adherence to traditional customs. Maimonides' principles were largely ignored over
15128-455: Was identical with the tradition understood as the interpretation of Torah, in itself being the history of the constant updates and adjustment of the Law performed by means of the creative interpretation. Finally, David Philipson draws the outlines of the Reform movement in Judaism by opposing it to the strict and traditional rabbinical approach and thus comes to the conclusions similar to that of
15252-410: Was recognized as a religio licita ("legitimate religion") until the rise of Gnosticism and Early Christianity in the fourth century. Following the destruction of Jerusalem and the expulsion of the Jews, Jewish worship stopped being centrally organized around the Temple, prayer took the place of sacrifice, and worship was rebuilt around the community (represented by a minimum of ten adult men) and
15376-627: Was superior to other gods. Some suggest that strict monotheism developed during the Babylonian Exile, perhaps in reaction to Zoroastrian dualism. In this view, it was only by the Hellenistic period that most Jews came to believe that their god was the only god and that the notion of a bounded Jewish nation identical with the Jewish religion formed. John Day argues that the origins of biblical Yahweh , El , Asherah , and Ba'al , may be rooted in earlier Canaanite religion , which
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