What do followers of judaism believe happens when you die?

Answer 1

Judaism barely spends any time discussing what may or may not happen when we die, in fact, there's barely any mention of this subject in the Tanach (Jewish Bible) at all.
There are some loose theories of what might happen though:
* When we die, our souls are cleansed of any wrongdoings. This is done by our accounting of every action done in life. It's believed that this process takes no longer than 12 months but most people don't do enough bad in life to warrant it taking a full 12 months.
* Our souls return to HaShem to wait for the world to come.
* Our souls may be reincarnated into different people so that we have additional chances to work to become closer to HaShem.
* Those souls that choose to be truly evil in life, cannot survive the process of cleansing and cease to exist.

• Answer 2:
  

The soul continues to exist and is treated in accordance with the person's actions while he/she was alive. This is one of the central beliefs of Judaism, as codified by the Rambam (Maimonides).
The afterlife is detailed at length in the Talmud (unlike what the above comment says). A full 20 pages of Talmud (Sanhedrin 90-110) are given to this subject. The afterlife is also referred to briefly in Torah (Bible) verses such as Genesis 15:15, which states that "You (Abraham) will come to your fathers in peace and will be buried in good (ripe; full) old age". This does not mean merely to be buried with one's forefathers, since Abraham was not buried with them. Such verses are stated many times.
The prophets are more explicit with such references (such as Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12:13).

Answer 2

They believe in an afterlife, but they believe (since their Messiah hasn't come yet) the gates of their heaven hasn't been opened yet. they believe that because they follow the laws of the TORAH. The Torah is the first 5 books of The Bible. The Torah states that the Gates of Heaven will not be opened until the Messiah Comes, Dies, and Rises again.

Answer 3

There are two parts to this: What happens in the afterlife and what happens to the body in this world.

Afterlife

Judaism doesn't spend a lot of time discussing what will happen when we die, since the focus is on this life. There is also little mention of what happens after death in the Tanakh (Jewish Bible). There are some loose ideas of what may happen when we die:

* When we die, our souls are cleansed. To accomplish this, we must account for all our actions in life, both good and bad. It's believed that this process doesn't take more than 12 months but few people do enough bad in life to warrant it taking the full 12 months.

* Some souls may return to God to wait for the world to come.

* Some souls may be reincarnated as another person to have to opportunity to do more good in the world to become closer to God.

* Some people are so evil in life that their souls cannot survive the cleansing process and cease to exist.

Answer:
One of the central beliefs of Judaism, as codified by Rambam (Maimonides), is that the soul continues to exist and is treated in accordance with the person's actions while he/she was alive. All outstanding accounts are settled after this life. Some cases illustrate this point, since this entire world wouldn't be enough to reward a Moses or punish a Hitler.
The afterlife is detailed at length in the Talmud. A full 20 pages of Talmud (Sanhedrin 90-110) are given to this subject. The afterlife is also referred to briefly in Torah (Bible) verses such as Genesis 15:15, which states that "You (Abraham) will come to your fathers in peace and will be buried in good (ripe; full) old age." This does not mean merely to be buried withone's forefathers, since Abraham was not buried with them. Such verses are stated many times.
The prophets are more explicit with such references (such as Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12:13).
The Tanakh does not delve into detail of the rewards of the righteous, because other religions could compete with even more poetic promises. Also because belief in the afterlife was shared by all ancient societies and needed little reiteration. See the Kli Yakar commentary to Leviticus ch.26 for a fuller discussion.

Body Treatment

In Judaism, the body must be buried whole, within 24 hours of the time of death (excepting if the person died on Friday, where it is delayed until Saturday night). No post-mortem examination, such as an autopsy, is permitted. Jews are to be buried only in Jewish cemeteries. It is also Jewish custom to disregard a person's will if it says that only a simple burial will suffice, since the person should have an elegant burial if the person merits it.

Answer 4

Judaism barely spends any time discussing what may or may not happen when we die, in fact, there's barely any mention of this subject in the Tanach (Jewish Bible) at all.

There are some loose theories of what might happen though:

* When we die, our souls are cleansed of any wrongdoings. This is done by our accounting of every action done in life. It's believed that this process takes no longer than 12 months but most people don't do enough bad in life to warrant it taking a full 12 months.

* Our souls return to HaShem to wait for the world to come.

* Our souls may be reincarnated into different people so that we have additional chances to work to become closer to HaShem.

* Those souls that choose to be truly evil in life, cannot survive the process of cleansing and cease to exist.

Answer:The soul continues to exist and is treated in accordance with the person's actions while he/she was alive. This is one of the central beliefs of Judaism, as codified by the Rambam (Maimonides).

The afterlife is detailed at length in the Talmud (unlike what the above comment says). A full 20 pages of Talmud (Sanhedrin 90-110) are given to this subject. The afterlife is also referred to briefly in Torah (Bible) verses such as Genesis 15:15, which states that "You (Abraham) will come to your fathers in peace and will be buried in good (ripe; full) old age". This does not mean merely to be buried with one's forefathers, since Abraham was not buried with them. Such verses are stated many times.

The prophets are more explicit with such references (such as Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12:13).

Answer 5

Judaism does not talk much of the after life. The emphasis in Judaism is being a good person and a good example for the people of the world, not personal salvation. From what is mentioned Jews have theorized that when one dies the person goes to a place where he or she repents for his or her sins. For one year the person feels guilt over the wrongs the person has done. After this year of repentance, the person ascends to heaven. What heaven is like is hardly known at all. Scholars have hypothesized that there are 7 levels of heaven (Yes, the phrase 7th Heaven comes from this.) what happens on each level is argued over, but on the 7th level of heaven one becomes close to God and perfect. Since the after life is not discussed much, the exact details are not known and much is up to a person's personal beliefs.

Answer 6

There's not much commentary on the afterlife in the Jewish tradition. We are believed to live on "in the hearts of those who cherish our memory", which is a way of saying that for Jews, the afterlife is the good we leave here.

It has been said that those who believe in God spend eternity with God, studying Torah, and that those who do not believe in God spend eternity without God.

It is traditional for the immediate family of the deceased to do nothing for the three days following the death (except, of course, for the funeral -- friends are supposed to provide food), to abstain from nonessential activities for a month, and for the eldest son to attend services at the synagogue to say Kaddish every day for the first year. Thereafter, the family is expected to observe the anniversary of the death by lighting a memorial candle.

(The Kaddish prayer is not "a prayer for the dead." Rather, it affirms the survivors' faith in God even in the presence of death. Since it is a public proclamation of faith, it is one of the prayers that can only be said in a minyan -- a group of at least 10 Jews.)

Answer:The soul continues to exist and is treated in accordance with the person's actions while he/she was alive. This is one of the central beliefs of Judaism, as codified by the Rambam (Maimonides).

The afterlife is detailed at length in the Talmud (unlike what the above comment says). A full 20 pages of Talmud (Sanhedrin 90-110) are given to this subject. The afterlife is also referred to briefly in Torah (Bible) verses such as Genesis 15:15, which states that "You (Abraham) will come to your fathers in peace and will be buried in good (ripe; full) old age". This does not mean merely to be buried with one's forefathers, since Abraham was not buried with them. Such verses are stated many times.

The prophets are more explicit with such references (such as Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12:13).

Answer 7

The soul continues to exist and is treated in accordance with the person's actions while he/she was alive. This is one of the central beliefs of Judaism, as codified by the Rambam (Maimonides).

The afterlife is detailed at length in the Talmud (unlike what the comment below this one says). A full 20 pages of Talmud (Sanhedrin 90-110) are given to this subject. The afterlife is also referred to briefly in Torah (Bible) verses such as Genesis 15:15, which states that "You (Abraham) will come to your fathers in peace and will be buried in good (ripe; full) old age". This does not mean merely to be buried with one's forefathers, since Abraham was not buried with them. Such verses are stated many times.

The prophets are more replete with such references (such as Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12:13).

A:2

Judaism barely spends any time discussing what may or may not happen when we die, in fact, there's barely any mention of this subject in the Tanach (Jewish Bible).

Nowhere in the Tanach or the Talmud is there a definitive answer as to what happens when we die, just mainly inferences in the Tanach and discussion of theories in Talmud. The majority of Jewish scholars state outright that as no one has ever returned from being dead, the most we can do is speculate as to what might happen when we die.

There are some loose theories of what might happen though:

* When we die, our souls are cleansed of any wrongdoings. This is done by our accounting of every action done in life. It's believed that this process takes no longer than 12 months but most people don't do enough bad in life to warrant it taking a full 12 months.

* Our souls return to HaShem to wait for the World to Come.

* Our souls may be reincarnated into different people so that we have additional chances to work to become closer to HaShem.

* Those souls that choose to be truly evil in life, cannot survive the process of cleansing and cease to exist.

Note: In Judaism, the term "after life" is never used, instead, the life after death is usually referred to as "the next life".

A:3

No one has ever come back from the dead to tell us, so Jews do not focus on the afterlife.

In Judaism the afterlife is not discussed much. The Jewish religion's main objective is to guide a person on how to be a good person. Many Jews believe that after death a person is sent to a place where you feel guilt for the sins you have committed in life. A person normally spends one year going over their sins and repenting. After this a person goes to heaven. A common Jewish belief is that in heaven there are 7 levels (Yes... 7th Heaven...). Scholars disagree on the exact levels, though. On the 7th level a person is seen to become complete and close to God. In Judaism all good people of all nations are accepted in heaven. There is no "Hell" exactly in Judaism. We are not too big on the whole 'Eternal Damnation' thing.

Answer 8

Judaism barely spends any time discussing what may or may not happen when we die, in fact, there's barely any mention of this subject in the Tanach (Jewish Bible) at all.

There are some loose theories of what might happen though:

* When we die, our souls are cleansed of any wrongdoings. This is done by our accounting of every action done in life. It's believed that this process takes no longer than 12 months but most people don't do enough bad in life to warrant it taking a full 12 months.

* Our souls return to HaShem to wait for the world to come.

* Our souls may be reincarnated into different people so that we have additional chances to work to become closer to HaShem.

* Those souls that choose to be truly evil in life, cannot survive the process of cleansing and cease to exist.

Answer 9

One of the central beliefs of Judaism, as stated in the Talmud (Mishna, Sanhedrin 11:1) and codified by Rambam (Maimonides, 1135-1204), is that the soul continues to exist and is treated in accordance with the person's actions while he or she was alive.
The Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) doesn't dwell at length on the afterlife; and nor does Judaism spend a lot of time speculating on its details. However, that is not meant to diminish from its importance. Rather, the Torah implies that we are to use the bulk of our energies in keeping God's ways and commands in this world, with our feet firmly planted on Earth, while nonetheless not losing awareness of our beliefs.
Our ancient sages stated the importance of being aware of the next world: "This world is a mere entrance-hall before the afterlife" (Mishna, Avot ch.4).

All outstanding accounts are settled after this life. Some cases illustrate this point, since this entire world wouldn't be enough to reward a Moses or punish a Hitler. And while we're alive, knowledge of the future world serves as one of the motivations to keeping God's will.

The Tanakh does not delve into detail of the rewards of the righteous because other religions could compete with even more poetic promises. Also because belief in the afterlife was shared by all ancient societies and needed little reiteration. Besides, it would be like describing the colors of a sunrise to someone who was blind from birth.
It is, however, referred to briefly in Torah verses such as Genesis 15:15, which states that "You (Abraham) will come to your fathers in peace and will be buried in good old age." Coming to his fathers does not mean simply to be buried with them, since Abraham was not buried with his ancestors. Such verses are stated many times.
The prophets are more explicit with such references (see Isaiah 26:19 and 66:24, Daniel 12:13, Zechariah 3:7, 1 Kings 8:30, 2 Kings ch.2, Ecclesiastes 12:7). The afterlife is spoken of at length in the Talmud. More than 20 pages of Talmud (Sanhedrin 90-110, Rosh Hashanah 16-18, and other passages) are given to this subject.

Answer 10

One of the central beliefs of Judaism, as stated in the Talmud (Mishna, Sanhedrin 11:1) and codified by Maimonides (1135-1204), is that the soul continues to exist and is treated in accordance with the person's actions while he or she was alive. This applies to all people, whatever their religion.
The Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) doesn't dwell at length on the afterlife; and nor does Judaism spend a lot of time speculating on its details. However, that is not meant to diminish from its importance. Rather, the Torah implies that we are to use the bulk of our energies in keeping God's ways in this world, with our feet firmly planted on Earth, while nonetheless not losing awareness of our beliefs.
Our ancient sages stated the importance of being aware of the next world: "This world is a mere entrance-hall before the afterlife" (Mishna, Avot ch.4).

All outstanding accounts are settled after this life. Some cases illustrate this point, since this entire world wouldn't be enough to reward a Moses or punish a Hitler. And while we're alive, knowledge of the future world serves as one of the motivations to keeping God's will.

The Tanakh does not delve into detail of the rewards of the righteous because religions could compete with more and more poetic promises. Also because belief in the afterlife was shared by all ancient societies and needed little reiteration. Besides, it would be like describing the colors of a sunrise to someone who was blind from birth.
It is, however, referred to briefly in Torah verses such as Genesis 15:15, which states that "You (Abraham) will come to your fathers in peace and will be buried in good old age." Coming to his fathers does not mean simply to be buried with them, since Abraham was not buried with his ancestors. Such verses are stated many times.
The prophets are more explicit with such references (see Isaiah 26:19 and 66:24, Daniel 12:13, Zechariah 3:7, 1 Kings 8:30, 2 Kings ch.2, Ecclesiastes 12:7). The afterlife is spoken of at length in the Talmud. More than 20 pages of Talmud (Sanhedrin 90-110, Rosh Hashanah 16-18, and other passages) are given to this subject.

See also the Related Links.

Link: God exists

Link: The key beliefs of Judaism

Link: How do you know there are a heaven and hell?