Under Judaism, what happens to faithful and unfaithful Jews when they die?

[Patrick66]

Thank you in advance. By the way, scriptural support for or against is most appreciated.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

Thank you in advance. By the way, scriptural support for or against is most appreciated.

Different Jews will give you different answers. Some Jews believe in no afterlife at all-- you may be curious to know that the Torah never mentions an afterlife. But I'll try to sum up some of the ideas that float around.

Sheol: the abode of the dead, the netherworld. There is no punishment or reward attached to Sheol. It is probably most similar to the Greek idea of Hades. You find references to sheol in i.e. the psalms.

The annihilation of the souls of the wicked. Malachi 4:3 "Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the LORD Almighty."

The world to come: this is a very physical new earth where our resurrected bodies will live. References to the resurrection are mentioned in the prophets, i.e. the passage about the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37... "And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them" The expression Olam Haba, or world to come, is sprinkled throughout Jewish writings, but although it is DESCRIBED in the tanakh, the expression is not used in the bible that I know of. Belief in the resurrection and the world to come was carried on by the Pharisees, but not the Sadducees (because they rejected the prophets, holding only to the Torah).

Gehinnom: a temporary hell where we are purified for the world to come. Jews adopted this ideas when we were exposed to Zoroastrianism during our captivity. It is probably most similar to the Catholic notion of purgatory, although purgatory is a more complicated notion. Jews have a tradition to pray for the dead for 11 months, the time the Talmud says they are in Gehinnom.

Transmigration of the soul: If I am not mistaken, the texts for this idea are in the Kabbalah, the Jewish books of mysticism. The idea is that every Jew will continue to reincarnate until they have fulfilled all 613 commandments.

It is important to note that Jews keep the laws because God is King of the Universe and worthy of being obeyed, not in order to go to heaven.

I realize that you asked for "scripture," and that you do not consider sources like the Talmud and Kabbalah to qualify. However, you need to understand that there is no such thing as Judaism that is only Biblical. "Bible only" is a Protestant teaching (even most Christians reject it). Thus you can never just read the Tanakh (Old Testament) and think you understand Judaism.

Hopefully this has been helpful