The Afterlife

[Tanakh Keeper]

The afterlife and the soul are intertwined. The Creation of man directly shows that the soul is eternal. G e n 2:7 . And the Lord G-d formed man of dust from the ground, and He breathed into his nostrils the soul of life, and man became a living soul. When One blows, the breaths comes from within. The logic of this verse is that G-d’s breath is actually part of G-d’s essence. Since G-d’s essence is eternal, it follows that the soul is also eternal.

As far as what the afterlife is exactly, this is a question that can’t be specifically answered. Judaism has some writings about it, but the whole subject is regarded as unknowable. The Tanakh has hardly anything specific to say about it.

After death of the body, the soul goes to Gehenom. Gehenom can be described as a spiritual laundry. For up to 12 months, the soul goes through a purification process. Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler uses an analogy of this process as the soul being shown two videos. Each soul watches the videos with all of that person’s loved ones. The first video could be called “This is Your Life!”. Every decision, thought, and deed is replayed without any edits. It is fully bared for all to see. Think of how embarrassing that is. The second video could be called “This Could Have Been Your Life! – if the right choices were made”. This video, the pain of squandered potential is much more difficult to bear. It purifies the soul. The pain of regret removes the barriers and enables the soul to completely connect to G-d.

After cleansing, souls go on to Heaven. Heaven is the place of the soul experiencing the maximum possible pleasure which is the feeling of closeness to G-d. Not all souls experience that to the same degree. Like being at a concert, some seats are front-row center whilst others are back in the nose-bleed section. Where your seat is located is based on the merit of your deeds.

[sylvius]

The afterlife and the soul are intertwined. The Creation of man directly shows that the soul is eternal. G e n 2:7 . And the Lord G-d formed man of dust from the ground, and He breathed into his nostrils the soul of life, and man became a living soul. When One blows, the breaths comes from within. The logic of this verse is that G-d’s breath is actually part of G-d’s essence. Since G-d’s essence is eternal, it follows that the soul is also eternal.
.

What then about the unborn child,
has it no soul?
Or where it is?

[Tanakh Keeper]

What then about the unborn child,
has it no soul?
Or where it is?

I don't know.

[Sparko]

where do you find all this information in the bible, TK?

[faithymom]

Do you believe that ALL will go to Heaven after this 'purification'?


And if we get to see how it would have been if we'd made all the right decisions do we also get to see how much worse it would have been if we'd made all the wrong ones?

[Sparko]

I would think that having to sit through my life with everyone watching to be Hell, not heaven. And it would be even worse to have to watch everyone else's. That should take a few billion years right there.

Several Billion years of "home movies" complete with porn, crime, sins, and other embarrassing moments would not be "purifying" it would be hell. and then we get to watch how it "should have been" - My Life - the Director's Cut. repeat 10 billion or so times.

[TyRockwell]

The afterlife and the soul are intertwined. The Creation of man directly shows that the soul is eternal. G e n 2:7 . And the Lord G-d formed man of dust from the ground, and He breathed into his nostrils the soul of life, and man became a living soul. When One blows, the breaths comes from within. The logic of this verse is that G-d’s breath is actually part of G-d’s essence. Since G-d’s essence is eternal, it follows that the soul is also eternal.

This assumes that God cannot impart His essense into man and separate from it without diminishing Himself. Of course He can.

If your children commit a crime, it doesn't mean you are involved because in essense the child is essentially of a parent.

[Tanakh Keeper]

where do you find all this information in the bible, TK?

The bible has hardly anything about the afterlife. Obviously, G-d didn't consider it too important. This life is of paramount importance. The afterlife is mostly discussed in the Talmud.

[Tanakh Keeper]

Do you believe that ALL will go to Heaven after this 'purification'?

I believe so, yes.

And if we get to see how it would have been if we'd made all the right decisions do we also get to see how much worse it would have been if we'd made all the wrong ones?

During our life, we see the wrong choices.

[Sparko]

The bible has hardly anything about the afterlife. Obviously, G-d didn't consider it too important. This life is of paramount importance. The afterlife is mostly discussed in the Talmud.

Why would God not think the afterlife is important? it is where we are going to spend most of our lives.

Where did they get the information in the Talmud if God didn't think it important enough to talk about in the bible?

[Tanakh Keeper]

I would think that having to sit through my life with everyone watching to be Hell, not heaven.

The movies take place in Gehenom, not Heaven. I would expect it to be an unpleasant process, yes.

[Tanakh Keeper]

Why would God not think the afterlife is important? it is where we are going to spend most of our lives.

Where did they get the information in the Talmud if God didn't think it important enough to talk about in the bible?

Well, I opinioned that. It only makes sense. Given how little it is mentioned in the written instruction (bible), it can't be too important. Since we are ALL getting to Heaven eventually, I don't see how it can be too important.

The information in the Talmud comes from G-d instructing Moses who then taught the Elders who taught Israel. It contains the sages' commentaries on those instructions. So it gets into more detail than the bible does.

[Sparko]

Well, I opinioned that. It only makes sense. Given how little it is mentioned in the written instruction (bible), it can't be too important. Since we are ALL getting to Heaven eventually, I don't see how it can be too important.

The information in the Talmud comes from G-d instructing Moses who then taught the Elders who taught Israel. It contains the sages' commentaries on those instructions. So it gets into more detail than the bible does.

I thought you just said that God didn't think it was important? If that is so, then why did God instruct Moses, and why did Moses instruct the Elders, who apparently thought it important enough to write down in the Talmud but not in the Bible?

Something seems a bit fishy to me.

[karen22]

This assumes that God cannot impart His essense into man and separate from it without diminishing Himself. Of course He can.

If your children commit a crime, it doesn't mean you are involved because in essense the child is essentially of a parent.

I once heard that having a child is like having your heart walking around outside of your body. As a parent, you may not be involved in the crime, but you certainly would be involved in the misery. What parent wouldn't suffer when their child suffers?

[karen22]

The afterlife and the soul are intertwined. The Creation of man directly shows that the soul is eternal. G e n 2:7 . And the Lord G-d formed man of dust from the ground, and He breathed into his nostrils the soul of life, and man became a living soul. When One blows, the breaths comes from within. The logic of this verse is that G-d’s breath is actually part of G-d’s essence. Since G-d’s essence is eternal, it follows that the soul is also eternal.

As far as what the afterlife is exactly, this is a question that can’t be specifically answered. Judaism has some writings about it, but the whole subject is regarded as unknowable. The Tanakh has hardly anything specific to say about it.

After death of the body, the soul goes to Gehenom. Gehenom can be described as a spiritual laundry. For up to 12 months, the soul goes through a purification process. Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler uses an analogy of this process as the soul being shown two videos. Each soul watches the videos with all of that person’s loved ones. The first video could be called “This is Your Life!”. Every decision, thought, and deed is replayed without any edits. It is fully bared for all to see. Think of how embarrassing that is. The second video could be called “This Could Have Been Your Life! – if the right choices were made”. This video, the pain of squandered potential is much more difficult to bear. It purifies the soul. The pain of regret removes the barriers and enables the soul to completely connect to G-d.

After cleansing, souls go on to Heaven. Heaven is the place of the soul experiencing the maximum possible pleasure which is the feeling of closeness to G-d. Not all souls experience that to the same degree. Like being at a concert, some seats are front-row center whilst others are back in the nose-bleed section. Where your seat is located is based on the merit of your deeds.

This is very similar to LDS beliefs. Actually, extremely similar. We also believe the soul is eternal---as Sparko can well attest.