Okay, aside from that Jesus is not God and that there is no hell, what do Jews believe in?

Some believe in QBLH...or Qaballah if you want a rough pronunciation of it. I find QBLH much more interesting in its own rights than the other facets of Judaism.

Original jews, before hellenic imperialism didn't have a heaven either.

Sheol was the only destination for you when you die. It wasn't even a concept of your soul, it was "YOU" that goes to sheol. I believe it translates roughly to "Land of gray". It wasn't purgatory per se, just a bleak place that everyone goes to. (i.e. not heaven, not hell)

That is why jews also believed in revenge theology for such a long time, just look, the OT is filled with it.

Jews believe in today's standards of a heaven basically, but I dont think they believe in a hell.

quote:Originally posted by skirt:

Okay, aside from that Jesus is not God and that there is no hell, what do Jews believe in?Some jew's did/do believe in hell. Some didn't/don't. They believe that there is only one God, the God of Israel. Read the old testament of the bible, that is their scripture. They also have another collection of religious writing's known as the Talmud. It is a collection of rabbinical commentary on the Torah (the first five book's of the bible) and about other thing's.

quote:Originally posted by the phantom stranger:

Originally posted by skirt:

Okay, aside from that Jesus is not God and that there is no hell, what do Jews believe in?Some jew's did/do believe in hell. Some didn't/don't. They believe that there is only one God, the God of Israel. Read the old testament of the bible, that is their scripture. They also have another collection of religious writing's known as the Talmud. It is a collection of rabbinical commentary on the Torah (the first five book's of the bible) and about other thing's.



I think there are other books of commentary as well as the talmud, but all those are just books of commentary and not at all what some neo-nazis would have you beleive.

Ok folks, lets get it straight.

The real jewish scriptures are the TANAKH.

Which is an acronym for Torah, Neve'im, and Ketavihm. (Pardon the spelling).

Torah - laws.

Nevehim - writings.

Ketavhim - prophets.

Seriously man, get your shit straight. NO JEWS PRE-HELLENIZATION BELIEVED IN HEAVEN. It wasn't even a concept.

Take your own advice and read the OT, because then you'd know the only mention of afterlife was Sheol.

FUCK.

quote:Originally posted by aTribeCalledSean:

Ok folks, lets get it straight.

The real jewish scriptures are the TANAKH.

Which is an acronym for Torah, Neve'im, and Ketavihm. (Pardon the spelling).

Torah - laws.

Nevehim - writings.

Ketavhim - prophets.

Seriously man, get your shit straight. NO JEWS PRE-HELLENIZATION BELIEVED IN HEAVEN. It wasn't even a concept.

Take your own advice and read the OT, because then you'd know the only mention of afterlife was Sheol.

FUCK.Wrong. YOU seriously need to go back and read the old testament. Heaven wasn't a greek concept. Hellenization was opposed to Judaism. Sheol means the same thing as hell and hades. It's the abode of the dead. Anyway's I'm not going to turn this thread into an argument. You obviously have your own belief's and I have mine. And nothing that either you or I say to each other is going to change our mind's.

The core of judaism is(I'm not an anti-semite) Be good, you'll be rich. Be bad and Jahve will murder your wife and even worse; He'll steal your cattle

quote:Originally posted by jurainus:

The core of judaism is(I'm not an anti-semite) Be good, you'll be rich. Be bad and Jahve will murder your wife and even worse; He'll steal your cattle

Revenge theology. Already stated.

And along with being rich, the more important factor was living longer.

quote:Originally posted by the phantom stranger:

Wrong. YOU seriously need to go back and read the old testament. Heaven wasn't a greek concept. Hellenization was opposed to Judaism. Sheol means the same thing as hell and hades. It's the abode of the dead. Anyway's I'm not going to turn this thread into an argument. You obviously have your own belief's and I have mine. And nothing that either you or I say to each other is going to change our mind's.[/B][/QUOTE]



Fair enough, that's the most reasonable thing ever posted on this forum.

And by hellenization, I didn't mean the actual imperial act. I meant the osmosis of the concepts of a soul and of heaven, they were strictly greek ideas. (in that part of the world)

Also, sheol is not the equivalent to hell, because sheol was not a place of punishment. The only connection I can draw is a seperation from god, if you believe hell is complete seperation from god, then yes Sheol could be considered hell. But from my viewpoint, one has to "earn" his spot in hell, and the jews didn't have to do anything to go to sheol. Everyone went to sheol.

Okily, first off I'm fairly actively Jewish so I know what I'm talking about. Not many Jews believe in the Kaballah unless they are either a) very very orthodox b) trendy Jews.

The best help I can give you is http://www.jewfaq.org/ This is an incredibly useful and accurate site.

I genuinely don't know at what point the duality of heaven and sheol was taught, short of saying it was pretty early as it formed large parts of the Oral Torah. Some would therefore say it is as old as the Pentateuch but others would claim the Oral Torah was written later (as the Talmud) and so therefore Hellenism could have affected and influenced these beliefs..