Do jews believe in hell? Isn't hell mentioned in the old testament?
Looking around I found this statement on your subject.
Jews do not believe in Hell, because by definition, Hell is the place for the ETERNAL punishment of the soul, in the next life, for the sins committed in this life. Although Judaism certainly believes in a punishment in the next life for the sins committed in this life, Jews do not believe in Hell because we believe Gd to be forgiving, compassionate, and merciful. So, the idea of an ETERNAL punishment makes Gd look Cruel, and prevents us from believing in a hell.
Every time in the Christian translation of the Hebrew Scriptures the text reads, 'hell,' it is a bad translation. The word usually MIStranslated this way is the Hebrew word, 'Sheol,' which comes from the same word meaning 'question', and so 'Sheol' is 'the Unknown.'
By the way, please note that the verse from Ecclesiastes reads:::
Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to
the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return
unto Gd who gave it.
It says, 'the spirit returns to Gd,' not the 'Good Spirit,' and not even 'the Jewish Spirit.' Jews do not believe that only Jews go to heaven.
Furthermore, if 'the dust returns to dust,' meaning that the physical ends, how can the tortures of a Christian hell be only physical, when there is no body to be tortured??
__________________
Boats
O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
"IN GOD WE TRUST"
|