For Jews on here regarding following the laws?

Question

What happens if a Jew doesnt follow the Jewish laws set forth for Jews. I know the gentiles have the Noahide laws, but what about the Jews themselves that are Jewish yet don't keep kosher or follow the laws set forth?

Is there any redeeming for an afterlife for those folks if they never follow the laws according to Judaism?

Answer 1

As I'm Jewish, allow me to clarify, as the first two answers are incorrect.

Firstly: no Jew is meant to follow 613 mitzvot. That's because not all of the laws are intended for all Jews. Some are directed specifically at men, for example.

Secondly: Judaism does not teach that we are meant to be 'perfect'. In fact, Judaism states that G-d alone can BE 'perfect'. No human ever can. What matters is that we try our best, learn from our mistakes, and treat our fellow human beings with respect and compassion.

Judaism has no dogma on the afterlife. We simply don't spend any time fretting over it or discussing it, really. We are brought up and taught to focus on *this* life. One thing is for sure, though: we don't believe in 'h**l' and we don't believe that anyone ends up being 'punished' for all eternity!

What we do have is the idea of a type of 'purgatory', where the soul resides for up to one year, for 'purification'. It's apparently not very pleasant but it is nothing like the Christian concept of 'h**l'.

Judaism states that the righteous of all faiths will 'have a share in the world to come'. Yes, you are correct in that Jews are meant to keep and uphold more laws, but in Judaism actions are more important than beliefs. Our task is to try, to be sincere in our efforts and our behaviour, and to do our bit to work towards 'tikkan olam', or 'repairing the world'.

http://www.askmoses.com

http://www.ajewwithaview.com

Answer 2

no that would be orthodox.....we r all cleansed wen we reach heaven

except like hitler his "soul" is erased bu G-d

Answer 3

Since we're all still here, we don't really know what happens after death.

The Talmud says there are people who can earn a place in the afterlife in the span of one moment. You really never know. There could be a person who never learned about Judaism, but saved the lives of 10,000 people. Of course it's not up to us to say - but it seems to me such a person would definitely have earned his way! Again, it's up to God to judge - since only He knows people's thoughts, intentions, and actions.

Answer 4

that's what Yom Kippur is for.

Answer 5

That's ultimately up to God.

There is a large difference between judaism and christianity. Christians are very focused on the afterlife, while jews tend to focus more on life. There is no fire and brimstone h**l in judaism. They believe in a separation from God.

A jew and a christian may practice their religion for fairly different reasons.

Answer 6

One only has to follow the Noahide laws to be righteous, but yeah, there's 613 in all and kind of hard to follow.