Judaism has always spoken of a life following this one, and the Torah speaks about what seems to be a physical place called Sheol, to which one "goes down" following this life. However, Jewish wisdom offers no definitive answer about what happens when we die, and there is no single Jewish view of the afterlife. Here are some core teachings about the Jewish afterlife:
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There is an afterlife: Texts from every era in Jewish life identify a world where people go when they die. In the Bible, it’s an underworld called Sheol. In the rabbinic tradition, it’s known by a number of names, including the yeshiva shel mallah, the school on high. The Hebrew word for skies, shamayim, also came to refer to heaven.
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The afterlife can take many forms: Jewish beliefs in the afterlife are as diverse as Judaism itself, from the traditional view expecting the unity of flesh and spirit in a resurrected body, to the idea that we live on in our children and grandchildren, to a sense of heaven.
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Olam Ha-Ba: The Pharisees, who were the forerunners of the rabbis, taught that when the Torah spoke of reward for following Gods ways, the reward would be forthcoming in an afterlife, Olam Ha-Ba (world to come), as they called it. They further taught that there would be an end of time as we know it, ushered in by the Messiah, and at that time, bodily resurrection would occur (Hebrew, T'chiyat Ha-Metim) .
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The resurrection of the dead: The notion of resurrection appears in two late biblical sources, Daniel 12 and Isaiah 25-26. Some sources imply that the resurrection of the dead will occur during the messianic era. Others indicate that resurrection will follow the messianic era. Similarly, according to some, only the righteous will be resurrected, while according to others, everyone will be resurrected and a day of judgment will follow.
Despite the praises of God's "calling the dead to eternal life" in the daily prayer book and the references to paradise (Gan Eden) in the El Male prayer recited at the funeral and during Yizkor services, the afterlife does not function as a major Jewish belief among modern Jews.
