From
dark netherworld populated by ghosts to reincarnation to multiple souls: The
Jewish concept of the afterlife has been to hell and back. There's a Jewish
joke that says there's no Heaven or Hell: we all go to the same place when we
die, where Moses and Rabbi Akiva give constant and everlasting classes on the
Bible and the Talmud. For the righteous this is eternal bliss, while for the
wicked this is eternal suffering. But that's a joke. What do Jews actually
believe happens to them after death? There is no simple answer: at different
times and in different places, Jews had different ideas. These varying thoughts
were never reconciled or canonically decided. Thus, even today, Jews believe in
different, often irreconcilable, theories of what life after death is like. We
will explore these views, starting at the beginning - in the Bible. Read this
great overview of Jewish beliefs about the afterlife at -- http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-features/.premium-1.638100
The witnesses, laying their coats at the feet of Saul, were the men that would cast the first stones at Stephen in Acts 7. Why did they all lay their coats at Saul’s feet? The Talmud contains a very interesting account of the act of stoning that may provide the answer. “When the trial was over, they take him [the condemned person] out to be stoned. The place of stoning was at a distance from the court, as it is said, ‘Take out the one who has cursed.’ [i] A man stands at the entrance of the court; in his hand is a signaling flag [Hebrew sudarin = sudar , ‘scarf, sweater’]. A horseman was stationed far away but within sight of him. If one [of the judges] says, ‘I have something [more] to say in his favor,’ he [the signaler] waves the sudarin , and the horseman runs and stops them [from stoning him]. Even if [the condemned person] himself says, ‘I have something to say in my favor,’ they bring him back, even four of five times, only provided that there is some substance to...
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