same as muslim day of judgement hell or heaven as punishment or award. same stuff not to different

same as muslim day of judgement hell or heaven as punishment or award. same stuff not to different

Judaism teaches that a person is a soul in a body. The body is a temporary home for the soul, which lives on after one's human life ends. For that matter, the soul was alive before the person was born as well. Judaism believes that a soul enters a body and lives as a human being, in order to have the chance to fulfill G-d's mission for Creation. (Yes, ironically, a soul in heaven does not have that opportunity.) After death, the soul reaps the benefit (or otherwise) of its achievements in this life. In other words, if a person lived up to G-d's expectations from them (to be a moral, spiritual person, or as a Jew, to live according to the Torah), then that person's soul feels blessed and at home in the spiritual realm it enters after death. This is called Heaven. A soul in Heaven enjoys access to Divine energy, which is a far greater pleasure than any physical experience. (The Talmud [Avot 4:17] says: "Better one moment of the World to Come, than an entire lifetime in this world".) But, if a person does not fulfill their mission in this life, then they cannot enter the spiritual experience of Heaven. It's as if their soul has been dirtied, and needs to be cleansed. Judaism believes that G-d has no interest in punishing us, so He devised a system of cleansing such souls. It is called "Gehinnom", and usually poorly translated as "Hell". The Gehinnom experience is a soul-cleansing process. It is not a pleasant experience (one moment of Gehinnom is worse than a lifetime of suffering). Once the soul has been through that process, it is allowed access to Heaven. The maximum sentence for a soul to spend in Gehinnom is 12 months. Judaism also believes in reincarnartion. This allows a souls the opportunity to either "try again" or elevate itself to even higher consciousness (and a "higher" spot in Heaven) by returning to human form and doing an amazing job of serving G-d's purpose for Life. Seeing as G-d is infinite, the potential for improving one's spiritual level is also unlimited. Finally, Judaism believes that Heaven is not the last stop for a soul. Jews believe there will be a time of unfettered Divine revelation in THIS world when the Messiah comes. At that time, all the souls of people who lived a righteous life will be returned to Earth. This is known as the Resurrection of the Dead, a fundamental belief of Judaism- and the ultimate destination for a soul.

the answer above was excellent, and went into quite a bit of depth, but I believe (unless I'm mistaken that the time in "soul cleansing" is 11 earth months not 12. regards