The Jewish Writers Of The Bible - 2153 Words

A walk through the green and tranquil Valley of Hinnom, below Jerusalem’s Old City walls, reveals beautiful views of the Holy Land – and some dark tales, too. Imagine a place full of fire and sulfur, with the harrowing souls of people burning there for eternity, while being tormented by hideous demons. In Luke 16, we hear the voice of a rich man in Hell. He cried out to Abraham and Lazarus, If only I had a drop of water on my tongue! Now you have imagined what Christian theologians teach is a place of eternal damnation for sinners. But does such a place really exist? Let s find out. To begin our investigation, we need to find out what the Jewish writers of the Bible believed about Hell. Many Jewish scholars claim that belief in the†¦show more content†¦We see the same language employed throughout the rest of the Old Testament to describe the fates of Moses, Aaron and even King Josiah. These men all had something in common. They were righteous men. As for the unrighteous, being â€Å"cut off from his people† is punishment for certain sins. For example, Genesis 17:14 says, Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.† or consider Exodus 31:14 - You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. The punishment of â€Å"being cut off† from your people is referred to as karat in Hebrew. In the Talmud karat means extinction of the soul and denial of a share in Olam Ha-Ba, the world to come. The Sages teach us that there will be a Resurrection. At the Resurrection, the righteous will go to everlasting life in the world to come, which is the Messianic age. But the wicked will go to a place called Gehenna. In the Mishnah, one rabbi says, This world is like a lobby before the Olam Ha-Ba. Prepare yourself in the lobby so that you may enter the banquet hall. Similarly, the Talmud says, This world is like the eve of Shabbat, and the Olam Ha-Ba is like Shabbat. He who prepares on the eve of Shabbat will have