thread: 2007-01-10 : Some questions about worship
On 2007-01-17, Charles S wrote:
Well, on the Messiah, its more complex than that. The idea of a individual human messiah is rejected by Reform Judaism, but is embraced by some branches of Orthodox Judaism. The afterlife question is more subtle still. I think many religious Jews imagine an afterlife, and will (for instance) console themselves with the idea that their dead daughter is in heaven, but I think the idea that we live on in the memories of others is even more important, and I think the religion itself is largely quiet on the subject, and it certainly isn't supposed to influence how you live your life. Most of which is radically different from Christianity and Islam, which are very concerned with the afterlife and Heaven and Hell.
I am not Jewish, so my understanding is second hand, but both my spouse Sarah and my partner Barry are Jewish, so my second hand is relatively intimate.
Also, there's this weird thing where non-Jews often think of Orthodox Jews as religious Jews and Reform Jews as non-religious. I'm not sure if you are doing that or not when you say religious Jews.
