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Judaism: Good and Evil, Heaven and Hell The concepts of good and evil in Judaism-- and the realization of their judgement in heaven and hell-- are important aspects of the relationship with good and the human understanding of his actions and covenants on earth. Both the duality of mans nature the the influence of Gods will in perpetuating goodness is central to Jewish thought on good and evil and on the assessment of the overall positivity of human existence. Jewish thought has evolved over the course of its several-thousand-year history in order to explain the existence and even prevalence of evil, pain and suffering in a world created by a good God. Humanity from the talmudic era to the present times has questioned the trials that are put before it, and in the course of explaining the evil committed by nature or by man against man, three basic thought processes have been developed: Evil as the absence of good, evil and good as processes used to test man and teach him to follow the teachings of the torah and the mandates of the covenant, and the misuse of ones nature to create evil and evil situations (Bard). Depending on the interpretation of good and evil, the Jewish view of heaven and hell differs from that of a physical place in which ones soul is allowed to live eternally, a complex system interacting souls that persist over the ages in more than one field of existence, or a mere utopian idea. Early talmudic discourse studies whether or not God creates evil along with good, or if evil is merely an absence of good. In order to reconcile the good nature of God with the existence of evils in the form of war, plague, and suffering with the idea of godly love, mercy, and forgiveness, rabbis taught that evil manifests itself where good on the part of man is in short supply. Evil exists both in reaction to and as a result of the sins of man, influencing and affecting men. A man who sins may go through a process of suffering and tribulations stemming from his

sins, in order to properly experience the good of God in the next life. This manifestation of evil and of mans evil side can be combated with adherence to the laws and lifestyle laid out by the Torah (Rosenblatt). Heaven in this understanding of the nature of good and evil is based around a society of those who are righteous in life and who suffer the consequence of their minor sins during that life (those who attain piece in the afterlife) and another group in which those who refused to properly follow the teachings of the Torah and the Talmudic laws (Bard). Alternatively, God created evil and the processes of pain and suffering in order to educate the Jewish people in morality in the face of adversity, allowing them to choose between the degrading nature of evil and the good that is represented through the exception of the covenant given to Moses. The inclination toward evil in humanity can be viewed as the natural course of action in humanity due to its complacency. Good in man is the result of adhering to the covenants, and connecting to the good that God lays out for the Jewish people, attained the the mastering of Jewish ideals and the following of Talmudic law. The Kaballah suggests that evil is used by God in order to indicate to man when that there is a necessity for change in action or that man is mistaken in its reverence to God and upholding of religious law (Laitman). God employs the forces of evil in order to impart in man a guide to the fulfillment of his will and his covenant. The Kaballah also suggests that, in line with this idea of evil and good inclinations, people of a righteous nature who fought and truly attempted to meet the standards of Gods covenant and the good of Gods creation would be reincarnated into another creature or person in line with their actions and behavior perpetuating the infinite nature of God. The final interpretation is that human nature ultimately pushes one towards good, but that the separation of man from the basic teachings and ideals of the Jewish faith and its basic tenants

on the treatment of ones fellow man lead to evil in the form of misplaced or misused good. Evil cannot exist by itself or as an entity separate from mankind or from good, and it relates the the movement of man toward or away from God and his teachings (Bard). Mankind must commit to the relation with God that is set for the Jewish people by the covenant; they must reach for and claim the good that God offers. The extension of this into the afterlife is of minor description beyond that which states those who do good and are righteous will be rewarded and those who do otherwise will meet a different fate (Telushkin). Judaisms approach to the ever-present archetypes of good and evil and heaven and hell manifests itself in its reconciliation with the nature of its monotheistic god as a entity of good, but in way that is by no means as specific as those of Christianity, Islam, or even other neighboring and perhaps influential religions such as that of the Ancient Egyptians. The battle between the existence of a good, all-powerful God and the prevalence of evil in the world can be explained through evil as an absence of good, through evil as a tool of God to guide the Jewish people towards good and towards the reward of heaven, or as a misstep of man in his relationship to God. Each of these explanations of the duality of good and evil in the world suggests that their nature and the struggle between them are directly related the behavior of mankind and the choices that mankind makes in relation to its covenant with God, either with respect or with dismissal. Heaven under these circumstances cannot be definitively described, and in fact varies between an actual place characterized by its honoring of the righteous and damning of the wrong-doers and a system of reincarnation. The exact nature of heaven and hell in Judaism cannot be given a specific , all encompassing description or definition that covers the religious

views of all Jewish people. Rather, the essence of heaven, hell and the afterlife are up to the interpretation of adherents of the Jewish faith.

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Works Cited Bard, Mitchell G., ed. "Good and Evil." Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2013. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.

Micaelson, Jay. "Afterlife and Reincarnation." Learn Kabbalah. N.p., Apr. 2005. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. Laitman, Michael. "Kabbalah on Good & Evil | Kabbalah.info." Interview. Kabbalah on Good & Evil | Kabbalah.info. Bnei Baruch Kaballah Education & Research Institute, 2013. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. <http://www.kabbalah.info/engkab/kabbalah-video-clips/kabbalah-onand-evil>. Rosenblatt, Samuel, and Hannah Kashner. "Inclination, Good and Evil." Jewish Virtual Library. Ed. Mitchell Bard. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2013. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. Telushkin, Joseph. Afterlife. Jewish Literacy. NY: William Morrow and Co., 1991. good-