What is Jewish Heaven?

Heaven in Judaism is called 'Gan Eden'.

Jewish Sources including The Talmud and The Zohar say that the 'pleasure' that the soul receives in Jewish Heaven (Gan Eden) is dependant on ow much G-d'ly Revelation the soul is able to receive

What does this mean? There is an infinite amount of G-d'ly Light and there is only a certain amount that each soul can hold of This Light.

Here is an example to explain this concept: If you take a big truck, the truck is of a certain size and can only hold a certain amount of weight and space. Whereas if you take a bigger truck, then the bigger truck can hold even more weight and space etc.

The same applies to spirituality.

The more the soul has a capacity to hold G-d'ly Light, the more the soul will receive and the more the soul receives, more pleasure comes with it.

So, how do you increase your soul's capacity?

The more your soul is active in Good Deeds and Mitzvot (Commandments) in This World, it enlarges it's capacity to receive this G-d'ly Light.

In Jewish Heaven (Gan Eden), you will see family and friends who have also left This World.

Where do Jews go when they die?

When someone dies, their soul will leave their body.

And at the first stage, the soul will still be hovering around the body and has a connection to this world.

For the first year of a persons death, their soul is still here in This World. It sees, feels and hears everything.

Slowly, slowly it starts ascending higher and higher.

And as it goes higher and higher, it will have to go through different stages to be prepared to be elevated to higher realms.

It will then need to go through a Judgement process what could be called a 'Heavenly Trial'

The 7 Levels of Jewish Heaven (Gan Eden)

There are 7 Levels of Jewish Heaven (Gan Eden) and here is the overview.

Each level in Heaven corresponds to a different group.

The first (and worst) level is 'Gallim' - those who have converted away from Judaism to another religion
The second level are Jews that serve G-d 'half half' - meaning they are a good Jew but they have some sins
The third level are Jews that had Yesurim - meaning 'a lot of problems' in This World
The fourth level are the Jews who served G-d even though they had Yesurim but were mourning the churban (destruction)
The fifth level is The Baalei Teshuva - meaning a non-Religious Jew becoming Religious and Serving G-d
The sixth level is The Jews who served G-d with real simcha (joy)
The seventh level we don't know what is there.

As you can see, when a Jew who is not religious, decides to turn to G-d and Serve Him, will be in one of the highest levels of Jewish Heaven (Gan Eden)

There is a Story in The Gemara (Jewish Text) that says: "The Place where a Baal Teshuva stands, a Tzadik cannot stand"

However, regardless of what level you are, it is important for us to be the best possible Jews we can be.

A Jew should strive to serve G-d on the 6th levels: with pure joy and not wanting anything in return.

Afterlife in Judaism

Judaism does believe in an afterlife.

As explained throughout this article, the soul is placed inside a human body and lives inside that human body throughout the human's life.

When the human dies, the soul leaves the body and over time, goes back home to Heaven.

Then, if there are still Mitzvot for the soul to do in This World, it will be sent back to complete it's mission.

Does Judaism Believe in Reincarnation?

Yes. Again as highlighted just now, if the soul still has things left to do in This World, it will descend from Heaven into a new human body and be born again.

Sometimes the mission is very shorts which is where you see people die at a young age.

Whereas others live longer lives as they still have something left to do in This World.

What we do know, is G-d is in Control and everything happens exactly as it should.

The Arizal explains that we come back into This World in reincarnations because each soul has to fulfill all 613 Mitzvot (Commandments) in thought, speech and action. The three levels each soul operates on. So, we come back as many times as we need in order to complete these Mitzvot.

Moses Reincarnation?

Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai is a reincarnation of Moshe Rabbenu.

There you have it!

Jewish Heaven - Gan Eden.

Paradise. You should spend your time in This World doing as many good deeds and Mitzvot (Commandments) as possible. And reserve the best real estate money can be: real estate in Jewish Heaven - Gan Eden.

Till next time.

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