What is the belief of Jews about the Judgment Day?

Answer 1

Judaism doesn't spend a lot of time discussing what will happen when we die, since the focus is on this life. There is also little mention of what happens after death in the Tanakh (Jewish Bible). There are some loose ideas of what may happen when we die:

* When we die, our souls are cleansed. To accomplish this, we must account for all our actions in life, both good and bad. It's believed that this process doesn't take more than 12 months but few people do enough bad in life to warrant it taking the full 12 months.

* Some souls may return to God to wait for the world to come.

* Some souls may be reincarnated as another person to have to opportunity to do more good in the world to become closer to God.

* Some people are so evil in life that their souls cannot survive the cleansing process and cease to exist.

• Answer:

One of the central beliefs of Judaism, as stated in the Talmud (Mishna, Sanhedrin 11:1) and codified by Maimonides (1135-1204), is that the soul continues to exist and is treated in accordance with the person's actions while he or she was alive. This applies to all people, whatever their religion.
The Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) doesn't dwell at length on the afterlife; and nor does Judaism spend a lot of time speculating on its details. However, that is not meant to diminish its importance. Rather, the Torah implies that we are to use the bulk of our energies in keeping God's ways in this world, with our feet firmly planted on Earth, while nonetheless not losing awareness of our beliefs.
Our ancient sages stated the importance of being aware of the next world: "This world is a mere entrance-hall before the afterlife" (Mishna, Avot ch.4).
All outstanding accounts are settled after this life. Some cases illustrate this point, since this entire world wouldn't be enough to reward a Moses or punish a Hitler. And while we're alive, knowledge of the future world serves as one of the motivations to keeping God's will.
The Tanakh does not delve into detail of the rewards of the righteous because religions could compete with more and more poetic promises. Also because belief in the afterlife was shared by all ancient societies and needed little reiteration. Besides, it would be like describing the colors of a sunrise to someone who was blind from birth.
It is, however, referred to briefly in Torah verses such as Genesis 15:15, which states that "You (Abraham) will come to your fathers in peace and will be buried in good old age." Coming to his fathers does not mean simply to be buried with them, since Abraham was not buried with his ancestors. Such verses are stated many times.
The prophets are more explicit with such references (see Isaiah 26:19 and 66:24, Daniel 12:13, Zechariah 3:7, 1 Kings 8:30, 2 Kings ch.2, Ecclesiastes 12:7). The afterlife is spoken of at length in the Talmud. More than 20 pages of Talmud (Sanhedrin 90-110, Rosh Hashanah 16-18, and other passages) are given to this subject.

Answer 2

Jewish answer:

1) Every Rosh Hashanah is a judgment day, when individuals as well as entire countries, are judged as to what will happen to them in the coming year.

2) When the moshiach (messiah) will come, the world will be judged.

3) Still later, when the dead will arise, the world will be judged, both individuals and nations.

In addition, every individual is being judged constantly (Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 16a) concerning small things.

Answer 3

Judaism doesn't spend a lot of time discussing what will happen when we die, since the focus is on this life. There is also little mention of what happens after death in the Tanakh (Jewish Bible). There are some loose ideas of what may happen when we die:

* When we die, our souls are cleansed. To accomplish this, we must account for all our actions in life, both good and bad. It's believed that this process doesn't take more than 12 months but few people do enough bad in life to warrant it taking the full 12 months.

* Some souls may return to God to wait for the world to come.

* Some souls may be reincarnated as another person to have to opportunity to do more good in the world to become closer to God.

* Some people are so evil in life that their souls cannot survive the cleansing process and cease to exist.

Answer:
One of the central beliefs of Judaism, as codified by Rambam (Maimonides), is that the soul continues to exist and is treated in accordance with the person's actions while he/she was alive. All outstanding accounts are settled after this life. Some cases illustrate this point, since this entire world wouldn't be enough to reward a Moses or punish a Hitler.
The afterlife is detailed at length in the Talmud. A full 20 pages of Talmud (Sanhedrin 90-110) are given to this subject. The afterlife is also referred to briefly in Torah (Bible) verses such as Genesis 15:15, which states that "You (Abraham) will come to your fathers in peace and will be buried in good (ripe; full) old age." This does not mean merely to be buried withone's forefathers, since Abraham was not buried with them. Such verses are stated many times.
The prophets are more explicit with such references (such as Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12:13).
The Tanakh does not delve into detail of the rewards of the righteous, because other religions could compete with even more poetic promises. Also because belief in the afterlife was shared by all ancient societies and needed little reiteration. See the Kli Yakar commentary to Leviticus ch.26 for a fuller discussion.