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The end of the world according to Judaism
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True or false? All branches of Judaism believe the same thing when it comes to the end of the world.
The “end of days” is a phrase that appears several times in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh. Important to the “end of days” is the Jewish Holy Land, known as the Land of Israel. The Jewish people have been forced to leave the Land of Israel many times. In the 500s BCE they are conquered by the Babylonians, and their rebellion against the later Roman empire is crushed in 70 and 135 CE, when they are again sent away - exiled. As they are forced to move, they are sometimes treated poorly and face discrimination.
Today, there are Jewish people living in different places all over the world. This big, global Jewish community is called the Jewish diaspora. So an important part of ideas of the end of the world in Judaism is the Jewish diaspora returning to their homeland. It will be the Gathering of Israel. A prophet named Amos writes that God said: “I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, He continues: “I will plant them upon their land, and they shall never again be plucked up out of the land that I have given them.” As the end of days draws near, many Jews believe that God will also fight in a violent war against two representatives of evil known as Gog and Magog.
This will be the final battle between good and evil… and “good” will win! After this war, many Jews believe that a savior - a messiah - will rule over the Jewish people and bring peace forever. The Book of Jeremiah in the Tanakh states that the Messiah will be a great leader, a king, descended from King David. The time when the Messiah reigns over all people is called the Messianic Age. It is often referred to by Jews as olam ha-ba, meaning ‘the world to come’.
The Messianic Age is also a sign of the end of the world as we know it. Many Jews believe that at this time, God will bring the dead back to life to join “the world to come” — they will be resurrected. But what happens between death and resurrection? Lots of Jews believe in a paradise called Gan Eden, ‘the Garden of Eden’, and in a place where people become aware of the negative actions of their life - Gehinnom. Gehinnom is not Hell, the same way that other Abrahamic religions think about Hell.
Judaism has never clearly defined what Gehinnom is. The most common belief is that it is either a place for temporary punishment, or for purification. It is often thought that most people will move from Gehinnom to Gan Eden after 12 months, and then they will wait in Gan Eden to be resurrected. But different branches of Judaism believe slightly different things about the end of the world. Among the most strictly traditional - Orthodox - Jews, one of the most important beliefs about the end of days has to do with an important Jewish holy place: the ancient Temple in Jerusalem.
It was destroyed twice, most recently in 70 CE. Many Orthodox Jews believe that the Messiah will rebuild this temple; it will become the Third Temple. But some Jews reject Orthodox ideas about the end times. Many do not believe that the world will really end, or that the dead will really be resurrected. They also don’t believe in rebuilding the Third Temple.
They also aren’t necessarily sure if the Messiah will be just one person. They see these things as metaphors for the exile of the past, and the peaceful Messianic Age of the future.