HW 54 - Independent Research B

I can't say that i am a particularly religious person. I was raised by mixed beliefs. I went to temple with my father on the high holidays and celebrated the happy holidays with my extended family at my grandma's house around that time of year. I never woke up to a Christmas tree in the morning, but i have celebrated Hanukah with my parents every year since i was born. We don't know what the prayer you say before you light the candles means, but we do it every time, sometimes completely making it up. When my grandma died, she was cremated, which goes against Jewish beliefs. As a family we believe that there is a power out there greater then us, something that sees all and knows all. We believe in a mix of religions. Me and my mother believe very strongly in Karma. We are a spiritual family, so to speak. We believe that there is some form of life after death, and that we will be with the ones we love. We don't know what it looks like, and if you have to be good to go there. But we believe in it.

In the Jewish religion, there is no set definition as to what happens to you when you die. The main rule is that one day "the dead will be resurrected." (Jewfaq.org) It isn't clear what will happen until then. Some people say that our souls stay in our bodies, others say that it leaves and it is immortal, it all depends on what type of Jew you are and what form of Judaism you believe in. It isn't a complex religion, it is actually somewhat of an open religion, you can believe what you want will happen, as long as you obey the rules, everything will end up okay. I think that is all we want anyway.

For my expert i talked to a family friend Norman. He works at the local synagogue during the holidays. I asked him about what we Jews believe will happen to us after we die. He said that "it was open to interpretation." He said that although we still need to live right, once we die, there is no clear explanation as to what happens. He said that the soul does live on though, whether it stays in the body, or stays on this planet, the soul survives us so one day it can be resurrected. Although it may be vague, it is still clear that we don't have a set belief in what happens when we die, but we can believe what we want as long as we obey the rules. As long as we obey the rules...