Jewish heaven, Christian hell: Rabbi Joshua ben Levi’s vision of the afterlife

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article aims to contribute to the history of medieval Jewish perceptions of the afterlife. It presents Rabbi Joshua ben Levi’s ‘Vision of heaven and hell’, a twelfth-century text that differs sharply from all other descriptions of heaven and hell, whether Jewish or Christian, by disregarding graduated judgements of sinners and the righteous in the afterlife. Rather, it depicts a strictly segregated scenario, with Jews in heaven and non-Jews in hell. Psychologically, this vision transformed privation into privilege: misfortune in this world became proof of Jewish elevation in the next one, and Christians’ prosperity in this world foretold their inevitable damnation. This study then surveys evidence of both Christian familiarity with Rabbi Joshua’s composition and subsequent Jewish notions of separate realms in the world to come. This analysis demonstrates that Jewish views of the afterworld were forged through considerable knowledge of and dialogue with Christian sources and thought, although this level of awareness did not foster amity between these religious communities.