Until recently, Conservative Judaism had never issued an official statement on the subject. Instead of affirming or denying any teaching on the afterlife, Conservative Jews tended to bypass such theological speculations altogether. Instead, they tended to critically study texts dealing with these subjects in a positive-historical fashion, by comparing and contrasting various Jewish texts with those of surrounding cultures. Pedagogical instruction in this area was minimized.

In the 1980s the Rabbinical Assembly (RA) began distributing "Afterlife", a pamphlet by Rabbi Jack Riemer. (It is not an official viewpoint.) In 1985 the Conservative movement released "Emet Ve-Emunah: Statement of Principles of Conservative Judaism", which discusses these topics on pages 28-32. It states:

For individual human beings we affirm that death does not mean extinction and oblivion. This conviction is articulated in our tradition in two doctrines:  The doctrine of the bodily resurrection of the dead, and the continuing existence after death, and through eternity, of the individual soul.  In the course of Jewish history both of these doctrines have been understood in varying ways.  For some of us these are literally true, while for others these are interpreted as metaphors.

The traditional doctrine of the "final judgement" expresses our conviction that God is Just, that his justice will prevail, and that virtue and evil will ultimately be requited.  However, we realize that God's judgement is rarely final, in the sense that genuine repentance (teshuvah), worship and deeds of loving kindness can avert the severity of God's decrees....In sum, if God is truly God, if His power is the ultimate fact in the world, then His ability to touch us is not cut off by the grave. [Emet ve-Emunah, p.29,30]

Both "Afterlife" and "Emet Ve-Emunah" can be obtained through the United Synagogue Book Service.

http://www.uscj.org/booksvc/

(212) 533-7800, ext. 2003                e-mail: BookSvc@uscj.org

JTS Philosophy Professor Neil Gillman has brought this issue into the forefront of Conservative theological discussion, with the publication of "The Death of Death". He argues that the soul is immortal, and will in some way be resurrected by God, although not in a physical fashion. An interview with him, as well as excerpts from his book, can be found at:

http://www.jtsa.edu/learnonl/chat/ngillman022298.html

http://www.jtsa.edu/pubs/books/death/cover.html

Other Conservative authorities have written on this subject, including, Louis Jacobs, leader of the Masorti movement in the United Kingdom. See the last chapter in "A Jewish Theology", from Behrman House. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, widely recognized as one of the 20th century's great theologians, dealt with this topic in "Death As Homecoming", published as the last chapter in "Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity" (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1996). Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff, a prominent member of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, and the Comittee for the Philosophy of Conservative Judaism, included a section on this topic in his new book on Jewish medical ethics "Matters of Life and Death", p.232-241 (JPS, 1998). Rabbi Wayne Dosick in covers this subject in "Living Judaism", p.313-322.

Rabbi Simchah Roth has posted a study of Maimonides' views on the afterlife and resurrection, and the place of these beliefs in the Amidah [Shemonah Esrah], the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy. These essays are available online at:

http://www.jtsa.edu/lists/rmsg/msg00095.html

http://www.jtsa.edu/lists/rmsg/msg00097.html