Beatific Vision

Will the heavenly people see God's face in heaven? Or more precisely see God's essence in heaven?

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

Belief in the afterlife is fundamental to Judaism. In English it is referred to as “heaven” while Jews refer to it as “olam haba” – the next world.

When a person dies, the body is buried, returning to the ground from where it came, and the soul, too, returns to where it came from: the spiritual world. The body is temporary, but the soul is forever.

All the good deeds that a person does in his lifetime gives spiritual “energy” to the soul. The more spiritual energy the soul has when the body dies, the more the soul will enjoy its place in olam haba. This is why it is so important to perform as many mitzvot/good deeds as one can in one's lifetime. The rewards are saved up and revealed in olam haba.

Although no one has gone to olam haba and come back to give us details and descriptions as to what takes place there, Jewish tradition does fill in some of the blanks. We believe that in olam haba the soul enjoys the pleasure of being in God’s presence. Not exactly "seeing God" but just a wonderful feeling of being in His presence. It is a world that is totally spiritual where we are able to enjoy spiritual pleasure without the limitations of a body. For example, there is no hunger, no thirst, just spiritual pleasure from being in the presence of God and his heavenly hosts.

After the Messiah comes, there will be a resurrection of the dead, another fundamental principle of Judaism. At the resurrection, the soul will return to its earthly body and the entire world will be a more spiritual place.

There is much more to say, but I trust that this small glimpse into the Jewish view of Heaven suffices for now.