Does Judaism believe in an afterlife, and if so why are there no references to one in the Written Torah?

Many people today, including Jews and non-Jews, are surprised to find out that Judaism has always espoused belief in the existence of an Afterlife, and in fact there are references to it in the written text.

This phenomenon perhaps stems from the fact that, certainly in comparison to Christianity and Islam, the Torah shied away from over-emphasizing promises of an afterlife to motivate its members. To the contrary, the Torah consistently promises this-worldly reward for performance of its commandments: a fruitful land, fruitful wombs, peace, prosperity, etc. Something people could see with their eyes.

One reason is perhaps because anyone can promise an afterlife. Suicide bombers operate on the assumption. And in this life there's no way to counter that argument if a believer wants to believe it. The Torah therefore emphasizes promises of the this-worldly reward for following the commandments (at least at a communal level) because it's verifiable.

However, just because the Torah emphasizes this-worldly reward (and conversely this-worldly punishment) doesn't mean it does not support belief in other-worldly reward and punishment. Indeed, the Oral Torah (the Talmud, Midrash, Zohar, etc.) bristles with details about the afterlife. However, even the Written Torah is filled with references to it.

Consider, for instance, the fact that the Torah says Adam has blown into him a "soul of life." Now, even if, as some say, the correct translation here is that God blew into Adam the "breath of life" the image is nevertheless that he received something emanating from inside the Eternal God. The word "life" here is particularly significant because, as is evident from the reference to the Tree of Life, the Hebrew word for life refers to eternal life. The imagery therefore is that God blew into Adam a "soul" or "breath" of eternal life.

Beyond the events in the Garden of Eden there are other places scattered throughout the Five Books of Moses alone that indicate the doctrine of an afterlife. The death of Abraham (Gen. 25:8), Isaac (Gen. 35:29), Jacob (Gen. 49:33), Ishmael (Gen. 25:17), Aaron (Num. 20:24) and Moses (Num. 27:13 and Deut. 32:50) are described with the conspicuous phrase, "...and he was gathered to his people." In each of these circumstances the phrase must pertain to the afterlife, because, Abraham, for instance, was the first of his line to be buried in the Cave of Machpelah and the phrase "gathered to his people" cannot be talking about the physical cemetery. It must refer to an afterlife. Aaron and Moses were buried alone and yet it says that each was "gathered to his people." These verses indicate that after death the spirit of these people joined those of their ancestors in an afterlife.

The existence of an afterlife was so self-understood that in numerous places the Torah even prohibits contacting the spirit of the dead (Leviticus, 19 and 20; Deuteronomy, 18). Among the most well known sources of an afterlife is the story of Saul (I Samuel 28:19) employing a sorceress to raise the spirit of the prophet Samuel who had died some time prior. And, of course, there are statements in the prophets like, "Your dead shall live; the dead bodies shall arise; awake and sing, you who abide in the dust..." (Isaiah) and "... the dust will return to the ground as it was [in its original state] and the spirit will return to God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

The contention that the Written Torah does not mention the Afterlife at all is simply not true. To the contrary, belief in an Afterlife in the Written Torah is so deeply embedded that it is taken for granted, and that is why statements about it appear matter-of-factly, as if an already-existing body of belief has long influenced its underpinnings.