The Evolution of Jewish Beliefs about the Afterlife

Discussion of the afterlife is largely absent from Jewish religious discussion today, but for a long time the concept of postmortem reward and punishment was an important part of Judaism. Elon Gilad traces these ideas from their biblical origins and explains how they changed and developed. It seems that they key moment for cementing belief in the afterlife came around the first century CE, as Gilad writes (free registration required):