Editing Jewish principles of faith (section)

===Reward and punishment===
{{See also|Divine providence in Judaism}}
The mainstream Jewish view is that [[God]] will reward those who observe His commandments and punish those who intentionally transgress them. Examples of rewards and punishments are described throughout the Bible, and throughout classical rabbinic literature. The common understanding of this principle is accepted by most Orthodox and Conservative and many Reform Jews; it is generally rejected by the Reconstructionists.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Rebecca Alpert |title=The Cambridge Dictionary of Judaism and Jewish Culture |chapter=Judaism, Reconstructionist |page=346 |year=2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press }}</ref>

The rewards and punishments described by Jewish texts occur both in this life (e.g. health, wealth, offspring as rewards; suffering, poverty, death as punishments) and in the afterlife. According to the [[Talmud]], after death Jewish sinners go to a purifying place (sometimes referred to as ''Gehinnom'', i. e., Hell, but more analogous to the Christian [[Purgatory]]) to "learn their lesson". There is, however, for the most part, no eternal damnation. The vast majority of souls only go to that reforming place for a limited amount of time (less than one year). Certain categories of sinners are spoken of as having "no part in the [[world to come]]", but this appears to mean annihilation rather than an eternity of torment. In the rationalist conception of [[Maimonides]], if one perfected his intellect through Torah study, then the part of his intellect that connected to God &ndash; the [[active intellect]] &ndash; would be immortalized and enjoy the "Glory of the Presence" for all eternity. Punishment in the afterlife would simply be that this would not happen; no part of one's intellect would be immortalized with God. 

The [[Kabbalah]] (mystical tradition in Judaism) contains further elaborations, though some Jews do not consider these authoritative. For example, it admits the possibility of [[reincarnation]], which is generally rejected by non-mystical Jewish theologians and philosophers. It also believes in a triple soul, of which the lowest level (''nefesh'' or animal life) dissolves into the elements, the middle layer (''ruach'' or intellect) goes to ''Gan Eden'' (Paradise) while the highest level (''neshamah'' or spirit) seeks union with God.