Same extended family, different ideas

Wanted to make a comment and ask a question in response to something Josh said last night. It's only been in the last year that I've learned that ancient (B.C.) Jewish thinking did not tend to include the idea of an afterlife or heaven as we think about it today (and learned it from a friend who is also a big NT Wright fan, go figure). So I identify with Josh's sentiment that there's got to be more in their worldview/identity than just, "I'm a part of the nation of Israel and that's good enough for me."

True, part of it is me/us projecting a Christian understanding onto ancient Jewishness, something that is often not helpful and something against which NTW seems always to be working. But at the same time I think it's an entirely fair question to ask since all the other major religions are very much interested in what happens after we die and what affects our status then. Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam--whose adherents also count themselves among Abram's kin--all have some stance or another on the matter. And since its closest cousins--Christianity and Islam--have well-developed notions of heaven, I think it's logical to wonder about Judaism's view on it.

So does anyone know? Either from an ancient or a modern day perspective?

Sing with me now...