I know that Jews believe in Heaven, but is it said in Jewish text that there is a hell?
Thank you for your question. Jews believe in an afterlife, and in fact that afterlife is the main purpose of creation. This world is just a means for us to earn the world-to-come. However, it is not written anywhere explicitly in the Torah about the afterlife (although there are many, many implicit references to it and it is a fundamental Jewish belief that the Torah refers to the afterlife). The Ramban explains that the Torah is a code for living in this world, and therefore the world-to-come is not relevant to us now. In addition, it is impossible to describe the world-to-come in any terms that make sense, since it is outside our experience. We don’t have language or analogies which make any sense as a true description.
We believe that the world-to-come is a time of receiving our reward and punishment for actions in this world. In some books you may see this referred to as heaven, but that is not a meaningful word in this context. Different souls will have differing experiences of the afterlife, some better than others. However, in Judaism the worst punishment is not hell, but (as the Rambam writes) the complete death of the soul – in other words not having any afterlife at all. There are several sins described in the Torah which carry this punishment (kares) but Nefesh Hachaim explains that even though a person has transgressed one or many of these sins they still have hope for an afterlife.
Rabbi David Sedley