For your first question, the answer is neither. The concept of hell isn't well defined in the written nor the oral torah. Opinions differ widely, there has been input from sages, prophets, and the like...
You won't get any one answer.
However, this is from my synagogue's website:
"The Jewish mystics described a spiritual place called Gehinnom. This is usually translated as Hell, but a better translation would be the Supernal Washing Machine. Because thats exactly how it works. The way our soul is cleansed in Gehinnom is similar to the way our clothes are cleansed in a washing machine.
Put yourself in your socks shoes, so to speak. If you were to be thrown into boiling hot water and flung around for half an hour, you might start to feel that someone doesnt like you. However, the fact is that it is only after going through a wash cycle that the socks can be worn again.
We dont put our socks in the washing machine to punish them. We put them through what seems like a rough and painful procedure only to make them clean and wearable again. The intense heat of the water loosens the dirt, and the force of being swirled around shakes it off completely. Far from hurting your socks, you are doing them a favor by putting them through this process.
So too with the soul. Every act we do in our lifetime leaves an imprint on our soul. The good we do brightens and elevates our soul, and every wrongdoing leaves a stain that needs to be cleansed. If, at the end of our life, we leave this world without fixing the wrongs we have done, our soul is unable to reach its place of rest on high. We must go through a cycle of deep cleansing. Our soul is flung around at an intense spiritual heat to rid it of any residue it may have gathered, and to prepare it for entry into Heaven.
Of course, this whole process can be avoided. If we truly regret the wrong we have done and make amends with the people we have hurt, we can leave this world with clean socks.
Thats why our Sages said, Repent one day before you die. And what should you do if you dont know which day that will be? Repent today."
So essentially, the idea is you should concern yourself with living today and now.
For your second question, I will say this:
In Judaism, there is no god's message. God has entrusted us with the responsibility (and yes, it is considered a responsibility) of following the Torah. The rest of the world shouldn't follow Judaism, as this is entrusted only for the Jews. Even in Judaism, there are those that have higher responsibilities, known as Cohen's (who are descended from the Jewish Priests who worked in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem). If you ever meet a Jew with the last name Cohen, and there are many, then that is why. The only thing Non-Jew's have the responsibility of keeping is the Seven Noahide laws. The Seven Laws of Noah demonstrate that Al-mighty G-d has rules and laws for all human beings, and that G-d loves us all. He does not leave anyone, Jew or non-Jew without guidance. To the non-Jew He has given the Seven Commandments. Maimonides states "Whoever among the Nations fulfills the Seven Commandments to serve God belongs to the Righteous among the Nations, and has his share in the World to Come".
I have to have somebody to squabble with! 
