After the soul departs from the body, it returns to its origin to face a final reckoning. The questions asked are simple but profound: Did you use your time here wisely? Did you live up to your full potential? Did you connect with the Almighty and achieve your true purpose, or did you get swept up in the trivial and temporary things of this world?
Life After Death: Exploring the Eternal Journey
“Life after death”-it’s one of the most captivating and mysterious concepts in existence, usually shrouded in a sense of mysticism. But is there truth behind it? Is death truly the final word? And according to Judaism, what exactly happens after we die?
This remains one of the world’s most burning questions: When the body stops functioning, does life stop too, or is there a “next chapter”? On the surface, it’s hard to know what happens in a place from which no one returns. In reality, however, we can know quite a bit-both from accounts of those who have glimpsed the “other side” and from the Jewish tradition passed down since the revelation at Sinai.
Evidence from the “Other Side”
There are countless documented cases of Near-Death Experiences (NDEs), where people provide detailed descriptions of what they encountered on the other side. They often share specific details they saw or heard during the experience that defy rational explanation-such as events happening on other floors of the hospital or in distant locations while they were clinically dead.
While some scientists dismiss these as biological phenomena or the brain playing tricks, others argue the opposite. For those who rely solely on “pure science,” the material world is all that exists. However, science is limited to the tangible; it cannot study what lies beyond human consciousness. Faith and mystical traditions, on the other hand, lean into these mysteries, often providing more satisfying explanations for extraordinary phenomena-like toddlers speaking foreign languages they were never taught, communication with the deceased, or the consistent patterns found in NDEs.
What Happens Before Life Begins?
While NDEs offer a glimpse into what happens after death, we must first ask: What happens before life?
Before a soul descends into this world, it exists in a realm known as the “Hall of Souls.” When its time comes to enter this world, it is shown the spiritual realms of the afterlife and the unfolding of history. It is instructed on its specific mission and the purpose it must fulfill while dwelling within a physical body.
Then, a miracle of creation occurs: a physical mass suddenly becomes a living being. Cells connect and grow into limbs, organs, and a brain. In a single moment, this silent form receives a soul and becomes a conscious being with a unique personality.
According to Jewish thought, a human being is a fusion of two opposites: the physical body-“For dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19)-and the spiritual soul-“And He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7). In their original state, these two parts are separate. Their miraculous connection creates life. Death, then, is simply the reversal of this process: each part returns to its source. The body returns to the earth, and the soul continues its eternal life, just as it existed before entering the physical world.
What Happens After Life?
The Bible does not provide an exhaustive description of the “World to Come.” One reason is our inability to grasp concepts that have no parallel in our earthly experience. As long as we see, hear, and breathe within a world of physical dimensions and limits, spiritual concepts remain elusive.
The transition from this world is often compared to a fetus in the womb. A fetus cannot conceive of “life after birth.” Even if you could communicate with it, you couldn’t explain light, color, or social interaction; it simply lacks the necessary sensory framework. We are currently in a similar “embryonic” state. Just because we cannot feel what it’s like for the soul to leave the body doesn’t mean that reality doesn’t exist-it is simply vibrating on a higher spiritual plane.
The Stages of the Soul’s Journey
In the Talmud (Tractate Bava Batra, 10a), there is an account of an experience resembling a near-death event. The son of one of the sages fell ill and passed away. Miraculously, he later revived, and his father asked him what he had seen in the world beyond. The son replied: “I saw an upside-down world-those who are above are below, and those who are below are above.”
The commentators explain that he meant the following: people who appear important in this world, who pride themselves on others and see themselves as “all-powerful,” are lowly in the World of Truth; while those regarded in this world as simple and humble are granted great honor there. But his father responded, “An upside-down world? You saw a clear world!”-meaning that this is how things truly are, only that it is in the higher world, the World to Come, that this truth can be seen properly.
There are scientists who reject the idea of near-death experiences. They argue that such experiences have natural explanations: the brain releases specific hormones that cause hallucinations, the supply of oxygen to the brain is impaired, the visions are mental images produced by a brain on the verge of collapse, and other similar explanations.
Two senior British physicians, Sam Parnia and Peter Fenwick, decided to investigate the issue and studied patients who had undergone near-death experiences. They reached the following conclusion:
“Under the circumstances in which we worked, ‘near-death experiences’ occurred while the patient was unconscious. This is a surprising fact, since at that time the brain was shut down, nonfunctional, and the memory-supporting systems were impaired. Such complex experiences should not have been able to occur in the patient’s brain, and certainly should not have been recorded as memories. At best, patients should have reported a series of disorganized and incoherent images.”
From this, the researchers concluded that clinical death does indeed reveal something about what happens to us after the soul leaves the body.
Dr. Eben Alexander, an American neurosurgeon, had a near-death experience and published his reflections in the books Proof of Heaven and The Map of Heaven. These works explore life after death from a dual perspective: on the one hand, that of someone who personally experienced a clinical death, and on the other, that of a brain doctor.
After his brain was attacked by a violent bacterial infection, he was declared brain-dead and fell into a coma for seven days. Contrary to the doctors’ grim predictions, he woke up and recovered. Dr. Alexander described the extraordinary visions he experienced during his state of brain death and argues that what he went through while his brain was not functioning proves the existence of the soul and of spiritual realms.
Professor Bruce Greyson is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia. He has devoted much of his career to the study of near-death experiences, and is often referred to as “the father of near-death experience research.”
In 2009, Greyson, together with Janice Miner Holden and Debbie James, published The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation, a comprehensive volume reviewing research conducted in this field over three decades. In one of the chapters, he presents the naturalistic explanations proposed by the medical community for the spiritual-world testimonies of those who have undergone near-death experiences-and then systematically refutes them, one by one.
Kabbalists explained that as part of a person’s process of spiritual repair, souls are reincarnated in bodies again and again until they reach complete rectification. An unexpected illustration of this idea was provided by Brian Weiss, a Jewish psychiatrist from Miami, who encountered an unexplained phenomenon in his clinical practice.
He was treating a woman named Catherine who suffered from anxiety, nightmares, and a fear of suffocation. Among other methods, he used hypnosis. When he asked her to go back in time to a difficult experience she had undergone, she did not stop at childhood. Instead, she reported an event that seemed to have taken place thousands of years earlier, in a completely different setting. Catherine described in vivid detail the drowning of a woman and her infant in what appeared to be the ancient Near East.
What was most striking came afterward: once the hypnosis session ended, all of her anxieties and fears disappeared. Weiss concluded that simply bringing this ancient memory to the surface had healed a particular part of her psyche. He went on to use this “regression” method with many other patients and achieved remarkable results (his waiting list now includes 5,000 people). At the same time, he was ostracized by the medical establishment because of his “unorthodox” approach. In recent years, however, many in the medical field have begun to accept his ideas, even though they do not fully understand how they work. Incidentally, one of his best-known patients is Shari Arison, Israel’s wealthiest woman, who has said that her treatment with Weiss changed her life.
In the Talmud (Tractate Bava Batra, 10a), there is an account of an experience resembling a near-death event. The son of one of the sages fell ill and passed away. Miraculously, he later revived, and his father asked him what he had seen in the world beyond. The son replied: “I saw an upside-down world-those who are above are below, and those who are below are above.”
The commentators explain that he meant the following: people who appear important in this world, who pride themselves on others and see themselves as “all-powerful,” are lowly in the World of Truth; while those regarded in this world as simple and humble are granted great honor there. But his father responded, “An upside-down world? You saw a clear world!”-meaning that this is how things truly are, only that it is in the higher world, the World to Come, that this truth can be seen properly.
Dr. Eben Alexander, an American neurosurgeon, had a near-death experience and published his reflections in the books Proof of Heaven and The Map of Heaven. These works explore life after death from a dual perspective: on the one hand, that of someone who personally experienced a clinical death, and on the other, that of a brain doctor.
After his brain was attacked by a violent bacterial infection, he was declared brain-dead and fell into a coma for seven days. Contrary to the doctors’ grim predictions, he woke up and recovered. Dr. Alexander described the extraordinary visions he experienced during his state of brain death and argues that what he went through while his brain was not functioning proves the existence of the soul and of spiritual realms.
Kabbalists explained that as part of a person’s process of spiritual repair, souls are reincarnated in bodies again and again until they reach complete rectification. An unexpected illustration of this idea was provided by Brian Weiss, a Jewish psychiatrist from Miami, who encountered an unexplained phenomenon in his clinical practice.
He was treating a woman named Catherine who suffered from anxiety, nightmares, and a fear of suffocation. Among other methods, he used hypnosis. When he asked her to go back in time to a difficult experience she had undergone, she did not stop at childhood. Instead, she reported an event that seemed to have taken place thousands of years earlier, in a completely different setting. Catherine described in vivid detail the drowning of a woman and her infant in what appeared to be the ancient Near East.
What was most striking came afterward: once the hypnosis session ended, all of her anxieties and fears disappeared. Weiss concluded that simply bringing this ancient memory to the surface had healed a particular part of her psyche. He went on to use this “regression” method with many other patients and achieved remarkable results (his waiting list now includes 5,000 people). At the same time, he was ostracized by the medical establishment because of his “unorthodox” approach. In recent years, however, many in the medical field have begun to accept his ideas, even though they do not fully understand how they work. Incidentally, one of his best-known patients is Shari Arison, Israel’s wealthiest woman, who has said that her treatment with Weiss changed her life.
There are scientists who reject the idea of near-death experiences. They argue that such experiences have natural explanations: the brain releases specific hormones that cause hallucinations, the supply of oxygen to the brain is impaired, the visions are mental images produced by a brain on the verge of collapse, and other similar explanations.
Two senior British physicians, Sam Parnia and Peter Fenwick, decided to investigate the issue and studied patients who had undergone near-death experiences. They reached the following conclusion:
“Under the circumstances in which we worked, ‘near-death experiences’ occurred while the patient was unconscious. This is a surprising fact, since at that time the brain was shut down, nonfunctional, and the memory-supporting systems were impaired. Such complex experiences should not have been able to occur in the patient’s brain, and certainly should not have been recorded as memories. At best, patients should have reported a series of disorganized and incoherent images.”
From this, the researchers concluded that clinical death does indeed reveal something about what happens to us after the soul leaves the body.
Professor Bruce Greyson is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia. He has devoted much of his career to the study of near-death experiences, and is often referred to as “the father of near-death experience research.”
In 2009, Greyson, together with Janice Miner Holden and Debbie James, published The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation, a comprehensive volume reviewing research conducted in this field over three decades. In one of the chapters, he presents the naturalistic explanations proposed by the medical community for the spiritual-world testimonies of those who have undergone near-death experiences-and then systematically refutes them, one by one.
"I once died. I was dead, and I was no longer here. The whole family was driving in the car. I remember my miserable children sitting in the back seat, crying bitterly over their father who was gone, my wife pale…"
Radio host Beni Bashan decided to launch a new segment on his IDF Radio show, “Beni on the Radio,” called “Beni, No One Will Believe What Happened to Me.” The idea was for listeners to share especially surprising events they had experienced. When he began working on the new segment, he had no idea what the very first astonishing story would be that would come to him-almost by chance.
When former minister Yossi Sarid, one of the leaders of the far-left Meretz party, came on air ahead of his regular Hebrew-language segment, Bashan asked him almost casually, “Yossi, has anything ever happened to you that people didn’t believe?”
To his surprise, Sarid told an unbelievable story: ”I once died. I was dead, and I was no longer here. We were driving as a family in the car. I remember my miserable children sitting in the back, crying bitterly over their father who had departed, my wife pale…”
“I don’t believe you,” the broadcaster remarked.
“It happened, but no one believes it happened to me,” Sarid insisted. “We were driving, and suddenly I felt faint and was flooded by an intense wave of heat. Then I suddenly felt myself rising and flying upward. I felt a very deep sensation of the soul leaving the body.”
Beni Bashan: “Wait-are you saying you felt a separation between the soul and the body?”
Sarid: “Yes. Yes. I felt the soul leaving the body. As a flying soul, I looked down at the earth, and then I saw my family continuing to drive in the car, with my wife heading immediately to the hospital. That’s where we eventually arrived. When I reached the hospital, I returned to myself.”
Bashan: “And during that time you’re seeing them from above, like in the movies?”
Sarid: “I don’t know how it is in the movies-maybe I wasn’t in that movie. But this happened in real life.”
Bashan: “So there is a separate entity, which is your soul?”
Sarid: “Yes, you’re being precise. The soul separates from the body.”
Bashan: “And does it have some kind of external form?”
Sarid: “That I don’t really remember. And I don’t believe in the survival of the soul at all, you understand? It’s even contrary to my ideology.”
Bashan: “What you’re telling me here-and the fact that it’s coming from you, one of the most rational, logical, and cynical people I know-is surprising. And you’re stating it as fact… Did you also see your body?”
Sarid: “I don’t remember seeing my body, but I saw them. Apparently my body remained there, but it wasn’t part of the image I saw from above.”
Bashan: “And you’re on your way upward?”
Sarid: “I reached the end of the path, and I was already there, observing from afar, from the sky.”
Bashan: “And how do you return to your body?”
Sarid: “When I arrived at the hospital, I returned to myself.
“When I was supposedly an ‘important’ person, my family kept their distance from my ‘importance’ as far as east from west, and they had no part or share in my public life. But in this case, because it was a matter of life and death, of mortal danger, I remember my wife saying-surprisingly and uncharacteristically-‘We brought Yossi Sarid.’ The doctors gathered around me, began examining me, and their impression was that I would not die, that I would live.”
Bashan: “How did they diagnose you?”
Sarid: “As a living person who had gone through some kind of episode, not necessarily medically diagnosable. I even remember one doctor saying he was familiar with such a phenomenon, where a person suddenly feels an internal wave of heat surging upward and pushing him up. Apparently that was the case, but there was no medical diagnosis. Sometimes maybe the soul wants to be released and leave. It wants freedom-to look at other things, from outside this inner cage.”
At this point, the broadcaster Beni Bashan-who is not a religious person-could be heard sounding completely stunned. ”Yossi, I’m taking this with me for the rest of my life,” he said. “There are many things I like to sign off on with a proud ‘I don’t know.’ For me, your testimony is the most convincing testimony I could have received.”
Toward the end of the conversation, Sarid mentioned a book he had received about cases of clinical death, and said that he had not met his deceased loved ones or God, as described in the book. He added that such a meeting would probably never happen, because he does not believe that his experience had any connection to divinity or to the afterlife.
“I don’t accept your claim, and we’ll probably argue about it someday,” said Beni Bashan-known as a completely secular artist and broadcaster-who seemed to have had something fundamental in his worldview shaken by this conversation.
