THE AFTERLIFE

In the Torah, scant mention is made of what happens to us after we die. We have obscure references to Sheol, resurrection, and passages that indicate that the dead cannot praise God as the living can. In Talmudic times, the concept of the World to Come, Olam Haba, appears, but it is unclear even to the rabbis whether Olam Haba is a place that we go to after we die or a future time related to the resurrection. By the time of the Zohar, however, a mystical view of life after death had become well clarified, and it is this view that I briefly present here. The Zohar describes what may be considered a classic near death experience. At the moment of death, the soul enters Mechpelah, the cave of the partriarchs. It travels deep into the cave until it encounters a being of light, Adam, the first man. The soul then reviews its life and procedes to Gehenna where it may experience a corrective purgatory as a result of its mistakes. After 12 months of Gehenna, the soul can then ascend to more heavenly states. However, the soul does not remain in this paradise. If there are commandments that it has not yet fulfilled, then it eventually undergoes, gilgul, reincarnation, and returns to earthly existence to further perfect itself. While the above story appeals to my sense that because I am alive, I have an eternal soul, I cannot help but wonder about bugs and insects that are also alive and demonstrate awareness. What about their souls? With respect to them, Judaism might say that an insect or animal has a nefesh, a vital soul, just as we do. However, it is believed that whereas the ruach (moral soul) and neshamah (higher self) eventually ascend to higher levels after death, the nefesh decays with the body. So too with the souls of life forms that are less evolved. Meanwhile, as for what really happens to us when we die, I guess I'll find out eventually!