Question
According to Jewish tradition, does the soul goto heaven immediately when someone dies?
Answer
The idea that the soul remains near the body for three days after a person dies is mentioned in the Talmud Yerushalmi (Moed Katan 3:5): "For three days the soul hovers over the body, thinking it may go back into it, but when it sees that the appearance of the face has changed, it departs". The codes (see Beis Yosef on Tur Yoreh Deah 380) cite this as the reason for being more stringent about observing some of the laws of mourning during the first three days.