Soul After Death

Answer

Thanks for asking this great question. This concept is one that we find in movies, and paid entertainers like to say that they “see” spirits. There is no question that, according to the Jewish religion, there have been people in the past who had the power to be able to do “black magic” – to tap into the spiritual world and do things that others could not. In fact, our Talmud relates stories of people who had various spiritual powers.

However, we are told not to mess with it. Our viewpoint on the issue is that nothing good can come from trying to tap into “black magic.” However, regardless of whether or not there are people today with this ability, we should think about why we would want to have such power and what we would do with it?

The Jewish view of a soul is not that, after death, it sticks around on Earth to watch over us. Rather, once a body is buried, the soul returns to its “home.” There are stories recorded in the Talmud of people coming to other people in dreams after they die. How much we can understand this is a question. The Talmud teaches us that we do not have the power of prophecy anymore, so dream interpretation is not really possible on a deeply true level.

Nevertheless, it is true that the soul “hangs around the body” before it is buried. That is why Jewish practice is to bury the body as quickly as possible after death, and this is why it is strictly prohibited to do anything to the body (e.g. drain the blood, cremation, etc).

I hope that this helped! Please feel free to write back if you have further questions.

Be Well,

Rabbi Litt