What departed souls know

Question

I would like to know a little bit more about our souls. When we leave this physical world and we go to the nest world, can our souls see what happens in the physical world? Can souls there see the past of the lives of people in this world?

Answer

According to the conclusion of a long debate in the Talmud (Tractate Berachos 18b-19a), the dead are aware of events transpiring in this world. Exactly how many details they can detect, I am not sure, but I expect they can see the important things (I don’t know if they’ll still be able to follow the Yankees). At least one authority understands from this Gemara that not every soul will be able to see down into this world after death, though. Only those who were concerned and actively involved in helping people in this world will merit the vision to keep up with those for whom they sacrificed while alive.As far as soul being able to look into the past lives of others, I’m not aware. But it would seem that we will be able to see our own past lives (for those of us who have had them) as part of our personal judgment process.

For further reading on the topic of our souls, the best source I’ve seen in English are the incredibly accessible writings of Rav Aryeh Kaplan ob”m.

Good reading!

Shlomo Shulman

Follow-up question

Question

the soul being able to see the persons he has been involved in in this world in a positive sense makes me smile. What incentive to continue being involved in helping people to know the living God. However, doesn’t Ecclesiastes say in 9:5 that the dead know nothing? I thought once God breathed his spirit (breath) into the clay (body) it became a living soul. Upon death according to Ecc. 12:7 the spirit of God returns to him and the body to dust (I assume to wait until messiah comes) at which time according to Ezekiel 37 these old dry bones would once again be put back together and the spirit of God would once again be breathed into all Israel thus we would have our soul back at that time. In the meantime with the body separated from God’s spirit there is no soul. Is this on track or am I off here?

Answer

There seem to be two issues that are concerning you:

When it says in Ecclesiastes 9:5 that the dead know nothing, this is not referring to the literal dead in the sense that we usually mean. Rather, the Talmud teaches us that it means the wicked, who, because of their wasted lives, even while they are alive are considered to be dead. But those who were righteous and died are aware of what is transpiring in this world.

As far as the posthumous existence of the soul is concerned, our tradition teaches us that the soul exists independant of the body. At birth the soul is put in the person (or perhaps during gestation) and when he dies it is removed. But it always exists.