Clinical Death and the Soul: What Science and Jewish Tradition Reveal About Life After Death

The scientific definition of death includes all of the following conditions together: cardiac arrest, absence of brain activity with no brain waves, cessation of oxygen supply to brain cells, a drop in body temperature, and paralysis of sensory perception. According to a large survey conducted by the Gallup Institute in the United States, approximately eight million Americans have returned to life after experiencing clinical death.

Millions Worldwide Who Returned From Clinical Death

Worldwide, the number of people who have returned to life after clinical death is estimated at around thirty million. What is astonishing is that most of them report remarkably similar experiences during the dying process. Some are even able to describe events that took place both near and far from their clinically dead bodies.

The large number of people revived in our generation is explained by Kenneth Ring, professor of consciousness psychology at the University of Connecticut and founder of the university’s Near Death Studies department. According to him, modern resuscitation techniques have returned many people from a state of near death back to life.

For the first time, scientists, physicians, and psychiatrists who studied patients over many years, individuals who were medically considered dead and later returned to life, began to claim that there is life after death. They found shared patterns in these accounts which, they argue, indicate that death is not annihilation.

Raymond Moody and Life After Life

Raymond A. Moody, a physician specializing in psychiatry with a degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia, presents testimonies in his book Life After Life. These accounts come from people who “saw death,” critically ill patients or accident victims who were declared dead but survived as medical miracles.

Although the experiences vary in detail, certain elements recur in all the stories. A dark tunnel, a powerful and immense light, and an encounter with a loving presence appear repeatedly. This presence communicated through the transfer of thoughts. They saw relatives and friends who had died before them coming to greet them, as well as rapid yet vivid images from their lives.

Without exception, all reported being able to see and hear everything occurring around the physical body they had left below. They described in precise detail the operating table on which they “died” or the wrecked vehicle in which they were “killed,” down to the smallest medical detail. Doctors were unable to explain how such information could be perceived when the patients were clinically dead, without pulse, breath, or brain waves.

A Personal Testimony of Leaving the Body

“I knew I was dying,” recounted a woman who had been declared dead. “I could not do anything because no one could hear me. I left my body, I have no doubt about it, because I saw my body lying on the operating table and heard the doctors giving up on me. I felt terrible because I did not want to die.

“Suddenly I saw a light. At first it was dim, but it grew stronger. It was an enormous light, impossible to describe. It enveloped everything, yet it did not blind me, and I could still see the operating room. When I was within the light, I did not understand what was happening. But when the light asked me whether I was ready to die, I felt as if I were speaking with a person. Yet it was not a person. It was the light communicating. I knew the light understood that I was not ready to die. I felt as if I were being examined. I felt so good. I felt safety and love. It is very hard to explain.”

Another Near Death Experience

Another witness, Suzy Holda, described her near death experience as follows: “I was rushed to the hospital in the fifth month of pregnancy because I was very ill. The doctors were under pressure and decided on an emergency cesarean section, but I felt calm. I think at that point I had already decided to leave.

“After that I remember losing consciousness. The next thing I recall is looking down at my body while people were bending over it. Then I saw a circle radiating white light, with blue light inside it, and I found myself being drawn into the blue light. Complete peace, calm, and beauty surrounded me. The feeling was like floating.

“I was drawn deep into a tunnel, at the end of which there was light. Inside it I heard a voice speaking to me: ‘Do you really think you have done what you needed to do? Do you intend to leave your three year old son Simon alone?’ The voice repeated this gently again and again.

“I thought to myself that if people truly understood the meaning of death, they would not be afraid. It does not matter what happens to your body, because you are not in it. I realized I was standing before a moment of choice. I could continue into the light, but instead I found myself being pulled back. There was a kind of noise, and suddenly I was back in my body, surrounded by infusions and great commotion.”

Elisabeth Kübler Ross and Decades of Research

The renowned American psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross researched this subject seriously for many years. Summarizing more than twenty years of study, she stated: “I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that life continues after physical death. By nature I am very skeptical, so I examined every aspect of this experience carefully. I discovered, for example, that people who had lost limbs reported that when they left their bodies, as souls they were whole again.

“Moreover, people blind from birth described with astonishing accuracy what the people in the room were wearing, what jewelry they had on, and what they were doing. This is impossible. How could they have known this?”

Kübler Ross saw no need to persuade others of the truth of the phenomenon. “Those who are open to hear will hear,” she said, “and those who close their ears will receive a surprise.”

Common Elements Across the World

Research into near death experiences points to many shared elements reported by millions of witnesses from all over the world. The first and universal description is floating outside and above the physical body, with full awareness of surrounding events.

Most then describe being in a luminous environment of inner beauty and moving through a dark tunnel toward a bright light. Many report a voice speaking to them. People with disabilities described a sense of release from physical constraints, and almost all reported the disappearance of fear of death.

Researchers emphasize that identical elements could not recur in the testimonies of millions of people unless they had truly experienced something real.

Modern Reflections on Death and Life

A fascinating book titled Life, published in West Germany and capturing the attention of both young and old, argues that modern people ask questions such as “Where do I come from?” and “Where am I going?” Yet because their worldview is purely material, they tend to avoid the subject of death and develop fear and anxiety around it.

Earthly life, the book claims, is only part of true life. It is a transitional stage in the soul’s journey, a period of learning. The soul enters the physical body at birth and remains connected to it until death, which is merely the removal of a garment. At times, especially during deep sleep or unconsciousness, the soul leaves the body but remains connected by a thin thread of energy.

Witnesses at the Moment of Death

Dr. Schnell, a therapist from Germany, reports that over twenty years she witnessed many dying processes and was consistently able to perceive an energetic replica of the human form taking shape above the physical body after life had ceased.

One of the most striking testimonies comes from Kübler Ross herself, who experienced a near death event. “There is a great difference between researching other people’s experiences and personal experience,” she said. “I jokingly tell myself that my case was more beautiful than all the twenty thousand cases I studied. Once you have been inside that light and experienced the peace and love, it completely changes your values and the quality of your life.”

A Testimony From the Media

“Above me was the brightest light I had ever seen. Then this presence appeared and motioned to me without words to look downward. I saw a sphere about the size of a tennis ball slowly rotating in space. I knew I would have to return to that place. As I moved toward it, it grew larger and larger. I did not want to return. I wanted to remain where I was and continue onward. Today I understand that this sphere was the Earth. I saw it with all its colors. This was long before there were photographs from space.”

This testimony comes from Joel Fried, documented in the video Visions of Hope, released in Britain. The film presents testimonies of people who experienced near death experiences, known to researchers as Near Death Experiences and more commonly to the public as clinical death.

Fried recounts that his story began on an ordinary British Friday afternoon. The doctor called to his bedside could only pronounce him dead and inform his father. “My father later told me they were preparing to transfer my body to a hospital for an autopsy, but my mother, a religious Jewish woman, would not allow this before the end of Shabbat. Early Sunday morning I woke up and began making sounds that seriously frightened the person standing beside my body.”

Fried sums up the impact of the experience on his life in one sentence: “I know this is not the final station.”

Another witness, Trudy Lays, summarized her experience simply: “Now I know beyond any doubt that I am not this body.”

Classical Jewish Sources and Modern Science

After reviewing modern scientific research on this subject, it is astonishing to discover the profound parallel between these findings and what Jewish tradition described thousands of years ago regarding what happens to a person after leaving the body.

“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come… until the silver cord is snapped… and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Kohelet 12:1–7).

Jewish tradition, which preceded science by millennia, not only knew that there is life after death but also revealed to the Jewish people what awaits a person after physical death. The sages taught: “Reflect upon three things and you will not come to sin. Know from where you came, where you are going, and before whom you will give an account” (Pirkei Avot 3:1).

Five Central Findings Reflected in Jewish Sources

Modern research highlights five key findings:

1. There is the possibility of returning to life after clinical death.

2. The deceased encounter a great and powerful light, a loving presence that communicates through thought.

3. People see their lives pass before them in rapid yet chronological review.

4. Relatives and friends who died earlier come to greet them.

5. The dead are aware of everything occurring around their physical bodies, even those who were blind in life.

Remarkably, all of these elements, and more, appear in Jewish sources, often with greater detail and clarity than in modern scientific studies.

The sages did not derive this knowledge from temporary returns from clinical death, but from the divine wisdom of the Creator of humanity, who revealed to us a glimpse of the soul’s journey in order to awaken us to examine our deeds and reach the eternal world purified, worthy of the great reward prepared for those who do His will.