Encounter with the Afterlife: A Near-Death Experience in Vegas

An intriguing account of a near-death experience from an American named Jack:

I was in Las Vegas, right in the middle of a casino, when I felt a sharp pain in my chest and suffered a heart attack. Suddenly, I felt myself rapidly leaving my body and entering a white space. Everything around me was white. There wasn't a drop of color or any object, just endless white... I felt immense fear. Terror. Loneliness. I couldn't understand where everything disappeared: my wife, my car, my home, I saw nothing. Suddenly, I heard a voice, as if penetrating my thoughts -

The voice said: "This is your eternity... "

The fear intensified. What?! Is this how I will be forever, in this emptiness, with nothing? Just hollow white?!...

I shouted toward the voice: "What do I have to do to get out of this dreadful place and never return?!... "

And the voice answered: "Work to get to know me... " (in English: "get to know me …”)

At that moment, the rescue team, called by Jack's wife, managed to revive his body, and he returned to life. Ever since, he goes around telling this story to anyone willing to listen.

The vision of the reward awaiting in the Garden of Eden before death

In a righteous person's final moments before passing, Hashem leads them to their rightful place in the Garden of Eden and shows them their destined reward in the World to Come, as it is stated in Psalms (85:14): "Righteousness walks before Him and sets His footsteps in the path".

("Aderet Eliyahu" Bereishit 18:1).

And so it is brought in Midrash Rabba (Chayei Sarah 62:2): "All the rewards for the righteous are prepared for the future, and Hashem shows them their future reward while they are still in this world".

(According to "Otzrot Acharit HaYamim" (Part Four, Chapter 6, page 20))

When does Hashem show a person their share in the World to Come?

"When does Hashem show them their precious reward? Close to their death... "

(Yalkut Shimoni, Psalms 1029)

What is this similar to? To a king who prepared a great feast, and before the guests satisfied their hunger, he showed them the rich menu prepared for them. So too, Hashem, before bringing the righteous to the Garden of Eden, shows them before their departure the reward He is about to give them.

When the righteous see their reward in the World to Come, they leave this world with immense pleasure, unparalleled satisfaction, and a tremendous feeling of "And they will laugh on the last day" (Zohar Parashat Vayakhel).

(Rikanati on Deuteronomy 14:8)

At the moment of passing, the soul sees the infinite light of Hashem

It is important to note the words of the sages:

"The Torah says: 'For no man shall see Me and live' (Exodus 33), in their lifetime - they do not

see, but they see at the time of their death" (Bamidbar Rabbah, end of Naso).

The sages also said: "When a person comes to depart from this world, the Holy One, blessed be He, appears before them etc.".

(Yalkut Shimoni, Job 928).

The Zohar (Parashat Kedoshim) states: There is no greater difficulty for the soul than parting from the body, and a person does not die until they see the light of the Divine Presence, and out of their great longing for this sight, the soul departs to greet the Divine Presence.

The prophets saw the light of the Divine Presence in their lifetimes

In the book "Emunot V'Deot" by Rabbi Saadia Gaon, discussing the ways Hashem reveals Himself to His prophets, he writes that the prophets of Israel merited this light in their lifetime:

"... And there will be light without a form, and the Creator magnified His prophet, letting him hear the prophecy from a great form visible from the light called the glory of Hashem... And it is what appeared to him from the beginning to the completion of the vision, and it was a pillar of cloud or a pillar of fire or a bright light beyond the regular lights, and when the prophet sees this, it becomes clear without doubt that the speech is from the Creator".

The separation of the soul from the body is prolonged and its departure gradual. Only after the soul can no longer return to the body does the time of judgment arrive.

"And then the Divine Presence is revealed to the person. Only later, after death, when there is no return to the body, does the time of judgment and punishment arrive".

(Zohar, Parashat Naso, 126b)

Who will not merit to greet the Divine Presence in the world of truth?

Four groups do not greet the Divine Presence: the group of scoffers, the group of liars, the group of flatterers, and the group of gossipers.

(Sanhedrin 103a)

When the soul exits the body, it sees the form of Adam the First

Anyone lying on their deathbed who sees the form of Adam the First before them, it indicates they will not be saved from death. Because when a person departs from this world, they see Adam the First, and then they die.

But Abraham looked and saw his form, and survived. And he saw a light shining in the cave from the soul of Adam and a candle lit from the soul of Eve...

Abraham said to Adam the First: Is the soul chamber, which is the Garden of Eden, connected to this place [the Cave of the Patriarchs]? Because since you are buried here, certainly Hashem buried me here, for this place is close to the Garden of Eden and offers a resting place for the soul. From the time I departed until now, I have been sheltered here... not yet in my rightful place, and Hashem has hidden me here as one hidden within a case so as not to be hurled by the wind like the souls of the wicked.

(Zohar, Chayei Sarah 127 sweet as honey page 37, 128, sweet as honey page 42)

What does Adam the First ask the departing soul

[All people see Adam the First when they depart this world to confess before him that they are leaving the world due to their sins, not due to the sin of Adam the First].

He asks about which sin they left the world and how their soul departed, with difficulty or ease (in Tractate Berachot page 8) - the person tells him 'Alas, for because you sinned with the Tree of Knowledge I left the world', and Adam the First replies: 'My child, I transgressed only one commandment and was punished for it, see my child how many sins you have committed and how many commandments of Hashem you have transgressed'.

To this day, Adam the First stands and sees the forefathers twice a day, and confesses his sin, and shows them the place where he was in great honor in the Garden of Eden. Meaning, he shows them the extent of his being before he sinned and the place of his seat there, his understanding, rest, and canopy. And he goes and sees all those righteous and pious who came out of him and they inherit that great honor in which he was in the Garden of Eden.

And all the forefathers acknowledge and say "How precious is your kindness, O Hashem, and the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings", meaning how precious and respectful is your kindness, O Hashem, as you showed your kindness that Adam the First, who was expelled from the Garden of Eden, his righteous descendants take refuge in the shadow of your wings in the Garden of Eden and returned to inherit that great honor.

(Zohar, Bereishit 57, sweet as honey pages 239-240)

Meeting the Light

From the words of a woman who experienced a near-death experience:

When a person undergoes a near-death experience, it completely changes their worldview. The perception of reality expands to concepts and ideas once mocked or deemed utterly absurd. What is astounding is that almost every individual who has experienced this says: "Hashem exists. Death does not." The divine light experienced in this encounter is the essence of existence, different from any other light in this world or the next. It is a million suns of concentrated love containing everything within itself, creating immense enthusiasm and breathtaking awe that unifies everything within it, connecting every thought, every cell, and every existence throughout human history - a fusion of all that was, is, and will be.

You immediately know it is Hashem. No one needs to come and tell you! You just know. There is no longer a need to "believe" in Hashem because the very word "belief" implies the possibility of doubt. When you know for certain - there is no more doubt.

From that moment on, you already know who you are: a child of Hashem, a small cell in the great universal body, an expression of the source of life. It's impossible to forget, deny, ignore, or pretend you don't know the truth. There is one Hashem. The light does this to you. The light unites our souls and flows pure and crystalline love into us. We dissolve from the point of "I" we thought was our true essence, and are reborn into the true "I".

Finally, we remember...