Why Does a Person's Body Feel Heavier When Dead or Even Just Asleep? 5 Points to Ponder

Surgery Without Anesthesia

I assume that if I tell you all that we undergo surgical procedures multiple times daily, you might think I'm imagining things...

But I insist! We all undergo an operation where our bodies are "opened," "fixed," and closed, multiple times a day!

I am talking about a surgery without anesthesia, without a scalpel, without anesthesia and sterilization, and most importantly - without pain!

What am I talking about?

When we use the bathroom, an opening is made in our body, without surgical tools. Afterward, waste is expelled, and the opening closes by itself - without the need for sutures! This miraculous process happens many times a day, *Baruch Hashem*!

It's a surgical procedure to clean waste from the body, done in the easiest way possible, without anesthesia, without pain and suffering, without blood flowing everywhere, without making an appointment a year in advance, and for free! Without paying thousands to doctors.

The process is so essential to our lives and health that it seems obvious, but upon reflection, we discover how wondrous it truly is.

And what can we do in return? There's one small thing we all can do: simply thank Hashem for our body, created with incredible wisdom, for its proper functioning, supervised and treated by His mercy and goodness, "the Healer of all flesh!"

A Perfect Sphere

Anyone who has ever played soccer knows that if I kick a ball, no matter how strongly, it will initially soar swiftly, but the speed will gradually fade, and eventually, the ball will stop moving until the next kick.

Another thing I've noticed is that every time you kick a ball, its trajectory can change several times, moving left, right, and sideways, without a fixed path. It may even encounter foreign objects, diverting its path.

Thus, kicking a ball may propel it at various angles and paths, with speed decreasing over time.

But if I tell you that I know of a special ball that moves itself with perfect precision and constant speed that does not fade with time, on a fixed path, at a fixed angle, without zig-zagging, and without any bumps or collisions on the way - will you believe it?

What ball am I talking about? Quite simply: Planet Earth.

(Photo: shutterstock)

Planet Earth rotates on its axis with a constant speed of about 1,700 km per hour (granting us the length of a day, 24 hours - 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night), at a precise angle (a 23.5-degree tilt, bestowing Earth with its seasons). Simultaneously, it orbits the sun for an entire year, on a consistent path without deviation (imagine if it moved towards the sun instead of orbiting around it)!

What, then, powers the Earth to spin with incredible and constant speed? Where does the thrust come from for the Earth to maintain its orbit without stopping? How does its speed remain constant without diminishing? What holds the Earth from falling?

One cannot help but admire the supreme wisdom that created all these conditions!

"A Living Being Lifts Itself"

I noticed a strange phenomenon: when my little daughter is asleep, she feels heavier to carry than when she is awake (feel free to try this). I tried to verify this with MDA officials, and they confirmed this claim. They even informed me that a corpse weighs more than a living body.

Why does the body of a sleeping or dead person weigh more than that of a living person?

The answer is that the soul upholds the living body. It's evidence that the soul is what elevates and animates the body, which is otherwise completely inert.

That's why a dead body is heavier than a living one. That's why when you lift a baby and lay its head on a parent's shoulder to put it to sleep, experienced parents don't need to see their eyes open to know the child is asleep. They can say: "The child is asleep now; we can put them in bed." How do they know? They feel the baby is heavier!

When someone is awake, they feel lighter than when they are asleep because when awake, they "lift themselves" (*Shabbat* 93b-94a). The human soul elevates the body against gravity and moves it.

You may ask, what is the connection between a dead person and a sleeping person? A sleeping person is still alive!

The sages already noted that "sleep is one-sixtieth of death" (*Brachot* 57b).

Ramchal explains in his work *Derech Hashem* that during sleep, most parts of the soul leave the body. In contrast, death involves the departure of the entire soul - the true person - from the body, after which the body begins to decay. The soul illuminated it, provided it with spiritual energy, spiritual abundance that allowed the body to remain alive, without refrigeration and preservatives, and it is the soul that enables the human body to continue to exist further.

Friends, life and death - they are wondrous secrets. Before us are two bodies of human beings: one - alive, and the other - dead. From an external view, there is no difference between them: both are made of flesh and blood, both have the same organs, both are complete.

Why is one alive and the other dead? What distinguishes them? The soul distinguishes between the living and the dead, and it is destined - when it departs from a person's body - to account before the King of Kings, Hashem!

Giving Birth at Age 3?!

A person is born with their organs, and they start using them from birth: they use their eyes - to see, and their ears - to hear. Yet, why do some organs develop later, and capabilities that the body "knows" to do only later in life, and some only for a limited period? Let me explain:

A woman's fertility period doesn't start at birth, but later in life, and it doesn't last until the end of her life but usually ends around age 50.

Is it, heaven forbid, a "bug" in the mother's body? A manufacturing defect in the most amazing system in the world. Is that possible? Definitely not! If we look closely, we understand that the Creator of the world organized it for the children’s benefit.

Why, then, does the fertility period start later for women?

If a young girl, say at age 3, could conceive and give birth, who would take care of that child? The child itself would still need care! She is not mature yet, has no ability to take responsibility, so the Creator arranged for the fertility period to begin when she reaches the age of responsibility and maturity, around age 12 - coinciding with the Bat Mitzvah, where Judaism considers a girl mature and responsible for her actions.

And why does the ability to give birth end around age 50?

Think about what would happen if a woman gave birth at age 70, and the next day she passed away. Who would take care of the child? Therefore, the Creator limited the fertility period for the benefit of the child and seemingly said: "You can give birth, and you have at least about 20 more years to care for the child, and when they mature, you can leave the world in peace and tranquility"...

Thus, the Creator of the world ensures that the child (His child) receives the best possible care...

Aren't You Tired of Saying the Same Thing Repeatedly?

Many ask how it does not feel "tiring," *heaven forbid*, to pray the same prayers three times a day (*Shacharit*, *Mincha*, and *Arvit*)? The wording is the same, and the words are the same - how can one pray the same prayer throughout life?

The words of prayer arranged by the sages are so deep, and upon proper contemplation, one gets a new taste and added meaning from prayer to prayer. What is required from us to feel their taste is intention - to focus on the words that come out of our mouths, and immediately we taste their pleasantness.

Just as a person needs to satisfy their hunger every day, even though they have eaten to their fill every previous day, so too, one who contemplates the words of prayer and connects to the words and their meaning, satisfies their soul hungry for spiritual nourishment, even though they prayed the same prayer a few hours before.

(Photo illustration: Flash 90)

The mission to focus in prayer is by no means an easy task, but when you understand that you are standing before the King of Kings, who controls every breath you breathe, every beat of the heart, and through the words of prayer established by the sages, you can fulfill all your desires - health, livelihood, and more - it becomes easier to connect with the words and pray the same prayer throughout life!

Is there anyone who does not need health? For this, the sages established the request "Heal us, Hashem, and we will be healed." Is there anyone who does not need wisdom? For this, they established "You graciously bestow knowledge upon man" and so on. When one focuses on the words of prayer, one connects to the prayer anew each time, even if they must recite the same words three times a day.

The prayers that our sages established for us to pray three times a day help us draw closer to the Creator consistently, from morning to noon, and from noon to evening. The prayer "We give thanks to You" recited in the morning differs from the "We give thanks to You" recited in the evening. In every prayer, one understands something new that wasn’t understood in the previous prayer. Every hour and hour in prayer enhances the relationship with the Creator for the better!