SCHOLAR OF AFTERLIFE MYTHOLOGY

 Selections from Jewish Views of the Afterlife

4. The Death of Reb Shlomo of Karlin

When Reb Shlomo of Karlin was living in Ludmir, the Russians put down a revolt of the Poles in that region.  The Russian commander, who had entered the town, gave his men permission to loot at will for two hours.  It was a Sabbath day and the Jews were gathered in the House of Prayer.  Rabbi Shlomo was praying in such ecstasy that he heard nothing and saw nothing that went on around him.  Just then a tall cossack came limping along, went up to the window, looked in, and pointed his gun.  In a ringing voice, the rabbi was saying the words, "for thine, O Lord, is the kingdom," when his little grandson, who was standing beside him, timidly tugged at his coat, and he awoke from ecstasy.  But the bullet had already struck him in the side.  "Why did you fetch me down?" he asked.  When they brought him to his house, he had them open the Zohar (the Book of Splendor) at a certain passage and prop it up in front of him while they bound his wound.  It stayed there, open before his eyes until the following Wednesday, when he died. (Buber, Vol. 1, p. 284)

Unless otherwise noted, texts are from Zohar , Vayehi , 217b-222a, and appear in Simcha Paull Raphael, JEWISH VIEWS OF THE AFTERLIFE , Northvale, NJ:  Jason Aronson Publishers, 1996.