SCHOLAR OF AFTERLIFE MYTHOLOGY

 Selections from Jewish Views of the Afterlife

The Dying Rebbe:  A Model for Conscious Transition

These tales portray a religious environment in which humanity and divinity constantly interact.  Through prayer, devotion, meditation, study and deeds of loving kindness, the Rebbe, and in turn, the Hasid, grow closer to God.  In drawing closer to the moment of death, there is no reason to fear - for even in that experience God is to be found.
For the Rebbe, death is a time of conscious transition from one state of consciousness to another.  "This world is like a vestibule before the World to Come" (Mishna Avot 4:21); and death is the gateway between the two worlds, the door into the heavenly spheres.

In the above stories, each Rebbe went through the death experience fully conscious and in tune with God.  For the Zaddik [the Righteous One], in death the body is left behind while the soul continues to commune with its creator.
The description of the Baal Shem Tov's deathbed experience may be seen as an "ideal model" for dying.  His equanimity; control; connectedness with others, self and God; love; devotion; and consciousness on the deathbed are all exemplary in a society where many die alone and afraid.

The Hasidim have something to teach our contemporary society about life, the afterlife and how to die.  These stories demonstrate that it is possible for individuals to die, as did Reb Nahman: bright and clear, with awareness intact, unencumbered by fear,  and fully prepared for the gentle transition from this world of the living through the sacred portals into the world of souls.