Life After Life.

Imagine two unborn twins floating in their mother’s womb.

One believes there is a world beyond. The other doesn't.

To the believer, the strange shapes of their eyes, ears, mouth, and limbs are clues that there is more — a future realm where they will use these tools in ways they can't yet imagine. He believes in a higher plan.

The skeptic scoffs: “What are you talking about? All we see is all there is. Once this umbilical cord detaches, it’s over. We fall into darkness. End of story.”

And then, one twin is born. As the other mourns his “death,” he hears what sounds like crying… but outside, the world rejoices: “Mazel tov! A child is born!”

What If This Life Is Just the Womb?

This powerful allegory — adapted from Rav Yechiel Michel Tucazinsky's Gesher Hachaim (“The Bridge of Life”) — asks a fundamental question:

Are we living in the womb of the soul, preparing for a birth we cannot yet see?

Judaism says yes.

Just as the fetus grows in the darkness of the womb to prepare for life in this world, so too do our souls grow within the body — preparing for the next world. This life isn’t the destination. It’s the corridor. The training ground. The gestation period for eternity.

“This world is like a hallway before the World to Come; prepare yourself in the hallway so you may enter the banquet hall.”— Pirkei Avot 4:21

Are You Living… or Dying for 80 Years?

“The length of our years is 70, and with strength, 80…”— Tehillim/Psalms 90:10

But what are we doing with those years?

A materialistic person who chases only comfort, money, or status doesn’t live for 80 years — he dies for 80 years. He’s slowly pulled deeper into the illusion that this world is all there is.His passions drown out his purpose. His distractions silence his soul.

But the Jewish soul is rooted above time. It comes from G-d — and yearns to return to Him.

Life is a Womb for the Soul

If you believe life ends at the grave, then life has no ultimate meaning. But if you see life as a womb — temporary, narrow, transformative — then death is not the end. It is the beginning.

Just as birth is painful for a baby leaving the womb, death is the soul leaving the physical body — into a larger, truer existence.

So the question becomes:

What kind of "birth" are you preparing for?

Will you arrive with a soul well-nourished, stretched by growth, strengthened by Torah, kindness, and self-mastery?

Or will your soul emerge disoriented, having been neglected, ignored, or forgotten in pursuit of the material?

Rosh Hashanah: The Day You Decide

Each year, Rosh Hashanah reopens the “Book of Life.” Not just physically — spiritually.

“Who will live, and who will die?” we ask in prayer. But more deeply: Who will live a life of the soul, and who will wither in spiritual slumber?

“Choose life.”— Devarim/Deuteronomy 30:19

It’s not just G-d who inscribes us in the Book of Life. We inscribe ourselves through the lives we choose to live.

The choices you make now — how you think, speak, act, love, forgive — are shaping your eternity. You’re not just aging toward the end. You’re forming your spiritual birth.

Ask Yourself the Real Question

Where are you holding?

Are you nurturing your soul — or just feeding your body’s impulses?

Are you building your eternity — or avoiding the discomfort of asking what comes after?

Are you numbing the pain with distraction — or awakening your soul with truth?

This isn’t philosophy. It’s personal.

“Know where you came from, and where you are going…”— Pirkei Avot 3:1

You came from G-d. And you are going back to Him.

Final Thought: Prepare for the Real Life

When we are born into this world, we cry while others celebrate. But if we live wisely, when we leave this world, our soul will rejoice — even if others weep.

Don’t live for 80 years in the womb and then fall into the grave, unprepared.

Live for your soul. Shape your eternity. And when the time comes to be born into the World to Come, you’ll be ready — not afraid.