There is a story of a man who had a miserable marriage. His wife tortured him. After 45 years of marriage - she died. He was sitting afterwards with his buddy's, enjoying cold beers and said with a smile "Let me tell you guys. NO DOUBT ABOUT IT - there IS life after death."
But seriously....
I watched a debate between 4 scientists. Two arguing that there IS life after death and the other two arguing that there is NOT. Before the debate the audience voted on what they thought was correct and then they voted again afterward to see which side changed more minds. As I saw it, the arguments presented AGAINST an afterlife were far more compelling than those presented in FAVOR of an afterlife. In fact, that side changed ten percent more of the minds!
No, sweet friends, I am not going OTD. Especially not after the uplifting chag hashavuos!!馃槉馃槉
So let me explain: The argument was whether SCIENCE can prove that there is life after death. So, being a Yid, I answer a question with another question: Can science prove to me which woman to marry? Can science tell me when I am going to die? Can science tell me where is the best place for me to live? Can science predict how many children a woman will bear? Can science tell us who will win the next Super Bowl?
The answer to all of the above question is OF COURSE NOT!!! Science doesn't know everything. Science is GREAT for certain things. If a person wants to know what medication to take for a certain condition then science is fantastic. If a person wants to understand the natural world then science is also terrific. But there are many areas of life where science is not a player, a non-starter, irrelevant and immaterial.
One such area is META-physics. Science can explain a lot of physics but not what is ABOVE physics. Science can't explain prophecy. Does that mean that prophecy is bunk? No. It means that it is not a phenomenon that science can explain.
So scientifically speaking there is definitely a strong argument that there is no life after death. But the HONEST scientist MUST ADMIT that there are [or at least may be] realms beyond science.
So we believe in life after death NOT because some people had near death experiences [NDE'S] and their soul left their body and they saw a light etc. etc. That is not a scientific proof because there are alternative explanations for what happened [such as neurological etc.]. Interestingly enough, in their NDE's Christians see Yoshke, Muslims see Mohammed, Hindus see whatever their Avoda Zara is called. Now all religions can't be true so if the experience is authentic they should all see - Moshe Rabbeinu or someone like that and then all convert. But they don't. Anecdotal evidence is not [usually] hard science. We believe in life after death BECAUSE OUR TRADITION TOLD US. That is not science but that doesn't make it any less true that any other reality for which science has no explanation. Human consciousness seems to prove that we are not just robots with bundles of cells. Just because science has no explanation for it doesn't make it less true.
Some people say - "I will prove to you scientifically that Hashem exists." Indeed, it is hard to explain the universe with it's tremendous integrated complexity as a HUUUUGE mistake. It is HIGHLY IMPLAUSIBLE that the world created ITSELF. Nobody would believe the chair on which I am sitting created itself, so why would they think that he universe could do that trick? [Even the number one kofer bi-ikkar Dawkins admits that the world LOOKS like it has a designer. He just can't accept that just because it appears to be designed, it actually is....] ONE CELL is far too complex to be a random mistake. So all of science and how it shows the order of the universe points VERY STRONGLY to the existence of Hashem, but Hashem is MUCH MORE than that. HASHEM FAR EXCEEDS ANYTHING that science can wrap its microscope around.
The human soul is a fact of reality. You can't see it with a microscope? That reveals the limits of the microscope and not the absence of a soul.
Science isn't everything. The neshama, Olam Haba, the love we have for our children, the hopes we have for the future, the pain we all carry around with us and may other things that are very real are not subject to the scrutiny of a scientist. It will only be at the end of days about which the pasuk says:
when we will see in a very concrete way how G-dliness pervades all reality and guides all science. In the meantime, we have our Emunah in our tradition. THAT is stronger than a million scientists in their laboratories.
