Exploring Jewish Afterlife Beliefs Through Yiddish Folklore – Reb Simcha Raphael on Seekers of Meaning, 1/30/2026
On this week’s episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, Rabbi Address engages with Rabbi Dr. Simcha Raphael to explore the rich tapestry of Jewish beliefs surrounding the afterlife, particularly through the lens of Yiddish folklore. Reb Simcha’s newest book is Spirits, Ghosts, & Dybbuks: Afterlife Journeys in Yiddish Lore
They discuss the significance of spirits, ghosts, and dybbuks, the role of rituals in mourning, and the reclamation of lost traditions in modern Judaism. The conversation delves into the concept of Gehenna as a process of purification and reflects on cultural narratives that shape Jewish understandings of life, death, and the spiritual journey beyond.
About the book
A richly researched and deeply spiritual work, Spirits, Ghosts, and Dybbuks: Afterlife Journeys in Yiddish Lore delves into the arcane realms of Jewish afterlife beliefs as vibrantly expressed through the imaginative worlds of Yiddish literature. In deftly demonstrating how the writings of I.L. Peretz, Isaac Bashevis Singer, and others synthesized classical Jewish eschatology with the emerging sociopolitical thought of early modernity, Simcha Paull Raphael explores the enduring legacy of Jewish speculation on death and the afterlife.
Drawing on decades of experience as a death educator, grief counselor, and rabbinic chaplain, Raphael weaves scholarly insight with spiritual depth to expertly guide readers on a literary journey into the yenne velt, ‘ the ever-present ‘other world’ beyond the veil. Regardless of one’s background or belief, this fascinating work invites readers to reflect on enduring spiritual questions about death, the soul, and the possibility of life beyond the grave.
Originally published as a chapter in the groundbreaking Jewish Views of the Afterlife, this expanded and revised volume offers newly updated material, highlighting the rich intersection of Yiddish literature and Jewish afterlife tradition.
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About the Guest
Reb Simcha Paull Raphael, Ph.D.
SIMCHA RAPHAEL, Ph.D., is the Founding Director of the DA’AT INSTITUTE. He has worked as a death awareness educator, bereavement counselor and hospice chaplain for over twenty-five years. Ordained as a Rabbinic Pastor by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, he received a doctorate in Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies, and has written extensively on the topics of death, bereavement and the afterlife
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