Jan 5, 2021 3 min read

This winter, Rabbi Mendel Rosenblum of Chabad of the South Hills in Mt. Lebanon will offer Journey of the Soul, a new six-session course by the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute to answer a question that has occurred to every self-reflective person: What happens when we die?

Students who enroll in the course will embark on a journey that will edify them and put them at ease with the topics of life and the afterlife. Practical and powerful, reflective and relatable, Journey of the Soul teaches a Jewish perspective on life that begins before birth and lasts well after a person’s passing.

The course will be offered via Zoom from 8 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays, Feb. 3 through March 10, and 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Sundays, Feb. 7 through March 14. Sign-in information will be provided at the time of enrollment.

“Death is both mysterious and inevitable,” Rosenblum said. “Understanding death as a continuation of life reveals the holiness of life while putting everything in a dramatically new context. The soul is on one long journey that is greater than each particular chapter.”

Journey of the Soul considers what happens to the soul at birth and again at death, whether there is a “better place” after this one, whether our loved ones continue to connect with us, the Jewish understanding of reincarnation, and how to relate to an afterlife even if we’re not spiritual.

The subtitle of Journey of the Soul, “How to look at life, death, and the rest – in peace,” is indicative of an approach to the topic that is at once serious, but also relaxed and sometimes whimsical.

“The topic of death and the afterlife is one that has always fascinated thinking people,” Rabbi Naftali Silberberg of the Jewish Learning Institute said. “But particularly during these tumultuous times when, sadly, so many have lost loved ones to COVID, the need has become even more pressing for a course that presents the uplifting Jewish perspective on mortality, death, and the afterlife.”

As with all of JLI’s programs, Journey of the Soul is designed to appeal to people at all levels of knowledge, including those without any prior experience or background in Jewish learning. All JLI courses are open to the public, and attendees need not be affiliated with a synagogue, temple, or other house of worship.

People interested in participating can call 412-344-2424 or visit www.chabadsh.com for registration and for other course-related information.

JLI, the adult education branch of Chabad-Lubavitch, offers programs in more than 1,600 international locations in the U.S., Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Panama, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, and Venezuela. More than 400,000 students have attended JLI classes since we were founded in 1998.