Date: Thu, 13 May 1999 12:12:16 -0700 (PDT)
To: stories@ghosts.org
address anonymous
I have a friend who is a psychic. This is a story she told me, and I have no reason to doubt her. It is relevant to the story to note that she and all the other people involved in this story are devoutly Jewish.
Several years ago, one of her son’s friends died after a debilitating illness. The friend was a young man, probably only in his mid- or late twenties. Shortly after his death he “visited” my friend, the psychic. She said he just sort of appeared in her mind and she could “hear” him, telepathically. Her first reaction was to ask him, “What are you doing here? It’s too soon after your death! You should be being judged right now, not be here talking to me!” I am not Jewish but I learned then that the faith believes in a period of judgment in the first week or so after death.
Anyway, the young man told her, “No, I don’t have to be judged” and went on to ask her to tell his parents that he was fine and that he loved them.
When my friend went to the funeral home she was determined not to bring up her “visit” with the departed young man to his parents, fearing they would consider it an intrusion upon their grief, but her son told the parents about it. They asked for full details and they were very interested and comforted. She even told them the strange comment about his not needing to be judged.
A few weeks later the father of the young man called my friend and reported that he had told the rabbi about his son’s visitation and not needing to be judged. The rabbi had informed him that according to tradition, when a person dies at the time of year when the high holy days are celebrated (this would be Rosh Hashanna and a few weeks later Yom Kippur, which take place in September) they are spared the ordeal of judgement. This was precisely the time of year the young man had died.