How I started this article with AI!
Hi AI, it’s Arsen! I would like to create a new page called The Otherworld that can be added to the Library dropdown. First, let’s investigate the Torah and extract anything in it that can be understood in a non-religious way.
In short, the Otherworld is where souls go in the afterlife to live for eternity, with the option of reincarnation. In the non-religious definition, reincarnation means continuing one’s journey into the world known as the physical world. The Otherworld is therefore the opposite of the physical world, like its shadow, but without physical form.
The best comparison we can add, AI, is that a human in a physical body has a shadow. The physical aspect of the physical world is the human being and the human body with a soul, while the shadow is the image of the soul and the manifestation of the Otherworld.
In theory, and in a practical sense, when a human lives in the physical world—within any solar system and so forth—he or she also lives in the Otherworld, one step ahead and getting used to the opposite of the physical world.
Because the shadow has no physical matter and is a direct reflection of the physical body and heart, one lives a duality: in the world known as the physical world and in the Otherworld, known as the non-physical world.
Use my explanation as the introduction. Make sure it is grammatically correct and delivers the same message to the visitor. Below it, provide everything the Torah states about the Otherworld, with sources and references.
At the end of the article and investigation, also add that a world where animals go in the afterlife is called the Otherworld of Animals, using the same concept described for the human Otherworld. These two Otherworlds are separate yet non-physically connected, with the possibility of interaction between them and between their inhabitants: one world is for human beings and so forth, and the other is for animals.
The third world is the physical world, the Physical Cosmos, which has galaxies, solar systems, and much more. The fourth part is the connection between the Physical World (the Physical Cosmos), the Otherworld, the Otherworld of Animals, and that connection itself: 3 + 1 = 4.
Make sure, AI, that the new page has all the features the other pages have, including the home page and updated sitemaps. Make this article perfect so there are no further questions about the Otherworld, the Otherworld of Animals, or the physical world (the Physical Cosmos). As a final note, all three are located in the Cosmos, and the Cosmos is infinite.
01 / The idea behind this inquiry
A life with two dimensions.
In this model, the physical world is the material cosmos: bodies, planets, solar systems, galaxies and everything else that can exist physically. The Otherworld is its non-physical counterpart—a realm associated with the soul and with life beyond bodily death. The two are imagined as connected dimensions of one larger cosmos.
A shadow offers an image for thinking about that relationship. A person has a physical body; the body casts a shadow that resembles it but is not made of the same material. By analogy, a person living in the physical world may also be understood as having a non-physical aspect or counterpart. The shadow here is a metaphor for reflection and correspondence. It is not evidence that a soul literally casts a shadow, nor a claim made by the Torah.
In this proposed view, people live in the physical world while also belonging to, or becoming familiar with, the Otherworld. After death, the soul’s journey may continue there, with reincarnation imagined as a possible return to physical life. This is a philosophical possibility within the model, not an established fact or a doctrine stated in the Torah.
The investigation below separates the Torah’s wording, interpretations developed in later traditions, and this author’s proposed cosmology. The Torah is a religious text; here, “non-religious” describes the historical and literary method of examining what its passages state rather than asking readers to accept a religious doctrine.
Method and scope
This is a non-confessional, literary and historical reading of selected passages in the Five Books of Moses (the Torah). “Non-religious” here describes the method of inquiry; it does not mean the Torah itself is a secular book. The passages are religious literature, and Jewish readers and scholars interpret them in different ways.
For each passage, the page asks what the text explicitly states and what it does not explain. A reference to death, breath, or being “gathered to one’s kin” can raise questions about an afterlife without answering them. The Torah’s silence on a detail should not be turned into proof either for or against a metaphysical claim.
Scope note: “Torah” means Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Later books of the Hebrew Bible, rabbinic literature, medieval philosophy, Kabbalah, and contemporary cosmology are identified separately when relevant.
What the Torah says about humans, life and death
Human life is described as embodied life
In Genesis 2:7, the human is formed from the soil and receives the breath of life; the human then “became a living being” (often translated “living soul”). The Hebrew expression nefesh chayah describes a living being. The verse does not straightforwardly describe a complete, independently conscious soul temporarily trapped inside a body. It presents a human becoming alive through formed body and life-giving breath.
Death returns the human to the ground
In Genesis 3:19, the human is told: “you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The focus is mortality and the return of the body to the earth. The verse does not say where a soul goes, whether it remains conscious, or whether it is reborn.
Access to unending life is not described as ordinary human possession
Genesis 3:22–24 describes the expulsion from Eden and the guarded way to the tree of life, lest the human “live forever.” In the narrative, unending life is not simply available to humans in the present condition. The passage does not set out an afterlife destination.
“Gathered to his kin” is meaningful but ambiguous
Genesis 25:8 says Abraham died and was “gathered to his kin”; burial is then described separately. The expression can suggest continuity with one’s ancestors, but the verse does not describe a place, a conscious reunion, or the conditions of existence there. Interpreters differ on whether it means a literal postmortem gathering or is an idiom for death and ancestral belonging.
Animals in the Torah: living beings, but no specified afterlife
Animals are part of the Torah’s account of life. In Genesis 1:20–24, sea creatures, birds and land animals are living creatures. In Genesis 2:7, the human also becomes a living being; the shared language invites comparison, though the surrounding stories distinguish human and animal roles in various ways.
Genesis 6:17 and Genesis 7:15–22 speak of the breath or spirit of life in living creatures and of the flood’s destruction of life. Genesis 9:8–17 includes animals in the covenant sign after the flood. These passages affirm animals as living creatures within the created world. They do not say that animals enter a separate afterlife or retain personal consciousness after death.
The Torah’s lack of a stated animal afterlife is a limit of what these passages establish; it is not proof that no such possibility could exist. The proposed “Otherworld of Animals” below is therefore part of the author’s framework, not a conclusion attributed to the Torah.
The proposed model: three domains and their connection
With those limits in view, the Otherworld framework can be stated clearly as a proposal. It describes four related components:
The “three plus one” formulation counts three domains and one relationship connecting them. It is a conceptual map, not a mathematical proof that four independently existing worlds have been discovered. In this model, the two Otherworlds remain distinct in their inhabitants and identity, yet are non-physically connected to one another and to physical life, with interaction treated as a possibility rather than an established fact.
The physical world is understood here as the material cosmos, including galaxies, solar systems, planets, and life. The model’s final premise is that all three domains are situated within the Cosmos, and that the Cosmos is infinite. “Infinite” is a metaphysical premise of this framework; current cosmology does not establish that the entire universe is spatially infinite. NASA estimates the observable universe is about 92 billion light-years across and notes that we do not know whether the entire universe is finite or infinite (NASA, “How Big is Space?”).
Under this view, a human lives physically while also having a non-physical counterpart associated with the soul. The shadow metaphor conveys resemblance and duality: material body and non-material image. After bodily death, the human soul may continue its journey in the human Otherworld; reincarnation is one possibility the model allows. None of these propositions is proven by the Torah passages reviewed here.
The Otherworld of Animals
In the author’s model, the Otherworld of Animals is the non-physical afterlife realm for animals, using a parallel concept to the human Otherworld. It is distinct from the human Otherworld in its inhabitants, while remaining non-physically connected to it and to the physical cosmos. The model allows possible interaction between inhabitants of these domains, without treating that possibility as established evidence.
This idea gives animals their own place in the proposed cosmology rather than treating them as an unexamined extension of the human afterlife. The Torah passages cited here recognize animals as living creatures, but they do not affirm this separate animal realm. It is a philosophical extension of the framework.
Questions and answers
What do I mean by the Otherworld?
In my proposed model, it is the non-physical counterpart of the physical world, associated with the soul and with life after bodily death. I use the shadow as a metaphor for resemblance and duality. This is my philosophical definition, not a definition supplied by the Torah.
Does the Torah describe this Otherworld?
The Torah includes passages about human life, breath, death, returning to the dust, and being gathered to one’s kin. It does not lay out this model as a detailed account of an eternal non-physical world. The page examines those passages separately from the model.
Does the Torah teach reincarnation?
No passage in the Torah explicitly teaches reincarnation. Gilgul, or transmigration of souls, is discussed in later Jewish mystical traditions, especially Kabbalah. It should not be presented as an explicit Torah teaching.
What is the Otherworld of Animals?
In my model, it is a distinct non-physical afterlife realm for animals, parallel to the human Otherworld. The two realms are separate yet non-physically connected, with interaction between them and their inhabitants treated as a possibility. The Torah recognizes animals as living creatures but does not specify this animal afterlife.
What does “3 + 1 = 4” mean?
The three domains are the Physical Cosmos, the human Otherworld, and the Otherworld of Animals. The “+1” is the connection among them. This is a conceptual framework, not an empirical discovery or mathematical proof.
Is the Cosmos scientifically known to be infinite?
No. NASA says the observable universe is about 92 billion light-years across, while the entire universe may be finite or infinite. The infinite Cosmos is a premise of my model, not a settled scientific conclusion.
Is the shadow a literal image of the soul?
The shadow is an analogy in my model. A physical shadow is formed when light is blocked by a body; it does not provide scientific evidence for a soul or a non-physical realm.
Sources and references
Primary Torah passages are linked to Sefaria so readers can compare the Hebrew text and English translations. The additional references provide scholarly context for later Jewish interpretations and current cosmology.
- Genesis 1:1 — creation of heaven and earth.
- Genesis 1:20–24 — animals as living creatures.
- Genesis 2:7 — the human formed from soil and given the breath of life.
- Genesis 3:19 — the human’s return to the dust.
- Genesis 3:22–24 — the guarded tree of life.
- Genesis 25:8 and Deuteronomy 32:50 — Abraham and Moses are described as gathered to their kin.
- Genesis 6:17, 7:15–22, and 9:8–17 — animal life and the post-flood covenant.
- Deuteronomy 18:10–12 — prohibitions on practices that include seeking the dead. This is a rule about contact practices, not a description of the afterlife.
- Harris Bor, “Death and Afterlife,” St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology — scholarly overview of biblical and later Jewish ideas about death and postmortem existence.
- “Death and the Next World in Ancient Judaism,” Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization — historical overview distinguishing biblical, Second Temple, and rabbinic developments.
- “Reincarnation,” St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology — scholarly overview of gilgul in later Jewish mystical traditions.
- NASA, “How Big is Space?” — explains the observable universe and the unknown extent of the entire universe.
The name “Otherworld,” the human and animal Otherworlds, the shadow analogy, reincarnation as a possibility, and the infinite-Cosmos premise express the author’s framework. They are not quotations from the Torah or conclusions established by the cited scholarship.
This page is an interpretive investigation and a philosophical proposal. It does not claim to settle religious doctrine, prove the existence of souls, or replace scientific accounts of the physical universe.