Divine Encounters Episode 132 | Near-Death Experience Story
Efrat Shokef was a mother of three young children in Israel, happy but quietly unsettled, when she says a car crash on a rainy morning sent her out of her body and into a place of deep stillness and love. In this Divine Encounters episode she tells Alex Ferrari about the figure she met, the view of Earth she was shown, and why most of what she saw was about relationships and children.
Key Takeaways
- Efrat says she had just finished postdoctoral studies on a Fulbright scholarship and was at home in Israel with a toddler and 13 month old twin girls.
- She describes a feeling that time was stalling that morning, then a sense of a boom, with no memory of the crash itself.
- She says she was immediately out of her body, in a place of beauty, luminosity and deep stillness that felt both new and familiar.
- Efrat says she met a figure who appeared as her grandfather, though she believes it was a guide taking a familiar form.
- She describes being shown scenes of life on Earth, mostly about relationships, especially parents and children.
- She says she was sent back without a choice, and that, other than her daughters, she would have stayed.
- Her message: Earth is beautiful, relationships are sacred, and we can choose to live joy.
| Guest | Efrat Shokef |
| Episode | Divine Encounters 132 |
| Her family at the time | A toddler just over three and identical twin girls, 13 months old |
| What Efrat says happened | A car crash near her village in Israel, with multiple injuries and heavy bleeding |
| Where she says she went | A luminous, still place, then a shimmering balcony above Earth |
| Who she met | A figure like her grandfather, whom she believes was her guide |
| Time away | A few minutes in earthly time, though it felt like many days |
| The message | Enjoy the beauty, nurture children, and live joy |
A Happy but Unsettled Life
Efrat and her family are from Israel. They had just come home after her postdoctoral studies in the United States, supported by a Fulbright scholarship. She had three little ones: a toddler a little over three, and identical twin girls who were 13 months old.
She was not working much, she says, because she was prioritizing motherhood. It was a happy life of laundry, cooking, playing, running to the playground and spending time with other moms in the community. Yet for a number of years she had felt something unsettled. She was looking for her path, her way, as many people are who receive what she calls extraordinary invitations to transform. She was very happy, she says, but not settled.
A Rainy Morning
The day began beautifully, she remembers. It rained. She brought her toddler to daycare. She nursed the twins together for the last time and left them at home with her mom. That morning she was teaching at an academic college.
She dropped off her daughter, talked with a friend, and had all the time in the world. It was as if time was stalling, as though a spirit was needing her to coordinate a specific moment in which she would leave. She tried to leave the small village, and it took her a while to turn left, something she does not recall happening before or after, onto the main road.
The Boom
The next thing she remembers is a sense of a boom. She did not see the other car coming, and she has no memories of the crash. There is no way for her to describe it, she says. She was out of her body immediately, while her physical body, with multiple injuries, bleeding and barely making it, completely crashed.
And she was, in her words, in the most beautiful place ever. She does not remember leaving her body, the car spinning around or being injured. The next thing is beauty, luminosity and deep stillness.
A Place That Felt Familiar
Efrat says it was both extraordinary and new, waking up curiosity: where am I, and what is this place? At the same time, it was very, very familiar. She knew she had been there before, not as a conscious sense of knowing, but an energetic one. “I was just letting it embrace me.”
She was floating in love, flowing in, on a feather light energy of luminosity that became less and less dense, as though the frequency was rising and expanding. She was not asking questions and had no awareness of what was happening to her body. She was very much in the moment, or in a fraction of the moment, “because there is no time in those dimensions and spaces.”
You can read how others describe this common stillness in our glossary entry on the near-death experience.
Floating Forward With Other Beings
Then she noticed she was floating forward, and she was not alone. Other beings were floating forward too, not very close, but in that same space. Later she came to understand them as beings who had died, finished this lifetime, and gone back home. Others came to meet them, sometimes one being and sometimes a few. Some took a very human form. Some were more like luminous beings. One was an orb of light that enveloped and embraced the person.
Efrat reached a barrier she could not see and could not float past. She was stuck, and she did not care much. She was embracing a deep acceptance, the remembrance of “who I am, who we all are, feeling the love in my cells,” remembering that this is what she is.
All of it was out of step with what her body was going through, which was breaking and very painful. She did not feel any of it.
The Figure Who Looked Like Her Grandfather
At some point, a figure came toward her. She recognized it as her grandfather. She shares this as part of the story, she says, but she does not know whether it was really him. She recognizes a frequency, and she continues to communicate with that very high frequency now. She thinks her guides took the form of her grandfather so she would feel at home and safe and be able to communicate. In her words, “it was not really my grandfather; it was my guidance.”
We recognize other beings, she explains, by their frequency, not by how they look or how we picture them. They shared an expression of telepathic love, with no words. Our page on communicating with spirit guides and the glossary entry on spirit guides explore this kind of encounter.
Viewing Earth and Humanity
She was invited, she says, for what she thinks was the main reason for the experience: to view Earth and humanity in its various forms, challenges and beauty. She stood with her grandfather slash guide on a beautiful, shimmering balcony. She is never sure whether to say the balcony moved above Earth or Earth moved below it.
She was shown many small pieces of interaction: a mother and a child, elderly people walking, people enjoying nature. She was also shown the sad, confusing decisions and choices that humans make along the way. It was rich, and it felt like many days. She has gone back many times since to recall those scenes and refresh her memory, until she had it all within her.
There were not many explanations. During the experience she was, as she puts it, drinking what she saw. It was about seeing how things compare and what people choose.
Sent Back
Then it was time to go. It was only a few minutes in earthly time, she says, and her guide slash grandfather sent her. It was not a choice. She did not ask to stay, although, other than being her daughters’ mother, she would have stayed.
She floated downwards and backwards and fell into her very painful, wounded body. A man was standing by her, trying to talk to her. She was rolling her eyes and barely breathing. He was worried, because there were click in infant car seats in the car, and he thought a baby might have flown out. She was fully awake. “No babies in the car,” she told him. She gave him her husband’s phone number, since the crash was close to their house.
She was still coming and going. She floated above the car, not in the luminous spaces where we come from, but just above the wreck, seeing the fire and herself being taken out of the car. It was so painful that she kept getting out of her body to escape. In the very far distance she could see some gates, and luminosity.
What Mattered Most: Relationships and Children
Almost all the scenes she remembers, she says, were about relationships, and a lot about relationships with our children and the promises we make. That is the message she shares in her book. She thinks she needed to see it to understand that it is possible to create different conditions for children, to nurture them so they avoid a lot of the confusion we teach them.
She does not call it a profound piece of wisdom. She tries to walk oneness, and she says oneness is not just with Earth and plants but also with other beings in the cosmos. And “as soon as we open up to seeing a world not as matter but as energy,” she says, things change: acceptance, communication, and our ability to be. See our glossary entry on oneness for a short plain language explanation.
Live Joy
Efrat’s closing is simple. “Earth is so beautiful with all the chaos going on.” Relationships are beautiful, and there is a sacred path. She offers a list: “Enjoy people. Enjoy nature. Enjoy who you are. Enjoy creativity. Live joy.”
If this story speaks to you, our complete guide to near-death experiences is a good place to keep exploring. At Next Level Soul we share these accounts as experiences in the guest’s own words.
Questions to Sit With
- Efrat says she was happy but unsettled for years. Where in your life do you feel that mix of contentment and searching?
- She says most of what she was shown was about relationships and children. Which relationship is asking for your attention right now?
- She says we can choose to live joy. What is one small thing that brings you joy that you can make time for?
This week, spend ten unhurried minutes with someone you love, with your phone away. Notice one beautiful thing about them.
Spiritual Takeaways
- Efrat says there is no time in those dimensions and spaces.
- She describes recognizing beings by their frequency, not their form.
- She says most of what she was shown was about relationships.
- She says seeing the world as energy changes acceptance and communication.
- She says to enjoy people, nature, who you are and creativity.
Please enjoy my conversation with Efrat Shokef.
Guest Links: Connect With Efrat Shokef
- Efrat Shokef’s official site
- Efrat Shokef on YouTube
- Efrat Shokef on Facebook
- Full conversation with Efrat Shokef
Listen to the Episode
- Watch this episode ad-free on Next Level Soul TV
- Download the MP3
- More episodes: Divine Encounters
- Listen to Divine Encounters on Apple Podcasts
- Listen to Divine Encounters on Spotify
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Efrat Shokef?
Efrat Shokef is the guest on this Divine Encounters episode. She is from Israel, was a mother of three young children, and says she had a near-death experience in a car crash.
What happened to Efrat Shokef?
Efrat says a car crashed into hers near her village after she left her daughters at home with her mom. She says she has no memory of the crash and was immediately out of her body.
What did Efrat see when she left her body?
Efrat says she was in a place of beauty, luminosity and deep stillness. She describes floating in love, and seeing other beings floating forward and being met.
Who was the grandfather figure?
Efrat says a figure came toward her that she recognized as her grandfather. She believes it was her guides, taking a familiar form so she would feel safe.
What was Efrat shown about Earth?
Efrat says she stood on a shimmering balcony and was shown many small interactions of life on Earth, mostly about relationships, especially between parents and children.
Did Efrat choose to return?
Efrat says it was not a choice, and she did not ask to stay. She says that, other than being her daughters’ mother, she would have stayed.
How long was Efrat away?
Efrat says it was a few minutes in earthly time, but it felt like many days. She says time has no significance there.
What happened when Efrat came back?
Efrat says she fell back into her painful body, spoke to a man at the scene about her daughters, and gave him her husband’s phone number.
What is Efrat’s message about children?
Efrat says she was shown that it is possible to create different conditions for children and nurture them to avoid the confusion we often teach them.
What does Efrat say we should do?
Efrat says to enjoy people, nature, who you are and creativity, and to live joy.
Is this a medical claim?
No. Next Level Soul shares these stories as lived experiences in the guest’s own words. Nothing here is medical advice, and researchers continue to debate what such experiences mean.
Keep Exploring
- The complete guide to near-death experiences
- What a near-death experience is
- Oneness explained
- Ellyn Dye on a collision and a father she never knew
- Sharon Kumara on a bus crash and being shown many worlds
- Lee Papa on a choice between leaving her son and returning
- Julie Papievis on meeting God after a crash
- Jennifer Farmer on seeing God and not wanting to return
- Browse more free masterclasses and the Divine Encounters podcast.
Follow Along with the Transcript
Alex Ferrari 0:00
Tell me what your life was like before you died.
Efrat Shokef 0:08
I just finished my postdoctoral studies with a Fulbright scholarship in the U.S. We were back home. We are from Israel, and I had three little ones. My toddler was my first was a little over three, and I had twin girls identical that were 13 months old. I wasn't working much. I was prioritizing motherhood, but it was for a number of years that I was feeling something unsettled. I was looking for my path. I was looking for my way, like many other people that have these extraordinary invitations. I call them, to transform and show up as we wish to show up. So I wasn't calm. I had, but it was happy life: doing laundry, cooking, playing, running to the playground, going doing that, spending time with other moms in our community. I was very happy, but I wasn't settled. Started as a beautiful day. It rained. I brought my toddler to her daycare. The twins. I nursed them together for the last time, and I went off to the one. I left them home with my mom. It was the one morning I was teaching in an academic college at the time. Brought my daughter. Spent some time talking to a friend. Had all the time in the world, and it was like if time was stalling, or like its spirit was keeping me needed needing to coordinate a specific moment in time that I would leave, and I would try to leave the small village, and it took me time to turn left, something I don't recall happening before or after, into the main road, and the next thing I remember was a sense of the boom. I didn't see the other car coming. I didn't. I don't have any memories of the crash. I was out of my body immediately. My physical body completely crashed. Multiple injuries, bleeding, barely making it, and I was in the most beautiful place ever. So I didn't see the car coming. I have a memory of a of a sense of a boom, but I don't. I don't even. It's like there is no other way for me to describe it. And the next thing is beauty, luminosity, deep, deep, deep stillness. I don't remember leaving my body. I don't remember the car crash taking place. My car spinning around, me being injured. I don't. I don't have any memories of that. I was immediately out of my body and far away, not even seeing. It was both extraordinary and and new, and and waking up curiosity. Where am I? And what is this place? And at the same time, very very familiar. I knew I've been there before, and it's it's not a conscious sense of knowing. It's a energetic knowing. I was just letting it embrace me. I was floating in love, flowing in. It's like this feather light energy luminosity that became less and less dancer. Like the frequency was rising and and expanding. And at first it was just me. I was in that space. I wasn't asking questions. I wasn't in any awareness of what's happening to my body. Where am I? Like the the contrast between the things. I was just very much in the moment, in the fraction of the moment, because there is no time in those dimensions and spaces. And the next thing is that I noticed I was floating forward, and I was not floating alone. Other beings were floating forward, not very close to me, but in that same space, like this, floating forward. As an interpretation, later I understood that these were beings that died, finished this journey, this lifetime, and went back home, so we were floating forward, and then others came to meet those other beings. Sometimes just one being, sometimes a few of them. Some of them took a very human form. Some of them were more like luminous beings. There was one also very much of a just an orb of light, just enveloped and embraced that being, and they were floating forward, and I couldn't. I reached a barrier that was not a seen barrier, but I couldn't float forward. I was like stuck. I didn't care about it so much. I was, I was just embracing the deep acceptance, the remembrance of who I am, who we all are, feeling the love in my cells, remembering this is what I am.
Efrat Shokef 4:23
So it was again very not in alignment for what was happening to my body at the time, which was breaking, very painful. But I wasn't feeling any of it. And at some point, a figure came towards me. I recognized it as as my grandfather, but and I share this as part of the story, I don't know if it was really my grandfather because I recognize a frequency, and I continue now to communicate with this frequency, very high frequency. So I think my guides, and I never ask them, but I kind of know the answer. I think my guides took the form of my grandfather so that I would feel at home, safe, be able. To communicate with them, and that it was not really my grandfather; it was my guidance. Again, because of the frequency, you know, we recognize other beings' guidance according to their frequency. It's not how they look or how we vision envision them. So, and after this shared expression of telepathic love, again, the communication is not in words. I was invited for the main, I guess, reason for this experience to view Earth on its and humanity on its various forms and challenges and beauty. So I was kind of standing with my grandfather slash guide on a beautiful balcony, shimmering, and I'm not sure. I'm never sure if to explain it as the balcony was moving beyond above Earth, or it was Earth that was moving below the balcony, but we were just-I was shown a lot, a lot of small pieces of interactions of a mother and a child, of elderly people walking, people enjoying nature, the beauties, and also a lot of the very sad, confusing decisions and and choices that humans, we humans, make along our journeys. It was very rich. It felt like many days. I've seen a lot. I went back there many times later to recall, to refresh my memory back to those same scenes until I got it all within me while I was integrating afterwards. But during that time, I was just I guess drinking what I was seeing. There weren't many explanations. It was one more about Caesar, Caesar, Caesar, see how things compare. What are people choosing? And then it was time for me to go back. It was a few minutes in earthly time, and my guide slash grandfather sending me. There was no time, and and it wasn't a choice. I had no choice of staying. It wasn't something I was asking for. Although, other than becoming my staying here for for being my daughter's mother, I would have stayed there. I went back there many times after, but I didn't know that at the time that I will be able to just visit as as as many times as I want, and I was just floating downwards, backwards, and fell back into my very painful, wounded body. And at that point, I was there was someone standing by me, trying to talk to me, saying I was rolling my eyes, barely breathing, and he was asking about my daughters because we had a click connect infant car seats in the car, so he was very he was worried that one of them flew out of the car and that they need to look for a baby. I was fully awake. I said no, no babies in the car. Call my husband. I gave him the phone number, so my husband. It was very close to our house, so my husband could come over, and I was out of my body, and then I was floating above, not in the luminous spaces, not in the dimensions of love where we come from, but just above the car, seeing the fire, seeing me being taken out of the car, and all that those pieces. But that happened at the end of the end of it. I'm coming in and out. I'm feeling and I'm escaping. I'm feeling and I'm running away from it. Every time I I draw it back into my body. It was so painful that I was just getting out of it. I didn't see much. I could see in the very, very, very distance. I could see some gates very, very, very far away. It was it was not where I was. It was just luminosity, shimmering, beautiful luminosity as we step into other dimensions, there is no time.
Efrat Shokef 8:24
So I don't think time has had any significance there. I think the significance was what I was seeing, the interactions, and it was a lot. Almost all of the scenes, not all of them, but almost all of the scenes that I recall and are alive within me were about relationships, and a lot about the relationships with our children and the promises, and that takes me to my book. That's the message I'm sharing, and I think that's why I needed to see what I was seeing to understand that it is possible to create different conditions for children, to nurture them in a way that will allow them to avoid a lot of the confusion that we teach them. I think the knowledge that we are beyond-it's not a you know a profound piece of wisdom. It's I try to walk that oneness, and that oneness is not just about one with Earth and one with the plants and one with the plants. It's also oneness with other beings in the cosmos, in the universe, at that sense of frequency and energy. It is not something that I can can express in words, but as soon as we open up to seeing a world not as matter but as energy and the energy of things, things change. Our acceptance, our ability to communicate, our ability to be. So yeah, it's not a profound piece of wisdom, but that's what's coming to me now. So I guess that's what I'm supposed to be sharing. Enjoy the beauty. Earth is so beautiful with all the chaos going on. Earth is so beautiful, and relationships are so beautiful. And there's such a sacred path. And enjoy people. Enjoy nature. Enjoy who you are. Enjoy creativity. Live joy.
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