Yosef Sees an Upside-Down World
Rebbe Yehoshua's son Yosef briefly dies and glimpses the World to Come, reporting an inverted world and the exalted place of those executed by the government.
Yosef, the son of Rebbe Yehoshua, was sick and temporarily expired (Bava Basra 10b). During that brief lapse, he was given a glimpse of the World to Come. Immensely grateful to have his son back among the living, Rebbe Yehoshua asked him what he witnessed in the Heavenly realm. Yosef said, “I saw an inverted world.” Tosfos explain that he witnessed Rav Yehuda, the student of the great Amora Shmuel, holding a loftier place than his Rebbe. Tosfos explains the reason for this anomaly.
Yosef proceeded to list other observations of the Heavenly realms. He then said, “And I also heard there that they were saying: Those executed by the government enjoy such exalted status that no one can stand in their section.”