Do we need to worry about mice on ships?
Do the dead know what is happening in the land of the living?
Do the dead talk to each other?
Why do the rabbis care about what is happening with the dead?
Is it because we fear the unknown? Do we perhaps not really fear the pain of death or the finality of death but rather its nothingness?
As humans, what separates us most clearly from other animals is our level of self-awareness - not only are we aware of our own place in the world, but we care deeply about it - allowing, in fact, for this outside factor to determine our own sense of self. We ARE only in as much as we make an impact upon the world around us. In this way, the scariness of death is not just that we will be no longer, but we fear the loss of power to affect the world. We fear dissolution. Being forgotten.
And so we tell stories of an afterlife - of connection between the worlds, of the great yeshiva in the sky.
So that we can calm ourselves now that we will not be forgotten then.
And what does this have to do with mice on Ships? Is worrying for the integrity of a dead body not also a way of saying - your presence in this world will not be forgotten - we will not let your body - a symbol of your presence and ability to change worlds be desecrated.
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