There is no need to sentence man to death. Disappearance of light – this is death by itself. Spiritual death is losing the connection with the Creator. We are yet to attain such a level while living in this world.
A person who has never had a connection with the Creator, does not feel its loss. Existing below the line of Machsom (boundary, separating spiritual and corporeal worlds), we do not perceive the spiritual, and thus are not considered dead. Only a person who knew he was alive and felt the Creator’s light but later ceased receiving Him, can be called dead.
Courtesy of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwW9L_qzqp8