Reincarnation and Judaism
Reincarnation, gilgul in Hebrew, is not explicitly
mentioned in the Torah,
though some interpret traditional Jewish practices to refer to reincarnation. Maimonides has written about
the allusion of biblical verses to its occurrence. For example, Daniel
12:13 states, "now go your way to the end and rest, and you
shall arise to your destiny at the end of days." A second example
can be found in the concept of yibum, when a married man dies
childless, tradition holds that his spouse should marry the man’s
brother and their first-born should receive the dead father’s name.
The purpose of reincarnation is seen as a chance for
a soul to achieve a goal not achieved in a previous life and as a chance
to reward man for fulfilling the desires of his Creator. Reincarnation
has also been viewed as punishment for a sinner’s previous deeds.
For example, a rich man who abused his power may come back as poor.
Rabbi Haim Vital, a student of the Ar’I,
has compiled a list of those reincarnated in Jewish history. There is
a cycle of reincarnations beginning with Dinah and Shechem. Dina, the
daughter of Jacob was raped by Shechem. Shechem did not take responsibility
for his actions and blamed them on his upbringing and the fact that
Dinah was a noble women. So the role were reversed when Shechem was
reincarnated as Zimri, an Israelite general, and Dina as Cuzbi, a Midianite
women. Zimri was found consorting with Cuzbi and both were killed by
the zealot, Pinhas. Thus when Shechem/Zimri was a noble man and of good
birth, he could no longer blame outside sources for his own faults and
was punished accordingly. The story continues when Pinhas was reincarnated
as Rabbi Akiva and Cuzbi, as the wife of the Roman general Turnus Rufus.
She converted to Judaism and helped establish the yeshiva of Rabbi Akiva.
By promoting Jewish learning in her next life, she atoned for his sins
with Zimri. Thus perhaps ending that cycle of gilgul.
A midrash says that every Jew to ever live, and who ever will live, stood at Mount
Sinai when the Jews received the Covenant from God.
Reincarnation may help explain how this midrash could be true.
Sources: Dubov, Rabbi Nissan Dovid. An
Overview of Techiyas Hameisim Based on the Teachings of Chabad Chassidism,
1995
Kirschbaum, Mark. Radical Reading of Parshat Pinhas. E-mail, (July
21, 2000)
>Seidman, Brian. Jews and Reincarnation. Washington
Jewish Week, (August 10, 2000)
Article compiled by Rebecca Weiner |