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| R. Saadia Gaon's writing on Hilchot Shechita. From the Mosseri Collection |
INTRODUCTION:
In this essay we are going to explore the sources in an
attempt at determining whether the gilgul or reincarnation concept is
(relatively) new or ancient, and whether it is unanimously accepted by our
rabbis as an absolute definitive model of Torah theology.
TANACH:
There are no direct references to gilgulim anywhere
in the Scriptures. However later interpretations do read in allegoric allusions
to some verses.
An example of this is the verse: “Not with you only do I
make this covenant...but...also with him that is not here with us today.”[1]
This is taken to imply that there is a ‘you’ that is not here today, but will
manifest at a later stage.
Another example is: “One generation passes away and
another comes.”[2]
This was similarly taken to mean that a generation which has passed away, will again
return in subsequent generations.
TALMUDIC PERIOD (0-500CE):
There are similarly no direct references to gilgulim
found in either the Mishna or the Gemara. And again, later interpretations were
to find allusions to the idea, hidden within the Talmudic texts.
KARAITES:
Perhaps the first reference to reincarnation is ironically
found in Karaite sources. [See KOTZK
BLOG 63.] The founder of the Karaite sect, Anan ben David (715 – 795)
wrote that reincarnation was already an established principle in existing
cultures. He appears to have been referring to the Gnostic, early Christian factions
and possibly some mystical Islamic sects.[3]
Interestingly, it appears as though the Karaites as a whole,
rejected the notion of reincarnation, probably because of its lack of Scriptural
references.
However, many Jews may have been influenced by some of these
early Islamic sects[4]
and may have adopted their doctrine of reincarnation. If this is true, it
points to an interesting and highly controversial possible influence for the reincarnation
concept.
BAHIR:
One of the first clear references to the reincarnation model,
within mainstream Torah sources, is to be found in the kabbalistic work known
as the Sefer haBahir. This is where things get even more interesting,
because its date and authorship are strenuously disputed.
According to the
kabbalists it was written around the year 100 CE by R. Nechunya ben haKanah.
Others believe it to have been authored by the son of Raavad, Yitzchak the
Blind as late as the 1200’s.[5]
According to Sefer haBahir:
“Why is there (one type of righteous person who has it
good and (another) righteous person who has it bad? – This is because the
second righteous person was wicked previously (i.e. in a previous life) and is
now punished.”[6]
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| Title page of first edition of the Zohar, Mantua, 1558 |
ZOHAR:
There are also numerous references to reincarnation which
are found in the primary kabbalistic work, the Zohar. And yet again the date
and authorship are subject to a similar dispute.
The mystics claim it was
written by R. Shimon bar Yochai (80-160 CE).
Others counter that it only first
appeared in Spain in the 1200’s and was written by R. Moshe de Leon
(1240-1305). [See KOTZK
BLOG 87.]
The Zohar says:
“As long as a person is unsuccessful in his purpose in
this world, the Holy One, blessed be He, uproots him and replants him over and
over again”.[7]
The Zohar is the first work to mention the
actual term ‘gilgul’, or reincarnation.
RAPID SPREAD OF THE KABBALISTIC DOCTRINE OF GILGUL:
However we choose to date the Bahir and Zohar, it is clear
that during the 1200’s the doctrine of gilgul began to enjoy widespread
popularity.
RAMBAN (1194-1270):
Although initially, some Spanish kabbalists like Ramban
were reluctant to mention the concept overtly and only did so by ‘hints and
allusions’[8],
it didn’t take long for the concept to gain popular acceptance.
Ramban wrote
that the concept of gilgul is vital to understanding and making sense of
the stories of the Torah. This is because it offers a whole new perspective to
the biblical personalities that we would otherwise never have been privy to. We
can understand just why they acted the way they did because we know who they
really were in their previous incarnations.[9]
ARI ZAL (1534-1572):
During the time of R. Yitzchak Luria, also known as the
Ari Zal, the concept began to really flourish. This was particularly because of
his work Shaar haGilgulim, or Gates of Reincarnation, which
explain amongst other ideas, the spiritual roots of many of our great sages.[10]
From that moment on, the concept of reincarnation was
fixed within the collective psyche of the Jewish people as an apparent fundamental
tenet of belief, and there it has remained to this day.
SHALOH (1555-1628):
Rabbi Yeshaya HaLevi Hurwitz[11] wrote:
“There are some sins for
which the cleansing in the spiritual realm alone does not suffice...they are
forced to undergo a second cycle in this world as rehabilitation...which
generally occurs when the soul is faced with the same challenge to which it
succumbed in its pervious life.”
MENASHE BEN YISRAEL (1604-1657):
R. Menashe ben Yisrael[12], author of Nishmat Chaim (a work on
reincarnation)[13],
wrote that Adam was taught the doctrine of reincarnation but that it was later
forgotten. Then, Pythagoras (who according to this source was a Jew) received
it again through the prophet Ezekiel.
This is a fascinating reference because
it regards reincarnation as entering into the belief system of mankind from the
very outset, and of Judaism as early as the 6th Century BCE.
He wrote:
‘The majority of the sages of
Israel believe [in reincarnation], and they wrote that it is a true belief and
one of the fundamental principles of the Torah. It solves the problem of a
righteous person who suffers. We are obligated to heed the words of these
authorities, and have this belief without any doubt or wavering whatsoever...’[14]
POPULARITY WITHIN THE CHASSIDIC MOVEMENT:
The gilgul principle was embraced and embellished
by the Baal Shem Tov and his followers, with many Chassidic rebbes
claiming to be aware of their pervious personalities.
Some examples:
The Baal Shem Tov (1700-1760) was said to be a gilgul
of Rav Saadia Gaon (882-942).[15]
R. Nachman was the soul of Saul, R. Shimon bar Yochai and
R. Nachman of the Talmud.
The Chozeh of Lublin once said to his friend R. Zelka of
Grodzisk that the reason they were such good friends was because they were
father and son in a previous existence.
R. Avraham Yehoshua Heschel said he was in his third
‘cycle’, having being both a Nasi and Reish Galuta in the past
lives.
R. Menachem Mendel of Ruzhin said he had been reincarnated
one hundred times and that this was his last time.
R. Bertzi Leifer of Nadworna, who perished in the
holocaust, said he had been reincarnated three times. -First as the head of a
tribe in the biblical generation during the desert wanderings (Kemuel ben
Shiftan). –Then as a farmer (arendar) and he visited his own gravesite.
– His third incarnation was before the war. (Interestingly, he mentioned that
he was most satisfied when he assumed the role of the farmer!)
HUMAN SOULS TRAPPED IN ANIMALS:
There are some stories about Chassidic rebbes
declaring slaughtered animals that other rabbis had disqualified, to be kosher!
This was because the human soul that had been trapped within it needed to be
released. They cited the halachik expediency of ruling leniently with
regard to some aspects of kashrut – known as hefsed merubah or great
(usually financial) loss. This they interpreted as a “great spiritual loss”
to the soul which had to be housed in an animal body. Therefore every effort
had to be made to ‘release’ it.
One such story is recorded in the name of the Chozeh of
Lublin, who said of a chicken his wife had been told was slaughtered
incorrectly; “Know that the poor soul transmigrated in this chicken has
already been waiting many years, and now it pleads we eat this chicken this
Shabbat to affect its correction.”
Another story records how a goose was declared non-kosher
by a disqualified slaughtering process, and the tzadik of Alsk took some
of its fat and made Chanuka candles out of it. The blessing he recited over the
candles ‘released’ the soul trapped within.
R. Naftali Bachrach writes: “Our teacher the Ari Zal said;
‘When you see people who are arrogant and have no shame, know that they were
transmigrated in an impure beast, animal or fowl. Just as those have no shame -
so these have no shame.’”[16]
REINCARNATION AND GENDER:
As a general rule the souls of men transmigrate to other
men, and similarly those of females go to females. However there are exceptions
such as when the soul of a man goes to a woman. In such an instance the woman
is barren. This was the case with Tamar, who had the soul of a man. Her soul
was later transferred to Ruth and therefore she could not bear children until
she was given aspects of another female soul.
Another exception was Yehudah, Yaakov’s son, who had a
part-female soul.
OPPOSITION TO THE REINCARNATION THEORY:
In light of all the above, it may come as a surprise to
many that the theory of reincarnation is not unanimously adopted by all our
Torah sages:
RAV SAADIA GAON (882-942):
At about the time that the reincarnation concept was
penetrating the Jewish world[17], Rav Saadia Gaon was quick
to step in and express his total unacceptance of the new idea.
He wrote:
“ Yet I must say that I have found certain people, who
call themselves Jews, professing the doctrine of reincarnation...what they mean
is that the soul of one person is transferred to another and then again to
another. Many of them would go so far as to assert that the spirit of a human
being might enter into the body of a beat – or that of a beast into the body of
a human being – and other such nonsense and stupidities.”[18]
He explained that that well authenticated concept of resurrection
precludes a the theory of reincarnation because, in his view, the body
and soul were a ‘composite’ and the soul could only return to its ‘own’ body
and not to that of another.
RAMBAM (1135-1204) AND HIS SON:
It is surprising to note that Rambam is unusually silent
on the issue of reincarnation. He is generally outspoken on so many fundamental
issues of Torah theology that one must wonder why he was silent on this
essential issue that so many others, especially at that time, were very vocal
about[19].
His son, Avraham ben haRambam, however did express his
opposition to the belief in reincarnation.
R. YOSEF ALBO (1380-1444):
The Albo similarly rejected the reincarnation theory. He
wrote:
“There are those...(who assert that) it is possible
that the soul that has already served in a human body will return to dwell
again in a body. But this is not correct.”
His view is that a soul does not have freedom of choice
before it is born into a human body. It is born ‘against its will’. But
only after uniting with the body does it acquire it freedom of choice.
This freedom of choice that the soul attains is so
valuable that even “the angels erred...and asked to bow down to man...as the
angels themselves do not have free will.”
Once the soul has become an agent of free will; “why
would it return to the body? And why would a potential body be prepared to
receive the soul that already served in another body rather than receive a (new
and original) soul?”
He goes on to say that the only thing more absurd than
reincarnation into another human form would be the notion that a soul can also
“transmigrate into the bodies of animals.”
He ends with an expression of total exasperation by adding
‘and G-d knows.”[20]
RASHASH (1794-1872):
Rabbi Samuel Strashun in his famous
commentary to the Talmud points out an apparent Talmudic proof against
gilgulim.[21]
R. SHIMSHON REFAEL HIRSCH (1808-1888):
Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch wrote that
belief in reincarnation was one of the major distinctions that set Judaism
aside from the religion of Ancient Egyptians as reincarnation was central tenet
of the Egyptian Faith.
OTHERS:
Included in the list of those opposing
reincarnation are Seforno[22], Avraham
ibn Daud,[23] Avraham ben Chiya (Ibn
Ezra’s teacher)[24], Leon de Modena[25], R.Yedaya
Bershidi, R. David Kimchi and Chasdai Crescas.
ANALYSIS:
Although the common perception today is
clearly biased towards the belief in gilgullim, it is interesting to discover
that based on an overview of sources from across the board, it must be said
that the ‘theological jury’ is still out.
This does not mean that one’s personal
belief system should be compromised one way or another. Faith values are by
their very nature highly subjective, emotional and must remain one’s religious
prerogative.
What is clear, however, is that one
cannot claim with honesty and integrity that there is only one definitive hashkafic
approach to the question of reincarnation.
REFERENCES:
Transmigration of Souls, Part One, by Gedalya Nigal. An
Excerpt from Magic, Mysticism and Hasidism.
Journey to Heaven, by Dr. Leah Bronner.
Saadia
Gaon: “The Book of Beliefs and Opinions”, “Refutation of Reincarnation”, Yale
Judaica Series, Vol. I “The Soul”, ch. VIII pp 259.
Renaissance
and Rebirth: Reincarnation in Early Modern Italian Kabbalah, by Brian Ogen.
[1]
Devarim 29: 14 This is one of the Scriptural ‘proofs’ that Rav Saadia Gaon
refutes.
[2]
Kohelet 1:4
[3]
See JewishEncyclopedia.com, Transmigration of Souls.
[4]
See Rambam, Guide to the Perplexed, Book 1, ch. 73-76. (NOTE: Rambam writes
about some Gaonim being influenced by aspects of the Islamic Kalam. Although
the Mutazila sect were rationalist and not mystics -see following post- this
source does show that there was some cross-influence taking place during the
700’s and 800’s CE)
[5] R.
Yitzchak the Blind(1160-1235). The title ‘The Blind’ was a euphemism for having
excellent eyesight.
[6]
Sefer haBahir, Part 1, p.195
[7] Zohar
1, 186b
[8]
See A Journey to Heaven, by Dr Leah Bronner, p.136
[9]
See Ramban’s commentary to Iyov 33:40.
[10]
The book was finally put together by the Ari’s foremost student, R. Chaim
Vital, and edited by his son R. Shmuel Vital. It borrows much from the Zohar,
portion Mishpatim, where these ideas are discussed.
[11] author of the work Shnei Luchot HaBrit
[12] He
was originally known as Manoel Dias Soeiro.
[13]
The book was published his son Samuel six years before they both died.
[14]
Nishmat Chaim 154b
[15]
Ironically, as we shall see later, Rav Saadia Gaon was an outspoken critic of
the theory of reincarnation. That did not deter the Chassidim from saying that
the Baal Shem Tov performed a ‘rectification’ on his (Rav Saadia’s) soul.
[16]
See Eimek haMelech ch. 31. 20a
[17]
Unless one goes with the mystical view that the Bahir and Zohar were written in
around 100 and 160 CE, respectively.
[18]
Saadia Gaon, Emunot veDeot (Beliefs and Opinions), 6, 8
[19]
R. Yehudah haLevi was also silent on the issue of reincarnation.
[20]
Sefer haIkarim 4:29
[21]
In summary: The Torah says; “Blessed are you when you arrive and blessed are
you when you leave.” This is taken as meaning that just like one’s arrival to
this world is without sin, so should one’s exit be without sin. Based on this, one’s arrival to this world is
taken for granted as being without sin. This would preclude reincarnation whose
very premise is to return to the world and make right previous sins. (See Bava Metzia 107a)
[22]
Devarim 30:15,19
[23]Emunah
Rabbah Vol. 1, ch.7
[24]
Megilat haMegaleh, 50-51
[25]
R. Moshe de Modena writes that for the same effort, G-d could just extent the
lives of humans so the same person could live longer and atone directly for his
own sins.
