PMF
Jewish Section - Rabbi Brandwein's Essays
Gilgul Neshamot - Reincarnation of Souls
There is a reason why we do not find any explicit mention of
gilgul in the Tanach (only by insinuation and hint). God wants
man to be completely free to do whatever he wants, so that he can
be totally responsible for his actions. If a person were to be
explicitly told that he will surely reincarnate if he fails to
rectify his actions, he might remain indifferent and apathetic.
He might not do all he could to accelerate his personal
evolution. Thinking that he could have no influence on the course
of his life, he might renounce all responsibility and leave all
in the hands of "fate."
In Shaar HaGilgulim, the Ari explains that Adam had a universal
soul (neshamah klalit) that included [aspects of] all creation
[i.e. every individual angel and every individual animal - all
were asked to give an essence part of themselves to Adam; only
as a miniature reflection of the entire universe could he be
connected to all creation, and either elevate it or lower it...].
His soul also included all the souls of mankind in a higher-
unity. This is why even one action on his part could have such a
powerful effect. After he ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good
and Evil, his soul fragmented into thousands of thousands of
sparks (fragments and fragments of fragments) which subsequently
became clothed/incarnated in every single human being that was
ever born and is alive now. [The main job of these soul-sparks
is to bring about all together the tikkun (rectification) that
Adam was to do alone.]
It is important to understand the difference between one great
all-inclusive universal soul being in one piece, on the one hand,
and split up into many pieces (scattered into many bodies), on
the other hand. There are two reasons for (differences to) this:
1) In one great all-inclusive soul, it is difficult to discern
the parts (the individual souls) because they are still bound in
one great unity. This is not the case when each and every soul-
spark takes on a separate body. We can then recognize the
uniqueness of each and the characteristics particular to each.
In the end, all souls will return to that higher level of Unity
from which they all originated, but on a higher level (i.e.
returning to Unity but retaining the special individuality they
worked for and acquired). [The Sages have a code-name for this
type of progression: Klal U'Prat U'Klal V'Ei Atah Dan Ela K'Ein
HaPrat: Klal (moving from a primeval Unity) U'Prat (to a
breakdown of Unity), U'Klal (and back to a higher level of
Unity), V'Ei Atah Dan Ela K'Ein HaPrat (the final stage of
Oneness does not negate the individuality earned during the stage
of breakdown).]
2) The second reason (or difference) is that many different souls
playing a small (but significant) part in rectifying creation is
"easier" than when all are together.
By way of analogy, this is like a heavy load that requires being
moved from one location to another. It is easier for many people
to do their share and carry what they can of the entire load than
for a single person to try carrying the entire thing alone.
The same applies to Adam. When he ate from the Tree of Knowledge
[before he was supposed to, instead of waiting for the first
Shabbat to enter] he damaged all the souls that were part of him.
His unified soul was subsequently splintered into many pieces,
each destined to be born in a different body, such that each and
every one would be able to fix its own small piece of the great
soul of Adam of which it is a part, so they could all eventually
reunite again as one.
Based on this, the Or HaChaim HaKadosh (Rabeinu Chaim ben Attar,
Parashat Veyechi) explains why the initial generations (Adam's
and those immediately following his) lived hundreds of years.
Only as the generations diminished in spiritual stature did
people's lifespans dwindle to 70 and 80 years. The reason for
this is because earlier generations had very large, inclusive
souls. They therefore needed more time in each lifetime to fix
whatever they had to fix. When they then did not utilize their
long lives for this purpose, for the purpose of tikkun (for
instance, the generation of the Flood), their souls were
diminished and fragmented into "smaller" people with less soul
illumination, in order to make the work of tikkun "easier" for
each person. This is why people's lives became shortened.
From the point of view of the whole system, all of these souls
still are part of one great soul that is split up and incarnated
into countless distinct bodies generation after generation.
We see from this that the soul is a divine light that enlivens the
body which in turn becomes a vehicle for the soul capable of
revealing its (i.e. the body's) distinct qualities. This is
similar to the power of electricity that flows into a household
appliance and turns it on. The electric current itself cannot be
seen. We can only perceive it through the medium of the
particular appliance we are using. For instance, we can plug a
heater or a fan, a washing machine or a dryer into an electric
socket, and see that the differences between each appliance are
due to slight modifications in their mechanisms (heating vs.
cooling, washing vs. drying) rather than in the electrical
current that makes them run.
In the same way, we can understand that all the different bodies
that ever existed were particular manifestations of one great
soul. The differences between them (the souls) lie in the
different bodies that they incarnated into, for no one body
resembles the next (each incarnation is totally unique). This is
why our bodies must presently be buried to return to the basic
elements of which they are composed. The soul, on the other hand,
that enlivens the body, is eternal. Thus, the bodies of each
generation of souls that are born are likened to so many pairs of
clothing that are taken off when a person goes up to heaven.
The Law of Energy Conservation
Ibur Neshamot - More than one soul inhabiting a single body
It is usually thought that gilgul takes place after a person
passes from this world, after the death of the body, at which
time or soon after the soul transmigrates into another body. Ibur
does not work like this. It involves receiving a new (higher)
soul sometime during one's lifetime. That is, a new soul comes
into a person's heart while he is still alive. The reason this
is called Ibur, gestation or pregnancy, is because this person
becomes "pregnant" with this new soul while he is still alive.
This phenomenon is the deeper explanation behind certain people
going through drastic changes in their lives. They either undergo
a change of mind about certain things or change their lifestyle,
and thereby ascend to the next spiritual level. This is also
included under the general heading of gilgul-incarnation because
they are now hosting a new soul [or an aspect of their own soul
or a higher soul of which they are a part] in order to be a
vehicle for that soul's rectification. This is what occurs when
a person is ready to advance in his soul evolution. This is why
the soul has five names, each higher than the other, nefesh,
ruach, neshamah, chayah and yechidah. [According to the Zohar,
the four higher levels of the soul usually enter a person during
his lifetime in Ibur: First, a person receives nefesh when he or
she is born; then, when they merit it, they receive ruach; when
they merit it, they receive neshamah; when they merit it, they
receive chayah. The higher the level, the rarer its occurrence.
Very few have ever merited to neshamah, let alone chayah. Nobody
has ever received the highest level, yechidah. Adam would have
received it had he not sinned.
The Names of Biblical Personalities who returned in Gilgul
Gilgul in the Mineral, the Vegetable, the Animal and the Human
A human soul can also incarnate in these lower forms as
punishment for its sins. In Shaar HaGilgulim, the Ari brings
numerous examples of such incarnations in which the soul of a
person who has deliberately done wrong, depending on the severity
of the sin, enters into various forms of inert or organic matter,
or into animals. Only after a long and arduous journey can such a
soul return [and be reincarnated as a human being again] and
finally have become purified enough to return to its Source.
In conclusion, we were recently engaged in Sefirat HaOmer, the
Counting of the Omer. It is known that we mourn during this
period for the 24,000 students of Rebbi Akiva who died because
they did not treat one another respectfully. When we study
Parashat Balak, we see that Bilaam failed time and again to curse
Israel, but rather blessed them. At the very end, before he
departed, however, he gave Balak advice on how to really
undermine the Jewish people by enticing them to sin with the
Midianite women, and incur Hashem's wrath... Balak took Bilaam's
advice and the result was a plague in which 24,000 people died.
It was these same 24,000 souls who reincarnated as Rebbi Akiva's
students and died from Pesach until the 32nd day of the Omer.
The total number of days that we count is 49, from the day after
Pesach till the last day before Shavuot. Shavuot itself is the
50th day. The numerical value of the words Lev Tov (Good Heart)
is 32 + 17 = 49. Rebbi Akiva's students only merited to Lev
(Heart), not to Tov (Good). It was only Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai
who merited to Tov (Good), as the verse says, "How great is the
Good that You have stored up for those who fear you" (Tehillim),
concerning which the Zohar says, this Good is none other than the
Hidden Light that was concealed when Hashem created the world. It
was Rebbi Shimon who brought this light down into the world, in
the merit of which Israel departed Egypt and received the Torah
on Sinai. The hint for this in the Torah (that we left Egypt in
the merit of something that happened much later in history) is in
the Aramic translation of the verse, U'Bnei Yisrael Yotzim BeYad
Rama - The Children of Israel left Egypt with a triumphant hand -
which Onkelos translates BeResh Galia - they left with a revealed
head (i.e. a very exalted level of intellect). The word BeResh
has the same letters as Rashbi, the initials of Rebbi Shimon bar
Yochai (Resh-Shin-Beth-Yod).
Similarly, in Tehillim, the verse states, "You (Moshe) ascended to
the heights, and took a Shevi (hostage)." The word Shevi is again
the same as the initials of Shimon bar Yochai.
It is also known that Rashbi reincarnated in the Ari, who opened
up the Zohar and made it accessible, and whose initials are also
Yod-Beth-Shin (Yitzhak ben Shlomo = Shevi). The Baal Shem Tov's
initials as well were Yod-Beth-Shin (Yisrael ben Sarah). In our
generation as well, Rav Yehudah Ashlag, who authored a complete
commentary on the Zohar - his initials also were Yod-Beth-Shin
(Yehudah ben Simcha). In their merit, may we merit to the
complete Redemption, in our days, Amen.
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