Kabbalah Supports Reincarnation

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Visiting Souls

 

As a general rule, Nefesh, Ruach and Neshama cannot be totally

rectified in a single lifetime. Instead, the person must first die.

Then the Nefesh is born into a new gilgul in which he will acquire

the level of Ruach. Similarly, after the Ruach is also rectified,

the Nefesh and Ruach cannot receive the level of Neshama that

pertains to them until they come into a new gilgul in which the

person will merit the acquisition of Neshama.

" The Nefesh of a tzadik...will descend into this person's body..."

 

http://www.kabbalaonline.org/MajorConcepts/thesoul/Visiting_Souls.asp

 

However, when the Nefesh alone has been rectified (without the

possibility of Ruach joining with it) if the person is sufficiently

worthy by virtue of his efforts in divine service, it may happen

that the Nefesh of a tzadik who has perfected himself and does not

need to come into gilgul will descend into this person's body,

eliminating the need for him to first die. The Nefesh of the tzadik

then fulfills the role of the person's own Ruach, allowing the

person to transcend the limitations of his own soul root. (See

Tanya, end ch. 14.) It can even happen that the souls of much

earlier generations, all the way back to our father Abraham, will

enter the soul of a person, guiding him to greater heights in his

spiritual endeavors (Sha'ar Ha Gilgulim, hakdama 2).This all depends

primarily on the person's performance of mitzvot, since the mitzvot

have the power to elicit the Nefesh of a tzadik to whom that mitzvah

was particularly important or beloved.

 

Furthermore, even the Ruach of a Tzadik can be drawn down through

the proper performance of a mitzvah. Similarly, it can also happen

that the Nefesh of another greater tzadik also comes into the same

person, so that the person now has his own Nefesh, the Nefesh of the

first tzadik that fulfills the role of the person's own Ruach, and

the Nefesh of a second tzadik that fulfills the role of the person's

Neshama.

 

This phenomenon is called "ibur" - literally, "impregnation" - i.e.,

spiritual possession of a lower soul by a higher soul (or souls) to

the benefit of both of them. The benefit to the carrier of the ibur

is that his soul becomes greatly purified and refined by the

presence of the tzadik's soul, which aids him to reach far higher

levels in the performance of mitzvot and attainment of holiness.

Thus when he eventually dies, his soul rises to the level of the

tzadik's soul in Gan Eden.

 

There is also a benefit to the tzadik whose soul enters the person

living in this world. Since the tzadik helps the person reach

greater heights in mitzvot and achieve a greater intensity of

holiness, the tzadik's soul also acquires a part therein. This is

the secret of the statement of our Sages that "tzadikim are great,

for even after their passing they merit children..." (Chullin 7b;

Sanhedrin 47a ), for they become like fathers to their hosts.

(Sha'ar Hagilgulim, hakdamah 2)

" If he subsequently sins, the tzadik's soul will leave..."

 

 

Of course the continued presence of the tzadik's ibur depends upon

the person's deeds. If he subsequently sins, the tzadik's soul will

leave. However, due to the overwhelming holiness of the tzadik's

soul within him, guiding him to ever greater heights, it is

extremely unlikely that a person will in fact transgress any

Biblical or Rabbinic mitzvot.

 

The following passages from the Zohar discuss the ibur of the souls

of Nadab and Abihu, two of Aaron the High Priest's sons, who died

suddenly, consumed by a holy flame, when they made an incense

offering that was not called for. Although on one level this was

regarded as a sin, nevertheless the Zohar interprets it in a very

positive light as well: their deaths atone for the Jewish People

throughout the entire exile. It is for this reason, states the

Zohar, that we read about the offerings and deaths of Nadab and

Abihu (Lev. 10:1-2; 16:1ff.) on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement,

the holiest day of the year (Zohar, vol. II, p. 57b).

 

The verse states: "Elazar son of Aaron took for himself from the

daughters of Putiel as a wife, and she bore Pinchas; these are the

heads of Levite clans, according to their families" (Ex. 6:25). The

Zohar asks: Why does the verse state these are the heads of the

clans in the plural? He, Pinchas, was only one person, and so it

should have said, "This is the head of the Levite clans...." - in

the singular. The Zohar answers: That which the heads of the Levites

had lost was found in him. The deficiency that they [Nadab and

Abihu] caused, and for which they were burnt up by the flame that

shot out of Heaven, he [Pinchas] completed. It was for this reason

that he earned their Priesthood. Only Aaron and his sons had been

anointed as priests. Only their offspring that would be born after

this time would automatically become priests. Although Pinchas was

the son of Elazar, one of Aaron's sons, he was already alive at the

time that Aaron and his sons were appointed to the Priesthood, and

he was therefore automatically excluded. However, because Pinchas

zealously took up G-d's cause among the Israelites and assuaged His

anger with them for their sinning with Moabite and Midianite women,

Pinchas was bestowed with Priesthood (Numbers 25:1-15). Accordingly,

the verse states, "these are the heads" in the plural, not in the

singular. (Zohar II, p. 26b)

" Pinchas inherited not only the Priestly status of Nadab and Abihu,

but their very souls..."

 

 

>From the following passage in the Zohar, we gain deeper insight into

the Zohar's explanation of the above passage: Pinchas inherited not

only the priestly status of Nadab and Abihu, but their very souls,

which came into ibur within him:

 

Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai was sitting and studying parashat Pinchas

(Numbers 25:1-15). Rabbi Elazar his son came before him and asked:

What did Nadab and Abihu have to do with Pinchas? Had Pinchas not

been alive when they passed away, and he would have been born

afterwards, then one can say that they would be reincarnated in him.

Pinchas would simply be their gilgul and in this way he could have

stood in their place and have completed the mission they had not

finished themselves. However, since Pinchas was already alive at

that time when Nadav and Abihu died, and his soul was already within

his body, how could they come into gilgul within him?

 

Rabbi Shimon replied: My son, this is a supernal mystery. Here is

the explanation: When they Nadab and Abihu passed away from this

world, they were not protected by the wings of the holy rock [an

expression signifying the Shechina]. Why not? Because, as it is

written, "they had no children" (Num. 3:4). They had not fulfilled

the mitzvah of "be fruitful and multiply" and therefore reduced in

stature the Divine Image.

" One who has children therefore augments the Divine Image..."

 

 

A human being is created in the Divine Image and Likeness. It

follows that one who has children therefore augments the Divine

Image, and one who does not have children, in a sense, reduces the

Divine Image. Accordingly, they were not worthy of serving as High

Priests and therefore should not have brought the incense offering

into the Holy of Holies as they did. Pinchas acted zealously to

protect the holy covenant sealed in a man's flesh through

circumcision by publicly impaling the licentious sinners with his

spear. But when he saw many men from the tribe of Shimon whose

leader, Zimri, he had just killed advancing upon him, his soul flew

out in fear.

 

Then the disembodied souls of Nadab and Abihu entered into him and

became one. Subsequently his own soul also returned to him, and they

all became one. In this way he inherited their positions, and he

became a priest, which was impossible beforehand. This is called

live gilgul, or ibur, as explained above. The advantage to Pinchas

was that he became a priest and was given G-d's Covenant of Peace

(Num. 25:12-13). He was worthy of this because of his passion for

the sanctity of sexual relations that some Israelites and Zimri had

violated. Now, through Pinchas, Nadab and Abihu were able to fulfill

the mitzvah to be fruitful and multiply. - Zohar III p. 217a

 

However, a question remains: Why did both Nadab and Abihu enter into

Pinchas, instead of choosing different hosts? The following extract

answers this question:

 

Rabbi Elazar asked his father [(i.e. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai): Nadab

and Abihu] were two people, so why are they not found as two? [in

other words, why did they both come into ibur in Pinchas instead of

each finding a different host?] He replied, "Because they were each

only two halves of a body, for they had not married, [and a man who

does not marry is regarded as being only half a person.] Therefore,

the two were included as one, as it is written, "she bore Pinchas;

these are the heads of Levite clans..." [in the plural, as explained

above]. - Zohar III p. 57b

 

The concept of "dibuk" is a concept closely related to ibur, except

that whereas an ibur is beneficial to its host, a dibuk is

harmful. " Dibuk" may be translated as "clinging". The disembodied

soul of an evil person seeks out a vehicle for its wicked

machinations. It therefore attaches itself to the soul of another

person, hampering the latter's ability to act independently or even

rationally. This could occur as a result of a persons transgressing

the same mitzvah that the dibuk transgressed. This injurious form of

possession typically would result in the death of the possessed,

unless the dibuk was properly exorcised.

 

Rabbi Moshe Miller a guest teacher at Ascent when he lived in

Israel, was born in South Africa and received his yeshiva education

in Israel and America. He is a prolific author and translator, with

some twenty books to his name on a wide variety of topics, including

a new, authoritative, annotated translation of the Zohar. He

currently lives in Chicago.