Customer Reviews

Reincarnation and Judaism: The Journey of the Soul

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Years ago, when people looked at me in disbelief after I said that reincarnation is a part of Judaism, I would challenge them to call their local Lubovitch rabbi and ask him. (For non-Jews reading this, the Lubovitcher Hasidim are very Orthodox Jews.) Now I can simply refer them to Rabbi Pinson's book instead! "Reincarnation in Judaism" is an excellent presentation of Jewish teachings about rebirth, as filtered through the 200-year-old Hasidic line of the seven saintly Lubovitcher Rebbes. (The author himself is a Chabad-Lubovitch rabbi.)

He begins with some Jewish sources on reincarnation which pre-date the Lubovitcher movement, taken from earlier kabbalistic works. He also points out that some of the classical Jewish sages, such as Saadia Gaon and Maimonides, rejected the idea of reincarnation, mostly because (A) it could not be proven based on intellectual logic, and (B) they probably did not have access to the kabbalah. Belief in it, for Hasidim, is a matter of faith, Rabbi Pinson explains. Although there are veiled hints in the Bible, one must rely on the kabbalah for further explanations, which have been received from the unbroken line of teachers reaching back to Moses at Mt. Sinai.

The heart of Rabbi Pinson's book is his explanation of how the 613 Torah mitzvot (commandments) correspond to different "compartments" (his word) of a person's "Godly soul", each of which must be developed through the incarnation of a new personality here on earth. Each incarnation, in turn, focuses primarily on one of these mitzvot, so that it can take many, many lifetimes -- 613 or more -- to perfect the "Godly soul."

There are parts of this book that I disagree with, such as his rather skeptical analysis of modern pastlife therapy cases. Rabbi Pinson takes the stance that only very highly-developed holy persons (such as the Hasidic masters) actually remember their previous incarnations. The other cases, he asserts, are more likely to be caused by dybbuks or ibburim (types of possession) or are psychological in origin. This would be consistent with Lubovitcher thought, which puts a Hasidic Rebbe on a higher plane than ordinary human beings. However, my own Rebbe, the Breslover, maintains that there is not such a big gap between the souls of Rebbes and ordinary people, and that "everyone can achieve the highest level." This debate goes back to the earliest days of the Lubovitch and Breslov movements, and continues today. (Ironically, the cover art of Pinson's book features a Breslover quote! Guess the marketing department didn't know the difference.)

One weakness of the book is that it doesn't have a glossary, and often assumes that the reader knows Jewish terms like "mitzvah" and "sefirot." It also would have helped to have one or more diagrams of the Kabbalistic Tree, for better visualization of various concepts in the text. Ditto for a chart defining the different "souls" and what they are called in Hebrew. Readers who are not familiar with the Tanya (on which much of Pinson's soul theory is based) may have some difficulty following certain chapters. Nevertheless, it is a valuable work and well worth studying.

For some reason I always thought that the idea of reincarnation is not Jewish until I picked up this book. I must say that I was truly amazed at the authors breadth of knowledge citing hundreds of sources to prove that it is very much a Jewish idea. The great thing about the book is that the author does not speak down to the reader, and he writes it the way it is. I for one recommend this to anyone who is intrested knowing how the Jewish masters teach reincarnation.

I have been interested in locating a book describing Judaism's view on reincarnation, that is not a storybook, for a while. Finally, a book that discusses it comprehensively.

It is a fine book and I suggest it to anyone interested in reincarnation from any religious affiliation.

i have always been intrigued by the concept of the journey of a soul. until finding this incredible book, i had countless questions that were never answered elsewhere. what is the soul, am i really just a repeat of a different life, does the soul reincarnate, and if so, why, how does reincarnation affect our present day relationships, and many more questions, all answered in a charming and concise fashion. a great book! i highly recommend to anyone interested in this subject specifically or kabbalah in general.

Rabbi Pinson is one of the most gifted Kabbalists around. This book was so uplifting I am recommending it to anyone interested in wanting to know what happens to us once we die, and how we can determine our fate while we are alive on this earth. As a woman, I was very interested in finding out that we female souls, don't have to reincarnate. But often times we do but really just to help our male counterpart. How great is that! We have a soul mate (or various soul mates) througout time that (if the male earns the right to find his soul mate) we can return to the earth to help elevate his soul. I found this concept among many many others to be so incredibly right on that I will most probably give this book as gifts to friends that might be interested in the topic. Knowing that G-d created us to earn more joy and happiness in the world to come by perfecting our soul during the journeys here on earth is a concept I believe more people need to hear.How sad that so many people, are unaware how important their role on this earth is. How wonderful would it be if everyone thought this way. Paradise would be here at last.
Definitely recommend reading this. Its a treasure waiting to be enjoyed.

This book is a great instruction manual on the soul. Ive studied several Jewish books on reincarnation including Shaar HaGilgulim, etc. However, "Reincarnation and Judaism: The Journey of the Soul" takes much of that information that's scattered around in different books, and puts much of it in one place. It makes for a much more comprehensive understanding for the reader.

The only issue I have with this book is that it didn't cover the souls of converts. The book spoke about how souls have a specific shape and they need to inhabit a vessel (body) that fits that shape. When a soul with a specific shape goes into a body that doesnt fit it, it can be for purposes of punishment for the person - actually the punishment is more of a cleansing, but it is indeed very painful as the soul cannot express itself. It is trapped, imprisoned, unable to express who it is.

THIS is exactly how I have felt for the past 14 years as I've waited to convert to Orthodox Judaism. When my Jewish soul "woke up" 14 years ago, I didnt realise at the time that I wouldnt be able to convert Orthodox because Im married to a non-Jew. I had small children to raise and wasn't about to abandon them - I was always a stay at home mom and didnt have the financial means on my own. So I made the decision to wait to convert until my children were grown. That took 14 years. The wait during these years has been absolute torture for my soul.

The only relief I have felt was while learning Judaism and Chassidus online through Chabad, Breslov, etc. or through reading books on Judaism. The rest of the time it was pure torture. I can't even describe the pain the soul feels when it is trapped in a body it doesnt fit, and I think it is even worse for a Jewish soul trapped in a non-Jew's body. The pain is beyond horrific.

So, when I read in the book about souls being trapped in a body it doesn't fit, and the pain this causes it, this immediately got my attention. I read intently, hoping to discover more information about this in regards to converts who must wait (sometimes decades) to convert while suffering through this condition. There are MANY of us out here and it would have been very helpful if our soul reincarnation situation had been addressed.

Perhaps the author will see this review and give a comment on it.