Jewish Reincarnation

 Jewish Reincarnation Explained in Story Format

The purpose of this story is to show how the divine mystery of reincarnation can be comprehended and point to divine providence and manifestation of HaShem’s will and His mercy in desiring the perfecting of the souls of His people. 

The Story Part 1- 

During the middle ages in a small jewish province in Eastern Europe there lived a devout couple who were devoted to HaShem and walking in all the ways of Torah. Though the couple had a lovely home, sufficient income, and all the blessings that could aid them in supporting a large family they remained childless. They were approaching their mid 40’s and began to lose hope of having a child.

Around this same time a master Rabbi from Spain moved to their province. This man was a Torah sage and full of wisdom and grace, a Tzadik. His wisdom and love for HaShem was so abundant it was as if it overflowed from him and many blessings would be bestowed to those who sought his blessings and instructions. The childless couple began to hear good words about the Rabbi and began visiting him in hopes of not only excelling in Torah but perhaps to receive a blessing. 

Week after week the couple inquired of the Rabbi and explained their dire situation of remaining childless. And week after week the Rabbi did not extend a blessing or prayer for the couple to receive a child from HaShem. After several years the couple finally broke down in front of the Rabbi and exclaimed “Why oh why does your blessing and good tidings fall upon all who come before you but you refuse to extend your blessing upon us as we remain childless?” The Rabbi briefly explained that it had not yet been revealed to him what manner of blessing HaShem has reserved for you to carry out his divine will and purposes. Weeks and months go by as the couple begins to despair. 

One week the Rabbi, still very reluctant and hesitant to bless the couple, informed them he has a blessing for them if they are willing to accept it and if they wholeheartedly desire to do the will of HaShem. The couple answered excitedly “Yes of course Rabbi, we seek your blessings and the will of HaShem to be done”. Thus the Rabbi blessed the couple. And some time later in hope they conceived and bore a beautiful baby boy. They named him Samuel (God has heard). He was a delightful child and brought tremendous joy to the couple. They circumcised the boy on the 8th day and blessed exceedingly, and brought him up under a home full of Torah. The boy was blessed with a faithful Jewish family to watch over his precious soul and to continually bless it and praise HaShem.

When the boy was three years old. During the time of a long harsh winter the boy developed a fever and became very ill. The boy’s father left quickly to fetch the local doctor and was to return in a hurry. The boy’s mother laid him in bed and put cold wet rags on his forehead and the boy drifted off to sleep. The mother was exhausted from all her worries and she also fell asleep. Just then the boy’s father and the doctor arrived in a commotion and abruptly woke the mother up. They went to attend to the boy and found no life in him. He lay breathless, his soul having passed on to HaShem who gave it.

After hours and hours of wailing and grieving for the child a root of bitterness began to take hold. The parents explained “the Rabbi has cursed us and not blessed us!”. Before burial arrangements were even made the couple stormed off furiously to go find the Rabbi. Upon finding him they exclaimed “Surely it would have been better to have never received a child then to have received him and have him stripped away at only 3 years old, what is this curse you have brought upon us Rabbi!” After much time of the Rabbi grieving with the parents and trying to console them he said “Let me please explain what I can by telling you a story if you please will just calm your souls for a moment and hear me”. 

The Story Part 2

The Rabbi told the story about the King of Elania who ruled some time ago. The King was very prestigious and his dynasty was vast and wealthy. Many Jewish communities began to form throughout his provinces as there was much peace in this area of the world. As prestigious as the King was, he was not a God-Fearing or religious man. He saw such things as a sign of weakness. The King was well aged in his late 50’s and was childless and had no heir to take over his Kingdom. He was jealous of the Jewish people as he saw that they had large thriving families. They were happy and blessed over and over again with many children and good health.

The King began interacting with the head Rabbi of one of his districts. Primarily over socio-political and community affairs and nothing regarding religion or their faith. But one day the King enquired of the Rabbi “Why is it that you Jews are blessed with such large families, and I the King over all the land have not a single child or heir to my throne?” The Rabbi candidly stated “Dear King, we Jews seek to please the God of Heaven, and He is the only one who has the power to give life and take away life, and we seek only to obey Him and he has commanded us to “be fruitful and multiply and have children”, so we dear King are only seeking to obey Him and that is why we bear children, for the sake of Heaven”. And the King replied “So you're not seeking an heir for yourself but rather are seeking heirs for the Kingdom of God?” And the Rabbi replied “Indeed dear King, and that is well said, and being you comprehend this great wonder I will pray for you that HaShem, the God of Heaven, that he will provide you with a child and that the child will indeed  be born for the sake of heaven and an heir to the Kingdom of God”.

Now some time later the King was finally granted a child and his wife bore him a beautiful baby boy. The King was delighted and exclaimed “I finally have an heir to my Kingdom!” The King was ecstatic and celebrated with a month of great feasting and parties. 

Now around that time, even though the Jews coming into his provinces were outstanding and morally upright citizens, and he was working with the community affairs in managing the affairs of the new community, he saw their devout service to the God of Heaven as a hindrance. Their sabbath law, their various sabbath days and festivals, their ways of conducting commerce and business were not aligning well with the governors of the provinces. The general populace began to grumble against them. The King's governors and magistrates all frowned upon the Jews and the Jews began to withdraw and subside from normal interactions in society. Eventually the King made an edict to dispel all Jews from his provinces.  

When the King's son was 6 years old he came to realize that the child was no normal child and that he was a prodigy. He was already well advanced in reading and arithmetic and could solve the most advanced of problems. The King decided that his son needed a full time tutor to guide him in all learning and education and set the boy up for maximum success and excelling at his gifts. After interviewing dozens of men with vast arrays of knowledge he selected an older man who was humble, gracious, and kind, yet was well spoken, wise, and efficient with all matters of learning. The King's son was introduced to the tutor and there was an immediate connection. So the King hired the man as his tutor. But the tutor had one requirement and request from the King. He would do as the King says and spend all his time with the boy and instruct him and guide him, he would live in the King's appointed quarters and make himself available at all times. But the man requested that he could have 2 hours per day every single day to himself to be in absolute privacy and silence. The King agreed.

The tutor and the boy spent hours and hours day after day learning all the sciences, literature, arithmetic, and all the ways of logic and reasoning, and the boy excelled greatly. The King was very impressed with the Tutor’s commitment to his son and his son’s performance. As the boy got older he grew to love his tutor greatly and respected him dearly. But as much as he asked his tutor what he did with the 2 hours per day that he spent alone in his room in total privacy the tutor told him “it’s not for you to know dear boy, that time is my time”. The boy’s curiosity could not be restrained. 

One day the boy came up with a plan to sneak into his tutors room and hide in the closet to observe what would happen during that 2 hour time. His plan was successful and behold as he gazed through the crack of his closet door he saw the tutor go to his dresser drawer and begin pulling out items. The man was also speaking a language he did not recognize, and there was something spoken like chanting. The man took out a large scroll with writing upon it. He took out a large cloth with tassels on the corners with white and blue threads. He took out what appeared to be some sort of wrappings and a small box. The tutor placed the box upon his head, and the wrappings he wrapped up from his wrist to his arm. He covered himself with the large cloth with the tassels. The man began to seemingly mumble a lot of words the boy could not comprehend and the tutor was rocking his head back and forth. This continued on for quite some time. 

Finally the boy could no longer take it and he burst forth from the closet and exclaimed “Tutor, what on earth are you doing!”. “Oh my boy, you're not supposed to be here” the tutor responded with a tone of desperation and despair in his voice. The boy, being just a boy, was wise and observant for his age and his tutor knew this. So the tutor knew he could not tell a fib or a tale or make up an excuse to give the boy cause he would see through it. So the tutor explained in detail what he was doing and that he was a devout Jew. He also told the boy that you never can tell anyone about this incident or that I’m a Jew because Jew’s are not allowed in this province let alone in the King's own household. The boy was saddened when he heard that the Jew’s were not allowed in the King’s house because he loved his tutor dearly. But the boy having a very keen sense of seeing the good in people, and now knowing that his beloved tutor was a Jew, he exclaimed “Then I too must become a Jew, for if all the wisdom you have taught me has come to you firstly, and you are a Jew, then surely I your student should also be as you are”. The tutor could not deny the boy's sound reasoning and wisdom.

So the tutor began to teach the boy Hebrew in his language studies. Then from there the stories of the Jewish people, the history of the Nation, and of course the nature and beauty of the God of Heaven, HaShem the creator of heaven and earth. Over several years the boy grew in all the wisdom of Torah. But there was one thing that the boy was severely lacking, that he and his tutor both understood was holding him back. He could not practice what he was learning. Therefore he was hindered as the Jewish faith is all about doing and not just about theoretical knowledge. So it was then that they came up with a game plan.

The tutor appeared before the King and explained to the King “Dear King, your son has excelled greatly in all matters of learning and he is now educated beyond what can be learned here in his current situation. I advise that it is time for your son to travel and study abroad and begin to learn the ways of the world, other cultures and communities, economies and sciences, to diversify his knowledge base and excel even more” The King was delighted and saw the wisdom in such advice and then sent the boy and the tutor away with his blessings.

The boy and the tutor traveled many places abroad and learned a great deal. Being abroad gave the boy and the Jewish tutor the ability to express faith and to visit Jewish communities and attend synagogue and the Torah study halls. They became well established in a delightful jewish community and the boy was beloved by all his peers and elders. He was a zealous student of Torah and all the Rabbi’s and Elders who surrounded him were supportive of his heart's desire to convert to Judaism. And so he was circumcised and entered the Mikveh and became a Jew. He attended Yeshiva and he excelled greatly in the Jewish faith. 

The Tutor was delighted for the boy and the joy he had found in his conversion. But he had to have an honest discussion with him about his situation. He told the boy that he must recognize that he is still the Prince of a great dynasty. He is the only son of a great King and that he is bound to take the throne and inherit the entire kingdom and a vast array of riches and glory and have great dominion and power over many people. And that his own sons and children to come would also inherit such tremendous wealth and resources. The boy was surprised to hear this. He explained that the thought of that had never even entered his mind. And that when the tutor put it so bluntly to him he was saddened in a way. “Do I really have to go back to all that wealth and power?” he sighed “it means nothing to me, I’m happy serving HaShem and being a humble servant in His house and helping the meek and the poor in spirit with charity and living a life of Mitzvah keeping and Torah study”. As he spoke those words a sense of confidence came over him and he explained to his beloved tutor “No I’m not going back. My father’s kingdom is his own and it is for his own name's sake that he builds it. But rather this day I choose to serve HaShem and for His name only will I serve and magnify and for the benefit of HaShem’s people Israel will I devote myself wholeheartedly”. 

So the King’s son gave up all the wealth and glory of a vast dynasty. He lived a simple life and became a gracious and loving Rabbi in a small town in Spain. He devoted himself wholly to teaching the Torah with love and righteousness in his heart. He served HaShem wholeheartedly and walked perfectly in all the ways of Torah. He lived a long fruitful life full of good deeds, perfect love and charity. He had a wonderful life and many sons and daughters and brought them up in all the way of Torah and love of HaShem. He was a truly righteous man and walked upright before HaShem until the old age of 95 and he fell asleep and went to rest with his fathers. 

The King’s son was assured the merit of a blessed life in the world to come. Now his soul appeared in the presence of the divine counsel in heaven. And a divine ruling of great reward was decreed upon him. And he was told that he could enter the 6th highest realm of heaven (6 out of 7). And as the decree was being made, a voice interjected and said “Why is this righteous man, who gave up all the wealth of the world to humbly serve HaShem, and who walked in all the ways of HaShem perfectly and was kind and full of love, why is he not entering the 7th realm of heaven?”  and another voice in heaven spoke and said “All the things about this righteous man are true and just, however he is a proselyte, born of a heathen who feared not HaShem, and this righteous man did not fulfill the Torah completely as he was not circumcised on the 8th day in accordance with the divine Law nor did he receive the blessings of Hashem upon him in his infancy”. 

Then another voice in heaven spoke that shook the whole heavens, the voice of Him who sits on the throne “All my decrees are just and right, I love righteousness and reward all in justice and fairness. . behold, my eyes have seen upon the earth the devout prayers of a righteous couple. A couple that is seeking me with all their heart and who desire to fulfill my will and my purposes. They are longing for a child. So now they will complete the redemption for the king’s son, the righteous man who stands before us, this couple will fulfill what is lacking in this righteous man’s life, and will do my will, so that this righteous man is granted his full reward, he will be perfected and will enter the 7th realm of heaven. Therefore I decree now that this man’s soul be sent back to earth and given to this righteous couple as a child. They will bring about the man’s redemption and fulfill what is lacking so that he will be born into the Jewish faith and be circumcised on the 8th day and receive the infant blessings and bring joy to the couple for it will be a great Mitzvah for them to do my will.. And then I will call this soul back home and surely he will enter the 7th heaven”

When the couple who had lost their only son heard the story about the King’s Son they realized that their only son’s soul was that of the King’s son and that they had performed a great Mitzvot for HaShem by being willing to take part in the carrying out his will and the perfecting of the soul of the one whom HaShem delighted in. 

And so we see, it was the soul of the King’s son that was sent back to the earth to be perfected. The childless couple had prayed for their desire to serve HaShem’s will in their longing for a child. Their Rabbi was unable to bless them until their heart was completely aligned with that of the decree of heaven. When the decree in heaven was made to send the soul back to earth the couple was able to bear a child to aid in finishing the process of perfecting the soul. The king’s son had lived 95 full years. He was only missing a very small part for his 95 year life to have been perfected. So in divine mercy the soul was sent back to earth to that Jewish couple in order to complete the Mitzvot of the Torah to circumcise a male child on the 8th day. And the couple did a great deed on their part as well, hosting and caring for this soul to ensure its perfection to completion--albeit it was only for 3 threes but that was all that was needed for this soul to reach perfection.    

HaShem desired the perfection of this man’s soul, so it was decreed and so it was done. HaShem completed the redemption needed for all parties involved. And it was because of his great love and his mercy that all things happen by his providence. And that is an example of how HaShem may use the divine mystery of reincarnation. 

The end.