Reincarnation in the Kabbalah

[This is excerpted from an email conversation I found on my
system]
[Ed Note: This, like all my files, contains some statements that I
disagree with in an extreme manner, however, as with all things,
it contains some knowledge. ]
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        |  Copyright (c) 1987 by De'risha Ve'hakira  |
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                   Aquarian Age Yiddishkeit
                   ------------------------

                         Article #62
                         -----------

                Reincarnation in the Kabbalah
                -----------------------------

>             Love your articles on mystical Judaism.  I'm very
>      curious... I've read in many places that in mystical forms
>      of Judaism, such as the Kabbalistic schools of thought, the
>      doctorine of metepsychosis, or transmigration of souls
>      (reincarnation), is acknowledged. Is it true?  I'd love to
>      learn more about it!
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Yes, According to the Kabbalah, souls reincarnate.  There are many
texts dealing with this.  To try to cover as much ground as
possible in less than a gigabyte of data, we are presenting "The
Tractate of Reincarnation of Souls" found in "the Law of the
Pious" by Rabbi Immanuel Chay Riki.  If there is continued
interest in the subject, we will translate material from the
master himself, the Ari, zal, from his teachings in "the Gate of
Reincarnations" written by a disciple of the Ari, Rabbi Chaim
Vital, zal, G-d willing.

                                 Chapter I
                                 ---------

Paragraph 1: If a soul could have learned more Torah but refrained
   from doing so, or if it could have done a good deed and
   refrained from doing so, or if it committed a sin and if these
   sins of comission or omission cannot be rectified by the soul
   entering the body of another person - then the soul must
   reincarnate.

Paragraph 2: Here is how it works.  The sinning soul enters the
   body of a new born baby and suffers whatever suffering that
   body undergoes and cannot separate itself from that body until
   it dies.

Paragraph 3: Therefore, if a person knows that his soul is a
   reincarnated soul and he knows for which sin his soul has been
   reincarnated, he should strive strongly to rectify the sin,
   even though the rectification of that sin will cause his
   death, since there will be no longer any reason for him to
   live.

Paragraph 4: Still, he should carry out all the good deeds that
   come his way, even if he already did those good deeds in his
   first body and so has no need of rectification concerning
   them.  But he does not have to exert himself to do them where
   as the good deed that he neglected to do in his first body he
   must exert himself to do since it is for this purpose that the
   soul reincarnated.  Those good deeds that a Jew must do, i.e.
   those that one is commanded to do at certain specific times
   (eating unleavened bread on Passover, etc.) - he must do.  If
   he neglects to do them, he will have to reincarnate because of
   them.

Paragraph 5: Still the punishment for good deeds that were
   neglected and not done is different for each soul, depending
   on its root in heaven.

Paragraph 6: Every high soul that already has its place in
   Paradise, still when it's time for it to rise to still a
   higher place, it is judged and the soul is punished for even
   the most seemingly insignificant of its omissions.

Paragraph 7: This process goes on forever.  The higher a soul
   travels, the more is expected of it.


                                   Chapter II
                                   ----------

Paragraph 1: The rules of reincarnation are as follows: The soul
   can reincarnate three times, beside the first time it was in
   this world.  If the soul did not succeed to rectify anything
   in those three times, this is proof that the soul contains
   more evil than good.  The good that it contains is therefore
   given to the son of the person or to another person whose soul
   root is the same as his.

Paragraph 2: Therefore, righteous people who involve themselves
   with the wicked people, seeking to help them spiritually - if
   the wicked refuse to repent, then the good that is in them
   will go to the righteous and the bad that is in the righteous
   will go to the wicked so that the righteous are left with all
   the good and the wicked are left with all the bad.  The soul
   of the wicked is then completely destroyed.  This is what our
   sages meant when they said: "If one merits he takes another's
   portion in Paradise and the other person takes his portion in
   hell."

Paragraph 3: If on the other hand, in the three reincarnations the
   soul did at least begin to rectify its shortcomings, then it
   can reincarnate even a thousand times until it reaches the
   final repair.

Paragraph 4: Therefore, the righteous much prefer to reincarnate
   than endure the fires of hell, which is avoided if in each
   reincarnation they accomplish something.

Paragraph 5: But for the wicked, its better after three
   reincarnations that they are sent to hell.  They only stand to
   lose by having more reincarnations.

Paragraph 6: The souls of women can enter the body of another
   person, but they cannot reincarnate (enter the body of a new
   born baby).  The difference between the men and women is that
   men are commanded to learn Torah, whereas women are not.  The
   Torah learning of the men makes it difficult for the fires of
   hell to have any affect on the men.  For this reason, the
   souls of men need to reincarnate.

Paragraph 7: Now, there are five levels of the soul: soul, spirit,
   breath of life, living force, only one.  The rules of soul,
   spirit and breath of life are identical.  However, unlike
   soul, spirit and breath of life cannot be rectified by hell,
   they can only be rectified by reincarnation.  Living force and
   only one come from a very high world.

Paragraph 8: There's a concept of "the righteous who suffer and
   the wicked who prosper."  This is caused by soul
   transmigration.  The righteous suffer because of sins
   committed in a previous incarnation.  The wicked prosper
   because of good deeds done in a previous incarnation.


                                  Chapter III
                                  -----------

Paragraph 1: All souls that were once in this world and their
   souls, spirits, and breaths of life were changed, when they
   come a second time, they are called "reincarnations."  This
   applies even to those parts of Adam's soul which fell into the
   hands of the forces of evil as a result of his sin.  The rule
   is, a reincarnated soul can never achieve its spirit.  The
   soul must reincarnate a third time to unite with its spirit.

Paragraph 2: Still, if the soul rectifies itself, it can be
   certain mystical intentions redeem its spirit from out of the
   hands of the forces of evil.  Their redeemed spirit then
   enters the body of another person, but it cannot enter the
   same body with the soul.

Paragraph 3: The breath of life cannot be reached at all even to
   place it in the body of another person until the body dies and
   the soul reincarnates another time.

Paragraph 4: If however, the spirit and the breath of life were
   not changed in the first incarnation, only the soul was
   changed, then in its reincarnation the soul can merit to its
   spirit and breath of life if it rectifies itself.

Paragraph 5: The changed soul that transmigrates with its spirit
   and breath of life, if it sinned in the first incarnation, it
   must reincarnate, but if it only neglected to do a good deed -
   it can be repaired by entering the body of another person (not
   being born into a new baby).

Paragraph 6: Sometimes the soul, spirit and breath of life
   reincarnate simultaneously in three separate people.  If the
   soul sins, G-d forbid, then all three of them, soul, spirit
   and breath of life go down into the hands of the forces of
   evil to be reincarnated again in one person.  But since only
   the soul sinned in the previous incarnation, the body is
   really "inhabited" only by the soul.  The spirit and breath of
   life merely tag along.  They gain by the good deeds done by
   the new body but do not lose by any sins committed.

Paragraph 7: Still, since the spirit and breath of life tagged
   along, they must endure all the sufferings that the body goes
   through including the pain of death.


                                   Chapter IV
                                   ----------

Paragraph 1: Sometimes a soul of a man is punished for a certain
   sin by being reincarnated in the body of a woman.  That woman
   cannot have children since she is "inhabited" by a male soul.
   Unless a female soul will transmigrate and enter the woman in
   mid-life (the rules of transmigration are explained in the
   tractate immediately preceding this tractate).  What happens
   then is that the transmigrated female soul is reincarnated
   into the baby that is born.

Paragraph 2: For this reason it is impossible for such a woman to
   have a male child.  Since only a female soul transmigrates and
   enters the body of another living woman and then be born as
   her child.  Also, the woman cannot have another female child,
   unless the first one dies.

Paragraph 3: Still, sometimes by great merit, another female soul
   transmigrates and enters the woman's body and is born
   reincarnated as the woman's baby.

Paragraph 4: Likewise, through great merit this woman with a man's
   soul can have a male child.  The baby comes from the female
   which transmigrated into her body.  But the female soul leaves
   the baby as it's being born making room for a male soul to
   enter the baby's body.

Paragraph 5: This joining of souls is only possible if there is a
   root connection between them in the first place.

Paragraph 6: A person who died and his soul was judged that it
   must reincarnate and his wife was pregnant, the baby born with
   the soul of the deceased husband reincarnated.


                                   Chapter V
                                   ---------

Paragraph 1: If a person sins with his friend - then he will have
   to reincarnate together with him to help him in his next
   incarnation even if his soul root is different.  If he is from
   the same soul root, then even if he is completely righteous,
   he must reincarnate to help his soul-mate.

Paragraph 2: If a soul reincarnates because it sinned in its first
   incarnation - the odds are that it will sin again.  If the
   soul did not sin in its first incarnation, but merely
   neglected to do a good deed - the soul has a better chance of
   not sinning.  If the soul is reincarnated in order to do a
   good deed that it never had a chance to do in its first
   incarnation - the odds that it will not sin.  If the soul
   reincarnates to help souls rectify themselves, it will
   certainly not sin.  It's also possible for such a soul to
   achieve its spirit and breath of life even in its first
   reincarnation.

Paragraph 3: The first three times around a soul can be
   reincarnated and not have any soul-help.  But after that, the
   soul will have other souls helping it.


                                   Chapter VI
                                   ----------

Paragraph 1: It is impossible for two old souls (souls that have
   been in this world before) to transmigrate together in one
   body.  They can however reincarnate at birth in one body.
   However, a new soul can have with it even three old souls.
   The new soul holds the old souls together.

Paragraph 2: The souls appear in order of greatness, the smallest
   first, then the bigger ones and so on.

Paragraph 3: There's a double reincarnation.  This means that a
   spirit and breath of life are reincarnated to join their soul
   in a certain body.  Yet for some reason, they instead go to a
   different soul found in a different body since that soul is
   also from their soul root.

Paragraph 4: A soul that inhabited a body that did not have any
   children - that soul cannot reincarnate or transmigrate even
   for the purpose of helping a soul mate unless it comes back
   together with another soul that did have children.  Therefore,
   even if that soul is rectified, still it cannot unite with its
   spirit and breath of life unless the soul that it comes back
   together with is also rectified.

Paragraph 5: A person who only had one soul, spirit and breath of
   life incarnated in him and he damaged only the soul, still he
   must do a repair as if he had damaged the spirit and the
   breath of life, since they were incarnated in him at the time
   that he damaged his soul.


                                  Chapter VII
                                  -----------

Paragraph 1: There are some souls that due to their past
   reincarnated in mineral, vegetable and animal.  Their time of
   reconstitution is fixed.  Those reincarnated in mineral can
   only rise to the level of vegetable in the middle four Hebrew
   months of the year - Av, Elul, Tishrey and Chesvon.  If the
   decree against them was not exhausted in those four months,
   even if it was exhausted the next month, they have to wait
   until the next year for those months to come around again.

Paragraph 2: Those reincarnated in vegetable can only rise to the
   level of animal in the first four Hebrew months of the year -
   Nisan, Iyar, Sivan and Tamuz.  Those incarnated in animal can
   only rise to the level of men in the last four Hebrew months
   of the year - Kislev, Tayves, Shvat and Adar.

Paragraph 3: When the mineral enters the vegetable - the soul
   rises to the level of vegetable.  When the vegetable enters
   the animal - the soul rises to the level of animal.  When the
   animal enters the man - the souls rises to the level of man.

Paragraph 4: There are two possibilities when a reincarnated soul
   in an animal enters a man when he eats the animal meat.  The
   person can go crazy and act in an irrational manner or the
   soul can act as a transmigrated soul which enters a body and
   nobody is any the wiser, it is a hidden process.

Paragraph 5: Sometimes grades are skipped.  For instance, an
   animal can eat a mineral, a man can eat a vegetable or a man
   can eat a mineral.

Paragraph 6: When grades are skipped, it's just harder to rectify
   the soul: so that sometimes the sinning soul wins out and
   causes its eater to sin.

Paragraph 7: The rule is that any Torah scholar even if he is
   ignorant in the secrets of the Torah can raise a soul from the
   animal level to the human level.  A Torah scholar who knows
   the secrets of the Torah can raise the soul from the vegetable
   level to the human level.  A true mystic can raise the soul
   from the mineral level to the human level.

Paragraph 8: However, the ignorant person cannot raise the soul
   even from the animal level to the human level.

I hope this answers your question.  If you are interested, we will
be more than happy to provide more information on this matter from
the classical sources of the Kabbalah.