Why Do Good People Suffer?

Guest post: Rebbetzin Devorah Fastag

After last week's review of Unsong, Rebbetzin Devorah Fastag¹ of Beitar—author of The Moon’s Lost Light, and someone whose insights I deeply value—pointed out that I hadn’t addressed one of the most important theological questions raised: Why do good people suffer? What follows is her thoughtful and detailed exploration of this question, rooted in traditional Jewish sources, Kabbalah, and a lifetime of spiritual learning. I hope you’ll find it illuminating, whether or not you agree with every point.

The Jewish View of Suffering

The book review of Unsong by Isha Yiras Hashem likely sparked quite a few questions. She stated, correctly, that the views presented in Unsong are not Jewish views at all. What, then, is the Jewish view on why bad things happen to good people?

Why do good people suffer? There has been much written on this, both in the Scriptures—such as the book of Job and certain passages in Psalms—and also in the Talmud and Midrashim. Rabbinical commentaries throughout Jewish history also spoke about this. First we will bring the basic conventional answers, and then we will go into a longer discussion of an idea which became a part of revealed Judaism only in more recent times; reincarnation, known in Hebrew as gilgul.²

Although this idea is taught by many of the greatest rabbis of the modern era, some still find it controversial and/or emotionally disagreeable. We will discuss this at length as we proceed, but first let us start with the more conventional answers.

1. Suffering is meant to atone for sins.

Suffering is meant to atone for sins. Everyone has sins, even very good people. While the good people are "paid back" for their sins in this world, the wicked are paid back for their sins in the next world, which is much, much worse. Good people are paid back for their good deeds in the next world, while the wicked are paid back for their few good deeds in this world. All this creates the impression that good people are suffering while the wicked prosper, because we see only what is happening in this world. If we could see the entire picture, we would understand this divine accounting.

To give an example from Scriptures: Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob, was sold as a slave and taken to Egypt. Joseph was extremely good-looking, and day after day, his master's wife tried to entice him to sin with her. This eighteen-year-old boy stood firm and refused. One time, when they were alone, she grabbed hold of his jacket; he fled the house. She then slandered poor Joseph, saying he had been about to assault her, but when she screamed, he fled, leaving his jacket in her hand. As a result, Joseph was imprisoned in a dungeon by his master, with no hope of ever getting free. This went on for twelve years until G-d intervened and gave Joseph the power of correct dream interpretation, which Pharaoh needed. Extremely impressed, Pharaoh freed Joseph and made him into the viceroy over Egypt.³

Let's try to imagine how Joseph must have felt when he was falsely accused and sentenced to life in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Not only was he totally innocent, but he had behaved extremely righteously, standing up to an extremely difficult moral test. You would expect that in that merit, G-d would arrange that Joseph would be freed from slavery and returned to his father. But no, instead of things getting better, they get worse. Now he's in a dungeon! What was Joseph to think?

But Joseph trusted G-d and remained loyal to Him, eventually becoming the viceroy of Egypt.

Now let's see how the Talmudic Sages explain this, together with a Hassidic commentary called the Sfas Emes.

When he was still at home, Joseph had brought bad reports about his brothers to their father. He meant well; he wanted his father to make them behave properly, but his actions were wrong. He should have first gone to his brothers and discussed with them what he believed they were doing wrong, rather than going straight to their father. Only if that didn't help would he have been allowed to speak negatively to his father about what he assumed was wrong in his brothers' behavior.⁴

G-d deals with a person according to their spiritual level.⁵ The closer you are to G-d, the more is expected of you. What might be a minor blemish on a lower level becomes an outstanding blemish on a higher level. Joseph was already on a very high spiritual level, but when he resisted his master's wife, he became so high that any blemish on the pure white background of his soul would show up as very dark, ugly spots—so to speak—that would prevent him from receiving the great reward of clinging very closely to G-d.

Therefore, G-d arranged that Joseph be imprisoned for ten years, one year for each brother he derided. After ten years, Pharaoh's butler was imprisoned with Joseph, and G-d arranged that he was given the opportunity to interpret this butler's dream, which he did correctly. When the butler was freed, as Joseph had predicted, Joseph asked him to tell Pharaoh about him. That was a mistake, since someone on Joseph's level should have relied on G-d and not on a wicked person like the butler. So Joseph had to remain another two years in prison to get rid of this blemish, and then he was freed.

Of course, this story is not everyone's story. We each have different circumstances, and not always do we see the happy ending. Let's give an example of that as well.

After the Jews spent 850 years in the land of Israel, G-d exiled them for their sins after going through a catastrophic war where millions were killed, and many others starved to death. The book of Lamentations records this.⁶

But was everyone deserving of this? There were lots of good people as well. Why did the good people suffer? The book of Ezekiel relates⁷ how G-d said to one of the angels to put a sign on the forehead of these people, and then says, "I will start with those who are holy," meaning that the holy ones will be killed first! Why??

The sages explain that the holy ones should have rebuked the others, and although the general populace wouldn't have accepted their rebuke, they couldn't have known that for sure, and they should have tried.

In other words, sometimes a person is punished not for his/her own sins, but the sins of others which he/she should have tried to prevent. You see an example of this again in Scriptures. After the sin of the golden calf, G-d said He would wipe out the entire nation of Israel, leaving only Moses who would then become the father of a new nation. Moses begged G-d for mercy on the people, and G-d retracted the decree.⁸ But the question remains: why was there such a decree in the first place? If you do some calculations, you see that only one half of one percent of the people actually worshipped this calf! So why was the decree on the entire nation? Because nobody stopped them. Judaism is very strong about having responsibility towards others.

2. This world is a test

This world is a test. We weren't born into this world to have a vacation—we were born into this world to work hard in order to earn our right to the next world. The next world contains the tremendous pleasure of enjoying a union with G-d, which is the greatest pleasure there could be. But you have to first pass your test in this world in order to earn the next world. Suffering of various sorts is part of the test.

That people are suffering as a test is brought in the book of Iyov (Job), which we will discuss later, be’ezras Hashem (with G-d’s help).

While both the above given reasons are essential truths in Judaism, they still don't answer all the questions. Why do children suffer? Children have no sins, and they are not old enough to be tested. And why is it right to test people with terrible suffering? In the end, people are suffering without deserving it, which is not just. But the Torah says that everything G-d does is just. So even though the above answers are true, they are only part of the truth, and in the end we have to admit that we really don't know. The time has not come to reveal it to us.

Or has it?

A few hundred years ago, great rabbis started writing about reincarnation, called in Hebrew gilgul. As time went on, more and more people accepted this, including the very greatest rabbis. Now, even some elements of the scientific community are beginning to admit that there is very strong evidence that reincarnation is real.

I would like to present here an article I wrote on this subject about a year ago that was never posted.

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Do Jews Believe in Reincarnation?

Belief in reincarnation is becoming more and more widespread in the scientific community. Many people today have undergone past life regression under hypnotism. Some of them said things about their past lives that were found to be true and which there was no other way they could have known. The psychiatrist Dr. Brian Weiss wrote two books about his experiences with patients who underwent past life regression under hypnotism.⁹

Dr. Weiss was a modern rationalist psychiatrist and originally refused to take seriously the evidence he was seeing before his eyes. But after so many incidents, he could no longer deny the obvious: there is a soul which continues after leaving the body and which can return in another body.

Others remember things from past lives even without hypnotism. Sara Yocheved Rigler spent eight years researching people who remember their experiences in the Holocaust and wrote a book about it called I’ve Been Here Before.¹⁰

On her website, she writes that “some members of the scientific community are beginning to take reincarnation seriously.” She tells of an article¹¹ in Scientific American, saying:

“Its author, Jesse Bering, a former professor of psychology, is a self-proclaimed skeptic.
‘If you’re anything like me, with eyes that roll over to the back of your head whenever you hear words like "reincarnation" or "parapsychology"…’ he writes.

And his article is a wrestling match between his own inveterate skepticism and his intellectual honesty in daring to examine the research done by the late Prof. Ian Stevenson, who held the Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia.

Prof. Stevenson meticulously studied the memories of previous lives of some 3,000 children. For example, a toddler in Sri Lanka heard her mother mention the distant town of Kataragama and proceeded to tell her mother that she had drowned there when her ‘dumb’ brother pushed her into the river. She went on to mention 30 details of her previous home, family, and neighborhood. Prof. Stevenson went to Kataragama and found a family that perfectly fit the child’s description. Their two-year-old daughter had indeed drowned in the river while playing with her mentally challenged brother. Prof. Stevenson verified 27 of the 30 statements made by the child.

After reading Stevenson’s research reports, Jesse Bering grudgingly admits: ‘I must say, when you actually read them firsthand, many are exceedingly difficult to explain away by rational, non-paranormal means.’

Bering then declares: ‘Towards the end of her own storied life, the physicist Doris Kuhlmann-Wilsdorf—whose groundbreaking theories on surface physics earned her the prestigious Heyn Medal from the German Society for Material Sciences—surmised that Stevenson’s work had established that “the statistical probability that reincarnation does in fact occur is so overwhelming … that cumulatively the evidence is not inferior to that for most if not all branches of science.”

Yet many people don’t like the subject of reincarnation. Doesn’t belief in reincarnation justify looking down at others by claiming that those born at the lower social levels, or those born deformed, are suffering for their sins in a previous lifetime?

How, then, can belief in reincarnation be accepted by Judaism? Helping the poor and the downtrodden, the sick and disabled, is at the center of Jewish belief. It is a great mitzvah to cure the sick, rehabilitate the disabled, and raise the poor out of their poverty and lowly social status. Doesn’t this contradict the belief that those born into suffering are reincarnations of sinners?

Actually, according to Judaism there is no contradiction.

All of us have sinned, and the downtrodden may have actually sinned much less than others more privileged. Reincarnation is never used in Jewish mysticism as a justification of cruelty or as a reason to feel smug. It is important to know about reincarnation to help us understand G-d’s goodness and justice, but it has nothing to do with how people should relate to each other. As far as interaction between people goes, there is only this lifetime, and everyone starts off innocent.

Furthermore, not all reincarnations are sinners. This is discussed at greater length further on.

But how can reincarnation be considered a Jewish belief if the Bible never speaks of reincarnation, nor does the Talmud? In fact, some great Jewish scholars—notably Maimonides and Rav Saadia Gaon—clearly objected to this belief.

And yet, all Jewish mystics speak of reincarnation, and this belief has been accepted by all Chassidim and North African and Oriental Jews (with the exception of some Yemenites who follow Maimonides). It was also accepted by the Gaon of Vilna, the greatest leader of Lithuanian Jewry, and many, many other Torah giants, such as the Chofetz Chaim.

Where do they get this from, what do they base it on, and how does it affect the Jewish belief system?

Let’s start with where belief in reincarnation comes from.

It is well known that there are basically two aspects to the Torah: the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. The Oral Torah was transmitted orally from the time of the giving of the Torah, but was later written down in the Talmud and Midrashim.

What is not as well known is that there was also another aspect of Torah called sod, which means “secret,” and was known only to great Torah scholars who received it in a chain of tradition. These esoteric teachings are now known as kabbalah, which literally means "receiving" (i.e., through tradition). Sod is mentioned in the Talmud as being studied by great tzaddikim such as Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai, as well as others.¹² But although it is mentioned, it is never taught there.

Where does sod come from?

When G-d gave the Torah to the Jewish people at Mt. Sinai, He originally gave them the esoteric teachings as well. These included the reasons behind the otherwise incomprehensible laws, as well as many other spiritual secrets. After the sin of the golden calf, however, G-d caused the people to forget these teachings, for the people were no longer worthy of them. To make up for the lack of faith the people had shown in making the golden calf, Jews would now have to serve G-d with great faith by keeping laws whose purpose they could not understand. This situation would last until the coming of the Messiah, when G-d will once again reveal the secrets of the Torah.

But there was one person who did not forget these teachings: Moses. And so Moses related the secrets of the Torah to his student Joshua, who related them to the elders who lived after him, who related it to the prophets who came after them, who related it to the Men of the Great Assembly, as stated in the first Mishnah of Avos.¹³ The Great Assembly consisted of 120 great Torah scholars who lived at the beginning of the Second Temple period. They, in turn, taught the secret teachings to their students, and they to their students, etc., so these teachings became more widespread during the Second Temple period. The Torah teachers of that time, known as Tannaim, taught their students not only the laws as recounted in the Mishnah, but all the secrets of the Torah.

Then something happened to upset this and make kabbalah go “underground.” Exactly what happened is not specifically stated, just that the sins of those times would have damaged these Torah teachings.¹⁴ For about a thousand years, kabbalah went totally underground.

About 800 years ago, the Zohar—the main book of kabbalah, taught by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his students—came to light. Very few people, however, had access to it and actually studied it. One of those few who did was Nachmanides (the Ramban). Maimonides, however, had no access to it, and neither did Rav Saadia Gaon. Hence, the Jewish source for reincarnation was totally unknown to them.

As time went on, there were more kabbalah scholars. In the 1500s, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, known as the Ari, made kabbalah knowledge much more widely known and added on many new teachings. Reincarnation was spoken about in the Zohar, which dates to the Mishnaic period, but the Ari added much more on this subject, often telling who was a reincarnation of whom. So did Rabbi Menachem Azariah of Fano, who wrote the Sefer HaGilgulim—Book of Reincarnations. The Gaon of Vilna, the Chassidim, the Ohr HaChaim of Morocco (and later of the Holy Land) all studied the writings of the Ari z”l. They all spoke openly of reincarnation. From there, reincarnation became an accepted idea in Judaism.

Is there any hint of reincarnation in the Bible or the Talmud?

Actually, there is. It should be pointed out that the Bible does not speak of the afterlife at all in an open manner. Why this is so is a matter of conjecture, but for whatever reason, what happens after death was only taught orally. (There are, however, many hints of the afterlife in the Bible—see footnote.) Only when the Mishnah was written down, about a hundred years after the destruction of the Second Temple, do we find written teachings about the rewards or punishments after death and the world to come.

It is therefore not surprising that reincarnation would not be openly mentioned in Biblical writings. But here, too, there are hints. For example, Ecclesiastes¹⁵ says, “A generation goes and a generation comes, and the earth stands forever.” On this, the Chassidic master known as the Me’or Vashemesh says that “the generation that goes (left this world) is the generation that comes (back) into the world,” because instead of accomplishing what they had been sent to this world to do, they ran after material pursuits. They must therefore return to accomplish what was left undone. He finds an allusion to this in Gemara Chagigah 5.

The Gaon of Vilna also finds an allusion to reincarnation in¹⁶ the verse, “I praise the dead who died already rather than the living who are still alive.” The dead who died already are those who died after one lifetime and then died again after another lifetime.

Of course, these are hints that will be seen only by those who already believe in reincarnation. There is a saying of the sages, however, that strongly suggests reincarnation even to those who do not yet believe in it. The sages in Bava Basra 16b said one feeds a mourner lentils or eggs: “Just as a lentil is rounded (megulgelet), so is mourning rounded (megulgelet) and returns upon those who come to the world.” The word megulgal is similar to the word gilgul, which means reincarnated. Reincarnation is when the soul keeps returning to the world.

Rashi comments¹⁷ about this: “And why lentils? Because they are similar to a wheel, for mourning is a wheel that returns in the world.”

Why is mourning like a wheel?

But why is mourning like a wheel that returns or turns over? A person mourns a relative, and perhaps mourns again several times for several relatives—but how is that similar to a wheel? A situation that is repeated many times is not a wheel. It is simply a situation which is being repeated.

Even if we understand this to mean that mourning is repeated in the world for different people, or that everybody will eventually die, this is still not a wheel. A wheel is the same thing which keeps returning over and over again. First one part is on top, then it is underneath, and then it is again on top, and then again underneath—and so it continues.

And that is exactly what reincarnation is: the same soul returning, sometimes appearing in this world, and sometimes not. That is why it is called gilgul, for it goes around like a wheel, which in Hebrew is called galgal.

But if one believes that after death the soul does not return, then there is no connection to a wheel. New souls coming into the world and then leaving it are not a wheel. It can be called a circle—for the soul came from G-d and returns to G-d—but only when the soul returns or “recycles” can this be called a wheel.

So now that we have some idea of where the idea of reincarnation comes from, let’s discuss its effects on how we view life.

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How Does the Knowledge of Reincarnation Help Us?

It helps us to understand G-d’s justice.

There is no way to explain the suffering of children, or the suffering of the righteous, without belief in reincarnation. It’s as simple as that.

The Vilna Gaon, in his commentary on the book of Jonah, uses reincarnation to explain an otherwise totally incomprehensible statement of the sages. The sages in Berachos 7a say that a tzaddik (righteous person) who suffers in this world is a tzaddik the son of a rasha (wicked person), and a tzaddik who has a pleasant time in this world is a tzaddik son of a tzaddik.¹⁸

On the surface, this statement makes no sense. Why would G-d, who is totally just, cause a good person to suffer simply because his or her father (or mother) was wicked? On the contrary, the very fact that the child left this wickedness is reason to reward them all the more—certainly not to blame them for something they didn’t do!

And indeed, the Talmud there ends up rejecting this teaching for that reason. A child does not suffer for the sins of his parents unless he, himself, continues in their wrong ways. But if that teaching was brought in the first place, it must have some truth to it.

The Vilna Gaon explains that the terms “father” and “son” here are referring to an earlier and later incarnation. The father is the earlier incarnation and the son is the later incarnation. The tzaddik who is a son of a wicked father is actually a person who sinned in an earlier lifetime but is now righteous. Nevertheless, he is still working off his old debt. Because the sages could not openly speak of reincarnation (as explained above), they had to hide this in a coded form, and people with enough understanding of Torah and justice are meant to figure it out.

The Book of Iyov (Job)

And now let's look at the book of Iyov (Job), whose central point is the suffering of the righteous. Iyov was a very righteous man who was also very wealthy and had many, many sons and daughters. At the start of the book, the Satan says to G-d that it's no big deal that Iyov is good, because he's got it good. Take away all the good he's gotten from G-d and then see how he reacts! G-d allows the Satan to test Iyov in this way.

First, all his children die. Iyov quietly accepts his lot. Then he loses all his wealth. Again, he quietly accepts his lot. Then he, himself, is stricken with great physical pain. His suffering is unbearable. Finally, he calls out in complaint against G-d. Iyov's friends come to comfort him, but instead of bringing comfort, they tell Iyov he must have sinned to bring this on himself and he should repent. But there's nothing to repent for! He didn't sin! He was truly a very righteous person.

In the end, G-d Himself speaks to Iyov. Iyov had questioned if perhaps G-d confused him with someone else, and G-d shows that this is ridiculous. There is a long dialogue, most of which is obscure or semi-obscure, until finally, G-d cures Iyov, gives him back his wealth, and many more children are born to him.

But the book of Iyov contains many chapters.¹⁹ You don't need so many chapters just to tell this story. What else is in there? Most of it is obscure or semi-obscure. Why?

Because there are mounds and mounds of secrets here being covered up. They are meant to be understood only by certain individuals on a high spiritual level, or to be understood only as we approach the End of Days. Let's give an example.

G-d says²⁰ to Iyov, “Where were you when I created the world?” and you wonder, what does that have to do with Iyov's point? How does that answer why a righteous person is suffering?

The Me’or Vashemesh, a Chassidic commentary, explains that what G-d was asking Iyov was: where he was inside Adam when Hashem created the world. All the souls were originally inside Adam and Chava, and they all influenced them to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. "If you would know where you were at that time, you would understand why you have to go through this."

So why is the Satan given the opportunity to test Iyov in this way? How is it just to test a person with such suffering even if he didn't do anything wrong? The answer is: that he did do something wrong.

And it isn't only where Iyov was inside Adam—it's what Iyov did on his own in a previous lifetime. According to kabbalah, Iyov was an incarnation of Terach, the father of Avraham.

Terach started off studying in the yeshiva of Shem and Ever. Shem was the son of Noach, and Ever was Shem's grandson. Shem lived through the flood. There was no doubt at all here that G-d runs the world. But Terach didn't want to have to obey G-d, so he and his friend Nimrod—another dropout from yeshiva—convinced themselves that they could worship idols.

Then Terach has a son called Avram, who rebels against these idols. On his own, Avram figured out who the real G-d was, and not only was he worshipping G-d, but he was telling everyone else he met to do the same. He totally rebelled against idol worship. Terach brought Avram before Nimrod to make him leave all this, but Avram would not give in. Nimrod then ordered Avram to be thrown into a fiery furnace, but still Avram wouldn't give in. Avram was really thrown in—and miraculously, nothing happened to him.²¹

Sometime later, Avram leaves his home in Ur Kasdim and goes to Charan. His father Terach accompanies him. Terach sincerely repents and dies a righteous man. All this is taught by the Talmudic sages.

But the Satan isn't happy with this. Why should Terach, who had been so awful, get off free? The Satan doesn't want to acknowledge his defeat in luring Terach. So now he wants to test him again—maybe he'll fail. Does Iyov deserve all that suffering? No, not as Iyov. But yes, he does deserve it as Terach.

Again, as explained above, this has no relation to how we treat or view other people. It is only about understanding G-d’s justice. As far as other people are concerned, we view everyone as starting off innocent, and must treat them as such.

King David²² complained, “The one You struck, they persecuted”. Meaning that, after G-d brought suffering on a person (or on the Jewish people as a whole), they pursued him to harm him, probably justifying this by saying that if G-d struck him, G-d must hate him for his sins, so it’s okay to harm him.

But as King David is saying—that is the exact opposite of the truth!

Yes, G-d brings sickness upon people, but He wants us to do what we can to cure them and ease their pain. G-d made people poor and wants us to support them. These are mitzvos of the Torah. So it is with all types of suffering. We are meant to care for people’s pain. G-d does not strike people because He hates them, but rather because they need to be cleansed. And if we show love and genuine concern for each other’s pain, G-d is very happy. He certainly doesn’t allow anyone to make things any worse than He made them.

There is a commandment²³ not to stand on your brother’s blood, which means not to stand idly by while someone else is getting hurt. G-d wants His creatures to love each other. If you had to punish your beloved child, and then others came to taunt him/her or hurt them further, would you like that? Of course not. Neither does G-d.

Furthermore, some people who come back in a deformed situation have only a small rectification to do, and could be much better people than the others looking at them. A Down syndrome child may be someone who was righteous but did one thing wrong, so G-d brought them back in a form where they could not sin, and therefore wouldn’t ruin their rectification. This is done out of love, not out of anger! The great Jewish sage of Bnei Brak, the Chazon Ish, used to stand up in respect for such children, for he said they had great souls.²⁴

And if someone does look down at others, he should watch out—because he might eventually find himself in the same position!

It also needs to be pointed out that reincarnation is not only for sins. Sometimes a person left unfinished business. Sometimes they wanted another chance to earn merit and asked to come back to this world to earn it. Sometimes a person left the world owing someone money and needs to pay him/her back. Sometimes the one who suffered an injustice and didn’t find it in their heart to forgive needs to be assuaged by the perpetrator of the injustice, and must come back to this world for this to happen. Sometimes a person missed marrying their true soul mate and needs to come back to marry him or her. Sometimes the soul of a very righteous person comes back to help that generation because they need him or her. There can be many reasons for reincarnation.

Can a human soul return in an animal?

Yes. Sin can cause this. It can also return in a plant or even a rock, depending on how severe the sin was.

When G-d first created the world, everyone was vegetarian. It was forbidden to eat animals. After the flood, this changed. The Chassidic commentary Tiferes Shlomo explains why. He says that since the time of the flood there are souls inside the animals that need to be uplifted and returned to their heavenly source. Even if someone got into such a situation because of a sin, it is our job to help them get out of it.

It is a rule of reincarnation that by eating an animal with a blessing (before and after), and using the energy gained from its meat for positive things, we give merit to the soul trapped in the animal. Then the soul can return to its source in heaven. This is true not only for souls in animals, but even for a soul which is in a drop of water. Always remember to bless before and after eating and drinking! And if you are Jewish, make sure the animals are slaughtered according to Torah law and are otherwise kosher. Otherwise, you will be hurting your own soul and missing the opportunity to help the soul within the animal.

Avoiding eating animals because they could have reincarnated souls in them would make sense only if the eater leads the life of an animal. If he misuses the energy gained from eating the animal by committing sins, why should he have the right to eat an animal, and what benefit will it give it? Regarding Jews, the Talmud (Pesachim 49b) says that one who does not study Torah (am ha’aretz) may not eat meat. So maybe people who are sinful should truly be vegetarian, while people who serve G-d should eat animal food—with proper blessings—thereby helping both themselves and the soul inside the animal.

How did people in the East find out about reincarnation?

There is a well-known theory suggesting that the Eastern knowledge of reincarnation came from Avraham’s sons, who were born to his wife Keturah.²⁵ After Sarah died, Avraham remarried and had more sons. The Bible tells us that Avraham gave these sons presents and sent them away to the land of the East during his lifetime.²⁶ It seems logical that the land of the East is India.

Rashi there, based on Sanhedrin 91, comments that the presents Avraham gave them were the name of spiritual impurity.²⁷ Of course, Avraham—the righteous follower of G-d—would not have deliberately given his sons tools of spiritual impurity! He gave them spiritual secrets, but they perverted them, and so they became a tool for impurity. As Michtav Me’Eliyahu points out, when tools are not used for their proper purpose, they become a tool for evil.²⁸ This explains the source of the spiritualism found in India and the neighboring countries—spiritualism, but on the impure side.

And so, according to this theory, the sons of Avraham taught the people of the East about reincarnation. This fits exactly with the fact that the highest, priestly caste in India was called “Brahmans,” a name strikingly similar to “Abrahams.”²⁹ This could have been the caste of Avraham’s sons who came to India and were greatly revered. But all of this was the exact opposite of Avraham himself and his message to the world—to serve G-d with kindness and love for mankind! How opposed Avraham would have been to this!

Today, many Jews who do not know the hidden teachings of Judaism are drawn to Eastern spiritualism. Their souls are so starved for spirituality that, like a starving person who will eat even rotten food, they are willing to acquire even poisoned spirituality just to get some form of spirituality. Others, however, are entirely put off by spiritualism when they see it in a perverted form.

We hope and pray that soon the entire world will be rectified, the full Torah—including the hidden Torah—will be revealed, and everyone will know and live the truth.

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1. (2023, July 6). Guest post: Rebbetzin Devorah Fastag: What happened to Prophecy?https://ishayirashashem.substack.com/p/guest-post-rebbetzin-devorah-fastag

(2023, July 23). Stop baseless hatred. With Isha Yiras Hashem. https://ishayirashashem.substack.com/p/stop-baseless-hatred

(2023, August 15). Was Esau as nice as he seems? (Part 1). https://ishayirashashem.substack.com/p/was-esau-as-nice-as-he-seems-12

(2023, August 22). Was Esau as nice as he seems? (Part 2) https://ishayirashashem.substack.com/p/was-esau-as-nice-as-he-seems-22

(2023, September 10). Hope and change in a world of hate. With Isha Yiras Hashem. https://ishayirashashem.substack.com/p/hope-and-change-in-a-world-of-hate

2. The Arizal (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria) taught his students:

"When you see people who are brazen and lack shame before others, you should know with certainty that in a previous incarnation they were a non-kosher animal, beast, or bird. Just as such creatures lack shame, so too do these individuals, and they continue in the ways they learned from their former state."
(Emek HaMelech, Sha'ar Tikkunei Teshuvah, ch. 3; also cited in Mar’eh Talpiyot, section on Gilgulim; Chesed L’Avraham quoting Sha’ar HaGilgulim; and Sefer HaGilgulim by Rabbi Landman, ch. 35, p. 101)

He added in Sefer HaGilgulim, parshah 65:

“Most people of our generation are reincarnated from animals and beasts; this is why they are brazen, except for the remnants that G-d calls His own.”

Note: If this was written hundreds of years ago—when people still dressed modestly in public—how much more so must we reflect on our generation!

The Ari and later kabbalistic sources also note that these verses hint at reincarnation in the four elemental domains: (mineral, vegetable, animal, and human – known as DoMeM, TzoMeaCH, CHai, MedaBer – דצח״מ)

• Inanimate (domem):
  “For a stone shall cry out from the wall…” (Chavakuk 2:11) – The stone cries only when a soul is trapped within it, suffering there (Emek HaMelech, ibid).

• Vegetation (tzomeach):
  “And a splinter from a tree shall answer it”—even in trees, which are part of the plant world, a soul may be reincarnated.

• Animal (chai):
  “Save my soul from the sword; my unique one from the grip of the dog.” (Tehillim 22:21) – The Radak explains “my unique one” refers to the soul, which David prays will be saved from reincarnation into a dog.

• Numbers 21:22 is interpreted allegorically by later kabbalists:
  “Let me pass through your land…” – The soul pleads not to return through gilgul (reincarnation), not to reenter the physical world again as an inanimate object (“field”), a plant (“vineyard”), or even an animal (“not drink water from a well”), but rather to go directly “on the path of the King,” to be reunited with the Divine Presence in the World to Come (Drashot Mishnat HaChachamim, based on the Ari and Even Danan, Derush 39).

• Animal reincarnation in Chazal:
  The Sages hint at reincarnation into animals in the statement that some of the Tower of Babel generation were punished by being turned into monkeys (Sanhedrin 109a), interpreted by Emek HaMelech as referring to reincarnation into animals.

3. The narrative of Joseph's beauty, the seduction by Potiphar’s wife, and his imprisonment appears in Bereishis (Genesis) 39:6–20. His successful interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams and subsequent promotion is found in Bereishis 41:1–46. Joseph is stated to be 17 when sold (Bereishis 37:2) and 30 when he stands before Pharaoh (Bereishis 41:46), Arithmetically this is a 13-year span. The Midrash says Joseph was imprisoned for 12 years—10 years as punishment for speaking negatively about his brothers, and 2 extra years for relying on the butler to secure his release rather than on G-d. See Bereishis Rabbah 87:10 and Midrash Tanchuma, Vayeshev 9; also Rashi on Bereishis 40:14.

4. The Kli Yakar (Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz) on Genesis 37:2:

Translation: “He should have rebuked them himself, and he should not have brought evil reports. For if his intention was for the sake of Heaven, he should have rebuked them privately and never publicized it at all.”

5. The principle that G-d judges individuals according to their level is derived from various rabbinic sources. The Talmud says, “G-d is exacting with the righteous to a hair's breadth” (Yevamos 121b; Bava Kama 50a), meaning even small sins are treated more seriously for the righteous. Nachmanides commenting on Bereishis 42:9 explains that Joseph’s suffering was a response to his earlier faults, proportionate to his elevated spiritual status.

6. The 850-year span of the Jewish presence in the Land of Israel is calculated from the time of entry under Joshua (circa 1272 BCE) until the destruction of the First Temple in 422 BCE (according to traditional Jewish chronology; see Seder Olam Rabbah ch. 30). The catastrophic events of the destruction—including war, starvation, and mass death—are described in vivid detail in Eicha (Lamentations), especially chapters 2 and 4.

Talmud Gittin 57b describes some of the horrific events surrounding the destruction of the First and Second Temples, including the slaughter of children, cannibalism, and mass death during the siege of Jerusalem. It recounts stories like that of Marta bat Baitos, a wealthy woman reduced to eating dung, and the crucifixion of 400 children, emphasizing the suffering and moral collapse brought by famine and siege.

Eicha Rabbah (Lamentations Rabbah), particularly on Eicha 1:1 and 4:10, expands on the devastation with detailed Midrashic accounts:“The hands of compassionate women boiled their own children” (Eicha 4:10) is taken literally in the Midrash, depicting a famine so severe that mothers consumed their infants.

Another Midrash laments that 100 children would enter school and only one would survive, alluding to the loss of future generations.

7. The vision appears in Ezekiel 9:3–6. G-d commands an angel to mark the foreheads of the righteous with a sign (tav) so they would be spared. But when the destroying angels arrive, G-d says: “Begin at My Sanctuary” (Yechezkel 9:6), which the sages interpret to mean the most righteous people.

The Talmud (Shabbos 55a) explains that the decree to strike the righteous first was because they failed to rebuke the wicked. Although their rebuke would not have been heeded, as human beings they could not have been sure of this, and therefore they are held responsible for not trying.

8. Exodus 32:10-14 “Now, leave Me alone...”

Rashi: We learn from here that Moses was not yet praying, but G-d gave him an opening: “Leave Me alone” — implying that if you do not leave Me, I will not destroy them. Moses understood this as an opportunity and did not stop pleading for mercy.

9. Weiss, B. L. (1988). Many lives, many masters: The true story of a prominent psychiatrist, his young patient, and the past-life therapy that changed both their lives. Simon & Schuster.

&

Weiss, B. L. (1993). Through time into healing: Discovering the power of regression therapy to erase trauma and transform mind, body, and relationships. Simon & Schuster.

10. Rigler, S. Y. (2017, November 22). Reincarnation and the Holocaust. SaraRigler.com. https://sararigler.com/reincarnation-and-the-holocaust/

11. Bering, J. (2013, November 2). Ian Stevenson's case for the afterlife: Are we 'skeptics' really just cynics? Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/bering-in-mind/ian-stevensone28099s-case-for-the-afterlife-are-we-e28098skepticse28099-really-just-cynics/

12. Sukkah 28a: “Our Rabbis taught: Hillel had eighty disciples... The greatest of them was Jonathan ben Uzziel; the least of them was Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai. They said of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai that he did not leave [unstudied] Scripture, Mishnah, Gemara, Halachot, Aggadot, details of the Torah, details of the Scribes, inferences from minor to major, analogies, calendrical computations, gematriot, the speech of the ministering angels, the speech of spirits, the speech of palm trees, parables of launderers and fox fables, great matters and the small matters — Ma’aseh Merkavah (the Account of the Chariot) and Ma’aseh Bereishit (the Account of Creation)...To fulfill what is said (Proverbs 8:21]: ‘That I may cause those that love Me to inherit substance, and I will fill their treasuries.’”

13. Pirkei Avot 1:1: Moses received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua; Joshua to the Elders; the Elders to the Prophets; and the Prophets handed it down to the Men of the Great Assembly...

14. My personal view is that it was connected to the growing belief in Chrisianity which was based on using ideas from Judaism.

15. Ecclesiastes 1:4

16. Ecclesiastes 4:2

17. Genesis 25:30

18. Talmud Berachot 7a: Rava said: A righteous person who suffers — [he is] a righteous person, the son of a wicked person.

A righteous person who prospers — [he is] a righteous person, the son of a righteous person.

19. 42, to be exact

20. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.” (Job 38:4)

21. Quote:

Nimrod said to Avram, “Bow down to fire!”

Avram replied, “Then we should bow to water, which extinguishes fire.”

Nimrod said, “Bow to water.”

Avram said, “Then bow to the clouds, which carry the water.”

Nimrod said, “Bow to the clouds.”

Avram said, “Better to bow to the wind, which scatters the clouds.”

Nimrod said, “Bow to the wind.”

Avram replied, “Then bow to man, who can withstand the wind!”

Since Avram answered in this way, Nimrod had him thrown into a fiery furnace—and he was saved!

Bereishit Rabbah 38:13.

22. “For they persecute the one whom You have struck, and tell of the pain of those You have wounded.” (Psalms 69:27)

23. “You shall not go around as a gossipmonger among your people; you shall not stand aside while your fellow's blood is shed — I am Hashem.” (Leviticus 19:16)

24. Torah.org. (n.d.). Class 40: The Chazon Ish and the Down Syndrome Child. Retrieved May 4, 2025, from https://torah.org/learning/women-class40/

25. Michtav MeEliyahu Vol. 3 p. 191 – Abraham’s spiritual gifts.

26. “But to the sons of the concubines, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward.” Genesis 25:6

Rashi quotes Sanhedrin 91a, explaining that the “gifts” (matanot) Abraham gave were “shem tumah”—the name of impurity, which some interpret as esoteric or spiritual knowledge later corrupted into idolatry or impure practices.

27. Sanhedrin 91a: In a discussion between Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi and the Roman emperor Antoninus, the Gemara mentions that Abraham gave spiritual gifts to the sons of Keturah.

“Rabbi Yirmiyah bar Abba said: This teaches that Abraham gave them the 'name of impurity' and sent them away from Yitzchak his son...”

This is interpreted by Rashi (on Genesis 25:6) as meaning Abraham transmitted certain mystical knowledge to them—which they or their descendants later misused or corrupted into practices of Eastern idolatry or spiritual manipulation.

28. Michtav Me’Eliyahu (vol. 3, p. 191)

29. Although Abraham lived in the Middle East and the Vedic civilization arose in India, their timelines overlap—Abraham is traditionally dated to around 1800–2000 BCE, just before or during the early Vedic period, which began around 1500 BCE—making it plausible that the Brahman caste system and the Hebrew tradition developed in parallel.

The varna system divides Hindu society into four main classes:

1. Brahmins – Priests and teachers

2. Kshatriyas – Warriors and rulers

3. Vaishyas – Merchants and traders

4. Shudras – Laborers and service providers

The Brahmins, being at the top, were considered the most ritually pure and were the only caste permitted to perform certain sacred rites and rituals.