Afterlife & Reincarnation - Part 1

Dear James,
Cremation only implies a rejection of reincarnation when the deceased chose to be cremated. By leaving instruction to destroy the body, the deceased affirmed his/her lack of faith in any future need for the body. Those who were forcibly cremated will resurrect in a newly created body. But this does not make it appropriate to reject the body and require G-d to create a new one.
To your next question: The aspect of the soul that is reincarnated is not the same as the one that lived previously. Thus, upon resurrection, each body will be inhabited by the spark of the soul that animated it in its respective lifetime. And no, there is no indication that we will know our reincarnated relatives upon resurrection. Reply

Re: What about cremationed bodies? On of the many reasons Judaism rejects cremation is that Cremation is an implied statement of rejection of the concept of resurrection. It is in effect a declaration that once the soul has departed the body, the lifeless body has served its purpose and now has no further value. For more on cremation and the Resurrection see Why Does Jewish Law Forbid Cremation?

Regarding reincarnation in Judaism and how it differs from the concept of reincarnation found in other religions see: Why & When Does Reincarnation Occur? Reply

Gehinom It is of course possible to add another thought or piece of information, but unless I miss my mark I believe you are seeking a clear picture, a precise understanding of what awaits us in the world to come and alas, this is not possible.

It is not possible to understand precisely what occurs on the spiritual plane so long as we are confined to a human body and a physical brain. We do our best to understand abstractions thrugh the aid of metaphor and analogy.

A better understanding is available only to those who have trained their earthly minds to grapple with matters of heaven and also to those, who are in fact there.

We hope you will never have to find out first hand what Geheinom is like. Reply

Reincarnation in Torah Reincarnation does not appear in the Torah itself. The Torah is generally moot on matters of mysticism. These teachings were deliberately not doccumented for all to see; they were taught in private to select students due to the sensitive nature of the material.

This is why there are many subjects discussed in the works of Kabbalah that are not even alluded to in the text of the Torah porper. These subjects were taught orally and in secret, they were not doccumented till much much later.

It was only in the second century that the secrets of Jewish mysticism were first committed to paper. Over the years many more books were written on the subject by experts in the field; the great mystics of all time. The advent of Chassidism in the eighteenth century greatly enhanced the study of Jewish mysticism.

In any event, if you would like to learn more about reincarnation and Torah personalities, listen to the third lecture in the series of Afterlife and Reincarnation. Reply

Dear Dalen,

Thank you for posting your thougtfull comment. To my undertanding, your argument underscores the very point that Rabbi Amnon Yitzchak was making.

You don't see the engine when you look at the outside of the car, but you don't need to peer into the hood to know that it is there. If the car moves you know that the engine is inside. The proof is in the pudding; take out the engine and see if the car still moves.

The soul is, in this sense, the body's engine. Surely the soul comprises much more than a vivifying force for the body, but the body's vitality is one of many indicators of the soul's existence.

Rabbi Lazer Gurkow Reply