Gilgul (reincarnation)

Question

It seems that I stirred up a bit of reaction with the mention of Gilgulei Neshamot (reincarnation). In my haste and passion in a previous response, I said that this concept is in the Gemora (Talmud). Let me set the record clear. This term first appears, to the best of my knowledge in Zohar. Zohar is the father to all Kabalah. On the one hand, some can learn Gemora and not require a Kabbalistic explanation to anything. They have an explanation for everything. On the other hand, when I learned those same Gemorot, I understood that the Gemora would only make sense with a Kabbalistic explanation. There are hundreds of these concepts alluded to in the Gemora, as testified by the Rabbis who believe in Kabbalah. Unless I’m missing something here, the complaints that are being posted and the concerns shown are all coming from people who do not believe in Kabbalah at all. The Zohar has very clear statements regarding reincarnation. Everyone who believes in the Zohar discusses this concept at some point. Are you willing to say that everyone who believes in Zohar is wrong? Are you ready to say that the author of the Shulchan Aruch was having delusions, when he thought he was speaking to a Magid? Was Rav Chaim Vital imagining that he was talking to these souls AKA dibbuks? A majority of our Rabbis in the last few hundred years consider the Zohar and Kabbalah to be 100% accurate. Our Mesorah and our Laws come from all these people. The fact that Rav Amnon Yitzchak talks about Gilgulim and believes in them is making some refer to him as a “clown.” Are we ready to call everyone else clowns? Was the Ramban a clown? Maybe the Rama Mepano, the Magen Avraham, the Ramchal, the GR”A, etc….? Come on! Who are you kidding? You want to have your own opinion, you’re entitled, but don’t make light of the entire religion. Our Mesorah comes through our Rabbis; qualified Rabbis only, but our Rabbis nonetheless. Hundreds of years ago, when the Zohar came out, there was question as to its validity. Since then, it was completely accepted by almost all of the Rabbis, generation after generation. If you were not to accept their decision in this matter, then you are not relying on that Mesorah. This is against all the basics of our beliefs. The Torah was given with its interpretations. Torah Shebiktav & Torah Shebaal Peh. This was then passed on generation to generation; father to son, Rabbi to student and community. The Tzedukim tried to say that the only thing that is true is the written Torah. This, of course, is Apikursut. Denying Zohar and Kabbalah is the same. About ten to fifteen years ago, my father asked me to ask Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Ourbach about such a person, someone who did not believe in Kabbalah and Zohar. I was with him for about twenty minutes and his decision was that this person should be treated like an Apikoret, and my father should be Merachek him (send him away, & keep away from him) despite any possible consequences. I was there, I asked the question, and I heard the answer. This will be meaningless to people who don’t believe in Zohar, because if all our Rabbis in the past were silly, it would be just as easy to add Rabbi Shlomo Zalman and anyone else. My father told me that he knows for a fact that someone approached Rabbi Moshe Feinstein about this person's father, who taught his family this Kfira. Rav Moshe said that he's even worse than an Apikoret, he's a complete Shoteh (idiot). As Rabbi Amnon Yitzchak would say, do the math. Two guys go to heaven, one believes in Zohar and one doesn’t. If Zohar is baloney, they both go to heaven. One because of his beliefs and one in spite of his beliefs. If Zohar is the truth, the one who didn’t believe comes back as a Gilgul, because he is a Apikoret. It all boils down to the fact that we have a hard time believing in things that we cannot understand. Let’s get a shot of humility and try to accept that we may not know everything. Let’s open our hearts and our minds to new concepts. You sound like an intelligent crowd. Instead of closing your minds to this, let’s try to look into it. Try to understand it. Maybe it is true. The risk of your being wrong is too high. This would mean that all your life’s work is for nothing. Please don’t throw it all away for an opinion. AA