Sin death and beyond
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SIN, DEATH AND BEYOND: M.M.NINAN<br />
REINCARNATION AND JUDAISM<br />
http://aronbengilad.blogspot.com/2010/01/reincarnation-<strong>and</strong>-judaism.html<br />
One of the greatest <strong>and</strong> most secret <strong>and</strong> hidden concepts in Jewish Mysticism is the concepts<br />
of the World of Galgalim (Rounds/spheres). Perverted concepts of Gilgul which in English is<br />
translated as reincarnation has come to dominate in certain branches of Judaism eventhough<br />
Jewish authorities such as Saadia Gaon condemned such beliefs. In recent centuries this<br />
concept of gilgul has come to mean reincarnation in Jewish circles. It comes from the words<br />
galgal (circle/round) <strong>and</strong> Gilgal (places of stone circles mentioned in the Bible). It actually<br />
refers to mystical rounds of ascent of the souls in the spiritual life/world. It is linked to the wheel<br />
(or Galgal ) in Ezekiel. This has been linked to the Buddhist <strong>and</strong> Hindu concepts of<br />
reincarnation <strong>and</strong> the Wheel of Life etc. but this is a perversion of the original concept. These<br />
modern developments are then read back into old Jewish texts such as the Bahir <strong>and</strong> the<br />
Zohar confusing the issue even more. The problem occurs when those not so mystically<br />
advanced misinterpret the mystical insights of the great mystics whether they be Jewish or<br />
Christian. Perle Besserman a descendant of the Baal Shem Tov in her book "Kabbalah <strong>and</strong><br />
Jewish Mysticism" discusses how those references in the Jewish mystical texts that have been<br />
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