Sin death and beyond

SIN, DEATH AND BEYOND: M.M.NINAN
which had not been soiled by Adam's sin. Luria himself possessed the soul of Moses, which
had previously been in the bodies of Simeon ben Yoḥai and Hamnuna Saba.
Generally the souls of men transmigrate into the bodies of men, and those of women into the
bodies of women; but there are exceptions. The soul of Judah, the son of Jacob, was in part
that of a woman; while Tamar had the soul of a man. Tamar's soul passed into Ruth; and
therefore the latter could not bear children until God had imparted to her sparks from a female
soul. The transmigration of a man's soul into the body of a woman is considered by some
cabalists to be a punishment for the commission of heinous sins, as when a man refuses to
give alms or to communicate his wisdom to others.
Gilgul.
The theory of impregnation gave birth to the superstitious belief in "dibbuḳ" or "gilgul," which
prevailed, and still prevails, among the Oriental Jews and those of eastern Europe. This belief
assumes that there are souls which are condemned to wander for a time in this world, where
they are tormented by evil spirits which watch and accompany them everywhere. To escape
their tormentors such souls sometimes take refuge in the bodies of living pious men and
women, over whom the evil spirits have no power. The person to whom such a soul clings
endures great suffering and loses his own individuality; he acts as though he were quite
another man, and loses all moral sense. He can be cured only by a miracle-working rabbi
("ba'al shem") who is able to cast out the soul from his body by exorcisms and amulets. The
usual exorcism in such cases consisted in the rabbi's reciting, in the presence of ten men (See
Minyan), the 91st Psalm, and adjuring the soul in the name of God to leave the body of the
afflicted one. In case of refusal on the part of the soul to yield to this simple injunction, the ban
and the blowing of the shofar are resorted to. In order that it may cause the least possible
amount of damage to the body, the soul is always directed to pass out through the small toe.
The belief that migrant souls seek refuge in the bodies of living persons became more and
more deeply rooted; and regular methods for expelling them are given in the cabalistic works
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