The Life of the Soul

<p><b>Offers a comprehensive and nuanced treatment on the topic of reincarnation in Judaism covering a wide range of kabbalistic and philosophical sources.</b></p><p><i>The Life of the Soul</i> surveys the wide-ranging theories Jewish mystics have offered to the vexing question - what precisely transpires after we die? A common element in their theories is that human life is a part of a larger ecosystem of <i>being</i> which also includes plants animals and inanimate things like rocks. They further maintained that the soul does not perish with the demise of the body but is rather renewed and recycled into new forms of embodied existence in the lower world. Each essay highlights how reincarnation also known as <i>metempsychosis</i> or the <i>transmigration of souls</i> is not a marginalized concept but is instead central to understanding a variety of perplexing issues in Judaism including catastrophic events in Jewish history theodicy the rationale for biblical commandments the complex identity of biblical figures and the issues of sin punishment and redemption. Just as the concept of reincarnation is inherently about boundary crossing its investigation similarly bridges diverse epistemic fields and disciplines-religion philosophy psychology history ritual gender and cultural studies. Weaving together kabbalistic speculations and Jewish philosophical ideas drawn from distinct geographical regions and historical periods this book is poised to serve as a point of departure for future comparative investigations on the life of the soul in Judaism and Eastern religious traditions.</p>