Realizing One’s Full Potential
What reincarnation accomplishes is very simple. Whatever the soul messed up during its first stay in this physical world, it can make up when it returns in another body.
More specifically, there can be two reasons as to why the soul must return. Firstly, when the person – soul and body – transgress, the sin causes a stain and defect within the soul. Sometimes, Gehinnom is determined to be the most effective way of cleansing the soul. In other situations it is deemed that the soul can only rectify what harm was caused to itself by living life over again.
An illustration of this approach to reincarnation can be provided in a famous story that occurred wit the Ba’al Shem Tov.
The Ba’al Shem Tov was once visited by a curious visitor. When asked by the Ba’al Shem Tov, if he needed a blessing for anything, the arrogant man replied by saying, ‘Thank G- d, I have everything. I am a rich man, I am in good health and I really don’t need any more blessings.’
When the Ba’al Shem Tov heard this man’s smug reply, the Ba’al Shem Tov offered to tell him a story.
There were once two very close friends, who grew up together and shared everything. After they got married and separated, they still would correspond to one another. Gradually, the vicissitudes of life and the many business concerns brought their infrequent correspondence to a halt. In the meantime both of them prospered greatly But the wheel of fortune is forever turning, and one of the two lost all of his possessions. But, not to worry, he said to himself. My former friend will certainly be happy to give me a loan so I can get back on my feet. Sure enough his friend received him graciously and was very upset to hear of his erstwhile friend’s bad fortune. He didn’t even wait to be asked, and volunteered a substantial gift to his friend, which got him back on his feet.
Then, the benefactor’s fortune began to go downhill. When he stood at the brink of bankruptcy he traveled to his former friend, convinced that he would get the same favorable treatment as he had given. But, alas his former friend didn’t even have time to see him, and through his servant he delivered his regrets for not being able to help.
According to one version of the story, the cycle of fortune turned once more and the miser once again benefited from the generosity of his former friend. When the wheels of fortune turned a third time, the miser once more acted in the worst possible way.
The two finally left this world. When the miser was brought before the heavenly court, there was absolutely no defense for his ingratitude. It was decided, the Ba’al Shem Tov, continued his story, that his soul would have to descend into this world again. Once more he would be a wealthy person and would be tested as to whether he would show some measure of compassion for the poor.
Sure enough, this reincarnated magnate was interrupted one day by the knocking at his door. A poor, emaciated beggar appeared and pleaded for food. The rich man slammed the door in his face and returned to his business. The poor man left and having not been fed for quite sometime, he died and the soul of the rich man failed miserably in rectifying the purpose for which it had descended again… Upon hearing this, the arrogant rich man fainted. He was the one who just a few days earlier caused the untimely death of a poor man and destroyed his soul’s opportunity to rehabilitate itself. The Ba’al Shem Tov gave this man a long program of penance to atone for his sins. Needless to say, this man became a very generous benefactor, whose home and heart were open to all.
We can only speculate. But the reason this man’s sin was not cleansed by Gehinnom, could be attributed to the fact that the good that he did not accomplish and the miserly behavior that left an indelible mark on society, could not be corrected simply by a cleansing process. This soul had to come back and reverse the evil that they caused the first time around.
This does not mean to imply that reincarnation is not used for cleansing one’s self from the evil they may have committed in their first lifetime. The idea that was presented here was that the process of reincarnation is not so much to cleanse the soul, but to make up for the evil that was introduced into the world. No amount of Gehinnom can reverse the evil that was unleashed into the world.
From the book Safe Kabbalah, Part Three: Journeys of the Soul by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
