Exploring Past Lives: Insights from Faces and Fate

Faces and Past Lives

[As one's deeds shape their face]. The secret of the eagle face... represents a person reincarnated, constantly striving to rectify past actions. To the wise, this face resembles an eagle... Another sign is eyes that do not sparkle, even in joy. (For more details, see there).

(Zohar, Yitro, Sweet as Honey, p. 98-99)

Reincarnation: A Harsher Path

[We've stated that those who study Torah are not affected by purgatory, hence must reincarnate to purify their souls. However, ...] reincarnation is a harsher punishment than purgatory... While purgatory cleanses the soul with fire, leaving it pure and ready to enter the garden of the righteous, reincarnation is a difficult path for the soul.

Consider this: A man works tirelessly... many years, carrying goods to a far-off country to profit, only to be told upon arrival that his goods are worthless. He must then turn back, empty-handed, to retrieve what was required, perhaps forgetting his mission along the arduous path.

The analogy is: The soul... arrives in this world, spending seventy years engaged in life, and upon departure, is told by the gatekeepers that entry is barred [due to lacking certain merits], and it is sent back to reincarnate.

[The risk then is that the evil inclination will cause the person to forget their mission in this reincarnation, striving again for seventy years, only to be delayed from entering the pure and perfected paradise].

[Ramak advises that this risk doesn't affect the righteous soul, as it's reincarnated only in a beneficial environment].

(Zohar, Mishpatim, Sweet as Honey, p. 331-332)

Why the Righteous Suffer

A righteous person and his righteous wife... represent the truly righteous, enjoying good fortune. Yet, if one has a wicked spouse, this causes the righteous to suffer.

In marital dynamics, three scenarios resemble the body-soul relationship: a good form suggesting noble features, good deeds from a pure soul, benefiting both body and soul.

Similarly, the wicked and wicked spouse are considered wholly wicked, while a fourth scenario explains the wicked who enjoy good fortune.

The reincarnation process is at fault for these outcomes: a righteous person suffering, or a wicked person prospering. A negative incarnation—body and spouse—is a consequence of misdeeds in a past life.

Rabbi Elazar asked his father, Rabbi Shimon: "Father, what remedy is there for a righteous person with an obstructive wife preventing divine connection?" Rabbi Shimon replied, "Beloved son, relocate with her, and perhaps her actions and qualities will improve, as environment may influence. Sometimes changing her name brings change, by honoring her with positive names, and as he betters his actions, so might she. If these changes do not work, he should divorce her, as a troublesome wife is like leprosy. He should then plant himself anew by marrying a better woman. The reincarnation secrets suggest Hashem cycles individuals three times to refine their soul, spirit, and essence.

(Tikkunei Zohar, Volume 3, Tikkun 70, Sweet as Honey, p. 558-559)

Healing the Soul Through Reincarnation

"Every firstborn of the womb of flesh you shall bring to Hashem," and "the firstborn of an unclean beast you shall redeem," referencing the donkey's redemption.

A commandment to redeem a firstborn donkey hints at redemption for those who did not live by Torah, correcting themselves to merit the afterlife. If one did not redeem their soul, spirit, and essence in Torah before leaving the physical world, even with mitzvot [commandments], reincarnation awaits to bring together their soul, spirit, and essence for Torah study, calling for rebirth as a youth. It is said a person must be reincarnated three times to sanctify their soul, spirit, and essence in Torah.

Ramak wrote that in the world of souls, no merit holds but the Torah one studied here. For souls engage with Torah there; if so, prioritizing Torah in this world is essential to engage with it in the spiritual realm.

(Zohar, Korach, Sweet as Honey, p. 289)

Birth Defects Explained by Reincarnation

Birth defects and congenital conditions are purifying processes for past life misdeeds, not due to astrological fate but by divine intention to cleanse sin.

The book of beliefs states that impairments at birth validate reincarnation theory, as pure chance, without creator's intent, seems unlikely.

"We see many humans born without limbs, blind, or lame. If the creator is indeed Hashem, with no astrological influence at creation, as established, and no injustice exists before Him, why should innocent souls enter flawed bodies? Pure truth indicates sins in past lives led to reincarnation in impaired bodies, punished for prior transgressions, as explained."

(Neshama Chayim, Chapter 11)

Commandments Shine on the Forehead

According to Pri Etz Chayim (Shabbat Chapter 4), each commandment a person completes imprints an initial on their forehead specific to that mitzvah. If one performs a different mitzvah, the first letter fades but remains within. Yet, charity, unlike other mitzvahs, illuminates all week, as "his righteousness endures forever," not fading immediately. Thus, a mitzvah refines and enlightens the soul eternally, though its shine is transient, absorbed into the person. "And those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars," as stars permanently brighten, though their light is often hidden.

(Tikkunei Zohar, 13, Sweet as Honey, p. 211-212)

Why the Wicked Prosper

... Cain initially belonged to impurity and the extraneous forces, but through Yitro (Jethro), he entered holiness, [in reincarnation] so Rabbi Shimon told the elder: For holy souls that faltered, Hashem rolls them to prevent losing holiness, but wicked souls from the extraneous forces, why does Hashem strive to reincarnate them into holiness?

The elder told Rabbi Shimon: For honoring righteous parents with wicked offspring, Hashem reincarnates them to purify their sins. Cain's fault wasn't corrected until Yitro repented, for he was Cain's rectifier, honoring Adam's merit, so Hashem worked with Cain through many reincarnations to mend. Likewise, wicked offspring of the righteous, Hashem strives to reincarnate them for their parent’s honor (Ramak and commentators).

Concerning "there are wicked rewarded with the lot of the just," enjoying wealth and peace, Rabbi Shimon didn’t initially explain. Students asked why the wicked deserve such honor?

Rabbi Shimon (according to Ramak) responded that their reward is empty... discomforting vanity nonexistent. Reincarnation earned wealth—prior lives lived wickedly enough for soul-cutting punishment, dying young, yet they did good deeds. Hashem does not deprive any creature's merit, reincarnating them for earthly reward, banishing them from the world to come.

This is what is written (Deuteronomy 7:10) "and pays back those who hate Him to their face to destroy them"...

About them Ecclesiastes 8:10 reads, "Thus I have seen the wicked buried," during their mortal wickedness, were reincarnated for scant merits on earth.

(Tikkunei Zohar, 100, Volume 3, Tikkun 69, Sweet as Honey, p. 11-12, also in p. 170)

Adam: The Source of All Souls

Adam's soul is the root of all souls; Abel, his son—reincarnated as Seth—is a branch, from which generations spread until receiving Torah. Then, sparks and souls proliferated, reaching 600,000.

Regarding (Genesis 4:2) "and she bore again his brother, Abel," Rabbi Shimon explained (Psalms 104:29) "You withdraw their spirit, they die," meaning after Abel's death, his soul multiplied into numerous sparks, like sunlight without loss. "They return to dust" implies the sparks reincarnating in earthly bodies.

The verse hints at righteous souls cycling through other bodies, their sparks igniting further branches. Hashem showed Adam and Eve Abel's reincarnation over generations until receiving Torah, David extending Abel's original soul by lighting up 600,000 souls, culminating at Torah's giving. Moses, as hinted, "in the flesh" (Genesis 6:3) aligns with Abel's soul, was a reincarnation to illuminate those connected, through the Torah transmitted.

Seeing Moses' role intrigued Eve, who offered sacrifices and prayers for Abel's rectification through Moses at Torah's giving. "And she bore again," indicates her offerings and prayers ensured Abel's repair in Moses.

As Ecclesiastes 1:4 says, "Generations come and go," Abel's sparks reincarnated through generations. Post-Torah, with the soul tree complete, 600,000 souls consistently radiate in each generation.

(Tikkunei Zohar, 100, Volume 3, Tikkun 69, Sweet as Honey, p. 13-14)