Comfort in the Belief of Reincarnation: Soul Correction in This World

In the treatise "When Aaron is Raised" (Exposition 1, page 102a), there is a concise explanation of reincarnation:

The matter is that there are people who come to this world for the first time. And there are those who have already been in this world, passed away, and now have returned in reincarnation to complete things they lacked. Indeed, in their first appearance, if they are completely righteous, they will not die prematurely, but will complete their time. However, one who returns in reincarnation to complete what they lack may live only a few years, because they came only to complete what was missing, and once they have completed it, they depart. Therefore, those who come in reincarnation after their first time vary in their lifespans - each lives as long as needed to complete what was lacking from their first appearance...

According to this, when young men pass away, people are greatly perplexed about Hashem, etc., especially if the young man was innocent, upright, and completely God-fearing... But with this explanation of reincarnation, one's mind can be at ease, knowing that Hashem's judgments are true... Through the secret of reincarnation, many wondrous matters can be understood, and many confused opinions can be settled... Even in recent generations when the secret of reincarnation was forgotten, people were perplexed by events in the world that seemed unjust, God forbid, such as a completely righteous person dying prematurely or being afflicted with severe suffering. Until the holy Zohar was revealed, which again disclosed the secret of reincarnation, and with this, people's minds were calmed regarding many matters that had confused them until then. With divine assistance, this helps us understand the hint in Psalms (77:19): "The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind, lightnings lit up the world," Don't read it as "in the wheel" but as "in reincarnation", meaning that once Your thunderous voice was heard and revealed in the secret of reincarnation, the matters of the world were illuminated like lightning, matters that had been wondrous and concealed to observers until then, and through the secret of reincarnation their reasons and rationales became known. Indeed, the process of reincarnation that Hashem created is a great kindness to His creatures, and therefore you will find that gilgul (reincarnation) has the same numerical value as chesed (kindness).

After the passing of his son, and following the sermon of the Ben Ish Chai, the Rabbi dedicated himself to writing a comprehensive commentary on "Sha'ar HaGilgulim" by Rabbi Isaac Luria. For nine years he labored on this work, together with Rabbi Yehuda Petaya, until they published it in 1907 under the name "Bnei Aharon" after his beloved son. As he writes further in his introduction:

"And because I too have a heart bitten and split by the hand of Hashem upon me, I found no comfort for my weary soul to understand the cause of the terrible disaster, except through this belief in reincarnation. And since these ancient matters were not meant to be revealed, I turned my heart to understand the words of wisdom, the words of the living God that come from the holy Rabbi Isaac Luria in Sha'ar HaGilgulim, and whatever I could grasp according to my limited understanding would be written in a book for the peace of my son, may he rest in Eden"...

End of the Movie

"The judgments of Hashem are true, they are righteous altogether" (Psalms 19:10) - the Chafetz Chaim explains: To understand and comprehend Hashem's judgments, to know why and for what reason a person has encountered some trouble, damage, poverty, or the like, is possible only for one who knows what his soul went through in a previous incarnation, and for what purpose and correction it reincarnated and came into this world. Therefore, the verse says: "The judgments of Hashem are true, they are righteous altogether" - specifically "altogether", when one knows what was done with this person before his formation, and how and how much his soul strived to return to this world so that it would be given the opportunity to correct a flaw or deed it had done, only then will one realize that the judgments are true, and all the pain and damage that came upon him are truly kindness and mercy, since through them he can correct his soul and merit eternal life.

What is this comparable to? A suspense movie. Everyone watches with interest the tumultuous events. There is an extensive search for the criminal, and everyone is tense. And now towards the end, the criminal is caught. Police officers are lying in wait for him on a bright morning as he leaves his home for work. Suddenly they pounce on him, beat him, bind his hands with handcuffs, and lead him to the police station.

At precisely this point, another person enters the theater. He watches for a minute or two and protests loudly: "This cannot be! How can they harass an innocent man who is simply leaving his home for work?! He hasn't harmed even a fly. An injustice is being done here!". And what can we say to him? "Dear sir, you arrive at the end of the movie and you have questions?!"

We are approaching the end of the sixth millennium, truly near the end of the movie. Our sages have taught us that today there are almost no new souls; everyone is a reincarnation. How can we understand anything of the Creator's ways?!