Gilgul Nefashot

[nac...@uiucdcs.cs.uiuc.edu]

Some time ago someone asked about the belief in "reincarnation",
in the sense of "transmigration of souls"--in Hebrew: "gilgul"
(as distinguished from the belief in "resurrection of the dead").

Transmigration (from human to human or human to animal) is
not a Jewish belief, i.e. it is not to be found in Bible or
Talmud. It is universally rejected by Jewish philosophers
(e.g. Saadia Gaon), but universally accepted by Kabbalists
(e.g. Nachmanides). Presumably, different people have
different perspectives nowadays, too.