Musar zu Ijow 33:29

On Exodus 21,7, כי ימכור איש את בתו לאמה, the Zohar, Sullam edition page 17, explains the entire paragraph as referring to the soul. The איש in the paragraph represents G–d, since G–d is also known as איש מלחמה, as we know from Exodus 15,3. The words "his daughter," refer to the soul. The exhortation תצא כצאת העבדים, means that she must not leave the body sullied, i.e. full of debts (sins) like the male slaves, but as a free (sinless) being. ואם לא יעדה, if the body (her master) that she inhabited did not "wed” her, i.e. has not matched her in sanctity and holiness, that body will be lost, i.e. והפדה, has to release her. Only when the body does penitence, תשובה, can the soul act as a release for it from purgatory. The body is not at liberty to consign the soul to purgatory, since אם אחרת יקח לו, the sinner may have to undergo transmigration, have to live another life on earth in order to rehabilitate itself. This process may repeat itself up to three times, i.e. שלוש אלה. The basis for the approach that we are talking about גלגול נשמות, may be the use of the word אחרת in our paragraph which is similar to Leviticus 14,42, ועפר אחר יקח.

Some souls are forced to undergo a second round of life in this world as a punishment i.e. rehabilitation for sins committed in this life which cannot be atoned for in the purely spiritual regions. This is the way the King of Kings has arranged it. When one has broken a number of covenants one may have to return to earth for each and every covenant one has broken during a previous life on earth. This is the mystical dimension of infants or small children dying. They obviously did not commit a sin in their most recent incarnation, yet they may have had to experience death a second time to expiate for having broken G–d's covenant with Israel in a previous incarnation. All of this occurs when the sinner had failed to repent properly while he lived on this earth. This is why it is appropriate for a person who is not knowingly guilty of any major sins in his present life on earth to repent thoroughly any sins he may have been guilty of in a previous incarnation and for which he had not then obtained forgiveness. If such a person engages in thorough repentance in this round of his life on earth, the vicious circle of transmigration will be broken and his soul will find eternal rest in the Hereafter, not needing to return to life on this earth again. A different fate awaits those who have failed to take advantage of their third round of life on earth, as we know from the words of Elihu in Job 33,29. During the first two or three incarnations the souls were reincarnated in the bodies of human beings. If they have failed to rehabilitate themselves they will be reincarnated as "pure" animals, i.e. the kind of animals fit for consumption by Jews; their eventual fate may be reincarnation in the bodies of impure animals. Anyone who has failed to understand Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai [the author of this description in the Zohar ] properly, believes that he describes how G–d puts ever greater distance between Himself and the sinner. In fact the reverse is true; G–d tries to arrange for the "lost object" to be restored to its owner. This kind of reincarnation is based on the attribute of פחד, fear, [not relying on or appealing to G–d's attribute of Mercy. Ed.] the outstanding characteristic of Isaac. The third category of transmigration is due to providing an opportunity for the souls in question to perform those commandments which they had been unable to in a previous incarnation due to lack of opportunity. This kind of reincarnation could theoretically continue for one thousand generations under the aegis of the emanation תפארת, outstanding characteristic of Jacob." Thus far Rabbi Solomon Alkabez.

Rabbeinu Yonah holds that wine in its fourth year, after redemption, requires a benediction as a matter of biblical law, both before and after one has drunk it. He bases this on the word הלולים, in the plural. A drunk person is not allowed to recite such a benediction. By reciting a benediction one "redeems" the wine from its גלגול, its need to be rehabilitated. The author, basing himself on some works of the Arizal, describes the benediction recited by the owners of the sacrifices who eat part thereof as crucial to the process of "the priests perform the service, whereas the owners eat in order to bring about effective atonement." The injunction not to eat of the sacrificial meat prematurely, i.e. before the blood has been sprinkled on the altar by the priests (19,26), also contains allusions to this process. The allusions to transmigration of the soul are found in Job 33,29 where hope is held out that a person who has not fulfilled his task on earth may be given a second or even a third chance to do so. We may see a similar allusion in the legislation of נותר, which follows the legislation that meat of the peace-offerings may be eaten on two days and the intervening night, i.e. during a maximum of three time periods. This alludes to the three opportunities given to the soul (personality) to redeem itself within the body of a person while on earth. When the Torah says in 19,8: ואכליו עונו ישא, "that anyone who consumes such sacrificial meat after the deadline has expired will bear his sin," the idea is that he will no longer qualify for atonement. The statement by Hillel in Avot 1,14 –If I am not for myself, who is? If I am only concerned with myself what kind of a person am I? If not now when?" – may also be read as an allusion to the statement in the Talmud concerning the validity or invalidity of the repentance of a person who says: “I shall sin since I will have a chance to rehabilitate myself (on the Day of Atonement, Yuma 86), or, in a transmigration of my soul!" Anyone who ever had such thoughts during his life on earth will not be permitted to rehabilitate in such a way, for surely he will not be granted a second round on earth. Pardes Rimonim deals with this problem in his chapter on the soul. The author explains that the contribution one's friend or associate can make to one's own rehabilitation is extremely limited; this is why Hillel stresses that what one does not do for oneself no one else is going to do for one. On the other hand, if one attempts to achieve one's rehabilitation by one's own efforts, not relying on other factors, one will experience that G–d extends one a great amount of help, similar to what David said in Psalms 31,20: "How abundant is the good that You have in store for those who fear You!" One will realize then that one's own contribution was really major, that G–d appreciated it. The rhetorical question: "What am I?" must be understood in the sense that I grew to realize my importance in the eyes of G–d. This is the deeper meaning of 19,5: לרצונכם, "to your satisfaction."