Myśl Żydowska do Psalmów 1:1

Similarly, it is written: "Happy is the man that walked not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the mockers" (Tehilim 1:1), at first "went", then "stood", then "sat", and many others similar.

GUARDING THE FEET
Afterwards, habituate your feet in this way, and refrain from going with the wicked, who seek the superfluous things, as written: "Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful" (Tehilim 1:1). Rather, hasten to do all good deeds, and to the gatherings of the wise, as written: "He who goes with the wise will become wise [but he who befriends the fools will be broken]" (Mishlei 13:20), and it says: "in order that you go in the way of the good..." (Mishlei 2:20).

And I agree to acknowledge these matters, recalling the disputes among those who disagree about the essence of the soul and what it is. Some have said it is more fitting to consider it as a physical substance, and I found those who said it is an accident, and all of them think that it dissolves, decays, and perishes. However, those who said it is of a spiritual nature, either originating solely from its Creator, or from Him and another entity, or from two primordial sources, all believe that it returns to its source, from which it was hewn. I have already clarified the flaws and refuted all these views. But I say that among those who are called Jews, I found some who speak of reincarnation and call it ha’ataka (transference). Its meaning to them is that the soul of Reuben returns into Shimon, and afterwards into Levi, and afterwards into Judah. And many of them even say that sometimes the soul of a human enters an animal, and the soul of an animal enters a human, along with many other aspects of this delusion and confusion. I have investigated the reasoning that led them to this view and found four errors, which I see fit to mention and to respond to. The first is that they adhere to the notion of spiritual entities and the three other opinions. And they do not realize that those who believe in reincarnation derived it from the ideas of dualism and spiritualism. I have already presented the refutations of all these and mentioned them. The second error is that they observed the traits of many human beings and found them similar to the traits of animals. For example, they see someone meek like sheep, or ferocious like wild animals, or gluttonous like a dog, or swift like a bird, and similar things. Because of these observations, they concluded that these traits did not exist in humans unless there were animal souls within them. This—may God have mercy on you—shows the depth of their ignorance, for they believe that the human body transforms the soul from its essence, making it the soul of a human after it was the soul of an animal. Furthermore, they claim that the soul transforms the body from its essence, altering its traits to resemble those of animals, even though its form remains human. It was not enough for them to claim that the essence of the soul transforms and does not maintain its true essence; they also contradicted themselves by asserting that it transforms the body and changes it, while the body, in turn, transforms and changes the soul. This is a departure from rationality.