Gilgul

A 12th-century Japanese painting showing one of the six Buddhist realms of reincarnation (rokudō, 六道)

Reincarnation

Reincarnation Reincarnation is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being starts a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. It is also called rebirth or transmigration, and is a part of the Saṃsāra doctrine of cyclic existence. It is...

The view from Safed, "capital" of the Galilee. The 16th century mystical community included Joseph Karo, Shlomo Alkabetz, Moshe Alshich, Moshe Cordovero, Isaac Luria and Chaim Vital

Gilgul

What Is Gilgul? In Kabbalistic esoteric mysticism, Gilgul/Gilgul neshamot/Gilgulei Ha Neshamot (גלגול הנשמות, גלגולים Gilgulim) is a concept of reincarnation. In Hebrew, the word gilgulmeans “cycle” or “wheel” and neshamot is the plural for “souls.” Souls are seen to “cycle” through “lives” or “incarnations”, being attached to different human bodies over time. Which...