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Author: Michael Ozair Article source: http://aumara.com/. Used with author's permission.
There is a concept in Jewish mystical thought known as
gilgul, which can be translated as reincarnation.
Gilgul does not necessarily mean that a soul in its
entirety has been reincarnated; it may only be a
nitzotz, or spark of a soul, that is reincarnated.
That is to say that an individual can possess a
nitzotz from the soul of someone who has lived
previously. Gilgul occurs when the preceding
incarnation of that soul has more to accomplish.
Rabbi Menashe Ben Israel of the 17th century writes
that the word, gilgul, in Hebrew letters equals the
numerical value of 72, which is also chesed, the
Hebrew word for kindness. When this type of numerical
connection occurs,it implies a conceptual
relationship. In this case, reincarnation is seen as
the ultimate kindness, in that a soul is given another
chance for the refinement of its past and the
spiritual advancement of its future.
Ultimately, a soul can never fail. To succeed, the
soul will come back as many times as necessary to
fulfill its spiritual mission. This is the view of the
Kabbalists, who call the process of the soul's
returning for the purpose of rectification tikkun, or
repair. Sometimes it is discussed as the birur
hisaron, or the clearing of a shortcoming.
If greatness is your soul's destiny, then to achieve
it, it's only logical that you have a plan. Just as
you would not head off to college without knowing
about the school you'll be attending, souls do not
randomly incarnate into this world. Rather, souls
arrive with a very specific curriculum containing both
goals and challenges. Your parents are a big part of
that program.
It is in this respect that the Hasidic master Rabbi
Yisrael of Rhizin teaches that our souls choose our
parents. While the reasons for a soul's choice of
parents will vary, it is always significant. Reasons
can include past life relationships, or simply the
conducive environment that the parents can provide for
the soul in achieving its overall goal.
In a broad sense, your parents are the guarantors of
your mission. How this works is different in every
case. One possibility is that your parents will
provide positive mentoring, as guides and as a support
system. Another is the opposite - that they will model
for you what you do not want to become and thus
clarify the positive direction in which you need to
go. For many it is a combination of the two. The key
is to know that directly or indirectly, your parents
create the fire behind your passion to grow toward
your spiritual advancement.
Here is an exercise to help you find out what your
purpose is in this world and what role your parents
are playing in it. Ask yourself these three questions:
1. Regardless of what I do for a living and what my
obligations are, what is the theme that most obviously
is pushing my soul forward in life, day after day?
2. What is the one theme that best describes the force
pulling my soul off track day after day?
3. What role have my parents played, directly or
indirectly, in developing these themes?
Why bother looking at these themes at all? Because
through them we can discover the real reason we chose
to come here this time around, and as an added bonus,
we may discover why we chose our parents to raise us.
Ultimately, the biblical commandment does not obligate
us to love our parents, but to honor them. Honor in
Hebrew is kibbud, which literally means "to make
heavy". To honor our parents means to acknowledge them
as people of tremendous worth in our pilgrimage of
life. It demands effort and often requires a tolerance
for emotional pain, yet it is the most dignified
endeavor of an entire lifetime.
Copyright 2000 by Michael Ezra Ozair, Los Angeles, CA. Prepared in collaboration with OLAM Magazine. Please distribute freely for non-commercial purposes. Rabbi Michael Ozair has been providing spiritual guidance for the last 15 years to a very wide and diverse range of people. He is an ordained rabbi, a well sought after scholar in the area of Kabbalah, published author, life coach and spiritual counselor. Michael's expertise stems from merging his knowledge as a teacher of metaphysics with his experience in practical counseling. He can be reached at coach@kabbalahcoach.com or by visiting his site at http://www.KabbalahCoach.com
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