Letters July 2025

Rabi Moshe Ben-Chaim

Sensual Experience

Reader: A question from the recent Jewishtimes. I am aware that praying to the dead is forbidden and nonsense. But [as Halacha says to do] why would one visit the grave to get inspiration, or pray to God in a grave of a prophet? Instead we know what Abraham Avinu A”H or any other prophet did and how great they were. Why not just think about their deeds or greatness and be inspired, or just pray at the place where one is? Thank you. Also I Am sorry about you Father A”H. May God comfort you and grant you ease.

–Mark

Rabbi: God granted emotions to man that they be used, and used properly. For example, inspiration can motivate us towards good actions. Therefore, Caleb—when threatened to side with the evil spies—went to the graves of the patriarchs and matriarchs to gain emotional fortitude in the reality of God’s oath to give Israel to Abraham’s descendants. That is, as real as the patriarchs and matriarchs were to Caleb, so too, God’s oath of Israel was real. And thereby, the spies’ opposing view was wrong. 

Yes, one can focus his mind alone on this truth, but for others, emotional support is required, and is a good method for aligning oneself with truths. Torah also commands man to rejoice on the holidays with eating and drinking, as this forges positive associations about God’s salvation. And on fast days when one visits the dead, it moves one to a more vivid realization of his own death, and motivates one in repentance. 

Our design is that sensual experience can have positive effects by making theoretical matters real through tangible reinforcement.  

Thank you for your comfort for my father’s passing. 

Lust vs. Greed 

Reader: In Hilchot Deot 1:1 Maimonides describes the midot of taavah and money, but isn't there an overlap? Isn't the “baal nefesh rechavah” (a wide soul) an example of a baal taavah?

–Alex Khagan

Rabbi: When it comes to the drive for money, Freud did not classify it as an instinctual drive in the same biological sense as sexual appetites or hunger. He would more likely consider the pursuit of money as a secondary drive that emerges from primary instincts. Money can be seen as a means to fulfill various instinctual and psychological needs. But the drive for money itself, "a wide soul"  is not a primary lust, like sex and food.

Reincarnation

Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi: Quoting Kabbala, a man who sleeps with a gentile is reincarnated as a dog. There was once a young man who was dating a gentile woman; the young man died. As the family was morning their son, a dog was scratching on the door outside. A visiting rabbi said, “Let the dog in.”  And the dog came in and sat on the couch in the very same place where the son used to sit. The Rabbi said, “The dog is a reincarnation of your son.”

Rabbi: Let’s first quote God, and not flawed, manmade Kabbala and Zohar:  

“Fathers are not killed for their son’s sins, and sons are not killed for their fathers sins; each man in his own sin will be killed” (Deut. 24:16, Kings II 14:6) 

Thus, future people do not pay the price for previous people. The notion that reincarnation enables a future man to fix a previous man’s sins violates God’s words. 

This dog story is utter nonsense. One must be clear about which texts are authored by God and which texts are not. Only those that are authored by God are absolute truths, and those texts are limited to Torah, Prophets, and Writings. But Kabbalah and Zohar are man-made and therefore contain errors. Even Moses made errors, so certainly lesser people err (Kabbala’s and Zohar’s authors). Therefore you are not bound to accept some notion just because it is found in Kabbalah or Zohar.

Saadia Gaon fully rejects the notion of reincarnation. We don't find reincarnation anywhere in Torah. Now, two opposing views—Saadia Gaon vs. Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi/Kabbala—cannot both be correct. How do you arrive at the truth? God gave each person intelligence as God wants each person to use their intelligence in all cases. God wishes man to use reasoning and proofs to conclude properly. Both God’s creations—natural word and Torah—are created with His wisdom. There is no tolerance in either study for blind faith or unproved theories. Certainly foolish theories. God gave us our senses to distinguish reality from fantasy, and dismiss what is not witnessed or proven. And reincarnation has never been witnessed. Thereby, God wishes that we reject reincarnation.

The idea itself of the dead returning as a senseless beast is not in line with God’s Torah, that seeks man to perfect himself, a great task requiring the intelligent soul, which animals do not possess. Thus, turning a man into a beast is against God’s goal for man. For a dead man to once again be revived, converting his human body into an animal that simply eats and sleeps, serves no purpose in God’s plan for man. It is quite ridiculous.

To those supporting reincarnation, consider that you never recalled a previous life, with mistakes for which you must atone. Ask yourself: Are you a reincarnation? Are your fiends? No one has recollection of a “previous life.” And as this is so, you cannot “repair former mistakes.” This whole reincarnation premise is not rational, nor does Moshe’s Torah discuss it anywhere. 

God’s punishments of death and karase (excision) are terminal. But if reincarnation were true, God’s threats are false. According to reincarnation, Torah’s punishments of death and karase are lies. Who was your previous self? What was his name? His family members? Where did he live? What years did he live? Let’s check historical records.

Finally, Torah says reward and punishment is for our present actions, not previous lives. And if reincarnation were true, then I won’t be punished, the next guy who gets my soul has to fix things. But this violates God’s principle of reward and punishment where Torah says, “Fathers are not killed for their son’s sins, and sons are not killed for their fathers sins; each man in his own sin will be killed” (Deut. 24:16, Kings II 14:6) 

Kabbala/Zohar: Human Authors Err

Rabbi: The Rabbis argued on each other; thereby testifying that 2 opposing opinions cannot both be correct. One is certainly wrong. But today, Jews have a difficulty using their minds and foolishly accept opposites, saying “Both Rabbis are correct” as they have been raised with the fear that authorities are infallible. But those very authorities do not agree, as they debate each other.

As stated so many times, God granted each person a mind, precisely that each person uses his mind and not follow blind faith and fear questioning any authority. Talmud Chullin 124b quotes a rabbi saying, “Even if Joshua the son of Nun said this I would not accept it.” Shulchan Aruch teaches that if you research all the sources and see the matter differently than the rabbis, you may follow your own conclusion. And Aaron argued on Moses and Moses agreed that Aaron was correct. Torah’s lesson is to be honest and rational, and not view man as flawless, not even Moses. Certainly, when we find matters in Kabbala and Zohar—manmade books—which contradict reason and Torah. Torah, Prophets and Writings are the only communication authored by God. All else contain errors, including Kabbala and Zohar. 

Therefore when hearing people or rabbis quoting nonsense, like man is reincarnated as an animal, realize that Torah nowhere endorses reincarnation, and that such beliefs are problematic for many reasons. Both views cannot be correct, either reincarnation is true or false. Saadia Gaon rejected it, Kabbala accepts it. How do you choose? Use your God-given rational mind, because “A fool believes everything” (Proverbs 14:15).