segs@mhuxn.UUCP (slusky) (02/24/86)
Until recently I had always considered reincarnation a totally non-Jewish belief. Certainly it was never discussed in any of my schooling. However, I recently read the series of three articles published on Lubavitcher Chasidim in The New Yorker last September. In those the author, Lis Harris, states that the Lubavitch, and in fact all (most?) Chasidim, do hold with reincarnation. Not into animals like the Hindus believe, but reuse of the nefesh in some other person. Can anyone shed further light on this? Where does the rest of Judaism stand on this? (I guess if we're not Hasidim we're Mitnagdim, or is that out of date?) Is she even correct in ascribing this belief to the Lubavitchers or was it perhaps a belief of the half dozen Lubavitchers she met? (i.e. a peculiarity, not a doctrine) And how can this be reconciled with raising of the dead? If a nefesh has been several different people over the course of history, who will it be when Moshiach comes? Susan Slusky mhuxn!segs --