This past week I was studying the parsha with a dear friend of mine and the conversation segued to talking about reincarnation, a subject that I don’t profess to be an expert in and avoid talking about on the podcast. The person I was studying with expressed incredulity and skepticism about the idea of reincarnation in general. Reincarnation sounds like such a spooky and strange subject that rational, free-thinking, intelligent people tend to view it with skepticism. Jewish sources maintain that reincarnation does exist. What is the best way to reconcile our justifiable skepticism surrounding this subject?
My solution is what I call the Demystify and Deconstruct Heuristic:
Suppose we accept the following principles:
- God exists and He is good
- We have free will
- The Afterlife exists
These principles are a lot less controversial than the question of reincarnation. I would imagine that most believers would accept these principles as true. I think it’s logical for someone who accepts these principles as true to also accept the notion of reincarnation. Here’s why: God gives us free will. We get to choose if we favor our body or our soul. The choice to prioritize the physical or the spiritual is in our hands. In the event that a person chose to neglect their spiritual life, after they pass and their soul is untethered from their body, their soul is incomplete. It’s mission has not been fulfilled. How would we imagine that God in His benevolence would treat such a person? Isn’t it logical to say that the Almighty will afford such a person a second chance? Would we really consider that God wouldn’t give a person another opportunity to accomplish their mission? Of course the Almighty believes in second chances! By deconstructing the subject, it becomes much easier to swallow.
This subject also benefits from a useful Russell Conjugation. “Reincarnation” sounds scary and spooky. “Second Chances” is warm and fuzzy and makes us smile.
Animal Sacrifices
Another Torah concept that becomes more palatable when reframed in this fashion is animal sacrifices. The Book of Leviticus is replete with descriptions of all different kinds of sacrifices that must be done on regular intervals in the Temple. We don’t have a Temple, but we pray every day for its restoration and the concomitant resumption of animal sacrifices. There is no subject that I have encountered as much incredulity as the question of animal sacrifices. “Rabbi, do you actually believe that the Temple is going to be rebuilt on Temple Mount in Jerusalem and we’re going to resume doing animal sacrifices?!” To modern sensibilities, animal sacrifice feels barbaric. It seems so foreign and distant from the world that we live in. Yet tradition tells us that the Messiah will come and the Temple will be rebuilt and once again we will offer animal sacrifices.
This subject as well can be helped via this process.
Animal sacrifice sounds barbaric but beef is what’s for dinner. Those of us who are part of the 94% of Americans who are not vegetarian are obviously comfortable with the concept of killing an animal and eating its flesh. What’s the difference between animal sacrifices and steak dinners? One is delicious and the other is delicious and a mitzvah. Instead of thinking about animal sacrifices as barbaric ceremonies, when we reframe it to be steak dinners with a mitzvah it becomes palatable and even desirable.
This is not to suggest that there aren’t deep spiritual and Kabbalistic secrets in sacrifices (or reincarnation for that matter), but for someone who struggles with the notion of these foreign concepts and mitzvos, a simple reframing goes a long way in making them more palatable.
Where else do you think such a heuristic is helpful?