Does the Soul Survive?: A Jewish Journey to Belief in Afterlife, Past Lives & Living with Purpose - Hardcover

Spitz, Rabbi Elie Kaplan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1580230946 ISBN 13: 9781580230940

Publisher: Jewish Lights, 2000

Synopsis

Near-death experiences? Past-life regression? Reincarnation? Are these sorts of things Jewish?

With a blend of candor, personal questioning and sharp-eyed scholarship, Rabbi Elie Kaplan Spitz relates his own observations and the firsthand accounts shared with him by others, experiences that helped propel his journey from skeptic to believer that there is life after life.

From near-death experiences to reincarnation, past-life memory to the work of mediums, Rabbi Spitz explores what we are really able to know about the afterlife, and draws on Jewish texts to share that belief in these concepts―so often approached with reluctance―is in fact true to Jewish tradition.

"The increasing interest and faith in survival of the soul may grow into a cultural wave that is as potentially transformative for society as the civil rights movement and feminism. A renewed faith in 'the soul's journeys’ will call for a reassessment of our priorities, and will enable traditional religions to renew and transform their adherents."
―from the Introduction

About this title

About the Authors

Rabbi Elie Kaplan Spitz is the author of Healing from Despair: Choosing Wholeness in a Broken World and Does the Soul Survive? A Jewish Journey to Belief in Afterlife, Past Lives & Living with Purpose (both Jewish Lights). A spiritual leader and scholar specializing in topics of spirituality and Judaism, he teaches, writes and speaks to a wide range of audiences. He has served as the rabbi of Congregation B'nai Israel in Tustin, California, for more than a decade and is a member of the Rabbinical Assembly Committee of Law and Standards.

Brian L. Weiss, MD, the nation's foremost expert on past-life regression therapy, is chairman emeritus of psychiatry at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami.

Reviews

Spitz, a Conservative rabbi, sets out to convince readers that it's kosher to be Jewish and believe in reincarnation and the afterlife. He details his personal journey from skepticism to belief in the reality of the soul, distilling along the way the work of pioneering mediums like Brian Weiss and James van Draagh. Spitz discusses one seminar he attended in which he found himself revealing images of a previous life as a Native American, and another in which his wife's deceased grandparents "communicated" with her. Spitz employs an array of Jewish sourcesAparticularly mystical textsAthat affirm a faith in the survival of the soul, although the concept remains controversial in traditional Judaism. He claims that this faith can provide comfort to those struggling with death. "Letting go is easier when one believes death is not final," he says. He offers the personal example of coping with his mother's death, followed by dramatic instances of how he has used guided imagery to ease congregants into accepting death. While we are alive, our "homework assignment" is to nurture our souls through good deeds and to express gratitude to God, "rooting us more deeply in living this life each day as a precious gift." Spitz's compelling arguments may cement the beliefs of Jewish readers already receptive to the existence of the supernatural and open a doorway for doubters to reconceptualize life and death. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Jewish tradition doesn't have much to say about the soul, and the concepts of near-death experiences and reincarnation are almost anathema. At least that's the tradition. Spitz, a rabbi, has another view. Drawing on personal experience and anecdotal evidence, he explains how he came, in his own life, to believe in soul survival. He also uses biblical and primarily kabbalistic sources to show that many of these concepts are found in Judaism. Spitz is a lively writer, and he brings new vigor to such long-debated topics as reincarnation. Whether he is chronicling his experiences with medium James Van Praagh, who spoke with the long-deceased family of Spitz's wife (with amazing accuracy), or making a serious exploration of the discrepancies in afterlife accounts, he easily holds readers' attention. Of special interest to Jewish audiences, naturally, but the scope and perspective will give this account much wider appeal. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

"The concept of another plane of reality-a standaard belief in most traditional and religious cultures-has only in the last hundred years been rejected in the West.... Ironically, we who live in an age of skepticism are most aware that there is more to reality than what we see." -from the Introduction

Edition details

• Publisher: Jewish Lights
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1580230946
• ISBN 13: 9781580230940
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288