Reincarnation and Resurrection

However, there are two other aspects regarding this matter.

[The first aspect concerns a person] who only received a Nefesh during his first lifetime but didn't merit to completely rectify it—and then died. Since this first body did not complete the rectification of all aspects of the Nefesh, then, at the time of Resurrection of the Dead, only those parts that were rectified in the lifetime of that body return with it.

Resurrection of the Dead is a fundamental principle of Judaism1. Since the body participated in the performance of mitzvot, it is only just that it should also share in the eternal reward for that performance.

Therefore, that body too comes back to life in the time of the Resurrection of the Dead, together with those parts of the soul that were rectified during its lifetime. When this particular reincarnation resurrects, it receives only those sparks that were rectified through it. The other parts of the Nefesh return to the other bodies wherein they were rectified.

Therefore, when this Nefesh reincarnates into another body to complete its tikun, it can achieve NR"N.

See Section 1 for the "second possibility". When the Nefesh is completed in the second gilgul, it can become a vehicle for the unblemished Ruach and Neshama. In this respect it is like a first-time gilgul.

However, what concerns us here is not the possibility that all three parts of the soul can be received in the second gilgul, but what happens in the time of Resurrection to the body of the first gilgul that has rectified only a few parts of the Nefesh.

Then all the parts of the Nefesh that were rectified in the second body, together with the Ruach and Neshama, belong to the second body at the time of the Resurrection.

It was in the second body that the remainder of the Nefesh, Ruach and Neshama were rectified.

The first body has no portion in the Ruach and Neshama, but it does have a share in part of the Nefesh, the part that was rectified with it. The remainder of the aspects [of the rectified soul] belongs to the second body.

The rule is that the body of each person will be resurrected with those parts of the soul that were rectified in its lifetime. If only a few parts of Nefesh were rectified by the person of the first gilgul, then those few parts that amount to nothing more than a "minimal Nefesh" will be all that is available for the resurrection of the first body.

The Rabbi will now draw a comparison between this "minimal Nefesh" and the minimal Nefesh that we learned about in the case of yibum.

This is like what was explained in Sabba of Mishpatim regarding Yibum. The first body did not succeed at procreating. It only merits the individual spark of the Nefesh. This is the spark that was left inside the woman during the first intimacy. However, the rest of the Nefesh with the Ruach and the Neshama belong to the second body.

We learned about yibum in 3:6. Yibum occurs when a person dies without leaving progeny in this world, and it is considered a lack of success to the extent that it is as if the first body never came into the world. The entire Nefesh that was in the first body reincarnates to a second body, and in the time of Resurrection it will arise with the second body. Only a minimal spirit called "the spirit that the husband left within his wife" is available for the resurrection of the first body. The Rabbi is comparing that minimal spirit that was left within the woman to what is discussed here, namely the few parts of the Nefesh that were rectified in the first gilgul. In both cases, in yibum and in the case discussed here, the rest of the Nefesh and the Ruach and Neshama belong to the second body that will arise at the time of Resurrection.

There is an additional basis to the comparison between our case, when only a few parts of the Nefesh are rectified in the first gilgul, and that of yibum, when no progeny were left in the world. In our case, as well as yibum, the Nefesh is not bearing any fruit. In our case this is because it has no part in any Ruach or Neshama. They belong to the body of another gilgul.

This is the secret of what is written in the Zohar (Chayei Sarah 131a): "Those bodies that were not successful are as if they never existed." This is remarkable, because [it is known that] there is no Jew who is not "filled with mitzvot like a pomegranate" (Berachot 57a). Why should it [an "unsuccessful" body] be non-existent at the time of resurrection?

The pomegranate is a fruit that is full of seeds. Indeed, some say that the original pomegranate had 613 seeds, corresponding to the number of positive and negative mitzvot in the Torah. The sages used it to symbolize the internal condition of the Jewish people. They declared, "Even the empty ones among you (Israel) are filled with mitzvot like a pomegranate."

When a Jew does a mitzvah, he connects to and participates in all the mitzvot that were ever done throughout history. Thus, even the most insignificant of them is "filled with mitzvot like a pomegranate." How, then, can there be a body that has no part in mitzvot to justify its resurrection?

However, this alludes to the idea that the main source of pleasure in the Time-to-Come is on the level of Ruach and Neshama. This first body does not even have a completed Nefesh. All it has is the spark "left in his wife by the initial intimacy." Thus, it has no pleasure and is if it doesn't exist.

This person's participation in some bit of the ecstasy of the world to come is proven by the statement of the Sabba in Zohar Mishpatim, p. 100a, Sulam #112.

[Commentary by Shabtai Teicher.]