Menachem Bluming Muses: Do You Remember Past Lives?


Personally, I find it hard enough to remember where I put my car keys five minutes ago, let alone what I did in a previous life. But there have been very holy individuals who were aware of their past lives. One example is Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum of Ujhely, who said that he remembers his past three lives.

Previous to his current life as a Rabbi in 18th century Hungary, he said he lived in the times of the first Temple in Jerusalem in 587 BCE. He was the prophet Jeremiah, who foresaw the destruction of the Temple. For that reason Rabbi Moshe was famous for his constant yearning for the redemption and rebuilding of the third Temple.

He also recalled an even earlier incarnation, when he was a witness to the debate between Moses and Korach, which took place during the Israelite sojourn in the desert, some three thousand years ago.

But Rabbi Teitelbaum remembered further back, all the way to the time of the patriarchs. He said that when our forefather Jacob tended the sheep of his father-in-law Lavan, his flock numbered 600 000 sheep. They contained the souls of the future nation of Israel. Your soul and mine were there. We just don't remember. But Rabbi Moshe did.

"I remember being a sheep in Jacob's flock," Rabbi Moshe told his students. "I even remember the song Jacob would sing to gather us together." And he would sing this most beautiful and haunting song, the song Jacob our forefather sang to our souls hidden in the sheep. The song is still known to this very day.

Rabbi Moshe is an exception. Most of us have no conscious memory of our previous lives. But somewhere deep down, we do remember. We have a sense of what our mission is and what we need to fix. Our mission is usually found in the very area of life that we find the most challenging. Our soul knows that this is what we have to face. That's why it's so daunting.

There are certain people in our lives who push our buttons. There are particular weaknesses in our character that we loath to face. And there are mitzvahs that we know we have to do but are scared to do them. These are the faint memories of our past lives. These are what we need to fix in this life.

And if you're not sure that you believe in all this, listen to Jacob's song. Its heavenly melody just might arouse some hidden memory in the recesses of your soul.

We may not remember exactly who we were before, but one thing we know. We each have a soul that matters, we each have a mission to accomplish, and we each have a song to sing.

Menachem (Mendel) Bluming and Rabbi Moss

Popular posts from this blog

When to be Flexible

There are times to bend like a reed in the wind. And there are times to act as a stubborn wall against the tide. There are matters that lie at the periphery of life. In those situations stubbornness often stands in the way of harmony and peace. Every such “I” is the very root and source of evil. But when it comes to matters that touch the purpose for which you were placed in this world, that’s when you have to be that immovable wall. That’s when you have to say, “On this, I‘m not going to budge.” That “I,” that’s not evil. That‘s an “I” fulfilling the purpose for which you were given an “I.” Menachem Mendel Bluming,  Chabad.org and Rabbi Freeman
Read more

Menachem M. Bluming on Gun Control

In Las Vegas we were stunned once again by another staggering and grotesque mass murder and the resultant anguish for all those whose lives have been destroyed and irrevocably altered. We are left perplexed and wondering what in the world is going on in our country? This kind of vicious mass murder is something we have not seen before, certainly not with the frequency that we see it today. Would you believe that there has been a shooter incident somewhere in the country almost every day this year? In the latest tragedy in Las Vegas the killer doesn't seem to even have had a twisted ideological or religious motive. Just wanton murder. Although law enforcement may be baffled in their search for a motive in this case, A general societal shift may have contributed to the perpetration in these kind of atrocious acts. The most dramatic changes in American society over the past seventy five years has been, not in the technological realm (though superficially it may seem so), ...
Read more

Menachem Bluming Muses: Define Judaism

The Jewish people can best be described as a spiritual family. We are connected by our souls, and every Jew is a part of this invisible web by virtue of our Jewishness. You can either be born into the family or join by choice. But once you are in, you are family, no matter what. If Jews are a family, the Torah is the family rules. It recounts the family history, defines the family identity, and lays out the expectations of how members of the family should behave and the good they can contribute to the world. Some of the Torah is universal, but much of it is about our particular family and its relationships - with our brothers and sisters, our ancestors, our homeland and the Head of the family - G-d. If you break the rules, you are still a member, because family is family. But those who keep the rules keep the family together. Those who reject the rules usually find their children or grandchildren will drift away from the family entirely, not even knowing what they are leaving beh...
Read more