Are All Pets In Israel Gilgulim?

Hi, this is David Wolpe with our question and answer series. I've heard it said that all pets in Israel these days are gilgulim. Is this true? You know, I got asked a question about what my position is about bungalow colonies. And I presented the fact that I'm of two minds and I didn't I didn't give a definitive answer. And somebody wrote in and said, "Why do you bother answering a question if you're not going to answer it? So, what's the point?" The answer is that even if you must be that study them, if you explain the two different positions that go into it, there's something worthwhile about that. And that's one reason. The other answer is I don't want people to think I ignored their question. So, if you ask a question I just ignore it, then people think, "Oh, he didn't see my question or he's ignoring me." I have to show them, right? I don't get to do everything that I want all the all the questions, but I try at least to answer it. So, when I saw this question, I had really only one response. I have no idea. When it comes to gilgulim, that's really past my station in life to answer about gilgulim. I remember somebody asked me once, "Do you believe in gilgulim?" And for those of you who are not familiar with the term, it means that people come back again as somebody else. You know, and so that you may come back as another person, you may come back as an animal. Yeah. So, somebody asked me once, "Do you believe in gilgulim?" And I said, "Well, in my last life I didn't, but now I'm coming around to the idea." But I don't really know if I'm a gilgul of somebody. I have heard the same things you've heard, where people say everybody today is a gilgul of another person. I know that they bring down that the the door of Mabul came back as the door of Mitzrayim, you know. I know they bring down that the 24,000 people killed by Maaseh Zimri came back as a talmidim of, uh, Rebbe Akiva. I know they say that Yaakov came back as Mordechai. So, where the chazal tell you tell you, but I don't know. I will tell you one story that I've heard many times, and I don't know if it's true, because as I always mention, I'm not Pesach K'ron, I don't check out my stories. But, there was a story about a vecker in Mea Shearim, an old Yerushalaim. He used to go from door to door early in the morning, and wake people up for selichos. And not everybody likes being woken up. This has not changed in thousands of years. So, he's knocking on door, and he's saying, "Selichos, selichos." And someone pours hot water out on him. Burns him. Pours hot water on him. Um, that day the fellow died suddenly of a heart attack. And after that, as he would go around on his rounds, this cat was following him around. Until finally, after a few nights, he turns around and says, "I'm mochel you." And the cat went away, and was never seen again. Did it happen? I don't really know. Is it possible that it is? Sure. Can I say that everybody is? Somebody told me once that, uh, that the reason there's so many cats walking around in Yerushalaim is because, as you know, cats is a Cohen name. It stands for Cohen Tzedek. So, all these cats might be Kohanim who are coming back as catses. >> [laughter] >> I don't know. I think that's a joke. But, uh, I can't tell you whether they're really gilgulim or not. Um, so, uh, you know, uh, I I just want you to know I acknowledge your question, and you'll have to speak to a mekabel for this. Uh, everybody has to know their limitations, and, uh, when it comes to these kind of cabalistic subjects, it's beyond me. This is Dov bar Leib asking with our question and answer.