Reincarnation in the Tanakh? Rabbi Singer Reveals What Scripture Says

Hello, welcome to Judaism. So, if you want the religions that threaten you about things that you can't check out, but scare you, Christianity is for you. And a date [music] is coming to mind, December 26, 2004. One of the worst catastrophe natural disasters in recorded human history. >> One specific thing he asked about was about reincarnation, and he said that the words that found in the Bible. Because that's very prominent in Okay, so he's saying it was prominent in the Talmud and in the oral traditions. So, why are they teaching things that don't exist in the Bible? That's kind of the question. >> Let's rephrase that. Why aren't the teachings of what happens after you die found almost anywhere in Tanakh? So, that's the danger here. This question would be a very good question if the written Torah was filled replete with information about what precisely happens after you die. And we'd have copious information in the book of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Nahum about what happens after you die. And for some reason, what is absent from all this information is reincarnation. But that this uh the this question is predicated on a vacuous claim. And that is Tanakh is filled with information about what happens if you die. And the answer is And the response to that should be is Tanakh does not touch on what happens if you die, with the exception of a few passages that discuss the resurrection of dead, but that's what happens if you come back. So, Tanakh is not And for good reason, is not concerned with conveying what occurs after you die. And the Because what happens after you die until the resurrection is obviously not something that can be conveyed the metaphysical your eyes don't exist anymore. Your ears don't exist anymore. The physical body decays in the grave and the soul ascends to God. Ecclesiastes >> [snorts] >> chapter 12 verse 7, I think. So we have that. So therefore these are not valid questions because Tanakh is not involved in conveying to you what happens after you die. Now why not? Why doesn't Tanakh have it? It would be a very an excellent device to get people to be more religious. It would if Tanakh would sketch out a copious detail of what happens after you die and those who are not observant Jews, what happens to them and those who are not proper Bnei Noach, what happens to them and those who are what happens to them, people would be very persuaded to be more religious as a Jew. So why doesn't Tanakh have it? It would be a great threat. It really would work. And it works in other religions that have tons of information about this in their canon. The reason why Tanakh does not happen have it is cuz it's unfalsifiable. It's you cannot test it. It's a threat, no question. It's a concept that would scare people or get people to be very committed cuz people are petrified about what happens after you die. The problem is there'd be no way to test it and therefore Tanakh is not interested cuz it's a mind game. In fact, when a religion is predicated on threats that you can't verify, that you can't falsify, that's a red flag of a false religion. Now, it's not that I am claiming that Tanakh does not contain threats. It is loaded with threats. But, the threats are things that are highly verifiable, highly falsifiable. I'm thinking of Leviticus 26. I'm thinking of Deuteronomy 28. Well, think about the blessings and the curses. I'm taking most extreme. Right? It tells you there, if you're faithful, you know, you'll have rain, you'll defeat your enemies on the battlefield, you know, you'll have children. These are things that you can see. Right? It's like when doctors when people are trying to convince you that you should not smoke, it they they can very easily verify that smoking is a horrible idea. Very easy to do. So, if you and when the text says, "This is what happens to you if you're not loyal to the God of Israel, is there won't be rain, your oxen won't have your animals will never have what to eat. If they don't have what to eat, you're going to go hungry. Your wife is not going to have children. When you go to war against your enemy, they will defeat you." And if you're loyal to me, you will defeat your enemies. One will chase a thousand. Well, hello. Welcome to Judaism. So, if you want the religions that that knew about things that you can check out, but scare you, Christianity is for you. Hinduism, which teaches about this unstopping recycling, knock yourself out with it. Those Christianity was the ideal religion if you want one that makes claims that it cannot prove and are unfalsifiable. And therefore, Tanakh says almost nothing what happens when you die. Therefore, reincarnation would definitely fall under that. And how Just for a moment, whether there is reincarnation or not reincarnation, how does that affect how you live in your life? I mean, just consider that. If reincarnation is real, that for some reason a soul must come back. I can think of a a reason why a soul has to come back. And a date is coming to mind, December 26, 2004. One of the worst catastrophes, natural disasters in recorded human history, the tsunami that that hit Indonesia and Thailand, in which hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people were killed. Well, what about all those children that died in that catastrophe? I'm not going to pretend that I know why it happened, but I feel a certain it's reasonable that these the children who died in that horrible um catastrophe in the morning of that day, um they didn't have a chance to make decisions in their lives if they would be faithful or faithless. And therefore, these people died in of children, and their their soul can't come back to make a full decision in their lives. That would make a lot of sense, okay? But Tanakh is not interested cuz Tanakh is an instruction manual how to live your life. And there's absolutely nothing about reincarnation, whether it exists or doesn't exist. I just made a case for reasonably why it would exist. But set that aside. If it didn't exist, does it How does that change if you're going to keep Shabbat? If you're going to feed the hungry? If you're going to clothe the naked? You're going to care for the widow and the orphan? That's nothing to do with it. And therefore, it's not mentioned in Tanakh cuz Tanakh is an instruction book for how to live your life. And Tanakh is not going to summon to the witness stand things that you have no access to, and that is this kind of knowledge. Now, is it mentioned in rabbinic literature? It is, but it does not exist in Tanakh cuz Tanakh that's not the style Tanakh. Tanakh is not interested in proving to you that the God of Israel is our only Lord and our only savior by things that are cannot be verified. Look at the rain, look at the ground, look at your enemies. Are you defeating them? Are you eating? Are you drinking? Are your wives having children? Then the Lord is your only true God. Shalom. [snorts] If you enjoyed this program, please like and subscribe. >> [music] [singing and music] [music] [singing]