gilgul

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Hebrew גלגול

Noun

gilgul (plural gilgulim)

1. (Judaism, Kabbalism) reincarnation, metempsychosis
   • 2001, The Torah U-Madda Journal, volume 10, page 9:

     Abravanel, for example, chooses to argue at length in favor of gilgulim in his commentary on the section of the Torah that discusses yibbum.

   • 2008, Shaul Magid, From Metaphysics to Midrash: Myth, History, and the Interpretation of Scripture in Lurianic Kabbala:

     The limitation of gilgul to men here is intriguing. Gilgul, among other things, is a process of purification from the sins of past lives, an alternative to the more anguished purification of Gehenna.