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JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR
Special to the Jewish News

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Dr. Brian Weiss

Life

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Ohr Somayach to host
videoconference with
author-psychiatrist versed
in reincarnation.

r. Brian L. Weiss was
deeply entrenched in
using traditional
means of therapy to
help his psychiatric patients at
Mount Sinai Medical Center in
Miami when fate paid a visit.
"Years of disciplined study
had trained my mind to think as
a scientist and physician, mold-
ing me along the narrow paths
of conservativism in my profes-
sion," he writes in his book
Many Lives, Many Masters. "I
was aware of some of the studies
in parapsychology that were
being conducted at major uni-
versities across the country, but
they did not hold my attention.
It all seemed too farfetched to
me."
While guiding a fearful
patient through her early life
traumas using hypnosis, the
patient began to recall segments
of lives lived in the past, includ-
ing one where she was involved
in the embalming process in
ancient Egypt. Skeptical of the
revelations and of reincarnation,
Dr. Weiss continued these ses-
sions until the woman began to
reveal things and relay messages
from his own son and father,
things she could not have had
access to otherwise.
"Nothing in my background
prepared me for this," he . contin-
ued. "I was absolutely amazed
when these events unfolded."
Weiss, the author of three
other books on the subject of
past-life regression therapy and
reincarnation, will bring his mes-
sage to a Detroit audience when
Ohr Somayach hosts a live video
teleconfererice 7-9 p.m. Tuesday,
May 16, in Handleman Hall at
the Jewish Community Center
in West Bloomfield. The JCC is
a major sponsor.
The conference, titled
"Reincarnation: Clinical
Perspectives and the Jewish
View," also will involve partici-

pants in similar settings in
Miami and Philadelphia. It's part
of Jerusalem Vision, a worldwide
Jewish education initiative
hooked into the latest technology.
Providing the Jewish view on
the subject will be Rabbi
Mordechai Becher, an author
and scholar known for his work
in philosophy, comparative reli-
gion and Jewish history. The
Ohr Somayach senior lecturer
will speak to participants in the
three cities from the Detroit
location. Rabbi Dovid Gottleib,
an author and scholar who lec-
tures around the world for Ohr
Somayach, will speak from
Philadelphia.
For many, the topic of rein-
carnation long has been seen as a
belief that has no place in either
Judaism or the clinical setting,
said Rabbi David Shapero, exec-
utive director of Ohr Somayach
Detroit.
"A lot of Jewish people sort of
associate it with groups and
beliefs that they don't identify
with. They don't see it as a
Jewish concept," he said.
In fact, when asked about the
subject, Rabbi David Nelson of
Congregation Beth Shalom said
he has spoken about the soul
and the afterlife but never about
reincarnation. "You could live
your whole life as a rabbi and
never be asked about reincarna-
tion," he said.
Rabbi Leonardo Bitran of
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
B'nai Israel agreed. He said that
the focus of most branches of
Judaism is day-to-day life — the
prayers, the laws, living a Jewish
life. It is in the mystical teach-
ings of Judaism, such as in kab-
balistic or other relatively
obscure texts, that discussion
about such subjects exist.
However, Rabbi Bitran said
there is a mention of the concept
in daily Jewish life. He pointed
to the fact that a portion of the
Amida deals with the concept of
resurrection in some form as it
translates literally as "Praised are

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