at Congregation B'nai Israel in Tustin, Calif, and
the author of Does the Soul Survive? A Jewish

Journey to Belief in the Afterlife, Past Lives and
Living With Purpose, is one who disputes that hav-
ing contact through a medium is inherently evil.
In his book, he relates an experience he and his
wife had with the famous medium James Van
Praagh. In a convention hall filled with 250 people,
Van Praagh was able to channel Rabbi Spitz's wife's
grandfather and grandmother, providing her with
specific information that even Rabbi Spitz's wife
was not aware of at the time. She had to verify it
through other relatives after the session.
In an interview with the Jewish News, Rabbi Spitz
said that there are prohibitions against voodoo-like
practices, using incantations to call upon forces to
fulfill a need. However, he says that there are argu-
ments by some of the great rabbis that allow facili-
tated conversation with the souls of the deceased.
"It is a given that there is some level of con-
sciousness 'on the other side, — he said, adding that
a medium's role is simply to convey the messages
that emanate from that consciousness to those on
the physical plane.
However, he added that he does not believe in uti-
lizing fortunetellers or psychics, although he himself
used a psychic's services twice as a young adult.
"I went to a few and what I found was that I don't
like turning over power to anyone," he said, adding
that he is unsure how much psychics are able to
know and how much is self-fulfilling prophesy.
"It gives them power when [they] tell us what is
going to happen. I discourage people from doing it."
In either case, rabbis say that people will go to
psychics and mediums despite the chance that it
may harm them spiritually.
Because of this, Rabbi Chaim Bergstein of Bais
Chabad of Farmington Hills said that people
should be careful in choosing which medium to
use, as the impurity of the channeler can be reflect-
ed upon the soul of the person who is requesting
the channeling .
It is not something we do or something we
advocate," said Bergstein, who recently taught a
class on the subject of the soul and reincarnation
for SAJE, Seminars for Adult Jewish Enrichment.
"If a person is not on a high level of puriry, the
connection can be damaging. If the source of [the
medium's] power is impure, it can imprint on the
other person's soul."
On a more commercial level, Spitz warned that
not all mediums have the same abilities and some
may be simply out for personal gain.
"There have always been fortunetellers, only now
they have 900 numbers," he said, referring to psy-
chic services advertised in TV commercials. "There
are many charlatans out there."
In his role as director of Jewish Hospice &
Chaplaincy Network, Rabbi E.B. (Bunny)
Freedman is an intimate observer of death and
dying. Everything.is Jewish tradition supports a
nether world of spirits, he says, and some people
are better than others at getting in touch with it.
"I believe in the existence of powers we can't
explain," he said, "but tread carefully in choosing
the person who exercises them." ❑

"

o SKEPTIC
BELIEVER

Rabbi Elie Spitz
joins a national
conversation
where there are
few Jewish voices.

SANDEE BRAWARSKY
Special to the Jewish News

W

hen Rabbi Elie Kaplan
Spitz delivered a sermon
about survival of the soul to a
group of rabbis in Los Angeles in
1996, a charged discussion fol-
lowed, and an Orthodox rabbi
remarked that he had never
before heard rabbis publicly dis-
cuss the supernatural.
Bring up a topic like the after-
life, or reincarnation, and many
Jews become uneasy, or dismissive,
or just think these matters are not
very Jewish. Even those very inter-
ested don't talk much about these
concepts outside of intimate cir-
cles. An engaging new book by
Rabbi Spitz may change that.
Grounded in both scholarly
research and experience, Does the

Soul Survive?: A Jewish Journey to
Belief in Afterlife, Past Lives -
Living with Purpose (Jewish
Lights; $21.95) is written with
sensitivity, its narrative driven by
both skepticism and affirmation.
The 46-year-old self-described
mainstream rabbi, who leads a
Conservative congregation in
Orange County, Calif., introduced
his book to Detroit audiences at
last November's Jewish Book Fair at
the Jewish Community Center of
Metropolitan Detroit. He takes lit-
erally the words of Rabbi Yaakov
from Pirkei Avot: Ethics of the
Fathers: "The world is like a pas-
sageway before the world to come."
He sees himself as a juror,
assessing information before him
— and he believes in the survival
of the soul "on a profound level,

e-

beyond a reasonable doubt."
About reincarnation, he has less
data, but still believes.
"Although there are a variety of
understandings of soul in the
Jewish tradition," Rabbi Spitz
writes, "the common starting
point is that soul is no less than
an extension of God." He goes
on to explain the different levels
of the soul, according to mystical
tradition.
In researching the book,
Rabbi Spitz studied Jewish
mystical works with a kabbal-
ist in Jerusalem during a sab-
batical year there. He also
studied Torah commentaries,
and explains that the concept
of the soul is present from ear-
liest layers of tradition.
Pointing to the phrase that is
repeated when six leading bib-
lical figures die --- that he
lical
expired and "was gathered to
his people," referring to a
point between death and burial
— he cites classical commen-
taries that suggest it is a refer-
ence to survival of the soul.
He goes on to explain that
the Torah's general reticence
about the afterlife is related to
the fact that the Torah is writ-
ten from the point of view of
certain assumptions, like the
existence of God and the exis-
tence of the soul.
In a substantial appendix
titled "Torah and the
Immortality of the Soul: A
Hot Debate," Rabbi Spitz, a
member of the Conservative
movement's Rabbinical Assembly
Committee of Law and Standard,
provides a comprehensive view of
Jewish scholarship on the subject.
In the main text of the book,
the rabbi retells stories told to him
about near-death experiences,
about telepathy surrounding
death, coincidences that can't be
explained analytically. And, he tells
of his own experiences with con-
gregants, friends and his family.
In response to those who ques-
tion whether it is against Jewish

law to attempt to communicate
with the dead, the rabbi says that
it is permissible — as long as the
medium isn't involved in any
kind of idolatrous behavior, and
is simply standing in as a kind of
telephone to the other side.
Whenever he speaks about the
book and autographs copies,
Rabbi Spitz reports that every
other person he encounters has a
personal story to relate, and he
understands that they feel
affirmed in being able to reveal
their experiences to a rabbi. He
sees patterns in the stories, is
sometimes wary but always
respectful.
"All in all," he says, "I do
believe."
His own pastoral work has

Rabbi Elk Spitz says he believes
in the survival of the soul or a
profbund 1414 beyond a reasonable
dou,bt." About reincarnation, he
has less data, but still believes.

evolved as he has shifted away
from being a skeptic. Now, when
he counsels families facing en d-
of-life decisions, he emphasizes
the soul as well as Jewish law and
ethics. He also encourages living
this life with greater gratitude,
generosity and responsibility, in
view of an afterlife.
Rabbi Spitz is now writing a
sequel, addressing a key question
raised in this book, about how
people can live their lives now so
as to cultivate their souls before
departing to the next realm. ❑

4/27

2001