January 17 • 2019 29 jn continued from page 28 “then [looked] over their shoulders, past them; his final words being, ‘ Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Oh, wow!’ ” Blech surmised the dead, like Jobs, saw God when they would live no more. ADVICE FROM THE AFTERLIFE It is a Jewish tradition to go to the cem- etery and ask the dead for assistance or to invite dead relatives to a wedding. Blech explained souls not only have a consciousness, but they also can com- municate with the living. In the Small Miracles book series by Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal, they document death-to-life commu- nications during the Holocaust. One woman, Esther, said that in Sobibor she had a dream in which her dead moth- er gave her detailed instructions and a vision about escaping to a barn, 35 miles away, in a dangerous Nazi strong- hold. “Here you’ ll go, ” said the mother, “and here you’ ll survive. ” The next day, 300 prisoners revolt- ed and Esther escaped into the forest. After almost a week of following her mother’ s nocturnal navigation, Esther found the barn that matched the vision. She sensed another person hiding in the dark. At dawn, she saw it was her brother. And there they hid safely until the war’ s end. How could Esther possibly have known how to get from Sobibor to that exact barn, 35 miles away, without her dead mother’ s guid- ance from the Other World? Another story: Blech said, “I had someone in my shul who was a bom- bardier in World War II. He was flying in combat and heard his father, who was dead, call his name. The son turned. A bullet whizzed by. The son would have been shot if he hadn’ t turned. “Obviously, ” Blech said, “the question is, why didn’ t [these warnings] happen to the next guy? I can’ t answer that. All I can say is, if it can happen even sometimes, that means communication between the living and the dead exists. ” RETHINKING REINCARNATION The dead can become the living. Blech writes in Hope, No Fear, many “have mistakenly claimed the concept of reincarnation has no source in Judaism. That is not correct. It has long been part of the Oral Tradition. The Zohar, the classic work of Jewish mysticism, makes frequent and lengthy references to it … Nachmanides (Ramban) attributed Job’ s suffering to reincarnation. ” Mystical texts consider Mordechai, whose pivotal moment in the Purim story was refusing to bow to Haman, to be the reincarnation of Jacob, who wrongly bowed to Esau. Jacob “required another lifetime, ” writes Blech, “in order to atone” for bowing to his brother. Moses, who floated in a basket (same Hebrew word as “ark”) on the Nile, was the gilgul (reincarnation), echoing and repairing Noah’ s story. It happens to the most modest among us. Reincarnation, he writes, “offers a powerful response to the prob- lem of theodicy, the lack of reward for the righteous or punishment for the wicked during our lifetimes. ” The ancient Jewish mystics say that when the angel taps the indentation above our lips before birth, we forget who we were, how we died in our pre- vious life and what failings we are sup- posed to repair by rebirth. After 6 million Jews were murdered, one-third children, God decided to provide them with another chance, say some. Many were “reborn, ” Blech writes, “to live out their lives anew. ” The rabbi is a gentle persuader. He immediately concedes, “We need not accept it at face value. We need only to acknowledge that it is possible. ” People often pray for a second chance, he says. “God sometimes agrees. ” ■ Jonathan Mark is associate editor of the New York Jewish Week, where this story first “To understand death is to enter a realm that of necessity requires faith as a guide.” Most religions “have somehow come to very similar conclusions: Th ere is life aft er this life.” — RABBI BENJAMIN BLECH books arts&life Lost i n Ann Arbor UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Musical Theatre Seniors Per f or mance Sponsor ed by J. P. Mor gan Pri vat e Bank January 26, 2019 N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art (i n Mi dtown Detroi t) For mor e i nf or mat i on or t o or der t i cket s, pl ease cal l 313. 405. 5061 or vi si t cabar et313. org. ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S LEADING THEATRE PROGRAMS BRINGS ITS FUTURE STARS TO DETROIT!