"Very worthwhile.... People do not know enough about the Jewish point of view on death and dying, and people need to know that reincarnation and afterlife is a fact. It's about time and the time is now. This is a brilliant book that keeps you fascinated."—Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
"A wise, moving, carefully thought out and provocative first-person exploration into the immortality of the soul. Indispensable for anyone who has ever wondered about the mysteries of life before and after this one. A beautiful book."—Lawrence Kushner,rabbi-in-residence, Hebrew Union College; author,Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary and other books
“His initial reticence to believe people's stories about life after death and past incarnations ... gives this book credibility even for skeptical philosophers like me.... Rabbi Spitz has me wondering!”—Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff, PhD,rector and professor of philosophy,American Jewish University
“Elegantly written.... Rabbi Elie Spitz’s 'journey’ will inspire its readers to follow his example and search for what is meaningful in Jewish life and learning.”—Elie Wiesel
“See your (future) world in this life.... Read Rabbi Elie Spitz’s book and experience what your own intuition corroborates and you will not fear death at the end of your life’s journey.”—Rabbi Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi (z"l ), author, Davening: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Prayer
“Rabbi Spitz has taken a fascinating journey from skepticism to hope. No matter our ultimate conclusion, this record of that journey is certain to tantalize, intrigue and uplift the questing spirit.”—Rabbi David Wolpe, Sinai Temple, Los Angeles; author, Making Loss Matter: Creating Meaning in Difficult Times
“A path-breaking book. When Elie Spitz writes about Judaism and reincarnation, he not only examines relevant texts drawn from two thousand years of teaching, he integrates them with his own remarkable experiences. This is a book that has the capacity to expand your soul.”—Joseph Telushkin, author, Jewish Literacy and other works
“Whether or not we believe, having the conversation about the continued existence of the soul contributes to the healing. Opening to the possibility that there is more than a rigid and unpenetrable curtain between the worlds allows us to approach loss with questions. These call forth creative possibilities for continuing our connection with those we have lost.”—Rabbi Anne Brener, LCSW, internationally recognized bereavement therapist; author, Mourning & Mitzvah: A Guided Journey to Walking the Mourner’s Path Through Grief to Healing
“Rabbi Spitz is not your grandfather’s old rabbi. He explores issues of life and death that go back to our earliest traditions and go forward into the next millennium. He proves that Judaism is a many branched menorah with something important for everyone. He shows how to explore the deepest reaches of mind, body, and spirit—and do it Jewishly.”—Alan M. Dershowitz, author, The Vanishing American Jew
“Rabbi Spitz has treated a topic that many approach with doubts in a learned, cogent, Jewishly informed and, above all, human manner. His personal touch, as well as his mastery of both classical Jewish and modern historical, philosophical and psychological writings on the topic of the soul and its transmigration makes for challenging and thoughtful reading.... Indicates that Judaism has a great deal to say about a subject that is all-too-often exclusively associated in the popular mind with eastern religions. Readers of all stripes and faiths will be provoked and moved by this book.”—Rabbi David Ellenson, PhD, president, Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion
“With intelligence and compassion, Rabbi Spitz has written a beautiful book that explores one of life’s great mysteries—what exists beyond life. His look at the subject is so compelling because he draws both on ancient Jewish tradition and on the contemporary experience of Americans.... An important book that will change your thinking about life—and the afterlife.”—Ari L. Goldman, author, The Search for God at Harvard
“A wonderful book on the afterlife. It fills a great void in this area. It is carefully researched and articulately presented. I loved it.”—Rabbi Abner Weiss, PhD, author, Connecting to God: Ancient Kabbalah and Modern Psychology
“Elie Spitz provides a map for some very tricky territory. With admirable candor and real openness of heart, he leads his readers through contemporary and traditional views of the soul, its nature and purposes.... He is clear without being simplistic, inspiring without beating a drum for his views. I know of no book on the soul which so seamlessly blends the personal and the scholarly. Rabbi Spitz brings to this subject a passion and clarity which will engage and enlighten his readers.”—Peter Pitzele, PhD, author, Our Fathers’ Wells: A Personal Encounter with the Myths of Genesis
“Elie Spitz’s personal quest for an understanding of the soul and afterlife benefits all who read this remarkable book. In the tradition of Dr. Brian Weiss, he brings credibility and a religious context to belief in reincarnation. Even the skeptic will be swayed by Rabbi Spitz’s personal experiences.”—Rabbi Stewart Vogel, coauthor, New York Times bestseller The Ten Commandments
“Rabbi Elie Spitz masterfully blends scholarship, inspiration and information.... His courageous, heartfelt journey into unknown territory will most assuredly survive with his soul.”—Nancy Rosanoff, author, Knowing When It’s Right
“Rabbi Spitz has taken our most profound human question and given us an exciting journey into religious, historical and present-day answers.... This inspirational book shows us just how important living our purpose is.”—Carol Adrienne, PhD,author,The Purpose of Your Life
“In Does the Soul Survive? Rabbi Spitz allows all of us to take that same journey of soul: to be able to look without fear through the healing lens of faith at what it means to be alive, what it means to be human, what it means to be God’s child. Anyone who reads this book will find it, as I did, uplifting, insightful and profoundly true. It transforms all our lives for the better.”—Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, dean, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, American Jewish University; author, Passing Life’s Tests: Spiritual Reflections on the Trial of Abraham, the Binding of Isaac
Spitz, a Conservative rabbi, sets out to convince readers that it's kosher to be Jewish and believe in reincarnation and the afterlife. He details his personal journey from skepticism to belief in the reality of the soul, distilling along the way the work of pioneering mediums like Brian Weiss and James van Draagh. Spitz discusses one seminar he attended in which he found himself revealing images of a previous life as a Native American, and another in which his wife's deceased grandparents "communicated" with her. Spitz employs an array of Jewish sources--particularly mystical texts--that affirm a faith in the survival of the soul, although the concept remains controversial in traditional Judaism. He claims that this faith can provide comfort to those struggling with death. "Letting go is easier when one believes death is not final," he says. He offers the personal example of coping with his mother's death, followed by dramatic instances of how he has used guided imagery to ease congregants into accepting death. While we are alive, our "homework assignment" is to nurture our souls through good deeds and to express gratitude to God, "rooting us more deeply in living this life each day as a precious gift." Spitz's compelling arguments may cement the beliefs of Jewish readers already receptive to the existence of the supernatural and open a doorway for doubters to reconceptualize life and death. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Through his studies, his life experiences, and the stories he heard as a rabbi, Spitz (rabbi, Congregation B'nai Israel) came to believe that the soul exists after a person dies. He uses this book as a forum to discuss how he came to his beliefs and to investigate Judaism's teachings about the soul after death. He includes stories of people's near-death experiences, describes his own study, and summarizes what biblical, rabbinical, and mystic writings say to support his thesis. This introduction to the biblical writings and how the modern thinkers address this issue will interest people wanting to read a Jewish response the concept of a soul's existence after death. Students beginning their studies may also find this a useful resource. Recommended for public libraries that have collections supporting Judaism, the afterlife, near-death experiences, and popular psychology.--Naomi E. Hafter, Broward Cty. P.L., Ft. Lauderdale, FL Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
The concepts of the nature of the soul and the prospect of life after death are core questions as compelling today as they were millennia ago. Rabbi Spitz's Does The Soul Survive?: A Jewish Journey To Belief In Afterlife, Past Lives & Living With Purpose specifically addresses these questions based upon his own personal observations, extensive scholarship, and firsthand accounts by others of a spectrum of relevant experiences. Rabbi Spitz surveys and examines a wide range of issues from near-death experiences to reincarnation, from past-life memory to the work of spiritual mediums as he explores what we are truly able to know about the afterlife. Drawing on Jewish texts, Rabbi Spitz makes a convincing and persuasive case in favor of the argument that all such experiences are within the scope of Jewish tradition and understanding. Does The Soul Survive? is an impressive and highly recommended contribution to Judaic and metaphysical studies.
Tustin rabbi shares his experience in hopes of helping others in despair.
Rabbi Elie Spitz has been in Tustin 21 years and has been with Congregation B'nai Israel, at 2111 Bryan Ave., for more than 10 years. His second book, Healing from Despair: Choosing Wholeness in a Broken World has been published by Jewish Lights Publishing, and he'll be speaking on Nov. 18 at the Orange County Jewish Book Festival in Irvine.
Spitz is also author of Does the Soul Survive? A Jewish Journey to Belief in Afterlife, past Lives and Living with Purpose .
Q: What inspired you to write the book?
A: One thing was the satisfaction of finishing a book. It's a story I felt I needed to tell. A friend who's a teacher of journalism says everybody has in them one book because everyone has a personal story worth telling, but the challenge is the second or third book. So I was up to the challenge.
Q: Tell us about Healing from Despair .
A: This one is about my being a mental patient. It's about despair, including the continuum of depression or emotional pain from the blues to suicide, and it's in part my own story of hospitalization in my 20s for depression.
It's not about me. I only have credibility to explore the topic because of my own experience. It's a lot about other people.
It's about three things. One; it's normal in the course of life to experience emotional pain on a continuum. Two; it's about hope to get better. An, three; drawing light from moments of darkness.
Examples are in part from the Bible, like Moses says to God, "If I have to go on like this just kill me." Or God, who says, "I regret I created the world, so I'm going to wipe it out," from Genesis. God is probably the most emotional personality in the Bible. It's people who we identify as having great strength. People with great strength in life are people like Abraham Lincoln or Winston Churchill. People who suffered pain.
Q: What is the continuum?
A: One end is the blues—an emotional flu which I think just about everybody in life experiences. In one of the books, George Howe Colt, says one of four people in the course of their life will be depressed enough to warrant medical care.
The middle is clinical depression. Clinical depression is often identified with self-deprecation.
Q: What is your goal with the book?
A: My goal is to provide normalization and hope, and to remind people that something they might be embarrassed by may be a source of compassion and insight.
Almost everyone has someone in his or her family experiencing depression. My goal with the book is that it will be helpful to people.
My hope for the book is to acknowledge emotional pain, despair and depression, and to normalize it and let people feel less embarrassed and more open to listening and seeking care. This book is not for someone who's suicidal.
That's the extreme. It's more the continuum. It's a call for the family to get help for the person who is in despair and to be open to receive help, and last for the person out of despair to see it as a source of strength.
Q: Do you think it will transcend religious lines?
A: I hope so. The book does touch on my own struggle with depression in my 20s.
There are blurbs from all kinds of people. It's not a book about Judaism as much as it's about becoming more fully human. Because I'm Jewish, some of my references are biblical and Jewish.
Q: Is it difficult to share your story?
A: I spoke about it recently to my congregation, and I have shared stories about being in a mental health clinic. I hadn't given a sermon about it. I got many positive e-mails from people thanking me. But it wasn't about me.
I'm only a witness for something larger.
I have two friends who committed suicide. It's a major taboo to discuss suicide, let alone when it's in your family because there's a sense of guilt, shame and anger that a person would cause pain to so many others.
Q: Do you have any suggestions for people struggling with depression?
A: The book has a lot of self-help checklists. It helps for people to gain perspective in the aftermath of a loss.
The blues is a product of a loss and can be biochemical.… Often depression is a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness so by providing help or hope for others they can gain from the experience for themselves.
There are many ways people can be kind to others. It can be as simple as making a point to talk to a waiter or waitress, to volunteer, and gather food for people in need. You have to set goals with a low bar so you meet the goals.
Orange County Register - ELYSSE JAMES
Rabbi Spitz bases his conviction that life continues after death upon nine phenomena; (1) his belief that there is a soul; (2) mental telepathy; people sensing what they can't hear or see, such as a person sensing that a relative thousands of miles away suddenly became ill; (3) communications from dead relatives, as when a father appears in a son's dream and tells him that he just died; (4) biblical statements that other people see as metaphors, but which the rabbi takes literally, such as "he was gathered to his people," which he understands as a departure to "the world to come"; (5) reincarnation, as when a person said that he would like to return to earth as a butterfly, and a butterfly is seen flying around the rabbi's head at the man's funeral; (6) mediums delivering communications from the dead; (7) the ability of people under hypnosis to recall past lives that they say they lived; (8) the existence of many mystics who insisted that there is life after death and who say that they went through some of the above-mentioned experiences; and most of all (9) "near death experiences." The book is written well, is interesting, and worth reading, but not everyone will find it persuasive. The following are some thoughts on each of his proofs.
The belief in the existence of a soul is very widespread, but science has been unable to prove that a soul exists. Philosophers have questioned how it is possible for an inanimate soul to control a body when the two have no physical connection. While ancient post-biblical Greeks mention the soul, many, such as Aristotle (384–322 BCE) understood soul as a synonym for life forces. Thus Aristotle included the digestive and respiratory systems and intelligence in the term soul. He wrote that only the intellect exists after death, not the person's personality. Furthermore, the notion of the existence of a soul is not in the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew term used today for soul, nefesh , means "life" or "person" in the Torah, such as when it states "When a nefesh offers a sacrifice." Rabbi Spitz admits that "any attempt to define soul in clear, unequivocal terms results either in distortion of glibness,"
True, people claim that telepathy works. However, many scientists say that these are coincidences. Additionally, even if telepathy works, such as being able to identify what number is written on a covered card, this ability really has nothing to do with life after death.
Similarly, scientist call claims of having had communications with a dead person, such as in a dream, coincidences. We also know that dreams are prompted by thoughts during the day, and the dreamer may have been thinking during the day about the physical condition of the person who appeared in his or her dream.
Just as the Torah does not mention "soul," it does not speak of life after death. However, the rabbi reads it into metaphors such as "gathered to his people." He is most likely the first person who read these words in this literal manner. The words have always been understood as a poetic way of saying "he died." It is similar to the English phrase "he passed on."
There is no proof that resurrection occurs. The rabbi rejects the notion that the soul returns to the individual's dead body since the body has deteriorated. It seems equally illogical to imagine that the soul would enter another body. Even people who believe that it occurs say that it is a miracle and science has never proven that miracles occur.
Mediums are frequently frauds. The rabbi reads the biblical story of King Saul visiting a medium who brought up Samuel from the dead to allow Saul an opportunity to discuss his impending battle with the dead prophet. True, many fundamentalists accept the story as a true occurrence. But rationalists such as the great Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) recognized that the tale is impossible and explained it as a dream by an agitated king.
Rabbi Spitz recognizes that the recollections of people under hypnosis of past lives are questionable. The recollections are usually the result of statements made by the hypnotist. Spitz underwent such an experience. Prior to being hypnotized, the hypnotist asked him what he thought about as a youngster and he mentioned Indians, and when he was hypnotized he saw himself as an Indian.
True, there are many statements by mystics, Jewish and non-Jewish, claiming that there is life after death and speaking about reincarnation and similar notions. These include statements by famous Jewish sages that they received instructions from angels and that they were resurrected from earlier Jewish heroes. However, these are the same people who claim that God was composed of ten parts, became separated, and needs human help to be put together again.
No doubt many people believe in near death experiences. However, this is a rather recent phenomenon and may be the result of the recent popularity of the subject and many people being led to expect it. Hardly any ancients spoke about it. The rabbi states that it seems to be true because all of the experiences are remarkably the same. Yet in another section of his book, he admits that there are sticking differences between the experiences of various people. For example, he tells the tale of a soldier who had a near death experience, but there was no white light and no dead relative greeting him, as others claimed. Instead, he was greeted by God who asked him if he wanted to return to life. When he answered "yes," he recovered. Similarly, many Christians said they saw Jesus, but no Jew made this claim. If Rabbi Spitz truly believes the near death stories are true, why doesn't he believe in Jesus who allegedly appeared to the Christians?
In summary, none of my comments should be read to suggest that there is no life after death, only that there is no proof that it exists. Whether readers accept Rabbi Spitz's view about life after death, reject it completely, or remain an agnostic regarding it, readers will enjoy the rabbi's analyses and the many stories that he tells to support his view, and will be stimulated by the discussions to think more deeply about this and related subjects.
The Jewish Eye - Israel Drazin
