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Gilgul is the Hebrew word for transmigration of souls. There is no definite proof of the existence of the doctrine of gilgul in Judaism during the Second Temple period, and there is no reference to it in the Talmud (although, by means of allegoric interpretations, later authorities found allusions to and hints of transmigration in the statements of talmudic rabbis). The major medieval Jewish philosophers rejected this doctrine (Saadiah Gaon, The Book of Beliefs and Opinions, treatise 6, ch. 7; Abraham ibn Daud, Emunah Ramah, treatise 1, ch. 7; Joseph Albo, Ikkarim, treatise 4, ch. 29). Abraham b. Hiyya quotes the doctrine from neoplatonic sources but rejects it (Meditations of the Sad Soul, 46–47; Megillat ha-Megalleh, 50–51). Judah Halevi and Maimonides do not mention gilgul, and Abraham b. Moses b. Maimon, who does refer to it, rejects it completely.
In contrast with the conspicuous opposition of Jewish philosophy, metempsychosis is taken for granted in the Kabbalah from its first literary expression in the Sefer ha-Bahir (published in late 12th century). The absence of any special apology for this doctrine, which is expounded by the Bahir in several parables, proves that the idea grew or developed in the circles of the early kabbalists without any affinity to the philosophic discussion of transmigration. Biblical verses (e.g., "One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh" (Eccles. 1:4), taken as meaning that the generation that passes away is the generation that comes) and talmudic aggadot and parables were explained in terms of transmigration. After the Bahir the doctrine of gilgul developed in several directions and became one of the major doctrines of the Kabbalah. although the kabbalists differed widely in regard to details. In the 13th century, transmigration was viewed as an esoteric doctrine and was only alluded to, but in the 14th century many detailed and explicit writings on it appeared. In philosophic literature the term ha'atakah ("transference") was generally used for gilgul; in kabbalistic literature the term gilgul appears only from the Sefer ha-Temunah onward; both are translations of the Arabic term tanasukh. The early kabbalists, such as the disciples of Isaac the Blind and the kabbalists of Gerona, spoke of "the secret of ibbur" ("impregnation"). It was only in the late 13th or 14th centuries that gilgul and ibbur began to be differentiated. The terms hithallefut ("exchange") and din benei halof (from Prov. 31:8) also occur. From the period of the Zohar on, the term gilgul became prevalent in Hebrew literature and began to appear in philosophic works as well.
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