VaEra - Reincarnations of Haran

The reincarnations of Abel continued in the family of Abraham - in Lot, his nephew, and in Haran, his brother. The first letters of "Lot the son of Haran" (לוט בן הרן) constitute the name of Abel (הבל). Haran was burned by Nimrod when he refused to bow down to idols and was later reincarnated as Aharon. The letters of the name of Aharon contain the letters of the name of Haran.

When Haran was burned, it was not of his own choosing. Abraham was the first one to refuse to bow down to idols, and for this, he was thrown into the oven. Haran was waiting to see what would happen to Abraham. When he saw that Abraham was saved, he decided to be on the side of Abraham. They threw him in the oven, and he was burned. Therefore, this burning was not counted as an entirely meritorious deed for him.

When Haran returned as Aharon, an extra letter of Aleph was added to his name. His test was repeated when the people told him, "Come and make a god for us," and Aharon made an idol, a golden calf. Aharon should have refused and allowed himself to be killed, but he did not do it. Instead, his nephew, Hur, the son of Miriam, tried to stop the people from worshiping the calf and was killed by them. Hur's soul was from a different root, but a part of Haran was added to him.

Aharon then built (ויבן) the altar. The word ויבן can be translated as "understood." Aharon understood that Hur had already corrected that part of Haran and reasoned that he did not have to give up his life anymore. However, he was mistaken in this. Therefore, his two sons had to die by burning in front of Aharon, just as Haran died in front of his father.

Art: Nicolas Poussin - Adoration of the Golden Calf

Shemot – Cain and Abel Through Generations

After Abel was born, Adam separated from Eve. For 130 years he met with she-demons and was creating souls stemming from Abel, until they were all completed. Abel had a mixture of Good and Bad in him, with Good being prevalent, and so did all souls stemming from him. Then Adam returned to his wife Eve, and she bore Seth, who was the reincarnation of the good side of Abel.

These souls kept being rectified in mixed multitude and in Jew in Egypt for 130 years, until the rectification process was complete, and after that Moses could be born. Moses “was good”, being the reincarnation of the good side of Abel. In parallel, Amram, the father of Moses, had to separate from his wife until she was 130, to repeat Adam's separation from Eve.

Jethro was the reincarnation of Cain. His other name was Keini, because he was jealous (Kana) of the twin sister of Abel. The Gematria of “Priest of Midian” is the same as “This is Cain”. He used to get into fights like the Kohahim do and like Cain did.

The Egyptian whom Moses killed was the reincarnation of the bad part of Cain. His soul went to connect to Jethro, and this is when Jethro became complete and stopped worshipping idols. Then Jethro gave to Moses his daughter Tzipporah in marriage, thus rectifying the previous fight between Cain and Abel on account of Abel's twin sister.

Art: Titian - Cain and Abel

Vayechi – Firstborn Reuven Correcting Firstborn Cain

"And the days of Jacob, the years of his life." Why "the days?" To understand this, we need to look at Proverbs.

King Solomon said, "Fear of God adds days, but the years of the bad people are cut off." A righteous person re-thinks his deeds daily as if tomorrow he will die. It happens then that every successive day of his life is a gift, and this is the "Fear of God adds days." However, evil people never think about their death, which is always unexpected for them; thus, their "years are cut off." Jacob lived every day of his life as a gift.

Reuven was a reincarnation of Cain. This is why his mother called him "Reu" (see) and "ben" (son) – see my firstborn son, who is going to correct the deeds of another firstborn, Cain. Indeed, instead of killing his brother Joseph, Reuven intended to save him.

However, the fight between Cain and Abel was because of Abel's twin sister, and Reuven did not fix that. Instead, he removed his father's bed from its tent. The right of the firstborn was taken away from him, and the next reincarnation of Cain was Jethro.

Art: The Bedroom by Vincent Van Gogh

Vayigash – Jacob's 130 Bad Years

"And Jacob said to Pharaoh, - The days of my life were a hundred and thirty years, and they were few and bad...". Why did Jacob call his years bad?

Jacob was a reincarnation of Adam, the first man. Here is the story.

Adam was reincarnated in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which is why they are called "Fathers" - after the first father of mankind. The Lower Soul (Nefesh) of Adam was reincarnated in Abraham, the Spirit (Ruach) in Isaac, and the Higher Soul (Neshama) in Jacob.

Abraham corrected idol worship. Isaac corrected murder. Jacob's task was to correct sexual improprieties committed by Adam in the 130 years of separation from his wife - with Lilith and Naamah.

The word "bad" mentioned by Jacob is a hint to the following: "Er, Judah's firstborn, was bad" and "every thought of man was bad." Thus, Jacob's years, called bad, corrected for the previous bad.

After Jacob corrected that, the Higher Soul of Adam entered him, and his life was good, "...and Jacob lived..." for another 17 years, the numerical value of "good." This is why he went down to Egypt, where the souls created by Adam were reborn.

Art: Three Fishermen Pulling a Boat by Peder Severin Kroyer

When To Act as a Jew Was Popular (Miketz)

"When all of Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to the Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph and do what he tells you."

What Joseph told them was to do a circumcision. In that, Joseph was correcting what Adam did. Here is the story. Adam had a falling out with his wife, Eve, and separated from her for 130 years. During all these years, Adam had relations with she-demons. In these relations, Adam caused the birth of souls that needed correction. These souls came back at the Flood and later at the time of Dispersion, but instead of correcting, they kept repeating the same mistake.

Now, these souls were reincarnated in Egypt. The 130 years of Jewish subjugation in Egypt correspond to the 130 years that Adam was separated from Eve. Their hard labor was to purify them. 

Joseph moved these people from city to city. The trouble of moving to another city also served to purify them.

They are called "people of Israel" and not "sons of Israel." They lived in communities in their towns, and they behaved like Jews. Jacob, too, taught and accepted converts when he came to Egypt. All these lived as Jews.

It was for these souls that Jews had to go down to Egypt to bring them back. They constituted the mixed multitude who went out of Egypt together with the Jews.

Art: Adam and Eve by Hans Holbein

Vayeshev

The three princes, Prince of Wine, Prince of Bread,  and Prince of Flesh, hint at the Supernal Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge.

Wine is connected to Wisdom and the study of Truth, as in "...drink the Truth and become drunk on it, dear friends." With its multiple preparation processes, bread indicates the hard work required for Understanding.

When the Prince of Wine and the Prince of Bread told their dreams to Yosef, he used the rule that "dreams are fulfilled according to their interpretation" as in "...just as he told us, so it was..." Yosef returned Wisdom to its proper place in the Supernal Man since Wisdom never harms. However, Understanding required additional improvement. Thus, the words "...and the Prince of Bread was hanged," or better translated as "uplifted," hint at the further improvement needed by Understanding because of its strict judgment.

Art: Eduard Von Grutzner - A Good Drink

Vayishlach

After Jacob took his family across the river, he came back alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. Jacob came back because he forgot some small vessels. 

The soul of the righteous consists of 248 parts, each part of his soul containing numerous sparks of many other righteous souls. Anything that comes to a righteous in this world comes not only for him but also for the multiple sparks of other souls in him. This is why the righteous love their possessions. And this is why Jacob came back for the small vessels, for if he did not, it would look as if he did not want them – but instead, he needed to show that he loved them too. It was this cup with oil that the Maccabees found on Hanukkah.

Dina was a reincarnation of Eve, both representing the Supernal Kingdom. For this reason, Eve was so much desired by the Primeval Snake. In parallel, Dina was abducted by Shechem, a Hivite prince – Hivia, meaning snake in Aramaic. Shechem also had a spark of Adam, the first man after the Good fell into the kingdom of Evil. This is another reason Shechem's soul "...cleaved to Dina...". After Shechem was circumcised, his correction was achieved, the purpose in life completed, and he was killed.

Art: Rembrandt Van Rijn - Jacob Wrestling with the Angel