Ibbur ( he, עיבור, "

pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occurs by sexual intercourse, but ...

" or " impregnation" or " incubation"), is one of the transmigration forms of the soul and has similarities with

Gilgul neshamot Gilgul (also Gilgul neshamot or Gilgulei HaNeshamot; Heb. , Plural: ''Gilgulim'') is a concept of reincarnation or "transmigration of souls" in Kabbalistic esoteric mysticism. In Hebrew, the word ''gilgul'' means "cycle" or "wheel" and ''ne ...

. ''Ibbur'' is always good or positive, while

dybbuk In Jewish mythology, a (; yi, דיבוק, from the Hebrew verb meaning 'adhere' or 'cling') is a malicious possessing spirit believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person. It supposedly leaves the host body once it has accomplished ...

( yi, ), is negative. ''Ibbur'' is the most positive form of possession, and the most complicated. It happens when a righteous soul decides to occupy a living person's body for a time, and joins, or spiritually "impregnates" the existing soul. Ibbur is always temporary, and the living person may or may not know that it has taken place. Often the living person has graciously given consent for the ''Ibbur''. The reason for ''Ibbur'' is always benevolent—the departed soul wishes to complete an important task, to fulfil a promise, or to perform a

mitzvah In its primary meaning, the Hebrew word (; he, מִצְוָה, ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment commanded by God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of discus ...

(a religious duty) that can only be accomplished in the flesh. In

Lurianic Kabbalah Lurianic Kabbalah is a school of kabbalah named after Isaac Luria (1534–1572), the Jewish rabbi who developed it. Lurianic Kabbalah gave a seminal new account of Kabbalistic thought that its followers synthesised with, and read into, the earlie ...

, ''ibbur'' occurs when an incomplete soul which cannot achieve tikun is completed by the addition of the soul of a

tzadik Tzadik ( he, צַדִּיק , "righteous ne, also ''zadik'', ''ṣaddîq'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadiqim'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. Th ...

,"" Lorena Stewart, Lenard Newport Press, 2009, p121 or spiritual master. Luria believed this to be possible even whilst the possessor was still alive.

Fictional representations

Richard Zimler Richard Zimler (born 1 January 1956 in Roslyn Heights, New York) is a best-selling author. His books, which have earned him a 1994 National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship in Fiction and the 1998 Herodotus Award, have been published in many cou ...

, ''The Warsaw Anagrams'', New York: The Overlook Press, 2011, (an historical novel set in the

Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the G ...

and narrated by an ''Ibbur''). According to the

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pa ...

, Zimler's novel, "Deserves a place among the most important works of Holocaust literature."

Bibliography

Gershom Scholem Gershom Scholem () (5 December 1897 – 21 February 1982), was a German-born Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kaballah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish Myst ...

''Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism'', New York: Schocken, 1961. *

''Kabbalah'', New York: Dorset Press, 1987. *

Howard Schwartz Howard Schwartz (born April 21, 1945, in St. Louis, Missouri) is a widely regarded folklorist, author, poet, and editor of dozens of books. He has won the international Koret Jewish Book Award, for the book ''Before You Were Born'', and won a 2 ...

''Lilith's Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural'', Oxford University Press, 1991. {{ISBN, 978-0-19-506726-2

References

External links

Judaism and Reincarnation: ibbur and dybbuk

* ttp://iyyun.com/kabbalah/ibbur-impregnation-of-the-death-of-the-ten-sages Discussion of the Ibbur in relation to a story of the death of ten sages Kabbalistic words and phrases

Fictional representations

Bibliography

See also

References

External links