Yonassan Gershom
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Yonassan Gershom is a
Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...
and writer who was ordained in the
Jewish Renewal Jewish Renewal () is a recent movement in Judaism which endeavors to reinvigorate modern Judaism with Kabbalistic, Hasidic, and musical practices. Specifically, it seeks to reintroduce the "ancient Judaic traditions of mysticism and meditation, ...
movement during the 1980s, and is now a follower of Breslov Hasidism. He was associated with the early days of the B'nai Or movement, a forerunner of Jewish Renewal, in which he was ordained by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi in 1986, although he is not in agreement with the direction that the movement has taken in more recent years.


Life and career

Gershom lives on a farm in rural Minnesota, where he writes and conducts himself as a "cyber-rabbi" on the Internet. In 1997, he made a pilgrimage to the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman, Ukraine, a trip that has strongly influenced his later writings. Until this point, "he wasn't aware how much the rural experience shaped Hasidism. It gave him a deeper understanding of Hasidic stories and the Torah." He has served on the Advisory Board of the
Jewish Vegetarians of North America Jewish Veg is an international 501(c)(3) charitable organization whose mission is to encourage and help Jews to embrace plant-based diets as an expression of the Jewish values of compassion for animals, concern for health, and care for the environ ...
(JVNA), and is active in the vegetarian and
animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity ...
movements. In 2013, he was widely quoted as opposing the use of live chickens for
Kapparot ''Kapparot'' ( he, כפרות, Ashkenazi transliteration: , ) is a customary atonement ritual practiced by orthodox Jews on the eve of Yom Kippur. This is a practice in which either money is waved over a person's head and then donated to charit ...
ceremonies. Gershom is best known for having written several books on the topic of the Holocaust and reincarnation. ''Beyond the Ashes'' and ''From Ashes to Healing'' recount stories of people who claim to have died in the Holocaust and are now reincarnated, while ''Jewish Tales of Reincarnation'' deals with Jewish accounts of reincarnation, including a few from the Holocaust, but mostly others from classical Jewish texts and oral tradition. In his books on reincarnation, Gershom discusses theories concerning whether Jews who died in the Holocaust did so as punishment for their sins in their previous lives. He argues that in the Jewish conception of evil and reincarnation (as opposed to the conception found in some other religions), suffering in this life is not necessarily punishment for wrongdoing in a previous life. Rather, he argues, undeserved suffering in this life can be purely due to the wrongdoing of the perpetrators, and not some punishment for the victims. He does, however, argue that, according to the Jewish concept, wickedness can be accumulated over a succession of reincarnations. Thus, he argues, it is possible that the Nazis committed the Holocaust due to the evil they had accumulated through many lifetimes of persecuting and killing Jews throughout the preceding centuries. He cites that Adolf Hitler might have been a reincarnation of the biblical
Amalek Amalek (; he, עֲמָלֵק, , ar, عماليق ) was a nation described in the Hebrew Bible as a staunch enemy of the Israelites. The name "Amalek" can refer to the nation's founder, a grandson of Esau; his descendants, the Amalekites; or the ...
. Gershom has appeared on several TV programs in connection with his reincarnation work, including
Sightings Discovery is the act of detecting something new, or something previously unrecognized as meaningful. With reference to sciences and academic disciplines, discovery is the observation of new phenomena, new actions, or new events and providing ...
and
Unexplained Mysteries ''Unexplained Mysteries'' is an American documentary television series that originally aired in syndication from 2003 to 2004 for a single season. The show deals with eyewitness accounts of paranormal activity, especially aliens, UFO A ...
. The Duluth, Minnesota, PBS station, WDSE, also featured him on their ''Venture North'' news magazine show, in connection with his philosophy on gardening and Jewish spirituality. He appears in the 2007 documentary film, ''
A Sacred Duty ''A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal the World'' is a 2007 American documentary film written, directed, and produced by Lionel Friedberg. It was distributed by Jewish Veg, then known as the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVN ...
: Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal the World'', directed by
Lionel Friedberg Lionel Friedberg is a documentary film director, producer and writer who has written or produced films for, among others, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, PBS, the History Channel and National Geographic. He has 18 credits as Director of Photogr ...
for the
Jewish Vegetarians of North America Jewish Veg is an international 501(c)(3) charitable organization whose mission is to encourage and help Jews to embrace plant-based diets as an expression of the Jewish values of compassion for animals, concern for health, and care for the environ ...
(JVNA). Although he is best known for his books on reincarnation, Gershom is also a life-long
pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...
and peace activist, who has written many articles on Judaism and
non-violence Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
, later collected into an anthology entitled, ''Eight Candles of Consciousness''. He was active in the peace movement in Minneapolis during the 1980s, and publicly protested against the policies of Meir Kahane. He is also a supporter of gay rights, basing his stance on equal rights under the law, rather than theology."Jews, Queers, and Closets", ''Equal Time'', January 1993 He graduated from
Mankato State University Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second-largest university and has over 123,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is t ...
in 1975, with a Bachelor of Science degree in German language and Native American Studies.


Publications

On reincarnation: *''Beyond the Ashes: Cases of Reincarnation from the Holocaust'', A.R.E. Press, 1992. () *''From Ashes to Healing: Mystical Encounters with the Holocaust'', A.R.E. Press, 1996. () *''Jewish Tales of Reincarnation,'' Jason Aronson, Inc., 2000. () *''Are Holocaust Victims Returning?'',
ebook An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
anthology of articles on reincarnation reprinted from various periodicals, 2007. On other topics *''49 Gates of Light: Kabbalistic Meditations for Counting the Omer'', Crown Point Enterprises, Minneapolis, 1987, reprinted as ''49 Gates of Light: a course in kabbalah'', Lulu Press, Inc., 2010. *"Shamanism in the Jewish Tradition", included in Nicholson, Shirley (ed.), ''Shamanism: An Expanded View of Reality'', Quest Books, Wheaton, Illinois, 1996. *"The Peace Stone" included in ''Seeing the Light: Personal Encounters with the Middle East and Islam'', Curtis, Richard H. and McMahon, Janet (eds.), American Educational Trust, Washington, D. C., 1997. *''Eight Candles of Consciousness: Essays on Jewish Non-Violence'', Lulu Press, Inc., Raleigh, N. C., 2009. () *''Jewish Themes in Star Trek'', Lulu Press, Inc., Raleigh, N. C., 2009. () * Two dialogues with him on animal rights issues in Judaism ("Raising Holy Sparks: Hasidic Thought and Vegetarianism", and "A Dialogue on Nature Deficit Disorder") are included in
Who Stole My Religion?: Revitalizing Judaism and Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal our Imperiled Planet
' by
Richard H. Schwartz Richard H. Schwartz is a professor emeritus of mathematics at the College of Staten Island; president emeritus of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA); and co-founder and coordinator of the Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians ...
, Lulu Press, Inc., Raleigh, N. C., 2011. () *''Kapporos Then and Now: Toward a More Compassionate Tradition'', Lulu Press, Inc., 2015. () *"Spock and Jews in the 1960s", included in ''Spockology:Essays on Spock and Leonard Nimoy from The Undiscovered Country Project and Friends'', Neece, Kvin C. (editor), Createspace, 2015. () *"Rabbi Birds and Rooster Chicks: How I Became a Vegetarian", included in Yanklowitz, Schmuly, ''The Jewish Vegan'', Shamyim v'Aretz Institute, 2015. ()
Antisemitic Stereotypes in Alice Bailey's Writings
, 1997-2005.


See also

* Jewish vegetarianism


References


External links


''A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Heal the World''
homepage for this documentary film, which includes interview footage with Yonassan Gershom. You can also . * "The Soul of Every Living Thing", a 5-minute video from th
Shamayim v'Aretz Institute
featuring Yonassan Gershom speaking on nature and animals, {{DEFAULTSORT:Gershom, Yonassan Jewish pacifists Jewish American writers American Orthodox Jews American Jewish Renewal rabbis American pacifists Breslov rabbis Reincarnation Holocaust historiography Nonviolence advocates Living people 1947 births People from Pine County, Minnesota