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Lots of comments about our new, big mystery topic: Are we reincarnated into another life, or is this life the only one we will ever know?

Q: I’m a practicing Catholic. I follow most of their beliefs but have worked for years as a hospice nurse and could not fathom a Purgatory or a Hell. I believe God is all-forgiving and when we die, we meet with Him and go over our lives … our gifts, which we used well, and our weaknesses, which we didn’t overcome. The good parts of us move into heavenly space; the not so good, well, we then work out another plan with God on how we could better shore up those weaknesses; and we come back to life here as another person.

I think we do this as many times as needed until all parts of us are the way they were created to be, and then we are fully in Heaven! I believe THIS life is Purgatory.

Hope to see you in Heaven! – (From F)

A: Thanks, dear F, yours is the best argument for reincarnation I have received. Your connecting it to God’s compassion and love no doubt comes from your own holy work as a hospice nurse. God bless you.

M writes to me:

I hope this finds you well! Thanks for today’s Q&A. I personally find the subject of reincarnation fascinating. I no longer believe in a “higher power” or God, if you want to put a name to that, but I DO believe that there is something. A sort of mystical plane where spirits reside. I’ve seen too many unexplainable things to deny that. Maybe, just maybe THIS is the Soul! My wife is a believer. She likes the story of the Guf (the Hebrew word for body). She likes to think that the Guf is sort of a recycling bin for Souls. That when we pass, our Soul goes there, and then comes back. I like that too, but according to my memories and further research, the Talmud seems to say that it is an origination point for Souls that are then sent to earth into their person. Anyway, thanks for reading this. I try not to talk religion (or politics) with anyone as I will never be right. Warmly, M

A: The Jewish teaching is that the rabbinic name for our soul in Hebrew is Neshama not Guf. Guf is the biblical name for our life force, but the Bible does not have a fully developed notion of body and soul. The post biblical rabbinic teaching is that there is indeed a treasure house of souls (otzar ha-neshamot) and that souls from there are placed into the fetus just before birth. In order that the baby will not remember the previous life of its reincarnated soul, an angel taps the baby on the upper lip and makes the indentation we call the filtrum (Aristotle also taught this). This idea provides a wonderful balance between learning things anew and occasionally remembering things from previous lives. I am not a believer in reincarnation in any form – however beautiful the idea – because I believe that this life is beautiful and sacred enough, but if you could convince me that in a previous life I was a king or a dog in a loving home – I might be open to the idea.

Some readers seem to be having trouble differentiating between life after death in Heaven and reincarnation.

This from R. I am Catholic. When I first started reading your article on Sunday I immediately stopped when I saw it was about reincarnation. I was afraid to hear your opinion, which I respect. It has not even been two months since I lost my dear husband. Every night I pray that when I leave this world God allows me to spend eternity hand in hand with my husband. If I did not believe that was possible, I think I would go mad. Please, don't take that away from me. I could not handle it. God bless you.

Dear R, I share your belief that death is not the end of us. All the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism and Christianity believe and teach that our divine souls live on after the death of our mortal bodies. The question – actually the mystery – is whether or not that soul of ours in its eternal journey becomes embodied again in a new baby and lives a new life. If that is true, then the journey of your husband’s soul (and indeed your soul as well) may separate in Heaven to live new reincarnated lives.

Here is my prayer for you. I pray that if reincarnation is real that you and your husband’s souls will be granted the blessing of being reincarnated as twins. May God comfort you.

(Send ALL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including “Religion for Dummies,” co-written with Fr. Tom Hartman. Also, the new God Squad podcast is now available.)

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