I've Been Here Before: When Souls of the Holocaust Return

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SaraFruma

Thu, Sep 14 2023, 2:49 pm

Hello! I'm thinking of reading "I've Been Here Before: When Souls of the Holocaust Return" by Sara Yocheved Rigler, and I wanted to see if anyone has read it and can provide some feedback. The reviews I've read on Aish.com are great, but it'd be good to hear from other folks what they thought.

Also, does anyone know if an audiobook version is available? I've searched online, but haven't come up with anything...

Thanks!!

creativecookie

Thu, Sep 14 2023, 2:57 pm

I read it and found it very interesting. I'd definitely recommend

amother

Nemesia

Thu, Sep 14 2023, 2:58 pm

There was recently a thread about this

https://www.imamother.com/foru.....22734

amother

Magenta

Thu, Sep 14 2023, 3:01 pm

I read it. Check the other thread. I was fascinated by the book.

amother

Vanilla

Thu, Sep 14 2023, 3:03 pm

I'm most of the way through and underwhelmed.

SaraFruma

Thu, Sep 14 2023, 3:32 pm

Thanks for your replies, and for posting the link to the thread about the book. I'm curious to give it a try.

On another note, and this might be controversial, but a coworker one time approached me and told me that she was a medium and felt that I had a past life of a child in the holocaust. I didn't know what to respond (and actually didn't know what a "medium" was, so I googled it to find out!)

Are mediums assur in Yiddishkeit? I honestly have no idea. I know that reading horoscopes and other forms of predicting the future are not allowed, but I don't really know much about people who claim to see your past life. Is there any basis in Judaism for people who are able to somehow relate to the reincarnated part of ones' soul? And as for this book, is it doing the same thing that someone who can "look" at you and see your past life does?

Chayalle

Thu, Sep 14 2023, 3:49 pm

SaraFruma wrote:

Eh, sounds like a quack. I'd take that with a grain of salt.

amother

Narcissus

Thu, Sep 14 2023, 4:08 pm

I loved the book, and found it fascinating.
I also do believe in stories of past life regressions, and after this book, found myself saying, you know, this could be why I always had a fear of xyz and a tendancy to xyz.
However, and in many reviews it states it, that this book is not for everyone. I have seen reviews with skeptics writing scornfully, but I ignored them...
I however want to read into some of the research articles she posted because I found the book a great read.

amother

Snowflake

Thu, Sep 14 2023, 4:12 pm

I enjoyed the book because it helped me understand myself and my nightmares and thoughts. I truly believe I'm from the Holocaust so it really validated my struggles.

amother

Daffodil

Thu, Sep 14 2023, 5:42 pm

Finished reading it and thought what a bunch of bunk. Unremarkable in every sense.

amother

Aconite

Thu, Sep 14 2023, 6:54 pm

I didn't read the book. I'm wary of the concept of people being able to tell their past life. I agree that there is a concept of gilgulim. I just don't think you would need knowledge of your past life to accomplish your tafkid in this life. Accomplishing your tafkid would be the reason you would have come back.
I think most of the nightmares are from generational trauma. My anxieties and coping skills have more to do with my family history of the Holocaust than with my past life.

amother

Ghostwhite

Thu, Sep 14 2023, 7:39 pm

I've read it. Iti is very controversial. I Just having a heard time understanding how a [gentile] raised in a Christian home, can have a past life as holocaust victim. I just don't understand. A jewish neshama should be returned into a jewish body, from what we are taught.

amother

Magenta

Thu, Sep 14 2023, 7:42 pm

amother Ghostwhite wrote:

She addresses this and explains this based on kabbalistic concepts. The entire idea of gilgulim is from kabbala, so if you believe in gilgulim, then it's consistent to believe that this is possible.

amother

Magenta

Thu, Sep 14 2023, 7:52 pm

OP, I read the book and found it fascinating she writes very well.
One thing that lends a lot of weight of credibility for me us that she has haskamos from Rabbi Breitowitz and Tzipporah Heller, two people whose opinions I greatly respect.

I also think that the way she gathered her info helps eliminate a lot of false submissions.
For example, as a child I would sometimes dream I was running from the Nazis. But I don't think much of it because all my grandparents were survivors and it was after I heard a story of the holocaust. My dreams were not recurring or vivid.

The examples brought are very specific, from people who had no generational connection to the holocaust and in many case had no knowledge of it before their dreams began.

Altogether, it opened my eyes. I believe there is a lot we don't know.

I have no need to do PLR, because I don't suffer from phobias or the like. But if I did, or if I experienced the type of trauma described by most of the people who submitted testimony, I think I would explore PLR. (If it was halachically okay).

According to the book, many people finally achieved peace after doing it, and this is after trying many other types of therapy.

Look at some of the videos on Brian Weiss, the psychologist featured in the beginning of the book.

amother

Watermelon

Thu, Sep 14 2023, 7:58 pm

Mediums are assur so are psychics

amother

Rainbow

Thu, Sep 14 2023, 7:58 pm

amother Magenta wrote:

She addresses this and explains this based on kabbalistic concepts. The entire idea of gilgulim is from kabbala, so if you believe in gilgulim, then it's consistent to believe that this is possible.

There’s your problem. Delving into kabbalistic concepts is not for regular people, even very smart learned ones.
Dh once asked our rav a question that came up for us that dealt with a similar topic. He answered that he’s still working on perfecting his understanding of all four sections of the Shulchan Aruch and isn’t up to studying these things. There are questions we can leave open and don’t have to get answers to.
Whether or not we believe in gilgulim and how exactly they work is a discussion you can have with someone you respect. I haven’t gone near the book because I wouldn’t read a book on a subject like that written by an ordinary author.

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