Q&A: The Soul of a Gentile
The Soul of a Gentile
Question
I study Hasidic teachings and also the teachings of Baal HaSulam. The rabbis who teach this
declare that a gentile has no soul, or that he has only very small parts of a soul.
I try to disagree with them on this point, but they rely on Rabbi Isaac Luria, who they say saw souls,
and on the Alter Rebbe, who “was in the world of Atzilut,” and therefore knows everything about souls.
It should be noted that both Rabbi Isaac Luria and the Alter Rebbe lived much later than the period of the Sages. So how could it be that they saw with their spiritual eyes the soul of gentiles as so lacking?
Thank you,
Eva
Answer
It is very hard to evaluate “spiritual visions” of the kind you mention. Anyone can “see,” or say that they “see,” all kinds of spiritual things. We have no way to test this, and therefore I also do not tend to take such statements too seriously. “Visions” of this kind are saturated with assumptions and a priori approaches, and it is not reasonable to view them as observation in any objective sense. A person educated in a certain set of ideas will probably “see” them with the eyes of the spirit. A person educated differently will see different things. By the way, in most cases it is not even true that this is some kind of spiritual sight. This is the interpretation of the people teaching you, not statements made by Rabbi Isaac Luria, the Alter Rebbe, or Baal HaSulam themselves. The sources wrote what seemed correct to them based on reasoning or on interpretation of sources, and do not necessarily present us with “visions” that they actually saw.
As for me, I do not think there is any essential difference between a Jew and a gentile. In the past, Sages thought there were even physical differences between them, but it seems to me that modern medicine clearly refutes that. Notice that if and when a gentile converts, he suddenly becomes a Jew, and I am not inclined to accept that some sort of extra soul enters him somewhere in the depths of the conversion mikveh.
Bottom line: I very strongly suggest that you not give up views that seem correct to you, and not surrender to people who arrogate authority to themselves for no good reason. Even if various people explain to you that you are disagreeing with the Divine Presence or with all kinds of spirit-seers, in the end a person is supposed to form his views according to the best of his understanding. Using spiritual authority or special spiritual powers that cannot be checked is dangerous, and usually charlatanry. Someone who cannot justify his claims tells you that he “sees” them and that you are forbidden to disagree with him. For every such “seer,” there is another “seer” who sees the exact opposite. I, for example, do not “see” any essential difference between a Jew and a gentile.