Yocheved's Bookshelf

Soul Searching: Seeking Scientific Ground for the Jewish Tradition of an Afterlife by Rabbi Yaakov Astor

Preparing this review was a complicated task. First came the shocking surprise on the opening pages: this book is the one I expected years ago from Dr. Brian Weiss, then a non-religious psychotherapist in Florida who has written about Past Life Regression. The second complicating factor was the book's approbation from no less a halachic authority than Rabbi Dr. Moshe Tendler, a teacher of medical science and Orthodox Jew. Third, and not least of the surprises, was that Soul Searching is a multi-layered text that is simultaneously complex yet accessible to the lay reader.

Recovering from surprise after surprise, I reread the text and realized that what could have been an enormously confusing book is instead an engaging 193-page paperback. Of all the fine accomplishments that Yaakov Astor made in this 2003 publication, the overwhelmingly important one is the fact that he made it so readable! Like Dr. Weiss' three books about PLR (Many Lives Many Masters, Through Time into Healing, and Only Love is Real), Soul Searching is written without undue drama, superb prose, and an eye to the reader's ability to absorb its spiritual lessons. Rabbi Astor wisely and subtly presented the initially frightening prospect that each of us is more than likely the reincarnation of someone else. He also made it clear that we are capable of recalling our past incarnations to varying degrees of success. Rabbi Astor's experience as a school principal and the editor of Rabbi Ezriel Tauber's spiritually charged books (for Jews becoming better acquainted with Orthodox philosophy and mystical insights) obviously lent him the necessary insights to prepare this carefully structured book for the masses.

Dr. Weiss had indicated several years ago that he intended to publish a fourth book about PLR and would send me a review copy. That book never made it to my mailbox. The author of Soul Searching explains why not, in his preface. The reason is as interesting as it is human. Rabbi Astor's colleague, the renowned speaker and educator Rabbi Ezriel Tauber referenced above, and Dr. Weiss tried co-authoring the promised book. Despite Tauber and Weiss' desire to prepare that manuscript together, their plans never materialized. It was Rabbi Astor who took over their efforts. Soul Searching is the result.

Soul Searching investigates various streams of thought about Life-After-Life. Impartial and skeptical science, the skittishness of the average person, documented cases of Near Death Experiences recorded by scholarly observers, various religious teachings, and a classically Judaic explanation of reincarnation and its purposes are presented simply, with relevance to each other and in a manner of increasing clarity. Some of Dr. Ian Stevenson's findings and conclusions about reincarnation, and those of other once skeptical researchers, have been chronicled in medical and psychiatric journals and are quoted in Soul Searching. The careful combination of clinical facts and profound insights allows readers of normal intelligence to understand what Astor wrote about. This book is not for nerds or super geniuses; it's for everybody.

Astor explains that "We take life for granted. The fish, whose whole being is in the sea, does not feel the water. Only when it raises its head above the surface does it become aware of the absence of water that sustains it. A human being, whose being is in life, does not feel 'life' until it is almost taken away." The author continues to demonstrate that Near Death Experiences leave their survivors healthier, happier and more productive than they were before. NDE survivors also lose the fear of death because the fear is replaced with realizations that there is an Alm'ghty, His Plan, and that all of that is perfect, safe and good. To make his point that Past Life Regression also is an insight into appreciating that the purpose of reincarnation, Astor quotes the Vilna Gaon's commentary on Yonah: "… to repair the effect of a negative influence originating in a previous lifetime… [One way] to discern exactly what that negative influence is, is to reflect upon the type of wrong your soul yearns for most in this lifetime. Therefore, pay attention to your vices, [for they tell you exactly what you have to work on in this lifetime.]."

Soul Searching makes compelling reading. It's a spiritual journey for anyone willing to explore the concepts between the book's covers. As people around the world struggle to appreciate the inability of societies to live in peace with each other, Soul Searching is a reassuring message that all is going to be well eventually. The whole system of human life is designed for ultimate success.

If the entire subject is new to you or something that you've scoffed at, Soul Searching is a Condensed Guide to Proof of Reincarnation and an Explanation of its Purpose. Read it and begin to understand Destiny. A Targum/Feldheim paperback, it is available in mainstream book outlets.