[Avodah] Reincarnation

[Prof. Levine]

At 01:17 PM 7/13/2011, R Micha wrote:

>"Pinchas zeh Eliyahu" is said by Reish Laqish, but the earliest source
>I could find for this quote is Yalqut Shim'oni. So, those in favor of
>gilgul could simply argue that RSG didn't have that quote. But to say
>a gaon didn't know all of shas be'al peh???

RSRH writes the following in his commentary on Bamidbar 25:13

13 And to him and to his descendants after him [this covenant] will 
be a covenant of everlasting priesthood, because he brought to
bear the rights of his God and effected atonement for the Children of Israel.

Pinchas himself was granted a very long life. As late as the time of
pelegish b'givah  (Shoftim 20:28) we find Pinchas ben Elazar ben 
Aharon serving as the
Kohein Godol before the Ark of God's Covenant. Moreover, according to one
opinion, Pinchas was identical with Eliyahu (Yalkut Shimoni ad loc.),
whose zeal for God's Word was imbued with the spirit of Pinchas. In
the future, Eliyahu will heal the brokenness of his people, which will
be divided by a generation gap, and thereby he will pave the way for
the realization of the bris sholom on earth. For the future will be detached
from the past, and Eliyahu's task will be to bridge the generation gap
by restoring the Chorev spirit of God's Torah.

Note that Rav Hirsch says that Pinchas being identical with Eliyahu 
is according to *one* opinion.   YL
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