The Maggid of Mezeritch once approached his rebbe, the Baal Shem Tov, and asked him to explain the passage in the Zohar HaKadosh on the verse "וְאֵלֶּה הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים" - And these are the laws (שמות כא א) - where the Zohar declares: דָּא רָזָא דְּגִלְגּוּלָא - This is the secret of gilgul (זהר משפטים צט ע"א). The Maggid wanted to understand: how do the verses of Parshas Mishpatim, which focus on matters of finance and justice, relate to concepts of souls and their reincarnations?
In response, the Baal Shem Tov sent his disciple to a particular forest, instructing him to observe whatever transpired near a specified tree with a spring flowing beneath it, and to remain there until six o'clock before returning home.
The Maggid travelled to the destination as instructed, and watched. The first man to arrive came riding on a powerful horse. Weary from the road, he dismounted, ate and drank from his provisions, then rode on - leaving behind his purse, heavy with money. A second man arrived, rested, discovered the purse, and quietly took it with him. Along came a third man - poor, broken, exhausted - ate a crust of bread, drank from the spring, and lay down to sleep.
Then the first man returned. Realising he had left his purse, he shook the pauper awake and demanded to know where his money had gone. The pauper knew nothing - he had seen nothing, taken nothing. But the first man, beside himself with rage, beat him savagely and left.
The Maggid returned to the Baal Shem Tov and described all he had seen. The rebbe then revealed the truth beneath the scene:
In a previous lifetime, the first man had owed the second a debt - the precise sum contained in that purse - and had never repaid it. A case had been brought before Beis Din, and the dayan, careless and rushed, had absolved the debtor without due inquiry. The pauper sleeping under the tree was that very judge, now receiving his portion of Divine justice. The first man paid his debt, the second recovered what was owed to him, and the negligent judge received his reckoning.
The Baal Shem Tov turned to his disciple: "Now you understand what the Zohar meant when it called the laws of Mishpatim, 'the secret of gilgul.'" Indeed, reincarnation is one of the tools used by Hashem to help people rectify their acts, even in monetary issues.
