QUESTION The Rav had said that there is a heavenly process that determines which parts of the soul will transition over to the next world, and which parts do not transition over. But if every person has a soul that is eternal, what does this mean that only some parts of the soul make the transition?
ANSWER The external, superficial definition is, that let’s say a person does an aveirah with his left hand but did mitzvos with his right hand. So the left hand will be cut off, and the right hand will remain. That is the simple analogy how to understand it. “The soul of the sinner shall die”, that is a general definition. If part of the soul remains in its state of sin, so that part of the soul will cease. But Hashem’s compassion, the Infinite Light, can show mercy on His creations and revive the dead parts. So Hashem’s compassion can revive a person who sinned. But if middas hadin (Hashem’s mode of judgment) is used, then some parts of the soul make the transition and they remain in existence, while other parts are shown less compassion from Hashem. The clear definition is, the purified part of the soul can transition to the Next World, while the parts that didn’t get purified cannot make the transition. Raboseinu said that every person has to become reincarnated many times as a gilgul, so when a person gets up at Techiyas HaMeisim, from which gilgul does he arise? The most purified part of the soul from each of the person’s lifetimes comes together with all the other purified parts from all the person’s lifetimes, and all of this becomes combined into one complete point.
