1. Yonassan Gershom was born on 1947 and is an American Rabbi and writer who was ordained in the Jewish Renewal movement during the 1980s, and is a follower of Breslov Hasidism.
11 Facts About Yonassan Gershom
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Yonassan Gershom was associated with the early days of the B'nai Or movement, a forerunner of Jewish Renewal, in which he was ordained by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi in 1986, although he is not in agreement with the direction that the movement has taken in more recent years.
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Yonassan Gershom is best known for having written several books on the topic of the Holocaust and reincarnation.
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Yonassan Gershom argues that in the Jewish conception of evil and reincarnation, suffering in this life is not necessarily punishment for wrongdoing in a previous life.
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Yonassan Gershom does argue that, according to the Jewish concept, wickedness can be accumulated over a succession of reincarnations.
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Yonassan Gershom cites that Adolf Hitler might have been a reincarnation of the biblical Amalek.
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Yonassan Gershom has appeared on several TV programs in connection with his reincarnation work, including Sightings and Unexplained Mysteries.
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Yonassan Gershom appears in the 2007 documentary film, A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal the World, directed by Lionel Friedberg for the Jewish Vegetarians of North America.
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Yonassan Gershom was active in the peace movement in Minneapolis during the 1980s, and publicly protested against the policies of Meir Kahane.
10.
Yonassan Gershom is a supporter of gay rights, basing his stance on equal rights under the law, rather than theology.
11.
Yonassan Gershom graduated from Mankato State University in 1975, with a Bachelor of Science degree in German language and Native American Studies.