The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1981 page)

 
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(Yid., ‘teacher’). Jewish teacher. It is the title given by the
asidim
to their spiritual leader. See also
LUBAVI(T)CH
;
ZADDIK
.

 
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Wife of Isaac and one of the matriarchs of Israel. According to
aggadah
, while she was pregnant, whenever she passed a house of
Torah
study, Jacob struggled to get out, but when she passed a temple containing idols, Esau struggled to get out. She was buried in the cave of
Machpelah
.

 
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(Heb.,
zaqen mamre
). A stubborn, qualified teacher in Judaism who insists on his own opinion, even though the majority opinion is against him. Such a person, according to Deuteronomy 17. 8–13, must be taken through the whole range of available courts, culminating in whatever is the highest authority, ‘the judge who shall be in those days’. If the teacher persists in his own opinion, he must be executed, because, as the
rabbis
later put it, he is creating two
Torahs
(
toroth
) in Israel, which destroys the
raison d’être
of Israel. Since Jesus was investigated for a threat to the
Temple
authority (cf. also Stephen, Acts 6. 13), and since he was eventually taken before the highest judge of the time, it is likely that Jesus was being investigated to see whether he came within the category of
zaqen mamre
, which would unquestionably have been an offence deserving the death penalty.

 
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(Heb.,
ben sorer u-moreh
). Jewish Commandment which was not counted in the 613 commands of
Torah
, on the ground that it could never be applied. It is the command in Deuteronomy 21. 18–21.

 
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Rebirth
.

The belief (also transmigration,
metempsychosis
, reincarnation, etc.) common in Eastern religions, that there is a continuity from one life to a next, either of a self or soul (see e.g.
TMAN
), or, in the case of Buddhism, of the process itself. Buddhism teaches a karmically controlled continuity of consciousnesses between lives but denies that there is an
tman or inherently existing self which is the bearer of these consciousnesses (see
punabbh
va
). There are six realms of rebirth: three are pleasant (peaceful deities (
deva
), wrathful deities (
asura
), and humans), and three are unpleasant (animals, hungry ghosts (
preta
), and hell-beings).
In Hinduism also, rebirth may be in many forms, including those of animals, and on many levels of heavens and hells (see e.g.
NARAKA
). Terms for rebirth in Skt. include
punar
j
t
,
punar
vritti
,
punarutpatti
,
punarjanman
,
punarj
v
tu
. Among Jains, for whom karma is an accumulated impediment, rebirth of the
j
va
is immediate and instantaneous, ‘leaping like a monkey’ (
Viyahapannatti Bhagavai
), which eradicated the need for
ancestor
rituals, and for speculation about what supports the soul or process as it awaits rebirth (as in Hinduism and Buddhism). Ideas of rebirth have appeared in Western religions, but have remained marginal: see
DIBBUK
;
GILGUL
;
ORIGEN
;
TAN
SUKH
. See also
TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD
.