Judaism and Déjà Vu: Kabbalistic Insights into Reincarnation and Dreams

Does Judaism offer an explanation for the phenomenon called déjà vu? I’ve heard that it may have a reference in the holy Zohar. Thank you.

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Shalom and blessings,

I am not aware of a direct reference to this concept, but I have heard that it can be connected to two ideas in Kabbalah:

1. Reincarnation of souls (gilgulim): A person might come to a new place and feel as though they have already been there, because in truth, in a previous life they may have lived in that very place.

2. Dreams: When a person sleeps, the soul ascends to the heavens and may receive messages from above about what has been or what will be. Later, when encountering that same event in daily life, the person feels a sense of familiarity — as if they had already been there, because the soul is recalling a message it previously received in the heavens.

These matters are, of course, far beyond our full understanding, and they contain much of the hidden dimension of Torah.