Reincarnation is not a doctrine that people normally associate with Judaism. In fact, in mainstream Judaism there is barely a trace of it. Although the sages of the Talmud did not reference reincarnation, Philo of Alexandria (circa 20 B.C.E.-50 C.E.), an important Jewish philosopher with mystical tendencies, spoke of it and even believed in it. The Kabbalists, for the most part, saw it as real. At times, they wrote about it, while at other times it remained part of the oral transmission of esoteric secrets.