Rabbi: Torah Forbids Fortune Tellers, Astrologers and Soothsayers
Pastor Dale Morgan
Rabbi: Torah Forbids Fortune Tellers, Astrologers and Soothsayers *
by Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Riskin
We dare not second guess the Divine.
"...neither shall you practice divination nor soothsaying...."
(Leviticus 19:26)
What does the Torah say about the skies of the Zodiac whose predictions
grace the pages of so many daily
What seems an innocent, harmless superstition is actually a forbidden
transgression.
newspapers and magazines? Columns on astrology have become as common as
the sports section.
Most of us believe that because we're living in the first decade of the
21st century, idol worshiping is dead, just a shadow of what it once
was, limited to corners of the Far East or among prehistoric jungle
tribes. But according to Maimonides' understanding of idol worship, if
you've ever changed your path because of a black cat, or altered a
decision because of an astrological reading, then you're trafficking in
some form of idolatry, and what seems an innocent, harmless superstition
is actually a forbidden transgression.
In this week's Torah reading, Kedoshim, G-d forbids the Jewish people to
practice divination or rely on soothsayers, mediums (mediatory, as it
were, between the world of the living and the world of the dead) or
arbitrary signs that affect future events. Rashi, quoting the Talmud
(Sanhedrin 60) forbids "people who divine using weasels or birds, or
bread that fell from his mouth or if a stag crossed his path," they
would or would not go to a certain place, or do a certain thing.
Maimonides, in his formulation of idolatrous practices ("Laws of Idol
Worship," Chapter 11:4) also seems to reflect the account in Tractate
Sanhedrin when he writes of those who say, "Since my bread fell from my
mouth I'm not going to such and such a place... or since a fox passed on
my right side, I'm not leaving the house today...."
In the same paragraph, Maimonides continues with his discussion of what
happens when someone makes signs for himself by saying: "If this and
this occurs to me, I will do it...." And the example he uses to
illustrate what he considers to be divining or following signs is rather
astonishing: he cites Eliezer's agency to find a suitable wife for
Isaac. Now we usually think of Eliezer's mission as virtuous and not
tainted by an idolatrous shadow.
Let us review Eliezer's "act of divination".
Arriving at the outskirts of the city, Eliezer stops near the well,
aspiring with all his strength to find the right wife for his master
Abraham's son. He comes up with the following plan (test): "If I say to
a damsel, 'Tip over your jug and let me have a drink,' and she replies,
"Drink and I will also water your camels,' she will be the one You have
designated." (Genesis 24:14)
Maimonides' inclusion of Eliezer is based on the Talmudic Tractate,
Hulin 95b, which quotes Rav: "Divining that is different from Eliezer,
the slave of Abraham, and Jonathan, son of Saul is not called divining,"
a passage that implies that both Eliezer and Jonathan's behavior were
unacceptable in the eyes of the Bible.
The Ra'N (Rabbeinu Nissim) disagrees. In his Hidushai HaRa'N (Hulin
95b), he points out that when the Torah forbids devising signs or omens,
it depends on whether the sign is logical or arbitrary, the former being
permissible and only the latter forbidden. After all, there is a world
of difference between bread that falls from one's mouth or a black cat
crossing one's path, and Eliezer's sign that was based on common sense
and lovingkindness. In the words of the Ra'N, "If someone says 'If it
rains, I won't go outside,' this can't be called divination because such
conduct is the way of the world. And Eliezer, the servant of Abraham,
and Jonathan, son of Saul, behaved this way.... Eliezer knows the wife
for Isaac must be perfectly suitable, and he takes as a sign that if she
acts graciously and wholeheartedly, not only restoring his soul by
quenching his thirst, but offering water to the camels as well, then she
is heaven-sent," she is then the most fitting wife for Isaac.
The Jonathan incident referred to by the Ra'N occurs when Jonathan faces
a Philistine garrison, and addresses his armor-bearer: "Behold, we will
pass over to these men... and if they say to us, 'Tarry until we come to
you,' then we will stand still in our place; but if they say to us,
'Come up to us,' then we will go up, for the Lord has delivered them
into our hand, and this shall be a sign to us...." (I Samuel 14:8-10)
The Ra'N is not worried that Jonathan calls this a sign; he interprets
the dialogue logically: "If the enemy will say, 'Come up to us,' it
means they are looking upon Jonathan and his men as their enemy, and are
afraid of an ambush; Jonathan was confident in his strength that he and
the armor-bearer would defeat them, because the nature of the world is
that two or three chivalrous soldiers can attack and overcome an enemy
who fears them. But if they say, 'Tarry until we come to you,' it would
seem from their words that they have not fear, and in such an instance
it wouldn't be right to risk his [Jonathan's] life...." For the Ra'N,
any such logical sign is quite alright.
Maimonides however, is uncompromising. He forbids any kind of mediation.
Maimonides however, is uncompromising. He forbids any kind of mediation,
any formulation whatever which suggests that any specific human or
animal action is a sign from G-d. We dare not second guess the Divine,
presume to understand His will on the strength of what is even a logical
occurrence, or test Him with a sign of any sort. Had Eliezer formulated
his plan as his test of suitability for a wife, it would have been
perfectly acceptable; the moment he attributed it to a sign from G-d, it
bordered upon idolatry.
As Rabba bar Chana says in the name of Rabbi Shmuel ben Marta, "How do
we know that we aren't allowed to make inquiries of astrologers
[Chaldeans]? Because of the verse, 'You shall be wholehearted with the
Lord your G-d.' (Deuteronomy 18:13)"
Act in accordance with G-d's laws which He devised; do not presume to
understand His ways by means of signs (even logical ones) that you may
devise.
27 Nissan 5768 / 02 May 08