{"id":69748,"date":"2020-02-05T22:56:45","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T20:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=69748"},"modified":"2023-09-04T16:59:09","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T13:59:09","slug":"astrology-and-the-jews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/astrology-and-the-jews\/","title":{"rendered":"Astrology And The Jews"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[999,783,384],"acf":{"old_id":"69748","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":42746,"related_cahpter":"410","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Be not dismayed by portents in the sky\r\n\r\n","content":"

One of my favorite questions to ask people is, \u201cwhat sign are you??” Of course, I don\u2019t believe in \u201cit\u201d and yet\u2026 I find it fascinating and I\u2019m curious. The response is often, \u201cyou can\u2019t possibly be serious! This is a bunch of nonsense! Jews don\u2019t believe in astrology, do they\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n

Jews believe in many things, as is evident already from Jeremiah who says: <\/span><\/p>\n

Thus said God: Do not turn to the way of the nations, And do not be dismayed by portents in the sky; Let the nations be dismayed by them!\u00a0(10:2).<\/span><\/p>\n

He echoes what God said to Moses back in Deuteronomy (4:15-19):<\/span><\/p>\n

for your own sake, therefore be most careful\u2026 lest you look up to the sky and behold the sun and the moon and the stars, the whole heavenly host\u2026 these your God allotted to other Peoples everywhere under heavens…<\/span><\/p>\n

Which means: it\u2019s not that there is no truth in the \u201cheavenly host\u201d; it\u2019s just that it\u2019s not for us.<\/span><\/p>\n

The conversation continues towards the end of Tractate Shabbat (156), when the sages debate whether there is \u201cmazal\u201d, translated here as \u201cconstellation\u201d, in Israel, or not?<\/span><\/p>\n

It was stated that Rabbi \u1e24anina says: A constellation makes one wise and a constellation makes one wealthy, and there is a constellation for the Jewish people that influences them. Rabbi Yo\u1e25anan said: There is no constellation for the Jewish people and they are not subject to the influence of astrology.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rabbi Yo\u1e25anan follows his own reasoning by quoting Jeremiah\u2019s verse implying that the nations will be affected by the heavenly host, but not the Jewish people. Rav too tells us about the moment when God took Abraham \u201cout\u201d to tell him an heir will be born to him. Why the need to take Abraham \u201cout\u201d? Answers the Talmud:<\/span><\/p>\n

Abraham said before Him: Master of the Universe, I looked at my astrological map, and according to my constellations I am not fit to have a son. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to him: \u201cGet out\u201d from your astrology, as there is no constellation (mazal) for Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019d think that\u2019s a pretty good \u201cproof\u201d, but the discussion doesn\u2019t quite end there. A few lines later, we\u2019re told that:<\/span><\/p>\n

Rabbi Akiva had a daughter, and Chaldean astrologers told him that on the same day that she enters the wedding canopy, a snake will bite her and she will die.<\/span><\/p>\n

What to do? Is there anything to do? Rabbi Akiva worries. But, how can the righteous Rabbi Akiva, of all people, even consider that there\u2019s truth to the Chaldeans\u2019 astrologers know what they\u2019re talking about? Perhaps he does know that words and \u201cmazal\u201d have power. What he learns, and we are reminded of with him, is that through sincere action and heartfelt kindness, it can be changed; that while there may be truth to it, there\u2019s Something stronger.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":69749,"id":69749,"title":"jer10-astrology","filename":"jer10-astrology.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer10-astrology.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/astrology-and-the-jews\/jer10-astrology\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer10-astrology","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":69748,"date":"2020-02-05 20:56:21","modified":"2020-02-05 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