DAF DITTY SHABBES 156 Talmudic Astrology Zodiac in a 6th-century synagogue at Beth Alpha, Israel. “A learned and cultured man of those times, could not reject the science of Astrology, 1 a science recognized and acknowledged by all the civilized ancient world” Saul Lieberman 1 1 Rabbi Ḥanina said to his students who heard all this: Go and tell the son of Leiva’i, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: It is not the constellation of the day of the week that determines a person’s nature; rather, it is the constellation of the hour that determines his nature. One who was born under the influence of the sun will be a radiant person; he will eat from his own resources and drink from his own resources, and his secrets will be exposed. If he steals, he will not succeed, because he will be like the sun that shines and is revealed to all. One who was born under the influence of Venus will be a rich and promiscuous person. What is the reason for this? Because fire was born during the hour of Venus, he will be subject the fire of the evil inclination, which burns perpetually. 2 One who was born under the influence of Mercury will be an enlightened and expert man, because Mercury is the sun’s scribe, as it is closest to the sun. One who was born under the influence of the moon will be a man who suffers pains, who builds and destroys, and destroys and builds. He will be a man who eats not from his own resources and drinks not from his own resources, and whose secrets are hidden. If he steals, he will succeed, as he is like the moon that constantly changes form, whose light is not its own, and who is at times exposed and at times hidden. One who was born under the influence of Saturn will be a man whose thoughts are for naught. And some say that everything that others think about him and plan to do to him is for naught. One who was born under the influence of Jupiter [tzedek] will be a just person [tzadkan]. Rav Nachman bar Yitzḥak said: And just in this context means just in the performance of mitzvot. One who was born under the influence of Mars will be one who spills blood. Rav Ashi said: He will be either a blood letter, or a thief, or a slaughterer of animals, or a circumciser. Rabba said: I was born under the influence of Mars and I do not perform any of those activities. Abaye said: My Master also punishes and kills as a judge. It was stated that Rabbi Ḥanina 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 Yoḥanan said: There is no constellation for the Jewish people that influences them. The Jewish people are not subject to the influence of astrology. 3 And Rabbi Yoḥanan follows his own reasoning, as Rabbi Yoḥanan said: From where is it derived that there is no constellation for the Jewish people? As it is stated: thus saith the LORD: Learn not the way of the 2 ב כֹּה ַאָמר יְהוָה, ֶאל- ֶדּ ֶר4 ַהגּוֹיִם אַל- ;nations and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven ִתּ ְָלמדוּ, ֵוּמאֹתוֹת ַה ָשּׁ ַמיִם, אַל- ֵתּ ָח :וּתּ ִכּי- .for the nations are dismayed at them יֵ ַחתּוּ ַהגּוֹיִם, ֵמ ֵה ָמּה. Jer 10:2 “Thus said the Lord: Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the nations are dismayed at them” (Jeremiah 10:2). The nations will be dismayed by them, but not the Jewish people. Rabbi Carl Perkins writes:2 2 www.Myjewishlearning.com 4 The word “mazel” literally means “constellation,” and it refers specifically to the twelve constellations ancients understood to influence one’s fate during the months of the year. Astrology, which attempts to understand celestial influence on human affairs, was a highly respected field in the era of the Talmud. Though we may not mean it literally, when we say, “Mazel tov” (i.e., “a good constellation!”), we are expressing a wish that the stars will be auspicious — and not ill- fated. On Our Daf, we find examples of rabbinic astrology, including authorities who describe how the day of the week on which one is born impacts one’s life. For example, we learn that someone born on Wednesday — the day on which God created the sun, moon and stars — will grow up to be wise and enlightened. Other rabbis describe the specific influence that the celestial bodies exert on one’s fate at particular hours on particular days of the week. Yet, again and again, the text argues back that, as influential as the stars and planetary spheres may seem to be, ultimately, we can alter our own fate. A recurring textual refrain expresses this idea: there is no constellation for the Jewish people. The stars may influence, but they do not determine our fate. How is that? What can we do to overcome their power? The answer is: by performing acts of piety; in particular, by being kind and compassionate. This happens, for example, with Rabbi Akiva’s daughter on her wedding day: 5 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. She was very worried about this. On her wedding day, she took the ornamental pin from her hair and stuck it into a hole in the wall for safekeeping, and it happened that it entered directly into the eye of the snake. In the morning, when she took the pin, the snake was pulled and came out with it. Her father Rabbi Akiva said to her: What did you do to merit being saved from the snake? She told him: In the evening a poor person came and knocked on the door, and everyone was preoccupied with the feast and nobody heard him. I stood and took the portion that you had given me and gave it to him. Rabbi Akiva said to her: You performed a mitzvah. However elsewhere the view is not so positive; Sanhedrin 65b:19 The Sages taught: What is the definition of the soothsayer mentioned in the verse: “There shall not be found among you…a soothsayer” (Deuteronomy 18:10)? Rabbi Shimon says: This is one who applies seven types of semen [zekhur] to one’s eye in order to perform sorcery. And the Rabbis say: This is one who deceives the eyes, as though he is performing sorcery. Rabbi Akiva says: This is one who calculates the fortune of times and hours, and says, for example: Today is a propitious day for going away on a journey; tomorrow is propitious for purchasing property successfully. Or he says that on the eve of the Sabbatical Years, the wheat harvest is generally good; uprooting legumes rather than cutting them from above the ground prevents them from going bad. 6 Midrashically, God blessed Abraham with astrological powers: The Torah states: “And the Lord blessed Abraham with everything [bakkol]” (Genesis 24:1), and the Sages disagree about what bakkol means. Rabbi Meir says: The blessing is that he did not have a daughter. Rabbi Yehuda says: On the contrary, the blessing was that he had a daughter. Others say: Abraham had a daughter and her name was Bakkol. Rabbi Elazar HaModa’i says: Abraham our forefather was so knowledgeable in astrology [itztagninut] that all the kings of the East and the West would come early to his door due to his wisdom. 7 This is the blessing of bakkol, that he possessed knowledge that everybody needed. Yet elsewhere the divine is critical of it: On the verse: And He brought him forth abroad, and said: 'Look now 5 ה הבּט ֶַמר ֶַויּא ָהחוּצה,ֹ אַתוֹ ַוֵיּוֹֹצא - א ָנ א toward heaven, and count the stars, if thou be able to סְהמַיַָהמשּׁ ְרַהוֹכּכפָוּ ִיםָֹב -- ִאם - כוּתּ ַ ,ל , וּ '.count them'; and He said unto him: 'So shall thy seed be תראפִּלס ְֹֹ ָ ;ם ַ ו רֶמאֹיּ ,וֹל הֹ כּ הִ י יְ הֶ רַ ז ְﬠ .ƒֶ ﬠר ֶי ִיה וֹ ֶאיַּו; Gen 15:5 The gemoro (Nedarim 32a) states: The Gemara expounds the verse “and He brought him outside”: Abraham said before Him: Master of the Universe, I looked at my constellation and according to it I will have only one son, and a son has already been born to me, i.e., Ishmael. He said to him: Emerge from your astrology because there is no constellation for the Jewish people, as they are not subject to the influence of astrology. The aggada tropes on the word “outside” suggesting the redundancy of the word “outside”. Obviously if he went out, he went outside! It must mean the outside refers not to geography rather philosophy…go out of your philosophical mode (astrology) and enter a realm above astrology. Mazal as Fate 8 Moed Katan 28a:13-15 Rava said: Length of life, children, and sustenance do not depend on one’s merit, but rather they depend upon fate. As, Rabba and Rav Ḥisda were both pious Sages; one Sage would pray during a drought and rain would fall, and the other Sage would pray, and rain would fall. And nevertheless, their lives were very different. Rav Ḥisda lived for ninety-two years, whereas Rabba lived for only forty years.