Maimonides on ‘aboda zara: What’s wrong with Harry Potter?

MT ‘aboda zara 11:10:  “Who should be considered an enchanter? The one that cast spells [or pronounces words] that have nor meaning in a regular language, nor any intrinsic content, and he imagines that these [magic] words will have some effects [or powers]”.   
A spell, charm or incantation is a set of  unintelligible words or a formula used to invoke some magical effects. Magicians, heathen priests and wizards in the ancient pagan world would use spells to cure, to protect and to harm (remember Maleficent and the Sleeping Beauty?) . 
Casting spells was such a popular practice that you could hardly find the performance of any act of magic which would not involve the use of incantations. Magical speech was a ritual act of equal or even greater importance to the performance of non-verbal acts of magic. According to Bronisław Malinowski the pagans believed that  “the knowledge of the right words… gives man a power over and above his own limited field of personal action.” 
The Tora calls the person who cast magic spells hober (see Deut. 18:11) and this practice is one of the idolatrous crimes forbidden by the Tora.   Judaism believes that  nothing could be achieved by magic or supernatural means. Everything is regulated by the will of God. For Maimonides the enchanters were mere charlatans who deceived people (specially people in despair!) giving them false hopes and unrealistic expectations.
One might think that in our modern world incantations, as well as all other sorts of idolatrous practices, are not as popular as they used to be. That might be true in many areas of life except for the best selling book series in the history of humankind: “Harry Potter”. In Harry Potter, a children book, virtually all protagonists use spells, usually with the help of a magic wand, to acquire some sorts of superpowers.   As we explain, the performance of magical spells and other procedures was seeing by our Tora and our Prophets (see for example Eze. Ch. 13) as a distinctive sign of godlessness. From this point of view, Harry Potter might be a good educational tool for us and our children to illustrate, in an ingenuous background, the ideas and beliefs of ancient pagans, against which Judaism fought for centuries.  







Hilkhot ‘aboda zara 11:8: Maimonides vs. Astrology

Astrology,  the supposed influence of the stars on human events, is alluded to in the Hebrew Bible more than once.  In Lev. 19:26 and Deut. 18:10 the Tora warns about idolatrous practices like theme’onen (=the seer of times).  The prophets of Israel were also aware of this very popular pagan practice among the Babylonians and virtually all other ancient civilizations, and they scoffed at the  “star-gazers”  or  hobere ha-shamayim, “The readers of heavens”. Isa. 47:13 and Jer. 10:2. 
In the Talmud astrology is called itstagninut. This is also the term used by Maimonides in Mishne Tora.  In Hilkhot ‘aboda zara 11:8 he writes: “Who should be considered a me’onen? The one that predicts the times, saying through astrology (itstagninut) such-and-such a day will be a good day… or a bad day, such-and-such a day will be auspicious for performing this task, and such-and-such a day will be bad for doing that task, etc.” It is forbidden by the Tora, as part of the prohibitions against idolatrous practices, to tell fortunes, to seek astrologers or fortunetellers and even worse, to act upon an astrological sign or warning.
To clarify even further Maimonides’ position on this matter I’m quoting his words in Perush haMishnayot, ‘aboda zara, 4:9: “Astrology… is not as some people believe, a credible science which the Tora wished to forbid. It is a nonsensical superstition… by which people attribute to the stars imaginary powers… [astrology] together with witchcraft, demonology, incantations, divination and summoning the spirits of the dead represent the essence of idolatry (‘aboda zara)”. 
Upon being asked by the rabbis of southern France whether it was possible to combine astrology with Judaism Maimonides replied that he had explored the principles of astrology and concluded that “[astrology]… is no science at all, but mere foolery and superstition …  I well know that you may seek and find in the Talmud and Midrashim isolated sayings implying that the stars at the time of a man’s birth will have a certain effect upon him… but this need not perplex you”.  The supposition that the fate of a man could be dependent upon the constellations was ridiculed by him. He argued, furthermore, that such theories were devised to rob life of purpose and to make people dependent on the whims of the readers of heaven.







The Tenth of Tebet and ezra haSofer

This coming Friday, December 13th we will observe the Tenth of Tebet, a fast day which remind us of three tragic events.  The main event we remember on this day is the onset of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuhadnezzar, the King of Babylonia.  But there are two other events that we also recall on this fast day. The translation of the Tora to Greek (which occurred on the 8th of Tebet,  see this) and the death of Ezra haSofer (9th of Tebet).  
 
Seventy years after the destruction of the Bet haMiqdash, approximately the year 516 BCE, the Jews were allowed to come back to Erets Israel by the Persian Emperor Cyrus. Roughly forty thousand Jews were led back to Israel by Zerubabel and years later  by Nehemia and Ezra the Scribe. 
 
Ezra had the tremendous responsibility of reeducating the Jews who, after two or three generations in exile without Jewish institutions (schools or synagogues) and living, and in many cases marrying, with the local population.  Most Jews had forgotten the Tora and its laws, and adopted many customs and values from the surrounding Babylonian culture. Ezra established  the Anshe Keneset haGedola, the first Jewish Parliament, composed of 120 scholars and prophets.  With the court that he presided, Ezra issued many new rulings to reclaim and revive Jewish values and reeducate the Jewish people.  He increased the days of public reading of the Tora,  composed the text of the Amida (main prayer), adapted the names of the Hebrew months and the fonts of the Tora-text, etc.  Ezra also had to make very tough decisions, like excluding the Samaritans, a semi-pagan mixed population living in Israel from the times of the destruction of the Bet haMiqdash, who reclaimed to be considered as Jews. Thanks to his wisdom and courage the Jewish people was able to survive and reestablish again in Israel as the Nation of God.  Ezra was also considered by the Rabbis as the historical link between the written Tora and the oral Tora, which was forgotten in the long Babylonian captivity and retrieved by Ezra the Scribe. Together with Nehemia, they also concluded the building of the second Bet haMiqdash and the protective wall around the city. Ezra died on a 9th of Tebet. He was regarded by our Rabbis as second to Moshe Rabbenu.
IMPORTANT NOTICE 
about the 
FAST DAY TOMORROW
The Tenth of Tebet is the only fast that might fall on a Friday. In NYC the fast will begin tomorrow morning, Friday Dec. 13th, at 6:16am.  We will be receiving Shabbat while fasting and we will break the fast with the Kiddush, which cannot be said before 4.49pm, NYT.  Minha service this Friday will probably be early than a normal Friday, because we will have Tora reading and birkat Kohanim.  Follow your community’s calendar and notifications.

 



The Tenth of Tebet and the Septuagint

This coming Friday, December 13th, we will observe the Tenth of Tebet, a fast day which remind us of three tragic events.  The main event we recall on this day is the onset of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuḥadnezzar, the King of Babylonia.  But there were other two events that we also remember in this day, the rendition of the Tora into the Greek language and the death of Ezra haSofer. 
On the 8th of Tebet (=today), approximately in the year 300 BCE, in Alexandria, Egypt, King Ptolemy ordered 72 Jewish scholars to translate the Tora (the five Books of Moshe or Pentateuch) to Greek. King Ptolemy sought to disprove the existence of an unified Jewish tradition to find an excuse to humiliate the Jews. The 70 scholars were placed in separate workrooms. Yet, they all translated the Tora in the same exact way.  
This translation of the Tora is known as the Septuagint. Although it was done by prominent Rabbis, the Septuagint is not considered a translation which follows necessarily rabbinical tradition. As explained in Talmud Yerushalmi (Megila 9) in many cases the authors of the Septuagint deliberately deviated from the traditional Jewish understanding of the Tora and adapted the Biblical text to the Greek mentality and sensitivities to please the king and avoid a situation of danger for the Jews 
As a whole, translating the Tora to Greek was considered a dark event by Jewish historiography. Why? Because the new Greek Bible was used to advanced the agenda of the Hellenist Jews who sought to syncretize Greek and Jewish values.  Eventually the Septuagint paved the way for the advancement of non-Jewish “Biblical” religions. Unlike pagan cults which were clearly antagonistic to the Tora, these new religions were now supposedly based on the Jewish Scripture.  The Bible was now reinterpreted and used to justify non-Jewish ideas or beliefs “in the name of the Bible”, all of which caused uncountable tragedies to the Jewish people. 
As Timothy McLay explains, “the Jewish Scriptures as they were known, read and interpreted in the Greek language, provided the basis for much, if not most, of the interpretive context of the New Testament.”
BTW, the official Jewish translation of the Tora is the Targum Onqelos (aka Targum Didan) done ca. 100 CE.



KASHRUT: Meat and fish together

Eating fish and meat together is not restricted by Biblical law. However, the Rabbis considered that mixing fish and meat together could be harmful for one’s health (סכנה).  The Gemara Pesahim (76b) is not explicit about the particular health hazard meat and fish together would trigger. It describes the problem as משום דקשיא לריחא ולדבר אחר . dabar aher, which literally means “something else” is a term which is usually used in the Talmud as a euphemism. It might be indicating thus that the rabbis were describing some type of disease which we are not able to identify today. 
Although Maimonides does not mention this prohibition, the shulhan ‘aruh does (Yore Dea’a 116:2).  Rabbi Yosef Karo writes about it in the chapter where he deals with hazardous foods.  Following Rashi’s opinion, Rabbi Yosef Karo identified the harm triggered by this mixture as tsara’at.  Now, we are not certain what type of disease tsara’at was. And although tsara’at is traditionally understood as a type of leprosy Maimonides explained that tsara’at should not be identified narrowly as leprosy but in a more broadly sense, probably as a general skin disease (MT Tsara’at 16:10). It is possible that eating fish and meat together might cause in some people an allergic reaction. Perhaps, as the famous commentator of the shulhan ‘arukh Magen Abraham said, in our days human nature has changed (נשתנו הטבעים) and people are not affected anymore by this mixture as they used to be affected centuries ago. 
Other rabbis have a completely different interpretation about the physical risks of eating meat and fish together. In their opinion it has to do with the possibility of swallowing a fish-bone hidden in a piece of meat.
In any case, and although contemporary rabbis have not reached a definitive conclusion as to what is (or what was) the physical danger caused by eating fish and meat together, we strictly uphold this restriction, following the rulings of the shulhan ‘arukh (קבלנו הוראות מר”ן).  It is important to clarify that unlike milk and meat, fish and meat may be eaten one after the other at the same meal as separate courses.



Mirror, mirror….. Maimonides on ‘aboda zara 11:6

In MT Hilkhot ‘aboda zara 11:4 Maimonides dealt with the definition of nihush, or reading events or natural phenomena as divine signs from God.  In 11:6 Maimonides defines the qosem. Although in modern Hebrew qosem is a magician/entertainer in Biblical and rabbinical Hebrew the qosem was a diviner, a future-teller. Maimonides explains that a qosem is the person who performs certain ritual acts, enters in a trance (mishtomem) and pretend to tell the future: this is going to happen, etc. Some of these diviners, he says, use different methods for divination. Some of them use mirrors (remember Snow-white?) and some of them  a crystal ball (‘ashashit).  Maimonides explains 11:7 that it is forbidden to perform any act of divination and it is also forbidden to go to a diviner or seek his or her advice. As it is explicitly written in the Tora in the context of idolatrous practices ( Deut. 18:10) “Let no one among you be found who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens or engages in witchcraft”.  
Divination and prediction of the future was an integral part of every pagan society. From the Greeks (the seers and oracles) to the Aztecas in ancient Mexico. The Aztecas diviners, for example, would tell the future casting maize kernels, looking into mirrors or bowls of water or tying and untying knots. As in many other pagan cultures they would also use hallucinogens (plants) to bring themselves into having “extraordinary visions of the future”.  In many African societies divination is still practiced today.
For Maimonides, as per More Nebukhim 2:37, all diviners are charlatans who use their powerful imaginations and persuasive personalities pretending that the future is revealed to them by an external force.  For a Jew it is entirely forbidden to visit or seek the advice of any kind of diviner, psychic, card reader, etc. or whoever claims to foretell the future.



Tora Reading for Hanukka

During the eight days of Hanukka we read the Tora in the morning.  Now,  what Biblical text was chosen by the Rabbis to be read on Hanukka and why? 
Let me first explain the question. On every Jewish Holiday we read in the Tora a portion corresponding to the story of that specific Holiday. During the eight days of Pesah, for example, we read eight Tora portions alluding to the Exodus from Egypt, the Mitsvot of Pesah, the Pesah sacrifice, etc.  But the events of Hanukka happened around the year 160 BCE and were not recorded in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). The Rabbis, therefore, had to find a Biblical text to be read that somehow would be related to Hanukka. 
Our Rabbis chose the section of Naso in the book of Numbers (“In the desert” chapter 7), dealing with the inaugural offerings of the tribal leaders at the time of the dedication of the mizbeah (=the altar of the Tabernacle).
Why?
1. Hanukka means “inauguration” or “dedication”. In Hanukka we celebrate that once the Greeks were defeated the Jews re-dedicated the altar of the Temple–which was defiled by pagan offerings– to HaShem. The Parasha we read is about the dedication of the mizbeah of the Tabernacle, our first Temple.  This seems to be the original reason for reading Perashat Naso.  But there is more to this story. 
2. In the dessert, the Tabernacle was completed on the 25 of Kislev. Coincidently, this is the same day we celebrate Hanukka.
3. On the last day of Hanukka, we read the paragraph dealing with the lighting of the Menora, which remind us of the miracle of the oil in the times of Hanukka.
4. The book Me’am Lo’ez brings an additional reason. If you pay close attention to the offerings related in Perashat Naso, you will see that the tribe of Levi did not participate of the dedication of the altar. During Hanukka the Hashmonayim–Cohanim descendants of the tribe of Levi– were the ones who recovered and rededicated the altar. 



Shabbat, Rosh Hodesh, Hanukka and Barekh ‘alenu

Besides Hanukka, today we also celebrate Rosh Hodesh Tebet. Our prayers are longer than usual for a weekday.  Today, same as yesterday, we say ya’ale veyabo and ‘al haNisim in the ‘amida and in Birkat haMazon.  In the morning we read the full Hallel and we took out two Sifre Tora. On the first one we read the Rosh Hodesh portion and in the second Sefer Tora we read the text corresponding to the 7th day of Hanukka. We also said Musaf for Rosh Hodesh, including ‘al haNisim.
Additionally, tonight in Tefilat ‘arbit we will switch frombarekhenu to barekh ‘alenu. In other words, we will begin asking God for rain.
In Israel Jews start praying for rain two weeks after Shemini Atseret, on the evening of the seventh day of Heshvan.
The Jews who lived in the Babylonian diaspora did not need the rain so early in the year. The Rabbis established then that Babylonian Jews should begin praying for rain on the 60th day of the season of Tishri, or the Hebrew autumn.
The Hebrew calendar also has four seasons called tequfot(in singular: tequfa). The Rabbis gave an easy round number for determining the beginning of each Hebrew calendar season.  A season consists of  91 days 7 hours and 30 minutes. This makes each year exactly 365 days and 6 hours long, about 11 minutes longer than the actual astronomical calculation of a solar year.
Today, Jews who live outside of Israel, follow the ancient practice of the Jews of Babylonia. Therefore, it has become tradition for Jews who live in the Diaspora to start asking for rain in their prayers as the Babylonian Jews did.
Based on this calculation, this year 2013, we will switch to Barekh ‘alenu –the prayer for rain– tonight, December 4th, in our ‘arbit prayer.
Shabbat Shalom, Codesh Tob & Hanukka Sameach
 
 


SPECIAL EDITION: Celebrating Thanksgiving, a Sephardic perspective

For Rabbi Sabato Morais (1823-1897), one of the most prominent orthodox Rabbis in 19th century America (see this), celebrating Thanksgiving was a no-brainer. In his view Thanksgiving is “a national holiday which connects Jewish people to their country and to their fellow Americans, irrespective of their creed.” (D.H).
Thanks to Mr. Daniel Harari, a passionate student of Rabbi Sabato’s works, and to Mr. Arthur Kiron, the Curator of Judaica Collections at the Penn Library, I got a copy of the original“Sermon delivered on Thanksgiving Day, Nov 27th 1851 by the Rev. Sabato Morais, Minister of the Congregation Mikvé Israel Philadelphia” which was published in the journal “The Asmonean” (החשמונאי).  I’m presenting here some selected paragraphs of it and a link to the full article. 
  
A Sermon delivered on Thanksgiving Day, Nov 27th 1851 by the Rev. Sabato Morais, Minister of the Congregation Mikvé Israel Philadelphia. 
“…On the day which the inhabitants of this land have set apart to the Lord, let not Israel be found reluctant in responding to the religious call. True, we do not assemble to commemorate an event peculiar to us, yet, even as members of the house of Jacob, the present occasion must call forth our deepest feelings of gratitude toward God our benefactor…..  Everything around us beams with joy: Nature, obedient to her creator has smiled on the earth, the fields teem with productions, no unpropitious rains destroy our plants, nor have the scorching rays of the sun blighted our fruits. The invaluable blessing of plenty has been showered on us and we and our children reap the benefits thereof.  It is therefore to sing together in unison of voice and thoughts the praises of our merciful Father, that we have repaired to His holy mansion- to offer the sacrifice of a grateful heart, that we have foregone our daily occupations and flocked to his sacred altar….  A century has nearly elapsed since the scattered children of Judah here found a home of security and peace; here they have thriven and acquired wealth; no internal adversary has ever molested them, nor has the rod of tyranny reached these shores; here they have but to prove themselves worthy and they will rise as high as any free man can aspire; no disabilities, no legal impediments militate against them; what felicity is that of which you are made to partake! Dear brethren, the boundless field of knowledge is unclosed to you, you may enter it, and freely gather its delightful fruits… unimpeded in the exercise of your religious duties, in accordance with Jewish doctrine, you are not merely tolerated, but regarded with respect; for you also form part of glorious whole that constitutes the American Republic.” 
“Sovereign of all ages [=רבונו של עולם], … bless this country, this people, their homes, their fields, their commerce, their productions; maintain among them harmony of feelings, indissoluble brotherhood, and unity of power, now and evermore.   Bless all of them, of whatever nation or creed, who have this day like us gathered to thank thy abundant goodness… and over their old and young, over the rich and poor, over their wardens and officers, over their schools and teachers, unfold Oh God, the pavilion of thy peace, may their religious conduct and future progress in the path of true wisdom, shine brilliantly over America and on Israel thy chosen ones. Amen. “ 



Read the full Thanksgiving Sermon 
of Rabbi Sabato Morais here
To read this article you will have to zoom it x 3.  This copy is also very special because Rabbi Morais would publish his articles and “then correct them after publication as a keepsake in his ledger. The annotations in pencil are his own corrections.” (D.H.)



Rabbi David ben Zimra (1479-1573)

Rabbi David ben Zimra, known as the Radbaz (רדב”ז) was born in Spain in 1479. At the age of 13, when the Jews were expelled from Spain, his family moved to Israel and settled in the city of Safed (צפת). There rabbi David learned with Rabbi Yosef Zaragosi, the Rabbinical leader of the Jewish community of Safed at the turn of the century. 
 
In 1517 he moved to Egypt where he was appointed as the Hakham Bashi, or Chief rabbi of Egypt, a position that he held for over forty years. The Radbaz was a man of independent means. He was a successful merchant,  dealing with wheat and leather. He amassed a considerable fortune, which allowed him to support his own Yeshiba.  Some of the students of that Yeshiba were great luminaries, like rabbi Betsalel Ashkenazi (שיטה מקובצת) , rabbi Isaac Luria (the Ari haqadosh), rabbi ya’aqob Castro ( מהריק”ש) . 
 
Upon attaining the age of 90, the Radbaz resigned the chief rabbinate in Egypt.  He distributed his fortune among the poor, making special provision for Tora scholars, and moved to Erets israel. He settled in Safed and became an active member of the rabbinical court presided over by rabbi Yosef Karo. The Radbaz died in Safed in 1573. 
 
His most important book, she-elot utshubot Radbaz, is a collection of ver 3000 Rabbinical expositions and response. 
A few illustrations: 
 
In one of his most famous responses (4:219) he discusses the origin of the Jews of Ethiopia (פלאשים) which he considered legitimate Jews (see this interesting article in English).
  
He also wrote about the exact place and identification of the Temple mountain (הר הבית) and authorized the access to it. 
 
The Radbaz reintroduced in the Egyptian synagogues the tradition to repeat aloud the Amida (חזרת הש”ץ) in accordance with the older tradition.
 
He also replaced the old Jewish Civil Calendar used among Egyptian and Babylonian Jews since the time of the Second Bet haMiqdash (מניין שטרות, the Seleucid calendar, year 1=312 BCE. See here).  The Radbaz reintroduced the custom of counting the years from the Creation of the world, as was widely in use among Jews in most other countries and as it is used by all today.
 
Download Teshubot haRadbaz here. 
 
 
Some other works by Radbaz
 
דברי דוד  Dibre David (“Words of David”) – containing decisions and hiddushim (original Torah thoughts) on Mishne Tora. 
 
יקר תפארת Yeqar Tif-eret (“Honor of Excellency”) – refuting the criticisms  Rabbi Abraham ben David (Ra-abad) on Maimonides, which the Maggid Mishne overlooked. 
 
כללי הגמרא Kelale  ha-Gemara (“Rules of the Talmud) – a book on the methodology of the Babylonian Talmud.  
 
דיני רבה וזוטרא  Dine  Rabba ve-Zutra (“The Great and Small Decisions”) – a commentary on the shulhan ‘arukh.