MAIMONIDES on ‘aboda zara, 11:4. Judging Eli’ezer

Last week we explained that the Tora forbids nihush -divination- the reading of divine signs in natural or trivial events or in certain arbitrary signals that we set for ourselves (See this). Maimonides brings the actions of Eli’ezer, Abraham’s servant (Gen. Chapter 24)as an example of nihush. Abraham sent Eli’ezer from Canaan to Mesopotamia to find a wife for Isaac. Abraham did not give him any specific names or features to look for, but assured Eli’ezer that God will help him. When Eli’ezer approached the city of Aram Naharayim he set for himself (and for God!) a sign: “If I ask a girl water and she offers me and my camels to drink, that will be the girl that God has selected for Isaac”. The Rabbis criticized the method of Eli’ezer. You can’t play signs in the name of God!

A great Talmudist, the Ran, defended Eli’ezer. He said that if Eli’ezer would have asked God for an arbitrary sign from heaven –e.g., the girl that will be wearing such and such color, or the girl that will have a bird flying over her head, she will be the chosen one– then we could consider that as an idolatrous practice. But after all, the Ran reasons, Eli’ezer asked for a sign which reflects character and virtue. To offer unsolicited help or to do for others more than one was asked to do, was the earmark of Abraham Abinu, who went out of his way to provide his three guests unsolicited help (food and temporary shelter). Abraham also exceeded his guests expectations. He offered them a morsel bread and water, but ended up giving them a full course meal!

The Gemara criticized Eli’ezer tactics as inappropriate. The rabbis explained that Eli’ezer שאל שלא כהוגן, made an improper (and risky!) request. The story had a happy ending not because Eli’ezer’s methodology worked out (=not because HaShem played by the rules established by Eli’ezer!) but because HaShem especially protected Abraham and Isaac, helping Eli’ezer to find Ribqa.

(Psalm 120:7) אני שלום וכי אדבר המה למלחמה

MAIMONIDES ‘aboda zara 11:4. Let’s flip a coin!

Last week we began to describe a pagan practice called “divination” which Maimonides in Hilkhot ‘aboda zara 11:4 includes within the prohibition of idolatry. We explained that divination means “reading in nature or in trivial events messages from the gods” (see this).

In that same Halakha Maimonides refers to another type of divination. This time is not about a person reading the will of the gods in events that occurred to him or around him, but in signals that he sets for himself. Maimonides says: “if a person sets omens for himself, e.g., if this and this happens I will do this… all is forbidden“. For example. If a person has to make a personal decision (a business deal, a shiddukh, a medical procedure, etc.) and he says to himself: “Since I don’t know if God wants me to do this or not, I will flip a coin. If a get ‘tails’ it means that God wants me to do it, ‘heads’, God does not want me to do it.” This reasoning is apparently irreproachable. After all God definitely controls the outcome of the flipping coin. For Maimonides, however, a person who acts upon this type of divination is transgressing a Biblical prohibition. Why? Because the person who flips the coin assumes that God is ‘coerced’ to reveal His will by making the coin land on “heads” or “tails”. And this is definitely a pagan reasoning. The quintessence of ‘aboda zara consisted of the idea that humans can force the gods to grant them information about the future, by setting imaginary preconceived omens. The ultimate goal of pagans was not to serve God (as it our goal as Jews) but to coerce the gods to serve them. Such an attempt to manipulate God, Has veShalom, is an idolatrous and forbidden practice.

NOTE: Flipping or tossing a coin to resolve a dispute, when both parties a priori agree to accept the results of the outcome–like what is done in a football game to decide which team will use the ball first–is an acceptable practice. This type of method (in Hebrew goral) used for conflict resolution is mentioned in the shulhan ‘arukh, hoshen mishpat, 173:2, 174: 4,5 as a valid way by which heirs or partners would resolve their differences in dividing a piece of land, etc.

WATCH

Fear & Illusion

How much of our fear is based

on a faulty perspective of reality?

by Hanan Harchol

Maimonides ‘Aboda Zara 11:4: Divination and other superstitions

People always longed to know what the future holds, either out of curiosity or mainly in order to anticipate unseen dangers. All ancient civilizations – and even some cultures of today – used all kind of methods to predict the future. One of them is “divination”, i.e., reading in nature or in trivial events signs and indications for what the future awaits. In Hilkhot ‘aboda zara 11:4 Maimonides explains that the Tora condemns this practice and brings some illustrations of divination: “For example, those who say: Since a piece of bread fell out of my mouth, or my staff fell from my hand, I will not travel to this place”. Or, “Since a fox [today we would say: a black cat] passed on my right side, I will not go out of my house, since if I were to go out, I would encounter a bad person”. In our days we call this practices “superstitions”. But because superstitions include many different categories, we should see these cases (=reading signs) as “divination”.

Ancient civilizations had seers and wizards who, for example, would read signs in the internal organs of slaughtered animals or would wait in the forest to listen the chirping of the birds. The bird’s songs were taken as messages from the gods or magic spirits. Maimonides continues: “Similarly, [this category includes] those who hear the chirping of a bird and say: This will happen or this will not happen; it is beneficial to do this or it is detrimental to do this.”

The idea behind “divination” is that the gods are sending a message, warning against unpredicted dangers. We Jews do not believe that nature embodies divine attributes. We Jews believe that God’s instructions for our life are explicitly expressed in the Tora, not hidden in natural phenomena. The practice of divination is a desperate attempt to escape the responsibility to choose, probably out of fear of unpredictable outcomes. Connecting the dots between the chirping of the birds etc., and what the future awaits, is the product of a rich imagination and self-deception. We Jews do not read imaginary signs in nature. We read God’s will in the Tora, and exercise our freedom of choice.

Some present day politicians believe that birds are still carrying messages from the spirits. See this

HILKHOT ABODA ZARA 2:1: Religious idolatry

Maimonides says in the second chapter of Hilkhot ‘aboda zara: “The essence of the prohibition of idol worshipping is not to serve any creature or creation, neither an angel, not a constellation or a star, nor any material element, or any entity created from them. And even if the person who is worshipping [anything or anyone but God] knows and admits that HASHEM is the only God, the act is still considered ‘aboda zara.” In other words, if a Jew, a religious and righteous Jew whose faith in God is unquestionable, prays to our “mother Rachel” (Rahel Imenu), even if his intentions are pure, and he or she firmly believes in one God, according to Maimonides, this person is performing an act of ‘aboda zara.

We are allowed to pray to HASHEM and ask Him that in the merit (=zekhut) of our matriarch Rahel (or Abraham, Ytshaq, Ya’aqob, etc) He will help us, redeem us, etc. We do that all the time. But our prayers have to be directed always and only to HASHEM, our God.

Maimonides says that a person who worships anything or anyone but God, and yet believes in God, is repeating the mistake of Enosh. “this person will be serving a created being in the manner that Enosh and his generation worshipped at the beginning….” . The generation of Enosh believed in God, but they prayed to the sun and the moon as intermediaries between them and God. They believed that since the sun and the moon are “closer” to God, it would be appropriate to pray to them, and somehow the sun and the moon will deliver his message to God. In a similar way that when I express my request to my employer’s secretary, I’m sure she will relay the message to my boss. A good Jew might think: “I will pray to Moshe Rabbenu, Eiyahu haNabi, Rabbi Meir, Rahel imenu, etc. and they will surely deliver my message to God.

Maimonides asserts that this thought is wrong. And he warns against this practice: “…the thoughts of your heart should not lead you astray to worship these [entities] and make them an intermediary (sarsur) between you and the Creator.” Praying to an intermediary is considered an act of idolatry, regardless of my right beliefs and my good intentions.

Maimonides on how did Abraham Abinu find God?

Maimonides (MT, ‘abodat kokhabim, 1:3) explains that since his early childhood and while everyone else was adoring human-looking idols, Abraham began to think out of the box. His questions were practical questions: Everything moves –the sun, the moon, the stars– but Who is moving everything? Most people, then and today, live their lives without this type of inquiries. They just follow and do what everyone else follows and does. But Abraham was different. He had reasonable doubts out of his own intellectual quest. When he was forty years old he arrived to the conclusion that there is a God, a Creator and ruler (manhig) of the universe. Abraham also realized that God is one. And furthermore, he was also able to conceive an idea unthinkable in those days for everyone else: that God is invisible! He had not teacher, no mentor and no partners in these ideas. He was surrounded by idol worshipers, including his own family. No one was curious like him to search the ultimate cause of the world’s constant dynamics, etc.

There was one more extraordinary thing about Abraham: he was not satisfied with knowing the truth. He had to get the word out! Maimonides explains that Abraham held public debates with the people of Ur Kasdim. He advocated for his revolutionary ideas in front of his neighbors and family members. And became the first iconoclast (=destroyer of images and idols). The Mesopotamian king, Nimrod, viewed Abraham as a dangerous instigator. Let us not forget that the kings considered themselves gods. The new ideas of Abraham were a threat to Nimrod’s divine status and to his unquestionable authority. Nimrod condemned Abraham to death. Maimonides mentions that miraculously Abraham escaped Nimrod’s sentence and run away to Haran. Reaching eventually the land of Kena’an (Israel) where he dedicated the rest of his life to publicize his ideas about God.

LISTEN

Cuando El Rey Nimrod

by Yehoram Gaon

Maimonides on ‘aboda zara (1:2): From God to idol worshipping

Of its 613 Mitzvot (commandments) the Tora dedicates 51 to the prohibition of idol worshiping or ‘aboda zara. In His book Mishne Tora Maimonides devotes twelve chapters to the Laws of idol worshiping.

He begins (Hilkhot ‘abodat kokhabim 1:1) by explaining that idolatry owes its origins to a collective human error. People thought that since God created so many servants to sustain life in this planet, worshiping those servants would please the Creator in the same way that a King would be pleased if his ministers are respected and praised.

Maimonides emphasizes that at first people did not deny God’s existence: they were convinced that they were worshiping the sun, for example, as a means to worship God.

In Halakha 1:2 Maimonides explains the evolution (or decline) of this idea. First, there were false prophets (nebi-e sheqer). They would claim that God told them to serve His ministers, and He had ordered to build for them a temple or a shrine, and that it should be worshipped in this way, etc. People, innocently, would follow these false prophets’ instructions and worship the sun, the moon and the constellations “as if that was God’s will”. Next, these corrupt prophets designed images, idols and rituals and they told people that this idol will bring them success and that by doing such and such ritual they will be cured of their illness, etc.

Soon, a different type of demagogues appeared: the kozebim, or deceivers. Unlike the false prophets the kozebim did not argue that “God” talked to them. They claimed that the sun or the moon or an angel sent by them revealed to them that they wished to be served by this or that ritual and by the offering of this or that sacrifice.

Thus –with the exception of a few individuals who still preserved the idea of a one, invisible and Almighty God (Noah, Shem, Eber, etc.)– humanity, led by opportunistic liars, lost track of the real God-Creator.

The world would have to wait until Abraham Abinu to retrieve the true belief in God.

Why Europe has a problem with Israel?

by Danel Gordis, from www.Prageruniversity.com

Maimonides on ‘aboda zara: Unintentional idolatry

Last week we explained that according to Maimonides the origins of idol worshipping were related to a mistake in the identification of “God’s agents” (what God created to physically run our planet, i.e., the sun, the moon, stars, etc. ) with God Himself. In antiquity people innocently believed that by adoring these God-created natural powers they were actually worshipping God himself (see this).

Before we continue reviewing the following halakhot of ‘aboda zara I would like to reflect on the fact that ‘aboda zara (which literally means “a way of worshipping God other than the way prescribed by the Tora”) is still considered a great sin despite our naive intentions (or our ignorance). Many times we definitely don’t mean to offend God, but we are.

One example: a few years go I received a chain email, asking to be forwarded to other 18 people. Like everyone else I’m used to see all kind of massive emails, some very important and some really silly. What caught my attention was that this particular email was sent to and came from people who I know, are really truly observant Jews.

The email had attached the (photoshopped!) picture of the Helix nebula and encouraged the readers to pray for the fulfillment of their wishes while looking at the image of the Helix nebula, which looks like a “big eye”…

This is the original email.

Subject: “May your wishes come true”

“You are one of my 18(chai). This e-mail came from Israel. This photo was taken with the aid of NASA telescope, and it only happens every 3000 years. It is called the Eye of God. A lot of miracles happened to those that have gazed upon this, so make 7 wishes, even if you do not believe in it, and see what happens, what changes in your life. Send this to 18 (Chai) people on whom you would like to bestow well wishes. Do not keep it to yourself.”

This was my response to the sender:

Dear X:

“This picture is amazing and it inspires us to admire HaShem’s Almighty power, and all the beautiful things He created. However, with all due respect, “to make a wish or seven wishes” to a star, or even if the intention of this email is to say that we should ask HaShem to fulfill our wishes while looking at a star or a constellation is considered ‘aboda Sara: idol worshiping. The worst offense in the Tora. Which by the way in Hebrew is called ‘abodat kokhabim umazalot (worshipping of stars and constellations, the most ancient form of idol worshipping!). Despite your innocent or good intentions you should completely disregard these misleading suggestions. We, descendants of Abraham Abinu, pray directly to HaShem, never to a star, or other idols and obviously, without looking at any images. Please send this basic information to all those who might have been mislead into committing a serious sin by that email“

As you can see, good intentions aside, we might be mistakenly mislead into ‘aboda zara, even in our modern days!

(From Sao Pablo, BRAZIL)

√ The picture sent in the email

√ The real Helix Nebula

√ Read more about this

astronomical hoax here

MAIMONIDES on ‘aboda zara. The evolution of a mistake

Of its 613 Mitzvot (commandments) the Tora dedicates 51 to the banning of idol worshiping or ‘aboda zara. In His book Mishne Tora Maimonides devotes twelve chapters to the Laws of idolatry.

He begins by explaining (Hilkhot ‘abodat kokhabim 1:1) that idol worshiping owes its origins to a collective human error. A tragic misunderstanding. In the times of Enoch , the grandson of Adam, people thought that since God created so many servants for the sake of humanity, worshiping those servants would please the Creator, in the same way that a King would be pleased if his ministers are respected and praised.

Take for example the most important and visible of God’s “servants” in this world, which by the way, it was adored by virtually every ancient civilization: the sun. Without the sun life could not exist in our planet. In the Intelligently Designed food chain sunlight is the first link, allowing plants to make their own food and replenishing free oxygen in the world (photosynthesis). Sunlight triggers the process of rain. The sun “naturally” desalinates the ocean water transforming it into freshwater. Life in our planet depends on the sun. Now, the people at the time of Enoch probably did not know all the amazing properties of the sun. What they saw is that the sun is the source of light and heat. And that was enough for them to consider that the sun was worthy of being worshipped as one of God’s servants.

Evolution did the rest. Maimonides says that: “Once this idea came to their hearts, they began to build sanctuaries to the stars and offer sacrifices to them…”. Again, not as a rebellion against the Creator but “…thinking that by doing so, they were fulfilling the will of the Creator. This was the root (origins) of idol worshipping”.

(to be continued)

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The Middle East Report – by Dr Mordechai Kedar

The Fast of 17 of Tamuz

Today is the 16 of Tamuz, 5771

Tomorrow Tuesday July 19th is a fast day, shiba’asar betamuz (Tamuz 17th).

The fast begins at 4:12 AM and ends at 8.54 PM.

On the 17 of Tamuz there are only two prohibitions: eating and drinking.

NO additional limitations apply, such as the prohibition of washing the body, wearing leather shoes, working, driving, etc.

Who is exempted from fasting?

Minors: boys under 13 and girls under 12 years old are completely exempted from fasting.

Nursing women: According to the Sephardic Minhag, after giving birth, a woman is exempted from fasting for 24 months, even if they are not actually nursing their baby.

Pregnant women, especially after the first 3 months, are exempted from fasting.

A person who is sick, with flu or fever or a chronic disease, for example, diabetes, is exempt from fasting.

Elders should consult with their physicians if the fast might affect their health. If it will, they are exempted (and in some cases, prohibited) from fasting.

All other healthy people should fast and remember the tragedies that fell onto the Jewish people in this day.

Our custom is to authorize to wash one’s mouth or brush the teeth in this Ta’anit, provided one will be careful to lower his head avoiding swallowing water unintentionally.

Tomorrow, B’H, I’ll explain why we fast on this day.

There are no words, only tears
In memory of Leiby Kletzky, by Rabbi Benjamin Blech