Last week we explained the idea of the hober, a wizard or enchanter who uses spells to invoke supernatural effects (seethis). By “spells” we mean words without any meaning or content, that presumably have a magic effect. 

Although Maimonides empathically rejects the use of magic spells, there is one instance in which something similar to a spell is allowed. The Talmud calls it: “lohesh ‘al hamaka” which means “whispering words to a wound”.  If somebody was bitten by a serpent or a scorpion Maimonides allows that someone else would whisper some words into the wound. Why would Maimonides allow this seemingly magical practice, so similar to spells? 

Maimonides explicitly recognizes that those words don’t have any magical power (and, by the way, for this practice to be permitted, the one who whispers must also believe that there is no magic in these words).  Maimonides understands that “whispering to the wound” has a psychological effect on the patient,  helping him or her to calm down and regain composure. This is critically important in the cases brought by Maimonides, when someone is bitten by a snake or a scorpion. In these cases the victim/patient is in a state of panic, believing that the poison will soon cause her death. In a state of panic his blood circulation will accelerate, and the poison would act faster. However, if at that time someone whispers some soft words, those word will have the effect of calming down the patient, until help or perhaps an antidote arrives.    

To better understand Maimonides idea let us see what the Psychotherapist Dr. Judith Acosta, an expert in neurobiology and the author of the book “Verbal first aid”, explains. Dr Acosta trains first responders in scenarios of car accidents, fires, acts of terror or natural disasters. She argues that the first words said to the severely wounded victims are crucial. Words can calm the patient and prolong or even save his life “With our words we can address autonomic function in ways that can help them [the patients] be calm, stop or slow bleeding, reduce an inflammatory response, lower their blood pressure or soothe a broken heart.” 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.