The Divine Image (2)

Freedom And The Divine Image

 

As we have seen, one of the ways to define man's divine image is through his intellect.  However, other philosophers and commentators felt that the divine image is manifest in other human attributes.  The Ramban and the Maharal emphasized the importance of freedom as describing the essence of man.  This was beautifully expressed in the writings of Rabbi Meir Simcha HaCohen of Dvinsk, author of the "Meshekh Chokhma."  The divine image is reflected in human freedom.

 

Oedipus and Rabbi Akiva

 

The Jewish concept of freedom will be better understood through a comparison of two stories, the Greek myth of Oedipus, and the legend of Rabbi Akiva's daughter.

 

     In the Oedipal myth, representative of Greek thought in general, man is ruled by powers which he cannot escape.  Not only that, but even foreknowledge of the danger cannot help.  Oedipus is prophetically informed that he will murder his father and marry his mother.  Both Oedipus and his father fight against this prophecy, but to no avail.  In the end, Oedipus brings his fate upon himself.

 

     The Sages relate that Rabbi Akiva had a daughter.  The Chaldeans told him, "On the day of her wedding she will be bitten by a snake and will die."  Rabbi Akiva grieved over this news.

 

On the wedding night, his daughter took her golden pin and thrust it into the wall for safekeeping.  The pin pierced the eye of a snake and remained there.  In the morning, the pin slid out and the dead snake with it. 

Her father asked her, "What did you do?"

She answered: "On the eve of my wedding, a beggar came to the door, and everyone was so preoccupied with the wedding feast that no one noticed him.  I took the portion that you gave me and I gave it to him."

He said to her, "You did a good deed."

Rabbi Akiva went out and explained, "Charity saves from death" - not merely from an abnormal death, but from death itself.

 

This story is a powerful statement against the belief that everything is predetermined.  The contrast between these two worlds is evident.  The Chaldeans, in other words the astrologers, have predetermined man's fate.  It would seem that they were right.  Yet, their prophecy is not absolute; escape is possible.

 

Astrology

 

We will not discuss the question of astrology; rather we will focus on the claim, which is often clothed in scientific garb, that man's fate is marked out in advance.  Sometimes this claim is clothed in the language of astrology, sometimes in biological or psychological garb.  We will yet discuss other angles of the problem; however, the general direction was given by our Sages, when they stated that whoever is born under the planet Mars is destined to be a murderer, unless he becomes a butcher or a surgeon.  Perhaps this can give us a new perspective on Rabbi Akiva's statement, "Everything is preordained, yet freedom of choice is granted."  The accepted interpretation, which is found, for example, in the Rambam's commentary on the Ethics of the Fathers, is to explain this statement as an answer to the question of divine foreknowledge and free choice.  However, in light of the story about Rabbi Akiva's daughter, it can teach us that although there are contraints which affect the future, man is given the opportunity to overcome them.  Freedom thus means the possibility of escaping one's fate.

 

     Jewish philosophers have held differing opinions with regard to the merit and significance of astrology.  The Rambam saw astrology as a superstition presuming to be a science, and was therefore totally opposed to it.  Others, such as Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra, for example, believed in the truth of astrology; however, most of those who believed in it were convinced that nevertheless "Israel has no sign."  In other words, he who behaves like a Jew is not controlled by the stars.

 

     The theoretical question, however, is only one aspect of the problem.  The central question, even for those who grant astrology some merit, is our attitude towards it.  Are our fates in fact sealed by the movements of the stars?  Ought we to make the critical decisions of our lives based upon it, or ought we to follow the logical path and make decisions based on the reality before us and the values that guide our lives?  In the long term, we will certainly reach the conclusion that this type of "science" is totally destructive, and will cause humanity terrible misfortunes.  It is well-known that Hitler had an astrologer and that he followed his advice in planning his battle strategies.  Apparently, the English also used an astrologer, but his job was to try and decipher what the suggestion of the enemy's astrologer would be.

 

     An important expression of these ideas was given to us by the Ramban.  On the one hand, the Ramban believed that there might be some truth in astrology.  However, our approach to it must be established within the very general framework of the commandment, "You shall be whole-hearted with your God."  According to the Ramban, this is a positive commandment, and it teaches man to act according to the Torah and not according to this type of "supernatural" guidance.  The Ramban believed that the future is predetermined, but in a very relative manner.  Our fate exists in the form of "letters" and through our actions we combine them into words.  For example, imagine that the heavenly decree consisted of the letters Gimmel, Ayin, and Nun.  They can be read in two different ways: Nega [plague] or Oneg [pleasure].  The formation of the letters into words is not determined by the stars.  The future is preordained to some extent; however, the practical ramifications are not decided by the constellations.

 

     Astrology is an interesting, often pleasant, amusement; yet, we must be wary of it.  As we mentioned earlier, the Rambam completely negated all of these superstitions.  A society which adheres to such futile and empty ideas is in some way self-destructive.  Thus the Rambam, in his epistle to the sages of Marseilles suggests the hair-raising idea that part of the terrible events of the destruction of the second Temple occurred because, instead of studying war, our ancestors were preoccupied with astrology and the like.  Man must search for realistic solutions, in this case a military solution, and not look to irrational illusions.  They are forbidden because they are false, and lies are dangerous when they take the place of truths which can offer salvation.  People stop thinking when they depend upon such phenomena.  In addition, for every real phenomenon, we will meet a thousand phenomena of falsehood and deception.  This is the approach that we have received from the Rambam, who consistently negated any form of dependence upon magic and soothsaying.  A rich tradition of sages stood behind this approach, but there were others who were more open to these hidden phenomena.  In this regard, it is important to stress the essential difference between astrology and phenomena that stem from parapsychology.  This brings us once again to what can be termed "practical Kabbala."  In these cases, the person giving the guidance does not receive his information from any science, but rather from what is revealed to him in his own soul, sometimes through all kinds of facts which serve merely to give him inspiration.  Parapsychology is much closer to Kabbala, and it is possible that the soul can grant us glimpses of the future.  The Kabbalists don't use the facts in the same way one would solve a  mathematical problem; rather the facts that they know serve as a kind of inspiration to find the solution.  There are difficult situations in which fateful decisions are made and there is no way to know what will happen.  Turning to a source which deviates beyond the rational is understandable then.  However, even in such cases one must be very careful.  In particular one must ensure that realistic solutions are not overlooked as a result.

 

     Rihal discusses astrology in a number of places and explains to us unequivocally that the stars have an effect on the earth, but as part of the natural order.  In other words, their effect is part of the general order of things, while the astrologers want to learn the details from the stars.  "The astrologer claims that he knows the details, but we contradict him in this and bear witness that this thing cannot be perceived by flesh and blood" [4:9].  The statements about astrology in the writings of our Sages are to be understood in a totally different way.  Astrology is merely "conjecture and casting of lots in the heavens, which has no more truth in it than in casting lots on the earth."