Jewish Views On Astrology - in The Medieval Era

In The Medieval Era

Many rabbis in the Geonic era (after the close of the Talmud, early medieval period) discussed the varying Talmudic and midrashic views on astrology. One responsa takes a middle view: Otzar HaGeonim 113, concludes that astrology has some reality, in that the stars give a person certain inclinations; however each person has the ability to overcome their own inclinations, and thus maintains free will.

Astrology was practised by some Jews throughout the Middle Ages, both as a professional art and as a science. Coming from the East, Jews were sometimes looked upon as heirs and successors of the Chaldeans. For this reason Jews sometimes were regarded by the Occidental world as masters of Astrology. Their supposed power over destiny on occasion filled the multitudes with awe and fear (Jassuda Bédarride, Les Juifs en France, pp. 49, 454, note 21; Jacques Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, iv. 1212; P. Cassel, Juden, in Ersch and Gruber's "Encyc." pp. 16, 17; 52, note 78; 67, notes 50 and 51; 115, 171, 224).

Abraham ibn Ezra was a follower of astrology, which he calls "a sublime science." Besides translating another Jewish philosopher Mashallah's astrological work Questions and another work of this author on the eclipse of the moon from the Arabic into Hebrew, he wrote Nativity, Sentences of the Constellations, Reshit Hokhmah (Beginning of Wisdom), Book of the World, a treatise on the Planets, a treatise on the Luminaries, and a horoscope. He often refers to astrology in his Bible commentaries. To him heaven with its constellations is "the book of life," in which man's destiny is written, and against which there is recourse to God as "the Almighty," who overrules all these influences. These remarks may be found in his commentary to Psalms 69:29, Genesis 17:9, and to Exodus 6:3, 33:21.) In the book Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra: Studies in the Writings of a Twelfth-Century Jewish Polymath (Harvard, 1993, ISBN 0-674-74554-X), the author of a chapter dealing with Ibn Ezra's astrological views ("Some Astrological Themes in the Thought of Abraham Ibn Ezra") states that: "The gist of the Jewish attitude toward astrology as formulated by Ibn Ezra has usually been understood—in general, correctly—as follows. The deity has delegated to the stars the governance of the sublunar world. Israel, however, enjoys a special status, which is manifest most decisively in its possession of the Torah. As long as a Jew is engaged in the study and observance of the Torah, he is linked to a spiritual realm which is itself superior to the stars. In this way a Jew may liberate himself from the decrees of the stars" (p. 49).

Dunash ibn Tamim (850-956 CE, North Africa), who wrote a commentary on the Kabbalistic work Sefer Yetzirah, wrote a treatise on astronomy which rejected astrology.

Rabbi Abraham ben David of Posquières, in his critical notes to Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, Teshuvah, 5:5, asserts the influence of the stars upon destiny, while also contending that by faith in God man may overcome this influence.

Gersonides believed that astrology was real, and developed a naturalistic, non-supernatural explanation of how it works. In Philosophies of Judaism, Julius Guttmann explains that for Gersonides, astrology was:

founded on the metaphysical doctrine of the dependence of all earthly occurrences upon the heavenly world. The general connection imparted to the prophet by the active intellect is the general order of the astrological constellation. The constellation under which a man is born determines his nature and fate, and constellations as well determine the life span of nations....The active intellect knows the astrological order, from the most general form of the constellations to their last specification, which in turn contains all of the conditions of occurrence of a particular event. Thus, when a prophet deals with the destiny of a particular person or human group, he receives from the active intellect a knowledge of the order of the constellations, and with sufficient precision to enable him to predict its fate in full detail..... This astrological determinism has only one limitation. The free will of man could shatter the course of action ordained for him by the stars; prophecy could therefore predict the future on the basis of astrological determination only insofar as the free will of man does not break through the determined course of things.

Gersonides believed astrology to be a science that predicts events according to set laws of nature (albeit, a different set than the ones we are used to.) He also believed that a person who has perfected his thinking could interact with the laws of nature through the active intellect. Gersonides thus thought of himself as creating a rationalist and non-supernatural theology. In this sense, there is a similarity between Gersonides and Maimonides.

Nahmanides wrote a responsa stating that while one may not ask an astrologer for a prediction, astrology itself is real. He states rules that one must ultimately trust in God, and not in any lesser force. As such, he concludes that one is forbidden to ask an astrologer for a prediction, but one may act on the words of an astrologer if advice is freely given. Ultimately he holds that while the stars give a person certain inclinations, people have the ability to overcome their own inclinations, and thus maintains free will.

Maimonides answered an inquiry concerning astrology, addressed to him from Marseilles. He responded that man should believe only what can be supported either by rational proof, by the evidence of the senses, or by trustworthy authority. He affirms that he has studied astrology and that it does not deserve to be described as a science. The supposition that the fate of a man could be dependent upon the constellations is ridiculed by him; he argues that such a theory would rob life of purpose and would make man a slave of destiny.

Isaac ben Joseph ibn Pulgar (14th century, Spain) was a Jewish philosopher who wrote Ezer ha-Dat ("Support of Faith"), and wrote against the validity of astrology.

In the Tur, an early code of Jewish law, the author brings forth the views of Nahmanides and Maimonides, and concurs with Nahmanides (Yoreh Deah 179). A later code of Jewish law, the Shulkhan Arukh avoids contention by stressing the common point: One may not consult an astrologer; the act is forbidden. Whether or not its author, Yosef Karo, thought that astrology might have some basis in fact is not mentioned in this work (Yoreh Deah 179:1).