Dear Dorit,



Abraham the son of Meir Ibn Ezra was born in Toledo, in northern Spain (1089). In the first part of his life he wrote poetry. Afterwards he wrote dozens of essays on Hebrew grammar, philosophy, astrology, mathematics, and calendar calculations. He was one of the greatest Scriptural commentators and stuck to the plain meaning of the text, with no favoritism shown Chazal’s interpretation in the Tamud and midrashim, in contrast to the method of commentary used by Rashi, who followed Chazal’s midrashim. [According to testimony by the Rashbam, Rashi repented of this method towards the end of his life; we discussed this issue in the portion of Vayeshev.]

Despite his greatness as a reasonable and intelligent person, he believed [more accurately, he “scientifically” supposed] that stars and the zodiac have influence on what happens on Earth, and he went so far as to say that the main prohibition against forbidden sexual relations was for the Land of Israel, over which the planet Mars has dominion. He said that this was the reason why our forefather Jacob married two sisters when abroad, though it is forbidden in the Land of Israel; see further in the portion of Kedoshim.

In his opinion, one can be saved from the decrees of the stars through fulfilling Torah and the commandments: “Know that all the plants and life on earth and the birds and animals and livestock, and all that crawls and all the people are connected to the 48 forms in the zodiac…The whole Heavenly hosts and those lower receive based on their form, so they are not benefited or harmed. One who bows to the worship f the heavens will not be helped, for what the stars decree as his birthright will occur, unless some force higher than the stars, to which he is closely connected, protects him and saves him from the decrees. I will give an important example: the zodiac declares that the river near a particular city will flood people or kill them. A prophet comes and warns them that they must repent before the evil descends. They do so and return to Him with all their hearts. Since they cling to Him He gives them the idea of going out [of the city] to pray to G-d, and they do so. On that day the river swells, as it usually does, as we have seen with our own eyes many times, and it floods the city. The decree of G-d did not change, yet He saved them. This is what Chazal meant when they said that the stars have no dominion over Israel (Shabbat 156a, Nedarim 32a). This holds as long as they fulfill the Torah, and if they do not, the stars have dominion over them…and those who know the wisdom of the zodiac admit this” (Exodus, long commentary, 33:21).



N.B. There’s no need to say that the “science” of astrology is nonsense.



Sincerely,

Daat Emet