Talking out of your Armpit : What is up with that?

[muman613]

Well, the title of this thread is a little bit misleading. It is only one of the many topics I would like to write about tonight. During my learning of the Parasha last week a couple of issues stand out. Kedoshim is one of those mitzvot packed portions, I believe that there are about 70 mitzvot in Kedoshim. But the idea of magic and sorcery are discussed in the Torah in a couple of places.

In Vayikra/Leviticus 19:26-32 a number of interesting directives are given. This comes after the commands of the fruit tree...


26. You shall not eat over the blood. You shall not act on the basis of omens or lucky hours.
27. You shall not round off the corner of your head, and you shall not destroy the edge of your beard.
28. You shall not make cuts in your flesh for a person [who died]. You shall not etch a tattoo on yourselves. I am the Lord.
29. You shall not defile your daughter by making her a harlot, lest the Land fall into harlotry and the land be filled with immorality.
30. You shall observe My Sabbaths and revere My Sanctuary. I am the Lord.
31. You shall not turn to [the sorcery of] Ov or Yid'oni; you shall not seek [these and thereby] defile yourselves through them. I am the Lord, your G-d.
32. You shall rise before a venerable person and you shall respect the elderly, and you shall fear your G-d. I am the Lord.


Here we are given the command to not act on the basis of omens or calculations of 'lucky times'. This is the command which prohibits a Jew from consulting with astrological forecasts, whether or not they are even accurate. I am of the belief that there is some basis in truth for astrology, basically the concept that there are natural forces which have influence on our physical reality. But even so I know that as a Jew I am not subject to the forces of nature, as the sages have taught us. A Jew, even when the physical forces are against him, can call out to Hashem who can, if he wills it, perform a miracle.

The next command is interesting to me because I take this command to be that a Jew should not cut his peyot, the side-curls which grow on the corners of the head. It is permitted to cut the beard with scissors but it always prohibited to cut it with a razor.

The next command is where we learn that a Jew is not to tattoo his or her skin. As we will learn shortly, the commandments which we are discussing relate to things that the caananite people engaged in, and Hashem forbids the Jews from imitating these wicked ways... The caananites would cut their skin in mourning when their loved ones had passed away. I believe some people still engage in self mutilation in order to express mourning. A Jew must never do this, he must never harm himself as a way of expressing sorrow.

It was a common practice amongst the caananites to sell their daughters into prostitution in order to 'make ends meet'. But Hashem finds this practice immoral and prohibits the Jewish people from engaging in such disgusting activities.

Once again we are implored to keep the Sabbath. The command to keep the Sabbath is the most often repeated command in the entire Torah {I believe}.

Now we come to the topic for which I titled this thread...

Amongst the caananites there were many sorcerers. There were many kinds of sooth-sayers, sorcerers, diviners, and magicians. These commands are one reason I believe that Hashem allows people to believe in these 'black magic' is because there actually is something to it, just not what it appears to be.

Here I will post a commentary from Shoftim, where this command from Kedoshim is once again repeated, but explained in more detail..

There shall not be found among you... a soothsayer, a diviner of times, one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, a pithom sorcerer, a yido’a sorcerer, or a necromancer. For whoever does these things is an abomination to G-d (18:10-12)

A soothsayer is one who takes his rod in his hand and says [as though to consult it], “Shall I go, or shall I not go?”

A diviner of times: According to Rabbi Akiva, these are people who determine the times, saying, “Such-and-such a time is good to begin a venture.” The [other] Sages say, however, that this refers to those who “catch the eyes” [i.e., they deceive by creating optical illusions].

One who interprets omens — e.g., bread falling from his mouth, a deer crossing his path, or his stick falling from his hand.

Charmer: One who collects snakes, scorpions or other creatures into one place.

Pithom sorcerer: The sorcerer raises the spirit of the dead, and it speaks from the sorcerer’s armpit.

Yido’a sorcerer: The sorcerer inserts a bone of the animal called yido’a into his mouth, and the bone speaks by means of sorcery.

A necromancer is one who raises the dead spirit upon his membrum, or one who consults a skull.

(Talmud, Sanhedrin 65b)

The Talmud explains that the Pithom sorcerer talks from his armpit. That must have been a very 'obnoxious' armpit, if you know what I mean? But seriously... The main reason Hashem prohibits these activities is because they lessen our faith and trust in Hashem.

Sure, we do believe in angels, called Melachim, who are basically agents of Hashem. These angels themselves a form of Elokim, one of the names of Hashem himself, because we know that Elokim has the gematria of Teva which means nature. Hashem acts in this world by giving these forces of nature a bit of power to operate according to the laws of nature.

See this to understand what I just said about the numerical equivalence of Elokim and HaTeva:

http://www.aish.com/sp/pr/48944836.html
It is part of a Kabbalistic tradition regarding the names of G-d that the four-letter name of G-d is the one that signifies G-d working in His mercy-mode and performing miracles.

His name, E-L-O-K-I-M, again, according to Kabbalah, is a less holy name, considered to a be a less-revealed manifestation of G-d's Presence, and therefore represents G-d's Presence hidden by "Mother Nature."

This is why, Kabbalah points out, the numerical value or gematria, of E-L-O-K-I-M and ha-teva "nature" are equal.

    Elokim -- aleph-lamed-hey-yud-mem:
    1 + 30 + 5 + 10 + 40 = 86
    Hateva -- hey-tet-bait-ayin:
    5 + 9 + 2 + 70 = 86

Gematria is a Kabbalistic way of showing how two ideas are related on a conceptual level; it is using numerology as basis to confirm (not create) the connection.

So anyone who puts his trust in nature is, in a very subtle way, denying that Hashem is the ultimate force in all of creation. Anyone who consults the 'spirits' or tries to talk to the dead is attempting to deny that Hashem has a plan for everything, and that our attempts to consult spirits or figure out opportune times is a demonstration in lack of faith.

The last command which I bring relates to showing respect to elders. This command is one I have no problem with. I have always risen before an elder, something I think I was brought up with from childhood. It is a mitzvah to respect an elder.

I will close with a quote from the Chabad page on this command, concerning the Talmud and Lubavitch Rebbes commentary:

You shall rise before the white-haired, and honor the face of the old man (19:32)

The Rabbis taught: I might think, even before an aged sinner; but the Torah uses the word zakein ("old man"), which refers to a sage... to one who has acquired wisdom...

But Issi ben Yehudah said: "You shall rise before the white-haired" implies any hoary head.

Said Rabbi Yochanan: The law follows Issi ben Yehudah. Rabbi Yochanan used to rise before the heathen aged, saying: "How many experiences have passed over these!"

(Talmud, Kiddushin 32b-33a)

The Torah considers old age a virtue and a blessing. It instructs to respect all elderly, regardless of their scholarship and piety, because the many trials and experiences that each additional year of life brings yield a wisdom which the most accomplished young prodigy cannot equal.

This is in marked contrast to the prevalent attitude in the "developed" countries of todays world, where old age is a liability. Youth is seen as the highest credential in every field from business to government, as a younger generation insists on "learning from their own mistakes" rather than building upon the life experience of their elders. At 50, a person is considered "over the hill" and is already receiving hints that his position would be better filled by someone twenty-five years his junior; in many companies and institutions, retirement is mandatory by age 65 or earlier.

Thus society dictates that ones later years be marked by inactivity and decline. The aged are made to feel that they are useless if not a burden, and had best confine themselves to retirement villages and nursing homes. After decades of achievement, their knowledge and talent are suddenly worthless; after decades of contributing to society, they are suddenly undeserving recipients, grateful for every time the younger generation takes off from work and play to drop by for a half-hour chat and the requisite Fathers Day necktie.

On the surface, the modern-day attitude seems at least partly justified. Is it not a fact that a person physically weakens as he advances in years? True, the inactivity of retirement has been shown to be a key factor in the deterioration of the elderly; but is it still not an inescapable fact of nature that the body of a 70-year-old is not the body of a 20-year-old?

But this, precisely, is the point: is a persons worth to be measured by his physical prowess? By the number of man-hours and inter-continental flights that can be extracted from him per week? Our attitude toward the aged reflects our very conception of "value." If a persons physical strength has waned while his sagacity and insight have grown, do we view this as an improvement or a decline? If a persons output has diminished in quantity but has increased in quality, has his net worth risen or fallen?

Indeed, a twenty-year-old can dance the night away while his grandmother tires after a few minutes. But man was not created to dance for hours on end. Man was created to make life on earth purer, brighter and holier than it was before he came on the scene. Seen in this light, the spiritual maturity of the aged more than compensates for their lessened physical strength.

Certainly, the physical health of the body affects ones productivity. Life is a marriage of body and soul, and is at its most productive when nurtured by a sound physique as well as a healthy spirit. But the effects of the aging process upon a persons productivity are largely determined by the manner in which he regards this marriage and partnership. Which is the means and which is the end? If the soul is nothing more than an engine to drive the bodys procurement of its needs and aims, then the bodys physical weakening with age brings with it a spiritual deterioration as well---a descent into boredom, futility and despair. But when one regards the body as an accessory to the soul, the very opposite is the case: the spiritual growth of old age invigorates the body, enabling one to lead a productive existence for as long as the Almighty grants one the gift of life.

(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)

My advice is that we should study this Parasha as it is what keeps us a Holy nation...

[muman613]

For those who have not heard the concept that Jews are above nature, or find it interesting, I will post the following from Sichos In English on the Purim story:

http://www.sichosinenglish.org/cgi-bin/calendar?holiday=purim1352

The story of Purim is the story of our being saved miraculously.

It was a miracle because the remedy against Haman is totally without logic.

If somebody is going to kill you with a date set six months in advance, a sensible man leaves town or prepares to fight, meanwhile putting his house into a family trust. Additionally he may try to persuade Government Authorities by the lobby process. To go to synagogue and fast for three days and pray to Hashem is an apparently lunatic method of dealing with the threat. Yet this method and only this method worked. Why?

It is a great secret of Torah [146] that when Jews behave as Jews, they are not limited by nature.

In nature the result was to be killed. It was above nature for the decree to be overturned, with Haman left swinging from a tree.

Behaving as Jews should allow them to reach out and above the limitations of nature and draw down G-d's essence.

This is what we celebrate on Purim.

Extraordinarily not once is Hashem's name mentioned in the Megillah.

It is the only document of Torah where this is so.

Nevertheless our sages tell us that "King" in the Megillah represents Hashem, [147] Mordechai is the Jewish nation, and Haman is the Yetzer Hora.

The yetzer hora pleads with the King to kill all Israel but the result was in favor of Mordechai and Jews forever.

On Purim the story of Purim, the Megillah, is read in synagogue.

Also this:

http://www.hevratpinto.org/pahad_eng/vayikra/l_bechoukotai_03.html

By the Merit of Torah, the Jewish People are Above Nature

It is written, “Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand; and your enemies will fall before you by the sword” (Leviticus 26:8). We learn from this passage that when the Children of Israel are connected to Torah and mitzvot, they are conferred supernatural power, to the point that five of them can pursue a hundred, and a hundred of them ten thousand. However when they are far from Torah and mitzvot, a single non-Jew can pursue a hundred Jews. Because of our many sins, we saw this occur in Nazi Germany and Poland, when a single German guarded a hundred Jews without any fear, and when only two Germans guarded an entire camp of Jews, who were paralyzed and had no strength to even raise their heads.

When Jews follow G-d’s ways, the nations of the world view them with appropriate respect and esteem, which brings about a sanctification of G-d’s Name. The nations of the world recognize that it is by the merit of Israel that the world survives and receives abundance (Yerushalmi Gittin, end of ch.5). Yet when Jews leave the straight path, the nations suddenly get the impression that they are numerous. As a result, when Jews attach themselves to G-d and His mitzvot, they are above nature and no one can harm them. One Jew can then pursue a thousand non-Jews, and a hundred of them ten thousand.
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And one more on this topic:

http://www.torah.org/learning/ravfrand/5766/vayeishev.html?print=1

What is the connection between the merit of Yosef and the splitting of the Red Sea? If one looks in the parsha, one will notice a peculiar thing. The expression "va'yanos haChutzah" (and he fled outside) is repeated four times in the narrative. What is the significance of this?

The terminology "Vayotze oso ha'Chutzah" (and He took him outside) was used previously in Parashas Lech Lecha during the Covenant between the Pieces [Bereshis 15:5]. HaShem took Avraham -- haChutzah (outside). The Medrash comments that HaShem told Avraham, "Go out from your constellation" -- go out from the normal forces of nature. "You, Avraham, are above nature. You are not beholden to the powers of nature. Even naturally, you should not have children, you will, in fact, be the father of great nations. You are bigger than nature."

The words "Vayotze oso ha'Chutzah" implicitly contain the power to overcome nature. Yosef utilized the ability of a Jew to be superior to nature and nature's dictates.

When everything in nature would suggest that he had to succumb to the seductions of Potiphar's wife, Yosef was able to invoke the power of Avraham, his great-grandfather, who was outside the power of nature. Yosef overcame his particular nature and he too did not succumb.

[muman613]

Here is a little more on the 'armpit angle':

I believe this basically states in a clear form what I was trying to express in my first post:

http://www.ou.org/torah/savannah/5763/shoftim63.htm

"When you come to the Land that Hashem, your G-d, gives you, you shall learn to act according to the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you...a diviner, an astrologer, one who reads omens, a sorcerer; or an animal charmer, one who inquires of Ov or Yidoni, or one who consults the dead. For anyone who does these is an abomination to Hashem, and because of these abominations, Hashem, your G-d, banishes them [the nations] from before you." (18, 9-12; modified from the translation of the Artscroll Chumash, p. 1033)


Rashi quotes from the Midrash (Sifre) to explain the differences between these various occultists. For example, a "diviner" is, "one who grabs his staff and says, 'Shall I go, or shall I not go?" An "astrologer" is the subject of a dispute among the Sages: Rabbi Akiva says he declares which times are propitious to begin undertakings, while the Rabbis say he, "captures the eyes (i.e. performs optical illusions)." One who "reads omens" predicts the future based on the slightest unusual occurrence: "His bread fell from his mouth, a deer crossed his path, his staff fell from his hand [and, therefore, some bad thing will happen]." Ov is "a type of witchcraft...[where] he [the practitioner] speaks from his armpit and brings up the dead in his armpit." Yidoni involves placing the bone of a certain animal "into his mouth, and the bone speaks by means of magic."

I couldn’t resist giving you a taste of the juicy specifics of these practices, but have a look at Rashi's complete comments on the passage for a full catalogue of "abominations!"

Which brings us to an important question. Perhaps we could have guessed that the Torah would not have a favorable view of these professions (certainly not for a nice Jewish boy or girl to go into), but why are they outright "abominations?" What exactly is the problem with an occasional trip to a fortune-teller, or an occasional recourse to the Ouija ball?

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (great 19th century Torah leader in Germany) explains that one who places his faith in "the realm of dark, unfree, mysterious powers" will abandon his belief in free will. He will conclude that the moral worth of his actions have no effect on his life and his destiny, and will, therefore, become degenerate in his behavior. As Hirsch bluntly puts it, "The whole moral degeneration of the Canaanite nations came from these things, which supported and were the mainstay of immorality." (Commentary on the Torah: Deuteronomy, p. 352)

In other words, why be righteous if the cards say you're doomed anyway?! Your fate is sealed, bud. Might as well crank up the Stones, take out the Bud (with a capital "B") and really PARTY!

Okay, so knowing what will happen to us might well be hazardous to our moral (and physical) health. But how should we proceed in relation to "the (frightful) future"?

The Torah goes on to tell us: "You shall be wholehearted (tamim) with your G-d." (verse 13) Rashi explains: "Go with Him in wholeheartedness (or, simplicity) and depend on Him, and do not seek into the future; but whatever befalls you, accept it with wholeheartedness..." In other words, don't brood about what the future will bring at all! (Note: Of course, I’m not referring to intelligent planning for tomorrow, but of obsessive desire to uncover one’s "fortune.")

As Hirsch beautifully elaborates, we must accept G-d Himself as

"...the sole Director of our fate and Guide for our deeds; it is He alone Who decides our future, and Whose satisfaction is the sole criterion by which we are to decide what to do and what to refrain from doing...And, in fact, the tamim is so completely engrossed in G-d that he lives entirely in the thought of doing his duty all the time and leaves the result, with his whole future, to G-d." (Hirsch, ibid.)

Seeing what will transpire in the future is not important; it is quite irrelevant to our job on earth, which is to grow continually as human beings and as Jews. Moreover, the Torah is telling us to abolish all notions of other guiding forces or determining influences in the universe. G-d alone is our Guide, and His Law as contained in the Torah is what should occupy our gaze. As for the role of Prophecy--which did sometimes include glimpses into the future--, it was bestowed on great men and women of Israel chiefly for the specific purpose of admonishing the people to keep the Torah, and inspiring them to do teshuva [repentance]. True prophecy was given by G-d to inspire the Jewish people to live more righteous lives now, in the present. (What’s more, prophesied destruction could often be averted by repentance.)

There is such a thing as mazal, as "fortune" or, better, "destiny." Think of it as the collective parameters of our lives that we don’t seem to have control over. However, the Talmud explains that we Jews can rise above the dictates of mazal. The first of our patriarchs did! The Rabbis explain that Avram knew from astrology that he was not destined to have children from Sarai. What he couldn't foresee in the zodiac--in the study of which our Sages say he was expert--was that G-d would change his name to Avraham (and hers to Sara), and therefore, his mazal. He would become a new person, in effect--the father of a great nation. Through his prayer and his righteous deeds, he transcended his "fortune!"

Interestingly, at that very point in the book of Bereishis when he is given his new name, "Avraham," Hashem addresses him using the same phrase we have in our parsha: "...walk before me and be wholehearted (tamim)." (17, 1) This is the same idea we mentioned above: G-d was commanding Avraham to abolish any notion of a force apart from G-d that was determining his life, or the life of the Jewish people.