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Jewish Astrology? Some Jewish sources.

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muman613:
Regarding that last article I posted I would like to add my own personal experiences...

My Mazal regarding Parnassah {Livelyhood/Sustenance} is very, very good. I have been employed ever since I was 14 years old. I have worked for some of the biggest technology companies in the world, and I am still moving up.

The fact that I am working in the HOTBED of technological development {Silicon Valley} after dreaming about it many years growing up on the East coast {Connecticut} and despite the fact that I did not complete my college education I am constantly swamped with calls from 'Head-Hunters' who want me to leave the company I am working for and are offering more money than I currently am making. I just turned down a headhunter who wanted to meet with me about a job opportunity.

This ties in with my entire process of Teshuva. I came back to Judaism after several tragedies in my life. One of these was losing my job, the job which moved me to north California. Right after finding that I lived only a couple miles from a synagogue and hooking up with a great Orthodox Rabbi I got a call from a company which had made me an offer several years before {which I turned down for a better offer at that time}. The fact that this company still wanted me even though I had turned them down in the past was amazing, that they were offering more than I wanted was even more encouraging.

I found that once I started observing Shabbat, not doing any work {and working on eliminating every Melacha} that my job opportunities grew. I have not worked a single Shabbat for almost 10 years now even though some at my company work on weekends. They have never asked, and they know better than to ask me to come in on Shabbat.

I spoke with my mother recently. My mom is not particularly religious and often she strikes me as anti-religious {due to her perception of Judaism as being patriarchal}. When I was explaining to her that I THANK HASHEM every day for my Parnassah she couldn't understand why. She said that because I was born to two intelligent Jews that my DNA predisposed me to being intelligent. That due to the circumstances of my birth and the education my parents gave me that it was only logical that I would be a computer software engineer in much demand.

I explained to my mother that all those variables, my mother and father, the place that I am born, the decade I was born in, and so many other variables including my name were out of my control. All of these things I was given without even deserving it. How can I not be thankful for my incredible Livelyhood provided by Hashem?


Baruch Hashem

muman613:
http://www.dailyhalacha.com/m/halacha.aspx?id=2077

Birkat Kohanim and the Blessing of Parnasa

Each day, the Kohanim deliver the “Birkat Kohanim” (priestly blessing) to the congregation. This Beracha contains fifteen words, and the holy books teach that the first fourteen words correspond to the fourteen joints on the human hand. Each of a person’s four large fingers contains three joints, and the thumb has two joints, for a total of fourteen. (This is why the Hebrew word for hand is “Yad,” which has the numerical value of fourteen.) The fifteenth word of the blessing, “Shalom” (“peace”), corresponds to the palm of the hand. Peace is akin to a palm because it is, as the Mishna describes it, the “receptacle” that contains peace. Without the palm, the hand is unable to hold anything; whatever one receives would slip through the fingers. Peace corresponds to the palm because it is a prerequisite for receiving G-d’s material blessings.

Incidentally, this is why it is common across much of the world to express friendship, camaraderie, and cordiality with a handshake. The two people connect their palms to one another and share greetings. The palm is the symbol of peace, and the joining of palms thus represents a peaceful, congenial relationship.

Peace is also necessary as a means of eliminating the harmful spiritual forces that interfere with the “Shefa” (bounty) that comes down from heavens. Often, the blessing of Parnasa (livelihood) will descend from the heavens, but on its way down it is blocked by destructive angels, the angels that prosecute against us, and other harmful spiritual forces. The presence of peace clears the air, so-to-speak, allowing the blessing to descend from the heavens without interference.

These spiritual forces also threaten to sabotage our prayers. Our prayers are ineffective if they do not reach their intended destination – the heavenly throne. Needless to say, there is quite a distance that the Tefilot must travel from our mouths to G-d’s throne in the highest spheres of the heavens. When a guest leaves his host’s home, there is a Misva for the host to escort him (“Levaya”) out; rather than just waive and say “Good bye,” he should walk four steps with the guest outside, and this has the effect of protecting the guest during his trip his home. All the more so, our prayers, which must travel a vast distance to their destination, and are threatened by untold numbers of harmful forces, require an “escort” for protection.

The holy books say that the “escort” of our prayers is Birkat Kohanim, which we recite immediately after Birkat Ha’Torah right at the beginning of the morning prayer services. These verses were not chosen randomly. Rather, they were chosen because they serve to “escort” our prayers along their journey to the heavens. Indeed, the Zohar writes that there are four divine Names embedded within the text of Birkat Kohanim, and they achieve four different goals: the acceptance of our prayers, Parnasa, adequate clothing, and miracles.

The text of Birkat Kohanim alludes to its function as an “escort” to our prayers. Each of the three verses of Birkat Kohanim begins with the letter “Yod” (“Yevarechecha,” “Ya’er,” “Yisa”). The numerical value of the letter “Yod” is ten, and thus the combined numerical value of these three letters is thirty, which is represented by the letter “Lamed.” There are six blessings in Birkat Kohanim (“Yevarechecha,” “Ve’yishmerecha,” “Ya’er,” “Viy’huneka,” “Yisa,” “Ve’yasem Lecha Shalom”), and the number six is represented by the letter “Vav.” The fifteen words of Birkat Kohanim are represented by the letters “Yod”-“Heh.” These four letters (“Lamed,” “Vav,” “Yod,” “Heh”) spell the word “Levaya” – “escort” – alluding to this special power of Birkat Kohanim to escort and protect our prayers as they make their way to the heavens.

The final word of Birkat Kohanim, as mentioned, is “Shalom,” because that is the key that opens the doors for the “Shefa” to rain down upon us. Birkat Kohanim is effective in bringing our prayers to the heavens, but peace is indispensable for allowing the blessings to come down from the heavens to us. The priestly blessing therefore concludes with this word, to emphasize the critical importance of “Shalom” in enabling our prayers to have the desired effect of bringing the heavenly blessings down to earth.

muman613:
While this is not concerning astrology, I would like to post the prayer for Parnasa:

http://www.darchenoam.org/ethics/tefillot/tef_parnasa.htm



G-d, who prepares sustenance and clothing for every creature
and sends each their livelihood,
please grant me a proper livelihood.
Please sustain me,
all the members of my household,
and all of Israel
with a good and respectable livelihood,
calmly and without pain,
in legitimate and permissible, not prohibited ways,
with honor and not with disgrace.
It should be a livelihood without shame or disgrace,
a livelihood where I will not need the gift of flesh and blood,
but only Your full and wide Hand.
It should be a livelihood where I can be involved in
Your Holy, Pure, and Perfect Torah.
Prepare my food and that of my family and all of our needs
before we need them
so that my heart should be free without any bother
to be involved in the words of your Torah,
to keep Your commandments, and
to sit in peace on my table with dignity
with all of the members of my household.
I should not need to look to anyone else's table.
I should not need to become indebted to any man.
The yoke of no man should be upon me,
only the yoke of Your Kingdom,
in order to serve You with a complete heart.
Our garments should be worn with dignity and not with shame.
Save us from poverty, destitution, and lowliness.
Allow us to merit inviting guests,
to do acts of kindness to every man.
Give me the wherewithal to give charity to those that deserve it
and not stumble upon improper recipients.
Amen

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