The Month of Av: Unlucky or Misunderstood?
Matt Schneeweiss
Introduction
This past Shabbos was the first day of the month of Av. There appears to be a fairly prevalent belief that the month of Av is an "unlucky time." People rearrange their plans, pushing off certain "risky" endeavors until after the month of Av (or, at least, until after Tisha b'Av). They avoid things like traveling, surgery, and business ventures because they feel that undertaking these activities during the month of Av are dangerous and destined for failure. I have even heard and read the words of rabbis who refer to the month of Av as an "inauspicious (i.e. unlucky) time of the year for Jews."
But as we know, it is unwise to assume that a belief or practice is correct just because it is widespread. Let's see what the Torah has to say on this topic.
The Source of the Misconception
As far as I can tell, the source of this notion is a statement in the Gemara: "a Jew who has a court appointment at a non-Jewish court should try to avoid it during the month of Av because it has a bad mazal" (29b-30a). This statement is not just aggadah, but an actual halacha (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 551:1). On the surface, this halacha would seem to support the popular belief. Why else would we be cautioned to avoid non-Jewish courts during the month of Av if not for the fact that Av is an inauspicious time for Jews? It even uses the word “mazal,” which OBVIOUSLY means “luck”! (hint hint: that was intended to be facetious and thought-provoking)
The first step in investigating such a statement is to analyze it in its context. The full statement of the Gemara reads: “At the onset of the month of Av, we diminish our rejoicing: Just as we diminish rejoicing at the onset of the month of Av, so too, we increase rejoicing at the onset of the month of Adar. Rav Pappa said: Therefore, a Jew who has a court appointment at a non-Jewish court should try to avoid it during the month of Av because it has a bad mazal, but he should be present in court during the month of Adar because it has a good mazal.”
Even before we analyze this statement, we can see that the popular notion is not supported by the Gemara. According to the popular belief, we avoid court appointments with non-Jews because the month of Av has some unlucky quality. We see from the Gemara, however, that this is not the case. Rather, the month of Av generates a halachic obligation to diminish rejoicing, and THEREFORE we avoid court appointments with non-Jews. In other words, avoiding non-Jewish courts is an expression of our diminished rejoicing during the month of Av - not a precaution that we take in response to some harmful property inherent to the month itself. Granted, we must still explain the meaning of "bad mazal," but it is clear from the Gemara that avoiding non-Jewish courts stems from the obligation to diminish rejoicing.
Moreover, the Gemara only says to avoid non-Jewish courts. It does not say to avoid all "risky" ventures. Not only that, an exhaustive search throughout the halachic literature reveals no support for the common practice to avoid all “risky” activities during the month of Av. If the month of Av were truly "unlucky," the halacha would certainly tell us to avoid all forms of perilous activity, not just appointments at non-Jewish courts. According to halacha, there is no more reason to avoid "risky" activities during the month of Av than any other time of year.
Thus, although we haven't explained idea behind the Gemara's statement, we clearly see the lack of support for the popular interpretation. But before we try to understand the meaning of the Gemara's statement, I would like to discuss a major problem with the popular belief. According to my understanding, the popular belief is not only false, but may actually violate a biblical prohibition.
The Prohibition of Meonein
There is a bibilcal prohibition called "meonein." I haven't managed to find an adequate English translation of the term "meonein," so we'll stick with the Hebrew. The Sefer Ha'Chinuch (Mitzvah #250) provides the following definition of meonein, based on the words of the Sages: “The explanation of this subject is as it was given in the Midrash Sifra: [the Hebrew verb, te'oneinu, denotes] the sense of onah, a designated time - i.e. that we should not determine set times, to say that this hour is ‘good’ for doing that activity in it, and whoever does it at that time will succeed, and whoever does it at this other time will not succeed - as the deluding masters of sorcery say.”
In other words, meonein is the prohibition to designate a period of time as "good" or "bad" for certain activities; one who acts in accordance with this designation is liable for the penalty of whiplashes. The Rambam, in the Mishneh Torah (Laws of Idolatry and the Statutes of the Gentiles 11:9), elaborates on this prohibition of "designating times," and mentions additional examples: one who says that a specific day is a "good" or "bad" day for doing a particular activity, or a particular year, or a particular month.
The most common form of meonein is astrology. One who consults horoscopes or astrologers and acts on the basis of their counsel transgresses the Biblical prohibition of meonein. According to the Sefer Ha’Chinuch’s definition, not only astrology but any designation of a time period as "good" or "bad" for a certain activity falls into the scope of this prohibition.
Thus, the problem with the popular belief is clear. If a Jew believes that the month of Av is an “unlucky time” (thinking that this is what the Gemara meant) and avoids certain activities based on this belief, then he would seem to be in violation of the Biblical prohibition of meonein. In order to appreciate the severity of this transgression, let us analyze the harm of meonein.
What is Wrong with Me'onein?
There are several other Biblical prohibitions which belong to the same class as meonein. These include nichush (omen reading), koseim (fortune telling), chover chaver (reciting incantations), doreish el ha'meisim (consulting the dead), kishuf (sorcery), and others. The Rambam concludes his exposition of these prohibitions with the following explanation:
“These practices are all false and deceptive and were means employed by the ancient idolaters to deceive the people of various countries and induce them to become their followers. It is not proper for Israelites, who are highly rational, to allow themselves to be deluded by such inanities or imagine that there is anything in them, as it is said, "For there is no enchantment with Jacob, neither is there any divination within Israel" (Bamidbar 23:23), and further, "For these nations that you are to dispossess hearken to soothsayers and diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God, has not suffered you so to do" (Devarim 18:14). Whoever believes in these and similar things and, in his heart, holds that they are true and scientific but forbidden by the Torah, is nothing but a fool with a deficient mind, who belongs to the same class with others whose intellects are immature. Intelligent people, however, whose rationality is intact, know by clear proofs that all these practices which the Torah prohibited have no scientific basis but are senseless and empty; and that only those with deficient minds are attracted by these follies and, for their sake, leave the ways of truth. The Torah, therefore, in forbidding all these follies, exhorts us, "You shall be wholehearted with the Lord your God" (ibid. 18:13).”
The Rambam's characterization of these prohibitions can be summed up in one phrase: all of these beliefs and practices are forms of magical thinking. There are three major problems with magical thinking: magical thinking constitutes a denial of the laws of nature, a denial of hashgacha pratis (particularly, reward and punishment), and a withdrawal from reality into the world of infantile fantasy. Let's examine each of these problems in detail.
Denial of Natural Law
The Torah maintains that Hashem created the entire universe with wisdom, as it is stated, "How great are your works, Hashem, You make them all with wisdom" (Tehilim 104:24), "Hashem founded the earth with wisdom; He established it with understanding" (Mishlei 3:19). The Torah refers to this concept as “Malchus Shamayim” (Kingship of Heaven) - the universal lawfulness that governs all of nature, including man. The premise of every scientific inquiry is that there is a universal lawfulness underlying all natural phenomena.
Magical thinking constitutes a denial of Malchus Shamyim because it posits the existence of supernatural forces which undermine Hashem's natural law. Magical thinking leads a person away from objective scientific knowledge into the realm of subjective imagination. The Rambam, far ahead of his time, recognized that these magical beliefs and practices have no scientific basis, and modern science supports his conclusion. Today the mainstream scientific community regards magic as a primitive product of human imagination and does not grant it any legitimacy.
A person who, in spite of his practical precautions, is afraid of the influence of harmful forces lacks trust in God. After Tisha b’Av we will recite the blessing over the moon, "Blessed are You, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, Who with His utterance created the heavens, and with the breath of His mouth all their legion. A decree and schedule did He give them that they not alter their assigned task." Natural law was created by the Word of Hashem, and the Word of Hashem is trustworthy and reliable. To assume that supernatural forces can overpower or undermine His law is to deny His Malchus, and to lack true emunah in His Word.
Denial of Reward and Punishment
The Sefer Ha'Chinuch agrees with the Rambam, but takes one step further. In his explanation of the prohibition of meonein (which can be found under the prohibition of menacheish, Mitzvah #249) the Sefer Ha'Chinuch writes:
“At the root of this mitzvah lies the reason that these things are matters of utter lunacy and folly, and for the truly holy people that God chose, it is not fitting that they should pay regard to false words. Moreover, they are a factor that thrusts a man away from conviction in the Eternal Lord and from His sacred Torah, to set him going from their midst to complete heresy: For he will reckon that all his good and bad fortune, all that happens to him, is a matter of chance occurrence, not by the hashgachah of the Creator. In consequence, he will thus abandon all the principles of the religion. Therefore, since the Eternal Lord desires our good, He commanded us to remove this thought from our heart, and to set firmly in our heart that all evil and good issue by the word of the One on high, according to a man's deeds, be they good or bad. And omens [and all forms of magic] neither help nor hinder - as it is written, "For there is no augury with Jacob, nor divination with Israel" (Bamidbar 23:23).”
"The Eleventh Fundamental Principle," according to the Rambam, is that Hashem "rewards with good those who fulfill the commandments of the Torah and punishes the one who transgresses its admonitions, and that the ultimate reward is the World to Come, and that the ultimate punishment is kareiss." Everything that happens to us is in accordance with Hashem's perfect justice, from which we can neither hide nor escape.
According to the Sefer Ha'Chinuch, one who subscribes to magical thinking ipso facto denies the principle of reward and punishment. What, exactly, does the meonein hope to accomplish by planning his activities around his so-called "unlucky" time? Does he believe there is some evil force out there that will harm him, contrary to Hashem's system of reward and punishment? Does he think that he can avoid Hashem's reward and punishment by simply rescheduling his activities for a different period of time? Either way, his maneuvering is premised upon a denial of reward and punishment. “Ein ohd milvado” – there is no other force out there which acts contrary to His Will and Wisdom.
Retreat into Infantile Fantasy
The Rambam writes that "only those with deficient minds are attracted by these follies and, for their sake, leave the ways of truth." On the surface, this doesn't seem to follow: Does the Rambam mean that just because a person believes in a false, unscientific idea, he will end up forsaking the "ways of truth"? Would the Rambam say the same thing about one who believes that the earth is flat, or some other theory that has been falsified by science?
In my opinion, the Rambam is referring specifically to those beliefs which can be described as magical thinking. All magical thinking caters to the egotistical, infantile fantasy that "I am the center of the universe, and everything revolves around my desires." This belief is infantile because it hearkens back to the period in one’s life in which this was, to some degree, true. In the infant’s world, he IS all-important. If the infant desires anything, reality (i.e. his parents) will respond to that desire. All he has to do is wish and cry, and all of his needs will be addressed.
Just as the infant exists in a world where his own existence has a primary importance, so too, the meonein views his own existence as having primary, cosmic significance. His belief in lucky and unlucky times is premised on the notion that the whole universe revolves around him. He believes that TIME ITSELF takes interest in his personal aspirations and plans, and aims to thwart them or to bring them to success.
This delusion is far from the truth. In reality, we humans are very insignificant. The days where we were the center of the world and where our desires were of primary importance have long since passed. "Olam k'minhago noheig." The laws of nature continue to operate in accordance with their set patterns, regardless of our personal strivings and ambitions. The period of time which the meonein believes is lucky or unlucky is nothing more than a position in the orbit of the earth around the sun. Our planetary position has no bearing on whether we will succeed or fail in our personal endeavors.
Thus, I do not believe that the Rambam would say that any scientifically disproved theory leads to a forsaking of the "ways of truth." The Rambam refers specifically to those unscientific beliefs which reinforce our deep desire to return to a state in which we are at the center of the universe. This is the root of avodah zarah.
For all these reasons (and more), Hashem – in His Wisdom and Kindness – sought to distance us from all forms of magical thinking, and to firmly establish in our hearts and minds the concept of Malchus Shamayim: there is no power other than Hashem, and everything happens in accordance with His Wisdom.
The Explanation of the Gemara
Unfortunately, it looks like I won’t have time to write an explanation of the Gemara’s statement in this issue. Check out my blog (
http://kankanchadash.blogspot.com/) later on in the week. God willing, I will merit to understand the halacha and will write about it there. May we merit to do teshuvah from this and all other forms of avodah zarah, and bring about the restoration of Malchus Shamayim in the minds of all human beings.
http://mesora.org/UnluckyAv.htm 
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