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The following is from Dr. Steve Bailey's weekly Sedra studies series.
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Shoftim <font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2>TEXT:18:9-14<br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>9 When you enter the land
GOD, your God, is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable<br>
ways of the nations there.<br>
10 Let no one be found among you who passes his son or daughter through
fire, who practices<br>
divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,<br>
11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the
dead.<br>
12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to GOD, and because of
these detestable<br>
practices GOD, your God, will drive out those nations before you.<br>
13 You must be complete before GOD, your God.<br><br>
The ‘delusion’ underlying all these magical activities is that certain
people can influence<br>
"fate" or "nature" by means of bribery, money or
power, without regard to good or<br>
evil. These people claim powers that we attribute only to God. The
implication is that,<br>
indeed, God is not the Master of the Universe! Herein lays the nefarious
delusion.<br>
Belief in these practices undermines the fundamental relationship of a
Jew to God, to<br>
ourselves and to the world. Here are excerpts from R. Hirsch in Chorev
(his major<br>
work explaining mitzvot):<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>God causes
you to be born at such a time, at such a place, of such parents...;
He<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>brings you
in contact with... such friends, such teachers; equips you with such<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>this as a
means to carry out His Will....<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>But just
as your past and present have come to you from God,
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>so your future<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>lies in
His hands </i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>--
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>and your own.
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>For it is the future you
create for yourself<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>according
to your good or evil use of your past and present....<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>But just
because of this, no person, not even the universe, can tell you what
is<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>in store
for you; it is known only to God. And just because of this no
person,<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>not even
the universe, can mark out for you any act which ought to be done or<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>not. For
this purpose God gave you understanding...use your understanding.<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Nature and
Humanity are the means and context of your activities....Which<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>duty you
ought to perform, you can learn from the Torah, but whether or how<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>you can
perform it, at any given moment, you must learn from experience and<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>
discretion. Therefore, for your duty, consult the Torah, but for its<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>
performance consult experience and discretion; and lay your future in
God's<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>hands.<br>
<br>
R. Hirsch is making a profound observation. We are all born at a
particular time, raised<br>
in a particular family and educated in a particular place. That is our
unique history.<br>
Now we live in the present, with a combination of God’s Providence and
our own free<br>
choices. However, no one has the ability to
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>determine
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>our future -- that is
again in<br>
God’s Hands and the product of our own choices. What’s most important to
realize is<br>
that our future is </font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>not
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>in the hands of
astrologers, Tarot card readers, mediums, palm<br>
readers or even Rabbinic mystics who claim the power to give blessings
that will<br>
determine your future (this is my [Dr. Bailey's] comment, not R. Hirsch).
How we should approach<br>
the present and future is by learning from experience, using good common
sense,<br>
seeking knowledge and wisdom from wise people (not necessarily clergy)
and then<br>
choosing to guide our lives by the Torah’s laws and principles, with the
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>spiritual advice<br>
(not predictions) </i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>of our
chosen Rabbis and teachers. The moment we give up our<br>
responsibility to choose for ourselves and hand it over to others to
think for us and<br>
order our behavior, we fall into the prohibition of seeking out
“sorcerers, enchanters,<br>
charmers and soothsayers....” and not seeking God’s teachings to guide
our present<br>
decisions.<br><br>
Now we can understand the imperative:
"</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>You must be complete
before GOD, your
God</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2>.</font>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>”<br><br>
When we are plagued by insecurity and confusion, it is only from God’s
teachings that<br>
we receive guidance and direction for our choices; when we despair for
our future, we<br>
need to recognize that it is from God and our own choices, based on our
past and<br>
present behavior, that our future is fashioned. If we are
"complete" in our relationship<br>
to God, we have no need for soothsayers, enchanters and sorcerers or
mystical guides<br>
to tell us what to do. Conversely, if we, with our insecurities, fears
and abdication of<br>
personal responsibility, turn to astrologers, fortune-tellers and
mediums, we displace<br>
God from our lives; and remain "incomplete" with Him -- and
with ourselves.<br><br>
YL</font></body>
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