A Jewish Alternative: Attempt 3 (Part 2)

In our last iteration attempting to find a model for a Jewish Narnia we explored several of the themes the Sages saw manifest in the zodiac. Specifically, we saw how they reflect the themes of the months during which each zodiac  is ascendant. We noted that each of the 12 tribes corresponded to a sign of the zodiac and that each of the zodiac had a certain merit thereby causing it to be an unfavorable time for Haman’s attempt to destroy the Jewish nation.   

The zodiac reflects additional themes explained as midrashic (Pesikta Rabbati 27) rationales given by God as to why the Temple could not be destroyed in that month. “God desired to destroy [the Temple] in the first month. The merit of Isaac arose and said, ‘Master of the Universe! Recall the Binding, when I was bound before you (and almost sacrificed by Abraham), and gave ram, in place of a ram [Aries being the sign for the first month].” God was unable to destroy the Temple in the second month due to the merit of Abraham who ran to the cattle (Taurus) to prepare meat for his guests. For the third month it was the merit of Jacob who was a twin [Gemini]. The fourth month was not possible either due to the merit of Moses who was saved from the water (similar to Cancer, who is a beast created from water). Finally, in the fifth month represented by a lion (Leo) God destroyed the Temple which is compared to a lion, smote Israel (Judea) which is compared to lion, because they disregarded the words of the prophets whose message is compared the roar of a lion. 

Another midrash interprets the creation of the zodiac as symbolic of the actions of man (Pesikta Rabbati 20). And a final one (Tanchuma Ha’azinu 1) invokes the zodiac to define the stages of a man’s life. All of these are compiled in the below table. 

Sign of Zodiac	Hebrew Name	Hebrew Month	Tribe	Merit Haman	Merit Temple	Man’s Actions	Man’s Life
Aries	Lamb	Nissan	Judah	Passover	Isaac	Light	newborn
Taurus	Ox	Iyyar	Issachar	Joseph / sacrifices	Abraham	Angel of darkness	Grows in strength
Gemini	Twins	Sivan	Zebulun	Peretz & Zerach	Jacob	Man	Gains evil inclination
Cancer	Crab	Tamuz	Reuben		Moses	Pinches from crack	Weakness (to sin)
Leo	Lion	Av	Shimon	Daniel (from tribe of Judah)		Strong like a lion	Strong versus sin
Virgo	Virgin	Elul	Gad	Chananya, Mishael, & Azarya		Rejoices in marriage	Sins and weakens
Libra	Scales	Tishrei	Ephraim	Job		Actions weighed	Sins and is judged
Scorpio	Scorpion	Cheshvan	Menashe	Ezekiel		Sins and sent to hell	Sent to hell
Sagittarius	Bow	Kislev	Benjamin	Joseph		They seek mercy, shot from hell	Repents, shot from hell
Capricorn	Kid (Goat)	Tevet	Dan	Jacob		Leaps out like a kid	Becomes soft and clean
Aquarius	Bucket	Shevat	Asher	Moses		God purifies man	Man is purified
Pisces	Fish	Adar	Naftali			Israel not ruled by signs (like fish)	Grows in joyous pleasure

The above table provides useful themes to model God’s interactions with man and, perhaps, as a basis for a Jewish based Narnia. 

  

However, there is a fundamental problem with using the planets or the zodiac as our themes. You can already see it in the Table. We’ll discuss in our next post.