Introduction to Attempt #4: The Sefirot

In our last post, we concluded that we cannot utilize astrology as a means within Judaism to convey the relationship between God and man. Thus, it cannot be used as a basis for constructing a Jewish Narnia. Nonetheless, our latest attempts have been along the right track. What we need is an alternate construct, one that is authentically and a priori Jewish, that categorizes the different modes in which God interacts with man. A series amplifying those categories could then serve as a blueprint for a Jewish Narnia. 

There are two such constructs that come to mind. The first is the names of God. While modern academic scholars pointed to the names of God as proof to multiple authorships and manuscripts in the Torah, our Sages and great commentators properly realized that the names of God reflected different modes of God’s interaction with man. In fact, God Himself says this to Moses when informing him of the future Redemption from Egypt. Thus, the different books could manifest the themes of Judgement, Mercy, Omniscience, Almighty, and so forth. 

The Kabbalists, however, have already given us a similarly comprehensive categorization, and one which I think fits better with our goals: the Sefirot. The Sefirot have been defined and redefined numerous times over the centuries, and are taken to reflect God’s Will, His character traits, the forces He used in creation of the world, and the portals of the human soul which themselves mirror Godliness. 

Specifically, one could imagine seven books each of which reflect the seven “lower” Sefirot: Kindness, Strength, Beauty, Eternity, Splendor, Foundation, and Kingship. Each of these Sefirot has attached to them great Jewish personalities, biblical verses, one of the plagues that afflicted Egypt, part of the Creation story, a color and more. The richness of the kabbalistic and chassidic literature guarantee a myriad of themes that could be used to build the stories. 

Perhaps most importantly, while a Jewish construct, the Sefirot are universal. All of humanity can resonate with the themes manifested by the Sefirot. Hence, an author could write an unmistakably Judaic series that could attract universal acclaim while teaching the foundations of how a Jew should relate to God.

Israel Has No Mazal

Our first two attempts to formulate a Jewish Narnia were based on Talmudic statements regarding the personality traits of those born under the influence of various astronomical orbs. For our third attempt we studied the numerous ways in which the Sages utilized the signs of the zodiac to symbolize Jewish concepts. However, if our goal is to write a Jewish Narnia that reflects through story how God interacts with His creations (or at a minimum with His Chosen People), there is much evidence advising us to look elsewhere. 

Immediately after the Talmudic horoscopes regarding the nature of those born on a given day or under the influence of a given planet, the Talmud (Shabbat 156a) records an argument as to whether the Jews are subject to ‘mazal,’ loosely translated as astrological signs or luck. The greatest of the Talmudic scholars believed that there is no such concept as mazal with respect to Jews and this opinion appears to be the more accepted one by later generations. 

The rationale behind this statement is straightforward. Belief that our lives are governed by the stars would appear to nullify the efficacy of prayer and omnipotence of God. Furthermore, the Torah’s prohibitions against magic, divination, and necromancy (Deuteronomy 18:9-15) point to the inappropriateness of astrology and its related beliefs. 

Of course, the Talmudic assertion in no way closed the book on this subject. Many of the Medieval Sages still take the Talmud’s astrology at face value but state that its dictates can be changed via prayer. On the other side of the spectrum, those of the Maimonidean school insist that the entire concept is false and belief in any influence of the stars borders on apostasy. A modern, rationalist viewpoint is forwarded by R’ Yisrael Lipschutz (commentary on the last mishna in Kiddushin). He rejects out of hand the notion of an astrological influence in favor of genetics, family wealth, and the circumstances of one’s birth, combined with inscrutability of God’s decision to arrange that each person would be born under their particular circumstances. The Talmud’s decision to record these astrological beliefs, says R’ Lipschutz, is, like with all aggadic statements, to teach us a variety of moral lessons but not that they should be taken at face value. 

The casting of astrological influence as (at most) changeable for a Jew, speaks to the inappropriateness as a means of reflecting God’s relationship with humanity. Even those Sages who claim the truth of Jewish astrology would acknowledge that it is ‘natural,’ simply the way God created the universe. Having a relationship with God allows one to circumvent or undermine this natural influence. Certainly the more rationalist approach would claim that belief in astrology is more akin to idol worship. Thus, writing a Jewish Narnia with Jewish astrology as its underlying theme is at best missing the point and at worse bordering blasphemy. 

This conclusion, however, puts us back to square one. What is the overarching theme within which we can build a Jewish Narnia? We’ll try again in our next post.