Q: Our family immigrated from Russia and we have various customs that were common in Eastern Europe. I don’t know whether these have Jewish origins, or if they are permitted. For example, when a completely black cat crosses our path, it is considered a bad omen, and we make sure to change our path, as otherwise, we fear it will bring us danger. Similarly, if we leave the house and remember we’ve forgotten something, it is forbidden to return, as it brings bad luck. Instead, we must take a short detour, and only then return. It is also forbidden to whistle in the house, because whistling causes a lack of money. We also avoid sitting at the corner of the table because the person sitting there will not marry for seven years. Before going on a trip, after packing all the luggage, we sit in silence for at least a minute, so that harmful spirits think we are still at home, and will not harm us.
A: These customs are forbidden. In fact, these customs are prohibited because of the “divination” prohibition (Minachash), as it is stated:
“There shall not be found among you… a diviner, a soothsayer, or a sorcerer” (Deuteronomy 18:10).
It is also said:
“You shall not eat on the blood, you shall not practice divination or soothsaying” (Leviticus 19:26).
A diviner is one who believes without logic that certain events are bad omens, and when these events occur, believes they and actions leading to them must be avoided. Examples of this are found in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 65b): “If bread fell from his mouth, or a staff dropped from his hand, or a raven called out when he began his journey, or a deer stopped on his way, or a snake crossed on his right, or a fox on his left”.
Anyone who refrains from their path or from actions due to such omens is violating the prohibition of divination. Therefore, it is forbidden to believe in superstitions that lack logical basis, and act upon them.
The Roots of Superstitions in the Practices of Sorcerers
As a general rule, superstitions were created by individuals with mystical intuition, often sorcerers, who felt that certain things hinted at danger, or success. Sometimes the divination was based on a natural feeling, such as the belief that a person who began their business day by paying a high tax, might be depressed and fail in their business that day. The diviners deduced that paying taxes at the start of the day caused mystical forces to harm the person, and thus, they instructed to always avoid paying taxes at the beginning of the day, week, or month.
However, Jews are commanded to believe in the Torah and the commandments, which uplift the person and make them good and just, adding blessing to the world, and not to turn to superstitions that lack logical foundations. Even when diviners occasionally succeeded in predicting the future, they did not see the full picture, and therefore, one who follows them, even if they benefit in the short term, ultimately loses twice. First, relying on their guidance prevents the person from considering rational options that would bring them more blessing. Second, following them focuses all their attention, including their spiritual attention, on external success, and leads them away from the Torah, whose guidance is meant to uplift a person morally and add blessing to their life, both in this world and the next.
The Prohibition of Counting Jews
Q: Are there not customs in Judaism that lack logic, and are meant to bring good luck or avoid bad luck, such as the custom of not counting Jews?
A: This is not a custom, but a commandment from the Torah. When it is necessary to count Jews, they should not count themselves, but should each contribute a ‘half-shekel’ donation for the Temple, and then they count the half-shekels, knowing their number, which prevents a plague from affecting them (Exodus 30:11-12). This is how Saul counted his soldiers, using pebbles, or broken pottery (1 Samuel 11:8; 15:4). This is because “the counting is controlled by the evil eye” (Rashi). This happened with King David when he ordered the census of Israel, and a plague broke out as a result (2 Samuel 24:2-4; Berakhot 62b). Apparently, David believed the prohibition against counting Israel was only relevant when they left Egypt, when it was a novelty that Israel was a great nation, and the Torah commanded not to count them directly. However, the prohibition applies for all generations (Ramban and Kli Yakar on Exodus 30:12).
Reason for the Commandment
The reason that counting leads to a plague in Israel is that the Jewish nations’ root is in the higher realms, above and beyond the accepted measure and counting in this world (see Numbers Rabbah 2:17). When they are counted like anything else in the world, their root is disregarded, and this harms their vitality. Only when there is a practical need in this world, is it permissible to count them for that specific time, as was the counting of the Israelites during the time of Moses, which was done for military purposes related to the conquest of the Land (in the sections of Numbers, and Pinchas). Even then, they were counted via a commandment, such as the half-shekel, where the counting was based on the commandment they were fulfilling, not on themselves.
How to Count Participants for a Minyan or Hikers on a Trip
Since it is forbidden to count Jews by their heads, many people customarily count individuals for a minyan, or a trip, by reciting verses. For example, the verse “Save Your people, and bless Your inheritance; shepherd them and carry them forever” (Psalms 28:9) which in Hebrew has ten words, and each person is assigned one word. When the verse is completed, it is understood that a minyan is present (Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 15:3). One may also count mentally (Chesed Le’alafim 55:10), or by counting fingers or toes, but not the head (Torah Lishma, 386).
Population Census
The State of Israel, like other countries, periodically conducts population censuses for organizing the economy, taxes, military, education, healthcare, transportation, and more. Even before the establishment of the state, the question arose whether public leaders were permitted to conduct this census. Rabbi Uziel permitted it because the censuses are done for a purpose, and not by personal counting, but through another method, namely forms (Mishptei Uziel 4, General Matters 2).
Today, this question no longer arises, as the number of residents is known to the state authorities through a close monitoring of births and deaths recorded in the Ministry of the Interior’s computers. The primary purpose of current censuses is not to determine the population size, but for additional statistical data, and there is no prohibition in this.
Drawing the Tablets of the Covenant with Rounded Upper Side
About a year ago, I addressed a question regarding the cover image in my “Peninei Halakha” books, depicting the Tablets of the Covenant with a rounded upper side. Some claim that they should not be depicted this way, as the Tablets were square, and the rounded depiction was derived from the customs of non-Jews. While I explained that the main halakhic ruling permits making the upper side of the Tablets rounded, people still ask why not heed the opinion of those who argue against this.
Casting Aspersions on the Early Authorities
A: The reason we need not follow their opinion is because doing so would be “casting aspersions on the early authorities.” For many generations, Jews in synagogues around the world adorned the Holy Ark, or the curtain, in the shape of two tablets with a rounded upper side.
Similarly, we learned about liturgical poems where one prays to the angels, such as “Merciful ones, bring our mercy before the Merciful One,” where many great rabbis, both early and later authorities, ruled it is forbidden to say such prayers, as prayer should only be directed to God, as the Rambam established in the fifth principle of the Thirteen Principles of Faith: “To God alone is prayer due, and no one else is worthy of prayer.” Among the rabbis were Rabbi Yaakov Antoli; Maharam from Rotenburg, Mabit, Maharal (Netiv Avodah 12), Korban Netanel (Rosh Hashanah, end of first chapter), and ‘Teshuva Me’ahavah’ (1:60). Nonetheless, Jews are accustomed to follow the opinion of the majority of the rabbis who saw merit in these prayer formulas, one reason being not to cast aspersions on the early authorities who practiced saying them. The Chatam Sofer (Orach Chaim 166) wrote that he does not oppose the public saying these prayers, but personally, he extends the previous section of prayer until the congregation finishes the poem.
Indeed, there is a dispute about whether the prohibition of changing a custom out of respect for the early authorities applies only in matters of marriage and family lineage, as the aspersions are also cast upon their descendants. Some argue that even in other matters, it is forbidden to change out of respect for the early authorities (see, Talmudic Encyclopedia, Volume 37, “laz”:4). However, in this case, since the opinion of the stringent ones is not particularly strong, as explained further, there is no need to be concerned with their opinion, and cast aspersions on the early authorities.
The Stringent Opinions and Their Rejection
In recent years, two rabbis opposed the custom of rounding the upper side of the Tablets of the Covenant. The first, in 1963, was Rabbi Eliyahu Katz (Devarot Eliyahu, Orach Chaim 1:96), and after him, the Lubavitcher Rebbe (in a talk from 1981). Their claim was that this custom was learned from Christian imagery, while the Tablets in the Ark were rectangular.
However, for several reasons, their opinion was not accepted by many rabbis.
First, their position assumes that the Tablets should be made exactly as they were in the Tabernacle, but according to halakha, we do not find this requirement, and on the contrary, it is forbidden to make items exactly as the Temple’s vessels. Those who want to replicate them must make slight changes (see Avodah Zarah 43b; Sefer HaChinuch 254; Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 141:8).
Second, it is doubtful whether the Tablets were truly rectangular, as it can be learned from the Zohar (Section 2, p. 84:2), that the upper side was rounded because they were formed from two drops of dew. Rabbi Avraham Azulai, the author of Chesed Le’Avraham, in his explanation of the Zohar Ohr HaChama, wrote that the Tablets were partly rounded, and partly rectangular.
In practice, even after hearing the arguments of these rabbis, in tens of thousands of synagogues in Israel and abroad, the custom of rounding the upper side of the Tablets remains unchanged. This was also written by the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu (Responsa HaRav HaRashi, 1988-1989, Siman 198), and it was reported in the name of Rabbi Elyashiv (Yisah Yosef, Orach Chaim 3:36). It was also written in Responsa Mishneh Halakhot (15:168), and Even Yisrael (8:57).
This article appears in the ‘Besheva’ newspaper, and was translated from Hebrew.