Commentaire de citation sur Isaïe 41:2

of Ethan the Ezrahite He, too, was one of the five musician brothers. [See above 88:1.] But our Sages (B.B. 15a) explained it as referring to our father Abraham, based on (Isa. 41:2): “Who aroused from the East (ממזרח).”

A twenty-sixth allusion to be found in these words can be gleaned from Bereshit Rabbah 44,12 on Genesis 15,5: "please look at the sky." G'd meant that Abraham should look beyond a universe governed by horoscopic influences. The words חקתי in our verse mean that if we concentrate on G'd's statutes instead of on what are perceived as the laws of nature as reflected by horoscopic influences, תלכו, "you will be able to proceed" beyond what you think is the limitation imposed on your fate by astrological factors. Abraham succeded in doing so and that is why he was able to father children although he had thought that the horoscopic constellation under which he was born made this impossible. The Torah adds: ועשיתם אתם. Isaiah 41,2 refers to צדק יקראהו לרגלו when speaking about Abraham. According to the Talmud in Shabbat 156 G'd asked Abraham if he thought that his fate was governed by the star צדק, Jupiter. Clearly, Abraham was occupied with astrology and had examined what his chances were to father children else he would not have said to G'd that He had prevented him from having them. How would he have known if not through a study of astrology? He did, however, give G'd credit for having arranged the constellations even at that stage of his development. We have to understand the words ועשיתם אתם as an instruction how to re-arrange the laws of nature in our favour through observance of G'd's statutes. This is the real meaning of the saying of our sages there that אין מזל לישראל, "the fortunes of the Jewish people are not irrevocably determined by astrological factors." Another way of interpreting the meaning of the words ועשיתם אתם, is based on Isaiah 66,22: "just as the new heaven and the new earth which I shall make will stand before Me;" G'd did not speak of something He had already made,עשיתי, but about something He would do. This teaches that Torah study and performing of its precepts lead to the creation of an entire new universe (compare Zohar volume 1 page 5). The Torah tells us that it is up to us to bring this about, i.e. ועשיתם אתם.

My own opinion is that our verse represents the true meaning of Isaiah 41,2 צדק יקראהו לרגלו, “the horoscope (planet) Jupiter He summoned at his feet.” This is the source of the Talmudic statement that the fate of the Jewish people is not dependent on any constellation of stars or planets (Shabbat 156). We have similar statements in the Midrash at the end of Song of Songs. In Song of Songs 8,14 ברח דודי ודמה לך לצבי, our sages understand this line as comparing Avraham, G’d’s beloved, to a roe, and the words על הרי בשמים at the end of that verse as a reference to heaven by reading the word בשמים instead of as besamim, as bashamayim.” This too is understood as meaning that horoscopic considerations do not apply to the fate of the Jewish people. We must distinguish between the fate of the Jewish nation as a whole which is not subject to horoscopic influences and that of the individual Israelite whose fate is subject to horoscopic influences. The discipline of astrology is a most important discipline, and our sages have never disputed its significance.