The Secret of Clairvoyance

Parshas Acharei Mos

Posted on April 21, 2010 (5779) By Rabbi Naftali Reich | Series: Legacy | Level: Beginner

 

You won’t bump into many sorcerers and wizards on the streets of New York or Chicago, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. There are innumerable reports about the feats of practitioners of the occult. Granted that a good many of them are nonsense, but some are probably true. Where there’s smoke, there has to be at least some fire.

 

The Torah acknowledges the existence of sorcerers and wizard, as well as an entire list of other occult practices, such as witchcraft, divination and necromancy, and strictly prohibits them in the strongest possible terms. Reading through this long list is an eerie, bone-chilling experience, and when it is over, we stumble across a strange juxtaposition.

 

What is the first commandment the Torah gives us after the subject of the occult comes to an end? It is the prohibition against cursing one’s father or mother. The commentators are puzzled. What is the connection between this cursing a parent and the occult?

 

Let us now consider for a moment the Torah prohibition against the occult. Imagine a person at a major crossroads in his life. Face with difficult decisions, confused, they want desperately to know what the future holds in store. So what do they do? They consult a necromancer or another occult diviner of the future. Why is this such a terrible sin?

 

The commentators explain that it is actually possible to discover the future by ascending the Kabbalistic ladder through the fifty levels of holiness to the ultimate level of divine inspiration.

 

This is actually the secret explanation of the powers of the occult. All things in the world exist in dichotomies in order to provide people with free will. If there is a holy path to clairvoyance, then the Almighty will create, as a counterpoint, an unholy path to clairvoyance. Therefore, when a person seeks clairvoyance on the unholy path of the occult, he is in essence rejecting the holy path to clairvoyance, which leads directly to the embrace of the Almighty.

 

This is what the Torah is telling us by the juxtaposition of the prohibition against cursing parents to the prohibition against the occult. Do not think for a moment that occult practices are a harmless, nondenominational spiritual experience. They are a rejection of the Almighty, just like cursing your parents instead of blessing them is a rejection of the people to whom you owe most in the world.

 

A young traveling in a distant land man sought out a famous guru. The guru, painfully thin and wearing only a stained dhoti, received the young man while sitting cross-legged on the dirt floor of his hut. He stared at the young man with large, liquid eyes and told him all about his past and his future. The young man was astounded.

 

Upon returning home, the young man visited a great sage and told him about the guru.

“Interesting,” said the sage, “but tell me, how did he treat his wife?”

 

“Well, he was a little sharp and abrupt with her.”

 

“Then he is nothing. His powers come from unholy sources. If he were a man of genuine spirituality and elevation of the soul, he would treat his wife with more consideration.”

 

In our own lives, living as we do in such an intensely materialistic society, we are witnessing a great upsurge of interest in things spiritual, as is to be expected. But unfortunately, much of this interest is being diverted into unholy channels. People who are accustomed to seeking easy fixes for material pleasure are now seeking out the occult and other ersatz spiritual experiences as easy fixes for spiritual fulfillment. We even hear about degenerate media celebrities dabbling in the Kabbalah. It is all a farce. There is no easy path to true spirituality, nor is there a substitute for it. If we want real spiritual fulfillment, we must embrace the Torah, its values and its ideals. This is the only path that leads to the Almighty Himself.

 

Text Copyright © 2010 by Rabbi Naftali Reich and Torah.org.

 

Faith Healer

Parshas Acharei Mos

Posted on May 2, 2024 (5784) By Rabbi Yochanan Zweig | Series: Rabbi Zweig on the Parsha| Level: Intermediate Beginner

“Hashem spoke to Moshe sfter the death of Aharon’s two sons, when they approached before Hashem, and they died”(16:1)

 

The Torah introduces the Yom Kippur service by mentioning the death of the sons of Aharon.¹ Although Aharon’s sons died six months earlier, Rashi, citing the Midrash, explains the need to reiterate their deaths with the following analogy: Much the same way as a doctor warns his patient against engaging in harmful activities to avoid the tragic consequences suffered by an acquaintance, Aharon, prior to entering the Holy of Holies is reminded of the death of his sons who entered in an improper manner.²

 

There is no greater tragedy than the loss of a child. A parent would spend a lifetime attempting to cope with this loss, never fully recovering from it. Why would Aharon need to be reminded of the loss of both of his sons, a tragedy which had occurred six months earlier?

 

The verse states that Hashem told Moshe to relay to his brother Aharon “al yavoh bechol eis el hakodesh…velo yamus”.³ The term “al yavoh” is usually interpreted as a prohibition, rendering the verse “he should not violate the prohibition of entering the Holy of Holies to avoid the punishment of death”. However, Rashi does not interpret the verse in the above manner, rather translating it as “al yavoh shelo yamus” – “he should not enter for it will cause his death”.⁴ Instead of the verse establishing a prohibition and the punishment for violating it, Rashi is explaining the verse as a preventative measure to avoid a negative consequence.

 

This interpretation of the verse is reflected by the Midrash’s analogy of the doctor-patient relationship.

 

The message to Aharon is that his sons’ deaths were not a result of a punitive strike against them for violating the decree of their Sovereign, but a consequence of their irresponsible action. Hashem does not impose His will upon us to satisfy His wishes. He gives us directives in the same way a doctor cares for his patients. These directives are for our well-being; we are the ultimate beneficiaries when adhering to His precepts. Hashem wants Moshe to relay this message prior to Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is the day of the year designated for expressing remorse over our indiscretions. The knowledge that Hashem’s only agenda is our well-being insures that our feelings of remorse will be truly genuine and heartfelt.