proposes a different astrological system, one that seems totally pagan, having no relationship to Genesis. For Chanina, everything depends on which planet was in the ascendant at the hour of one's birth. (The Koren edition helpfully supplies a chart to determine which planet reigns over each hour of each day.) If you were born, say, at noon on Tuesday, you're in luck--your planet is Jupiter, whose Hebrew name is tzedek, and so you will be a just person, a tzadkan. If, on the other hand, you were born at 3 a.m. on Wednesday, your planet is Mars, and you "will be one who spills blood"--either a criminal or a ritual slaughterer or even a mohel.To us, this kind of fatalistic thinking seems utterly contrary to the spirit of ethical monotheism.
from Adam Kirsch: Tablet: Written in the Stars (Or Not)
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