In this week's parshah we read that Pharoah's astrologers predicted in advance that the blood of the Israelites would be shed. How can this be reconciled with the Torah's condemnation of divination and the statement that ''Jews are not under the influence of mazal''?
Rafael Castro
Gavi, Italy
Although the Gemara states (Shabbos 156a) that Jews are "above the Mazalos" and what happens to them is not necessarily governed by astrology, nevertheless Hash-m does not change what is "programmed" into the astrological future of the world so simply. Only if a person is extremely worthy (such as Avraham Avinu), is his astrology "overriden" (Tosfos ibid.).
In addition, if the astrology can be overridden in a manner that does not contradict it outright, that is done rather than totally annulling the astrologically predicted events. This is why Hash-m had the Jews "negate" the predictions of blood-spilling by spilling the blood of the Passover sacrifices, and through performing circumcision (Kerisis 9a, Rashi to Shemos 10:10, 12:6).
Nevertheless, the Jews sinned in the desert, and the prediction also came true in its more literal sense (although the nation as a whole was spared, and only the generation that sinned died in the desert).
M. Kornfeld