סוגים של עבודה זרה

(10) Forcing your sons and daughters to walk through a fire path is a form of ע׳׳ז. An augur is someone who believes they can interpret G-d's will by studying the flight of birds. The noises, direction, groups, and kinds of birds were supposedly able to determine certain aspects of G-d. A soothsayer is one who thinks they are able to see the future. A diviner is one who believes that a person can have the characteristics of G-d. A sorcerer is someone who claims or is believed to have magic powers, a wizard.

(11) This is a form of ע׳׳ז which also falls under the category of believing in other G-ds. It is the practice of speaking to the dead and witches preforming spells.

(12) Anyone who does these actions, Hashem is dispossessing them. The actions are extremely abhorrent.

I got the idea that only Kosher animals were brought onto the ship of Noah and forbidden to have relations. Then it goes into the listing of שבעה מצוות בני נח. After this, it discusses how details have been left out of each one. רַבִּי אַסֵּי brings up that there are other components that are not allowed that are included in the seven. We always believed they had 7 מצוות to follow but indeed have more to follow. The walking through fire was around from the time of נח!

You aren't supposed to talk to the dead. There are people who don't eat and lay in the cemetery waiting to talk to the dead people in a dream. They inquire them because they want answers to things they have asked them. Others do this well- dressed. Overall speaking to the dead is not allowed.

One comment I have is that you hear about these types of incidents occur with non- Jews but I grew up not believing in this concept. A theory is that it was once possible to communicate with the dead only with the permission of Hashem. Now we are forbidden.

It is even common today where the act of walking through a path of fire occurs as a form of ע׳׳ז.

I have never seen such a thing but I did hear of walking on hot coal and it seems similar to this.

This is something that people do in the graveyard. Pick up a bone of a dead person and if you concentrate they claim you can see things in the form of a dream. All of these things are disgracing G-d. The way its supposed to be is a man is supposed to be devoted to Hashem entirely. Whenever people take matters into their own hands and start trying to predict rely on his own crafts, he is spiritually not perfect and wrong. If you want to inquire G-d, go through a Navi; that is the reason we have them. You should listen to these men. An example is Joshua.

The people did not come to terms with Hashem or convene with a Navi when they desired to know something about their future or a question, they relied on their "other G-ds" to provide them with the answers. This is frowned upon in the eyes of Hashem. When they die, the inability of their deities, supposed other G-ds, will be displayed because they would not help them. Hashem is the only one that could.

A question I have is why anyone would suppose another G-d has the answer to your question when you can just ask the G-d that created you in the first place?

Bones happen to be a very popular form of ע׳׳ז; being able to speak to certain people or tap into certain powers.

There are multiple types of ע׳׳ז included in this mitzvah and exotic ways to carry them out. I don't quite comprehend how people can believe that bones have magic powers and choose to follow that over Hashem. Hashem has proven his existence and power lots of times so why do they even question believing in physical objects to be stronger than what Hashem is capable of!

It is enough for you to do just ONE of these things and you will be hated and disgusted by G-d. All it takes is one of these acts to defy your trust in G-d so you will be charged after just one of these are committed.

I agree with this because once you commit just one form of ע׳׳ז that's all it takes to take you off the path of G-d. By sinning here you are making a statement that some other object is capable of doing something that Hashem can't.

People would take a stick, ask it question, and expect to receive an answer. If they are stuck in a situation of uncertainty, why don't they consult G-d? Why ask a stick? This reminds me of nowadays with the toy "The Magic 8 Ball." People ask it a question and it provides you with a yes or no answer. Even though it is just a game... I am wondering if that is somewhat considered ע׳׳ז.

Connection from my Mitzvah to another time in תנ׳׳ך: It took place after the death of שמואל. It was when שאול was worried he was going to lose in a war against the פלשתים. He cried out to Hashem using the אורים בתומים and received no answer back. Now he was getting even more worried and decided to contact שמואל through a witch. She brought down his spirit in order for שאול to have the ability to ask questions. This was absolutely wrong to begin with; then we go deeper and see that this ע׳׳ז has been forbidden from the start. שאול had to disguise himself so the witch wouldn't question why the king is coming. She may think he is there to catch her in the act and kill her. Once she contacted שמואל she realized it was שאול that asked her for help. שאול convinced her not to be scared, continue, and explain what she saw. She stated she saw " a divine being that came up from the earth wearing a robe," this was indeed שמואל. After שמואל told him it was the wrong thing of him to do, leaving שאול weak on the floor it then goes on to say that he had not had a drink or eaten all day. We can connect this to the ספר החינוך we just explained stating that people who wish to contact the dead do not eat nor drink that day. שאול did that action here but we cannot judge someone so holy from our history.

The כהן גדול is only allowed to marry a virgin. If he marries anyone other than a virgin, the child will be disincluded from the nation. Here, the Mitzvah is located in the עשה section and it states that he must marry a virgin. It is stated this way because it does not use a double negative like: he's not allowed to marry someone who is not a virgin. It is implied when speaking about the עשה so why bring up the לא עשה (aka לאו)? Since it is extreme, no one other than a virgin will be acceptable for a כהן גדול.

In this interview, Selena Gomez is stating her beliefs in speaking to the dead. She has an app that detects if there are ghosts in the room and alerts you with what kinds. So many people look up to this celebrity and all that she stands for, how can we swallow this? After doing all this research, I find it hard to accept that there are individuals that still believe in these kinds of practices. Just from listening to Selena speak forced me to realize that people can be gullible enough to trust the app rather than written proof stating it isn't accurate.

This is someone who believes he is a Navi and offering his "insight" on what he sees will happen to you in your future. It is the practice of sorcery. What I took away from this image is that people are walking by him in the street; no one is coming to him for advice so indeed there are few people who believe in it.

This cartoon is supporting the Rashi that speaks about the stick guiding you in the direction you should take. Here, the lamb pieces will give the answer to the mens question. I cannot comprehend how people can rely on these practices and trust them to lead them to make the right choice.

https://www.yutorah.org/sidebar/lecture.cfm/744249/rabbi-ephraim-meth/may-we-send-our-sons-to-hogwarts-part-iii-six-types-of-permissible-wizardry-mini-chabura-daf-68-/

How are people allowed to practice magic, isn't it asur? There are six ways that are permitted. One example that is from ספר יצירה is that it's not really magic. They are just studying the Torah and Hashem creates something for them. Another example is when a חכם looked at someone and they burned up. Is that magic? No, it was just Hashem causing a punishment to occur because a person did something wrong. This implies something has been done by the חכם but indeed it was Hashem. The second type that is allowed is when Rabbi Akiva had to learn it so he was able to judge a person who violated these laws, properly. Also, if witches need to be brought to trial, there need to be people educated in the field. In order for it to be taught to these individuals, it needed to be demonstrated. There are many circumstances that need to be addressed first, it is complex. The third type, mentioned by רא׳׳ש , is if it was preformed for no personal benefit. Since witchcraft is usually for people to use for themselves, if it is for an issue that includes sickness or the people as a whole, it is mutar. As long as there is no selfish intentions. The fourth is you are allowed to ask these witches questions, but not allowed to ask them to preform any spells for you. The fifth type of situation surprised me but it says in the גמרא that if you find that something that worked, it is permitted. However, with this you are not allowed to trick anyone into thinking it is real and occurring, since most of it is nonsense anyway. You may not lead anyone to act in a foolish manner. When explained deeper we see that people may think something is magic like a cure for a sickness; but indeed it is just us as people not able to comprehend the reason Hashem is allowing for something to take place. People tend to pretend it is supernatural but it is not since magic is not real. The fifth kind of "magic" that is allowed is magic at birthday parties. You would think since you are passing it off as real magic it is not permitted. It can be as long as you make it clear to your audience that your skill is just speed and you are not creating any false illusions because then you will be violating trickery (mentioned previously). The final type is in case of a life threatening situation, you are allowed to preform these practice (Example: to trick an animal so it will not harm you).