180. Relying on Omens

Avodas Kochavim 11:4

We are not permitted to practice soothsaying, which is something idolators do, as per Leviticus 19:26, “Do not act as a soothsayer.” “Soothsaying,” for example, is saying things like, “Since the bread fell from my mouth, or the staff fell from my hand, I will not go to such-and-such place today, because such a trip would not be successful” or “Since a fox passed on me on the right, I will not go out today because if I do, I will meet a con man.”

Soothsaying also includes those who hear a bird chirping and interpret it to mean that something will or won’t happen, or that it would be a good idea or a bad idea to do a certain thing. It also includes people who say, “Slaughter this rooster that cawed like a raven” or “Slaughter this hen that crowed like a rooster.”

It is not permitted for a person to establish omens for himself, saying, “If X happens, then I will do Y. If it doesn’t happen, then I won’t,” like Abraham’s servant Eliezer did. If a person does any of these things, acting on the basis of such signs, he is liable for the penalty of lashes.

Avodas Kochavim 11:5

Some kinds of omens are permitted, such as if a person says, “This house I built will be a good sign for me” or “This woman I married - or this animal I bought - is blessed because since I married her – or purchased it - I have become rich.” One may also consider it a good sign, when he asks a schoolchild what Biblical verse he is studying, if the child replies with a verse of blessing. These and similar such things are permitted because the person who considers them good signs did not perform or refrain from performing some action because of it; he only considered things that have happened to be good signs.