Pt1 Astrological Destinies in the Talmud: Influence of Birth Timings on Character (Shabbat 156a)
By Day of the Week
This is the first installment of a two part series. See outline below.
Intro
Planets in astrology - Wikipedia, with adjustments:
In astrology, planets have a meaning different from the astronomical understanding of what a planet is.
Before the age of telescopes, the night sky was thought to consist of two similar components: fixed stars, which remained motionless in relation to each other, and "wandering stars" (Hebrew: כוכב לכת), which moved relative to the fixed stars over the course of the year.
To the Ancient Greeks who learned from the Babylonians - the earliest astronomers/astrologers - this group consisted of the five planets visible to the naked eye and excluded Earth, plus the Sun and Moon.
Although the Greek term planet applied mostly to the five 'wandering stars', the Ancients included the Sun and Moon as the Sacred 7 Luminaires/7 Heavens (sometimes referred to as "Lights") making a total of 7 planets.
The ancient Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, Romans, Medieval Christians, and others thought of the 7 Classical Planets as gods, and named their 7 days of the week after them. Astrologers retain this definition of the 7 Classical Planets today.
To ancient astrologers, the planets represented the will of the deities and their direct influence upon human affairs.1
Outline
R' Yehoshua ben Levi’s Notebook (pinax): Days of the Week
Sunday: Either extremely good or extremely bad
Monday: Short-tempered
Tuesday: Rich and promiscuous
Wednesday: Wise and enlightened
Thursday: Kind
Friday: Seeker of mitzvot
Saturday: Dies on Shabbat, and will be called “holy”
R' Ḥanina: the hour of birth, not the day, determines one's nature
Sun: Radiant, self-sufficient
Venus: Rich and promiscuous
Mercury: Enlightened and expert
Moon: Suffering and resource-dependent
Saturn: Thoughts are futile
Jupiter: Just person
Mars: Blood spiller (e.g., butcher or surgeon)
R' Hanina
The Passage
R' Yehoshua ben Levi’s Notebook (pinax): Days of the Week
The Talmud cites R' Yehoshua ben Levi's notebook,2 discussing how the day of the week a person is born affects their character. Attributes are linked to the days of the Genesis creation narrative, with interpretations by sages like Rav Ashi.
According to R' Yehoshua ben Levi's notebook, birth on different days of the week influences personal characteristics as follows:3
Sunday: Extremely good or bad
Monday: Short-tempered
Tuesday: Rich and promiscuous
Wednesday: Wise and enlightened
Thursday: Kind
Friday: Seeker of mitzvot
Saturday: Dies on Shabbat, and will be holy
Sunday: Either extremely good or extremely bad
כתיב אפינקסיה דרבי יהושע בן לוי:
האי מאן דבחד בשבא, יהי גבר ולא חדא ביה.
[...]
והאמר רב אשי:
אנא ודימי בר קקוזתא הוינן בחד בשבא, אנא מלך, והוא הוה ריש גנבי!
אלא: אי כוליה לטיבו, אי כוליה לבישו.
מאי טעמא?
דאיברו ביה אור וחושך.
After citing relevant halakhot written in the notebooks of various Sages, the Gemara relates that it was written in Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi’s notebook:
One who was born on the first day of the week, Sunday, will be a person and there will not be one in him.
[...]
Didn’t Rav Ashi say:
I and Dimi bar Kakuzta were both born on the first day of the week. I became a king, the head of a yeshiva, and he became the head of a gang of thieves, clearly a negative quality.
Rather, one born on a Sunday is either completely for the best or completely for the worst.
What is the reason for this?
It is because both light and darkness were created on the first day of Creation.
Monday: Short-tempered
האי מאן דבתרי בשבא
יהי גבר רגזן.
מאי טעמא?
משום דאיפליגו ביה מיא.
One who was born on the second day of the week, Monday, will be a short-tempered person.
What is the reason for this?
It is because on that day, the second day of Creation, the upper and lower waters were divided. Therefore, it is a day of contentiousness.
Tuesday: Rich and promiscuous
האי מאן דבתלתא בשבא —
יהי גבר עתיר וזנאי יהא.
מאי טעמא?
משום דאיברו ביה עשבים.
One who was born on the third day of the week will be a rich man and a promiscuous person.
What is the reason for this?
It is because on that day, the third day, vegetation was created. It grows abundantly but is also mixed together without boundaries between the grass and the plants.
Wednesday: Wise and enlightened
האי מאן דבארבעה בשבא —
יהי גבר חכים ונהיר.
מאי טעמא?
משום דאיתלו ביה מאורות.
One who was born on the fourth day of the week will be a wise and enlightened person.
What is the reason for this?
It is because the heavenly lights were hung in the heavens on that day, and wisdom is likened to light.
Thursday: Kind
האי מאן דבחמשה בשבא —
יהי גבר גומל חסדים.
מאי טעמא?
משום דאיברו ביה דגים ועופות.
One who was born on the fifth day of the week will be a person who performs acts of kindness.
What is the reason for this?
It is because on that day the fish and fowl were created, and they do not receive their sustenance by performing work for people. They are sustained by the kindness of God alone.
Friday: Seeker of mitzvot
האי מאן דבמעלי שבתא —
יהי גבר חזרן.
אמר רב נחמן בר יצחק: חזרן במצות.
One who was born on the sixth day of the week will be a seeker.
Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said that this means that he will be one who seeks out mitzvot, as most of the activity on Friday involves preparation for Shabbat.
Saturday: Dies on Shabbat, and will be called “holy”
האי מאן דבשבתא יהי —
בשבתא ימות,
על דאחילו עלוהי יומא רבא דשבתא.
אמר רבא בר רב שילא: וקדישא רבא יתקרי.
One who was born on Shabbat
will die on Shabbat,
because they desecrated the great day of Shabbat on his behalf.
Rava bar Rav Sheila said: And he will be called a person of great sanctity because he was born on the sacred day of Shabbat.
Refer to that section for a discussion on "the astrological planets (as distinct from their astronomical counterparts) and their associations with Greek and Roman deities. In most cases, the English names of the planets are derived from Roman gods or goddesses."
On the specific topic of Jewish astrology, compare: Jewish views on astrology - Wikipedia > “In the Talmudic period”.
אפינקסיה - pinax, a Greek loanword.
The fact that it was written is quite notable, as non-Biblical rabbinic writings are famously scarcely mentioned in the Talmud, as non-biblical teachings were supposed to be only oral (as indicated by the term תורה שבעל פה, and explicitly discussed in a number of places in talmudic literature).
For another instance of an extended aggadic passage cited in the name of R’ Yehoshua ben Levi, this time homiletically interpreting the names and shapes of the Hebrew letters, one-by-one, cited with great fanfare (“The likes of which were not said even in the days of Yehoshua bin Nun”), see my piece here. Interestingly, that passage is also in tractate Shabbat, around 50 pages earlier than the one discussed in the current iece.
The passage uses a formulaic structure:
האי מאן דב[יום פלוני] בשבא
יהי גבר ][מידה.
מאי טעמא?
משום ד[ככה וככה]
"Whoever is born on [day] will be [character trait]."
Rhetorical Question (מאי טעמא?): The formulaic question, "What is the reason?".
Then, a reason is given for why this trait is associated with that day, linked to the events of Six Days of Creation.