As human beings, we all want to know what the future holds.

The
uncertainty of life is frightening, and as we grow older by the day, the idea of
knowing there is a future for us, whatever it may be, can be comforting. Even as a
kid growing up in New Orleans I was fascinated by tarot card readers and fortune
tellers. They are a common sight in the French Quarter of the city, and having
grown up with them around, I even had my parents hire a tarot reader at my Bar
Mitzvah party. In retrospect, definitely a bad idea.

Our parsha, Shoftim, however comes with the divine instruction not to
inquire after the future.
The text reads:

‫ֹלֽא־יִּמ ֵ ָ֣צא ב ְָ֔ך ַמע ֲִב֥יר ְּבנֹֽו־ּוב ִּ֖תֹו ּב ֵ ָ֑אׁש ק ֵ ֹ֣סם ְק ָס ִ֔מים ְמעֹונֵ ֥ן ּו ְמנ ֵ ַ֖חׁש ּומְ כ ֵַּׁשֽף׃ וְח ֵ ֹ֖בר ָ ֑חבֶר וְׁש ֹאֵ ֥ל אֹו ֙ב‬
‫ְוי ִּדְ ע ִֹ֔ני וְד ֵ ֹ֖רׁש אֶל־ ַהּמֵתִ ֽים׃‬

Let no one be found among you who consigns a son or daughter to the fire, or who
is an augur, a soothsayer, a diviner, a sorcerer, one who casts spells, or one who
consults ghosts or familiar spirits, or one who inquires of the dead.

But what is the harm of these interpreters? The Torah does not say the reason is
because they tell lies. In fact, in the book of Shmuel, King Saul comes to a
soothsayer to find out the results of his upcoming battle with the Philistines, and
that soothsayer conjures up the ghost of the prophet Shmuel who tells him that
Saul will soon be with him in the world of spirits. This fortune telling, according to
the Tanach, does seem to be effective.

The reason the Torah does give is a bit vague:

 ‫ּתָ ִ ֣מים ּתִ ֽ ְה ֶ֔יה ִ ֖עם י ְ אֱֹלהֶ ֽיָך׃‬
You must be wholehearted with Adonai your God

What is the connection with being Tamim, wholehearted, and not consulting
fortune tellers and soothsayers? Rashi sums his understanding of it best:

‫ ֶאּלָא ּכָל מַה ּׁשֶ ּי ָב ֹא ָעלֶיָך קַ ּבֵל ּבִתְ מִימּות‬,‫ וְֹלא תַ חֲק ֹר ַאחַר ָהעֲתִ ידֹות‬,‫ ּותְ ַצּפֶה לֹו‬,‫הִתְ ַהּלְֵך עִּמֹו בִתְ מִימּות‬
‫וְָאז ּתִ ְהי ֶה עִּמֹו ּו ְל ֶחלְקֹו‬:

It seems that to consult the future according to Rashi is a violation of one’s trust in
God and what God may cause to happen. By looking into what is to come, we are
expressing an inherent lack of trust in God’s actions and care for us, as well as
God’s role in bringing forth the circumstances of the world.

This perspective amplifies the idea of God being the one who causes all things to
happen, what my teacher Rabbi Brad Artson calls the dominant Theology. Of
course, this causes theological problems as it means that God is responsible for evil
and suffering in the world as well as goodness and joy. It also means that humans
inherently have no free will if everything is ultimately under God’s control—
making our actions somewhat meaningless.

So how do we square the Torah’s demand for trusting in God with our skepticism
about God’s control of all circumstances? Well, one way to look at this is that the
Torah is telling us that God does not want us to think of existence as thoroughly
and inescapably set in stone.
If we inquire about future events, we are, in effect, ceding our free will and the
belief that we can change ourselves and the path of the world. We are denying that
we can do teshuvah, look inward, and act more in line with our divine mission.

Furthermore, if we are obsessed with what is to come, we are losing our

opportunities to live in the present moment, to experience God’s world, to connect
with God’s creatures, to answer the call of each instant. It has been said that in
reality, the past and the future doesn’t really exist except in our minds; there is
only this moment, this precious opportunity to be alive and embrace all that is
around you.

We have this opportunity this coming year at the Yeshiva, to be tamim im hashem,
whole hearted with God, by fully embracing and experiencing each day, each class,
each interaction of our learning and exploring. God wants us to be here now, as the
future doesn’t exist without our action in the present. In doing so, we effectively
affirm our belief in God as our creator and the one who gives us the opportunity to
live, beckoning us to the best decisions each day of our lives. So my blessing and
hope is that we each embrace this holy, unique opportunity to be in Jerusalem, to
learn God’s Torah, to engage with our teachers and fellow students, and to breathe
in every single day knowing how lucky we truly are to be here, now. Ken yhi
ratzon.