astrology. The Arba'ah Turim, an early code of Jewish law, brings the views of Maimonides. Joseph Karo in his commentary "Beit Yosef" quotes Nahmanides, whereas in his code the Shulkhan Arukh, he rules that consulting an astrologer is forbidden, without addressing the question of whether astrology is effective. Moshe Chaim Luzzatto Moshe Chaim Luzzatto discusses the influence of stars on humanity and events on earth. He gave two reasons for the existence of stars and planets. The first is that stars and planets maintain the existence of all physical things on earth, acting as the means by which spiritual forces are transmitted to physical entities. The second is that events on earth are also initiated through planetary and stellar activity. Luzzatto states that each earthly phenomenon is assigned to a specific star, which controls it. Quoting the Talmudic dictum in Shabbos 156a – "for Israel, there is no mazal ("luck", literally "planet" or "constellation")", he also states that higher powers (i.e. God or angels) may overcome the influences of this system, and that they typically do so for Jews. Luzzatto notes that the laws and rules governing this system of astrological influence are extremely complex, and not easily ascertainable through direct observation; thus astrologers are rarely able to predict the future accurately or clearly. The accuracy of their predictions is further reduced by the aforementioned propensity of divine providence to intervene and override the system. This, Luzzatto states, explains the use of the word me'asher ("something") in Isaiah 47:13 ("Now let the astrologers, stargazers and fortunetellers stand up and tell you something about what will come upon you"); in Luzzatto's view, this means they can tell you something about the future, but not everything. Views in the modern era Strictures against astrology appear in the official Torah commentary of Conservative Judaism and on the official website of Reform Judaism, and a number of Conservative and Reform rabbis have written against the practice. The opinions of contemporary Orthodox rabbis are divided; some reject astrology altogether, while others continue to follow pre-modern opinions that accept the validity of astrology but limit its practice. Commenting on Deuteronomy 18:9-12, Etz Hayim, the official Torah commentary of Conservative Judaism writes "Hence the use of astrology is prohibited (BT Pesachim 113b)." Similarly, Conservative rabbi Simchah Roth commented negatively on astrology. Conservative Rabbi Aaron Kriegel writes: On the Union for Reform Judaism website Jeffrey K. Salkin derides