Stars and Shooting Stars: Is My Book Cover Kosher?

Question

I have been working for the last three years on writing a novel based on Rabbi Travis’s Torah series “Thanking Hashem When Things Look Bad.” Boruch Hashem, after much work, we finished the manuscript, hired a top designer to produce a stunning cover, and were finally ready to go to print…or so we thought.

Our shailah relates to the cover of the book. The top half of the cover has the title of the book, Yedidya, written on a dark blue background of a star-filled night sky. It is not an actual photograph, but rather an artistic impression representing a dark starry sky. The picture, besides being striking, relates to the plot of our novel, and we believe that it will deepen the reader’s connection with the story and its characters.

However, immediately before printing, Feldheim Publishers, who are distributing the book, asked us to investigate a possible halachic problem related to depicting stars.

Note that in addition to regular stars, the cover features a shooting star. A shooting star, sometimes referred to as a meteorite, is not really a star. Rather, it is a large piece of rock or debris that burns up as it enters the earth’s atmosphere.

We ask that the rov examine our cover design and give a halachic ruling about this depiction of stars and shooting stars. Is our current cover permitted? In general, what are the parameters for forbidden images of stars and other celestial bodies?

Thank you.

Mrs. Naomi Elbinger, co-author of Yedidya

Rav Auerbach 

The Torah (Shemos 20:20) teaches that you should not make a representation of anything that is “with Me.” The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 43a, Rosh Hashanah 24a) explains that this verse teaches us that one should not make a model or a picture of a celestial body that includes the sun, moon or stars. This halacha is cited by the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 141:4). 

Contextual Clues

In order to be included in the above prohibition, the picture has to be an accurate and faithful representation of what people think of as a depiction of a celestial body. This representation must come from the celestial entity itself and not from contextual clues. Therefore, even though a dark blue-sky background indicates that the white dots and streaks that appear are stars, this does not place this picture under the Torah prohibition against making depictions of celestial bodies.

In order for a picture to be problematic, it must be extremely clear to the viewer what this drawing represents. It is not enough that an adult can recognize that this is a celestial entity. Even a young child must be able to see that this is one of the celestial entities that Chazal outlined as prohibited.

Why is a child the deciding factor in these types of issues? A child has a mabat amiti, an objective opinion, of how the picture really looks, without bringing in all of the halachic considerations; he is not thinking about the Shach and the Taz, only the picture. We find a similar halacha regarding questions vis-a-vis the kashrus of letters of a Sefer Torah, regarding which we consult with a child to get his view of how the letter really looks.

As far as the sun and moon are concerned, the picture must be an accurate and faithful rendition of how they actually appear. Recently, a child saw a picture of the moon and asked me, “What is a banana doing in the sky?” As long as children cannot recognize this picture as the moon, it would not be forbidden to make it.

Twinkling Stars

What is considered to be an accurate and faithful depiction of a star? Since we see stars as twinkling, there must be some indication of this effect, which is generally accomplished by adding points or rays of light to the picture. Without these additions, the picture looks like a dot in the sky and not a star, and is not forbidden to be drawn (see Yad Haketanah, Hilchos Avodah Zarah, Ch. 3).

According to the above parameters, we are left with a seeming paradox. On one hand, it is permitted to take a photograph of a starry sky or even the Milky Way galaxy. Since there is no indication of twinkling in these pictures, and the stars merely appear as dots in the sky, it is not included in the above prohibition.

The drawing I was shown of stars from a children’s book had indications of twinkling in it. Since this picture portrays the way a star appears to us in the sky, even though it is not the way that an actual star looks, it is still included in the prohibition. The Torah prohibits drawing twinkling stars.

Shooting Stars

One of the conditions to be included in the prohibition of depicting a celestial entity is that only shemshei shomayim, the heavenly bodies specified by Chazal as servants of Hashem, are forbidden, such as the sun and the moon, and not the aurora borealis. As you mentioned, a shooting star is only a large piece of rock and not a complete celestial body that Chazal indicated as being problematic.

Based on all of the above, we can permit you to use the existing book cover for the following two reasons: Since the stars on the cover of your book are only dots and streaks and do not have indications of twinkles on them, there is no problem leaving it the way it is. Even though the way the shooting star is portrayed is accurate and faithful, since it is not a celestial entity, it is not included in the prohibition.

After we have established that your book cover is one hundred percent kosher, I would like to express that I am very happy to hear about the publication of your new book, which teaches emunah even during times of struggle and crisis. Teaching Klal Yisroel that “Kol mah d’ovid Rachmana letav ovid,” that everything that Hashem does is for the best, is certainly an extremely important goal. I give Mrs. Elbinger and Rabbi Travis a brocha to have great success with this book and their efforts to strengthen emunah.