The word mazal (מזל) is sometimes translated as “luck,”1 something that happens perchance. In fact, its literal translation is “constellation of stars,” as a person’s fortune can be said to depend on the stars. Mazal would then imply a kind of fate or some form of predetermination, alluding to the idea that what happens on earth is initiated and orchestrated by higher, cosmic forces.

Mazal tov (“good luck”) is the colloquial Jewish expression of congratulations, the traditional felicitation given at a wedding, bat mitzvah, or brit. It is also the standard response to hearing good news from or about another person. But what does this familiar Jewish expression really mean?

According to the Jewish view, everything that happens on earth is first articulated in the heavens. As the Midrash2 teaches: “R. Simon said: ‘There isn’t a single herb or spice that doesn’t have a constellation in the heavens that strikes it and tells it to grow.’”

There are a number of examples of Jewish astrological tradition throughout the Talmud. One fascinating passage3 describes various temperaments likely to be found among people born during various hours of the day. These personality traits and dispositions are specific to the qualities associated with the dominant planets at the time of their birth.

“One who was born under the sun will be a radiant person; he will eat from his own and drink from his own, and his secrets will be exposed. If he steals, he will not succeed.

“One who was born under Venus will be a rich and promiscuous person. Why? Because fire was born [during the hour of Venus].

“One who was born under Mercury will be an enlightened and expert person, because Mercury is the sun’s scribe [it is closest to the sun].

“One who was born under the moon will be a person who suffers pains, who builds and destroys, and destroys and builds. Who eats not from his own and drinks not from his own, and whose secrets are hidden. If he steals, he will succeed [like the moon, which constantly changes form, whose light is not its own, and which is at times exposed and at times hidden].

“One who was born under Saturn will be a person whose thoughts are for naught. And some say that everything that others scheme about him will be for naught.

“One who was born under Jupiter [tzedek] will be a righteous person [tzadkan]....

“One who was born under Mars will be one who spills blood. R. Ashi said: He will be either a bloodletter or a thief, a slaughterer of animals or a circumciser.”

Furthermore, the Talmud tells of numerous Sages whose destinies were informed by Chaldean astrologers. For instance, R. Akiva was told by an astrologer that his daughter would pass away on her wedding day.4 R. Yosef declined the position of head of the Rabbinic academy because astrologers informed him that he was destined to pass away two years after taking the position.5

The Talmud clearly associates the concept of mazal not with random luck but with a kind of astrologically-based predetermination, as in “The blessings of health, children, and livelihood do not depend on merit; rather, they depend on fate (mazal).”6

Indeed, the Jerusalem Talmud7 recounts a fascinating custom practiced by the Amalekites that highlights the power of mazal. “They would place soldiers at the frontline on their birthday in the belief that a soldier would not fall easily on his birthday.” From this the Talmud derives that a person’s mazal is dominant on their birthday.

Interestingly, mazal is an etymological cognate of the word nozal, which means a downward flow.

This follows the Jewish belief that every person has a reservoir of spiritual energy in the higher realms8 that can either remain “above” in the ethereal realms as dormant potential, or descend “below” and translate into actual physical blessings in the form of children, health, wealth, or other blessings, depending on our actions and input.

For instance, Rosh Hashanah is the day of judgment when our annual allotment of good fortune for the coming year is determined. However, the Talmud9 explains that although our future was already decided on Rosh Hashanah, we continue to pray each day of the year to assure that our allotted fortune will reach us and manifest in a concrete and positive manner. If it was decreed, for example, that a certain amount of rain would fall throughout the year, the same volume of rain could fall all at once as a destructive deluge, or it could be spread over time in a manner of blessing—meaning, in the right increments to ensure that the crops will flourish.

Herein lies the Jewish twist on ancient astrology: Our “fate” may be decreed “above,” but our “destiny” is determined by our actions “below.” The concept of mazal is the active mediation between these two dimensions, the manner in which what is decreed in the heavens is brought down and materialized on earth in the form of blessing or its opposite.

The idea that blessing is not a function of luck but of actualizing one’s heavenly destiny is alluded to in many Jewish sources.

For instance, Chasidut10 states that the Hebrew word for blessing, brachah, is etymologically associated with the word hamavrich, to lower down, as in,11 “if one has lowered a vine down into the ground.” Other Jewish sources12 understand the word brachah to be a derivative of the word breichah, a reservoir or pool, referring to the above mentioned spiritual reservoir of potential blessing that exists in the upper realms and can be channeled into this world through our positive actions.

The expression mazal tov, therefore, is not an acknowledgment of one’s good luck; rather, it expresses our wish that what is stored up in heaven should manifest on earth in a manner of revealed goodness.13

It is important to note that some Jewish sages reject the notion that Judaism subscribes to any form of astrology whatsoever. In the aforementioned Talmudic passage that discusses the temperaments determined by the planets under which one was born, R. Yochanan14 concludes that, ultimately, “the Jewish people are not governed by mazal.” Maimonides15 seems to understand R. Yochanan’s words to mean not only that “Jews are not governed (and their fate is not predetermined) by astrology” but that “there is no place at all for astrology in the Jewish faith.”

Unlike Maimonides, however, the predominant stance among Talmudic commentators (see Rashi and Tosafot16 ) is that Judaism does accept the governance of astrology to a certain degree, with the caveat that while mazal does have an influence, we are not powerlessly bound by that influence and can, in fact, change the outcome or expression of that influence through prayer and by overcoming our inclinations. If one transforms themselves in some substantial way, they can transform their predetermined fate and manifest their higher destiny.

Based on this perspective, the accepted view is that, while there are natural and cosmic forces at play in our lives, we always retain the freedom and ability to choose our own paths and influence our own outcomes. Reflecting this idea, the Talmud17 relates a conversation between Abraham and G‑d, in which Abraham tells G‑d, “I looked into my astrological destiny, and I am not fit to have a son.” To which G‑d replies, “Emerge from your astrology, for Israel is not governed by mazal.” Appropriately, G‑d then tests and refines Abraham’s faith and character until he is given a new name by G‑d, indicating that he has sufficiently transformed himself enough to change his destiny, at which point he does indeed have children.

Similarly, the Talmud tells us18 that R. Akiva’s daughter, mentioned above, did not end up dying on her wedding day, because, while everyone else was preoccupied with the wedding feast, she took notice of a poor person in need and gave up her own portion of food to feed him.

Based on the above, one’s mazal is not something to be passively received but proactively achieved.

When we wish each other mazal tov, therefore, it is not an expression of surrendering to random luck or faceless forces beyond our control. Instead, it is a wish that our story, as written in the stars, translates on earth in ways that are positive, just, and life-enhancing.

The Big Idea

According to the Jewish take on astrology, one’s mazal is not simply a matter of chance but a matter of choice.

It Happened Once

R. Akiva’s daughter once went to the market to buy things for the home. As she passed a group of stargazers and fortune tellers, one of them said to the other: “See that lovely girl? What a dreadful calamity is awaiting her! She is going to die on the very day of her wedding!”19

On the night of her wedding, before retiring to bed, she removed her golden hairpin and stuck it in a crevice in the wall.

The following morning, she pulled her pin from the wall, and in doing so dragged a small but poisonous snake with it. Horrified, she realized that she had killed the snake that was lurking in the wall’s crevice when she stuck the pin into the wall the night before. What a miracle!

She heard a knock on the door. “Are you alright, daughter? I heard you scream,” her father said. Then he saw the dead snake still dangling from the pin. She told her father what happened.

“This is indeed a miracle,” R. Akiva said. “Tell me, daughter, what did you do yesterday? There must have been some special mitzvah that you performed to have been saved from this.”

“Well, the only thing that I can remember is this. Last night during the wedding feast, a poor man came in, but nobody seemed to notice him. I saw that the poor man was starving, so I took my portion of the wedding feast and gave it to him.”

Moved by his daughter’s kindness and overjoyed by her miraculous deliverance, R. Akiva stated the verse, Tzedakah delivers from death.