Ma•zal tov (in Yiddish it is Ma•zel Tov) is perhaps the most common Hebrew blessing that there is. Most people use it innocently, without knowing what it really means. Truly, the connotation that is known to most Hebrew speakers and to non-speakers who use the expression is merely ‘congratulations,’ ‘well done,’ and, of course, ‘good luck.’
This ‘luck,’ however, is not just resting in the hands of haphazard chance. It is rather an astrological wish. Ma•zal is not luck; it is another name for the mystical power of the zodiac. This blessing is literally a wish for a favorable constellation or zodiac.
“And he deposed the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places around Jerusalem; also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven”
The issue is somewhat delicate. It is true that the zodiac, the planets, and the stars were connected to Greek and Roman mythological gods. It is also true that they were worshipped. However these connections and the naming of stars, such as Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus and Pluto are all arbitrary, man-made notions. On the other hand, the meaningful and mysterious movement, constellations, and even aspects between the planets and stars are not man related and designed solely by God. Therefore, the belief that all of these mysterious movements of planets have an effect on one’s life is not contradicting the Bible. In fact it supports it. The problem is in attempting and claiming to understand the ‘whole business’ of the stars, and directing other people’s lives in light (or in ‘dark’) of this ‘understanding.’ The Bible mocks it and calls this practice witchcraft. And, indeed, as much as astrology wants to become a ‘science’ it is still trying to meddle in the mysteries that God wanted to keep for himself.
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong to us…”
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