Lately, I find myself contemplating mazal. There are so many interpretations of this word. Luck. Fortune. Constellation. Destiny. Whether or not your fortune or destiny is “written in the stars” (and yes, I have Tinie Tempah’s song playing in my head right now.) We say “mazal tov” so often- but do we think about what we are saying? We are wishing the other person good fortune, but what we are really saying is that we hope their stars align, that everything works out for them.
So I’m going to investigate some sources on mazal. I found this great piece called ‘The Art of Changing Your Mazal’ by Yosef Farhi online, and it linked to many interesting sources. I also checked out Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner’s WebShas and saw the sources he had compiled on the concept. There are additional sources here as well. So I’ll be wandering through some of them.
In Shabbat 156a, we encounter the idea that the day or hour of your birth determines your destiny. However, there is a counter idea that suggests that actually, mazal does not exist for Israelites. All the examples provided are negative ones- where one thought one would not have a child, or one was supposed to die of a snake bite. However, God can change one’s destiny- as he did for Abraham- and our good and kind actions can save us from death- as happened in the stories of the person with the bread (who saved someone else from humiliation) and Rabbi Akiva’s daughter. All of this puts me in mind of The Greatest Showman song “Rewrite the Stars.” It’s not so much that Bnei Yisrael doesn’t have a mazal as that God and/or our good actions enables us as Israelites to rewrite the stars- a power the other nations do not possess.
Nedarim 32a echoes this idea.
וַיּוֹצֵא אֹתוֹ הַחוּצָה אָמַר לְפָנָיו רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם הִסְתַּכַּלְתִּי בַּמַּזָּל שֶׁלִּי וְאֵין לִי אֶלָּא בֵּן אֶחָד אָמַר לוֹ צֵא מֵאִיצְטַגְנִינוּת שֶׁלְּךָ אֵין מַזָּל לְיִשְׂרָאֵל The Gemara expounds the verse “and He brought him outside” (Genesis 15:5): Abraham said before Him: Master of the Universe, I looked at my constellation and according to it I will have only one son, and a son has already been born to me, i.e., Ishmael. He said to him: Emerge from your astrology because there is no constellation for the Jewish people, as they are not subject to the influence of astrology.
Sotah 12b cautions that astrologers and sorcerers prophecize without understanding what they are seeing. For example, they thought Moses could be harmed through water. What they did not know was that his eventual downfall would come through Mei Merivah, so yes, he would be harmed through water- but it wasn’t the water of the Nile.
Moed Katan 28a suggests that having children, the length of one’s life-span and financial success are all based on mazal, destiny.
אָמַר רָבָא: חַיֵּי, בְּנֵי וּמְזוֹנֵי, לָא בִּזְכוּתָא תַּלְיָא מִילְּתָא, אֶלָּא בְּמַזָּלָא תַּלְיָא מִילְּתָא. דְּהָא רַבָּה וְרַב חִסְדָּא תַּרְוַיְיהוּ רַבָּנַן צַדִּיקֵי הֲווֹ, מָר מְצַלֵּי וְאָתֵי מִיטְרָא וּמָר מְצַלֵּי וְאָתֵי מִיטְרָא, Rava said: Length of life, children, and sustenance do not depend on one’s merit, but rather they depend upon fate. As, Rabba and Rav Ḥisda were both pious Sages; one Sage would pray during a drought and rain would fall, and the other Sage would pray and rain would fall.
רַב חִסְדָּא חֲיָה תִּשְׁעִין וְתַרְתֵּין שְׁנִין, רַבָּה חֲיָה אַרְבְּעִין. בֵּי רַב חִסְדָּא שִׁיתִּין הִלּוּלֵי, בֵּי רַבָּה שִׁיתִּין תִּיכְלֵי. And nevertheless, their lives were very different. Rav Ḥisda lived for ninety-two years, whereas Rabba lived for only forty years. The house of Rav Ḥisda celebrated sixty wedding feasts, whereas the house of Rabba experienced sixty calamities. In other words, many fortuitous events took place in the house of Rav Ḥisda and the opposite occurred in the house of Rabba.
בֵּי רַב חִסְדָּא סְמִידָא לְכַלְבֵי וְלָא מִתְבְּעֵי, בֵּי רַבָּה נַהֲמָא דִשְׂעָרֵי לְאִינָשֵׁי וְלָא מִשְׁתְּכַח. In the house of Rav Ḥisda there was bread from the finest flour [semida] even for the dogs, and it was not asked after, as there was so much food. In the house of Rabba, on the other hand, there was coarse barley bread even for people, and it was not found in sufficient quantities. This shows that the length of life, children, and sustenance all depend not upon one’s merit, but upon fate.
In Shabbat 53b we learn
אִין, אָדָם דְּאִית לֵיהּ מַזָּלָא — מְסַיַּיע לֵיהּ, בְּהֵמָה דְּלֵית לַהּ מַזָּלָא — לָא מְסַיַּיע לַהּ.
The Gemara answers: Yes, an amulet aids a person, who is under the protection of an advocate angel [mazal]; however, it does not aid an animal, which is not under the protection of an advocate angel.
Rashi explains what mazal means in this context.
מזליה - מלאך שלו ומליץ עליו:
In Genesis Rabbah 10:6 we read
בַּר סִירָא אָמַר, אֱלוֹהַּ הֶעֱלָה סַמִּים מִן הָאָרֶץ, בָּהֶם הָרוֹפֵא מְרַפֵּא אֶת הַמַּכָּה, וּבָהֶם הָרוֹקֵחַ מְרַקֵּחַ אֶת הַמִּרְקַחַת. אָמַר רַבִּי סִימוֹן אֵין לְךָ כָּל עֵשֶׂב וְעֵשֶׂב, שֶׁאֵין לוֹ מַזָּל בָּרָקִיעַ שֶׁמַּכֶּה אוֹתוֹ, וְאוֹמֵר לוֹ גְּדַל
Bar Sira said (Ben Sira 38:7-8), "God brings forth spices from the earth. With them the healer heals the ailments, and with them the perfumer perfumes the perfumes." Said Rabbi Simon, "There isn't a single herb or spice that doesn't have a mazal in the firmaments that smacks it and tells it to grow."
Mazal in this context has been understood as that advocate angel- such that we have an image of an angel leaning over its one blade of grass and urging it to grow. (This is an image I love.)
Mazal can also refer to one’s da’at. In Bava Kamah 2b we see
אדם דאית ליה מזלא כתיב כי יגח בהמה דלית לה מזלא כתיב כי יגוף The Gemara explains: With regard to a person, who has the mazal to defend himself and is not easily injured, it is written: “If an ox gores,” a term indicating an attack of greater force. With regard to an animal, which does not have the ingenuity to defend itself and is more easily injured, it is written: “If an ox hurts [yiggof ],” a term indicating an attack of lesser force.
Rashi clarifies
אדם דאית ליה מזלא - שיש לו דעת לשמור את גופו:
He has the knowledge to shield his body.
Rav Eliyahu Dessler’s take is fascinating.
פשר הדבר הוא, שיש שחלקו הוא ענין מסוים בגילוי כבוד שמו ית', והעניות והעשירות ושאר הנסיבות והמצבים הם רק כלים לזה; ויש אשר העניות או העשירות הם מעצם חלקו בגילוי.
מי שחלקו, למשל, בתלמוד תורה, הרי שנינו “כל המקיים את התורה מעוני סופו לקיימה מעושר”, ולהיפך (אבות ד, ט). היינו, שאם ממלא את תפקידו בשלמות יתכן ויתנו לו עוד כלים כדי שיוכל להמשיך בעבודתו, כענין “אוכל פירותיהם בעולם הזה”, שהפירות הם מתן כלים נוספים לאפשר לו להוסיף בעבודתו, כמו שכתוב “ונתתי מטר ארצכם בעתו וגו'“ כמו שביארנו בכמה מקומות. וכן להיפך, אם אינו זוכה, ממעטים לו כלים.
והנה רבא שאמר “בני חיי ומזוני לאו בזכותא תליא מילתא” הוא עצמו מעיד שהוא התפלל שיהיה חכם כרב הונא ונענה, ושיהיה עשיר כרב חסדא ונענה (מועד קטן שם), כי על ידי התפלה יכול להתעלות ולהתרומם ולהידבק עוד יותר בשי”ת, ועל ידי זה יהיה ראוי לסייעתא דשמיא ולכלים שהוא מבקש. והיינו שכתבו התוספות שעל ידי זכות גדול משתנה המזל.
אבל יש אשר חלקו בגילוי הוא, למשל, להיות עני ובעל יסורין, כי חלקו הוא קידוש ה' של קבלת יסורין באהבה. לאדם כזה לא תועיל תפילה וכל זכות לשנות את מזלו, ואפילו אם יתפלל בכל ליבו בדביקות גמורה שיתנו לו עשירות או בריאות, לא יתכן שישתנה מזלו על ידי זה. וזהו שכתבו התוספות “אבל פעמים שאין המזל משתנה כהא דר' אלעזר בן פדת”. ולזה התכוון רבא (מו”ק שם) כשהעיד שרבה ורב חסדא שניהם צדיקים גמורים היו, שניהם התפללו על גשמים וירדו, אבל רב חסדא חי תשעים ושתים שנה ורבה רק ארבעים שנה; לרב חסדא היו הרבה שמחות ושפע כל טוב, ולרבה הרבה אבל וחוסר כל; ומזה הוכיח רבא דבני, חיי, ומזוני לאו בזכותא תליא מילתא אלא במזלה, היינו כאשר זה מעצם חלקו, כך נראה לי”.
Rav Dessler works off of Tosfos’ take that sometimes man has the ability to change his lot through prayer and good deeds, but sometimes this is not possible. In the latter case, Dessler explains that God specifically wants that individual to accept his lot - which can lead to a kiddush Hashem, sanctification of God’s name, if the person accepts them with love. Such a person can pray as hard as he likes that he be provided with wealth or health and none of that will change his mazal.
There are also established ideas that changing one’s residence (for example, moving to the land of Israel) or changing one’s name can assist in terms of changing one’s mazal.
What it seems to come down to is that the natural order of the world is to work through mazal, some kind of destiny or fate or order of one’s life as it was written in the stars. (This does not mean that those who attempt to interpret those stars will understand the interpretation, however, as we see with the tale of the astrologers in Egypt.) However, as Israelites, we often have the ability to change our mazal- through prayer and good deeds. There are exceptions to this rule, however, where God has determined the kind of life He wants you to have, and all your prayers cannot change it. In such a case, perhaps there is some greater purpose to your life, difficult as it is, even though you might not see it in that moment.
This has not been the most reassuring foray into sources, but it has been interesting.