Does Rabbi Orlofsky Believe In Zodiacs?

Hi, this is Devin Lasky with that question and answer series where in a few minutes we try to give you some answers to questions that our listeners have posed. Does Rabbi Lasky believe in zodiacs and does he feel that they really can show someone's personality? So, I'll tell you the truth. Uh we aquariuses don't believe in that stuff. >> [laughter] [clears throat] >> Let me Let me explain. Do I believe in the zodiac? The zodiac is for sure a Jewish concept. If you take a look in machzorim, you will see by uh tfilat tal and by tfilat geshem, there's a piyut over there that goes through what each one of the mazalot say in regard to um you know, rain or tal etc. It speaks it up. There is a kina we say on uh Tisha B'Av night that talks about all the mazalot mourning the Beit Hamikdash. So, of course it is, right? And the mazalot uh have a certain power in the world. Sometimes when it's not a particular power, it's a representative of a power. So, the fact that Tishrei is Libra, the scales of judgment, which makes sense since it's Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and Hoshana Rabbah, the days of judgment are there. The fact that we came out of Pesach in Nissan where the mazal is the taleh, which is the sheep, and that relates to the korban Pesach, but of course it's more than that. We've mentioned the Or Gedal Yahoo that explains that Sefirat HaOmer takes us through Nissan, Iyar, and Tishrei, and the mazelous is the sheep. And then you come to what they call in English Taurus the bull, we call it the shore. And then you come to Gemini, the twins, we call it the twins, the two women. And why? Because we came out of mitzrayim as an act of hesed like a sheep. A sheep does nothing. He doesn't plow, he doesn't work. He doesn't do anything. It's uh it's complete act of hesed. And then ER is a month that is completely serious and we have to work the whole month like an ox. And then if we do, we reach Sivan where us and Hakadosh Baruchu become, so to speak, the couple, the twins that are attached together. And um and that's power that you find in all of the mazelous. And so there is definitely uh a impact on the world. Now, it's not fated. That's what we say ain mazel l'Yisrael. We're not limited by that. As Avraham Avinu says, I see in the stars I'm not going to have any children and Hakadosh Baruchu says, "The Jewish people are above the stars. You're outside of that system." But within the normal function, there's no question that the mazelous are there. You have a certain mazel. The Gemara says, "Whether you have children or whether you have money is dependent on mazel, not on your good deeds." And it tells the story of two uh amoraim. One had a lot of children and was very wealthy and the other one had very few children and was poor. The Ibn Ezra used to say, "If I sold tachrichin, shrouds, nobody would ever die. And if I sold candles, the sun would never set." So, there's no question there's a concept of having a mazel. Yeah? Now, can you tell the personality? Now, my birthday is January 12th. And um if you look up on the zodiac chart, that makes me a Capricorn. I used to have friends who were into the zodiac and they would say, "Wow, you're such a Capricorn." And at some point, I realized that on the Hebrew calendar, my birthday is Gimel Shvat. So, I'm not a Capricorn, I'm an Aquarius. And when I told this to people, they said, "Well, that makes sense. You're such an Aquarius." >> [laughter] >> So, of course, you can have generic uh things that, you know, a fortune cookie, "Today you will meet a stranger." You know what I mean? It doesn't tell me anything. Is there a real power to the mazel? Of course, there is. There is a power and can you determine someone's personality? The Gamara says that. Depending what mazel you were born and what day you were born, under which planet, and under which planet was ascending at that time. The Gamara Shabbos goes through all of this, how it can affect your personality. So, that a person who was born under Mars, the red planet, will have a tendency towards blood. But that just defines a tendency. So, it says, if you're a tzaddik, you'll become a moyel. If you're an average person, you'll become a butcher. If you're a rasha, you'll become a murderer. It just means you have a tendency towards it. It just It just describes um uh tendencies, but nothing that there is fated. So, is it possible to tell from it? Yes, but it's got to be somebody who really understands all of the chazal on it and not Jean Dixon, if you're old enough to remember that name. Used to write your horoscope in the newspaper. This is Dov Berel Osovsky with our question and answer series.