Determining Marriage Partners by "Mazal"

Shalom Rabbi My son recently dating a girl and I want to know if I’d give you their Hebrew name would be possible to tell me their Mazal is matched? Menashe ben Sarah And the girl name is Nakhama bat Deborah Thank you so much

Shalom!

Thank you for your question!

We don't believe in determining suitability for marriage based on "mazal" and other mystical methods.

Although the word “mazal” is used to mean “lucky” or “auspicious,” the origins of this word are much deeper. The true meaning of the word “mazel” is “zodiac” as in the twelve signs of the zodiac.

The famous kabbalist, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, explains that mazal is the multi-faceted multi-level system through which G-d interacts and runs the world. It is a type of energy that keep the world running. This energy makes its way to the world as we know it through the “mazalot” – the signs of the zodiac, the stars, the planets, and the like..

This is how basic astrology was said to work. Apparently astrologers were able to “read” the energy beams and predict what would befall people in the future. This is the origin of “horoscopes” – a practice which continues to this day where people open up the newspaper to read everything that will happen to them on this day or this week.

Jews, however, are forbidden to engage in such practices and fortune telling even in, the unlikely event, that the fortuneteller is skilled in these arts and is telling the truth. Instead, the Torah tells us "You shall be pure with the L-rd your G-d."

As such, the way to determine the proper marriage partner is simply to determine that the couple shares the same beliefs and goals in life. So too, a marriage and home based on Torah and Jewish values will inherently be blessed!

Derech Hashem, 3:7:3; Mo'ed Katan, 28a, Shabbat, 156a; Bi'ur Halacha 132:1; Mishna Berura 98:3