Jews: What significance does the Zodiac play with your relationship with God?

Question

I am a Christian, reading of Kabbalah (no not ever practicing -- there's no way I'd ever be qualified -- I'll leave it to you Jews!), and am coming across interesting ties between the Zodiac and Judaism. Can you explain to me the significance of the Zodiac to you and your relationship with God, what does it represent, and what does it mean personally for you? I view this connection as connecting all religions of the world, as most have some view of the Zodiac.

What about you?

Answer 1

None. There is a discussion about the effect of mazlim (constellations) on the earth- and the fact that the root of the word mazelim is the same as that of luck, mazal, shows there should be something. It is said that they are linked to the sefirot of the Kaballah- but the linkage is not direct or easily seen (considering their are twelve constellations and ten sefirot...). However- the end of the discussion is that human beings have free will- and thus their future is undecided by any force outside of God. However- this only applies if they do not look to external signs for what their future is. Since the constellations are tied to our future- if we gice them power, then they have opower- as long as we do NOT consult them- regardles sof what the natural order says our future should be, our own choices dictate our future- and only when we put ourselves into the hands of the natural order do we loose the ability to change our future.

Answer 2

First of all, a person needs to know what the Zodiac is. There is a sidereal clock in the northern half of the sky. The zodiac sign is simply the constellation the sun rises in during the new moon. The two together can be used to accurately define the date and the need for an extra month of Adar which happens 7 out of every 19 years.

It's not that the movement of the stars define our lives, but they are a marker for the cycles that do define our lives.

One can easily recognize that longer nights can lead to depression in some, that springtime leads to mental rejuvenation. There are summer doldrums, dogdays of August, etc. Thes types of things happen independent from a person's belief in G-d.

What is harder to learn is each month has its own place in the spiritual cycle. This takes intense study and a putting together of a lot of information from many sources into a coherant diagram.

Once one is aware of the cycle of the calendar, they begin to recognize how masterfully the annual Torah reading cycle fits into the calendar and teaches us what is coming up in the next months. By being aware of potential pitfalls, a person can avoid them.

The movements of the celestial bodies represent our spiritual ascents and descents. The meanings given to us in some obscure writtings help us to ascend more on each ascent and descend less on each descent. If you read Tehillum 19, you will see this is so. 19:2 THe heavens declare the glory of G-d, and the firmament tells of His handiwork. 3. Day fllowing day utters speach, and night following night declares knowledge...

I've been studying the calender intensely for about 2 years, and yes, it does have a big effect.

It's not surprising other religions have the zodiac as these secrets were given to the children of Abraham by Keturah to take to the East. As for all religions, it's also not surprising since people do travel around.

Answer 3

The Zodiac has absolutely nothing to do with Judaism. Although it is mentioned from time to time in various rabinnic commentaries, it is a cultural phenomena and was never considered to be anything other than at best an amusing diversion for women and children and at worst, a form of dispicable idol worship. A fundamental belief of Judaism, is that human destiny is not preordained by the arrangement of the stars, but is determined by the choices that people make.

Answer 4

On a practical level, none. On an esoteric level, like kabbalah, there may be some significance, however, few, if anyone alive today understand the significance or can tap into the spiritual powers the zodiac represents.

Answer 5

Most will say it has nothing to do with it. This is bogus. They just don't know about it because it isn't a part of the exoteric teachings. Christians also claim astrology has nothing to do with Christianity, but if one decides to study one learns differently.

Hebrew tradition believes the first Jewish patriarchs used astrology, including Abraham. Abraham came from Babylon or Mesopotamia, a city with a name that translates as "light of the astrologers," where planetary deities were worshipped. One astrological treatise possibly written by Abraham is known to have existed in the third century B.C. Abraham's father Terah was also an astrologer.

Moses (c.1200-1100 B.C.), as Pharaoh's adopted son, was also an astrologer. He correlated the attributes of the twelve signs to the twelve tribes of Israel, then took the people from the tabernacle in the wilderness on their pilgrimage, lined up by zodiacal order. Rabbinical tradition asserts that the signs of the zodiac have represented the twelve tribes since antiquity.

Beth Alpha's floor is renown as one the most important mosaics in Israel. The synagogue is now part of a National Park on Kibbutz Hefzibah. Visitors can tour the Beth Alpha Synagogue National Park and see the most complete zodiac floor from the time when astrology held a place in the synagogue.

Answer 6

Astrology doesn't play any part in Judaism per se, that I'm aware of. But in kabbalah it might. Traditionally nobody under the age of 40 is supposed to study kabbalah.... :)

http:///www.whatjewsbelieve.org/

Answer 7

2

Answer 8

1

Answer 9

A marginal one at best. Depending on who you ask, some hold that there is some validity to astrology, that the heavenly bodies do have some influence on events here on Earth. Some even tie the twelve constellations to the twelve tribes.

An interesting side note illustrating the existence of astrology in Jewish thought, when Jews congratulate other Jews, they say "mazel tov". Usually this is translated literally as "good luck" - good luck in the sense of "I am happy to hear of your good luck," not in the sense of wishing someone good luck (I once read a Tom Clancy novel where he has the Israelis wishing each other "mazel tov" before a difficult undertaking, which is stupid, and the reading equivalent of nails on a blackboard). Aaanyway, "mazel tov" literally means a "good constellation". So there you have the idea of constellation = fortune.

Judaism teaches that Jews are capable of negating the influences of the stars and planets by keeping G-d's Torah. Basically, our sages teach that G-d has angels assigned to watch over the nations of the world, but He looks over the Jews personally, so to speak. Its similar with the heavenly bodies. The stars and planets play some role in forming the character of an individual, but the Jew (and anyone who wishes can become a Jew) is capable of counteracting that influence with Torah, which trumps everything else.

So, what significance does the Zodiac have vis-a-vis my relationship with G-d? Virtually none.

With G-d's help, I get to decide who I am - not the stars.

I hope you find this information helpful.

Answer 10

Absolutely none, my friend. Please also note that Kabbalah uses some Jewish aspects, but is in no way Jewish or acceptable and most Jews do not practice it.

Strange people, like Madonna, do.