18. What is the meaning of the statement of the Sages “There is no ‘chance’ (happenstance) for Israel”?
It is said about the (Hebrew) month of Adar: “It has a healthy Mazal” (luck, chance). Therefore the Sages recommend that if someone has a court case against a gentile, he should try to schedule it for the month of Adar because it is a ‘lucky’ month for the Jewish people. On the other hand, the Sages also say that astrology in particular, and the laws of nature in general, are relevant to the nations of the world and not to the nation of Israel, because “There is no ‘chance’ for the nation of Israel”. How do we reconcile this with the statement that “In the month of Adar the Mazal (luck) of Israel increases”?
The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that there are two levels in the Jewish soul (in this particular context. In other contexts there are other descriptions of the levels of the soul.) There is the soul as it manifests itself in its G dly root and source, united with the Creator, and there it is on a level beyond any defining parameters of luck, chance, or laws of nature. Then there is the manifestation of the soul, enclothed in a physical body within the laws of nature, in a material world, full of ‘husks of impurity’. Since that level of the soul is here in the material world, there is an aspect of it which is bound by laws of nature and ‘chance’ (astrology).
So here is the difference between the month of Adar and the rest of the months. During the other months of the year, a Jew is also somewhat subject to the laws of nature, but through prayer and other spiritual channels he can rise above it and reveal the inner level of his soul which is above ‘luck’. The month of Adar however, is intrinsically less bound by the laws of nature, and therefore a Jew has less need for actions on his part to increase his ‘luck’.
So the explanation of the Sages’ statement: “There is no ‘chance’ for Israel” is that the level of “there is no” (‘Ein’ in Hebrew) represents a level of complete spiritual nullification. This is the true ‘Mazal’, ‘luck’ of Israel. During the rest of the year it is on an inner level, and during Adar- on a revealed level.