What I have to say here is not limited to Judaism by any means, but there are key concepts and beliefs within the religion that are helpful in explaining  the often awkward relationship between astrology and particularly monotheistic religions.

The term mazel tov is usually regarded as a Jewish phrase expressing congratulations or wishing someone good luck. It’s more complex than that, though. Mazel is fate, in the sense of  G_d working through the constellations. This the essence of the doctrine that the stars impel, they do not compel.In this respect the Jewish and Islamic view is the same.

There are of course many forms of astrology and they are not all viewed in the same way. Some off the main forms of astrology are Mundane and all forms off Predictive Astrology, including Horary.  These seek to see into the future, in one way or another : to predict a political win, a war, the establishment of a new kind of order and so on. in Horary,  the question isn’t always about the future. It could be a question such as ‘where are my keys’? or  ‘does that girl like me?’ Since the means of prognostication have to do with the interactions of energies. Is this really so different rom a doctor listening to your pulse? I don’t say there are no differences. I only suggest that the line is more difficult to draw than is often assumed.

The second group consists of Nativities, Medical Astrology and Electional Astrology. The first is what everyone calls a birth chart that describes the nature o the person, showing strength, weaknesses with an aim to help the person or her parents to help create the best environment and tools. This is actually less predictive than a weather forecast. The goal is to understand and help.

Medical Astrology is perhaps the most useful of all forms. It not only provides us with what we need to know about the person’s humours and temperament. We will find out what kinds of healing are likely to work best for this person and also gives us reliable information as to which kinds of diseases the native will most likely encounter. Hippocrates said “He who does not understand astrology is not a doctor but a fool.”

Electional astrology in essence is not a great deal different from consulting the Farmer’s Almanac, although considerably more refined.. To find the best time to do something, we choose a moment that is most propitious for the given purpose. This actually the same in spirit as planting by the Moon. It will of course be specialized for the person who asks when something might be done. Again, this is a means of helping others and doesn’t contradict the Jewish and Islamic prohibitions, or would not if understood.

So in reality, there are few out and out predictions made by anyone, not because it’s wrong or doesn’t work, but because it’s only used when needed,  It is a false idea turned dogma that the stars are the means by which Divine Will, or Great Spirit, speak to us. There are dozens, perhaps hundreds.of kinds of divination but astrology has stood the test of time for several millennia

It’s a rare event to find a Rabbi discussing these issues and I commend him for doing so.