Q&A: Doubt and Statistics
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Doubt and Statistics
Question
Following up on the lecture and the distinction between fate and a lottery, if I understood correctly, mazal is fate. Is there also mazal in a lottery?
How should we understand the expression “your mazal caused it”?
Answer
The question is what you mean by mazal. Divine involvement? The claim “your mazal caused it,” literally, means the involvement of the heavenly bodies that influence the world and the human being. But essentially it means, “you got the short end of the stick” or “that’s your problem.”
Discussion on Answer
As stated, the question is what mazal is. In the literal sense, apparently yes. In the essential sense, no.
Thank you. If we accept the distinction you suggested in the lecture, and we do not say that both fate and the results of a lottery are all in the hands of Heaven, then mazal is closer to fate than to a lottery. Did I understand the lecture correctly?