I really don’t enjoy being nitpicky, but when the New York Times saw fit to criticize President Bush for his poor Hebrew, I suspected something was amiss. Here’s Sheryl Gay Stolberg on Bush’s visit to Jerusalem:

Personal relationships were also on Mr. Bush’s mind as he arrived here in Jerusalem, just days after the May 10 wedding of his daughter, Jenna.

His Israeli hosts were well aware of the nuptials; many greeted the president with the traditional Jewish offer of congratulations, “Mazel tov,”which means, “Good luck.”

But Mr. Bush had clearly not brushed up on his Hebrew. Before he left the White House, two Israeli journalists opened an interview by congratulating him – in English.

“Thank you,” Mr. Bush said. “It was – as my Jewish friends tell me, there was mazel tov.”

Trouble is, it’s not Bush’s Hebrew that needs brushing up, it’s Stolberg’s. Although “Mazel” can sometimes mean “luck,” and “tov” means “good,” the two words together do not ever mean “Good Luck.” A “mazel” is a constellation of stars, like a Zodiac sign, and to say “mazel tov” is actually more of a blessing than a congratulation: “Let this event take place under a good sign,” or possibly, “let this event be a good sign for all of us.” (Hence the famous Jewish song at festive events, “siman tov umazel tov yehei lanu” — “Let it be a good sign for us”; “siman” being a synonym for “mazel.”) So, when Bush said, “there was mazel tov,” he was using the expression quite correctly.