Tzedek
ויקרא יט,טו: בְצ ד ק תִ שְׁ פֹט עֲמִית ך
Baal HaTurim: “With righteousness you should judge your fellow” is an allusion to the practice that the courts should be in session on Monday and Thursday. The word צדק is also the name of the planet Jupiter, which ministers during the first hour of the night preceding Monday and the first hour of Thursday morning.
The Gemara (Shabbos 129b) states that there are seven celestial bodies that exert their respective astrological influences on earthly affairs in hourly rotation (unrelated to their positions in the sky at that moment). These seven bodies are the sun, the moon, and the five planets visible on Earth to the naked eye (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter). This cycle of influences began at the beginning of the fourth day of Creation when the celestial bodies were placed in the firmament with the first hour (of 24 hours) beginning with night. The effect this constantly repeating cycle has on each hour of the week is shown in the chart below.
The sequence of influences is known as שצ"ם חנכ"ל an acronym for the seven celestial bodies:
לְבַנָה כוֹכָב נוֹגַה חַמָה מַאְ דִים צ ד ק שַבְתַאִ י
the Moon Mercury Venus the Sun Mars Jupiter Saturn
Note: the influence which prevails at any given hour of a particular day is the same each and every week. There are 168 hours in a week (7 X 24) and the seven influences are thus repeated 24 times each week.
