- Mysticism: “Popularly known as becoming one with G-d or the Absolute… It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ultimate or hidden truths, and to human transformation supported by various practices and experiences.” Wikipedia
- Magic: “The art of producing a desired effect or result through the use of incantation or various other techniques that presumably assure human control of supernatural agencies or the forces of nature.” Dictionary.com
- Folk Magic: “is generally of a practical nature, meant to address the common ills of the community: healing the sick, bringing love or luck, driving away evil forces, finding lost items, bringing good harvests, granting fertility, reading omens and so on.” Catherine Bayer, Learn Religions
Note: in Pagan circles, you may see magic written as “magick.” This spelling comes from notorious racist and antisemite Aleister Crowley, so we do not use it and instead embrace the original spelling.
Doesn't the Torah forbid magic?
(יז) מְכַשֵּׁפָ֖ה לֹ֥א תְחַיֶּֽה׃
(17) You shall not tolerate a sorceress.
Mekhashefa - in Biblical Hebrew, the word is translated to the Greek "pharmakeia" which means "herbalist" or "drug maker." Often it is considered to mean "poisoner," denouncing the use of herbs to cause harm, as opposed to one who uses magic in general.
Elizabeth Sloane, Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Witch to Live: A Murderous Mistranslation?
“Thousands of years down the line, without a Rosetta stone of ancient evils and a definitive translation of mekashaph, we cannot know if the authors of Exodus meant poisoners, herbalists, or people who used magic for evil.”
המכשף זה העושה מעשה וכו': תנו רבנן מכשפה אחד האיש ואחד האשה א"כ מה ת"ל מכשפה מפני שרוב נשים מצויות בכשפים
The mishna teaches that the case of the warlock is referring to one who performs a real act of sorcery. The Sages taught in a baraita: The verse: “You shall not allow a witch to live” (Exodus 22:17), does not refer only to a female who practices sorcery; both a man and a woman are included. If so, why does verse state “a witch”? This is because most women are familiar with witchcraft.
Let's pay close attention to gender breakdowns when it comes to what magic is permissible.
What does it mean to "tolerate" a sorceress?
תְחַיֶּֽה - to permit to live
To live at all? To live in your town? To be...
Rabbi Gershon Winkler, Magic of the Ordinary
"Don't get into the habit of supporting the livelihood of the village magician; don't let some guy with a lot of supernatural power drain you of your savings through fear and intimidation. Let him get a job like everybody else, and perform his magic out of the goodness of his heart and in recognition of the sacred gift he possesses."
What does a sorceress do that's not allowed?
Ov & Yideoni
(לא) אַל־תִּפְנ֤וּ אֶל־הָאֹבֹת֙ וְאֶל־הַיִּדְּעֹנִ֔ים אַל־תְּבַקְשׁ֖וּ לְטׇמְאָ֣ה בָהֶ֑ם אֲנִ֖י יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃
(31) Do not turn to ghosts and do not inquire of familiar spirits, to be defiled by them: I יהוה am your God.
ת"ר בעל אוב זה המדבר בין הפרקים ומבין אצילי ידיו ידעוני זה המניח עצם ידוע בפיו והוא מדבר מאליו
§ The Sages taught: A necromancer [ov] is one who causes the voice of the dead to be heard speaking from between his joints or from his armpit. A sorcerer [yideoni] is one who places a bone of an animal called a yadua in his mouth, and the bone speaks on its own.
Notice that this practice comes from a different culture than the Jewish one, it should ring the bell of idolatry in your mind.
The Tanakh forbids:
- nahash - hissing. The verb form can be extended to mean whispering
- onan - clouds, possibly referring to nephomancy
- kashaph - from a root meaning mutter, or from a compound of the words kash (herb) and hapalah (using) - hence meaning herb user. The Septuagint renders the same phrase as pharmakia (poison)
- being a ba'al ob - master of spirits
- being a yidde'oni - gainer of information from ghosts through the ritual above
- being a doresh el ha-metim - (one who) questions corpses
- qasam qesem - distributes distributions (?)
- khabar kheber - join joining (?)
Soothsaying
(כו) לֹ֥א תֹאכְל֖וּ עַל־הַדָּ֑ם לֹ֥א תְנַחֲשׁ֖וּ וְלֹ֥א תְעוֹנֵֽנוּ׃
(26) You shall not eat anything with its blood. You shall not practice divination or soothsaying.
תנו רבנן מעונן ר' שמעון אומר זה המעביר שבעה מיני זכור על העין וחכ"א זה האוחז את העינים ר"ע אומר זה המחשב עתים ושעות ואומר היום יפה לצאת למחר יפה ליקח לימודי ערבי שביעיות חיטין יפות עיקורי קטניות מהיות רעות
§ The Sages taught: What is the definition of the soothsayer mentioned in the verse: “There shall not be found among you…a soothsayer” (Deuteronomy 18:10)? Rabbi Shimon says: This is one who applies seven types of semen [zekhur] to one’s eye in order to perform sorcery. And the Rabbis say: This is one who deceives the eyes, as though he is performing sorcery. Rabbi Akiva says: This is one who calculates the fortune of times and hours, and says, for example: Today is a propitious day for going away on a journey; tomorrow is propitious for purchasing property successfully. Or he says that on the eve of the Sabbatical Years, the wheat harvest is generally good; uprooting legumes rather than cutting them from above the ground prevents them from going bad.
A bit of nuance... or a bit of hypocrisy
אמר אביי הלכות כשפים כהלכות שבת יש מהן בסקילה ויש מהן פטור אבל אסור ויש מהן מותר לכתחלה העושה מעשה בסקילה האוחז את העינים פטור אבל אסור מותר לכתחלה כדרב חנינא ורב אושעיא כל מעלי שבתא הוו עסקי בהלכות יצירה ומיברי להו עיגלא תילתא ואכלי ליה
Abaye said, The laws of sorcery are like the laws of work on Shabbat, in that, some actions get you stoned, some actions are exempt from punishment but forbidden, and some are allowed ab initio. The one who performs sorcery is stoned. The one who makes illusions is exempt from stoning but still did wrong. Things that are allowed are like the actions of Rav Chanina and Rav Oshaya, who would learn the laws of creation every Friday night and a young calf would be created for them and they would eat it.
מָה עָשָׂה? עָג עוּגָה וְעָמַד בְּתוֹכָהּ, וְאָמַר לְפָנָיו: רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם! בָּנֶיךָ שָׂמוּ פְּנֵיהֶם עָלַי, שֶׁאֲנִי כְּבֶן בַּיִת לְפָנֶיךָ. נִשְׁבָּע אֲנִי בְּשִׁמְךָ הַגָּדוֹל שֶׁאֵינִי זָז מִכָּאן עַד שֶׁתְּרַחֵם עַל בָּנֶיךָ. הִתְחִילוּ גְּשָׁמִים מְנַטְּפִין. אָמַר: לֹא כָּךְ שָׁאַלְתִּי, אֶלָּא גִּשְׁמֵי בּוֹרוֹת שִׁיחִין וּמְעָרוֹת. הִתְחִילוּ לֵירֵד בְּזַעַף. אָמַר: לֹא כָּךְ שָׁאַלְתִּי, אֶלָּא גִּשְׁמֵי רָצוֹן בְּרָכָה וּנְדָבָה.
What did [Honi HaMe'aggel] do? He drew a circle on the ground and stood inside it and said before God: Master of the Universe, Your children have turned their faces toward me, as I am like a member of Your household. Therefore, I take an oath by Your great name that I will not move from here until You have mercy upon Your children and answer their prayers for rain. Rain began to trickle down, but only in small droplets. He said: I did not ask for this, but for rain to fill the cisterns, ditches, and caves with enough water to last the entire year. Rain began to fall furiously. He said: I did not ask for this damaging rain either, but for rain of benevolence, blessing, and generosity.
אָמַר רָבָא: מִיחַיַּיב אִינִישׁ לְבַסּוֹמֵי בְּפוּרַיָּא עַד דְּלָא יָדַע בֵּין אָרוּר הָמָן לְבָרוּךְ מָרְדֳּכַי. רַבָּה וְרַבִּי זֵירָא עֲבַדוּ סְעוּדַת פּוּרִים בַּהֲדֵי הֲדָדֵי. אִיבַּסּוּם. קָם רַבָּה שַׁחְטֵיהּ לְרַבִּי זֵירָא. לְמָחָר, בָּעֵי רַחֲמֵי וְאַחֲיֵיהּ. לְשָׁנָה, אֲמַר לֵיהּ: נֵיתֵי מָר וְנַעֲבֵיד סְעוּדַת פּוּרִים בַּהֲדֵי הֲדָדֵי. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: לָא בְּכֹל שַׁעְתָּא וְשַׁעְתָּא מִתְרְחִישׁ נִיסָּא.
Rava said: A person is obligated to become intoxicated with wine on Purim until he is so intoxicated that he does not know how to distinguish between cursed is Haman and blessed is Mordecai. The Gemara relates that Rabba and Rabbi Zeira prepared a Purim feast with each other, and they became intoxicated to the point that Rabba arose and slaughtered Rabbi Zeira. The next day, when he became sober and realized what he had done, Rabba asked God for mercy, and revived him. The next year, Rabba said to Rabbi Zeira: Let the Master come and let us prepare the Purim feast with each other. He said to him: Miracles do not happen each and every hour, and I do not want to undergo that experience again.
So what is the truth?
Rabbi David the son of Shlomo Ibn Zimra, b. 1479, Spain, d. 1573, Tzfat, Responsa of the Ridbaz, part three 405
"One who burns incense for the demons to draw them close and to gather them or to force them to do his will, is as one who consults ghosts and he is liable to death by stoning…but one who burns incense for the demons to keep them from him is, it seems, acting in a permissible way."
פעם אחת אני והוא מהלכין היינו בדרך אמר לי רבי למדני בנטיעת קשואין אמרתי דבר אחד נתמלאה כל השדה קשואין אמר לי רבי למדתני נטיעתן למדני עקירתן אמרתי דבר אחד נתקבצו כולן למקום אחד….היכי עביד הכי והאנן תנן העושה מעשה חייב להתלמד שאני דאמר מר (דברים יח, ט) לא תלמד לעשות לעשות אי אתה למד אבל אתה למד להבין ולהורות:
Sanhedrin 68A
The Gemara answers: Performing sorcery not in order to use it, but in order to teach oneself the halakhot is different, and it is permitted; as the Master says that it is derived from the verse: “You shall not learn to do like the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you…one who uses divination, a soothsayer, an enchanter, or a sorcerer” (Deuteronomy 18:9–10), so that you shall not learn, i.e., it is prohibited for you to learn, in order to do, but you may learn, i.e., it is permitted for you to learn, in order to understand the matter yourself and teach it to others.
The magical acts described above were done by the Sages using the powers that G-d granted. This type of magic is extremely complicated, but is permitted to learn.
Magical acts that are done through other religions, to other deities, or with a power not given by G-d are considered idolatry and therefore banned.
The best argument we have is the thousands of years of Jewish magical practice!
A VERY Brief History of Jewish Mysticism
Nissan David Dubov, Chabad.org
"There is also a Talmudic teaching that Abraham taught the mysteries involving “unclean names” to the children of his concubines. This is based on the verse, “to the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and he sent them away…to the lands of the East” (Genesis 25:6). These gifts consisted of occult mysteries, which then spread in eastern Asia. It is no wonder that in many of the eastern religions we find parallels to Kabbalistic teachings. One of the most simple and striking examples of the transmission of the occult is that every child knows a magician uses the phrase “Abracadabra.” This magical expression is none other than an Aramaic extension of the Hebrew abra— I will create, k’adabra—as I will speak—the knowledge of creation using letters and names as documented in Sefer Yetzirah."
This Jewish magic, what would later become Kabbalah, was supposedly passed down through the patriarchs, to Moses, to Solomon, and then continually through to the Sages. By the Middle Ages, Jewish magic was booming for Rabbis and laymen alike.
Joshua Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion
“The primary principle of medieval Jewish magic was an implicit reliance upon the Powers of Good, which were invoked by calling upon their names, the holy Names of G-d and His angels."
What did magic look like in Jewish communities in the middle ages?
- Prescribing certain herbs for healing
- Placing mezuzot in houses
- Circling a groom seven times and breaking a glass
- Saying the Sh’ma at night
- Creating engraved amulets (segulot) for a newborn
Returning to that gender breakdown: Women were not taught enough Hebrew or Aramaic to invoke the names of G-d. Kabbalah required high-level understanding of Torah, which women were not taught
Women’s magic aligned more with the folk magic of other cultures and was often the magic that Rabbis later looked down upon.
- Curses/protecting from the evil eye (ayin hara)
- Folk medicine
- Potions
- Superstitions
Antisemitism sends us into hiding
Joshua Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion
“Consequently every innocent Jewish act which by its strangeness laid itself open to suspicion was considered a diabolical device for working magic against Christians.”
- Blood libel - the belief that Jews used Christian blood (especially from children) in religious rituals, like Shabbat & Pesach
- Shabbat demonized:
- "Contrary to the day when Christians meet to pray - Sunday morning - the devil and his legions prefer the night between Friday and Saturday."
Yvonne Owens, “The Saturnine History of Jews and Witches.”
- "Contrary to the day when Christians meet to pray - Sunday morning - the devil and his legions prefer the night between Friday and Saturday."
Due to increasing antisemitism and the rationalist movement, Rabbis tried to denounce superstitious practice, however common people refused to stop, so many superstitious acts were reinterpreted and infused with religious meaning.
Ex. Smashing a glass at a wedding
Religious Meaning:
- Commemorate the destruction of the two Temples
- You and your soulmate’s souls were split before birth
- Our task is to elevate the Earth, so we remind ourselves that the world isn‘t perfect yet
Superstitious Meaning:
- Joyous occasions are popular moments for demons or the evil eye to attack
- Loud noises can scare negative influences away
- Doing something negative will appease the evil spirits’ mission
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