THE BIBLE IN MAGIC
1. Joseph Omeẓ, pp. 277-8; Yore Deah, 179:9 and the commentaries; S. Ḥas. 818; ‘Amude Shlomo on Semag, I, §51; Landshuth, p. xx; Perles, Graetz Jubelschrift, p. 28. Wuttke, 144, writes of the Germans: “Gesang und Gebetbücher werden viel als Zauberschutz gebraucht, Wöchnerinnen und Säuglingen ins Bett gesteckt.”
2. S. Ḥas. B 1140; Singer, Proc. of Brit. Acad., 1919-20, 343; Tashbeẓ, 256 (which attributes the statement concerning the manna chapter to the Jer. Talmud); Yesh Noḥalin, 10b, n. 9; Or Ḥadash, p. ix; Yesh Noḥalin, 13b, 14a.
4. Ber. 56b; Pes. 112a, 111a; JE, III, 202; HaḤayim, IV, 10. Mention is also made of a verse which begins and ends with “lo” (the reverse of “el”), presumably Nu. 23:19. Tos. Pes. 111a refers this passage to a prayer by R. Ḥananel, beginning with “el” and ending with “lo,” but Blau (70-71) considers that both statements refer to the same verses, Nu. 23:22-23, which begin and end with both “el” and “lo” when read forward and backward, respectively.
5. M. San. XI, r; San. 101a and Rashi; Sheb., 5b; S. Ḥas. 818; Toledot Adam veḤavah, 17:5, p. 127b; Yore Deah, 179:10.
6. See, e.g., n. 8 below; Shimmush Tehillim, passim.
7. Ibid.; cf. Grunwald, MGJV, X (1902), 91 ff. for several ms. versions of this work; JE, III, 203 f.; REJ, XII, 315; Kiẓur Shelah, 111, 203. Schudt (II, 31:7, p. 191), in the 18th century, testifies to the popularity among German Jews of “das aberglaubische Büchlein Schimmusch Tillim, darin der gantze Psalter Davids zu lauter aberglaubischen Dingen verdreht wird.” The use of hymns and psalms in incantations goes back to the ancient Babylonians and was practiced by Christians as well as Jews. See Daiches, 41; C. Kayser, “Gebrauch von Psalmen zur Zauberei,” ZDMG, XLII (1888), 456 ff.; Montgomery, 62 f.
8. See Bibliography C for a description of this ms. These quotations chosen at random will illustrate its style:
29a: … (Gen. 39:2) … (Deut. 21:10) … (Gen. 48:20) … (Cant. 1: 7) … (Cant. 2:14) … (Deut. 29:28) …
9. Cf. Shimmush Tehillim, passim; Ms. S. Gematriaot, loc. cit.; pp. 122 f. above.
10. Cf. Sheb. 15b and Rashi; Blau, 95, n. 4; Rabiah, Aptowitzer’s note, I, 4, n. 3; Mordecai, Ber. §19, p. 2a; Kol Bo, §29; Joseph Omeẓ, §647, p. 143.
11. Tashbeẓ 257; HaManhig, Hil. Shab., 65; Iggeret HaTiyul, I, 3a, s. v. zayin; Mateh Moshe, §370; ‘Emek Beracha, II, 61, p. 77a; Perles, Graetz Jubelschrift, 28; Grunwald, MJV, XIX (1906), 114; Testament of Shabbetai Horowitz, §13.
THE MAGICAL PROCEDURE
1. Raziel, 3a, 4a; cf. Gaster, Sword of Moses, 28, 48;—Ms. S. Gematriaot, 36a, 47a, 48b, 57a.
2. See Thorndike, I, 162; Montgomery, 46 f., 56; Marmorstein, JJV, I (1923), 295.
3. Shab. 66b; Nishmat Ḥayim, III, 25; Landshuth, p. vii; Ta‘ame HaMinhagim, I, 46b, §353; Lauterbach, CCAR Yearbook, XLII (1932), 347 f.; Casanowicz, Journal Amer. Or. Soc., XXXVI (1917), 165, n. 28; cf. Montgomery, 49; Grunwald, MGWJ, LXXVII (1933), 161; Frazer, The Magic Art, I, 65; Lewy, AR, XXIX (1931), 189 ff.
4. Blau, 147-49; Steinschneider, Cat. Munich, 109, and Grunwald, MGJV, V (1900), 80 ff.; cf. Gaster, op. cit., 35, 42; Wuttke, 183-4; MGWJ, loc. cit.
5. A. Z. 12b and Rashi; Ta‘ame HaMinhagim, II, 44b; Perles, Etym. Studien, 78; Heller, REJ, LV (1908), 69-71; Gaster, Studies and Texts, III, 228; Raziel 33b, 40b; Gollancz, Clavic. Sal., 36.
7. Blau, 13, 77; Tos. R. H. jib; Rashbam, Pes. 110a; Kaufmann, JQR, OS, IV (1892), 559; Tashbeẓ 550; S. Ḥas. B 59; cf. Elworthy, 404 ff. R. Samuel h. Meir felt that while the fifth cup might be unnecessary so far as fear of demons was concerned, it might still be effective against magic (Rashbam and Tos. Pes. 109b, s. v. Raba).
8. Testament of Judah, 25, 29-36, 38-40; S. Ḥas. B 59, 477; Kol Bo 60; etc.
9. Rashi Shab. 66b; Gaster, Sword of Moses, pp. 35, 38, 43; S. Ḥas. 377, 815. See Franck, 134 f. and Ginsburg, 148 ff. on the Kabbalistic doctrine of numbers; cf. Aristophanes, The Frogs, trans. by Gilbert Murray, N. Y. 1925, p. 86:
Who are always called three times—and then don’t hear.
10. Blau, 73-4, 82; Gaster, op. cit., pp. 36, 37, 39; Shimmush Tehillim, Ps. 4, 19, 22, 121, 125; Raziel, 42a; Perles, Graetz Jubelschrift, p. 28.
11. S. Ḥas. B 1153; cf. Singer, Proc. Brit. Acad., 1919-20, 353 f.; Wuttke, 90; Grimm, I, 503, 505, III, 469, §950; Löwinger, Der Traum, 30 f.; Kugler, Hilprecht Anniversary Volume, 308. There are many examples of nine in medieval Jewish magic and superstition; see, e.g., S. Ḥas. 1468; B1146; Güd. I, 117, n. 7, 206, n. 2; Grunwald, MJV, XIX (1906), 114, 116.
12. E.g., numbers associated with the divine names, as 72 (MJV, XIX [1906] 114); 10, connected with the Ten Commandments (Gaster, Studies and Texts, III, 228; MJV, XIX, 116); 6 (Shimmush Tehillim, Ps. 8, 122), 21 and 24 (MJV, XIX, 1 14); etc.
13. San. 101a and Rashi; Blau 162 f.; Wellesz, MJV, XXXV (1910), 117; Thorndike, I, 93, 174; Wuttke, 184.
14. Ta‘anit 19a and 23a ff. (Yoḥasin, Fkft. 1924, p. 63, contains a Geonic statement relating Me‘agel to a town of that name); Ẓiyuni 22b; Levita, Tishbi, s. v. Lilit; cf. Daiches, p. 32; Scheftelowitz, Stell. Huhnopfer, ch. 6; De Givry, 104 f.; Knuchel, Die Umwandlung, Basel 1919; Bischoff, 76, 97, 182 ff.
15. Marmorstein, JJV, I (1923), 283.
16. HeḤaluẓ, XII (Vienna 1887), 96; Kerem Ḥemed VI (Prague 1841), 5; Marmorstein, MGWJ, LXXI (1927), 48; JE, V, 46; Güd. I, 52-3; Isserles, Yore Deah 340:3 (cf. Krauss, MJV, LIII [1915], P. 18);—Shimmush Tehillim, Ps. 2, 5, 7, 18, 19, 20, 21, 37, 92, 109, 119, 125; Raziel, 41b, 42a, 45a; Ms. S. Gematriaot, 56b, 70a. According to Schudt (II, VI, 6:5), Nu. 11:2, written on a bread-crust, was thrown into a fire to extinguish it.
17. Raziel, 45b;—Frazer, The Magic Art, I, 55 ff.; De Givry, 191 f.; Murray, 116 f.; Lea III, 451 ff.; Grimm III, 420, 430;—Gaster, Sword of Moses, 39, §68; Güd. I, 207, n. 2.
18. Ms. S. Gematriaot 27a-b, 55b, 68a, 71b (cf. Daiches, 21);—Grunwald, MGJV, V (1900), 82.
19. Güd. loc. cit.; S. Ḥas. B 1159, 1162; Ḥochmat HaNefesh 29d; Ẓiyuni 5c; Thorndike II, 350.
20. Samter, 121 ff.; HERE, VII, 747; Blau, 157 f., 164; Marmorstein, JJV, I (1923) 291 ff.; Rashi Shab. 57b; Gandz, Isis, XIV (1930), 194; Gaster, op. cit., 51; Wohlstein 16; Rokeaḥ §316, p. 83a; Nishmat Ḥayim III, 18; J. Lipez, 35; cf. Montgomery, 52; Grimm II, 983; Wuttke 461; I. Scheftelowitz, Das Schlingen- and Netzmotiv im Glauben and Brauch der Völker, Giessen 1912; cf. also S. Ḥas. 380, 1162, 1566, 1910; Pa‘aneaḥ Raza 67a. For the use of asar with this special meaning in older Jewish literature see Targum Jon. Deut. 24:6; Aggadat Bereshit, Introd. 38; L. Ginzberg, Geonica (1909), p. 152.
21. Grunwald, MGJV, V (1900), 83; MJV, XIX (1906), 108, 110-111. Schudt, loc. cit., reports an interesting instance of sympathetic magic: to put out a fire, one would go to a spot where he could overlook the entire conflagration, and, while slowly reciting Nu. 11:2, pour with each syllable a drop of water into a pan of burning coals.
22. Tos. Niddah 17a; S. Ḥas. 683; Lipez 105; cf. Shab. 75b.
23. Frazer, op. cit., 148 f.; Strack 77 ff.; Wuttke 134 ff.; Scheftelowitz, Stell. Huhnopfer, ch. 9, 12; Grunwald, JJV, I (1923), 19; JE, III, 260;—Raziel 41a; MGJV, loc. cit., MJV, XIX (1906), 112; Pa‘aneaḥ Raza 86b; cf. Gaster, op. cit., 39, §64, 46, n. 6; Gollancz, op. cit., 25-6. It should be noted that the inclusion of sweat in these prescriptions ran counter to a strong belief that human perspiration (except that of the face) is poisonous (cf. Yore Deah 116:4). On the “egg laid on a Thursday” see ch. III, n. 52, above. These lines from Hans
[paragraph continues]Vintler’s Blumen der Tugend (Grimm III, 422) may be compared with the final recipe:
des nachtes auf die schlauffende lütt,
das es in haimlich ding betütt
vnd vil zaubry vnrain.
24. Grunwald, MGJV, V (1900), 25, §14; Perles, Graetz Jubelschrift, 29; Ms. Raziel 31 a-b; cf. Gaster, op. cit., 47, §12. A few like recipes are also to be found in the Talmud; cf. e.g., Ber. 6a: “If one wishes to see the evil spirits, he must take the afterbirth of a first-born black cat, which is the daughter of a firstborn black cat, burn it and grind it to a powder, and put the ash in his eye.”
25. Hadar Zekenim on Ex. 22: 17; Raziel, 3a-b, 6b; Ms. Raziel, 24b f.; cf. Yore Deah 179: 19.
AMULETS
1. Cf. JE, I, 546 ff.; Blau 86 ff.; Ashkenazi, Ta‘am Zekenim, 56; S. Ḥas. 367, 1455, 1457. An early Yiddish “Vrauen Büchlein” (Miẓvat HaNashim, Venice 1552, ch. 47) reassured its pious readers that the woman who wears an amulet to the ritual bath “kein Sünde hat,” and that it is no impediment to the performance of the rite and need not be removed.
2. Cf. Shab. 53a and Rashi; Or Zarua II, 18d, §83; Oraḥ Ḥayim 305:11; Lev Tov 6: 129, p. 68b; HaḤayim IV, 3; Perles, Graetz Jubelschrift, 35. On the corals see Tashbeẓ §60; Responsa of Meir of Rothenburg, ed. Lemberg, §140; Berliner, Aus dem Leben, 134; Zimmels, Beiträge, 118, n. 484.
3. Shab. 66a and Rashi (cf. A. Darmesteter and D. S. Blondheim, Les Gloses Françaises de Raschi, Paris 1929, 31, §246); Maḥ. Vit. 133, n. 35; Rokeaḥ §100; Rabiah 311, §221, and Aptowitzer’s n. 10; Güd. I, 214; Oraḥ Ḥayim 303:24 and B’er Heteb, ad loc. A note in ‘Amude Shlomo to Semag I, 65 reads: ואני המעתיק מצאתי בבאורי מהרר״ז שוויינבר״ט וז״ל אבן תקומה אני ראיתי אבן הצץ שהיה בתוכו חלול ואבן קטן בתובו כעינבל בזוג ובן נברא ואמרו שהוא אבן תקומה. A thirteenth-century Latin ms. reports that “when the women of Salerno fear abortion, they carry with them the pregnant stone” (Thorndike, I, 740), and Wuttke (91-2) writes that a similar practice existed among the Germans.
4. S. Ḥas. 1463 and Güd. I, 204; cf. Frazer, The Magic Art, I, 587 f.; Grimm II, 72g, III, 443; Lowenthal, A World Passed By, 115; Kiẓur Shelah, In. Pes., 142 and B’er Heteb on Oraḥ Ḥayim 477:2, n. 4; M. Schwab, REJ, XXIII (1891), 137. Berliner, op. cit., 102, suggests that the belief in certain German districts that a piece of Judenmatz in a house will protect it from fire, may be derived from this use of the Afikomen as an amulet. Yore Deah 305:15 and Lipez, 47; Grunwald, MJV, XIX (1906), III, 112, 114; Perles, Graetz Jubelschrift, 35. A 14th century Archbishop of Aix, Richard Mauvoisin, had a Jewish astrologer named Moses carve some seals on his pastoral ring to avert disease and bring him fortune (Thorndike, III, 19).
5. Cf. Samter, 175 ff.; Seligmann, Mag. Heil- u. Schutzmittel, 200 ff., which discuss the anti-demonic virtues of red. These works and also Elworthy, The Evil Eye, contain much information on this general subject.
5a. Leket Yosher I, 9; cf. Berliner, op. cit., 92 f.; Grimm II, 920, III, 445, §333, 457, §656, 459, §708.
6. Cf. Thorndike I, 778 ff., etc., IV, 327; Grimm II, 996, 1017 ff.; Toss. Shab. V, 17; B. B. 16b; JE, III, 367 and V, 593 ff., 239 ff.; Steinschneider, Kohut Memorial Volume, 45, Hebr. Uebersetzungen, 964; Seligmann, op. cit., 208 ff.
7. Ms. S. Gematriaot, 43a-44b (cf. Baḥya b. Asher’s comment on Ex. 28:17); see Steinschneider, Kohut Mem. Vol., 69-70, for a Hebrew translation by Berachya haNakdan of a Latin treatise on 73 gems; also Midrash Talpiot, s. v. Avanim Tovim, and Segulat HaAvanim.
8. Shimmush Tehillim, passim; Grunwald, MJV, XIX (1906), 118.
10. There is an essential uniformity in all Jewish amulets, whatever the date or place of their origin; Talmudic (Blau, 93 ff., 117), modern Oriental (Casanowicz, Journal Amer. Or. Soc., XXXVI [1917], 154, 156) and medieval, all are cut after the same pattern.
11. Cf. Raziel 41b; Rashi, Git. 67b; Grunwald, MJV, XIX (1906), 112.
12. Cf. JE, VIII, 251-2; Grunwald, Jahrb. f. jüd. Gesch. u. Lit. IV (1901), 119 ff.; MGJV, IX (1902), 137 ff.; Güdemann, MGWJ, LX (1916), 135 f.; Vajda, MJV, LIX (1918), 33 ff.; Grotte, MGWJ, LXVI (1922), t ff.; Grunwald, JJV, I (1923), 209; Grimm, I, 356, n. 4, III, 456, §644, 463, §812; Wuttke, 181-2; Montgomery, Journal Amer. Or. Soc., XXXI (1911), 274, Ar. Incan. Texts, 259; Raziel, 42b, 44b; Gollancz, Maphteaḥ Shelomo, passim; the ms. S Gematriaot is liberally sprinkled with hexagrams and pentagrams; Schwab, Vocabulaire, 21. See also “Testament of Solomon,” JQR, OS, XI (1899), p. 16; Schudt, II, VI, 6:5.
13. Raziel, 44b; Montgomery, Journal A.O.S., loc. cit., photographs facing pp. 272, 280; Maphteaḥ Shelomo, passim; Schwab, Ms. No. 1380, 29; Grunwald, MJV, XIX (1906), 108, 112; Scholem, Kirjath Sepher, IV (1927), 318-9.
14. See Grünbaum, Ges. Auf., 217-8; de Gunzbourg, REJ, XXVII (1893), 145 and Grünbaum, ibid., XXIX (1894), 150 ff.; Steinschneider, Cat. Hamburg, Hamburg, 1878, 55 f. (cf. 99 f.); Grunwald, MGJV, V (1900), 60; Pilcher, Proc. Soc. Bib. Archeology, XXVIII (London 1906), 110-118; W. Ahrens, Hebräische Amulette mit magischen Zahlenquadraten, Berlin, 1916; Scholem (MGWJ, LXIX [1925], 101 f.) conclusively disposes of the contention that the astrological number-squares were Jewish. I have seen one magical number-square amulet in a late Italian ms. version of Raziel (S. HaRazim, J. T. S. Library, Ms. D. 146, p. 14a), which was no doubt copied from an earlier text. Cf. also W. Ahrens and A. Maas, “Etwas von magischen Quadraten in Sumatra und Celebes,” Ztschr. f. Ethnologie, XLVIII (Berlin 1916), 232-253.
15. See Toss. Shab. V, 9, 10; Shab. 61a-b, 115b, and Rashi, 61a; J. Shab. 7c, 8b; HaTerumah, 90d-91b; Maḥ. Vit. 133, §35; Rabiah, I, 305; Semag, I, 9c, §65; Raben, §350; Rokeaḥ, too; Toledot Adam veḤavah, 59d, 61a; Lev Tov, 6: 112, p. 67a; ‘Amude Shlomo to Semag I, 65 and Solomon Luria’s Responsa, §47; Oraḥ Ḥayim 301:25, 27, 334: 14.
16. Cf. Nishmat Ḥayim, III, 25; Grunwald, MJV, XIX (1906), 107.
17. P. 41b. Grunwald, op. cit., 106, has a different table, from a 16th century ms.
18. See M. L. Rodkinson, Tefilah LeMoshe, Pressburg 1883, and History of Amulets, Charms and Talismans, N. Y. 1893; JE, X, 21 ff.; S. Gandz, “The Knot in Hebrew Literature,” Isis, XIV (1930), 198; Blau, 152; Lauterbach, HUCA, II (1925), 362, n. 22; ‘Amude Shlomo to Semag I, 51.
19. JE, VIII, 532; Aptowitzer, REJ, LX (1910), 39 f.; Rashi on Men. 33b; Responsa of Meir of Rothenburg, ed. Cremona, §108; ‘Amude Shlomo to Semag
[paragraph continues]II, 23; Shelah, I, 187a (Mas. Ḥullin). Rashi and his grandson R. Tam illustrate two opposing views in their interpretation of a Talmudic remark to the effect that affixing the mezuzah improperly may be a source of harm; Rashi says, “This is dangerous because if it is not properly attached the house is not protected against demons”; R. Tam says, “If it is set up in an awkward place one may strike against it and hurt himself” (Toledot Adam veḤavah, 21:7, p. 143a).
20. Shab. 32b; Yore Deah 285:1; Testament of Shabbetai Horowitz, §9; Kiẓur Shelah, 69 (Hil. Mezuzah); Lipez, 72; Yoffie, Journal of American Folklore, XXXVIII (1927), 376.
21. Rashi, Yoma 11a. See p. 4 above.
22. Aptowitzer has assembled the information concerning the mezuzah in his very interesting articles in REJ, LX (1910), 39-52, LXV (1913), 54-60, and HaẒofeh, II (1912), 100-102, upon which this presentation is based. See also Z. Nissan, in Zion, II (1842), 161-4; JE, VII, 532 f.
23. HaẒofeh, loc. cit.; Rashi, San. 21b. Raziel, 42a, uses the identical term כתיבה גסה, “large writing,” to describe the lettering of a magical inscription on a cake.
24. REJ, LX (1910), 41, n. 4, gives the sources; cf. especially Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hil. Tefillin, V, 4; Kol Bo, §90; Raziel, 8a; ms. Eẓ Ḥayim, p. 1024 (601 of original); Kiẓur Shelah, Hil. Mezuzah, p. 6g.
25. Maimonides, loc. cit.; Asheri, Halachot, Hil. Mez., §18; Toledot Adam veḤavah, 21:6, p. 142d; and the sources cited in REJ, LX (1910), 42, n. 5. Ms. S. Gematriaot, 62a, repeats the words of Asufot, cited in REJ, LXV (1913), 56, n. 3, but does not admit any indebtedness to Sherira Gaon.
26. Maharil, 87b. The power of awakening the dead was also attributed to this name of 14 letters; cf. Caster, Studies and Texts, III, 230 and Gollancz, Clavic. Sal., 42.