Jewish Traditions: A JPS Guide

Magic and Superstition

Magic and Superstition Amulet (i-ym2q=) Fearing injury from unseen evil forces, all ancient cultures turned to the protective magical powers of a variety of amulets, charms, and talismans . Despite rabbinic contention that tefillin (Deut. 6:8–9) and the mezuzah (Deut. 11:18–21) were only reminders of the divine commandments and the duty to bear witness to their God, many Jews probably viewed these objects as good luck charms to counteract the power of evil spirits. In the Talmud, an amulet is called kame’ah (plural, kemi’ot). This word probably derives from either the Hebrew root “to bind” or from the Arabic “to hang,” since amulets are usually either attached to clothing or hung as a necklace or bracelet. Most were designed to protect the wearer against a specific danger (the evil eye, miscarriage) or to promote good health or fertility. Depending on their specific purpose, amulets could be inscribed with various biblical verses, prayers (especially the Priestly Blessing; see p. 432), and combinations of the letters of the multiple names of God. The efficacy of an amulet was deemed to depend not only on the inscription but also on the piety of the person who wrote it. In addition to praying, fasting, and undergoing ritual purification, before writing an amulet the scribe should say: “Praised are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified Your great and revered name, and revealed it to the pious ones, who invoke Your power and Your might by means of Your name and Your word and the words of Your mouth, oral and written. Praised are You, Lord, King, Holy One; may Your name be extolled.”1 According to the Talmud an effective amulet—one that had cured a sick person on three different occasions or had cured three different sick people—could even be carried into the public domain on the Sabbath (Shab. 61a). 583 In the Middle Ages, the use of amulets inspired intense controversy. The rationalist Maimonides vehemently opposed their use, deriding the “folly of amulet writers.”2 Studying Torah and performing mitzvot were all that a Jew needed to combat evil. As Judah the Pious wrote, “Do not wear an amulet as a charm against evil, but put your implicit trust in God alone, for He will watch over you.”3 However, the more mystical Nachmanides permitted the use of amulets. Although belief in the protective power of amulets has greatly decreased in the West since the Emancipation of European Jewry, they remained in common use in Eastern Europe until the Holocaust. Amulets are still popular among Jews of Middle Eastern and North African descent , especially in Israel, where they have aroused controversy during political campaigns when distributed by certain ultra-Orthodox parties under the auspices of prominent rabbis. Hamsa (hs=m4c-) The hamsa—from a Semitic root meaning “five” (hamesh in Hebrew, and used in this context to refer to fingers)—is a hand-shaped amulet worn as a superstitious practice to ward off the evil eye. Symbolically representing the protective hand of God and long popular in Mediterranean cultures, in Muslim lands it has also been termed the “hand of Fatima” (after the daughter of Muhammad) or even the “hand of Miriam.” A hamsa frequently has a single eye set in the middle of the palm, either symbolic of the ever-vigilant eye of God or as a means to repel the evil eye. Magical hand-shaped amulets are still commonly used by Jews originating in Muslim countries and, through the influence of Sephardim in Israel, hamsas also have become popular among Jews in the West.4 Evil Eye (ir+h= Ny!i-) In many folk traditions there is belief in the Evil Eye (Ayin ha-Ra) to injure or cast a spell on another person. Deeming the Evil Eye the cause of all sickness, Rav“ went to a cemetery, performed certain charms, and then said, ‘Ninety-nine [have died] through an evil eye, and one through natural causes’” (BM 107b). At times, pious individuals could employ the magical power of the eye for good. The Talmud relates that, 584 The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions when confronting an evil man, Shimon bar Yochai “cast his eyes upon him and he became a heap of bones” (Shab. 34a). Some of the Rabbis deemed Jews to be immune from the harmful effects of the Evil Eye: “Just as the fishes...