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163 Chapter 8: Rabbi Saliman Mani: Hebron, Gaza, and the Demons While a young man in his thirties, Rabbi Saliman Mani (see Chapter 2) published in Eliezer Ben Yehuda’s Ha-Tsevi. He wrote two exposés about Hebron and Gaza and a short story. His short story, “The Valley of the Demons” (Ha-Tsevi, 1885, No. 31-34) is a didactic story (about two thousand words) written in the first person. The narrator informs readers that since his youth he was a skeptic—he vacillated in his belief about demons. He could not substantiate their existence, yet he did not reject their existence. A Dervish rekindled his belief in demonic existence. He studied demonism extensively until he ultimately perceived himself as superior to human beings and able to dominate demons. In vain he attempted to rule demons in the desert and in graveyards. While in the graveyard, he thought he saw Asmodeus (the king of demons). However, when he approached the creature, he realized that what he observed in the dark graveyard was just a black dog that was bound. The dog bit him. Then he returned home and described his encounter. Old women prepared his home to rebuke the demons (“Indulko”) while he went to seek medical attention for his bite. Upon his return home, he learned that a woman who divined by a familiar spirit (a soothsayer, wizard) was brought to his home to ward off the demons. Angered by this occurrence, he went to seek help from his friend to learn more about this superstition. When he went to sleep that night he had a nightmare. In the nightmare, he dreamed he was rebuked for believing in the existence of demons. So, he killed the soothsayer. When he awakened, he ceased believing in demonic existence. Rabbi Saliman Mani’s short story was viewed by Galia Hayardeni as “picturesque and highly humorous.” His story detailed a strange custom of his time. When someone had a serious illness, such as blindness, madness, or fright, or 164 Part 2: Folktales, rePortage, ePistles, research, and a story when a woman was barren, it was customary to clean and paint the house and remove all religious books. The ill person was instructed to desist from prayer and not to mention God. Rather, a soothsayer was summoned. She prepared a medley of wheat, malt, water, salt, and honey. At midnight she sprinkled this mixture around the bed of the sick person and in other areas of the house while muttering incantations. Eliezer Ben Yehuda, the pioneer of Hebrew speech in Palestine and the editor of Ha-Tsevi, viewed this as an abominable custom, as one can observe from his remark at the end of the story. Rabbi Saliman Mani’s story paralleled Eliezer Ben Yehuda’s beliefs. Secular and educated Jews viewed this custom as an annoyance. In a previous issue of Ha-Tsevi (No. 30, 1885), an article surfaced about a school for girls that was closed for two weeks in order to implement this custom. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda wrote that Rabbi Saliman Mani’s beautiful piece was produced after that publication. Moshe David Gaon (see Bibliography) enumerated thirteen different procedures of this custom. One of them was to protect a home that came under demonic attack. It was a home designated for a couple planning to marry. The demons chose a house near the couple to be and threw stones and burning torches at their house to drive the inhabitants away. The house was vacated , and its dwellers prepared tasty food for the demons and beautiful candles, enough to last them for at least a week. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda liked the Sephardic Jews. He observed unity among them and viewed them as the future Jewish leaders. However, he wanted to fight against superstitions such as the one described in the story that was also adopted by Ashkenazi Jews. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda based the writing style he used in HaTsevi on modern European journalism of his era. The periodical exemplifies the evolution of Hebrew from a sacred language to a secular language that expressed all the requirements needed to fulfill one’s life. Ha-Tsevi encouraged local young authors and strove to encourage modifications in Jewish life to reflect the spirit of the Jewish Enlightenment. Rabbi Saliman Mani was one of the first authors in Palestine to write a didactic Hebrew story. His intent was to utilize literature to renew, modify, delineate accordingly, and enable life to progress. The author’s...

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