Rabbi's Musings

Lunch and Learn today will feature a discussion about Judaism and witchcraft. Partly, this is because of the new Wicked movie. Also, it is useful to see Judaism as part of a larger world in which there was widespread belief in the occult. Judaism is best understood in its historical context. Does Judaism believe in witchcraft? The simple answer is yes. There is a witch in the Bible (I Samuel 28) living in En Dor (where we get the name of the mother-in-law of the sixties sitcom Bewitched:  Endora). Later, in rabbinic literature, there are stories of witches, not to mention demons, ghosts, etc. In the Middle Ages, such fascination with the occult deepened, and many Jewish practices that we observe today, especially around funerals and mourning, reflect these concerns. Other medieval Jewish thinkers claimed that none of this was real and that the witch of Endor herself was a fraud.

Even in the legalistic-minded Talmud, there are many stories of the occult, mixing the rational with the superstitious. We have stories of ghosts conversing with one another. There are magical spells. (Abracadabra is Aramaic—and Jewish—for “leave, o plague.”) Nevertheless, the general consensus is to leave behind all this stuff and rely on God.

Join us to discuss at the witching hour of high noon today!