Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala

Kethuboth, fol. 111, col. 2.

There were three hundred species of male demons in Sichin, but what the female demon herself was like is known to no one.

Gittin, fol. 68, col. 1.

"Now, when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came each from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildah the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him" (Job ii. 11). What is meant when it is said, "They had made an appointment together"? Rab. Yehudah says in the name of Rav, "This is to teach that they all came in by one gate." But there is a tradition that each lived three hundred miles away from the other. How then came they to know of Job's sad condition? Some say they had wreaths, others say trees (each representing an absent friend), and when any friend was in distress the one representing him straightway began to wither. Rava said, "Hence the proverb, 'Either a friend as the friends of Job, or death.'"

Bava Bathra, fol. 16, col. 2.

Rashi tenders this explanation, that Job and his friends had each wreaths with their names engraved on them, and if affliction befell any one his name upon the wreath would change color.

Rabbi Yochanan says that Rabbi Meir knew three hundred fables about foxes, but we have only three of them, viz, "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge" (Ezek. xviii. 2); "Just balances and just weights" (Lev. xix. 36); "The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead" (Prov. xi. 8).

Sanhedrin, fol. 38, col. 2, and fol. 39, col. 1.

Quite apropos to this we glean the following from Rashi:—A fox once induced a wolf to enter a Jewish dwelling to help the inmates to get ready the Sabbath meal. No sooner did he enter than the whole household set upon him, and so belabored him with cudgels that he was obliged to flee for his life. For this trick the wolf was indignant at the fox, and sought to kill him, but he pacified him with the remark, "They would not have beaten thee if thy father had not on a former occasion belied confidence, and eaten up the choicest pieces that were set aside for the meal." "What!" rejoined the wolf, "the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and shall the children's teeth be set on edge?" "Well," interrupted the fox, "come with me now and I will show thee a place where thou mayest eat and be satisfied." He thereupon took him to a well, across the top of which rested a transverse axle with a rope coiled round it, to each extremity of which a bucket was attached. The fox, entering the bucket, which happened to be at the top, soon descended by his own weight to the bottom of the well, and thereby raised the other bucket to the top. On the wolf inquiring at the fox why he had gone down there, he replied, because he knew there was meat and cheese to eat and be satisfied, in proof of which he pointed to a cheese, which happened to be the reflection of the moon on the water. Upon which the wolf inquired, "And how am I to get down beside you?" The fox replied, "By getting into the bucket at the top." He did as directed, and as he descended the bucket with the fox rose to the top. The wolf in this plight again appealed to the fox. "But how am I to get out?" The reply was, "The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead;" and is it not written, "Just balances just weights?"

When Rabbi Eliezer, on his deathbed, taught Rabbi Akiva three hundred particulars to be observed in regard to the white spot covered with hair which was the sign of leprosy, the former lifted up his arms and placed them on his chest and exclaimed, "Woe is me, because of these my two arms, these two scrolls of the law, that are about to depart from this world; for if all the seas were ink, and all the reeds were quills, and all the men were scribes, they could not record all I have learned and all I have taught, and how much I have heard at the lips of sages in the schools. And what is more, I also taught three hundred laws based on the text, 'A witch shall not live.'"

Avoth d'Rab. Nathan, chap. 25.

This truly Oriental exaggeration, which Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah so complacently applies to himself, was spoken also of Rabbi Yochanan before him (Bereshith Rabba); an acrostic poem in the Morning Service for Pentecost adopts the same hyperbole almost word for word, and turns it to very pious account. It is interesting to note how contemporary sacred literature abounds in similar hyperbolic expressions. In John xxi 25 it is said, "There are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written." Cicero, too, speaks of a glory of such a weight that even heaven itself is scarcely able to contain it; and Livy, on one occasion, describes the power of Rome as with difficulty restrained within the limits of the world.

Here it may not be out of place if we introduce a few of the many passages in the Talmud that treat of enchantment and witchcraft, as well as magic, charms, and omens. The list of quotations might be extended to a hundred, but we must confine ourselves to a score or so.

The daughters of Israel burn incense for (purposes of) sorcery.

Berachoth, fol. 53, col. 1.

Ben Azai (son of impudence), says, "… he who seats himself and then feels … (which must not be explained), the effects of witchcraft, even when practiced in Spain, will come upon him. What is the remedy when one forgets and first sits down and then feels?.... When he rises let him say, 'Not these and not of these; not the witchcraft of sorcerers and not the sorcery of witches.'"

Berachoth, fol. 62, col. 1.

The daughters of Israel in later generations lapsed into the practice of witchcraft.

Eiruvin fol. 64, col. 2.

Ameimar says, "The superior of the witches told me that when a person meets any of them he should mutter thus, 'May a potsherd of boiling dung be stuffed into your mouths, you ugly witches! may the hair with which you perform your sorcery be torn from your heads, so that ye become bald. May the wind scatter the crumbs wherewith ye do your divinations. May your spices be scattered and may the wind blow away the saffron you hold in your hands for the practicing of sorcery.'"

P'sachim, fol. 110, cols, 1, 2.

Yohanna, the daughter of Ratibi, was a widow, who bewitched women in their confinement. See Rashi on Soteh, fol. 22, col. 1.

Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel, in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua, says, "Since the destruction of the Temple a day has not passed without a curse; the dew does not come down with a blessing, and the fruits have lost their proper taste." Rabbi Yossi adds, "Also the lusciousness of the fruit is gone." Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says, "With the decay of purity the taste and aroma (of the fruit) has disappeared, and with the tithes and richness of the corn." The sages say, "Lewdness and witchcraft ruin everything."

Soteh, fol. 48, col. 1.

A certain magician used to strip the dead of their shrouds. Once when he came to the tomb of Rav Tovi bar Mathna he was seized and held fast by the beard, but Abaii having interceded on behalf of his friend, the grip was let go and he was set at liberty. Next year he came again on the same errand, and again he was seized by the beard. This time Abaii's intercession was of no avail, and he was not liberated until they brought a pair of scissors and cut off his beard.

Bava Bathra, fol. 58, col. 1

None were allowed to sit in the Sanhedrin unless they had a knowledge of magic.

Sanhedrin, fol. 17, col. 1.

Rabbi Shimon said, "An enchanter is one who passeth the exudation of seven different sorts of male creatures over the eye." The sages say he is one who practices and palms off optical illusions. Rabbi Akiva says, "He is one who calculates times and hours, and says To-day is good to start on a journey, To-morrow will be a lucky day for selling, The year before the Sabbatical year is generally good for growing wheat, The pulling up of pease will preserve them from being spoiled." According to the Rabbis, "An enchanter is he who augurs ill when his bread drops from his mouth, or if he drops the stick that supports him from his hand, or if his son calls after him, or a crow caws in his hearing, or a deer crosses his path, or he sees a serpent at his right hand or a fox on his left, or if he says to the tax-gatherer, 'Do not begin with me the first in the morning'; or, 'It is the first of the month'; or, 'It is the exit of the Sabbath,' i.e., the commencement of a new week."

Ibid., fol. 65, col. 2.

"By the term witch," the Rabbis say, "we are to understand either male or female." "If so," it is asked, "why the term 'witch,' in Exod. xxii. 18, in the Hebrew verse 17, is in the feminine gender?" "Because," it is answered, "most women are witches."

Ibid., fol. 67, col. 1.

If the proud (in Israel) were to cease, the magicians would also cease; as it is written (Isa. i. 25), "I will purge away thy dross and take away all thy tin."

Ibid., fol. 98, col. 1.

Among those who have no portion in the world to come is he who reads the books of the strangers, foreign books, books of outsiders. See also Sanhedrin, fol. 90, col. 1. Now Rav Yoseph says, "It is unlawful to read the Book of the Son of Sirach, … because it is written therein (Ecclesiasticus xlii. 9, etc., as quoted, or rather misquoted, in the Talmud), 'A daughter is a false treasure to her father: because of anxiety for her he cannot sleep at night; when she is young, for fear she should be seduced; in her virginity lest she play the harlot; in her marriageable age, lest she should not get married; and when married, lest she should be childless; and when grown old, lest she practice witchcraft.'"

Sanhedrin, fol. 100, col. 2.

He who multiplieth wives multiplieth witchcraft.

Avoth, chap. 2.

Most donkey-drivers are wicked, but most sailors are pious. The best physicians are destined for hell, the most upright butcher is a partner of Amalek. Bastards are mostly cunning, and servants mostly handsome. Those who are well-descended are bashful, and children mostly resemble their mother's brother. Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai bids us "kill the best of Gentiles" (modern editions qualify this by adding, in time of war), "and smash the head of the best of serpents." "The best among women," he says, "is a witch." Blessed is he who does the will of God!

Sophrim, chap. 15, hal. 10.

On the Sabbath one may carry a grasshopper's egg as a charm against earache, the tooth of a living fox to promote sleep, the tooth of a dead fox to prevent sleep, and the nail of one crucified (as a remedy) for inflammation or swelling. For cutaneous disorders he is to repeat Baz Baziah, Mass Massiah, Cass Cassiah, Sharlaii, and Amarlaii (names of angels), etc.... As the mules do not increase and multiply, so may the skin disease not increase and spread upon the body of N., the son of the woman N., etc.

Shabbath, fol. 67, col. 1.

"For night-blindness, let a man take a hair-rope and bind one end of it to his own leg and the other to a dog's, then let children clatter a potsherd after him, and call out, 'Old man! dog! fool! cock!' Let him now collect seven pieces of meat from seven (different) houses; let him set them on the cross-bar of the threshold, then let him eat them on the town middens; and after that let him undo the hair-rope, then let him say thus: 'Blindness of So-and-so, son of Mrs. So-and-so, leave So-and-so, son of Mrs. So-and-so, and be brushed into the pupil of the eye of the dog.'" (Quoted from "The Fragment," by Rev. W.H. Lowe of Cambridge.)

Gittin, fol. 69, col. 1.

According to the Rabbis, a man should not drink water by night, for thus he exposes himself to the power of Shavriri, the demon of blindness. What then should he do if he is thirsty? If there be another man with him, let him rouse him up and say, "I am thirsty;" but if he be alone, let him tap upon the lid of the jug (to make the demon fancy there's some one with him), and addressing himself by his own name and the name of his mother, let him say, "Thy mother has bid thee beware of Shavriri, vriri, riri, iri, ri," in a white cup. Rashi says by this incantation the demon gradually contracts and vanishes as the sounds of the word Shavriri decrease.

Avodah Zarah, fol. 12, col. 2.

A python is a familiar spirit who speaks from his armpits; a wizard is one who speaks with the mouth. As the Rabbis have taught, a familiar spirit is one who speaks from his joints and his wrists; a wizard is one who, putting a certain bone into his mouth, causes it to speak.

Sanhedrin, fol. 65, cols, 1, 2.

He who says to a raven "Croak," and to a hen raven, "Droop thy tail and turn it this way as a lucky sign," is an imitator of the ways of the Amorites (Lev. xviii. 3).

Shabbath, fol. 67, col. 2.

Women going out on the Sabbath-day are allowed, as the Rabbis teach, to carry with them a certain stone believed to counteract abortion.

Abaii interrupts his exposition of this Halachah in order to enumerate certain antidotes to chronic fever which, he says, he had learned from his mother. Take a new zouz and then procure its weight in sea-salt; hang this round the neck, suspended by a papyrus fibre, so that it may rest just in the hollow in front. If this does not answer, go where two or more roads meet and watch for the first big ant that is going home loaded; lay hold of it and place it in a brass tube; stop up the end of the tube with lead, putting as many seals upon it as possible; then shake it, saying the while, "My load be upon thee, and thine upon me." To this Rav Acha, the son of Rav Hunna, objected to Rav Ashi, and asked, "Might not the ant have been already laden with another man's fever?" "True," observed the other; "nevertheless let him say, 'My load be upon thee as well as thine own.'" If this be not effective, then take a new earthenware pot, and going to the nearest stream, say, "Stream, stream, lend me a pot full of water for one who is on a visit to me." Wave it seven times round thy head and then throw the water back again, saying, "Stream, stream, take back thy borrowed water for my guest came and went the same day."

Rav Hunna then adds a prescription for a tertian fever, and Rabbi Yochanan gives the following as effective against a burning fever:—Take an iron knife, and having fastened a papyrus fibre to the nearest bramble, cut off a piece and say, "And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire," etc., as in Exod. iii. 2. On the morrow cut off another piece and say, "The Lord saw that he (the fever) turned aside;" then upon the third day say, "Draw not hither," and stooping down, pray, "Bush, bush! the Holy One—blessed be He!—caused His Shechinah to lodge upon thee, not because thou art the loftiest, for thou art the lowest of all trees; and as when thou didst see the fire of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, thou didst flee therefrom, so see the fire (fever) of this sufferer and flee from it."

Shabbath, fol. 66, col. 2, etc.

Rabba once created a man (out of dust) and sent him to Rabbi Zira, who having addressed the figure and received no answer, said, "Thou art (made) by witchcraft; return to thy native dust." Rav Chaneanah and Rav Oshayah sat together every Sabbath-eve studying the book Yetzirah (i.e., the book of Creation), until they were able to create for themselves a calf (as large as a) three-year old, and they did eat thereof.

Sanhedrin, fol. 65, col, 2.

Yannai once turned in to a certain inn, and asked for water to drink, when they gave him (Shethitha, i.e., water mixed with flour). He noticed that the lips of the woman who brought it moved (and so suspecting that something was wrong), he poured out a little of it and it became scorpions. He then said, "I have drunk of thine, now thou shalt drink of mine." The woman drank and was transformed into an ass, which he mounted and rode to the market-place. One of her companions having come up, broke the spell, and the ass he had ridden was on the spot transformed back again into a woman. In reference to the above, Rashi naïvely remarks that "we are not to suppose that Yannai was a Rabbi, for he was not held in esteem, because he practiced witchcraft." But Rashi is mistaken; see Sophrim, chap. 16, hal. 6.

Sanhedrin, fol. 67, col. 2.

Ten measures of witchcraft came into the world; Egypt received nine measures, and the rest of the world one.

Kiddushin, fol. 49, col. 2.

The Rabbis say that on the Sabbath serpents and scorpions may be tamed by charming; that a metal ring, such as may be carried on the Sabbath, may be applied as a remedy to a sore eye; but that demons may not be consulted on that day about lost property. Rabbi Yossi has said, "This ought not to be done even on week-days." Rav Hunna says, "The Halachah does not enjoin as Rabbi Yossi says, and even he prohibits it only because of the risk there is in consulting demons. For instance, Rav Yitzchak bar Yoseph was once desperately delivered from the attacks of a vicious demon by a cedar-tree opening of its own accord and enclosing him in its trunk."

Sanhedrin, fol. 101, col. 1.

Rabbi Yochanan ben Zachai acquired a knowledge of the language of angels and demons for purposes of incantation.

Bava Bathira, fol. 134, col. 1.

"Neither shall ye use enchantments" … (Lev. xix. 26). Such, for instance, as those practiced with cats, fowls, and fishes.

Sanhedrin, fol. 66, col. 1.

Rav Ketina happened once, in his travels, to hear the noise of an earthquake just as he came opposite to the abode of one who was wont to conjure with human bones. Happening to mutter aloud to himself as he passed, "Does the conjurer really know what that noise is?" a voice answered, "Ketina, Ketina, why shouldn't I know? When the Holy One—blessed be He!—thinks of His children who dwell in sorrowful circumstances among the nations of the earth, He lets fall two tears into the great sea, and His voice is heard from one end of the world to the other, and that is the rumbling noise we hear." Upon which Rav Ketina protested, "The conjurer is a liar, his words are not true; they might have been true, had there been two rumbling noises." The fact was, two such noises were heard, but Rav Ketina would not acknowledge it, lest, by so doing, he should increase the popularity of the conjurer. Rav Ketina is of the opinion that the rumbling noise is caused by God clapping His hands together, as it is said (Ezek. xxi, 22; A.V., ver. 17), "I will also smite My hands together, and I will cause My fury to rest."

Berachoth, fol. 59, col. 1.

Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah proclaimed this anathema with the blast of three hundred trumpets:—"Whoever shall take drink from the hand of a bride, no matter whether she be the daughter of a disciple of the wise or the daughter of an Amhaaretz, it is all one as if he drunk it from the hand of a harlot." Again, it is said, "He who receives a cup from the hands of a bride and drinks it therefrom, has no portion whatever in the world to come."

Tract Calah.

There was a place for collecting the ashes in the middle of the altar, and there were at times in it nearly as much as three hundred cors (equal to about 2830 bushels) of ashes. On Rava remarking that this must be an exaggeration, Rav Ammi said the law, the prophets, and the sages are wont to use hyperbolical language. Thus the law speaks of "Cities great and walled up to heaven" (Deut. i. 28); the prophets speak of "the earth rent with the sound of them" (1 Kings i. 40); the sages speak as above and also as follows. There was a golden vine at the entrance of the Temple, trailing on crystals, on which devotees who could used to suspend offerings of fruit and grape clusters. "It happened once," said Rabbi Elazer ben Rabbi Zadoc, "that three hundred priests were counted off to clear the vine of the offerings."

Chullin, fol. 90, col. 2.

Three hundred priests were told off to draw the veil (of the Temple) aside; for it is taught that Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel declared in the name of Rabbi Shimon the Sagan (or high priest's substitute), that the thickness of the veil was a handbreadth. It was woven of seventy-two cords, and each cord consisted of twenty-four strands. It was forty cubits long and twenty wide. Eighty-two myriads of damsels worked at it, and two such veils were made every year. When it became soiled, it took three hundred priests to immerse and cleanse it.

Chullin.

When Moses was about to enter Paradise he turned to Joshua and said, "If any doubtful matters remain, ask me now and I will explain them." To this Joshua replied, "Have I ever left thy side for an hour and gone away to any other? Hast thou not thyself written concerning me (Exod. xxxiii. 11), 'His servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the Tabernacle?'" As a punishment for this pert reply, which must have distressed and confounded his master, Joshua's power of brain was immediately weakened, so that he forgot three hundred Halachahs, and seven hundred doubts sprang up to perplex him. All Israel then rose up to murder him, but the Holy One—blessed be He!—said unto him, "To teach thee the Halachahs and their explanation is impossible, but go and trouble them with work; as it is said (Josh. i. 1), 'Now after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua,'" etc.

Temurah, fol. 16, col. 1.

In the future God will assign to each righteous man three hundred and ten worlds as an inheritance; for it is said (Prov. viii. 21), "That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance, and I will fill their treasures." By Gematria equals three hundred and ten.

Sanhedrin, fol. 100, col. 1, and Okitzin, chap. 3, mish. 12.

An old woman once complained before Rav Nachman that the Head of the Captivity and certain Rabbis with him were enjoying themselves in her booth, which they had surreptitiously taken possession of and would not surrender, but Rav Nachman gave no heed to her remonstrance. Then she raised her voice and cried aloud, "A woman whose father had three hundred and eighteen slaves is now pleading before you, and you paying no heed to her!" Upon which Rav Nachman turned to his associates and said, "She is a bawling woman, but she has no right to claim the booth, only the value of its timber."

Succah, fol. 31, col. 1.

Elijah the Tishbite once said to Rav Yehudah, the brother of Rav Salla the Holy, "You ask why the Messiah does not come, even though it is just now the Day of Atonement." "And what," asked the Rabbi, "does the Holy One—blessed be He!—say to that?" "He says, 'Sin lieth at the door'" (Gen. iv. 7). "And what has Satan to say?" "He has no permission to accuse any one on the Day of Atonement." "How do we know this?" Ramma bar Chamma replied, "Satan by Gematria equals three hundred and sixty-four, therefore on that number of days only has he permission to accuse; but on the Day of Atonement (i.e., the 365th day) he cannot accuse."

Yoma, fol. 20, col. 1.

Rav Yitzchak said, "What is the meaning of that which is written (Ps. cxl. 8), 'Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked; further not his wicked device, lest they exalt themselves. Selah?'" It is the prayer of Jacob to the Lord of the universe that He would not grant to Esau, "the wicked, the desires of his heart." "Further not his wicked device," this refers to Germamia of Edom (i.e., Rome), for if they (the Romans) were suffered to go forward they would destroy the whole world! Rav Chama bar Chanena said, "There are three hundred crowned heads in Germamia of Edom, and there are three hundred and sixty-five dukes in Babylon. These encounter each other daily, and one of them commits murder, and they strive to set up a king."

Meggillah, fol. 6, col. 2.

In the great city (of Rome) there were three hundred and sixty-five streets, and in each street there were three hundred and sixty-five palaces, and in every one of these there were three hundred and sixty-five steps, each of which palaces contained sufficient store to maintain the whole world.

P'sachim, fol. 118, col. 2.

There are three hundred and sixty-five negative precepts.

There were three hundred and ninety-four courts of law in Jerusalem, and as many synagogues; also the same number of high schools, colleges, and academies, and as many offices for public notaries.