Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion [Paperback]

Joshua Trachtenberg (Author), Moshe Idel (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0812218620 | ISBN-13: 978-0812218626 | Publication Date: January 16, 2004

Alongside the formal development of Judaism from the eleventh through the sixteenth centuries, a robust Jewish folk religion flourished—ideas and practices that never met with wholehearted approval by religious leaders yet enjoyed such wide popularity that they could not be altogether excluded from the religion. According to Joshua Trachtenberg, it is not possible truly to understand the experience and history of the Jewish people without attempting to recover their folklife and beliefs from centuries past.

Jewish Magic and Superstition is a masterful and utterly fascinating exploration of religious forms that have all but disappeared yet persist in the imagination. The volume begins with legends of Jewish sorcery and proceeds to discuss beliefs about the evil eye, spirits of the dead, powers of good, the famous legend of the golem, procedures for casting spells, the use of gems and amulets, how to battle spirits, the ritual of circumcision, herbal folk remedies, fortune telling, astrology, and the interpretation of dreams.

First published more than sixty years ago, Trachtenberg's study remains the foundational scholarship on magical practices in the Jewish world and offers an understanding of folk beliefs that expressed most eloquently the everyday religion of the Jewish people.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Of all the charges against the Jewish people the one that has enjoyed the hardiest tenacity and the utmost notoriety, and has produced the direct consequences, is the ritual murder accusation. In its popular version it foists upon Jewish ritual the requirement of Christian blood at the Passover service. The subject of much study and infinitely more polemics, its absurdity has been conclusively established, but the true nature of the accusation has never been made sufficiently clear. The legend as we know it has experienced several redactions - and of the idea of the Jew as sorcerer. --excerpt from 'Jewish Magic and Superstition' --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Joshua Trachtenberg (1904-59) served in the American rabbinate for nearly three decades. He is the author of The Devil and the Jews. Moshe Idel is Professor of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His numerous publications include Kabbalah: New Perspectives, Messianic Mystics and Hasidism: Between Ecstasy and Magic. He received the Israel Prize for excellence in the field of Jewish philosophy in 1999.

Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (January 16, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812218620
• ISBN-13: 978-0812218626
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,128,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good high level review, lack of flesh and details., July 28, 2004

By 

Uri Raz (Israel) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion (Paperback)

This is an excellent introduction to the subject of Judaism and magic & superstition.

It covers broad territory - powers of good & evil, demons, holy names, medicine, amulets, divination, dreams, and more - and supplies an extensive bibliography for those interested to continue studying any of the subjects in the book.

What I didn't find in the book is details or flesh - the book has a lot of breadth, but just scratches the surface on each of the subjects. Also, the book gives details about the customs of German Jews at specific centuries, but rarely mentions customs of, say, Jews from Islamic countries.

So if you're looking for an introduction, this is the book for you. If you're looking for depth, I suggest books such as Aryeh Kaplan's.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating book about Jewish superstitions, April 14, 2007

By 

Maggie Anton "winner of 2006 Ben Franklin Awa... (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion (Paperback)

I consulted this book almost constantly while writing my historical novels, Rashi's Daughters, Book 1: Joheved and Rashi's Daughters, Book II: Miriam. For a long time it was out of print and I'm so glad to see it's available in a new printing. Don't look for Kabbalah in this book though; it's almost all from medieval and Talmudic sources. I wish the bibliography was better.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Definitive Text, January 3, 2007

By 

Carole Barkley (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion (Paperback)

This was one of the books assigned as a text for a graduate-level history course, and it was a really excellent overview of the topic. It is quoted by just about every scholar of the subject who followed.