Customer Reviews

Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This review is about the context of this work, Jewish Magic and Superstition, and not about this edition, per se. It seems that this book has gone into public domain and Forgotten Books is one of several companies that is making this work available to the general public. I know this because I accidentally misplaced my first copy and found it around the time I received this edition from Amazon. The "other" edition, published by The University of Pennsylvania Press has a purple cover with a medieval art-inscription underneath the title and inside is a reproduction of "Popular Medieval Amulet to Protect the Mother and Child Against an Attack by Lilith". And, unlike the Forgotten Press ed., the pages are a light cream color as opposed to white. The fonts, text, annotations and bibliography are identical. Either copy is priceless to own.

About the text. It is a comprehensive and explicit look at some of the practices believed to have been a part of the Jewish experience in the periods just before, during and right after in medieval Western Europe. This is not a text that covers an exhaustive look at all Jewish superstitious beliefs nor for all periods of Jewish existence. That would be impossible for even 10 volumes. For a look at Jewish beliefs of Eastern Europe, I highly recommend, The Book of Legends: Sefer Ha Aggadah.

Some of the topics, Rabbi Joshua Trachtenberg (of blessed memory) used as a part of his doctoral dissertation, "The Powers of Evil"-- thoughts concerning the makeup, work and influence of evil. "Man and The Demons," "In the Name of..."-- using incantations of Biblical phrases and divine names. "Amulets," "Dreams," "Astrology" are also covered thoroughly.

One reviewer erroneously stated that this book "only scratches the surface...[lacks] the breath and flesh." What book was he reading? Again, this book is not supposed to address all Jewish beliefs for every given period or every locale. Our own experiences are influenced by the environment by which we inhabit, that's true for all people at all times. He should not be expected to answer all questions for all Jews at all times. This is for a specific period and for a specific location. Period. By the way, the bibliography is well-research at 90+ pages to support his conclusions.

This book, I would say, reveals the basis of Modern (not Classical) Christian Anti-Semitic beliefs. To see how medieval Christian attitudes were demonstrated I would suggest Dr. Trachenberg's follow-up (and part two of his doctoral dissertation) The Devil and The Jews, and Shakespeare and The Jews by James Shapiro.

This book is the author's doctoral thesis from Hebrew Union College and was first published in 1939. Yet it is accessible to the general reader. It is fascinating to see the probable origins of so many traditional Jewish practices. The need for what is described as magical interventions was so strong the the Rabbis of old could not always disallow them. The question of the divide between what constitutes faith versus what is magic and superstition will likely arise in the reader but it is not the intention of this book to speak to this. There are a few frustration with this book. The author makes many assertions without being referenced, despite the plethora of other scholarly citations. Also there are frequent quotations in German, a language that scholarly readers of that day would know, but they are left untranslated in this edition. Finally, there is no index, though there is a glossary and othre supporting material.

The style is a little old-fashioned, but the book is a surprisingly sophisticated, knowledgeable and even-handed account of Jewish traditions of magic in northern European communities in the late middle ages. An entertaining treatment of a subject that is not well known or understood.