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Notes. Chapter X

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"Jewish Magic and Superstition", by Joshua Trachtenberg, [1939],

Chapter X

Amulets

1.
Cf. "JE", I, 546 ff.; Blau 86 ff.; Ashkenazi, "Taam Zekenim", 56; "S. as." 367, 1455, 1457. An early Yiddish "Vrauen Bchlein" ("Mivat HaNashim", Venice 1552, ch. 47) reassured its pious readers that the woman who wears an amulet to the ritual bath "kein Snde hat," and that it is no impediment to the performance of the rite and need not be removed.

2.
Cf. "Shab." 53a and Rashi; "Or Zarua" II, 18d, 83; "Ora ayim" 305:11; "Lev Tov" 6: 129, p. 68b; "Haayim" IV, 3; Perles, "Graetz Jubelschrift", 35. On the corals see "Tashbe" 60; "Responsa" of Meir of Rothenburg, ed. Lemberg, 140; Berliner, "Aus dem Leben", 134; Zimmels, "Beitrge", 118, n. 484.

3.
\"Shab." 66a and Rashi (cf. A. Darmesteter and D. S. Blondheim, Les Gloses Franaises de Raschi, Paris 1929, 31, 246); \"Ma. Vit." 133, n. 35; "Rokea" 100; "Rabiah" 311, 221, and Aptowitzer's n. 10; Gd. I, 214; \"Ora ayim" 303:24 and "Ber Heteb", ad loc. A note in "Amude Shlomo" to "Semag" I, 65 reads:. A thirteenth-century Latin ms. reports that "when the women of Salerno fear abortion, they carry with them the pregnant stone" (Thorndike, I, 740), and Wuttke (91-2) writes that a similar practice existed among the Germans.

4.
\"S. as." 1463 and Gd. I, 204; cf. Frazer, "The Magic Art", I, 587 f.; Grimm II, 72g, Iii, 443; Lowenthal, "A World Passed By", 115; "Kiur Shelah", In. "Pes.", 142 and "Ber Heteb" on "Ora ayim" 477:2, n. 4; M. Schwab, "REJ", Xxiii (1891), 137. Berliner, op. cit., 102, suggests that the belief in certain German districts that a piece of "Judenmatz" in a house will protect it from fire, may be derived from this use of the Afikomen as an amulet. "Yore Deah" 305:15 and Lipez, 47; Grunwald, "MJV", Xix (1906), Iii, 112, 114; Perles, "Graetz Jubelschrift", 35. A 14th century Archbishop of Aix, Richard Mauvoisin, had a Jewish astrologer named Moses carve some seals on his pastoral ring to avert disease and bring him fortune (Thorndike, Iii, 19).

5.
Cf. Samter, 175 ff.; Seligmann, "Mag. Heil- u. Schutzmittel", 200 ff., which discuss the anti-demonic virtues of red. These works and also Elworthy, "The Evil Eye", contain much information on this general subject.

p. 296

5a. "Leket Yosher" I, 9; cf. Berliner, op. cit., 92 f.; Grimm Ii, 920, Iii, 445, 333, 457, 656, 459, 708.

6.
Cf. Thorndike I, 778 ff., etc., Iv, 327; Grimm Ii, 996, 1017 ff.; "Toss. Shab." V, 17; B. B. 16b; "JE", Iii, 367 and V, 593 ff., 239 ff.; Steinschneider, "Kohut Memorial Volume", 45, "Hebr. Uebersetzungen", 964; Seligmann, op. cit., 208 ff.

7.
Ms. "S. Gematriaot", 43a-44b (cf. Baya b. Asher's comment on Ex. 28:17); see Steinschneider, "Kohut Mem. Vol.", 69-70, for a Hebrew translation by Berachya haNakdan of a Latin treatise on 73 gems; also "Midrash Talpiot", s. v. "Avanim Tovim", and "Segulat HaAvanim".

8.
\"Shimmush Tehillim", passim; Grunwald, "MJV", Xix (1906), 118.

9.
\"Raziel", 42a.

10.
There is an essential uniformity in all Jewish amulets, whatever the date or place of their origin; Talmudic (Blau, 93 ff., 117), modern Oriental (Casanowicz, "Journal Amer. Or. Soc.", Xxxvi [1917], 154, 156) and medieval, all are cut after the same pattern.

11.
Cf. "Raziel" 41b; Rashi, "Git." 67b; Grunwald, "MJV", Xix (1906), 112.

12.
Cf. "JE", Viii, 251-2; Grunwald, "Jahrb. f. jd. Gesch. u. Lit." Iv (1901), 119 ff.; "MGJV", Ix (1902), 137 ff.; Gdemann, "MGWJ", Lx (1916), 135 f.; Vajda, "MJV", Lix (1918), 33 ff.; Grotte, "MGWJ", Lxvi (1922), t ff.; Grunwald, "JJV", I (1923), 209; Grimm, I, 356, n. 4, Iii, 456, 644, 463, 812; Wuttke, 181-2; Montgomery, "Journal Amer. Or. Soc.", Xxxi (1911), 274, \"Ar. Incan. Texts", 259; "Raziel", 42b, 44b; Gollancz, "Maphtea Shelomo", passim; the ms. "S Gematriaot" is liberally sprinkled with hexagrams and pentagrams; Schwab, "Vocabulaire", 21. See also "Testament of Solomon, JQR", "OS", Xi (1899), p. 16; Schudt, Ii, Vi, 6:5.

13.
\"Raziel", 44b; Montgomery, "Journal A.O.S.", loc. cit., photographs facing pp. 272, 280; \"Maphtea Shelomo", passim; Schwab, Ms. No. 1380, 29; Grunwald, "MJV", Xix (1906), 108, 112; Scholem, "Kirjath Sepher", Iv (1927), 318-9.

14.
See Grnbaum, "Ges. Auf.", 217-8; de Gunzbourg, "REJ", Xxvii (1893), 145 and Grnbaum, ibid., Xxix (1894), 150 ff.; Steinschneider, "Cat. Hamburg", Hamburg, 1878, 55 f. (cf. 99 f.); Grunwald, "MGJV", V (1900), 60; Pilcher, "Proc. Soc. Bib. Archeology", XXVIII (London 1906), 110-118; W. Ahrens, "Hebrische Amulette mit magischen Zahlenquadraten", Berlin, 1916; Scholem ("MGWJ", Lxix [1925], 101 f.) conclusively disposes of the contention that the astrological number-squares were Jewish. I have seen one magical number-square amulet in a late Italian ms. version of "Raziel" ("S. HaRazim", J. T. S. Library, Ms. D. 146, p. 14a), which was no doubt copied from an earlier text. Cf. also W. Ahrens and A. Maas, "Etwas von magischen Quadraten in Sumatra und Celebes, Ztschr. f. Ethnologie", XLVIII (Berlin 1916), 232-253.

15.
See "Toss. Shab." V, 9, 10; \"Shab." 61a-b, 115b, and Rashi, 61a; J. "Shab." 7c, 8b; "HaTerumah", 90d-91b; "Ma. Vit." 133, 35; \"Rabiah", I, 305; \"Semag", I, 9c, 65; "Raben", 350; "Rokea", too; "Toledot Adam veavah", 59d, 61a; "Lev Tov", 6: 112, p. 67a; Amude Shlomo to "Semag" I, 65 and Solomon Luria's "Responsa", 47; "Ora ayim" 301:25, 27, 334: 14.

16.
Cf. "Nishmat ayim", Iii, 25; Grunwald, "MJV", Xix (1906), 107.

17. P. 4
1b. Grunwald, op. cit., 106, has a different table, from a 16th century ms.

18.
See M. L. Rodkinson, "Tefilah LeMoshe", Pressburg 1883, and "History of Amulets, Charms and Talismans", N. Y. 1893; \"JE", X, 21 ff.; S. Gandz, "The Knot in Hebrew Literature, Isis", Xiv (1930), 198; Blau, 152; Lauterbach, "HUCA", Ii (1925), 362, n. 22; "Amude Shlomo" to "Semag" I, 51.

19.
\"JE", Viii, 532; Aptowitzer, "REJ", Lx (1910), 39 f.; Rashi on "Men." 33b; "Responsa" of Meir of Rothenburg, ed. Cremona, 108; "Amude Shlomo" to "Semag"

p. 297

[paragraph continues] Ii, 23; \"Shelah", I, 187a ("Mas. ullin"). Rashi and his grandson R. Tam illustrate two opposing views in their interpretation of a Talmudic remark to the effect that affixing the "mezuzah" improperly may be a source of harm; Rashi says, "This is dangerous because if it is not properly attached the house is not protected against demons"; R. Tam says, "If it is set up in an awkward place one may strike against it and hurt himself" ("Toledot Adam veavah", 21:7, p. 143a).

20.
\"Shab." 32b; "Yore Deah" 285:1; "Testament of Shabbetai Horowitz", 9; "Kiur Shelah", 69 (Hil. Mezuzah); Lipez, 72; Yoffie, "Journal of American Folklore", Xxxviii (1927), 376.

21.
Rashi, "Yoma" 11a. See p. 4 above.

22.
Aptowitzer has assembled the information concerning the "mezuzah" in his very interesting articles in "REJ", Lx (1910), 39-52, Lxv (1913), 54-60, and "Haofeh", Ii (1912), 100-102, upon which this presentation is based. See also Z. Nissan, in Zion, Ii (1842), 161-4; \"JE", Vii, 532 f.

23.
\"Haofeh", loc. cit.; Rashi, "San." 21b. "Raziel", 42a, uses the identical term , "large writing," to describe the lettering of a magical inscription on a cake.

24.
\"REJ", Lx (1910), 41, n. 4, gives the sources; cf. especially Maimonides, "Mishneh Torah", Hil. Tefillin, V, 4; "Kol Bo", 90; "Raziel", 8a; ms. "E ayim", p. 1024 (601 of original); "Kiur Shelah", Hil. Mezuzah, p. 6g.

25.
Maimonides, loc. cit.; Asheri, "Halachot", "Hil. Mez.", 18; "Toledot Adam veavah", 21:6, p. 142d; and the sources cited in "REJ", Lx (1910), 42, n. 5. Ms. "S. Gematriaot", 62a, repeats the words of "Asufot", cited in "REJ", Lxv (1913), 56, n. 3, but does not admit any indebtedness to Sherira Gaon.

26.
\"Maharil", 87b. The power of awakening the dead was also attributed to this name of 14 letters; cf. Caster, "Studies and Texts", Iii, 230 and Gollancz, "Clavic. Sal.", 42.

27.
See Aptowitzer, op. cit.

28. Pp. 62b-64a.

29.
Pp. 64a-b.

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