Fighting Sorcery (Yitro)

Ohhh! You cursed brat! Look what you’ve done! I’m melting! Melting! – Wicked Witch of the West

 

In this week’s Torah reading, we are presented with the famous Ten Commandments. The fourth one reads as follows:

Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God: you shall not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8-11

The Meshech Chochma wonders as to why there would be extra, special attention drawn to the sea. Why would it say, “heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them?” Why specifically is the phrase “all that is in them,” added to the sea, and not to heaven or earth?

He answers that there appears to have been an ancient belief that the subject of idol worship had power on the earth, but not on the sea and that those idolaters were willing to admit that God had exclusive domain over the seas. These idolaters admitted that their “gods” had no dominion over the sea or even over water. These beliefs translated into a practical effect: that the mystical sorcerous powers that these idolaters possessed through the worship of their “deities” could be nullified by water.

The Babylonian Talmud (Tractate Sanhedrin 67b) has an entire discussion about the use of sorcery and demons and concludes that it was normal practice in ancient Egypt to test any possible sorcerous spells with water. There is a story of the sage Zeiri who was sold a donkey in Alexandria. Suspecting foul play, he watered the donkey and it was revealed to be just a wooden plank. (He got a refund for his purchase).

In another case, Yannai arrived at an inn and asked for water. He was given water mixed with flour and noticed the woman innkeeper’s lips moving. Suspicious, Yannai spilled some of the water on the ground and it turned promptly into scorpions. Having evidence that they meant him harm, he cast his own spell and had the woman drink from the cup. She turned into a donkey which he proceeded to ride into the marketplace until a friend of hers released her from the sorcery.

I don’t know if L. Frank Baum (author of The Wizard of Oz) was familiar with these Talmudic stories or the Jewish understanding that water could nullify magic, but it’s certainly a fascinating possibility!

The Meshech Chochma concludes that the purpose of emphasizing God as the creator of the sea and all that’s in it, is to underline the fact, that just as God has absolute dominion over the oceans and all that is in it, so too, He has complete dominion over the heavens and the earth as well.

May we stay clear of any dark arts and enjoy the natural magic of creation.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the impressive OurCrowd Summit in Jerusalem.