Professor David Biale comments that, since there is no central authority in Judaism, many popular beliefs, simply because they are mentioned in rabbinic literature, seem to have the approval of the rabbis, as is the case with magic and the existence of demons, themes frequently found in Jewish folklore.

It is written in Deuteronomy 18:10-12: “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices divination, or a sorcery, or a soothsayer, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord; and because of these abominations the Lord your God will drive out those nations from before you.”

There is virtually no mention of supernatural beings in the Bible, but they are mentioned in the Talmud, especially in the Babli, since in Babylon, for example, belief in demons was deeply rooted among the local non-Jewish population. We see in Tractate Berachot 6a: «Abba Benjamin says: If the eye had the power to see them, no creature could endure the demons. Abaye says: They are more numerous than we and surround us like the ridge around a field. R. Huna says: Each of us has a thousand in his left hand and ten thousand in his right hand. Raba says: The crushing of the crowd at Kallah lectures comes from them. The fatigue in the knees comes from them. The weariness of the scholars’ clothes is due to rubbing against them. The bruise of the feet comes from them.» Talmudic literature rarely goes into detail about what demons and magical creatures are like, or whether they are truly independent beings or simply psychological realities. In Kabbalah, however, the descriptions are much more detailed. Recently, Rabbi Yacob Menashe, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi, wrote: “The holy Zohar tells us that when Shabbat ends, great bands of evil spirits fly around the world. That is why we recite the Mizmor «Yosheb Besether Elyon» (Psalm 91) after the Amidah at the end of Shabbat, because it has the power to drive these spirits away. The Zohar tells us that when evil spirits see pious people reciting prayers, psalms, and Habdalah, they flee.”

Conservative and Reform Judaism do not believe in demons. For them, God is transcendent, so there is no room for other supernatural powers. For the Orthodox, however, who maintain that the Talmud is the Oral Torah that Moses received on Mount Sinai along with the Written Torah, they do exist. For example, in Sefer Raziel, a book of spells and magical practices widely circulated in Europe and the Middle East, the story is told that the angel Raziel revealed divine secrets to Adam after his expulsion from Paradise to help him cope with life outside the Garden of Eden, the same secrets he later also revealed to Abraham. David Biale says: “The fact that this book of magic was known to almost all Jewish communities demonstrates that religious folklore was as popular as rabbinic laws.” Hell!

By Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: David Biale: “The Norton anthology of world religions. Judaism.” Articles by Rabbi Yacob Menashe, Jay Michaelson, Rabbi Louis Jacobs, and Adam Kirsch.