I just discovered this story now, in a lecture by Rabbi Yehonason Alpren, entitled The Witch Avoided Eye Contact with the Orthodox Jew:
video-tov.ml/watch/nmXfjGV5wNI 
(completely shemirat einayim-friendly, including no sidebar of images or ads) 

If you can't manage to watch it, here's a synopsis (spoiler alert!):

A frum friend of Rabbi Alpren was earning his doctorate in psychiatry at a university in America. 

At the end of the course, the staff introduced a variety of alternative practitioners to the students: a herbalist, a hypnotist, and so on.

One of the last practitioners ended up being a witch, who showed up for around 3 sessions with the class. 

​Throughout, she demonstrated how she used her powers for "healing."

​The frum student, who'd spent a year or two at a yeshivah in Yerushalayim, sat toward the left corner at the back of the lecture hall.

The witch explained her methods of black magic & spiritualism for "healing" people & "fixing" their problems, then ended the first session with an offer to demonstrate her powers.

​After requesting that everyone raise their hand, she turned to one of the students who raised a hand, stared at that student, then revealed something personal about what that student was thinking.

Everyone was shocked.

But the frum student felt suspicious. 

​At the second session, the witch performed the same demonstration again. Yet something about her behavior caught the eye of the frum student: When she asked for volunteers, she avoid the left side of the room—the side on which the frum student sat.

​He felt she was avoiding him.

After that second session, the frum student approached his professor and requested that at the next lecture, everyone should refrain from raising their hand; only the frum student would raise his hand to volunteer.

When the professor asked why, the frum student explained his feeling that the witch made every effort to avoid him, and he wanted to see what would happen if they left her with no other choice but him.

The professor agreed to this experiment.

So at the third session, only the frum student raised his hand to volunteer. 

But the witch refused to look in his direction.

Finally, someone pointed out the frum student raising his hand.

​But she still refused to look at the frum student.

​After a bit, with everyone staring at her, she felt compelled to turn and set her gaze on him.

​She turned white.

She vomited.

Then she fainted on the spot.

​Medical assistance arrived & revived her.

When asked her what happened, she explained that the first time she entered the lecture hall, she felt somebody inhibiting her powers—somebody sitting in the left-hand corner.

​"What's wrong with him?" they asked her.

"I can't read him," she said.

Why not?

"He believes in God and he prays to God," she said. "I can't touch him."

This left everyone dumbfounded.

Even more thought-provoking, a Jesuit priest sat in the same class.

Yet she only sensed an obstruction from the frum Jew.

Interestingly, she picked up on the Jew's belief & prayer when he wasn't even praying, not wearing tefillin, or doing anything else particularly religious. (But come to the think of it, he must have been wearing a kippah & tzitzit. So he was doing something religious at that moment, even though only the kippah would've been visible from her position.)

It's like the Shacharit he davened earlier stuck to him without his even realizing it.

And how much kavanah did he even daven with? Maybe a tremendous amount, maybe average, or maybe distracted...who knows?

If you pay attention to the words of Shacharit (morning prayer service), particularly the initial blessings & requests, you see a lot of heartfelt pleas for protection. Pitom HaKetoret (which not everyone says regularly) also provides powerful protection against all sorts of things—including kishuf (sorcery, magic, occult).

But there's still more to the story...

A year or 2 after the above incident, this frum student's rabbi took him to meet a prominent Rosh Yeshivah, one of the great Torah Sages of Bnei Brak (probably Rav Schach).

​Upon hearing the story, the Rosh Yeshivah said, "What are you so amazed about? Didn't you know the power of prayer? Do you know what you are, what happens when you pray to God and you believe in God? You have such enormous powers of holiness—you're a different person!"

​And that's a fundamental truth with which we often lose touch.

Related posts:

• Part 1: What's So Bad about Kishuf? A Look at Halacha, the Rational vs the Supernatural, the 80 Witches of Ashkelon, and the Machshefah Midwife of the Me'am Lo'ez

​

• Part II: What's the Problem with Kishuf?–A Torah Discussion of Witchcraft, Sorcery, and the Occult from Both the Rationalist & Supra-Rationalist POV

 

• Part III: What's So Bad about Kishuf? – What's Wrong with White Magic? LOTS!

In West Bloomfield, Michigan, many members of the Jewish community do not keep taharat hamishpacha—and a major obstacle to inspiring them in this mitzvah is the unappealing condition of the mikveh.

Combine this dilemma with the heartbreak of a Jewish couple currently unable to have children and some good Jews came up with...

...a plan to renovate the West Bloomfield mikveh in the merit of the childless couple.

thechesedfund.com/mikvausa/thechesedfundcommikvausa

Contributing to this project is a tremendous mitzvah.

Also, contributing to the mitzvah of mikveh helps atone for some of the most formidable sins.

For example, when a young woman finally revealed to Rebbetzin Heller a particularly scandalous act committed by the young woman, Rebbetzin Heller took her to a major talmid chacham.

The act itself was unrepairable. However, the big talmid chacham quoted the Rambam, saying that however one damaged the world, one should seek to fix the world.

Meaning, the young woman's act brought tumah into the world, so she should seek to bring purity & holiness into the world.

​Based on that, he suggested she contribute to the building of a mikveh, which creates purity within a Jewish marriage.

Likewise, a Breslover chassid in Uman advised a former hitman davening in their shul to build a mikveh in order to bring life into the world (by enabling Jewish couples to have children in purity). After all, he'd taken life out of the world, so building a mikveh would be the appropriate tikkun. And the former hitman built & operated a new mikveh with great mesirut nefesh. 

You can see more about his extraordinary story here:
www.myrtlerising.com/blog/the-true-story-of-how-a-murderer-did-teshuvah

Unfortunately, modern secular values encourage acts that degrade society (immoral & inappropriate behavior, etc.) & also destroy life (abortion, euthanasia, etc.).

Contributing to a mikveh is a great way to atone for these sins and to fight against the degradation of life & holiness in modern society today.

Remember, every little bit adds up!
​
thechesedfund.com/mikvausa/thechesedfundcommikvausa

For those of you davening for Binyamin Yisroel ben Chanita, please know that your prayers ARE WORKING!

The special scan he underwent last week came out with good results: No regrowth of the brain lesion!

His family continues to express heartfelt gratitude toward all of you who are davening & doing good deeds on behalf of this 13-year-old only child.

​THANK YOU!

Please continue your inspiring davening & deeds for Binyamin Yisroel ben Chanita (ch as in Chanukah, the letter chet). 

May Binyamin Yisroel ben Chanita merit a complete & speedy refuah along with all the cholei Yisrael.

Previous related posts:

• www.myrtlerising.com/blog/some-updates-on-cholim
• www.myrtlerising.com/blog/please-daven-for-binyamin-yisroel-ben-chanita​​ ​

In honor of the joyful Jewish month of Adar, we have more transcribed talks from Rav Itamar Schwartz of Bilvavi:

• Purim Talks

(http://www.bilvavi.net/files/Purim.Talks.pdf)

Not just about Purim, Rav Schwartz covers the entire month of Adar, starting from the qualities of happiness & laughter to the Adar connection with the Tribe of Zevulun to in-depth insights into Purim to erasing Amalek, and includes bringing the joy of Adar into your home, into your family, and applying it throughout the entire year.

It concludes with an eye-opening Q&A.

• The Mazal/Astrological Sign of Adar

​ (http://www.bilvavi.net/english/rosh-chodesh-mazal-015-adar-fish)

The mazal of Adar is Dagim/Fish/Pisces. 

Chodesh Tov!

In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah Parshas Mishpatim 4 – Badges of Honor, he points to an intriguing use of language regarding the Jewish slave: eved Ivri—Hebrew slave.

Rav Miller notes that throughout Tanach, Am Yisrael is called "Yisrael."

The surrounding nations tend to use the term Ivri/Hebrew...but Hashem & Am Yisrael tend to use terms like "Yisrael/Israelite," "Am Yisrael/Nation of Israel," "Bnei Yisrael/Children of Israel," and so on.

Rav Miller explains that when speaking to others in Tanach, Am Yisrael used the word Ivri because that's what the other understood. 

(Sort of like how we say the English "God" instead of our more meaningful Hebrew or Yiddish terms because if you start going on about "the Aibeshter" or "Hashem," how many people will understand you?)

So Moshe Rabbeinu & Yonah HaNavi used the term "Ivri" when speaking to Pharaoh or the non-Jewish sailors.

​But it's not a term we normally use.

Based on this idea, it's interesting that even today, Bnei Yisrael of ancient times tend to be called "ancient Hebrews." 

That term makes us sound like a race, rather than a nation on a special mission.

​Sure, that may have made sense until a certain point. But for the vast majority of Tanach, we are called "Yisrael."

​Yet Rav Miller explains "Ivri" as a dismissive term. It literally means "passer-over"—someone who passed, like passed over the Euphrates.

(That's what it means for those who don't know. Spiritually speaking, Avraham Avinu passed from the profane to the holy. But that's not how the other nations mean it.)

It implies that the descendants of Yaakov Avinu are merely another branch of the Semitic tribe (from Shem)—they came from "over there"—in other words, nothing special.

Rav Miller also notes that the language Ivrit/Hebrew was generally called Lashon Hakodesh (The Holy Language) among Jews, and not Ivrit/Hebrew. 

Here's another interesting point on page 6 that I never considered (but always found the name awkward & odd—now I know why!):

But in reality, the truth is on page 4:

Interestingly, the American Jewish community increasingly attempts to show the world "we're just like you!"

This attitude ("We're nice & harmless! We're not so different than you!") has spread to parts of the frum community, especially among those frummies prominent among the general American population.

​​Clothing styles, speech patterns, slang, and even in foul language in some cases increasingly imprints itself on many frum people.

(For instance, it's weird to hear a born-and-raised Monsey FFB speak like a Valley Girl or a guitarist from California.)

Needless to say, we should be nice. We should behave with supreme derech eretz.

And even when the plain halacha doesn't obligate us a certain way, we should still take the high road.

For example, Rav Miller notes that the laws against lashon hara only apply to fellow Jews.

However, slandering & rumor-mongering stand out as mean behavior that makes you a mean & nasty person in the end.

Thus, even though you're not breaking the Torah law against lashon hara by speaking negatively about, say, your non-Jewish colleague...you ARE engaging in ugly behavior that ruins your character.

(https://torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-gentile-lashon-horah/)

​So you should not do it.

Our job is to rectify the world.

When you make a bracha over a glass of water, you are rectifying something in the world.

When you light Shabbat candles, you are rectifying something in the world.

When you put on tefillin, you are rectifying something in the world.

While doing all those rectifications, we should also lead the way in proper behavior.

We should look & act like bnei haMelech!

We should be very good!

But we aren't like everyone else, nor should we try to be.

With all today's emphasis on "being yourself!" and "be true to yourself!" (and hearing this said constantly in the frum community too), it's odd that being true to your Jewish neshamah is less emphasized.

​After all, your neshamah is the REAL YOU! 

On pages 6-10, Rav Miller explains how to be a proud Jew.

And it has nothing to do with being a jerk.

On page 10, Rav Miller briefly addresses the idea behind the more modest bat mitzvah celebrations for girls.

​So the big tragedy for the eved Ivri is that he chooses to loose his special status as a Yisrael.

​Let's end with a thought from Rav Miller (page 6):

Rachel Naomi bat Esther Chana is still in the hospital on a respirator, but has shown steady improvement.

Her prematurely born son, Rach Hanolad ben Rachel Naomi remains in the preemie unit of the hospital, but is in stable condition.

Your prayers have definitely influenced their situation toward a desirable outcome.

Everyone is so grateful, and please continue with your prayers & good deeds on their behalf!

Binyamin Yisroel ben Chanita (a 13-year-old only child) will undergo a special scan Wednesday, February 10. His family requests that you continue to daven & do good deeds on his behalf, and also to please pray for Hashem's Mercy that the scan reveals good news!

But what about the proponents of “white” magic or witchcraft?

Many proponents of modern witchcraft insist they only use "white" magic and that "white" magic is just great.

They offer innocent-sounding examples, like chanting a spell (which merely comprises a request phrased in Greek) that helps them find a parking spot.

Furthermore, modern children's fantasy novels & movies incorporate characters who use magic to help others & save the day.

So first of all, murmuring silly spells to help you with things like finding a parking spot is total kefirah (heresy).

And guess what, wacky Wiccans? HASHEM creates parking spots. You can murmur your parking pleas to HIM.

Replacing Hashem with kishuf destroys emunah & ultimately warps the soul.

Even seemingly helpful acts of "white" kishuf, like healing others, denies Hashem’s Power & creates the impression of the machshefah’s machinations as the source of the healing power.

(And because kishuf utilizes kochot hatumah, which utilizes harmful entities, you end up paying a nasty price for any seeming good you do with the kishuf.)

Note: If you’re wondering what the difference is between that and the blessing of a tzaddik or the use of a segulah, the answer—on one foot—is that these claim only to work with the help of Hashem. A lot of them facilitate inner growth in YOU yourself. (White magic does not make the receiver a better person or facilitate inner growth.) Likewise, prayer turns to Hashem for the healing. Greek-language gibberish & goddess incantations & occult-based methods totally deny Hashem’s Mastery & Influence in the world—which is the prime severity of kishuf.

Hashem is so Good & Compassionate—and kishuf spits all over this.

A holy person connects to Hashem’s Holiness, to His All-Encompassing Presence & Oneness—and this increases emunah & holiness within the person. A great many Jews have become much better people after an encounter with a holy Jew.

However, an unexpected discovery demonstrated to me why even dabbling in “white” kishuf not only distorts emunah, but reaps lethal consequences.

​I stumbled across a particular writing blog & immediately fell in love with it.

This blog covered so many different aspects of writing because of the blogger’s vast experience with all types of writing in a variety of genres: non-fiction, fiction, cookbooks...

She knew tons of stuff about writing, publishing, graphic design, marketing, ghost writing, outsourcing, research, and much more. She gleaned resources from all over.

Even if the topic didn't address my specific needs or plans, it was still intriguing to read about it.

I subscribed to the blog feed to never miss a post (I rarely subscribe to anything—and if I do, I usually unsubscribe as soon as possible.)

As time went on, I discovered that, being considered an expert in a couple of areas, she also spoke at national conferences and even appeared on TV (everything under an alias name). Though it didn't apply to me, I still enjoyed reading about her tips for appearing in (or partly narrating) documentaries & the behind-the-scenes glimpse into that industry.

(Just in case you're wondering how she stayed anonymous...she utilized photo software to morph photos of her & people who looked like her. So then her photos kind of look like her, but not exactly. She gave advice on this too. And documentaries either featured only her voice or her in shadows.)

Also, her website was so shockingly CLEAN:

No foul language, no naughty references, and no problematic images.

In fact, the website initially displayed no images at all.

Even more astoundingly in these times, if she linked to foul-mouthed content, she included warning before offering the link.

Finding her very approachable, I once emailed her with a brief polite question—to which she responded quickly with generous amounts of information.

As you probably already know, popular bloggers usually offer as brief an answer as possible (while hopefully still being pleasant—though not always even that).

It’s easy to understand how busy they are and, seeing as I’m a total stranger, I very much appreciated how much time (and typing!) she invested in offering all the information she thought I needed—and doing it so pleasantly too.

​However, the first inkling that not all was sugar & spice came when she spoke of weird interactions with “fans.”

A few tracked her down to her home, leaving stuff in her mailbox.

One even tried to run her over with his car—or seemed to. She was never sure whether it was overenthusiasm or a sadistic prank or a real attempt to hurt her.

She also alluded to receiving lots of particularly hostile reviews or reactions from critics.

I've been reading interviews & the personal blogs of successful writers for decades, and I never heard such extremes—especially the attempt to run her over.

Yeah, critics can be harsh. But she alluded to lots of angry readers with particularly hostile reactions.

​What material was this very nice, approachable person writing that incited people so severely?

At that point, I realized she wrote different types of paranormal fiction (in addition to several other genres), so I figured she probably attracted weirdoes from that.

But still. The above indicates extreme reader response, even for paranormal writers.
​
Side point: Another popular author cautioned writers against writing to trend because if, for example, the current trend was vampire stuff, then the trend-writing author could find herself at a writers convention in an elevator full of people wearing fangs, yellow contact lenses, and other vampire-goth paraphernalia—all following her around wanting to talk to her & get her autograph. Yes, the creepy world of writing today…so writing in weird genres can definitely attract weirdos.

​Then, going after an allusion to one of her aliases, I went to another website of hers under that alias and found lots of arts & crafts projects.

A lot of it looked charming, folksy, and whimsical.

Yet some of the dolls seemed…odd.

I can no longer remember exactly, but some of the dolls struck me as voodoo-y or witchy. Not necessarily meant to harm others, but meant for uses beyond standard doll use.

Then I came across instructions for making a fairy house. She offered parts for those too.

And by fairy house, I don’t mean a fantasy-themed doll house.

A fairy house is meant to attract fairies.

​Yes. That's right. Actual mythological fairies.

According to the website, you can bring fairies to your yard or your home with some fairy-bait (trinkets or food they like) in these houses meant to appeal to fairies.

She clearly believed in fairies and thought it fine—even fun—to attract them.

That rang a serious warning bell in my mind.

While the Anglo cultures provide a variety of names for a wide range of entities (fairies, goblins, gnomes, pixies, leprechauns, imps, elves, etc.), traditional Jewish sources lump them under the general category of mazikin or nezikin — damagers, destroyers.

They’re also known as shedim…demons.

Or chitzonim — externals or outsiders.

Or ruchin bishin — evil spirits.

In other words, these are not entities you want to attract.

The Hebrew & Aramaic terms make that clear.

She light-heartedly spoke of living with unseen fairies in her home who sometimes took small objects. She said she always responded by making an amused statement of need, after which she later found her missing object.

Despite their annoying behavior, she enjoyed the idea of hosting them in her home.

She made it sound innocent & simple, but in reality, humans cannot control these things.

These entities respond to their own rules—which means they only give you the desired response either if it suits them or if they're compelled to.

(Whether out of desire or compulsion, they only grant your desire if they benefit in some way.)

Judaism offers certain types of protection (prayers, mezuzot, etc.), but Jewish remedies focus on protection—not attraction—and Judaism focuses even less on appeasement (though appeasement plays a huge part in non-Jewish fairy lore & the customs of those who believe).

​The Jewish way primarily focuses on keeping these things OUT.

The non-Jewish methods of self-protection often utilize useless gestures at best or kochot hatumah (including kishuf) at worst. 

(The only techniques they find commonality with Jewish sources are avoidance, such as not being out after dark in certain areas or avoiding certain areas altogether.)

Also, non-Jewish traditions portray these entities as liable to steal babies & young children. People used to fear these things and in some areas, they still fear them.

Yet she claimed to host these things even though she has grandchildren visiting at times.

She seemed very content to live with these mazikin (damagers), which made me wonder what she did to protect herself that she wasn’t saying.

She also recommended watching out for fairy rings in the yard, not to step in them (that harms you) or damage them (that harms the fairies), but also to be careful when grandchildren come to visit because if the children step into the rings, they could disappear.

What?!

Now. Whether you believe this stuff or not, SHE believes it.

​Yet she creates objects to attract these entities into her yard and home, even though she believes it holds danger for young children (including her own grandchildren).

It all struck me as both weird & irresponsible, and not in line with the caring, down-to-earth, appealing persona that came through her writing.

Then, without even meaning to, I stumbled across her most famous alias—the one she tried so hard to keep secret—and realized it was her.

This was the alias she alluded to several times that earned her appearances at niche conventions & on TV shows (in which she either appears in voice only or in a way that shadows her real appearance).

This alias revealed she made a whole career out as a “paranormal consultant.”

In the self-photo for this site, she looked spooky & sinister, wearing the facial expression of someone about to put a hex the viewer.

How different than the friendly & approachable persona she displayed in writing on all her sites and morphed photographs or vertex portraits!

She also spoke openly about having descended from fairies centuries ago, making her a mostly-human-with-some-fairy hybrid. (Remember: When goyim say fairies, Jews say mezikin or demons. If she’s really a hybrid, that’s not something to be proud of.)

​Now you see why she attracted weirdos.

Yet even here, she discussed wacky stuff in a sensible manner.

For example, she cautioned against assuming that every seemingly haunted house was actually haunted; she recommended practical rationalist steps, like checking the plumbing & electricity before jumping to conclusions.

She enjoyed engaging with ghosts, helping them “pass” to other side (though she noted that just like with live people, they didn’t always want to let go of their issues).

Nonetheless, she enjoyed taking others to haunted areas (ghost tours, etc.). She stressed responsible behavior, safety precautions, and the importance of listening to "your gut feeling" in such areas.

She repeatedly stressed that if you even think you might be dealing with demons, to leave the area immediately and seek expert demon help (like a priest or demonologist or shaman, etc.).

This really disturbed me because the non-Jewish world gets mixed up about a lot of this supernatural stuff.

For example, what churches call “demonic possession” is often actually dybbuk possession—meaning a dead soul being punished in kaf hakela (Slingshot Hell) that chooses to enter a living body for respite from its angelic punishers. (Kaf hakela a way of cleansing the soul—very painful, but cleansing.)

And these souls often refuse to behave nicely because that’s why they’re being punished so badly in the first place: They were very bad people.

Furthermore, if you read how Jewish tradition describes different kinds of entities, then you discover that what the churches consider ghosts are usually demons.

(And that’s only if it’s real, and not a hoax or psychotic episode or something.)

Also, as I read the Me’am Lo’ez on Parshat Beresheit, he mentioned that while demons can take on any appearance they desire, their actual bodies consist of fire & air because Hashem refused to complete their bodies Erev Shabbat.

So when people take pictures of balls of light, which they label as ghosts, they are probably actually photographing demons.

​Indeed, some people even call these mysterious orbs “fairy lights,” which is a lot more accurate than calling them ghosts. (This all refers to lights with no apparent source, and not lights created by a reflection or chemical response in a bog gasses or something.)

Further reading revealed that even what she called ghosts weren't necessarily what she believed were ghosts (i.e. dead people who once lived & hadn't "passed over" for some reason).

"Spirits" she called these non-dead ghosts.

​In other words, yet another class of what Judaism calls mezikin or demons.
​
Anyway, knowing these entities are most likely demons (no matter what her “gut” says), I felt increasing discomfort as I read on.

(Especially since demons or mezikin cover such a vast variety of entities, you can't just use your gut feeling. After all, one demon pretending to be Eliyahu Hanavi proved a hard nut to crack for Rav Yehudah Petiyah, and even succeeded in fooling major Torah Sages like Rav Aharon Agassi & Rav Yaakov the son of the Ben Ish Chai...until Rav Petiyah saved the day [Minchat Yehudah, Parshat Miketz]. In other words, you cannot just rely on your "gut.")

Then I came across a major post of hers, which admitted to feeling compelled to discuss a specific cemetery reputed to host particularly active paranormal activity, something she’d avoided until that post because such reports attract certain types of people—and she desperately wanted people to avoid this cemetery because she deemed it too dangerous to explore.

How did she arrive at that conclusion?

One night, she decided to take a friend to this same cemetery in order to experience ghostly activity. While ghosts don’t usually perform on demand, the regular activity in this cemetery seemed a good opportunity for those who wished to see action.

However, while there, she and her friend ran into short, furry entities she’d never seen before—entities who clearly weren’t ghosts and who also gave her really bad vibes.

Only that...by the time her bad vibes vibed her, she and her friends were already well into the cemetery.

The bad vibes of strangeness & uneasiness increased until she ran into what she termed “a wall of evil.” (Nothing physical, just a sensation.)

She perceived it as sheer evil, and she felt sure that both it and the entities were entities of their own, and not entities that had once lived then died (like her darling ghosts).

At this point, she realized she was in way over her head and sought to flee with her friend from the distressing area and back to their car.

Yet disturbingly, her friend continued to suffer “issues” for weeks after the event.

​Entities visited her friend in the night, she struggled to sleep peacefully, and she felt generally stalked & harassed by these entities—even in the day time.

Apparently, this was not an unusual consequence of visiting this cemetery.

The paranormal consultant received phone calls from others who, in search of paranormal experiences, visited this cemetery, and later called her in desperation to plead, “Does it ever end? Does it ever go away?”

The paranormal consultant felt awful about the whole thing and advised the woman to contact a demon-expert or an experienced priest.

(Yet Jewish sources show that neither experts nor priests truly help. Yes, occultists developed occult methods to deal with demons, but they don't work at the foundation of the problem. Demons are notoriously deceptive and can simply lull you into thinking you’ve banished them so that you’ll leave them alone. Or you need to be a truly holy person, like our tzaddikim, and utilize things of kedushah, like a mezuzah—to effectively banish or protect against these mazikin.)

Not surprisingly (to us), consultation with a priest didn’t help the friend.

Advice from this paranormal consultant didn’t help either.

(And yeah, it's thought-provoking to realize how the paranormal consultant encountered these things without suffering ill consequences from the encounter, even though she experienced a more intense encounter at the cemetery than her friend. Why?) 

Mere weeks after the frightening encounter in the cemetery, this same woman (the friend haunted by entities after the cemetery fiasco) was found dead in her car in a parking lot outside a supermarket in the middle of the day.

The woman was only in her late thirties with no medical issues.

Puzzled medical experts declared her death a heart attack, but her family & friends felt she was killed by these entities who continued to stalk her. Or something. No one knew exactly what, but felt certain her death resulted directly from whatever she encountered at the cemetery.

Throughout, the paranormal consultant confessed how awful she felt about the whole thing.

​She struggled with feelings of guilt because, after all, she was the one who took her friend there in the first place—and kept her there throughout the initial bad vibes & weird entities, all the way until running smack into the wall of evil.

To my mind, there is no doubt that the friend died as a direct result from her encounter in the mezikin-ridden cemetery.

In fact, the Kav HaYashar (Chapter 69) similarly recalls a cellar infested with demons, which killed a young man who managed to enter. Only 15 minutes after he entered, the residents of the home found the young man lying on the threshold with no sign of any injury (other than the fact he was dead).

​That happened in the Polish city of Posen during the years 1681-1682.

Anyway, the paranormal consultant detailed all this as a warning to even the most foolhardy thrill-seekers to NOT go anywhere near that cemetery. 

When asked about the police patrolling the area, she said the police only patrol in pairs and do their best to stay in their police car. If they see people partying with alcohol or drugs in the cemetery, they try to break things up without leaving the car (i.e., calling out to the errant youth via the police bullhorn).
​
If forced to enter the cemetery, the police make sure to go in together and not to go in any further than absolutely necessary.

Apparently, she made the police feel comfortable speaking with her about their true feelings, but they refuse to embarrass themselves by speaking about their experiences publicly.

​Now, you might think the fact that, after visiting this cemetery, and after people call her up in tears of desperation asking when or if “it” ever goes away—and also that her friend actually dropped dead in broad daylight—you might wonder whether that might make her reconsider her career path.

Right?

But…no.

Mind-boggling as it sounds, she still kept going ahead with it (albeit currently hampered by corona restrictions) and working out a way to get a TV deal.

She simply emphasizes in no uncertain terms to avoid this particular area of paranormal activity, and is equally emphatic about listening to your gut feeling when seeking out the paranormal.

In her opinion, ghosts are fine, but other entities are problematic.

The problem is that by the time her own gut told her that the paranormal activity at the cemetery was not Casper the Friendly Ghost, but Dudley the Deadly Demon, it was too late for her friend.

Furthermore, she continues to sell “fairy houses” and kits to ATTRACT fairies to one's home!

Remember: Fairies are mezikin.

You DON’T want them in your home.

In fact, you don’t want them anywhere near you.

Regarding the fairy homes, she laughingly quotes another paranormal consultant who laughingly advises people not to bait their fairies with meat because “then you’ll attract things that eat meat. And you’re, well, meat. So you don't want to do that.”

Ho-ho-ho! Hardy-har-har!

It’s all potentially evil & very dangerous—chuckle-chuckle!

She—and other people into fairy stuff—laugh about hosting fairies in their homes. Fairies tend to do things like misplace their belongings (i.e., earrings and other miniatures) and generally act like little narcissists who engage in passive-aggressive behavior.

(Again: mezikin=damagers.)

And fairy enthusiasts find this cute.

As mentioned above, the other problem is that both in goyish fairy tradition & Jewish traditions regarding demons, some of these entities are known to harm, abduct, or even kill babies & small children.

Why have them in your house, especially if you have small children (or grandchildren) around?

This paranormal enthusiast also expressed pride in the “fairy ring” she hosts in her yard.

​And oh-so responsibly, she warns against allowing small children near fairy rings because they might “fall in” and never be seen again.

(Yes, this woman has grandchildren who visit her. Just watch out for that charming ring of mushrooms, kids!)

So this seemingly very nice, personable, helpful person engages in & continues to engage in activities that are most definitely not nice and even harmful.

​So again, I realize that many people reading this hold by a purely rationalist point of view. In that case, you attributed the friend’s sudden death to a freak heart attack—as sometimes happens, unfortunately.

You attribute the demonic stalking mentioned above to hysterical or paranoid reactions—produced by the brain and nothing more.

You see the paranormal consultant as a quack who accepts the money & clientele of gullible people, and that’s that.

That’s fine & I’m not going to argue with the rationalist point of view.

​After all, it is certainly the Rambam’s point of view.

In that case, the prohibition against kishuf remains a prohibition against deceiving people into thinking such powers exist, and weakening their emunah—a very serious harm indeed.

A rationalist might also feel angry about the death of the above woman because they view her as influenced by her mere belief in something evil stalking her, resulting in a kind of psychosomatic-imposed death—in other words, frightening her literally to death.

And a rationalist might feel angry over that, seeing the women as being brainwashed into believing something both untrue & harmful to her well-being.

However, other strong Torah traditions follow the numerous Sages who do believe in different dimensions beyond the standard 3, which includes an assortment of entities (mentioned also by the Me’am Lo’ez in Parshat Beresheit & Rashi in Parshat Noach, for example).

And it bothers me that not only have these people been harmed by looking for paranormal experiences (encouraged or even actively guided by paranormal consultants), but at least one person died in this case.

And despite the responsible-sounding warnings to avoid that particular cemetery and to listen to one’s gut, this same paranormal consultant also encourages fairy houses to attract fairies (i.e., demons) and continues to both encourage & guide others toward paranormal activity, under the impression that fairies are cute, ghosts are mostly harmless, and demons should be avoided (using your “gut” to determine the difference—at which point there is clearly an encounter occurring and is already too late to avoid…but no worries!

​Just go to a priest or demon expert, and all will be well, right? Don’t think so….

Just to go back to the original topic: This paranormal consultant considers herself completely legit, responsible, and helpful.

I don't know if she labels her methods with the specific term "white magic," but she definitely fits into the same category (regardless of specific label) that deals with kochot hatumah in a way considered harmless or even beneficial. 

Likewise, a lot of New Age material & methods utilize kochot hatumah. 

It doesn't matter what they call it, whether they use the term "kishuf" (or it's non-Hebrew equivalent). 

Ultimately, it all focuses on getting in touch with unhealthy spirituality that distances a person from Hashem & thus from true morality.
​
So this is the danger of “white” magic & helpful intentions of people involved in kishuf.

​In addition to weakening emunah & drawing people away from Hashem & from Torah-true morality, I see them (based on sources in Chazal) as causing very real harm—regardless of their intentions.

Furthermore, you see that they just won't stop, regardless of the harm they cause.

And regardless of whether you go according to the rationalist POV or the more comprehensive POV, you can see why the Torah viewed a practitioner of kishuf with such condemnation & severity.

​So getting back to the main problem discussed in Chazal: Machshefim decrease emunah in the world and detract from the appearance Hashem's Mastery. 

With the very "successful" ones, they make it look like they have special powers—like they're undefeatable.

But their power is an illusion, whether they're using sleight-of-hand or the power of suggestion, or whether they're tapping into literal kochot hatumah.

Hashem is controlling EVERYTHING.

Machshefim cannot operate against Hashem's Will. No one can.

But they make it LOOK like they can. And that proves the main problem with a machshefah or mechashef:

Whether privately or publicly, their machinations pull people away from doing teshuvah or praying or connecting to Hashem.

​They decrease emunah in the world.

Again, even for a minor private incident, like trying to find a parking spot, the machshefah encourages you to chant a spell rather than turning to Hashem.

So whether the machshefah is operating on a high public level or a low private level, they decrease emunah in the world by influencing people to turn to spells rather than tefillah or teshuvah.

(That's just one example.)

And in addition to the practical harm machshefim can cause, their puzzling lack of repentance and the very real impossibility of the surveillance necessary to ensure they aren't dabbling in kishuf again...

All this adds up to why the Torah views them with such severity.

To go back to:

• Part 1: What's So Bad about Kishuf? A Look at Halacha, the Rational vs the Supernatural, the 80 Witches of Ashkelon, and the Machshefah Midwife of the Me'am Lo'ez

​

• Part II: What's the Problem with Kishuf?–A Torah Discussion of Witchcraft, Sorcery, and the Occult from Both the Rationalist & Supra-Rationalist POV

My husband used to attend a late-night class on the Ohr Hachaim commentary on the parsha. The class took place in one of the more insular charedi neighborhoods.

One night, two secular-looking young men showed up wearing kippahs.

Although this class was not specific geared toward novices, it still welcomed anyone who wished to learn the Ohr Hachaim.

Everyone in attendence received the young men warmly, while at the same time, everyone felt curious about what brought these two davka to this class in this area.

At one point, the young men felt compelled to share what happened to them prior to their decision to attend this class.

Like many young Jews today, these two young men developed an interest in Torah observance & kabbalah.

Like a lot of Israelis, they weren't so secular at heart and via their grandparents, they received certain pure ideas about Judaism.

Other secular friends told them about an impressive "kabbalist" who lived in a secular moshav in central Israel.

(That in itself is a bit odd because most very frum people do not wish to immerse themselves in a wholly secular environment.)

The young men arrived by car to the home of the "kabbalist."

The first thing they saw was a fence which contained a large black dog guarding the entrance to the home.

That immediately struck one of the young men as shady.

Since when do holy Torah sages own big scary black dogs?

At that moment, the "kabbalist" opened the door and guided the two inside, away from the black dog.

Once inside, the "kabbalist" led them to his study, offered them chairs in front of his desk, then sat himself behind his desk.

Behind the "kabbalist" stood shelves of books.

The same young man who felt suspicious of the big black dog now scanned the titles of the books, which set off another warning light in his head: Most of the books seemed to be about the occult.

The "kabbalist" then asked them what they wanted to drink. He reassured them that he could serve them any drink they wanted.

Literally, ANY drink in the world...

That sounded weird.

But not wanting to trouble him, they agreed to a simple cola.

The "kabbalist" whisked a bottle of cola out of thin air right before their eyes.

After a split-second of stunned realization, they bolted from the room.

They shot down the hallway, out the door, past the dog, and to their car, speeding out of the moshav, never to return.

Desperately wanting some tohar (spiritual purity) after that unnerving encounter with tumah (spiritual impurity), they searched for a Torah class and somehow heard about the secluded Ohr Hachaim class.

Knowing that the Ohr Hachaim is for sure the real thing, they showed up to the class, still shaken over their encounter.

​They now realized how important it was to pursue real authentic tried-'n'-true Judaism, and not go for kabbalah stuff (or a "kabbalist") that sounds interesting, but is actually based on tumah, rather than the authentically pure & holy kabbalah of the Zohar.

As a side point, the above also shows that even a little bit of knowledge helps with proper discernment.

Meaning, these 2 young men realized that a large black dog indicated something "off," as did the rows of occult books on the man's bookshelf.

The cola-out-of-thin-air simply confirmed their suspicions.

In contrast, less knowledgeable people may not suspect anything upon seeing the large black dog & either not notice the occult books or not realize those books deal with forbidden kochot hatumah.

Finally, despite their predominantly secular background, they possessed enough tradition to realize the urgency of an Ohr Hachaim class to counteract their spooky tumah experience.

​(Many secular Jews never even heard of the Ohr Hachaim. But they had.)

​Yet the story doesn't end there.

Someone from the class decided to investigate further & discovered a woman who'd become a follower of this "kabbalist."

At first, it worked for her. These occult tricks often work for certain things for a short period of time.

The problem is that there's a price to pay.

If you want the "gift" to keep on giving, you need to keep paying.

(Which means it's not really a gift—after all, you're paying for it. Right? So it's a transaction...a transaction of only one side knows all the rules & stipulations—and it ain't your side.)

Eventually, the young woman came to the truth on her own.

​She couldn't keep paying and anyway, she started to sense something off about the "kabbalist" and, if I remember correctly, she also felt that he was davka blocking her in shidduchim, rather than helping her as he claimed.

​So she gradually ceased contact with him.

But he didn't let her go so easily.

As she cut off contact, all sorts of things suddenly started happening around her home—accidents, annoyances, and so on.

But the most frightening consequence was how her skirt suddenly caught on fire for no reason—meaning, there was no open source of fire. She wasn't standing near a gas stove or smoking or anything like that, no gas fumes in the air, etc.

Like, she'd just be standing in her living room and all the sudden, her skirt would be on fire.

​This happened several times.

Understandably freaked out, she went to a real Torah mekubal and he changed her name for her, plus he encouraged her in tsniyut (dignified modesty & behavior), plus certain Tehillim & davening, and so on. I think he also either had her mezuzot checked or he gave her some really high-quality mezuzot.

(As we know from Rav Chaim Palagi's Chaim Bayad mentioned in The Vital Importance of being Tamim with Hashem, kosher mezuzot do a great job of keeping out unwanted entities.)

Once her name changed, the skirt-fires stopped. The real mekubal explained that because the "kabbalist" had her name for davening (i.e., her full name, plus her parents' names), he could send demons her way.

So the mekubal also cautioned her not to reveal her new name in order to prevent the "kabbalist" from accessing her new "address" for the demons.

And that was that.

Note: Publicizing full names for davening is a praiseworthy & common custom, and people needn't fear the misuse of their names. Furthermore, if we know them & and their parents, we know many people's full names anyway. So, if I remember correctly, the fact that she facilitated a connection with this swindler, plus she herself gave him her name for this occult purpose—which she initially didn't perceive as occult--that's what caused the problem. She unwittingly opened a door to this dynamic & providing her name was simply part of that process, and not the only key to facilitating the frightening events that followed.

​The final say on that story was that she was in the process of doing full teshuvah.

Like the two young men, she started out as a mostly secular girl who stumbled upon this same "kabbalist."

While the magic trick frightened the two young men, it impressed others who considered it proof of having found a real mekubal.

And therein lies the problem with kishuf (witchcraft, sorcery): It removes people from emunah in Hashem and leads them down the path the mechashef (witch, sorcerer) wishes them to go.

Postscript: After hearing the above stories, a frum couple driving on their way home stopped to pick up a young newly married frum couple hitchhiking home. When the newlyweds stated their destination, the driving couple was surprised to hear it was this same moshav that housed this occultist posing as a kabbalist. Speaking with the newlyweds, they discovered that the groom had grown up on this secular moshav, becoming frum later, and married a fellow baalat teshuvah. Now they were going to stay with his parents for Shabbat. When the driving couple inquired as to whether the young man knew of the "kabbalist," the young man replied, "Yes, of course, everyone on the moshav knows about him. He is an ish tameh (a spiritually impure person), so we simply stay away from him."

I remember how impressed I was when, upon first becoming frum, I learned that Judaism says: So what if Chrixianity's founder walked on water or performed any other impressive feat?

It means NOTHING!

Wonders & marvels don't prove a darn thing.

If you go by the Rambam (who did not believe in demons or occult powers), then you consider such thing illusions & sleight-of-hand—definitely magic tricks, which only display the performer's deception.

However, if you go by the vast majority of the Torah Sages, then you acknowledge that while occult powers exist, they don't impress you or prove anything whatsoever.

All it shows is the performer's mastery over kochot hatumah...UGH.

With all our beautiful, protective, and uplifting connection to spiritual purity, like:

• the morning brachot
• Pitom HaKetoret
• the Aleinu prayer
• mezuzot
• chanukat habayit (when moving into a new home you purchased)
• tsniyut
• tefillin
• tzitzit
• Tehillim/Psalms
• and much more...

...we thumb our noses at the icky & constricting kochot hatumah. 

​It's very liberating to be released from finding anything impressive or intriguing about wonders & marvels & any other mysterious or supernatural phenomena.

So again, either way you slice it, we see the big problem with kishuf:

• From a rationalist point of view, the kabbalist-poser retarded the young woman's spiritual progress & her ability to get married.

Rather than dedicating her time & efforts to increasing her mitzvah-observance, she made no progress in actual mitzvah-observance & instead invested her money in supporting this harmful faker (rather than buy beautifully modest clothing or giving tzedakah, etc.).

So she felt like she was doing something, but wasn't actually doing anything—only she didn't initially realize it due to the kishuf deception.

A rationalist would feel infuriated with the swindler because of the block to the young woman's spiritual growth & also that he's stealing money from a vulnerable young woman.

Also, a rationalist would attribute all the household mishaps to the power of suggestion, like her perception of routine mishaps as connected to the mechashef (which the rationalist would reject as routine & not connected to the mechashef, except only in her mind).

As for the skirt-fires, a rationalist would attribute them to her standing too close to a heat source (like certain space heaters, from which cloth can easily touch the heat source & catch fire) or maybe the fake "kabbalist" even sprinkled a substance on her clothes that becomes flammable when it comes into contact with water.

Or that she's lying or exaggerating.

The skirt-fires prove harder to explain away using rationalist explanations, and you can see that the only ones I managed to come up with are far-fetched, but strict rationalists refuse to even contemplate any other explanation.

So to them, even the far-fetched (or viewing her in a negative light as a liar or unreliable) are acceptable.

She hadn't had contact with the "kabbalist" for a while (and she'd laundered her clothes since the last contact), she insisted she wasn't near any heat source—but a committed rationalist would dismiss these arguments as her forgetfulness or lack of attention. 

(Or again, demean her character by presuming her a liar or hysteric or attention-seeker or something like that.)

On the other hand, the cola trick can easily be explained via sleight-of-hand. After all, Israelis aren't generally going to request a strawberry daquiri or inconvenience the rabbi with a request for coffee—an Israeli would only ask for a common cold drink.

Knowing this, the swindler could easily hide a few bottles of popular drinks (orange-flavored, bottled water, cola, etc.) under his desk, then appear to whisk them out of thin air at the visitor's request.

• From a non-rationalist point of view, the block in actual mitzvah-observance is also of great concern, with the frightening occult attacks considered equally dangerous.

A non-rationalist would feel infuriated by the same aspects as the rationalists—with additional outrage & concern about the entities visiting her at home & causing her active harm in a way that's difficult to remedy.

As common with all kinds of swindlers & abusers, mechashefim initially present themselves as a source of assistance.

They offer their help in finding your zivug, protection from your fears, revenge, material improvement, success, health, new knowledge, adventure, entertainment, and much more.

​Only there is a price to pay...

Either way you look at it, the mechashef hits people where it harms them the most: their emunah.

In other words, mechashef causes very real harm & moves people away from Hashem & His Torah.

For a halachic discussion of kishuf, please see:

• Magic: As Innocent As It Seems?
• Balak – A Halachic Glance at Magic

Other posts in this series:

• Part 1: What's So Bad about Kishuf? A Look at Halacha, the Rational vs the Supernatural, the 80 Witches of Ashkelon, and the Machshefah Midwife of the Me'am Lo'ez

 

• ​​Part 3: What's So Bad about Kishuf? – What's Wrong with White Magic? LOTS!

Related post:

• The Lesson of the Witch Who Avoided Eye Contact with the Orthodox Jew

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In a previous Neve newsletter, I read that Neve is receiving more girls with no background in Judaism than ever before.

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​You should all be blessed with everything good!

There is an enormous amount to say about Shemot/Exodus 22:17:
​“A machshefah shall not live.”

Machshefah (often translated as sorceress or witch) comes from the word kishuf (kee-shoof—often translated as magic, sorcery, witchcraft, divination, or occultism).

(And despite the feminine noun used, all the commentaries state that the prohibition definitely includes men: warlocks, wizards, sorcerers, etc.)

The translation causes confusion when people want to know whether this verse also prohibits magic shows and the like.

Modern Hebrew labels sleight-of-hand magic shows as kosmut (kohss-moot) and their magician as a kosem (koh-sem)—an “enchanter.”

It’s not real magic.

The magician relies on fancy handwork, gimmicks, assistants, and mirrors to achieve his “magical” results, which his delightful audience finds enchanting.

Nonetheless, halachic sources throughout the ages find even the gimmick-based magic shows problematic, albeit less so today because in our times, even young children respond to a magic trick by asking, “How did you do that?”—meaning, they know it’s not supernatural, but accomplished using very natural strategies.

Basically, the magician in a magic show must include a disclaimer that he is not performing real magic, but merely entertaining tricks with very rational strategies behind them.

However, acts in which the performer wishes to convince the audience that he uses supernatural or psychic powers (like bending a spoon with his mind) are problematic.

Rav Yehoshua Pfeffer (the author of the below articles) advises consulting with a halachic authority before entering the profession or arranging for a magic show.

For a comprehensive discussion of Jewish Law on the topic, please see:

• Magic: As Innocent As It Seems?
• Balak – A Halachic Glance at Magic

However, the machshefah referred to in the Torah isn’t a just a mistress (or master) of fancy handiwork. 

There are 2 types of forbidden kishuf (sorcery, witchcraft, magic):

• The fake, sleight-of-hand, gimmick-based magic mentioned above, but one that is used to deceive people into believing in the power of the occult & causes them to question, doubt, or deny Hashem’s power.

(Its intellectual twin is today’s atheist scientist, who exploits literary eloquence & layman ignorance, and utilizes weasel words to convince his audience of his personal mastery & to destroy people’s emunah.)

• Real kishuf. Meaning, the medium uses occult tactics or entities to achieve the desired effects. Such a person accesses the powers of harmful tumah (impure spirituality) to carry out his or her objectives.

​
This post focuses on the second type of kishuf: those involved in the occult—also known as those who utilize kochot hatumah (the powers of impure forces).

For a long time, I found it difficult to understand why kishuf merits the death penalty in the Torah.

That’s because I grew up with Halloween & its appealing presentation. In addition, the mainstream outlets presented kishuf as imaginary & fun.

Furthermore, old-time spiritualists & modern Wiccans emphasized the concept of “white magic” & “white witchcraft”—in other words, kishuf used for neutral (like finding a parking spot) or even for good (like healing others).

(You’ll see in a later post why even “white” kishuf is a problem.)
 
The only people I knew who took kishuf seriously were my church-going classmates & neighbors.

But I found it hard to take THEM seriously.

After all, these are the same people who insist on cultivating in children the belief that a dangerously obese man in a red wool suit rides around on a reindeer-driven sleigh & slides down chimneys to fill stockings & arrange presents under indoor fir trees—this belief cultivated by the same people who believe that 1 equals 3.

(Or that 3 equals 1? Whatever.)

They also related stories of people they knew struck by demonic possessions and cured by exorcisms.

My high school classmates even returned from a church youth group weekend retreat with stories of another classmate who displayed signs of demonic possession (uncontrollable shaking, etc.), and for whom only the intervention of their heroic minister ended the crisis.

Convinced only rational explanations existed, I refrained from arguing with them, but mentally chalked up such things to group hypnosis, the power of suggestion, bias confirmation, hysteria, etc.

Wholly secular at the time, I couldn’t even entertain the possibility of something supernatural occurring in those situations.

So I remained unmoved in my conviction of rational explanations only.

And those rational explanations really could have explained their experiences.

However, with their unintentional harnessing of themselves to the powers of tumah (there is no “son of God”—so to whom exactly are their prayers & religious energies going?) and the compulsion of some church leaders to create possession events, they really could be accessing the occult—even though that’s the very dynamic they claim to oppose & fear.

When I first started keeping Torah & mitzvot, my Orthodox community consisted of Jews who maintain strict allegiance to the rationalist stream of Judaism—mostly based on the Rambam.

I felt very comfortable there & continued to grow in my newfound Torah Judaism.

Much later, I began to realize that Judaism cannot be fully embraced within a 3-dimensional world of the strictly rational.

Too many questions remained unanswered.

For example, I found the concept of suffering impossible to accept without the concept of gilgul—reincarnation.

Gradually, I realized that the world must comprise far more than just 3 dimensions.

Quantum physics—still undiscovered in the Rambam’s time—opened up new venues of understanding.

Furthermore, I couldn’t help noticing that the most brilliant & holy minds of Jewish history overwhelming believed in the existence of worlds within our world, of unseen entities, a variety different dimensions, and much more outside the strictly 3-dimensional rational.

Not only that, they understood how this all worked, knew how to deal with them when encountering them (and they DID encounter them, even if they didn't want or mean to), and they also knew how to protect themselves from it all.

In fact, a significant chunk of the standardized Jewish daily prayer provides protection from harmful entities, like prosecuting angels (mekatrigim) or demons and that whole subset associated with harmful entities mazikin or nezikin (damagers), chitzonim (outsiders, externals), klippot (impure "shells" which imprison holy sparks), and so on.

These prayers are a gift from those same brilliant & holy minds for our protection.

In her book, To Play with Fire: One Woman’s Remarkable Odyssey, Tova Mordechai recalls the faith healings & spiritual highs she either observed or experienced during her years trapped in a church cult.

A rav explained to her that these events utilized kochot hatumah—the powers of spiritual impurity.

She noted how the rav's explanation finally explained why the aftermath of the spiritual high of these tumah-based “faith healings” always left her feeling depleted, with a dark emptiness inside.

Former practitioners of Eastern occult systems (who later became frum) also recall a dark empty feeling that replaced their initial spiritual high, leaving them feeling irritable.

Furthermore, aside from experiences with spiritual tumah, strange events occur to people that defy any rational explanation. (And I mean documented events by reliable people, not just claims by eccentrics.)

Books like Chessed L'Avraham & Kav Hayashar & Minchat Yehudah (or the Zohar itself) testify to all sorts of entities & events far beyond the realm of the rational.

Gradually, I made the shift to accept a world full of other worlds and beings.

Paradoxically, Judaism now made more sense than ever.

The Truth of Torah shined brighter too.
​
And with this, the capital severity of kishuf also became more understandable.

The deception produced by gimmick-based sleight-of-hand can cause severe injury to one’s emunah. Throughout the ages, clever tricksters gained followers in this manner.

Throughout history, thousands of people also lost their souls to these charlatans.

Ultimately, poverty, homelessness, rancor, illness, and death resulted from following such “magical” deception.

That’s reason enough for the death penalty.

But the implementation of supernatural kishuf deceives just as dangerously, with equally harmful results.

Its very hiddenness make it impossible to stop without executing the practitioner.

The classic story of this involves Rebbi Shimon ben Shetach’s handling of a mountain coven of 80 witches who were “destroying the world.”

One rainy day, Rebbi Shimon gathered 80 disciples wearing clean garments, and also 80 vessels. He instructed the disciples of their mission to deal with these 80 witches, then explained his strategy: They would all make their way to the cave of the coven, their clean garments kept bone-dry in the firmly sealed vessels.

Upon arriving at the coven, Rebbi Shimon planned to engage the witches, then he would whistle once—that was the signal for the men to don the dry clothes.

​A second whistle was meant to summon the men to come rushing into the cave.

And that’s what happened.

Rebbi Shimon reached the cave, his disciples hidden nearby. He called out to the witches, posing as an occult master like them.

They let him in.

Then, in what seemed to be a demonstration of skill & a challenge to this newfound "master wizard," one witch conjured up a loaf of bread out of thin air. Another conjured up a cooked meal while another conjured up wine.

“What can you do?” they challenged.

"I will whistle twice,” replied Rebbi Shimon, “and 80 men wearing clean clothes will come here to make you happy."

“We want them!” said the lascivious witches.

Rebbi Shimon whistled once, and the hidden disciples donned their clean, dry clothing.

He whistled a second time and they rushed into the cave.

​He hinted to them that each one must take a witch and raise her up off the ground because the loss of contact with the ground nullifies the occult power.

He told the one who conjured up bread, “Bring bread!”

She could not.

So Rebbi Shimon said, “Hang her!”

And so on throughout the remaining 80 witches.

Back at the ranch (so to speak), this caused quite a stir because Jews don’t judge 2 capital cases in one day, Rebbi Shimon handled the whole situation wildly differently than capital cases are handled, he did not follow halachic protocol, etc.

(Like any other capital case, a person accused of being a machshefah must be tried in a court of justice by a group of Sages possessing high-level wisdom & discernment.)

Why did the great Rebbi Shimon ben Shetach make such a radical detour in his handling of the 80 witches?

First of all, the occult acts were performed directly in front of the judge (Rebbi Shimon ben Shetach himself); there was no doubt involved.

Secondly, it was an emergency situation.

The witches were ruthless, conniving, and in possession of powerful supernatural powers.

They were said to be destroying the world with their hidden machinations.

It was either now or never.

So Rebbi Shimon acted upon the opening he’d created in that moment.

Another even more disturbing example appears in the Me’am Lo’ez.

​It relates the story of a machshefah who portrayed herself as a master midwife.

The women in her town suffered extremely difficult labors in which the baby seemed to get stuck and only her appearance on the scene seemed to finally enable the birth.

You can imagine how much the people revered her. You can imagine how willing even the poorest were to pay her whatever she demanded for her special “service.”

What they discovered, however, was that she both caused & enabled the births via kishuf.

She kept special sealed jars full of I-can’t-remember-what; the sealed jar associated with each birthing woman obstructed the delivery of the baby.

Whenever she was summoned to a stuck birth, she secretly brought the sealed jar with her. Upon arriving, she found a place where she could break open the jar undetected, then return to the birthing woman and “miraculously” deliver the baby.

At one point, she was killed.

(I can’t remember whether the court sentenced her to death or whether, upon the chilling discovery of her jars, something happened that killed her. But I think she was actually executed.)

This story stands out as an outlier because ever since the starring role of Shifra & Puah, Judaism shows a lot of appreciation for midwives.

The old-time Jewish midwives in Morocco or Yemen brought their emunah & Jewish compassion, along with their practical skills, into their midwifery.

In fact, one Yemenite midwife became a well-known healer of infertility after coming to live in Tiveria in Eretz Yisrael. I believe her name was Simcha Demari and she used reflexology & herbs & homeopathy to help women get pregnant.

(In fact, one of her successful patients told me that Simcha gave her capsules of myrrh & frankincense—both used in Ketoret—to assist with fertility. Now Simcha's daughters-in-law carry on the practice.) 

In contrast, if you ponder the machshefah midwife for a moment, her heartless cruelty stands out.

For example, despite what many natural-birth proponents claim, unmedicated births can be excruciatingly unbearable (ask me how I know...).

​(Just by way of brief explanation: The unmedicated birthers either don’t experience excruciating births or they love the idea of both facing & overcoming pain, feeling like triumphant winners when the ordeal ends. But many of us definitely do NOT feel that way.)

To intentionally cause a laboring women so much pain & emotional anguish is unforgiveable.

Furthermore, we all know that babies can suffer serious damage (or even death, Gd forbid) if they get stuck in the birth canal.

It can also harm the woman, with internal tearing or even a fractured tailbone.

The extreme distress caused to the woman and those attending her, the fear for her life and that of her baby—all so this machshefah could acquire power, honor, and wealth?

And even if she promised to never indulge in such kishuf again, how could anyone trust her?

​She already proved herself to be a merciless, greedy, conniving psychopath.

Can you trust her proclaimed repentance?

Furthermore, due to the easy concealment of kishuf, how could you ever supervise her future conduct?

Once again, if the Torah so strongly condemned a certain practice, then that means something.

I think all this together offers a clear idea why kishuf is much viler than portrayed in the movies and on college campuses and women's studies.

We can better understand why something so dangerous—and so incredibly easy to hide—demands such a severe consequence.

​Having said all that, we no longer judge capital cases in rabbinical courts.

We haven't done so for centuries.

We also don't commit vigilante justice.

For example, no one kills a Sabbath-transgressor (even though the Torah demands the death penalty for transgressing Shabbat).

Instead, we try to encourage the Sabbath-transgressor to learn more about Shabbat & Judaism so that he or she develops on their own a desire to keep Shabbat.

The reason why the response changed is discussed copiously in scintillating detail throughout millennia of rabbinical scholarship and too much to explain here.

But the end result is that no one executes Sabbath-transgressors, nor does anyone want to.

To read more in this series:

• Part II: What's the Problem with Kishuf?–A Torah Discussion of Witchcraft, Sorcery, and the Occult from Both the Rationalist & Supra-Rationalist POV

 

• Part III: What's So Bad about Kishuf? – What's Wrong with White Magic? LOTS!