Jewish Halloween: Sources and Stories

(10) So Moses and Aaron came before Pharaoh and did just as יהוה had commanded: Aaron cast down his rod in the presence of Pharaoh and his courtiers, and it turned into a serpent.(11) Then Pharaoh, for his part, summoned the sages and the sorcerers; and the Egyptian magician-priests, in turn, did the same with their spells:(12) each cast down his rod, and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed their rods.

(1) יהוה spoke to Moses, saying:(2) Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelite people and say to them: This is what יהוה has commanded:(3) if anyone of the house of Israel slaughters an ox or sheep or goat in the camp, or does so outside the camp,(4) and does not bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to present it as an offering to יהוה, before יהוה’s Tabernacle, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that party: having shed blood, that person shall be cut off from among this people.(5) This is in order that the Israelites may bring the sacrifices which they have been making in the open—that they may bring them before יהוה, to the priest, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and offer them as sacrifices of well-being to יהוה;(6) that the priest may dash the blood against the altar of יהוה at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and turn the fat into smoke as a pleasing odor to יהוה;(7) and that they may offer their sacrifices no more to the goat-demons after whom they stray. This shall be to them a law for all time, throughout the ages.

(31) Do not turn to ghosts and do not inquire of familiar spirits, to be defiled by them: I יהוה am your God.

(9) When you enter the land that your God יהוה is giving you, you shall not learn to imitate the abhorrent practices of those nations.(10) Let no one be found among you who consigns a son or daughter to the fire, or who is an augur, a soothsayer, a diviner, a sorcerer,(11) one who casts spells, or one who consults ghosts or familiar spirits, or one who inquires of the dead.(12) For anyone who does such things is abhorrent to יהוה, and it is because of these abhorrent things that your God יהוה is dispossessing them before you.(13) You must be wholehearted with your God יהוה.

(3) Now Samuel had died and all Israel made lament for him; and he was buried in his own town of Ramah. And Saul had forbidden [recourse to] ghosts and familiar spirits in the land.(4) The Philistines mustered and they marched to Shunem and encamped; and Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa.(5) When Saul saw the Philistine force, his heart trembled with fear.(6) And Saul inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets.(7) Then Saul said to his courtiers, “Find me a woman who consults ghosts, so that I can go to her and inquire through her.” And his courtiers told him that there was a woman in En-dor who consulted ghosts.(8) Saul disguised himself; he put on different clothes and set out with two men. They came to the woman by night, and he said, “Please divine for me by a ghost. Bring up for me the one I shall name to you.”(9) But the woman answered him, “You know what Saul has done, how he has banned [the use of] ghosts and familiar spirits in the land. So why are you laying a trap for me, to get me killed?”(10) Saul swore to her by the LORD: “As the LORD lives, you won’t get into trouble over this.”(11) At that, the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He answered, “Bring up Samuel for me.”(12) Then the woman recognized Samuel, and she shrieked loudly, and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”(13) The king answered her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a divine being coming up from the earth.”(14) “What does he look like?” he asked her. “It is an old man coming up,” she said, “and he is wrapped in a robe.” Then Saul knew that it was Samuel; and he bowed low in homage with his face to the ground.(15) Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me and brought me up?” And Saul answered, “I am in great trouble. The Philistines are attacking me and God has turned away from me; He no longer answers me, either by prophets or in dreams. So I have called you to tell me what I am to do.”(16) Samuel said, “Why do you ask me, seeing that the LORD has turned away from you and has become your adversary?(17) The LORD has done for Himself^-e as He foretold through me: The LORD has torn the kingship out of your hands and has given it to your fellow, to David,(18) because you did not obey the LORD and did not execute His wrath upon the Amalekites. That is why the LORD has done this to you today.(19) Further, the LORD will deliver the Israelites who are with you into the hands of the Philistines. Tomorrow your sons and you will be with me; and the LORD will also deliver the Israelite forces into the hands of the Philistines.”(20) At once Saul flung himself prone on the ground, terrified by Samuel’s words. Besides, there was no strength in him, for he had not eaten anything all day and all night.(21) The woman went up to Saul and, seeing how greatly disturbed he was, she said to him, “Your handmaid listened to you; I took my life in my hands and heeded the request you made of me.(22) So now you listen to me: Let me set before you a bit of food. Eat, and then you will have the strength to go on your way.”(23) He refused, saying, “I will not eat.” But when his courtiers as well as the woman urged him, he listened to them; he got up from the ground and sat on the bed.(24) The woman had a stall-fed calf in the house; she hastily slaughtered it, and took flour and kneaded it, and baked some unleavened cakes.

Ameimar said: The chief of witches said to me: One who encounters witches should say this incantation: Hot feces in torn date baskets in your mouth, witches; may your hairs fall out because you use them for witchcraft; your crumbs, which you use for witchcraft, should scatter in the wind;your spices, which you use for your witchcraft, should scatter; the wind should carry away the fresh saffron that you witches hold to perform your witchcraft.

(17) You shall not tolerate*tolerate Lit. “let live.” a sorceress.

In another baraitait was taught that Abba Binyamin says: If the eye was given permission to see, no creature would be able to withstand the abundance and ubiquity of the demons and continue to live unaffected by them.Similarly, Abaye said: They are more numerous than we are and they stand over us like mounds of earth surrounding a pit.Rav Huna said: Each and every one of us has a thousand demons to his left and ten thousand to his right. God protects man from these demons, as it says in the verse: “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; they will not approach you” (Psalms 91:7).Summarizing the effects of the demons, Rava said:The crowding at the kalla, the gatherings for Torah study during Elul and Adar, is from the demons;
those knees that are fatigued even though one did not exert himself is from the demons;
those clothes of the Sages that wear out, despite the fact that they do not engage in physical labor, is from friction with the demons;
those feet that are in pain is from the demons.One who seeks to know that the demons exist should place fine ashes around his bed, and in the morning the demons’ footprints appear like chickens’ footprints, in the ash. One who seeks to see them should take the afterbirth of a firstborn female black cat, born to a firstborn female black cat, burn it in the fire, grind it and place it in his eyes, and he will see them. He must then place the ashes in an iron tube sealed with an iron seal lest the demons steal it from him, and then seal the opening so he will not be harmed. Rav Beivai bar Abaye performed this procedure, saw the demons, and was harmed. The Sages prayed for mercy on his behalf and he was healed.

MISHNA: With regard to one who was thrown into a pit and thought that he would die there, and he said that anyone who hears his voice should write a bill of divorce for his wife, and he specified his name, her name, and all relevant details, those who hear him should write this bill of divorce and give it to his wife, even though they do not see the man and do not know him.GEMARA: The Gemara asks: But let us be concerned that perhaps the source of the voice in the pit is a demon, as no one saw the person in the pit. Rav Yehuda says: It is referring to a case where they saw that the being in the pit has human form.The Gemara objects: Demons too can appear in human form, and therefore the fact that the being looked human is not a proof that it is not a demon. The Gemara explains: It is a case where they saw that he has a shadow [bavua]. The Gemara objects: Demons also have a shadow. The Gemara explains: It is a case where they saw that he has the shadow of a shadow. The Gemara objects: And perhaps demons too have the shadow of a shadow? Rabbi Ḥanina says: Yonatan my son taught me that demons have a shadow but they do not have the shadow of a shadow.

Abaye heard that Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov was coming. There was a certain demon in the study hall of Abaye, which was so powerful that when two people would enter they would be harmed, even during the day. Abaye said to the people of the town: Do not give Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov lodging [ushpiza] so that he will be forced to spend the night in the study hall. Since Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov is a righteous man, perhaps a miracle will occur on his behalf and he will kill the demon.Rav Aḥa found no place to spend the night, and he entered and spent the night in that study hall of the Sages. The demon appeared to him like a serpent with seven heads. Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov began to pray, and with every bow that he bowed one of the demon’s heads fell off, until it eventually died. The next day Rav Aḥa said to the townspeople: If a miracle had not occurred, you would have placed me in danger.

(2) And on that same day it happened to Sarah, the daughter of Reuel, who lived at Agbatanis, a city in the land of Media, that her father’s maidservants were reproaching her and mocking her, saying to her, It is not meet to call thee Sarah, but Zarah [trouble]. For she had been given to wife to seven husbands, and not one of them had approached her, but Asmodeus, the king of the demons, had killed them before they approached her after the way of all the earth. And the maid said to her, Why dost thou kill thine husbands, and beat us because of this evil matter It would be good for thy parents that thou shouldest die for them, and that they see not of thee either son or daughter for ever.

There was an incident involving a pious man who gave a poor man a dinar on the eve of Rosh HaShana during drought years, and his wife mocked him for giving so large a sum at so difficult a time? And in order to escape her incessant mockery, he went and slept in the cemetery. That night in his dream (Ritva, HaKotev, Maharsha), he heard two spirits conversing with each other. One said to the other: My friend, let us roam the world and hear from behind the heavenly curtain [pargod], which separates the Divine Presence from the world, what calamity will befall the world. The other spirit said to her: I cannot go with you, as I am buried in a mat of reeds, but you go, and tell me what you hear. She went, and roamed, and came back. The other spirit said: My friend, what did you hear from behind the heavenly curtain? She replied: I heard that anyone who sows during the first rainy season of this year, hail will fall and strike his crops. Hearing this, the pious man went and sowed his seeds during the second rainy season. Ultimately, the crops of the entire world were stricken by hail and his crops were not stricken.The following year, on the eve of Rosh HaShana, the same pious man went and slept in the cemetery at his own initiative, and again he heard the two spirits conversing with each other. One said to the other: Let us roam the world and hear from behind the heavenly curtain what calamity will befall the world. She said to her: My friend, have I not already told you that I cannot, as I am buried in a mat of reeds? Rather, you go, and tell me what you hear. She went, and roamed, and returned. The other spirit said to her: My friend, what did you hear from behind the curtain? She said to her: I heard that those who sow during the second rainy season blight will strike his crops. That pious man went and sowed during the first rainy season. Since everyone else sowed during the second rainy season, ultimately, the crops of the entire world were blighted and his crops were not blighted.The pious man’s wife said to him: Why is it that last year, the crops of the entire world were stricken and yours were not stricken, and now this year, the crops of the entire world were blighted and yours were not blighted? He related to her the entire story. They said: It was not even a few days later that a quarrel fell between the pious man’s wife and the mother of the young woman who was buried there. The pious man’s wife said to her scornfully: Go and I will show you your daughter, and you will see that she is buried in a mat of reeds.The following year, he again went and slept in the cemetery, and heard the same spirits conversing with each other. One said to the other: My friend, let us roam the world and hear from behind the heavenly curtain what calamity will befall the world. She said to her: My friend, leave me alone, as words that we have privately exchanged between us have already been heard among the living. Apparently, the dead know what transpires in this world.

With regard to the deceased’s knowledge of what transpires, come and hear a proof, as it is told: Ze’iri would deposit his dinars with his innkeeper. While he was going and coming to and from the school of Rav, she died, and he did not know where she had put the money. So he went after her to her grave in the cemetery and said to her: Where are the dinars? She replied: Go and get them from beneath the hinge of the door in such and such a place, and tell my mother that she should send me my comb and a tube of eyeshadow with such and such a woman who will die and come here tomorrow. Apparently, the dead know what transpires in this world.

Indeed, Rava created a man, a golem, using forces of sanctity. Rava sent his creation before Rabbi Zeira. Rabbi Zeira would speak to him but he would not reply. Rabbi Zeira said to him: You were created by one of the members of the group, one of the Sages. Return to your dust.

"1465 There are women that are called estrie... They were created at sunset [before the first Sabbath before creation]. As a result of this, they are able to change form. There was one woman who was a estrie and she was very sick and there were two women with her at night; one was sleeping and one was awake. And the sick woman stood up and loosened her hair and she was about to fly and suck the blood of the sleeping woman. And the woman who was awake screamed and woke her friend and they grabbed the sick estrie, and after this she slept. And moreover, if she had been able to grab the other woman, then she, the estrie, would have lived. Since she was not able to hurt the other woman, the estrie died, because she needs to drink the blood of living flesh. The same is true of the werewolf. And since....the estrie need to loosen their hair before they fly, one must adjure her to come with her hair bound so that she cannot go anywhere without permission. And if a estrie is injured or seen by someone, she cannot live unless she eats of the bread and salt of the one who struck her. Then her soul will return to the way it was before.

(4) for Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, since he feared that he might meet with disaster.

(27) Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he consumes the foe, and in the evening he divides the spoil.”

(1) (1) One should eat beans, leeks, beets, dates, and pumpkin. And as one eats the beans (rubiya), they say: God, may our merits increase (yirbu)! Eating leeks (karti), they say: God, may our enemies be wiped out (yekartu)! Eating dates (tamri), say: God, may our enemies disappear (yetamu)! Eating pumpkin (kra), say: God, may our judgement be ripped up (yikra) and may our merits be called out (yikrau) before You! RAMA: Some have a custom of eating a sweet apple in honey, and saying: May a sweet year be renewed on us! This is what we do. Some eat pomegranates, and say: may our merits be as many as pomegranate seeds! And we are accustomed to eat fatty meat and all sorts of sweets.

Rabbi Zeira said: Pumpkin [kara], heart of palm [kura], wax [kira], and reed [kanya], are all advantageous when one dreams about them. It was taught in a baraita: A pumpkin is only shown in a dream to one who fears Heaven with all his might, because pumpkins [delu’im] are interpreted as an acronym for dalu einai lamarom, “My eyes were raised on high” (Isaiah 38:14).

Abaye said: A young pumpkin in the hand is better than a full-grown pumpkin that is in the field.

(1) יהוה appeared to him by the terebinths of Mamre; he was sitting at the entrance of the tent as the day grew hot.

(4) פתח האהל AT THE TENT-DOOR — that he (Abraham) might see whether anyone passed by, and invite him into the house

(8) Having mentioned a series of enactments instituted by the Sages for the sake of the betterment of the world, the Gemara continues: These are the matters that the Sages instituted on account of the ways of peace, i.e., to foster peace and prevent strife and controversy….

Abaye objected: Aren’t the halakhot of the entire Torah also given on account of the ways of peace, as it is written: “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace” (Proverbs 3:17)? Consequently, this halakha is no different from the other halakhot in the Torah, all of which were given to increase pleasantness and tranquility in the world.

“One does not hinder poor Gentiles [from taking] gleanings, forgotten sheaves, or peah, for communal peace.” It was stated: “In a town where Gentiles and Jews live together, one appoints overseers of charity from Gentiles and Jews; one provides for the Gentile and Jewish poor, visits Gentile and Jewish sick, buries Gentile and Jewish dead, and consoles Gentile and Jewish mourners. Also, one washes Gentile and Jewish clothes for the sake of peaceful coexistence.”

It is forbidden to damage the property of a neighbor and if one damages, even though they do not benefit from the damage they are required to pay the full amount of the damage whether or not it was done purposefully...

In such places where evil spirits resortthere is occasion for fear.

(15) Saul’s courtiers said to him, “An evil spirit of God is terrifying you.(16) Let our lord give the order [and] the courtiers in attendance on you will look for someone who is skilled at playing the lyre; whenever the evil spirit of God comes over you, he will play it and you will feel better.”

(8) That evening he led him to the netherworld and showed him the wicked ones whom the demons were smiting with brands of fire and who were crying: “Woe is me, woe is me,” and none had mercy for them. The angel then said to the soul: “Do you know who these are?” And he replied: “No, my master.” Whereupon the angel told him: “These are the ones who will be consumed. They were formed like you and went out into the world, but they did not keep the Torah and the statutes of the Holy One, blessed be God, and that is why they have come to this disgraceful end that you are witnessing. Be assured that you will ultimately leave this world, but if you are righteous and not wicked, you will be worthy to enjoy life in the world-to-come.” How do we know that this is so? From the fact that it is said: For I was a son unto my father, tender and an only one in the sight of my mother. And he taught me, and said unto me: “Let thy heart hold fast upon My words, keep My commandments and live” (Prov. 4:3–4).

(6) One day the divine beings presented themselves before the LORD, and the Adversary^-a (ha-Satan) came along with them.(7) The LORD said to the Adversary (ha-Satan), “Where have you been?” The Adversary (ha-Satan) answered the LORD, “I have been roaming all over the earth.”(8) The LORD said to the Adversary (ha-Satan), “Have you noticed My servant Job? There is no one like him on earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil!”(9) The Adversary (ha-Satan) answered the LORD, “Does Job not have good reason to fear God?(10) Why, it is You who have fenced him round, him and his household and all that he has. You have blessed his efforts so that his possessions spread out in the land.(11) But lay Your hand upon all that he has and he will surely blaspheme You to Your face.”(12) The LORD replied to the Adversary (ha-Satan), “See, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on him.” The Adversary (ha-Satan) departed from the presence of the LORD.

(1) He further showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the LORD, and the Accuser (ha-Satan) standing at his right to accuse him.(2) But [the angel of] the LORD said to the Accuser (ha-Satan), “The LORD rebuke you, O Accuser (ha-Satan); may the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! For this is a brand plucked from the fire.”

(1) Satan arose against Israel and incited David to number Israel.

(1) The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:(2) Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: I the LORD am your God.(3) You shall not copy the practices of the land of Egypt where you dwelt, or of the land of Canaan to which I am taking you; nor shall you follow their laws.(4) My rules alone shall you observe, and faithfully follow My laws: I the LORD am your God.

(9) When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to imitate the abhorrent practices of those nations.

RAMA: Rather, one [i.e., a Jew] should be distinct from them [i.e., non-Jews] in one’s manner of dress and in all of one’s actions. But all of this [i.e., these restrictions] apply only to things that non-Jews do for the sake of licentiousness. For example, they are accustomed to wearing red clothing, which is official/princely clothing, and other clothing that is similarly immodest. [These restrictions also apply] to things that they are accustomed to doing because of a custom or rule that does not have a[ny underlying] reason, out of concern that [a Jew who does such things will follow the] “ways of the Amorites,” and that it has the blemish of [i.e., is tainted by] idol worship inherited from their ancestors. But things that they are accustomed to doing for a useful purpose—such as their custom for expert doctors to wear particular clothing so that the doctors will be recognized as specialists—one is permitted to wear [such clothing].