In this past week’s Torah portion Balak, we learned about the great sorcerer Balaam, and this is an opportunity to discuss the prohibition of sorcery and its significance. God commanded Israel not to practice any form of sorcery, as written in the Torah: “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to imitate the abhorrent practices of those nations. Let no one be found among you who consigns his son or daughter to the fire, or who is an augur, a soothsayer, a diviner, a sorcerer, one who casts spells, or one who consults ghosts or familiar spirits, or one who inquires of the dead. For anyone who does such things is abhorrent to the Lord, and it is because of these abhorrent things that the Lord your God is dispossessing them before you. You must be wholehearted with the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 18:9-15). It’s worth noting that according to our Sages, the prohibition of sorcery does not apply to non-Jews. There are two main aims of sorcery: 1) to change things in nature, such as casting a curse on a person to cause their death or make them poor. 2) To know hidden matters and future events. Those Who Believe Sorcery is False Some poskim believe that all the acts of sorcerers are false, as Maimonides states (Laws of Idolatry 11:16): “All these matters are falsehood and lies, and it was with these that the idolaters of old misled the nations of the lands to follow them. It is not fitting for Israel, who are wise and intelligent, to be drawn after these vanities, nor to imagine that they are of any consequence… Anyone who believes in these and similar things, thinking in his heart that they are true and words of wisdom, but that the Torah prohibited them, is nothing but a fool and lacking in reason… But those of wisdom and sound mind know with clear proofs that all these matters that the Torah forbade are not words of wisdom but emptiness and vanity that those lacking in reason were drawn after, abandoning all ways of truth because of them…” In other words, according to Maimonides, the sorcery for which an Israelite who performs it is liable to death by stoning is sorcery that many people believe the sorcerer succeeded in using to effect real changes in the world. This is also the opinion of Rav Shmuel ben Chofni Gaon, and Rav Saadia Gaon and Rav Hai Gaon leaned towards this view, in the story of Saul’s necromancer (see Radak, I Samuel 28:24). This is also the view of the Sefer HaChinuch (249), and Tiferet Yisrael (Kiddushin 4, Boaz 1). This is also the opinion of Ibn Ezra (Leviticus 19:31), who explained that Balaam knew through astrology when disasters would befall individuals and nations, and would then curse them, causing people to think that the disasters came upon them because of his curse (cited in Rabbeinu Bachya, Numbers 22:6). The Words of our Sages Imply that Sorcery Has Power From the words of our Sages in many places, it appears that they regarded sorcery as something real. However, according to Maimonides, their words are allegory and secrets that should not be understood literally. Some explain that even Maimonides and his followers agree that there is truth in the existence of these powers (Radbaz 5:1695; Responsa Maharshal 3; Bach, Maaseh Rokeach, and others). However, since they often lie, and even when they succeed, their actions ultimately lead to failure, they considered their acts as falsehood and vanity. It can be said that just as Maimonides explained the words of our Sages not according to their simple meaning, so too, many commentators explained Maimonides’ words not according to their simple meaning. According to Many, Sorcery Has Power However, according to the vast majority of Jewish sages, sorcery has the power to change things and know hidden matters, but its power is not constant, and sorcerers often err and fail. As Ramban wrote (Deuteronomy 18:9): “Many act piously regarding omens, saying that there is no truth in them at all, for who can tell the raven and the crane what will be.” It’s worth noting how he referred to Maimonides’ position as one of piety, that out of his great piety he denied the power of sorcerers. However, Ramban continued: “But we cannot deny things that are well-known to the eyes of observers, and our rabbis also acknowledge them…” He went on to explain that unlike sorcerers, who often err and mislead, God gave us true prophets. As our Sages said (Sifrei, ibid.): “Lest you say they have something to inquire of and I have nothing? Scripture teaches, ‘But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so,'” but He gave you prophets who continue the guidance of the Torah. This is also the opinion of Recanati, Rabbeinu Bachya, Abarbanel on Deuteronomy 18; Sefer Ha’Ikarim 3:8; Ran Discourses 4, 12; Rivash 92; Radbaz 3:405; Vilna Gaon Yoreh Deah 179:13, and many others. It is Agreed that They Often Lie Since these are spiritual powers that are difficult to measure, there are many deceivers in this field. Some deceive themselves into thinking they have spiritual powers, some know they don’t have powers and deceive people into thinking they do, and some who had powers in the past and lost them over time, but continue to deceive themselves and others that they still have powers. However, one cannot deny that there are people with special spiritual abilities to see and sense beyond the norm, and when they connect to forces of impurity, they can perform sorcery to cause events and know the future. The Power of Speech for Good and Evil The main power of a person to change the world for better or worse is through speech, because God created the world and sustains it through letters and speech. God created man in the ‘image of God’, meaning in a way that he too can act in the world and change it. Therefore, he has the ability to speak, learn and teach, and cooperate with others to add goodness and blessing to the world. Or conversely, to arouse them to evil. Moreover, God gave man the talent to connect to higher levels above this world, through which the righteous can elevate the world and advance it, spiritually and morally. Likewise, the righteous who understand the secret of the names and letters in the Book of Creation can create things in the world through intentions and utterances of holy names and combinations of letters (though it is not advisable to do so). In contrast, sorcerers can, through intentions and utterances of impure names and incantations, change the letters and words through which abundance flows to the world, causing harm to those they wish to curse. To strengthen their sorcery, they perform various acts, such as burning incense, and the like. Developing Sorcery through Strengthening Evil Just as the righteous who cling to God and good traits can thereby understand the inner depth of the Torah and merit divine inspiration, and act to rectify and perfect the world, so too can the wicked who cling to evil traits, understand the roots of evil, and its ways of operation. People with spiritual talent, by connecting to forces of impurity, can receive inspiration to invent spells and sorceries capable of acting in the world. For God created this against that, and just as He created the good orders of the world, which are the foundation for good traits, such as kindness and truth, righteousness and justice, and all of them together are ten sefirot, so too, He created against this the forces of destruction, which are the foundation of evil traits, such as lust, envy and honor, and they too are ten impure sefirot. Just as in holiness one can, through prayers to God and performing mitzvot, bring blessing to the world, against this, in impurity, through incantations and acts of sorcery, one can block the flow of life. And so our Sages explained (Avot 5:19) that traits are the foundation of everything. Therefore, three things characterized the disciples of Balaam the wicked, the great sorcerer: ‘An evil eye’ – envious of others. ‘A haughty spirit’ – arrogant. ‘A broad soul’ – lustful. And their end is “they inherit Gehinnom and descend to the pit of destruction”, as our Sages said (Avot 4:21): “Envy, lust and honor remove a person from the world.” The Power of Sorcerers Against the Righteous Sorcery can harm even good and righteous people. Since God created the ability for man to influence what happens in the spiritual worlds, just as if a wicked person strikes a righteous person a fatal blow – the righteous person will die, so too, if the sorcerer succeeds in disrupting the channels of abundance of the righteous person, he will be harmed and die. However, the more a person ascends in levels of righteousness, the less power sorcerers have to harm him. This is because just as there are levels in holiness, so too against this, there are levels in impurity, and only if the sorcerer succeeds in connecting to a higher level in impurity than the parallel level of the righteous person in holiness, can he harm him. The great sorcerers sought the moral weak point in those they wanted to curse, and thus could arouse accusations against them. When anger would arise against them in the upper realms, they would curse them, and their curse would take effect. Our Sages said (Berachot 7a) about Balaam the wicked who sought to accuse Israel, and at the moment when anger would be aroused against them for not behaving properly, he would curse them with a curse of destruction. However, to save Israel, during all those days, God did not become angry with Israel, and Balaam could not curse them, as he said (Numbers 23:8): “How shall I curse, whom God has not cursed? And how shall I denounce, whom the Lord has not denounced?” Confronting Them through Faith in God Although the forces of evil have the ability to harm the righteous, God commanded Israel not to engage in sorcery, but to cling to God and follow His ways. By doing so, they would be saved from sorcery, which will not be able to harm them. As we learned in the previous Torah portion, when snakes attacked Israel, when they lifted their eyes to heaven, they were saved (Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 3:8). Similarly, it is told (Sanhedrin 67b) about Rabbi Chanina that a certain sorceress tried to take dust from under his feet, so that by doing so, she could cast a strong spell on him. Rabbi Chanina said to her: I am not afraid of this, “For the Lord is God; there is none else besides Him.” This does not mean he relied on a miracle that God would perform for him due to his merits, for it is not proper for a person to rely on a miracle and consider himself so righteous that God must help him. Rather, Rabbi Chanina recognized in himself that he was perfect in his faith that God governs everything, and in such a state, there is no place for sorcery to enter and intervene between him and Divine governance. Consequently, he had nothing to fear from her sorceries. And even if she succeeded in harming him, it would be through Divine providence from God for his benefit. This article appears in the ‘Besheva’ newspaper and was translated from Hebrew.
