Who Is Considered a Sorcerer?
The sorcerer [mekhashef] who performs a deed is liable [to death by stoning] but not he who creates an optical illusion. R. Akiva said in the name of R. Joshua: [What is a scenario in which] two men gather cucumbers, one gathers and is exempt while the other gathers and is liable? He who performs a deed [of sorcery] is liable, but he who creates an optical illusion is exempt.
Translated by Simcha Gross and Avigail Manekin.
Credits
m. Sanhedrin 7:11, trans. Simcha Gross and Avigail Manekin. Copyright Simcha Gross and Avigail Manekin. Used with permission of the translators.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
You may also like
What Constitutes Forbidden Magic?
b. Sanhedrin 68a
When R. Eliezer fell sick, R. Akiva and his companions went to visit him [ . . . ] [and R. Eliezer said,] “I have studied three hundred”—and some state three thousand—“rulings about the planting of…
The Righteous Create Beings
b. Sanhedrin 65b
Rava says: If the righteous wish, they can create a world, as it is written: But your iniquities have separated [you and your God] (Isaiah 59:2).
Rava created a man and sent him…
Rabbinic Amulets
b. Pesaḥim 111b
Reeds that are near a town have no fewer than sixty demons. A certain town official went and relieved himself among the reeds and was endangered. A certain sage came and wrote him an amulet for one…
Prescriptions and Incantations
b. Shabbat 67a
For boils, one should say: BZBZYH MSMSYH KSKSYH ShDL’Y and ’SKL’Y these are the angels who were sent from the land of Sodom [in order] to heal boils and pain BZK BZYK KMN KMYN KMYN KMN your eyes in…
Combating Witches
y. Sanhedrin 7:11, 25d
R. Eliezer, R. Joshua, and Rabban Gamaliel traveled to Rome. They came to a place and found some children making piles of dirt, saying, “This is how the people of the land of Israel do and say, ‘This…
Bronze Evil Eye Amulet
This amulet was discovered near Mount Arbel in the Galilee. It bears four Greek letters, I A W Θ (iota, alpha, omega, theta), representing the divine name (YHWH in Hebrew). A rider on a galloping…
You may also like
What Constitutes Forbidden Magic?
b. Sanhedrin 68a
When R. Eliezer fell sick, R. Akiva and his companions went to visit him [ . . . ] [and R. Eliezer said,] “I have studied three hundred”—and some state three thousand—“rulings about the planting of…
The Righteous Create Beings
b. Sanhedrin 65b
Rava says: If the righteous wish, they can create a world, as it is written: But your iniquities have separated [you and your God] (Isaiah 59:2).
Rava created a man and sent him…
Rabbinic Amulets
b. Pesaḥim 111b
Reeds that are near a town have no fewer than sixty demons. A certain town official went and relieved himself among the reeds and was endangered. A certain sage came and wrote him an amulet for one…
Prescriptions and Incantations
b. Shabbat 67a
For boils, one should say: BZBZYH MSMSYH KSKSYH ShDL’Y and ’SKL’Y these are the angels who were sent from the land of Sodom [in order] to heal boils and pain BZK BZYK KMN KMYN KMYN KMN your eyes in…
Combating Witches
y. Sanhedrin 7:11, 25d
R. Eliezer, R. Joshua, and Rabban Gamaliel traveled to Rome. They came to a place and found some children making piles of dirt, saying, “This is how the people of the land of Israel do and say, ‘This…
Bronze Evil Eye Amulet
This amulet was discovered near Mount Arbel in the Galilee. It bears four Greek letters, I A W Θ (iota, alpha, omega, theta), representing the divine name (YHWH in Hebrew). A rider on a galloping…