Daf Ditty Eruvin 98: Scrolls and Magic

The Torah Scroll in the Delivery Room: “Ceremonies for Woman in Labor and Confinement”—from P.C. Kirchner, Jüdisches Ceremoniel, Nuremberg, 1724

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JASTROW

MISHNA: One who was reading a sacred book in scroll form on on an elevated, wide threshold, and the book rolled from his hand into the public domain, he may roll it back to himself, since one of its ends remains in his hand.

RASHI

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If he was reading on top the roof, which is a full-fledged private domain, and the book rolled from his hand, as long as the edge of the book did not reach within ten handbreadths above the public domain, the book is still in its own domain, and he may roll it back to himself.

However, once the book has reached within ten handbreadths above the public domain, it is prohibited to roll the book back to oneself. In that case, he may only turn it over onto the side with writing, so that the writing of the book will be facedown and not exposed and degraded.

GEMARA: The Gemara questions the first clause of the mishna: What are the circumstances of this threshold?

If you say it is referring to a threshold that is a private domain, and there is a public domain before it, and the mishna teaches that we do not issue a decree lest the entire scroll fall from one’s hand and he come to bring it from a public to a private domain,

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who is the tanna of the mishna? It is Rabbi Shimon, who said: Anything that is prohibited on Shabbat and its prohibition is not by Torah law, but rather is due to a rabbinic decree issued to enhance the character of Shabbat as a day of rest stands as an impediment before the rescue of sacred writings. But if it is the opinion of Rabbi Shimon, say the latter clause of the mishna as follows: Rabbi Yehuda says: Even if the scroll is removed only a needle breadth from the ground, he rolls it back to himself; and Rabbi Shimon says: Even if the scroll is on the ground itself, he rolls it back to himself.

Rabba said that the mishna may be understood differently. Here, we are dealing with a threshold that is trodden upon by the public, and due to the potential degradation of the sacred writings the Sages permitted one to violate the rabbinic decree. It would be disgraceful if people were to trample over sacred writings.

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dangling from the roof, only allows rolling רפס who in the case of the, 'הדוהי ר holds that even הבר הפוקסיא – if it is off the ground - but not on the ground, would agree in the case of רפס back the than hanging from the רפס of the זב י ו ן a threshold that is stepped on a lot, which is a greater תסרדנה תסרדנה roof.

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Summary

Rav Avrohom Adler writes:1

If one is reading a scroll (of Scripture) on a threshold (which has a status of a karmelis, for it is four tefachim wide, between three and ten tefachim high, and a public domain passing before it), and it rolls out of his hand, he may roll it to himself. [There is no Biblical prohibition to transport a partial object from one domain to another. If one side of the scroll remains in his hands there cannot be a Biblical prohibition.

Now, in this case, even if it entirely fell out of his hand, it is still only Rabbinically prohibited to carry it back, for we are dealing with a karmelis; therefore, here, where he retains one end, there is no Rabbinic decree on account of a case where the entire scroll fell from his hand.] If one is reading on the top of a roof (which is a private domain), and the scroll rolls out of his hand, before it comes within ten tefachim of the ground, he may roll it back himself (for it never entered the airspace of a public domain); if it comes within ten tefachim of the ground (he cannot roll it to himself, for we are concerned that he might come to do so – even when the scroll fell completely from his hand, and then he will have violated a Biblical transgression), he must turn the written

1 http://dafnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Eiruvin_98.pdf

8 side over (because it is degrading for a scroll to lie open the rest of Shabbos with its written part facing upward).

Rabbi Yehudah said: Even if it was removed from the ground only by the thickness of a pin, he may roll it back himself.

Rabbi Shimon said: Even if it was on the ground itself, he may roll it back himself, for there is no Rabbinic law that stands in the way of treating Holy Scriptures with respect.

There is an argument regarding whether or not we permit a Rabbinic prohibition of Shabbos when it comes to saving Holy Scriptures. This is an argument between Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Yehudah.

Rabbi Shimon says that we do permit a “shvus” -- “Rabbinic Shabbos prohibition” to save Holy Scriptures. Therefore, if someone is in a private domain holding a holy scroll, and one side of it unravels and goes into the public domain, he may roll it back towards him. Being that according to Torah law the object is considered in his possession, and it is only Rabbinic law that would prohibit rolling it towards him in order to prevent a person from carrying according to Torah law, it is permitted in order to save Holy Scriptures.

Rabbi Yehudah argues that even when Holy Scriptures are involved, this is forbidden.

Status of a Ledge

The Mishna says that if a person has a ledge that is four tefachim wide and ten tefachim tall, he may carry to and from it on Shabbos.

Our Daf says that this only applies to breakable things. This is because we otherwise suspect that if something from the ledge falls down, he will go and bring it back into his house from the public domain. However, if it is breakable, he will not retrieve it because it will be broken and worth very little.

The Ritva discusses whether or not the same law, that one can only use this ledge for breakable vessels, applies to a ledge that is hanging over a karmelis. He quotes an opinion that indeed it does. This is because we often find that Abaye considers a karmelis to follow the same laws as a public domain. This is in the spirit of the rule, “Whatever the Rabbanan instituted, they made its laws follow (i.e. like) Torah laws.”

However, the Ritva quotes Tosfos who says that this is only up to a point. Where there is a common problem that is likely to happen and is strong reason for a decree, Abaye will indeed say that a karmelis is like a public domain. However, in a case like this where it is uncommon to have such a wide window ledge hanging over the public domain, and being that it is uncommon to use such a ledge, Tosfos holds that Abaye would not extend this decree to include a karmelis. Accordingly, if one had such a ledge that extended over a karmelis, Tosfos holds that Abaye would allow one to carry back and forth even vessels that are not breakable

9 THE STATUS OF AN "ISKUFAH" -- A THRESHOLD IN FRONT OF A HOME2

The (97b) discusses a case in which a person reads from a scroll while he sits on an Iskufah (the threshold of his home). If, while he holds one end of the scroll, the rest of it unrolls into Reshus ha'Rabim, he is allowed to roll it back.

The Gemara asks that Rebbi Yehudah, later in the Mishnah, states that when one sits on a roof and part of the scroll from which he reads rolls out of his hands towards Reshus ha'Rabim, he may roll it back only if it has not come to rest in Reshus ha'Rabim. Why, then, may the person in an Iskufah roll the scroll back even when the other end rests in Reshus ha'Rabim?

The Gemara quotes three answers. 1. Rav Yehudah answers that the first part of the Mishnah expresses the opinion of Rebbi Shimon. He argues with Rebbi Yehudah in the case of the person on the roof and maintains that even if the end of the scroll did come to rest in Reshus ha'Rabim, one may roll it back. The Rabanan did not decree any prohibition in this regard, in order to safeguard the honor of holy scrolls. 2. Rabah says that the Mishnah refers to an Iskufah over which a lot of people walk. It is a great disgrace to the scroll to be left spread out on that area. Therefore, even if it rests only partially in Reshus ha'Rabim, it may be rolled back. (In the case in the end of the Mishnah, in which the scroll unrolled down from the roof, it unrolled to a place in Reshus ha'Rabim where few people walk. Thus, even if it rests on the ground of Reshus ha'Rabim, one may not roll it back.) 3. Abaye asserts that neither of the previous answers is correct. He quotes a Beraisa which explicitly states that if the scroll unrolled beyond four Amos in Reshus ha'Rabim, one is not permitted to roll it back. He concludes that the Iskufah must be a Karmelis. As such, there is no Isur d'Oraisa involved when he brings the scroll back (as long as the scroll rolled less than four Amos away in Reshus ha'Rabim).

Why, though, is there no concern that he might take the scroll from Reshus ha'Rabim and walk with it through the Karmelis and into the house (Reshus ha'Yachid), and thereby commit a transgression of the prohibition of carrying from Reshus ha'Rabim into a Reshus ha'Yachid? There are two possible answers to this question. First, the Iskufah is very long and it is likely that he will stop at least once while he carries the scroll across the entire length of the Iskufah. Second, the Mishnah follows the opinion of Ben Azai who says that walking is considered like standing ("Mehalech k'Omed Dami"). Therefore, when one carries an object over the Iskufah, it is as if he has placed the object down on the Iskufah.

2 https://www.dafyomi.co.il/eruvin/insites/ev-dt-098.htm

10 What is the Halachah?

BA'AL HA'ME'OR rejects the explanation of Abaye and the Beraisa he quotes (which stipulates that the scroll may be returned only if it rolled less than four Amos away). He points out that, unlike many other areas of Halachah, with regard to the laws of a Karmelis on Shabbos, the Rabanan do enact a Gezeirah for another Gezeirah (Shabbos 11b, Eruvin 99a). Therefore, whether the Iskufah is a Karmelis or a Reshus ha'Yachid is irrelevant. If it is prohibited to return the Sefer to its original place in a Reshus ha'Yachid, it should be prohibited to roll it back into a Karmelis as well.

Based on this, the Ba'al ha'Me'or rules like Rabah. He agrees that it is a disgrace to leave a holy scroll in a place where many people tread. Therefore, even a person who is in a Reshus ha'Yachid may roll a Sefer back to himself, even if the Sefer rolls more than four Amos away in the Iskufah. The ROSH and TUR (OC 392) cite this opinion of the Ba'al ha'Me'or, and it is also the ruling of the SHULCHAN ARUCH and REMA (OC 352:1).

(b) The RAMBAM (Hilchos Shabbos 15:21) does differentiate between a scroll that rolls beyond four Amos and one that rolls less than four Amos. (This is also the opinion of the RASHBA in AVODAS HA'KODESH and TOSFOS in Shabbos 5b, DH Hayah.) Although he seems to rule like Abaye, the Rambam does not mention that the Iskufah must be long in order for one to be permitted to bring the scroll back to him. He also does not rule like Ben Azai who says that walking is considered like standing (Hilchos Shabbos 14:15). Why is the Rambam not concerned that one will carry the scroll directly from Reshus ha'Rabim into Reshus ha'Yachid via the Iskufah?

The Acharonim suggest three approaches to explain the Rambam's position:

VILNA GA'ON (BI'UR HA'GRA OC 352:1) notes that the Rambam does not mention the word "Iskufah." Rather, the Rambam writes about a person who stands in a Karmelis. An Iskufah is attached to a house and is considered part of the house. As such, there is a concern that someone will carry a scroll from Reshus ha'Rabim into Reshus ha'Yachid as he walks over the Iskufah and into the house. In contrast, the Rambam refers to an ordinary Karmelis which is not attached to a house. Thus, there is no fear that one might carry an object directly from Reshus ha'Rabim into Reshus ha'Yachid via the Karmelis.

The Vilna Ga'on also explains, according to the Rashba, that the Halachah does follow the opinion of Ben Azai with regard to rabbinic prohibitions. Even though the ruling of Ben Azai is not followed with regard to prohibitions that are mid'Oraisa, in this case -- which involves only an Isur

11 d'Rabanan (since he still holds the end of the scroll in the Karmelis and it is not completely in Reshus ha'Rabim) -- we may rely on Ben Azai's opinion and permit him to bring the scroll back to the Iskufah based on the principle of "Mehalech k'Omed Dami."

BI'UR HALACHAH points out that RABEINU CHANANEL's text of the Gemara differs from the standard text. According to his version, the Gemara gives a new answer to the question on Abaye. The Gemara states that one picks up the scroll from Reshus ha'Rabim with the intention to read from it, and does not intend to bring it from there into Reshus ha'Yachid. If, after he picks it up, he decides to bring it into Reshus ha'Yachid, he does not transgress an Isur d'Oraisa, since it was not his intention to bring it into Reshus ha'Yachid when he initially picked it up. Perhaps this was also the Rambam's understanding of the Gemara.

HALACHAH:

As mentioned above, the SHULCHAN ARUCH and REMA (OC 352:1) rule like Rabah. However, the BI'UR HALACHAH points out that many Rishonim seem to suggest, as the Rambam does, that the Halachah follows the ruling of Abaye. He therefore concludes that one may be lenient and follow both Abaye and Rabah. Accordingly, if the scroll is within four Amos of the Karmelis, one may bring it back into the Karmelis, as Abaye rules. If the scroll is holy and many people walk over the Iskufah, one may return it to the Iskufah from Reshus ha'Rabim even if it rolled beyond four Amos, as Rabah rules.

Handle with Care

Rabbi Micha Chaim Golshevsky writes:3

Finding a permitted way to send mezuzos is important in a community with no sofrim of its own. One sofer wondered if he could send mezuzos to people living in far-flung communities around the world by mail. He knew that the Imrei Yosher permitted sending a Sefer Torah by mail if it is placed in a crate or the like. Although on our daf we find that one may not throw kisvei hakodesh, the Imrei Yosher explains that if one sends it in a box marked fragile, the postal service can be trusted to be careful with it.

3 https://yated.com/eruvin-98-104/

12 This sofer, however, needed to send mezuzos to a place where marking something “fragile†does not guarantee results. There, the postal service was known to certainly throw the packages around, even if it was in a fairly gentle manner.

When this question was presented to Rav Yosef Shalom Eliyashiv, he was lenient in this case. If the recipient requires a mezuzah and there is no other way to send it, it is reasonable to say that this is permitted. After all, that is how people send even important packages to such places, so presumably this is not considered a disgrace.4

How to respect sacred objects.

Rabbi Seth Goren writes:5

The rabbis love exploring special cases that force them to prioritize laws and values. Today’s dilemma: you are holding a two-sided scroll on Shabbat and accidentally drop one end such that it rolls outside into a public area. To retrieve it would require carrying in the public domain on Shabbat. To leave it on the ground would be disrespectful. What should you do?

After walking through several possibilities, we come to a particularly creative solution — tossing the scroll, in order to avoid carrying it. But alas:

Rav Aha bar Ahava said: One does not throw sacred writings.

While the question of possibly throwing a Torah scroll is grounded in the limits of acceptable Shabbat practice, the response is not: it is never acceptable to throw sacred writings, whether it’s Shabbat, a holiday or a regular weekday.

And not only that: the prospect that someone would act in such a disrespectful way is so remote that the rabbis can’t even contemplate it, rendering the topic unworthy of serious discussion from a halakhic perspective.

Later on, our daf, the rabbis have to finally consider that sometimes retrieval will not be halakhically possible. The underlying mishnah instructs that, if a scroll is irretrievable and must remain where it is for the balance of Shabbat, one should ensure that the parchment is turned so the writing is facing the ground. The Gemara pushes back:

And is it permitted to do so? Wasn’t it taught that with regard to writers of scrolls, tefillin, and mezuzot who interrupt their work, the sages did not permit them to turn the sheet of

4 Imrei Yosher, Part II: 171; Chashukei Chemed, Eruvin p. 665-666 5 https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/eruvin-98/

13 parchment facedown lest it become soiled? Rather, one spreads a cloth over it in a respectful manner.

There, with regard to scribes, it is possible to cover the parchment respectfully; here, it is not possible to do so.

And if he does not turn the scroll over, it will be more degrading to the sacred writings.

Consequently, although this is not an ideal solution, it is preferable to turn it over rather than leave the scroll exposed.

The rabbis place a premium on observing Shabbat by resting and not carrying objects in the public domain.

Although demonstrating respect for sacred objects is also a strong value, it cannot take precedence over violating Shabbat.

In such situations, the objects must be respected as best they can be — by covering them (if we are able), or turning them facedown for protection.

The Shulchan Aruch catalogues a more complete inventory of dos and don’ts for respecting holy texts — not just Torah scrolls, but all of the Jewish objects that carry sacredness. (we will visit this later in shas).

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Making a request in front of the open Torah Ark, The Sarajevo Haggadah, fol. 34r. Spain, ca. 1350

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The Magic Power of the Torah Scroll

Shalom Bar6 deals with a little noticed aspect of the Torah scroll in Jewish life and practice— namely, the usage of the scroll and its accessories in the context of sympathetic magic.

The Torah is undoubtedly the holiest text in the Jewish tradition, and early on rabbinical authorities set a code that determined the fitting rules of conduct towards the scroll upon which it is written. In the course of time, the Torah scroll and the appurtenances associated with it emerged as the most sacred tangible objects in Jewish tradition and folk culture.

Select Torah scrolls in various communities, especially in the lands of Islam, were elevated to a special position and were considered as possessing extraordinary protective powers. Aside from miraculous stories told about such scrolls, the popular beliefs in the power of the Torah scroll in general are best reflected in the ornamental appurtenances which enhanced the physical appearance of the sacred object.

Thus, costly ceremonial objects such as the tik (Torah case) or rimonim (Torah finials) were decorated in several communities with magical designs and carefully selected texts, which reflect ideas of Jewish magic in general and are reminiscent of Hebrew amulets in particular.

The relation between the terms “Torah” and “magic” seem, on first glance, to be totally contradictory: is it possible to link the book in which God reveals himself and his commandments to the popular beliefs connected with the performance of magic? After all, in the history of the Jewish people, the Torah scroll is taken as the central source of authority from which the “normative” religion of the people emerges. However, side by side with this normative quality and with the Torah’s theological and halakhic content, popular Jewish culture has attributed the status of an exceptional and sacred object to the physical Torah scroll itself. This process began, according to Van der Toorn, already in the biblical period. In spite of the many prohibitions in the Torah regarding the worship of idols, be they statues or images, (particularly in the Second Commandment), the Torah scroll was granted a holy status among the people, a status that completely parallels those of sacred idols in ancient Babylonian culture.7

Whether we accept Van der Toorn’s theory or not, it is clear that in a later period rabbinic authorities developed the idea of the Torah scroll as a uniquely concrete yet hallowed object, an idea that emphasizes its important ritual status. As a result, fitting rules of conduct regarding the Torah scroll were fixed: One may not touch the parchment of the scroll with a bare hand, one may not move the scroll for no apparent reason, one must rise in honor of the scroll when it is taken out

6 Torah and Magic: The Torah Scroll and Its Appurtenances as Magical Objects in Traditional Jewish Culture July 2009 European Journal of Jewish Studies 3(1):135-170

7 Karel van der Toorn, “The Iconic Book: Analogies between the Babylonian Cult of Images and the Veneration of the Torah,” in: The Image and the Book: Iconic Cults, Aniconism and the Rise of Book Religion in Israel and the Ancient Near East, ed. van der Toorn (Leuven: Peeters, 1997), 229–248.

16 and returned to the ark (during synagogue services), if a scroll falls or is dropped, one should tear the garment (as mourners do according to Jewish law), fast and request absolution; if one sees a Torah scroll which has been torn, then one should rend one’s garment twice, once for the parchment and once for the writing itself; if the scroll was burned or desecrated, a public fast is declared; a scroll that is no longer fit for use is buried in an earthenware vessel next to a scholar, and so on.8 This attribution of a special status to the holy book grew and intensified at the time of the crystallization of a long and detailed list of rules for the correct and exact writing of each and every crownlet in the scroll, for each and every variant spelling versus accepted pronunciation, for letters with special or exceptional shapes, for the spaces between letters, between lines, columns, sections (parshiyot), for the special design of those poetic sections written in the form of “bricks”— some resemble a steadfast wall (e.g., the thanksgiving Song of the Sea—Ex. 15:1–19), while those with negative associations are like a feeble wall (Song of Moses—Deut. 31:1–44).9

The choice of materials used in writing the Torah scroll, the type of sheets of parchment and the material used for writing the scroll were also granted importance, which increased the respect accorded to the scroll. Moreover, the laws that give the Torah scroll a distinct and special exterior appearance from other books of the Bible also come to the fore in the ways in which the Torah is stored. In all Jewish communities the Torah scroll is given a status that cannot be compared with any other object in Jewish tradition. Creative craftsmen, Jewish and non-Jewish alike . . . gave the “dress” or case of the scroll in all of the Jewish Diaspora an impressive and elegant appearance.10 Even the poorest of communities spared no expense in beautifying the scroll and its appurtenances. Over the generations varied traditions crystallized among the different communities, and the “dressing” of the scroll and the terminology connected to it are likened in the popular imagination to the majesty and dress of a king or queen.11 In the same way, the ark in which the Torah scroll is kept is specially beautified and decorated. Maimonides summarized this matter thus: ‘It is praiseworthy to set aside a special place for a Torah scroll, to respect that place, and make it very beautiful.’ (Hilkhot Sefer Torah 10:10 (Kellner, Code of Maimonides—Book of Love, 109).

Already in the ancient period there were attempts to connect between the words of the Torah and popular magical beliefs. For instance: As it has been taught:

8 See BT 25b; Shabbat 14a; Eruvin 98b; 26b, 27a, 32a; Mo’ed Katan 25a, 26a; Kidushin 33b; Menaot 32b. For a summary of the Talmudic and additional set of laws concerning the proper behavior in front of the Torah scroll, see Maimonides, Sefer Ahava, Hilkhot Sefer Torah, 10:2–11 (English translation: Menachem Kellner, trans., The Code of Maimonides: Book Two— The Book of Love [New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004], 108–110).

9 The same rules apply, of course, to tefillin and mezuzot. For a detailed, multivolume guide to the numerous scribal rules, see Yisrael Asher Kraus, Otsar Torah, tefilin u-mezuzot: ‘Melekhet Yisrael’, 3 vols. ( Jerusalem: Asher Kraus, 1983).

10 A wide selection of Torah cases from the lands of Islam is discussed in Bracha Yaniv, The Torah Case: Its History and Design (Jerusalem: Bar-Ilan Univ. and Ben-Zvi Institute, 1997) (Hebrew). Yaniv’s second volume, dealing with Torah textiles in Europe and elsewhere, is in press

11 Torah Crowns were often designed as the local royal crowns in the lands they were produced—whether in Western Europe or the Islamic East. Yaniv, for example, hypothesizes that the crowns of Iraqi and Persian Torah cases were inspired by ancient Sassanian crowns (ibid., 63–66). For European examples, see Rafi Grafman, Crowning Glory: Silver Torah Ornaments of the Jewish Museum (New York: Jewish Museum, 1996), 56–61, 64–7, 262–90. In some cases, the luxury of Torah crowns supersedes that of the actual crowns—for example, the East European crowns preserved in the Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine, Kiev; see: Thora und Krone: Kultgeräte der jüdischen Diaspora in der Ukraine (Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum, 1993).

17 ‘And he shall write him the repetition of this law’ [Deut. 17:18]—he shall write for himself two copies, one which goes in and out with him and the other to be placed in his treasure house. The former, which is to go in and out with him, he shall write in the form of an amulet and fasten it to his arm, as it is written, ‘I have set God always before me, surely He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved’ [Ps. 16:8].

BT 21b.

In a more direct way, a midrash on a verse in the book of Psalms (3:2) comments:

R. Eleazar taught: The sections of Scripture are not arranged in their proper order. For if they were arranged in their proper order, and any man so read them, he would be able to resurrect the dead and perform other miracles

Midrash Tehillim, 3:212

This trend became stronger in the biblical interpretations of the Spanish Kabbalists of the Middle Ages. In the Book of the Zohar in particular, the supremacy of the Torah to the other books of the Bible, or indeed to any other spiritual works of the Jewish people, is emphasized.13 The stories of the Torah and the commandments are expropriated from their concrete appearance and receive deep symbolic meanings, according to which each dot, crownlet, letter and Holy Name that appear in the Torah have magical power. Nachmanides, in his introduction to his commentary to the Torah, wrote that he had “a true tradition,” by which the entire Torah is comprised of names of the Holy One.14

12 William G. Braude, The Midrash On Psalms (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1959), I, 49. The belief in the magical power of the Torah is also expressed in bans against apparently popular practices. For example, the rabbis forbade placing a Torah scroll and other sacred objects on a frightened child to pacify him (see PT Shabbat 6.2 [8b] and cf. Eruvin 10.2 [26c]).

13 Gershom G. Scholem, “The Meaning of the Torah in Jewish Mysticism,” in On the Kabbalah and its Symbolism (New York: Schocken Books, 1965), 32–86.

14 On the Kabbalistic ideas of using God’s names, see ibid., 37–50. Also, Moshe Idel, “The Concept of Torah in Hekhalot Literature and Its Metamorphosis in Kabbalah,” Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 1 (1981): 23–84 (Hebrew). On the sanctification of the Zohar itself, see Harvey E. Goldberg, “The Zohar in Southern Morocco: A Study in the Ethnography of Texts,” History of Religions 29 (1990): 233–258; Boaz Huss, “Sefer ha-Zohar as a Canonical, Sacred and Holy Text: Changing Perspectives of the Book of Splendor between the Thirteenth and Eighteenth Centuries,” The Journal of Jewish Thought & Philosophy 7 (1997): 257–307; idem, Like the Radiance of the Sky: Chapters in the Reception History of the Zohar and the Construction of its Symbolic View ( Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi and Bialik Institutes, 2008) (Hebrew).

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“Ceremonies for Woman in Labor and Confinement”— from P.C. Kirchner, Jüdisches Ceremoniel, Nuremberg, 1724

Use of Torah Scroll in Childbirth

The bringing of the Torah scroll to the birth room was not always viewed in a positive light. This custom and other similar customs, such as actually placing the scroll in the arms or on the chest of a woman experiencing difficulty in labor, caused controversy between rabbis and their communities, both in the Ashkenazi and Sephardi communities of Europe and among the Jews of Islam.15 According to Jewish law, though, a Torah scroll cannot be rendered impure, or as Maimonides writes: Those ritually impure, even menstruants and Gentiles, may hold a Torah

15 For example, see the opinion of the rabbi of Ferrara, Isaac Lampronti (1679–1756) in the entry Yolededt in his Talmudic encyclopaedia Paad Yitzak (Venice [and other towns], 1750 on), vol. 3 pt. 4, 11a). The noted rabbi of Venice, Leone Modena (1571–1648), vehemently objected to any magic in the birth room (Historia de’ riti hebraici [first ed. Venice, 1637], pt. 4, ch. 8,a). See also, the responsum of the German Rabbi Judah Leib ben Enoch Zundel (1645–1705), Responsa Hinnukh Beit Yehudah (Frankfurt a/M, 1708), no. 71; Solomon Kluger, [Responsa] Tuv ta’am ve-da’at (Lemberg, 1859/60), 2 no. 47; Abraham Æamoi, Abi’ah idot (Jerusalem: Bakal, 1996 [first ed. Livorno, 1879]), 169. And cf. Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic and Superstition, 105– 106.

19 scroll and read from it, since words of Torah cannot become ritually impure. This, on condition that their hands are not soiled or muddy. If they are, they must wash their hands and then they may touch it. (Hilkhot Sefer Torah 10:8 (Kellner, Code of Maimonides—Book of Love, 109).

In spite of this halakhic ruling, rabbinic authorities were concerned that placing a Torah scroll in the birth room, where “unpleasant” things (such as the secretion of blood), which were not suitable to the holy environment of the Torah scroll, would lead to disrespect of the Torah. Some of them, therefore, offered alternative ways to protect the mother-to-be with the Torah scroll while not actually placing it in the room. One such method was to open the Ark in the synagogue when a woman was experiencing difficulty in labor.

In Islamic communities it was common to open the ark during childbirth, and in the presence of the scrolls pray for the welfare of the mother or read suitable psalms. Rabbi Haim Joseph David Azulai (1724–1807), the CHIDA, described it thus: “the custom is that any man whose wife enters the ninth month of her pregnancy, is careful in that month to perform the mitzvah of opening the ark, a fitting practice, based on Kabbalistic interpretation [derekh ha-sod].”16

In Turkey, the custom was to open the ark and simultaneously read a Torah portion in the birth room, while among the Sephardim of Safed, they used to: tie one end of a string to the big toe of the right foot of the woman in labor, and the other end to the Torah scroll in the synagogue, and when she has delivered, they immediately cut the string, because she is impure and is forbidden to be tied to the Torah scroll. And this will ease her birth pangs, and she will deliver easily. Another interesting custom, known from the Libyan Jewish community, is connected to the ceremony of bringing a new Torah scroll to the synagogue. The festivities lasted seven days, during which the Torah scroll was kept in a room specially decorated with opulent cloths, and perfumed with incense in order to have pleasant fragrances in the room. During these days, women who have difficulties in childbirth, getting pregnant, or those seeking to find a husband, would stay in the room, sometimes even sleep there

Finally, in the folk tradition of selected Jewish communities in the lands of Islam particular Torah scrolls became rather well-known because they were believed to possess special protective powers or even perform miracles. It is true that these beliefs are not limited to the Torah scroll, and there are many traditions associating Hebrew books with super-natural powers, or the ability to drive evil forces, overcome enemies, forecast the future, and so forth, because of the sacred texts contained in them or because a righteous person used them.17

The status of the Torah scrolls in question, however, is elevated not only because of their hallowed texts, but also due to the belief in their antiquity and sanctified source, the stories told about their miraculous finding, and the popular tales about their potent powers. Two noted examples are La

16 Haim Azulai, Sefer minhagei CHIDA, ed. R. Amar (Jerusalem: Makhon Mishnat Hakhamim, 1990), 1:199. In addition, according to the CHIDA, “purchasing” the opening the ark, an accepted custom among the Jews of Islam, is “a mitzvah that aids in easing the pain of childbirth” (idem, Sefer Yosef ometz [ Jerusalem: E. Weinberger, 1961], no. 57, 84a).

17 Dov Noy, “Ha-sefer be-sippure ‘am,” Maanaim 106 (1966), 28–37.

20 Ghriba, or the marvelous Torah scroll of Bône (now Annaba) in Algeria, and the Seghir, or the small Torah scroll of Darnah in Libya. Both of these scrolls are believed to have been inscribed in ancient Eretz Israel, and about the latter it is even told it was produced in the time of Ezra.68 Moreover, these miraculous scrolls “traveled” by sea to Alexandria and from there, with no damage caused to them by the water, to the respective communities in North Africa. Many other stories are told about the miracles they performed, and that even Muslims recognized their sanctity. With the immigration of these communities, both Torah scrolls and their tikim were removed from their synagogues and are presently in Israel.69 In honor of the Seghir there is an annual festivity (hillula) on the New Moon of Elul—the day people believe it was first discovered, and written notes with requests for health, marriage, remedy, livelihood, etc. are placed at the top of the tik, in a manner reminiscent of the same practice at the Western Wall.

In conclusion, the power of the Torah scrolls and their appurtenances goes beyond their “official” function in the synagogue. Already in antiquity the scroll was granted a sanctified ritualistic status. The rabbis of old emphasized the powers associated with its physical presence, and decreed it should be treated with great awe and respect. In the course of time, Jewish communities East and West adorned the Torah scroll as beautifully as they could, “dressing” it as a king or queen with costly embroidered garments, crowns embedded with precious stones, and other attractive silver accessories produced by skilled craftsmen.

The Torah scroll thus became the most sanctified tangible object in Jewish culture, and beliefs in its magical powers and abilities to heal and protect became widespread. In this respect, there is no difference in principle between the folk traditions of the Jewish communities of Poland and Germany and those of Iraq and Libya.

However, among the Jews of Islam, the beliefs in the magical powers of the scroll have been expressed not only in customs but also made visible and tangible in the many amuletic motifs that decorate the ceremonial objects associated with the Torah and its dedicatory inscriptions. Selected Torah scrolls were imbued with special elevated status and stories have been told about their supernatural powers, their abilities to perform miracles and provide protection and security in times of need.

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