Torah and Jewish Idea > Torah and Jewish Idea
magic in Judaisim
Shlomo:
I would like to put the Rambam's commentary here for clarification on magic and legerdemain:
--- Quote ---Rambam discusses magic and sleight-of-hand (achizat 'einayim) (Sefer HaMitzvot, Negative Commandment #32):
A me'onen is one who uses legerdemain, which is a major form of trickery involving sleight-of-hand, until it seems to people that he does unreal things, as we constantly see them do: he takes a rope and puts it in the corner of his garment in front of the audience, and then removes it as a snake; he throws a ring in the air and then removes it from the mouth of one of those present; and other acts which seem to them similar to the deeds of the magicians, well known among the masses. Every one of these acts is forbidden, and one who does them is called a practitioner of legerdemain (me'onen). These are forms of magic, and therefore one receives lashes for this [offense]. He also deceives people with it, and the harm it causes is very great, because imagining that things which are totally impossible are in fact possible is very harmful for fools and women and children; it will lead them to lose their rational thought, and cause them to regress into believing that the impossible is possible.
Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra also alludes to this in his commentary on Shemot (7:11), implying that legerdemain is deception, and not a real feat. However, Rambam's words must be examined, in light of the Mishnah, which states that "a magician who does an action is liable, but not one who engages in legerdemain" (Sanhedrin 7:11).
Perhaps "doing an action" in this context refers to deception through rapid, hidden movements, imperceptible to the onlooker; while "one who engages in legerdemain" in this context would mean exerting influence over another's mind, as through hypnosis.
--- End quote ---
I would like to add that a beautiful discussion of this topic can be found in the classic "The Way of G-d" by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto:
http://www.feldheim.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=0-87306-769-x
Lastly, I would like to quote a story from the Talmud:
--- Quote ---The Mishnaic sage Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa was a renowned miracle worker. Shortly after sunset one Friday evening, he noticed his daughter sobbing. Upon asking her the reason for her distress, she explained that she had mistakenly lit the Shabbat candles with vinegar instead of oil. Rabbi Chanina comforted his daughter: "Do not be troubled, my dear. The One who commanded oil to burn will command vinegar to burn..." Needless to say, the candles did not go out. In fact, they burned until the following night, when the havdallah candle (candle which accompanies the Saturday night ceremont signaling the end of the Shabbat) was kindled from their flames!
--- End quote ---
To this holy man, it was no more of a miracle that oil burned than vinegar. The only difference between the two is the frequency. Hashem creates every single moment of time and space and nothing really exists except for the Creator. G-d is one. So Hashem creates everything that happens in such a consistent way to give us the illusion of "ever action has an opposite reaction" so we can have free will.
Was this magic? No. This Rabbi was so holy, that he didn't need a miracle because he believed and trusted in G-d so deeply... so Hashem allowed vinegar to burn. Ask any scientist or professor why every frozen liquid sinks except for water. Water floats and without this, no life could exists. If you ask them why, they will answer "because that's what water does". Or think about how each person comes from a spec so small that you cannot see it without a microscope. This would look like magic if we didn't see it happen all the time.
Nothing happens, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, without Hashem causing it to happen. Without this illusion of reality, we couldn't have free will. Every phenomenon is miraculous - for everything that occurs is a direct result of G-d's command. "The Guardian of Israel never slumbers nor sleeps"
So, to answer your question, the term "magic" means different things. I think the Rambam was very clear on which type of magic he was referring to.
Lubab:
--- Quote from: Shlomo on May 04, 2008, 05:58:43 AM ---I would like to put the Rambam's commentary here for clarification on magic and legerdemain:
--- Quote ---Rambam discusses magic and sleight-of-hand (achizat 'einayim) (Sefer HaMitzvot, Negative Commandment #32):
A me'onen is one who uses legerdemain, which is a major form of trickery involving sleight-of-hand, until it seems to people that he does unreal things, as we constantly see them do: he takes a rope and puts it in the corner of his garment in front of the audience, and then removes it as a snake; he throws a ring in the air and then removes it from the mouth of one of those present; and other acts which seem to them similar to the deeds of the magicians, well known among the masses. Every one of these acts is forbidden, and one who does them is called a practitioner of legerdemain (me'onen). These are forms of magic, and therefore one receives lashes for this [offense]. He also deceives people with it, and the harm it causes is very great, because imagining that things which are totally impossible are in fact possible is very harmful for fools and women and children; it will lead them to lose their rational thought, and cause them to regress into believing that the impossible is possible.
Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra also alludes to this in his commentary on Shemot (7:11), implying that legerdemain is deception, and not a real feat. However, Rambam's words must be examined, in light of the Mishnah, which states that "a magician who does an action is liable, but not one who engages in legerdemain" (Sanhedrin 7:11).
Perhaps "doing an action" in this context refers to deception through rapid, hidden movements, imperceptible to the onlooker; while "one who engages in legerdemain" in this context would mean exerting influence over another's mind, as through hypnosis.
--- End quote ---
I would like to add that a beautiful discussion of this topic can be found in the classic "The Way of G-d" by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto:
http://www.feldheim.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=0-87306-769-x
Lastly, I would like to quote a story from the Talmud:
--- Quote ---The Mishnaic sage Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa was a renowned miracle worker. Shortly after sunset one Friday evening, he noticed his daughter sobbing. Upon asking her the reason for her distress, she explained that she had mistakenly lit the Shabbat candles with vinegar instead of oil. Rabbi Chanina comforted his daughter: "Do not be troubled, my dear. The One who commanded oil to burn will command vinegar to burn..." Needless to say, the candles did not go out. In fact, they burned until the following night, when the havdallah candle (candle which accompanies the Saturday night ceremont signaling the end of the Shabbat) was kindled from their flames!
--- End quote ---
To this holy man, it was no more of a miracle that oil burned than vinegar. The only difference between the two is the frequency. Hashem creates every single moment of time and space and nothing really exists except for the Creator. G-d is one. So Hashem creates everything that happens in such a consistent way to give us the illusion of "ever action has an opposite reaction" so we can have free will.
Was this magic? No. This Rabbi was so holy, that he didn't need a miracle because he believed and trusted in G-d so deeply... so Hashem allowed vinegar to burn. Ask any scientist or professor why every frozen liquid sinks except for water. Water floats and without this, no life could exists. If you ask them why, they will answer "because that's what water does". Or think about how each person comes from a spec so small that you cannot see it without a microscope. This would look like magic if we didn't see it happen all the time.
Nothing happens, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, without Hashem causing it to happen. Without this illusion of reality, we couldn't have free will. Every phenomenon is miraculous - for everything that occurs is a direct result of G-d's command. "The Guardian of Israel never slumbers nor sleeps"
So, to answer your question, the term "magic" means different things. I think the Rambam was very clear on which type of magic he was referring to.
--- End quote ---
Absolutely fantastic post Shlomo. I couldn't have said it better. The story of the vinegar burning is one of my favorite stories of the Talmud.
The Rebbe in many discourses explains that a "miracle" is a relative term. If someone is more in tune with how the world really works his "nature" can become a man on a lower level of understanding's "miracle".
G-d sets the laws of nature and therefore and can change the way they work at any time. Is that magic? Heck no. It's reality.
There are also however, many parables which people take literally when they shouldn't as someone else brought up the 3 categories of people the Rambam talks about. But that does not take away from the above point.
None of the laws of nature HAVE to be that way. At their core they just ARE that way. And they are because G-d keeps choosing that that's how they should be. Really however G-d chooses it for a reason. That reason is to allow us to fulfill the mitzvot. That's why when they needed to light Shabbos candles the nature of vinegar just had to change in deference to its higher purpose which is to allow a mitzva to be fulfilled. In general, in our lives, when we want to do the right thing with enough commitment, nature will change in deference to that depending on what level you're on.
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