67b----------------------------------------67b
1)UNDERSTANDING SORCERY AND 'MAASEH SHEIDIM'
אמר רבי יוחנן למה נקרא שמן כשפים שמכחישין פמליא של מעלה: (דברים ד) אין עוד מלבדו אמר רבי חנינא אפילו לדבר כשפים ההיא איתתא דהות קא מהדרא למשקל עפרא מתותי כרעיה דרבי חנינא אמר לה אי מסתייעת זילי עבידי אין עוד מלבדו כתיב איני והאמר רבי יוחנן למה נקרא שמן מכשפים שמכחישין פמליא של מעלה שאני רבי חנינא דנפיש זכותיה אמר רבי אייבו בר נגרי אמר רבי חייא בר אבא בלטיהם אלו מעשה שדים בלהטיהם אלו מעשה כשפים וכן הוא אומר (שמות ח) ואת להט החרב המתהפכת אמר אביי דקפיד אמנא שד דלא קפיד אמנא כשפים אמר אביי הלכות כשפים כהלכות שבת יש מהן בסקילה ויש מהן פטור אבל אסור ויש מהן מותר לכתחלה העושה מעשה בסקילה האוחז את העינים פטור אבל אסור מותר לכתחלה כדרב חנינא ורב אושעיא כל מעלי שבתא הוו עסקי בהלכות יצירה ומיברי להו עיגלא תילתא ואכלי ליה אמר רב אשי חזינא ליה לאבוה דקרנא דנפיץ ושדי כריכי דשיראי מנחיריה (שמות ח) ויאמרו החרטומים אל פרעה אצבע אלהים היא אמר ר' אליעזר מיכן שאין השד יכול לבראות בריה פחות מכשעורה רב פפא אמר האלהים אפילו כגמלא נמי לא מצי ברי האי מיכניף ליה והאי לא מיכניף ליה א"ל רב לרבי חייא לדידי חזי לי ההוא טייעא דשקליה לספסירא וגיידיה לגמלא וטרף ליה בטבלא וקם אמר ליה לבתר הכי דם ופרתא מי הואי אלא ההיא אחיזת עינים הוה
Translation: R. Yochanan said: Why are they called 'Keshafim' ('sorceries')? Because they "contradict" ('makchishin') the Heavenly entourage. As it is written (Devarim 4:35), "There is none besides Him." R. Chanina said: This applies even with regard to sorcery. There was a certain woman who was going about trying to take dirt from beneath R. Chanina's feet. He said to her, "If you think it will help you, go and do it, for it is written (Devarim 4:35), 'There is none besides Him.'" But is that really so? Did R. Yochanan not say: "Why are they called sorceries? Because they contradict the heavenly entourage"? R. Chanina was different, because his merit was exceptionally great. R. Aivu bar Nagri said in the name of R. Chiya bar Abba: "Be-lateihem," as it is written (Shemos 7:11), refers to acts performed through demons, whereas "Be-lahateihem" refers to acts of sorcery. And so too it is written (Bereishis 3:24), "The flame ('Lahat') of the revolving sword." Abaye said: If one (the witch) is particular about using a specific vessel, it is the work of a demon; if one is not particular about using a specific vessel, it is sorcery. Abaye said: The laws of sorcery are like the laws of Shabbos. Some cases are punishable by stoning; some are exempt from stoning but nevertheless (Rabbinically) forbidden; and some are permitted even ideally. One who performs an actual act of sorcery is liable to stoning. One who merely deceives the eyes ('ochez es ha'einayim') is exempt from stoning, but it is nevertheless forbidden. What is an example of something permitted even ideally? Like R. Chanina and R. Oshaya, who every Friday evening occupied themselves with Hilchos (Sefer) Yetzirah, and they would create for themselves a three-year-old (in appearance) calf and eat it. Rav Ashi said: I saw the father of Karna blow out bundles of silk from his nostrils. As it is written (Shemos 8:15), "The magicians said to Pharaoh, 'It is the finger of God.'" R. Eliezer said: From here we learn that a demon cannot create a creature smaller than a barley grain. Rav Pappa said: No - even a creature as large as a camel they cannot create. Rather, the difference is that they can gather these (large creatures) but they cannot gather those (creatures smaller than a barley grain; but they do not actually create anything). Rav said to R. Chiya: I myself saw an Arab merchant take a sword, cut a camel into pieces, strike a drum, and the camel stood up alive. R. Chiya replied: Afterward, was there any blood or excretion left behind? Rather, that was merely an optical illusion ('achizas einayim').
(a)What exactly is Kishuf (sorcery)?
1.Yad Ramah: The word Keshafim is a compound of two parts: Kash (from mechachesh - to contradict) and Pam (short for Pamalya - the Heavenly entourage). The word can also be understood as mach'chishin ("weakening"), meaning that when a person has sinned, Kishuf is given permission to weaken a positive Heavenly decree.
2.Ramban (Devarim 18:9): Hash-m governs the world through a system of heavenly forces. Kishuf manipulates this system to produce effects outside its ordinary pattern. The Torah forbids it because it bypasses the order Hash-m established and seeks power through lower spiritual forces rather than through Hash-m.
3.Derech Hash-m (3:2:9): Just as Hash-m created a supernatural path to holiness through Ruach HaKodesh, He also created a corresponding supernatural system of impurity. Sorcery and necromancy draw on this system of impurity, but only within the limits Hash-m established.
4.Nefesh HaChaim (3:12): Kishuf draws on the kochos hatumah (forces of impurity), which Hash-m created with the ability to override the normal natural order. However, these forces have no independent power: they exist only by Hash-m's will and are powerless against someone who truly clings to Him.
5.Rambam (Hilchos Avodas Kochavim 11:16): Kishuf has no real supernatural efficacy. Sorcery, divination, and similar practices are falsehoods and deceptions that mislead people into believing they possess hidden powers. The Torah forbids them because they promote false beliefs and distance a person from truth and reliance on Hash-m.
(b)What is the difference between Maaseh Keshafim and Maaseh Shedim?
1.Abrabanel (Shemos 7:8): All Kishuf is done through Shedim and all that Shedim do is Kishuf. However, any such act that is hidden from the eyes of people is called 'Shedim' and if visibl, it is Kishuf.
2.Maharal (Chiddushei Aggados, Sanhedrin 67b): Maaseh Keshafim alters the natural order that Hash-m established, thereby "contradicting the Heavenly entourage". Maaseh Shedim, by contrast, does not change the order of creation; rather, it produces unusual effects through the actions of Shedim. Kishuf disrupts the order of the world, whereas Maaseh Shedim operates within it.
2)A STORY OF WITCHCRAFT & THE PLAGUE OF FROGS IN EGYPT
זעירי איקלע לאלכסנדריא של מצרים זבן חמרא כי מטא לאשקויי מיא פשר קם אגמלא דאסקוניתא א״ל אי לאו דזעירי את לא הוי מהדרינן לך מי איכא דזבין מידי הכא ולא בדק ליה אמיא. ינאי איקלע לההיא אושופיזא אמר להו אשקיון מיא קריבו ליה שתיתא חזייה לההיא אתתא דהוה קא מרחשן שיפוותה שדי פורתא מיניה הוו עקרבי אמר להו אנא שתאי מדידכו ואתון נמי שתו מדידי אשקייה הות חמרא רכבא סליק לשוקא אתא חברתה פשרא לה חזיוהו אינשי דרכיב אאתתא בשוקא. (שמות ח ב) ותעל הצפרדע ותכס וגו׳ א״ר אלעזר צפרדע אחת היתה והשריצה ומלאה כל ארץ מצרים כתנאי ר״ע אומר צפרדע אחת היתה ומלאה כל ארץ מצרים א״ל רבי אלעזר בן עזריה עקיבא מה לך אצל הגדות כלה מדברותיך ולך אצל נגעים ואהלות צפרדע אחת היתה ושרקה להם והם באו:
Translation: Ze'eiri visited Alexandria of Egypt. He bought a donkey. When he came to give it water, it dissolved, and it became a wooden plank. They said to him: if you were not Ze'eiri, we would not return your money to you. Is there anyone who buys something here and does not test it in water? Yannai happened to come to a certain inn. He said to them: give me water to drink. They brought him a drink. He saw a certain woman who was moving her lips. He poured out a little of it, and it became scorpions. He said to them: I will drink from yours, and you also drink from mine. He gave her to drink, and she became a donkey. He mounted her and went up to the marketplace. Her friend came and released her (from the spell); people saw him riding on a woman in the marketplace. (Shemos 8:2), "And the frog came up and covered..." R. Elazar said: there was one frog, and it reproduced and filled all the land of Egypt. This is a dispute of Tannaim: R. Akiva says there was one frog and it filled all the land of Egypt. R. Elazar ben Azarya said to him: Akiva, what have you to do with Aggadah? Cease your words and go to the laws of impurity and tents. Rather, there was one frog, and it whistled to them, and they came.
(a)Who was this person called Yannai? Was it the great Rebbi Yannai?
1.Rashi: It was not the Amora R. Yannai, as we see that he was involved in witchcraft.
2.Yad Ramah: Yannai prepared his own potion of witchcraft, which he gave to the hostess. This was after drinking from his own liquid rather than from theirs. This also indicates that he was involved with witchcraft, showing that it was not R. Yannai.
(b)What was R. Elazar ben Azarya's objection to R. Akiva's explanation that there was one frog from which many frogs came out?
1.Maharsha: Earlier, the Gemara says that the Egyptians attributed the plagues to witchcraft until the plague of lice, when they could no longer reproduce the plague and recognized it as the "Finger of Hash-m." R. Elazar ben Azarya therefore rejected R. Akiva's explanation because if the one frog actually produced many frogs through a miraculous act, the Egyptians should have recognized that Hash-m was responsible. Instead, R. Elazar ben Azarya explains that the original frog called the other frogs, which could be attributed to Ma'aseh Shedim (demons). Thus, the Egyptians could still have viewed the plague as magic rather than recognizing it as the work of Hash-m.
