'Historically, Jews were oppressed because we’re magical'

Season of the Jewitch: The occultists reviving Jewish witchcraft and folklore

Far from rejecting magic practitioners, Judaism — or at least Kabbalistic strands of it — has long embraced them. But these aren’t the pagan dark arts associated with Halloween

Occult practices and totems are a mainstay of Halloween season, and sage bundles, altars and crystals are an increasingly trendy way to dabble in divination and witchcraft. But the spooky supernatural world also has a long history in Judaism, and modern “Jewitches” are encouraging the connection — though their practices often slightly differ from their non-Jewish contemporaries.

“I do not burn sage,” said Zo Jacobi, who runs Jewitches, a popular blog and podcast that deep dives into ancient Jewish myths and folkloric practices. The sage-related ritual of “smudging,” an Indigenous ceremony popular among modern witches for cleansing a person or place of negative energy, “is not a Jewish practice,” she said. “But Jews had crystals. Actually, they were called ‘gems.’”

Jacobi and her peers are revitalizing ancient Jewish practices of witchcraft, which have been seeing something of a revival as of late. Far from having an uneasy relationship with magic practitioners, Judaism — or at least Kabbalistic strands of it — has long embraced them.

Jacobi, based in Los Angeles, studies those gems’ role in Jewish ritual, along with the connections between assorted other magical artifacts and Judaica. Eight shelves in her home are filled with books on Judaism as well as Jewish magic, witchcraft and folklore.

Her studies have revealed the historical ways that items like gems have been used in Jewish magical correspondences. Like healing crystals, gems are meant to protect and heal based on their properties, according to the Midrash (Numbers Rabbah 2:7), or rabbinic interpretation of the Bible. For example, sapphire was thought to strengthen eyesight.

“It’s in a medieval text called the ‘Sefer Ha-Gematriaot,’” Jacobi said. “But even if we go to the Torah, we see crystals on the breastplates of the kohanim [high priests of Israel].”

Many Jewish rituals today have their roots in warding off demons, ghosts and other mythological creatures. When we break glass at a wedding, scholars say, we’re not just remembering the destruction of the Temple; we’re also scaring off evil spirits that may want to hurt the bride and groom. Likewise, ancient Jews believed that the mezuzah — a small box affixed to the doorpost containing biblical verses on parchment — protected them from messengers of evil, a function parallel to that of an amulet or good-luck charm.

“The mezuzah is absolutely an amulet,” said Rebekah Erev, a Jewish feminist artist, activist and kohenet (Hebrew priestexx, a gender-neutral term for “priest” or “priestess”) who uses the pronouns they/them and teaches online courses on Jewish magic. “I consider it to be a reminder of the presence of spirit, of goddess, of shechinah [the dwelling or settling of the divine presence of God]. Much of magic is about reminding ourselves that we’re all connected and that everything is alive and animate.”

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https://www.timesofisrael.com/season-of-the-jewitch-the-occultists-reviving-jewish-witchcraft-and-folklore/