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THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA VOL. I Pages 549 and 550 (in part) - Amulet […] |  |
Dilling Exhibit 286 Begins
|  | Hebrew transliteration of “Majestas YHWH regis domini mei animum benignum mihi foveat” (May the majesty of YHWH foster a kindly disposition in my lord the king toward me). Upon the other side is [formatted Hebrew text] “Majestas YHWH animum mei regis ad me inclinet” (May the majesty of YHWH incline the king’s soul to me). The expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 caused the dissemination of the Cabala far and wide through the East and the West. Their unexampled sufferings served to foster their mystic bent more than ever. The Holy Land, as far as repeopled by Spanish exiles (notably Safed), became the hotbed of the most abstruse secret lore, which favored, among other things, the employment of amulets. From Turkey on the one side, and from Italy on the other, the Cabala spread to Poland and lands adjacent; Hasidism arose there and flourishes there today. This mysticism also prepared the ground for amulets, so that there are whole books devoted exclusively to kemi‘ot still extant in manuscript (compare Benjacob, “Ozar ha-Sefarim,” p. 530).
The Eiben- schütz Contro- versy.
This so-called “practical Cabala” recommended a number of talismans, a description of which must be omitted here in order to describe a celebrated kemi‘a contest of the middle of the eighteenth century. Jonathan Eibenschütz, remembered by Jews to day as an eminent Talmudist, prepared a number of amulets. He issued them in Metz, where he was rabbi, and later in Hamburg, Altona, and Wandsbeck, over the united communities of which he presided as chief rabbi. He made them for sick children, for expectant mothers, also as remedies against nose-bleed, epilepsy, and the evil eye. He furnished one that would banish “croaking demons” from a house; upon digging into the foundations, the demons would then be found in the shape of veritable croaking frogs. To find the body of one drowned, he provided a charm in the shape of a written parchment to be laid on the bank of the river or pond. He claimed to have been particularly successful with his amulets in helping women in various emergencies; and statistics were said to support his statements that since he had officiated as rabbi in Hamburg scarcely one Jewish woman had died in childbirth, while in the year preceding his arrival “God’s wrath had raged widely” in such cases. The congregational Hebrah Kadishah (burial society) confirmed this claim officially. All of this became matter of public discussion when Jacob Emden, then residing in Altona, and Jacob Joshua Falk, chief rabbi of Frankfort-on-the-Main, both learned and respected men, openly charged Eibenschütz with invoking as Savior in his amulets the false Messiah, Shabbethai Zebi. The contest waged furiously; the scholars and communities of Germany, Holland, Italy, Turkey, the Holy Land, Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, and elsewhere took active part in a most vehement discussion. Even the temporal authorities were appealed to by Eibenschütz’s opponents, application being made to the City Council of Hamburg, and to the king of Denmark. The charge was based particularly upon five amulets issued by Eibenschütz while officiating in Metz, and which were certified to by the congregational officials, as having been written by him. It is a curious fact that in all the voluminous discussion, the only point at issue was the employment of the false Messiah’s name in these amulets; not a voice was raised against the folly of amulets in general. The common impression probably was that they could do no harm and might serve as spiritual stimulants in the way of the wearer’s reassurance and mental comfort. This widespread discussion, however, marks the turning-point in the history of the medieval faith in amulets; since then it has gradually diminished and may now be said to be [page 550] practically extinct except in the Orient. The “Shulhan ‘Aruk” does not forbid amulets (see “Orah Hayyim,” §301, 24-27; §305, 17; §334, 14; “Yoreh De‘ah,” §179, 12). It is important to note the fact that the Jews, the “people of the Scripture”, employed mainly written parchments for such purposes, not bits of wood, bone, stone, or other natural objects. Modern Judaism of course approves the sentiments of Maimonides, who pronounced against them; he denies them all potency or virtue whatever (“Moreh”, iii. 37), and speaks of the “craziness of the amulet-writers, who hope to accomplish miracles by permutations of the Divine Name” (ib. i. 61, end). BIBLIOGRAPHY: On the Eibenschütz controversy, see the collected pamphlets [Hebr.], Lemberg, 1877; Eibenschütz’s own defense, [Hebr.], Altona, 1755; Graetz, Gesch. D. Juden, vii, note 7. [Caption under the drawing of the circular amulet:] This Amulet is claimed to be well approved, and protects the lying-in mother and her child against witchcraft, the evil eye, and demons, and is given in "Raziel," with explicit directions for use. Its authorship is ascribed to Adam. The four words outside of the circle are the names of the four rivers issuing out of paradise, Gen. ii 10. In the circle are Psalm, xci. 11; the names of Adam and Eve; also [Hebr.], which is equivalent to [Hebr.], Eve (in the [Hebr.] system, see AT-BASH, [Hebr.]; then [Hebr.], probably a misprint for [Hebr.], the female demon mentioned in Isaiah xxxiv 14; then come "the first Eve," and names of angels and of God ([Hebr.] = [Hebr.]: in this permutation each letter is represented by the next succeeding letter of the alphabet, thus [Hebr.], [Hebr.] etc.). Outside of the sheild of David stand the initial letters of the well-known prayer by Nebvuia b. ha-Kana, [Hebr.], also the words, [Hebr.], "May Satan be torn assunder!" the innermost space finally contains words from Ex. xi. 8, and permutations of [Hebr.], a mystical name of God. |  |