Witchcraft: Reality or Fallacy?

Far from Shakespeare’s “hubble, bubble, toil and trouble”, women and witchcraft is a complex area, setting its borders between the physical and the spiritual, the natural and the supernatural. Let us explore the Torah’s view on all things magic and mystery. 

The question as to whether witchcraft even exists is a debate between the Rambam and the Ramban. The Rambam writes¹ that the notion of witchcraft is utter nonsense and complete emptiness. Any magic which appears genuine is nothing more than an illusion according to the Rambam. On the other hand, the Ramban posits² that the very reason the Torah forbids magic is because there is a koach to it. Hashem created a quasi-spiritual world in between His Heavenly realm and our physical earth and it is on this plane that we find the powers of the occult; magic and miracles. Inside this world lies the ability to change or manipulate creation as we know it. 

The danger of witchcraft is that since there is real cause and effect in this suspended realm, it can easily be abused. People can see elements of the supernatural at work and view it as an independent force, separate to Hashem. People can worship this supernatural space itself and come to idol worship, not realising it is all under the control and part of the creation of Hashem. Rabbi Yehuda Shurpin³ writes that ultimately the Rambam of course knew that magic had reality but he wrote against it in line with the Gemara that if we do not believe in these powers, they cease to work. The Maaseh Rokeach⁴ explains that when the Rambam said that magic was foolishness, he used foolishness as a term for the yetzer hara. The Rambam did not genuinely believe there was no koach in magic, the Talmud itself records the notion of witches and witchcraft. Yet, the Rambam cautions against it because it is a tool of the yetzer hara, a ploy to distract us from the mastery of Hashem, emerging from a place steeped in tum’a. 

Rav Aharon Lopiansky⁵ is clear that magic is indeed a reality embedded into the Torah. The Torah instructs us explicitly “a sorcerer should not be allowed to live”⁶ and the Talmud itself references what Rav Lopiansky calls “good magic” in the form of blessings and amulets. However, the Torah also illustrates the danger of miracles and abusing the supernatural. Rav Lopiansky describes the episode in Bamidbar when Hashem punishes the Jewish people for speaking badly against Him and Moshe. 

In order to be healed, the people had to look up at a copper snake, enabling them to recover. The copper snake was nothing more than a reminder for the people to look up and acknowledge that their healing came from Hashem. This is all magic is, a medium through which to recognise the mastery of Hashem. Yet, the people lost their way and eventually, King Chizkiyahu had the copper snake destroyed because the people began to worship it for itself, forgetting that Hashem instilled it with its healing powers. This example is illustrative of both the benefits of magic – and its dangers. Remembering Hashem, or forgetting Him. When Hashem split the sea, even the maidservants were able to point and say with absolute clarity “zeh Keili v’anveihu” “this is my G-d and I will beautify Him.” When the supernatural inspires us to cement our relationship with Hashem, this is fulfilling its purpose. When it chas v’shalom achieves the opposite, it detracts us further and further from our goal. The Rambam writes⁷ that our faith cannot be founded on miracles. Miracles are wonderful, but more wonderful is an authentic, deep and committed relationship with Hashem. 

Rav Osher Chaim Levene⁸ quotes the Gemara⁹ which writes that 10 measures of witchcraft descended to the world, 9 of which went to Egypt. Indeed, Egypt was a hotbed for all things sorcery and supernatural and we see Pharaoh relying heavily on his sorcerers to encourage him to remain unafraid of both Hashem and the plagues with which He crippled Egypt. Rav Levene records the episode in the Gemara¹⁰ where a witch wanted to cast a spell on Rabbi Chanina. Completely unfazed, Rabbi Chanina said “ein od milvado” “there is no one but Him.” Rabbi Chanina knew with certainty that the witch was not able to change a reality which Hashem determined for him. If Hashem willed that he live, he would live even if the witch cursed him to die. If Hashem willed that he die, the witch was nothing more than a messenger. 

The Torah commands us “tamim tihiye im Hashem elokecha” “Be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d.” Rashi explains that Hashem is commanding us not to delve into our future, not to consult with mediums or oracles or engage in any level of divination in order to find out what will happen. Rather, like Rabbi Chanina to say, and live, “ein od milvado” “there is none but Him.” Our future is not in the hand of magic and mazalot, but purely in the hands of Hashem. 

What Pharaoh and his magicians lacked sorely was this Jewish value which Rabbi Chanina embodied: temimut. The Torah¹¹ commands us “tamim tihiye im Hashem elokecha” “Be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d.” Rashi explains that Hashem is commanding us not to delve into our future, not to consult with mediums or oracles or engage in any level of divination in order to find out what will happen. Rather, like Rabbi Chanina to say, and live, “ein od milvado” “there is none but Him.” Our future is not in the hand of magic and mazalot, but purely in the hands of Hashem. 

Perhaps the most famous case of witchcraft is in the book of Shmuel with the ba’alat ov, King Shaul and the witch of Ein Dor. In perhaps a shocking episode, worried about the outcome of an upcoming battle with the Pelishtim, King Shaul turns to a witch. King Shaul asks the witch to bring back Shmuel HaNavi from the dead so he can ask him the outcome of the impending war. In “Journey through Nach,” Rabbis Fine and Golker explain that King Shaul was at a point of desperation. King Shaul had already sinned by not killing off all of Amalek, resulting in Hashem distancing from him and in addition, he could not consult with the Urim V’Tumim as a punishment for ordering the execution of the Kohanim of Nov. In this gloomy context, lacking clarity and confidence, King Shaul turned to witchcraft. The da’at sofrim explains that King Shaul was not in violation of the Torah as he sought advice for the sake of pikuach nefesh, not to needlessly waste Jewish life on the battlefield. 

Interestingly, the Radak held that this encounter with the witch of Ein Dor was not genuine. He posits two options: first, he suggests that the witch recognised King Shaul and had someone disguise themselves as Shmuel, giving the advice that made sense in the context to give. The second option suggested by Radak is that the witch herself was not genuine, but Hashem made a miracle and brought Shmuel back from the dead Himself. The Radak strengthens this premise by quoting the pasuk where the witch screamed when Shmuel actually appeared, suggesting she herself was shocked. 

The book “Women in Talmud” points out that sorcery is more often done by women than men. Indeed Rebbetzin Gottlieb once highlighted to me that it is always the women who believe in powers of spirituality, no matter how real or imagined the power is. The Maharal writes that a woman’s koach is emuna, whereas a man’s koach is emet. A man verifies, whereas a woman believes. A man can give up in despair at an obstacle but a woman can push on with faith. When it comes to the world of the occult, this power can become dangerous if a woman does not harness it correctly. A woman must be extra careful with her strong faith in spirituality, only channelling it to authentically holy places and not into the forbidden areas of magic and divination. As Rabbi Shurpin¹² writes, not everything with spiritual power is holy. 

Bilam, the infamous Jew-hater and magician himself was forced to praise us with the words “there is no divination in Yaakov and no sorcery in Yisrael.”¹³ All segulot and “shortcuts” in spirituality can only be effective if they lead to one thing: genuine connection to Hashem. Witches may have access to a realm that we do not fully understand. But we, the Jewish people, have so much more. We have 613 mitzvot which bond us directly with our Maker, which fill us with deep contentment and satisfaction and which perfect our souls in the most Heavenly way. And there is nothing more magic than that. 

1. Mishneh Torah, Laws of Idolatry 11:16 ↩︎
2. In his commentary on Devarim 18:9 ↩︎
3. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3555157/jewish/Do-Jews-Believe-in-Magic-or-Witchcraft
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4. Quoted in Journey Through Nach, Rabbi Daniel Fine and Chaim Golker ↩︎
5. In his article https://aish.com/48938547/  ↩︎
6. Shemot 22:17 ↩︎
7. Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 8:1 ↩︎
8. https://torah.org/torah-portion/livinglaw-5766-vaera/
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9. Kiddushin 49b ↩︎
10. Sanhedrin 66b ↩︎
11. Devarim 18:13 ↩︎
12. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3555157/jewish/Do-Jews-Believe-in-Magic-or-Witchcraft
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13. Bamidbar 23:23 ↩︎