Magic

Where others saw contradiction, the author of Ḥatam Sofer saw synthesis.

Maoz Kahana
June 8 2023 12:01AM

Forgotten Babylonian artifacts at the Hermitage.

March 14 2023 12:01AM

The sages downplay the role of God and sin in human illness and health.

Jason Mokhtarian
June 30 2022 12:01AM

From medieval anti-Semitism to occult novels to a real-life Harry Potter character.

June 29 2022 12:01AM

Babylonian Jews in talmudic times used the bowls to trap demons.

Amanda Borschel-Dan
March 8 2022 12:01AM

If his Jewish practice was thin, his attachments were not.

Jerry Muller
Jan. 4 2022 12:01AM

Silver bracelets, Greek inscriptions, and centuries-old Jewish folk beliefs.

Jessica Steinberg
Nov. 16 2021 12:01AM

Baḥya ben Asher, magic, science, and church bells.

Yaakov Taubes
Oct. 13 2021 12:01AM

Elisha ben Gad’s Tree of Knowledge.

Zsofi Buda
Aug. 21 2020 12:01AM

Houdini’s was the prototypically self-made American tale. But even while turning himself into the world’s greatest breaker of constraints, he remained a proudly identified Jew.

March 17 2020 12:01AM

By slaughtering roosters on an airplane.

Yuval Harari
May 3 2019 12:01AM

A Large Volume of Virtues, Medicines, Amulets, and Fortunes.

Agata Paluch
April 19 2019 12:01AM

Demons, The Sword of Moses, and Judaism.

Yuval Harari
June 15 2017 12:01AM

The first written reference to the magical utterance was in a Roman text. Did it have earlier roots?

July 2 2015 12:01AM