CHAPTER 37

The commandments comprised in the second class are all those commandments that we have enumerated in Laws concerning Idolatry. It is manifest that all of them have in view deliverance from the errors of idolatry and from other incorrect opinions that may accompany idolatry, such as belief in soothsayers, enchanters, sorcerers, charmers,¹ and others belonging to the same group. When you will have read all the books I have mentioned to you, it will become clear to you that the magic of which you hear consists in actions that used to be performed by the Sabians, the Chasdeans, and the Chaldeans; most of them were also found among the Egyptians and the Canaanites. They caused others to fancy or fancied themselves that these actions had marvellous and extraordinary effects on beings, whether these be a single individual or the population of a city. However, reasoning cannot judge nor can the intellect cognize as true that these actions performed by magicians can necessitate anything whatever — as, for instance, when they seek to gather definite plants at a definite time or [78b] when a certain quantity of one thing and a certain quantity of another is taken. This is a very vast field; I, however, shall reduce — for your benefit — the practices involved to three kinds. The first one consists of those concerning one of the beings, which may be either a plant or an animal or a mineral; the second consists of those concerning the determination of the time at which these practices are performed; the third consists of human actions such as dancing, clapping hands, shouting, laughing, jumping with one leg, lying down upon the earth, burning something, fumigating with a definite fume, or uttering a speech understandable or not. These are the various species of the practices of the magicians.

Furthermore there are magical operations that can be accomplished only with the help of all these practices. For instance they say: This or that quantity of the leaves of a certain plant shall be taken while the moon is under a certain sign of the Zodiac in the East or in one of the other cardinal points; also a definite quantity shall be taken from the horns or the excrements or the hair or the blood of a certain animal while the sun is, for example, in the middle of the sky or at some other determined place; furthermore, a certain mineral or several minerals shall be taken and cast while a certain sign is in the ascendant and the stars in a certain position; then you shall speak and say these and these things and shall fumigate the cast-metal form with these leaves and similar things — whereupon a certain thing will come about. Furthermore, there are magical operations that, as they deem, may be accomplished with the help of only one of these kinds of practices. With regard to most of these magical practices, they pose the condition that those who perform them should necessarily be women. Thus you will find that they set forth with regard to the discovery of water that ten virgins must put on ornaments and red clothes and dance and crawl, [79a] going in turn forward and backward, and point to the sun, and perform the rest of this long operation until, as they think the water goes forth. In the same way they mention that if four women lie down upon their backs, raise their legs, holding them apart, and say and do certain things while in this disgraceful posture, hail will cease falling down upon that place. And they recount many such fables and ravings. And you will never find them posing some condition other than that they should be performed by women. In all magical operations it is indispensable that the stars should be observed. I mean, they deem that a certain plant should be assigned to the portion of a certain star; similarly they assign every animal and every mineral to a star. They likewise deem that the operations performed by the magicians are various species of worship offered to a certain star, which, being pleased with that operation or speech or fumigation, does for us what we wish.

After these premises, which you will find valid upon reading such books of theirs as are at present in our hands and as I have let you know, hear my discourse: Inasmuch as the intent of the whole Law and the pole around which it revolves is to put an end to idolatry, to efface its traces, and to bring about a state of affairs in which it would not be imagined that any star harms or helps in anything pertaining to the circumstances of human individuals — this in view of the fact that such an opinion leads to star worship — it follows necessarily that all magicians must be killed. For a magician is indubitably an idolater, even though he goes in special and strange ways that are different from the ways in which the vulgar worship these divinities. And inasmuch as in all these practices the condition is posed that for the greater part they should be performed by women, it says: [79b] Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live.2 And as people naturally feel pity when women are to be killed, it also states specifically with regard to idolatry: Man or woman,³ and again reiterates: Even the man or the woman⁴ — an expression that is not used with regard to profanation of the Sabbath and other things. The reason for this is to be found in the fact that naturally women often inspire pity. Inasmuch as the magicians deemed that their magic was effective, that by means of these practices they drove away harmful animals like lions, serpents, and so forth, from the villages; and they also deemed that by means of their magic they warded off various sorts of damage from plants — thus you will find that they had practices that, as they deemed, could prevent hail from falling, and that they deemed that certain practices of theirs killed the worms in the vineyards so that the latter were not destroyed (the destruction of the worms in the vineyards by means of these Amorite usages,⁵ mentioned in “The Nabatean Agriculture,” being expounded at length by them, I mean by the Sabians); that furthermore they deemed that they knew practices that could prevent the leaves and fruits of plants from falling — because of these things that at that time were generally known, it is stated among other things in the words of the covenant6 that it is because of idolatry and of the magical practices by means of which you think that these kinds of harm can be kept away from you that these calamities will befall you. It says: And I will send the beasts of the field among you, which shall rob you of your children.⁷ And: And the teeth of beasts will I send upon them, with the venom of crawling things of the dust.⁸ And: The fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.⁹ And: Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but thou shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worm shall eat them.¹⁰ And: Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil, for thine olives shall drop off.¹¹ To sum up the matter: Having in view all the devices used by the idolaters to perpetuate [80a] their cult through suggesting to people that thereby certain kinds of harm may be warded off and certain kinds of benefits obtained, it is included in the words of the covenant that through their cult these kinds of benefits are lost and these kinds of damage come about. Thus it has already become clear to you, you who engage in speculation, what Scripture intended in these particulars of the curses and the blessings contained in the words of the convenant, singling out them rather than the others for statement. Know likewise the extent of the great utility of this.

In order to keep people away from all magical practices, it has been prohibited to observe any of their usages,¹² even those attaching to agricultural and pastoral activities and other activities of this kind. I mean all that is said to be useful, but is not required by speculation concerning nature, and takes its course, in their opinion, in accordance with occult properties. This is the meaning of its dictum: And ye shall not walk in the customs [ḥuqqoth] of the nation,¹³ these being those that are called by [the Sages], may their memory be blessed, Amorite usages. For they are branches of magical practices, inasmuch as they are things not required by reasoning concerning nature and lead to magical practices that of necessity seek support in astrological notions. Accordingly the matter is turned into a glorification and a worship of the stars. They say explicitly: All that pertains to medicine does not pertain to the Amorite usages.¹⁴ They mean by this that all that is required by speculation concerning nature is permitted, whereas other practices are forbidden. It is for this reason that, after it has been said, A tree which lets its fruits drop is loaded with stones and marked with red chalk, this practice is criticized, and it is said: Why is it loaded with stones? It is with a view to diminishing its sap. But [why] should it be marked with red chalk? and so on. It is thus made clear that it could be forbidden, as pertaining to Amorite usages, to mark it with red chalk or to do similar things that are not required by reasoning. They similarly say with reference to a fetus of consecrated animals, which should be buried: [80b] It is not [allowed] to hang it upon a tree or to bury it at a crossroad with reference to Amorite usages.15 From this conclude by analogy. You must not consider as a difficulty certain things that they have permitted, as for instance the nail of one who is crucified and a fox’s tooth.¹⁶ For in those times these things were considered to derive from experience and accordingly pertained to medicine and entered into the same class as the hanging of a peony upon an epileptic and the giving of a dog’s excrements in cases of the swelling of the throat and fumigation with vinegar and marcasite in cases of hard swellings of the tendons. For it is allowed to use all remedies similar to these that experience has shown to be valid even if reasoning does not require them. For they pertain to medicine and their efficacy may be ranged together with the purgative action of aperient medicines. O you who are engaged in speculation, grasp fully and remember the marvellous observations contained in my speech! For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.¹⁷

We have already explained in our great compilation¹⁸ that the shaving of the corner of the head and of the corner of the beard has been forbidden¹⁹ because it was a usage of idolatrous priests. This is also the reason for the prohibition of mingled stuff,²⁰ for this too was a usage of these priests, as they put together in their garments vegetal and animal substances bearing at the same time a seal made out of some mineral; you will find this set forth literally in their books.

This is also the reason for its dictum: A woman shall not wear man’s armor,²¹ neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment.²² You will find in the book of Tumtum²³ the commandment that a man should put on a woman’s dyed garment when standing before [the planet] Venus and that a woman should put on a cuirass and arms when standing before Mars. In my opinion there is also another reason for this, namely, that such a practice arouses desires and necessarily brings about various kinds of debauchery.

As for the prohibition to profit from idolatry, the reason for it is most manifest. For [81a] sometimes idols are taken in order to be broken, but are preserved and become a snare for him who has taken them. Even if they have been broken and melted down or sold to a Gentile, it is forbidden to draw profit from the price obtained for them. The reason for this is that the multitude often believe that accidental matters are essential causes. Thus, for instance, you will find that most people say that since they dwell in one particular house or since they have bought one particular beast of burden or tool, they have become rich and their fortune has increased, these things having been a blessing for them. Accordingly it might happen that a certain individual would have success in his commerce or increase his fortune because of the price obtained for the idols. He would then think that this price was the reason for this and that the blessing deriving from the image he had sold necessitated this result. He accordingly would believe things concerning this image to which the whole wish of the Law runs counter, as becomes clear from all the texts of the Torah. This is also the selfsame reason why it is forbidden24 to draw profit from ornaments covering an object of worship and from offerings to the idols²⁵ and from the instruments of [idolatry] so that we should be preserved from this thought. For at that time their belief in such things was strong; it was believed that they caused to live or to die, that all good and evil came from them — I mean, from the stars. Therefore the Law made sure of putting an end to this opinion by means of covenants, attestation, strong oaths, and the curses quoted above, and it warned against taking anything and profiting by anything belonging to the idols. And He, may He be exalted, informed us that if anything that was a portion of the price obtained for them was mingled with the fortune of a certain man, it would bring about the loss and the ruin of that fortune. This is the meaning of its dictum: And thou shalt not bring an abomination into thine house, and be accursed like unto it, and so on.²⁶ All the more should it not be believed that there is a blessing in these things. If then you study carefully one by one all the commandments dealing with idolatry, you will find that the reason for them is manifest and consists in putting an end to these [81b] corrupt opinions and turning people to another direction far away from them.

Among the things to which we shall draw attention belongs the following point: Those that set up these false opinions, which have no root or any utility, in order to fortify belief in them, use the device of spreading among the people the opinion that a certain calamity will befall those who do not perform an action perpetuating this belief. Now this may happen by accident some day to a certain individual, and consequently he will seek to perform the action in question and to follow that belief. Now it is known that it is the nature of men in general to be most afraid and most wary of losing their property and their children. Therefore the worshippers of fire spread abroad the opinion in those times that the children of everyone who would not make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire27 would die. And there is no doubt that because of this absurd belief everybody hastened to perform this action because of the strong pity and apprehension felt with regard to children and because of the trifling character of the action and its ease, for it simply consisted in making them pass through fire. This was more particularly so because care for little children is generally entrusted to women, and it is well known how quickly they are affected and, speaking generally, how feeble are their intellects. Therefore the Law is strongly opposed to this action, an opposition that is affirmed in such terms as are not used with regard to other kinds of idolatrous practices: To render unclean My Sanctuary, and to profane My holy name.²⁸ Thereupon the truthful one²⁹ makes known in the name of God, may He be exalted, and says: Whereas you perform this action so that the children stay alive because of it, God will cause him who performs it to perish and will exterminate his descendants: he says: Then I will set My face against that man and against his family, and so on.³⁰ Know that traces of this action subsist up to now as a consequence of its having been generally accepted in the world. [82a] You will see that midwives take small children in their swaddling clothes, throw a fumigant having a disagreeable odor upon the fire, and move the children over this fume above the fire. This is indubitably a sort of passage through the fire, which it is illicit to perform. Consider how perfidious was he who originated this opinion and how he perpetuated it through this imagining, so that its trace was not effaced though the Law has opposed it for thousands of years.

The idolaters have acted in a similar way with regard to property. They have made the ordinance that one tree, namely, the asherah,³¹ should be consecrated to the object of their worship and that its fruits should be taken, part of them serving as an offering while the rest should be eaten in an idolatrous temple, as they have explained in the laws concerning the asherah. They have also prescribed that the first fruits of every tree whose fruits are edible should be used in the same manner, I mean that a portion of them should serve as an offering while the rest should be eaten in an idolatrous temple. They have also spread abroad the opinion that if the first fruits of any tree whatever were not treated in this manner, the tree in question would wither or its fruits would drop or its produce would be small or some calamity would befall it; just as they have spread abroad the opinion that every child that was not passed through fire would die. Inasmuch as men were afraid for their property, they likewise hastened to perform these practices. Accordingly the Law opposed this opinion, and He, may He be exalted, commanded that everything produced in the course of three years32 by a tree whose fruits are edible should be burnt.³³ For some trees bear fruit after one year, others bear their first fruits after two years, and others again after three. This is what happens in the majority of cases when trees are planted in one of the three generally accepted ways, namely: planting, layering, and grafting.³⁴ No attention is paid to him who sows a kernel or a pip. For the Law ties up the commandments [82b] with the majority of cases only, and the first produce of planting appears in the Land of Israel after a maximum delay of three years. Accordingly He, may He be exalted, has given us a pledge that because of the destruction and loss of the first fruits, the produce of the tree will increase. He says: That it may yield unto you the increase thereof.³⁵ And He has commanded to eat the fourth-year fruit of planting before the Lord³⁶ as a substitute for eating the first products³⁷ [of trees] in an idolatrous temple, as we have explained.

The ancient idolaters also mention in “The Nabatean Agriculture” that they let certain things mentioned by them putrefy, looking out in this connection for the sun’s entering into a certain sign of the Zodiac, and performing many magical operations. They thought that this thing should be prepared by everybody and that whenever one planted a tree bearing edible fruit, one should scatter around it or at its very place a portion of the thing that has been made to putrefy, in order that the tree should grow more quickly and that it should bear fruit in a way contrary to what is usual, within the shortest possible period. They mentioned that this is a wondrous method that is of the same character as the talismans and that it is the most wondrous of the methods of magic in regard to increase in rapidity in the production of the fruit of all trees that produce fruit. We have already explained to you and made known to you that the Law eschews all these magical operations. Therefore the Law forbids all that is grown by trees bearing edible fruit within the period of three years from the day they were planted. Accordingly there is no need, contrary to what they thought, to increase their rapidity in producing fruit. After three years, however, the produce of most of the trees in Syria bearing edible fruit attains its perfect state according to the course of nature, and there is no object in resorting to the generally known magical operation that was employed by them. Understand this wondrous thing too.

One of the opinions generally known in those times and perpetuated by the Sabians was expressed by their statement concerning the grafting of a tree of one species onto another tree. They said that if this is done [83a] when a certain star is in the ascendant and if certain fumigations are made and certain invocations pronounced at the time of the grafting, that which is produced by the graft will be a thing that, as they believe, will be very useful. The clearest point concerning these things is the one mentioned in the beginning of the “Agriculture”38 concerning the grafting of the olive tree onto the citron tree. In my opinion it must indubitably be true that the book of medicaments that was suppressed by Hezekiah³⁹ belonged to this group. They also mention that when one species is grafted upon another, the bough that is meant to be grafted ought to be held in the hand of a beautiful girl⁴⁰ and of a man who has come into her in a disgraceful manner that they describe and that the woman must graft the bough upon the tree while the two are performing this act. There is no doubt that this was generally adopted and that no one remained that acted otherwise, especially in view of the fact that in this custom pleasure of sexual intercourse is joined to the desire for the benefits in question. Therefore the mingling [of diverse species], I mean the grafting of one tree upon another, is forbidden, so that we shall keep far away from the causes of idolatry and from the abominations of their unnatural kinds of sexual intercourse. It is with reference to the grafting of a tree that it has been forbidden to join together any two species of seeds, even if only putting one near the other. If you examine what is transmitted in the legal science concerning this commandment, you will find that the grafting of a tree should in all places be punished with whipping according to the Torah,⁴¹ for it is at the origin of the prohibition; whereas the mingling of diverse seeds, I mean their being put one near the other, is only forbidden in the Land of Israel.

They also state explicitly in the “Agriculture”42 that it was their custom to sow barley and grapes together, for they thought that a vineyard could only prosper through this practice. Consequently the Law has forbidden the [sowing of] a vineyard with diverse seeds and has commanded burning all such things.⁴³ For all the customs [ḥuqqoth] of the nations that were thought to have occult properties were prohibited, even if [83b] they did not at all smack of idolatry; just as we have explained with reference to their dictum: It is not [allowed] to hang it upon a tree, and so on.⁴⁴ All these, I mean their customs [ḥuqqotehem], which are called Amorite usages,⁴⁵ have been forbidden because of their leading to idolatry. If you consider their customs in agriculture, you will find that in certain kinds of agriculture they turn toward the stars, in others toward the two luminaries.⁴⁶ Often they fix the time for sowing when certain constellations are in ascendant, making fumigations; and he who plants or sows goes about in a circle. Some of them consider that he should go about in a circle five times with a view to the five planets.⁴⁷ Others consider that he should go about in a circle seven times with a view to the five planets and two luminaries. And they deem that in all this there are occult properties that are very useful for agriculture, in order that they might bind people to the worship of the stars. Consequently all these customs [ḥuqqoth] of the nations have been forbidden in a general way, and it says: And ye shall not walk in the customs [ḥuqqoth] of the nation, and so on.⁴⁸ That among them which was more generally accepted and widespread or that which contained an explicit reference to some kind of idolatry was the object of various particular prohibitions — for instance, those regarding the first products [of trees], the mingling [of diverse species], the [sowing of] a vineyard with diverse seeds. I wonder at the dictum of Rabbi Josiah, considered as a legal decision, concerning [the sowing of] a vineyard with diverse seeds, according to which one has committed no transgression unless one sows together, in one throw of the hand, wheat, barley, and pips of grapes.⁴⁹ Doubtless he had learned that this custom had its origin in the Amorite usages.

Thus it has been made clear to you, so that there can be no doubt about it, that mingled stuff, the first products [of trees], and the mingling [of diverse species] were forbidden because of idolatry, and that their customs [ḥuqqotehem], which have been referred to, were forbidden because they lead to idolatry, as we have explained. [84a]