The Talmud and demons

ADAM KIRSCH has a new Daf Yomi column in Tablet Magazine: The Talmud’s Many Demons: Sages in a superstitious age accepted the existence of invisible devils and the use of magic to render them visible.

If you went to a Reform or Conservative synagogue, as I did, you were probably taught early on that Judaism doesn’t believe in demons and devils. The God of monotheism is a transcendent God, who leaves no room in the universe for other supernatural powers. And it went without saying that God was incorporeal, that he could not be imagined as having a human body. Both of these ways of thinking about the divine, we often hear, mark Judaism’s advance on paganism, with its pantheon of anthropomorphic spirits.

Reading the Talmud this week was a vivid reminder that this way of thinking about Judaism is in fact a modern invention. You can never pronounce on “what Judaism says” without specifying what Judaism you are talking about: post-Enlightenment, post-Reform Judaism may say one thing, where the Judaism of the Talmud says something entirely different. It becomes clear in Berachot 6a, for instance, that the sages of the Talmud not only believed in demons and folk magic, but that they never imagined such things could be theologically controversial.

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The column also explores the theological problem of God wearing tefillin.

This column dovetails nicely with yesterday's post on Maggie Anton's new novel series Rav Hisda’s Daughter.