Jewish Magic and Superstition, by Joshua Trachtenberg, [1939], at sacred-texts.com

CHAPTER XII

NATURE AND MAN

1. Eleazar of Worms, Commentary on S. Yeẓirah, 6c; S. Ḥas. B 1149; Tishbi, s. v. bulmos;—Güd. I, 213; Raziel, 15a;—Maḥ. Vit. 501;—Rashi on Ps. 103:5; Ginzberg, Legends, V, 51, n. 151; Güdemann, Religionsgesch. Studien, Leipzig 1876, 55-63.

2. Samson of Sens on Kilayim VIII, 5 (the man-plant is identified with the adne or abne hasadeh of Job. 5:23, and the Yadu‘a, an animal employed in magic rites; Rashi, San. 65a), repeated in Semag, I, 39; ms. Et Ḥayim, 991 (580 of original). See E. Fink, MGWJ, LI (1907), 173-82; L. Ginzberg, A. Schwarz Festschrift (1917), 329-33 ("Der Grundzug dieser Legende, die Pflanze, deren Berührung Tod bringt ist jüdisch und sehr alt. . . . Sehr jung dagegen und wahrscheinlich germanischen Ursprunges—findet sich daher nur bei den deutschfranzösischen Autoren—ist die Umwandlung der todbringenden Pflanze in einen 'vegetabilischen Menschen,' die Raschi noch unbekannt ist"; p. 331), and Legends, V, 50, n. 148 and VI, 123, n. 720; cf. Thorndike, I, 597, 626, II, 142, III, 484, 566; Grimm, II, 1006 f.; Wuttke, 102-3; Frazer, Folk-Lore in the O.T., II, 377 ff.

3. On the "barnacle goose" see these essays in which the literature is discussed in detail: I. Löw, Flora, IV, 347 ff.; Zimmels, Minḥat Bikkurim (Vienna 1926), 1-9; JE, II, 538 ff.; JJV, II (1925), 349; Ginzberg, Legends, V, 51, n. 150; cf. Jacobs, Jews of Angevin England, 54, 92; Thorndike, I, 491, II, 200, 386, 464-5.

4. Shab. 107b; Ḥul. 127a; Tos. Shab. 12a; Rabiah, I, 327, §236; HaTerumah, 80b, §217, 218; Maḥ. Vit. 123, §6 (cf. G. Schlessinger, Die altfranzösischen Wörter im Machsor Vitry, Mainz 1899, p. 35); Raben, 60; Responsa of Meir of Rothenburg (Lemberg), 160; Moses Taku, Oẓar Neḥmad, III, 78, 82; Orḥot Ẓadikim, 95a;—Leket Yosher, I, 104; S. Ḥas. B 1153; Tashbeẓ, 553; Responsa of Ḥayim Or Zarua, 146; S. Ḥas. B 589; Ẓiyuni, 48a; Ḥochmat HaNefesh, 14e; Rashi and Tos. Shab. 54b; Or Zarua, II, 19a, §83.

5. S. Ḥas. 1471; Thorndike, III, 34, 238.

6. S. Ḥas. 44, 49, 71, 798, 1,61; Rabiah, I, 248, §197; Maharil, 44b; Lev Tov, ch. 10, p. 102b; Oraḥ Ḥayim 608:4. Garlic, in particular, enjoyed high repute as an aphrodisiac in the ancient world; see I. Löw, op. cit., II, 144. Maharil, loc. cit., refers to Erdäpfel (this was at the turn of the fifteenth century,

p. 303

long before potatoes were introduced in Europe) which I have translated "melons"; see Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch, s. v.

7. Blau. 76-7; JE, IX, 301; Rokeaḥ, §317, pp. 85a, b, §318, p. 88b; Responsa of Meir of Rothenburg (Cremona), §124; Lev Tov, 101a; Isserles, Oraḥ Ḥayim 88:1. The concluding quotation is from Ẓiyuni, 50d; see also ibid. 50e.

8. Nid. 38a; S. Ḥas. 955, 1909; Lev Tov, 102b; ‘Emek Beracha, II, 52, pp. 62a-b, Oraḥ Ḥayim, 240:7.

9. Nid. 16b; Pes. 112b; Blau, 55, 56; Rokeaḥ, §317, p. 86b; Joseph Omeẓ, §190, 191, p. 43.

10. Ned. 20a; Sheb. 18b; S. Ḥas. 952, 1908; Lev Tov, 100c-d; Mitvat HaNashim, ch. 65, 66; Grünbaum, Jüdischdeutsche Chrest., 273-4, 276; Ẓiyuni, 15a.

11. Rokeaḥ, §317, p. 86b; Ẓiyuni, 78a; Abrahams, Ethical Wills, II, 209; Mitvat HaNashim, ch. 64; Gaster, Ma’aseh Book, I, 242-3, II, 648-9; cf. Pa‘aneaḥ Raza, 133b; Thorndike, I, 177, IV, 136.

12. Ginzberg, Legends, V, 55, VI, 206; Scheftelowitz, AR, XIV (1911), 376 ff.; Krauss, MJV, LIII (1915), 20; Shab. 111a; Feb. 65b; S. Ḥas. 1918;—Gaster, Studies and Texts, III, 229-30; Güd. I, 216.

13. Nid. 31a; Ber. 60a; Hadar Zekenim and Da‘at Zekenim on Ex. 1:16 and Lev. 12:2; Menaḥem Recanati, Ta‘ame HaMiẓvot, 13b. and Commentary on the Pentateuch, beg. of Tazri‘a; Pa‘aneaḥ Raza, 87a; cf. Thorndike, II, 767.

14. Hadar Zekenim on Ex. 1:16; S. Ḥas. B 1141; Lev Tov, 100d; Güd. I, 212; in this last-mentioned place may be found a passage from Konrad von Megenberg which offers a striking parallel to the "signs" of Eleazar of Worms; cf. also Thorndike, I, 177, II, 329, 744, etc.

15. Maharil, 85a; ibid., 24b; cf. Nid. 27a; Feb. 80b; Thorndike, III, 237, 238.

16. Hor. 13b; S. Ḥas. 1503; Maḥ. Vit. 720; Tashbeẓ, 287, 558; Maharil, 86a; Leket Yosher, I, 45, II, 6, 15; Joseph Omeẓ, pp. 45, 273, 343, 354; Parallels to these beliefs may be found among other peoples, cf. I. Goldziher, "Muhammedanischer Aberglaube über Gedächtnisskraft und Vergesslichkeit, mit Parallelen aus der jüdischen Litteratur," Berliner Festschrift, 131-55; Grimm, III, 834, §463 and n. 1; Wuttke, 315.

17. Maḥ. Vit. 720; Tashbeẓ 557; S. Ḥas. Tinyana, 11a; Joseph Omeẓ, §575, p. 123; Isserles, Oraḥ Ḥayim 260:1; ‘Emek Beracha, II, 53, P. 64a; Yesh Noḥalin, 26a, n. 35; cf. Grünbaum, Ges. Auf., 423, 424; Goldziher, op. cit., 133; Löw, Die Finger, p. xxii; JE, IX, 149; also Oraḥ Ḥayim 179:6.

18. Maḥ. Vit., pp. 115-6; Siddur Rashi, §523, p. 261; Güd. I, 53; Grunwald, MJV, XIX (1906), 118; cf. Heller, REJ, LV (1908), 69 ff., and Krauss, ibid., LVI (1908), 253-4,—Joseph Omeẓ, §73, P. 17; Lebush on Oraḥ Ḥayim, 299: to; Kiẓur Shelah, 134;—Goldziher, op. cit., 140 ff.; HB, VII (1864), 100, XIV (1874), 58; I. Löw, Die Flora der Juden, I, 203 f.