Jewish Studies 232 - Magic

Magic is often considered incompatible with normative religious practice. However, a close examination of Jewish experience reveals a lively magical tradition which understands the world to be teeming with supernatural and semi-divine forces that could be controlled through magical objects, rituals, and incantations. This course explores a wide variety of sources, from canonical religious texts to spells, recipes, magic manuals, folk beliefs, material artifacts, and faith healers and mystics. Careful attention is paid to the role of gender in the practice of and attitudes towards magic. Students learn about the diversity of magic practiced by Jews in different cultural contexts, the contested relationship between magical and mainstream Jewish practice, and magic as a point of interaction between Jewish and non-Jewish cultures. (E)