Jewish Supernatural II - Demons

They sacrificed to demons, no-gods, gods they had never known, new ones, who came but lately, who did not stir your forebears’ fears.

(34) They did not destroy the nations as the LORD had told them, (35) but mingled with the nations and learned their ways. (36) They worshiped their idols, which became a snare for them. (37) Their own sons and daughters they sacrificed to demons. (38) They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; so the land was polluted with bloodguilt.

(10) Night and day it shall never go out; Its smoke shall rise for all time. Through the ages it shall lie in ruins; through the aeons none shall traverse it. (11) Jackdaws and owls shall possess it; great owls and ravens shall dwell there. He shall measure it with a line of chaos and with weights of emptiness. (12) It shall be called, “No kingdom is there,” its nobles and all its lords shall be nothing. (13) Thorns shall grow up in its palaces, nettles and briers in its strongholds. It shall be a home of jackals, an abode of ostriches. (14) Wildcats shall meet hyenas, goat-demons shall greet each other; there too lilith shall repose and find herself a resting place. (15) There the arrow-snake shall nest and lay eggs, and shall brood and hatch in its shade. There too the buzzards shall gather with one another.

(22) But God was incensed at his going; so a messenger of ה' took a position in his way as an adversary. He was riding on his she-ass, with his two servants alongside,

(32) The messenger of ה' said to him, “Why have you beaten your ass these three times? It is I who came out as an adversary, for the errand is obnoxious to me. (33) And when the ass saw me, she shied away because of me those three times. If she had not shied away from me, you are the one I should have killed, while sparing her.” (34) Balaam said to the messenger of ה', “I erred because I did not know that you were standing in my way. If you still disapprove, I will turn back.”

(3) The Philistine officers asked, “Who are those Hebrews?” “Why, that’s David, the servant of King Saul of Israel,” Achish answered the Philistine officers. “He has been with me for a year or more,^-a and I have found no fault in him from the day he defected until now.” (4) But the Philistine officers were angry with him; and the Philistine officers said to him, “Send the man back; let him go back to the place you assigned him. He shall not march down with us to the battle, or else he may become our adversary in battle. For with what could that fellow appease his master if not with the heads of these men?^-b

(16) Solomon sent this message to Hiram: (17) “You know that my father David could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God because of the enemies that encompassed him, until the LORD had placed them under the soles of his feet. (18) But now the LORD my God has given me respite all around; there is no adversary and no mischance.

(6) One day the divine beings presented themselves before the LORD, and the Adversary^-a came along with them. (7) The LORD said to the Adversary, “Where have you been?” The Adversary answered the LORD, “I have been roaming all over the earth.” (8) The LORD said to the Adversary, “Have you noticed My servant Job? There is no one like him on earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil!” (9) The Adversary answered the LORD, “Does Job not have good reason to fear God? (10) Why, it is You who have fenced him round, him and his household and all that he has. You have blessed his efforts so that his possessions spread out in the land. (11) But lay Your hand upon all that he has and he will surely blaspheme You to Your face.” (12) The LORD replied to the Adversary, “See, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on him.” The Adversary departed from the presence of the LORD.

(1) He further showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the LORD, and the Accuser standing at his right to accuse him. (2) But [the angel of] the LORD said to the Accuser, “The LORD rebuke you, O Accuser; may the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! For this is a brand plucked from the fire.”

(1) Satan arose against Israel and incited David to number Israel. (2) David said to Joab and to the commanders of the army, “Go and count Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan and bring me information as to their number.” (3) Joab answered, “May the LORD increase His people a hundredfold; my lord king, are they not all subjects of my lord? Why should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?” (4) However, the king’s command to Joab remained firm, so Joab set out and traversed all Israel; he then came to Jerusalem.

(12) How are you fallen from heaven, O Shining One, son of Dawn! How are you felled to earth, O vanquisher of nations! (13) Once you thought in your heart, “I will climb to the sky; higher than the stars of God I will set my throne. I will sit in the mount of assembly, on the summit of Zaphon: (14) I will mount the back of a cloud— I will match the Most High.”

(1) Lucifer, the morning star This is Venus, which gives light as the morning star, הֵילֵל being derived from יהל, to shed light. This is the lamentation over the heavenly prince of Babylon, who will fall from heaven. (2) You have been cut down to earth You, Nebuchadnezzar, who would cast lots on nations. You would cast lots on them, on the kings, who of them would serve you on such and such a day, and who on such and such a day. Our Rabbis, however, expounded this to mean that he would cast lots on the kings [for purposes of homosexual acts].

(1) הילל Very probably Lucifer, as בן שחר morning star proves. It is seen on certain days a little before dawn, and of all the host of heaven there is no star that shines with such brilliancy as this; its name is therefore הילל (lit., splendour); comp. יחלו They shall cause to shine (13:11).

The Sages taught, for three reasons one may not enter a ruin: Because of suspicion of prostitution, because the ruin is liable to collapse, and because of demons. Three separate reasons seem extraneous, so the Gemara asks: Why was the reason because of suspicion necessary? Let this halakha be derived because of collapse. The Gemara answers: This halakha applies even in the case of a new, sturdy ruin, where there is no danger of collapse. Therefore, the reason because of suspicion is cited in order to warn one not to enter a new ruin as well. ... The Gemara continues to object: And let this halakha be derived because of demons? The Gemara answers: Demons are only a threat to individuals, so because of demons would not apply to a case where two people enter a ruin together.

And Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Anyone who recites Shema upon his bed, demons stay away from him. This is alluded to, as it is stated: “But man is born into trouble, and the sparks [reshef ] fly [uf ] upward” (Job 5:7). The verse is explained: The word fly [uf ] means nothing other than Torah, as Torah is difficult to grasp and easy to lose, like something that floats away, as it is stated: “Will you set your eyes upon it? It is gone; for riches certainly make themselves wings, like an eagle that flies into the heavens” (Proverbs 23:5). The word “sparks” means nothing other than demons, as it is stated: “Wasting of hunger, and the devouring of the sparks [reshef] and bitter destruction [ketev meriri], and the teeth of beasts I will send upon them, with the venom of crawling things of the dust” (Deuteronomy 32:24). Here we see reshef listed along with ketev meriri, both of which are understood by the Sages to be names of demons.

In another baraita it was taught that Abba Binyamin says: If the eye was given permission to see, no creature would be able to withstand the abundance and ubiquity of the demons and continue to live unaffected by them. Similarly, Abaye said: They are more numerous than we are and they stand over us like mounds of earth surrounding a pit. Rav Huna said: Each and every one of us has a thousand demons to his left and ten thousand to his right. God protects man from these demons, as it says in the verse: “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; they will not approach you” (Psalms 91:7). Summarizing the effects of the demons, Rava said:
The crowding at the kalla, the gatherings for Torah study during Elul and Adar, is from the demons;
those knees that are fatigued even though one did not exert himself is from the demons;
those clothes of the Sages that wear out, despite the fact that they do not engage in physical labor, is from friction with the demons;
those feet that are in pain is from the demons. One who seeks to know that the demons exist should place fine ashes around his bed, and in the morning the demons’ footprints appear like chickens’ footprints, in the ash. One who seeks to see them should take the afterbirth of a firstborn female black cat, born to a firstborn female black cat, burn it in the fire, grind it and place it in his eyes, and he will see them. He must then place the ashes in an iron tube sealed with an iron seal [gushpanka] lest the demons steal it from him, and then seal the opening so he will not be harmed. Rav Beivai bar Abaye performed this procedure, saw the demons, and was harmed. The Sages prayed for mercy on his behalf and he was healed.

Rabbi Tanḥum bar Ḥanilai said: Anyone who is modest in the bathroom will be saved from three things: From snakes, from scorpions and from demons. And some say that even his dreams will be settling for him. The Gemara relates: There was a particular bathroom in the city of Tiberias, where, when two would enter it, even during the day, they would be harmed by demons. When Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi would each enter alone, they were not harmed. The Sages said to them: Aren’t you afraid? Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi said to them: We have learned through tradition: The tradition to avoid danger in the bathroom is to conduct oneself with modesty and silence. The tradition to end suffering is with silence and prayer. Because fear of demons in bathrooms was pervasive, the Gemara relates: Abaye’s mother raised a lamb to accompany him to the bathroom. The Gemara objects: She should have raised a goat for him. The Gemara responds: A goat could be interchanged with a goat-demon. Since both the demon and the goat are called sa’ir, they were afraid to bring a goat to a place frequented by demons. Before Rava became the head of the yeshiva, his wife, the daughter of Rav Ḥisda, would rattle a nut in a copper vessel for him. This was in order to fend off demons when he was in the bathroom. After he was chosen to preside as head of the yeshiva, he required an additional degree of protection, so she constructed a window for him, opposite where he would defecate, and placed her hand upon his head.

Apropos witnesses joining to constitute a set of witnesses, Rava says: Even if the witness in either window is unable to see the witness in the other window, if the witness in each window sees the one who is forewarning the accused, or if the one who is forewarning the accused could see the two disjointed witnesses, they join to constitute a set of witnesses. Rava says: The one forewarning the accused of whom the Sages spoke need not be a third witness, but even if the victim forewarns the murderer from his own mouth, and even if the forewarning emerged from the mouth of a demon, the forewarning is legitimate.

Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: All those years during which Adam was ostracized for the sin involving the Tree of Knowledge, he bore spirits, demons, and female demons, as it is stated: “And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth” (Genesis 5:3). By inference, until now, the age of one hundred thirty, he did not bear after his image, but rather bore other creatures. The Gemara raises an objection from a baraita: Rabbi Meir would say: Adam the first man was very pious. When he saw that death was imposed as a punishment because of him, he observed a fast for a hundred thirty years, and he separated from his wife for a hundred thirty years, and wore belts [zarzei] of fig leaves on his body as his only garment for a hundred thirty years. If so, how did he father demons into the world? The Gemara answers: When Rabbi Yirmeya made his statement, he meant that those destructive creatures were formed from the semen that Adam accidentally emitted, which brought the destructive creatures into being.

(2) When the Kelipah saw Eve clinging to the side of Adam, who represented the beauty of above, and saw in them the complete form, it flew up from its place at the level of Malchut and wanted to cling to the small faces of Adam and Eve as before. However, the guards at the gates did not allow the Kelipah to cling to them. The Holy One, blessed be He, scolded it and cast it into the depths of the sea. The Kelipah sat there in the depth of the sea

(3) until Adam and his wife sinned. Then the Holy One, blessed be He, took the Kelipah out from the depths of the sea. It took control over all those babies, who are the small faces of people, who deserve punishment for the sins of their fathers. It wandered around the world, approached the gates of the terrestrial Garden of Eden, saw the Cherubs guarding the gates of the garden and sat down near the bright blade of the sword from which it had originally emerged.

(4) When the bright blade of the revolving sword changed to Judgment, the Kelipah fled and wandered around the world and found babies due to be punished. It is called the bright blade of a revolving sword, because it revolves and changes back and forth between Mercy and Judgment. The Kelipah laughed with the babies and then killed them. It did this during the waning of the moon, as its light diminished. This is why Me'orot (luminaries) is spelled without the letter Vav, which means curses. When Cain was born, the Kelipah was unable to cling to him, but later it approached him, cleaved to him and bore from him spirits and flying spirits.

(5) Adam had intercourse with female spirits for 130 years until Na'amah came. Because of her beauty, she led the sons of Elohim, Aza and Azael astray. She bore them all sorts of new kinds of Kelipah. Evil spirits and demons spread out from her into the world. They wander around the world during the night, deriding human beings and causing nocturnal pollution. Wherever they find men sleeping alone in their own homes, they hover over them and cling to them, arousing lustful desires and having offspring by them.

When God created the first man Adam alone, God said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” [So] God created a woman for him, from the earth like him, and called her Lilith. They [Adam and Lilith] promptly began to argue with each other: She said, “I will not lie below,” and he said, “I will not lie below, but above, since you are fit for being below and I for being above.” She said to him, “The two of us are equal, since we are both from the earth.” And they would not listen to each other. Since Lilith saw [how it was], she uttered God's ineffable name and flew away into the air. Adam stood in prayer before his Maker and said, “Master of the Universe, the woman you gave me fled from me!”

The Holy Blessed one immediately dispatched the three angels Sanoy, Sansenoy, and Samangelof after her, to bring her back. God said, “If she wants to return, well and good. And if not, she must accept that a hundred of her children will die every day.” The angels pursued her and overtook her in the sea, in raging waters, (the same waters in which the Egyptians would one day drown), and told her God's orders. And yet she did not want to return. They told her they would drown her in the sea, and she replied. “Leave me alone! I was only created in order to sicken babies: if they are boys, from birth to day eight I will have power over them; if they are girls, from birth to day twenty.” When they heard her reply, they pleaded with her to come back. She swore to them in the name of the living God that whenever she would see them or their names or their images on an amulet, she would not overpower that baby, and she accepted that a hundred of her children would die every day. Therefore, a hundred of the demons die every day, and therefore, we write the names [of the three angels] on amulets of young children. When Lilith sees them, she remembers her oath and the child is [protected and] healed.

(7) The gentiles asked the Jewish Sages who were in Rome: If it is not God’s will that people should engage in idol worship, why does He not eliminate it? The Sages said to them: Were people worshipping only objects for which the world has no need, He would eliminate it. But they worship the sun and the moon and the stars and the constellations. Should He destroy His world because of the fools? The gentiles said to the Sages: If so, let Him destroy those objects of idol worship for which the world has no need and leave those objects for which the world has a need. The Sages said to them: If that were to happen, we would thereby be supporting the worshippers of those objects for which the world has need, as they would say: You should know that these are truly gods, as they were not eliminated from the world, whereas the others were eliminated.

They asked of [Jewish] sages in Rome, etc. - Amongst that which you should know is that the perfected philosophers do not
believe in tzelamim, by which I mean talismanery, but scoff at them and at those
who think that they possess efficacy and I will extend on this to say this because I know that most people are seduced by this with great folly, and with similar things, and think that they are real — which is not so, even though the best of the pious in our religion think that they are true, just being forbidden by the Torah, and they do not understand that those things are completely empty lies. We are commanded in the Torah not to do them just as we are commanded against lying. And these are things that have received great publicity amongst the pagans, especially amongst the nation which is called the Sabians, this is a nation that came from Abraham our father, peace be upon him, from his sons, and they follow [those sons'] errors and rotten thinking ... and they promoted and gave honor to the stars, connecting to them deeds that have no connection to them; wrote works dealings with the stars, and witchcraft, and adjurations, and spiritual astrology, and things about stars , and demons, and old tales, and magic, and soothsaying, and asking the dead, and many other such issues. which the true Torah fights and cuts off, being the essence of idolatry and its branches.