Magic & mantras – Shof’tim
The Torah is strongly against sorcery and witchcraft. Some Biblical books report the resort to sorcery but this echoes pagan practices. However, Judaism believes in a religious way of life that is clear, logical and moral.
SM Lehrman writes that the only quasi-magical feature of Judaism is the way in which our faith continues to pulsate with dynamic life.
Some gentile scholars such as JG Fraser think that magic was the populist origin of religion: people feared the supernatural and invented gods to protect themselves. Judaism says on the contrary that the beginning of religion was Revelation.
God is not a wizard. He is all-wise, and His revealed will is our guide. Magicians don’t fit into Judaism.
