Jewish Amulets

(2) A man may not go out with nail-studded sandals, nor with a single [sandal] unless he has a wound on [the other] foot. A [man may not go out] with Tefillin; nor with an amulet unless it [was written] by an expert; nor with a cuirass, nor with a helmet, nor with greaves. If one has gone out [with any of these] he is not liable for a Chattat.

"nor with an amulet unless it [was written] by an expert". Rab Pappa said: Do not say, 'until the man is an expert and the amulet is effective' rather since the man is an expert, even thought the amulet has not been proven effective [it may be worn]. This can be inferred through a close reading [of the Mishnah], the Mishnah taught 'nor with an amulet unless it [was written] by an expert' and it did not teach 'unless it not [proven] effective. We derive from this [that any amulet written by an expert may be worn]. Our Rabbis taught: which amulets are [considered] effective? All that have cured, and cured a second time and a third. Either a written amulet or bundle [of herbs - Rashi]. [It may be worn by] one who is dangerously ill or not dangerously ill; One who has fallen (i.e- epilepsy) rather so one does not fall. And he may tie it and untie it even in the public domain so long as he does not tie it

(3) [One is liable if he carries out] sufficient leather to make an amulet; sufficient parchment to write thereon the smallest section of Tefillin which is Shema Yisrael; or sufficient ink to write two letters; or sufficient paint to color one eye.

(1) A ball, a mold, an amulet or tefillin which were torn [after becoming impure]: one that touches them becomes impure, but one that touches what is inside them remains pure. A saddle which was torn: one that touches its contents becomes impure, because the stitching joins them.

(4) The simple practice is that we write on the *mezuza* on the outside, opposite the space between one paragraph and another, "*Shaddai*." And there is no loss from this, since it is on the outside. However, those who write on the inside the names of the angels, holy names, a verse, or signatures, these are among those who have no portion in the world to come. For these simpletons, it is not enough for them that they invalidated the commandment, but they treated a great commadment - the unifications of the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, with His love, and His service - as if it is an amulet for their own benefit, as it arose on their hearts the foolish idea that this is something that will provide benefit with respect to the vanities of the world.

(43) The Divine resolution to bestow a companion on Adam met the wishes of man, who had been overcome by a feeling of isolation when the animals came to him in pairs to be named. To banish his loneliness, Lilith was first given to Adam as wife. Like him she had been created out of the dust of the ground. But she remained with him only a short time, because she insisted upon enjoying full equality with her husband. She derived her rights from their identical origin. With the help of the Ineffable Name, which she pronounced, Lilith flew away from Adam, and vanished in the air. Adam complained before God that the wife He had given him had deserted him, and God sent forth three angels to capture her. They found her in the Red Sea, and they sought to make her go back with the threat that, unless she went, she would lose a hundred of her demon children daily by death. But Lilith preferred this punishment to living with Adam. She takes her revenge by injuring babes--baby boys during the first night of their life, while baby girls are exposed to her wicked designs until they are twenty. days old The only way to ward off the evil is to attach an amulet bearing the names of her three angel captors to the children, for such had been the agreement between them.

(2) ויתן לו את אסנת, “he (Pharaoh) gave him Ossnat (as a wife) If you were to ask why Joseph who was Royalty would marry the daughter of a commoner, remember that Joseph had previously been a slave in the household of Potiphar. He therefore reasoned that if he were to refuse to marry Ossnat, the daughter of his former master, the latter would spread the word that Joseph was really a slave and that he had no business to have risen to such an exalted position. On the other hand, if he would agree and marry this woman, his former master would honour him henceforth, being proud that through this marriage he himself now had connections to the highest social circles in Egypt. There is an additional reason why he agreed to marry this woman, as she was actually a descendant of Yaakov, as Rashi has explained on Genesis, portion Vayishlach, quoting Pirke de rabbi Eliezer, chapter 38, according to which she was the daughter of Dinah from her rape by Sh’chem. According to that chapter, the angel Michael had transported that infant to Egypt where she had been adopted by Potiphar. This is why the Torah calls her the daughter of Potiphar. We find that Moses similarly was adopted by the daughter of Pharaoh, and that in Chronicles I 4,18 Calev is reported as marrying (also) Bityah-the daughter of Pharaoh, who had at the time adopted Moses. When Joseph was paraded throughout Egypt (Genesis 49,23,) and according to the Torah, all the young ladies threw flowers or jewelry at him, when Ossnat, did not have anything to throw, she threw her amulet, which she had worn around her neck at all times, at him. When Joseph looked at the inscription on it, he realised that the girl wearing it was descended from Yaakov, and he went ahead and married her.