Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

Jewish folklore has always tantalized the imagination of young Jewish children for ages. One of the most memorable books I remember reading was Nathan Ausbell’s brilliant, “Treasury of Jewish Folklore,” which I loved reading when I was about eleven years old. The stories of the Golem, and other tales of the Jewish supernatural were almost as good as reading comic-books!

One story that is among the most famous stories concerns a 1^st century rabbi, named Simeon ben Shetach, who single-handedly killed eighty witches in the town of Ashkelon.

Here is the story:

• After R. Simeon ben Shetah was designated head of the Sanhedrin, some people came and told him, “There are eighty witches in a cave in Ashkelon, bent on destroying the world.” On that day there was a heavy rainstorm. Still R. Simeon ben Shetah arose at once, gathered eighty young men of tall stature, and took them with him. He gave each one a new jug with a cloak folded up in it, and they placed the jugs upside down on their heads. Then R. Simeon said to them, “When I chirp the first time, put on your cloaks. When I chirp a second time, all of you enter the cave together. After you enter, each of you is to take one of the witches into his arms and lift her off the ground.” For such is the way of a witch-once you lift her off the ground, she can do nothing at all. Then R. Simeon went and stationed himself at the entrance to the cave and called to the witches, “Oyim, oyim, open for me, for I am one of you.” They asked, “How did you manage to come here bone-dry at such a rainy hour?” He replied, “I walked between the raindrops.” They: “What did you come to do here?” He: “To study and to teach, and to have each of you do what she knows.” So one intoned whatever [incantation] she intoned and produced a loaf of bread; another intoned something else and produced a cut of meat; a third produced a cooked dish; and a fourth produced wine. Then they asked him, “And you, what can you do?” He said, “I can chirp twice and produce for you eighty young men wearing dry cloaks. They will find joy in you and give joy to you.” He chirped once, and the young men put on their cloaks. He chirped a second time, and all of them entered the cave together. R. Simeon said, “Let each select his mate.” They picked them up, went out, and hanged them.

• The kinsmen of the eighty women were thereby provoked to anger. Two of them came and bore witness to a charge against R. Simeon ben Shetah’s son, which made him liable to the death penalty, and he was sentenced to be put to death. On his way to be stoned, he said, “If I am guilty of this iniquity, let not my death be my expiation; but if I am not guilty, may my death be expiation for all my iniquitous deeds and may the collar [of perjury] encircle the necks of the witnesses.”When the witnesses heard what he had said, they retracted and confessed, “We are false witnesses.” The father wished to bring his son back [from the place where he was to be stoned]. But the son said, “If you really wish to bring deliverance during your regime, regard me as though I were not your son [and let the Sanhedrin decide my fate]. [From William G. Braude's trans. of N. Bialik's Sefer Aggadah s.v. witches.]

The story is interesting, largely because R. Simeon ben Shetach ignored what is commonly referred today as, “due process.” In the early posting that I cited concerning Simeon’s observation of a murder crime, which he did not actually see, the alleged assailant was ultimately killed by a poisonous serpent. Although there was no actual due process, the assailant met his fate by the hand of God.

Simeon ben Shetach’s behavior is surprising. Why did he take it upon himself to rid the inhabitants of their alleged witches? Why did he violate the rabbinic law that no court is allowed to execute more than two people a day? From the sound of the Talmudic narrative, it seems that Simeon acted as judge, witness, jury, and executioner—all in one. How could he flagrantly violate the due process law of Jewish tradition?

I came across a fascinating study by Meir Bar-Ilan, who writes extensively about the nature of witchcraft in the ancient Judaic world. Many of his observations may offer (with some tweaking on my part), a possible answer to our questions. According to Prof. Meir Bar-Ilan [1], women in the Talmudic era were not the only ones who engaged in witchcraft, indeed, many men—especially rabbis—frequently participated in witchcraft, yet nobody thought to hold them accountable.[2] He explains the reason why they were singled out for oppression and not the menfolk!

• Linking women to witchcraft can serve as a lesson in suppressing a lower social class, but also in how the stronger class can strengthen its political status. One should also note another aspect of the sexual division in the issue at hand. In reality, all the sources which deplore women for their witchcraft are “male” sources. All the books quoted above were written, to the best of our knowledge, by men, and R. Yose and R. Simeon bar Yohai, who deplored women because of witchcraft, were also men. Indeed, one should note that the same R. Simeon bar Yohai who deplored women for their witchcraft was himself involved in witchcraft. After all, we are told that he removed a spirit which had entered into the body of the emperor’s daughter (Me’ilah 17b), i.e., he was engaged in exorcism. It was R. Simeon bar Yohai who looked at his opponent and turned him into a heap of bones (JT Shevi’it 9:1, 38d), or, in other words, by the use of the “Evil Eye”. So too are other miraculous deeds attributed to him.[3]

He further argues that in a male dominated culture like that of the Pharisees and their rabbinic successors, women did not enjoy equal political power like the men (he neglects to mention that Queen Alexandra Salome was the exception to the rule). As one might expect, men often blamed women for all the ills of their society—hence, executing witches was seen as something good for the social order—even though the rabbis violated rabbinical and Scriptural laws to do so. Bar-Ilan further points out that some of the Sages were of the opinion that most Jewish women participated in witchcraft! Because of their powerlessness in a male-dominated society, women sometimes resorted to witchcraft as a way of empowering themselves in an oppressive world.

There may be yet another factor to consider. According to the JT in Sanhedrin, it appears as though the leaders of Jerusalem were somewhat divided upon who should be the head of the Sanhedrin. There may have been a political motivation that would secure his position as the leader of the Sanhedrin instead of R. Yehuda ben Tabbai, who appears to have been a possible competitor.[4] R. Simeon ben Shetach’s political promises probably appealed to the arch-conservatives of his time who simply hated women. Bar-Ilan is correct in also pointing out that misogyny was very rampant in much of the early rabbinical world, and a number of rabbis had no qualms speaking disparaging comments about the nature of women in general.[5]

The death of R. Simeon ben Shetach’s son may be more the result of tallionic justice than a mere happenstance. In the rabbinical imagination, there is a principle of divine justice that always operates in the world—whether people are aware of it or not. The false charges levied upon R. Simeon ben Shetach’s son, his subsequent execution indicates that here is an example of a son suffering because of the sins of the father. Because of Simeon’s disregard for due process, and his failure to interrogate witnesses properly—he paid a tragic price. Heaven decreed against him, because his actions violated the ethics of the Torah regarding capital punishment.

This personal tragedy may also explain the sobering advice attributed to R. Simeon ben Shetach in Pirke Avoth, “Do much in examining the witnesses; and be careful in thy words; perchance by means of them they may learn to lie.”[6] This teaching would suggest that there is always a punishment from God whenever people try to manipulate the legal system to arrive at a foregone conclusion. Indeed, who would know better than R. Simeon ben Shetach?