[Avodah] Rambam and magic

[Yitzhak Grossman]

On Mon, 24 Sep 2007 07:12:52 -0700 RAM wrote:

> R' Eli Turkel wrote:
> > ... Rambam outlaws "magic shows" as kishuf while others define 
> > kishuf as being "real black magic" as opposed to sleight of
> > hand. However, Rambam could not hold this shita since on
> > philosophical grounds he denies the existence of real magic ...
> 
> Can someone explain those "philosophical grounds" to me?
> 
> What did the Rambam say about the various gemaras that a person said the Shem Hemeforash and was able to fly in the air, or kill another person, or whatever. If one accepts the idea that white magic exists, isn't it inconsistent to deny black magic?

He certainly didn't accept the existence of white magic; he interpreted
the Talmudic sources non-literally.

> Akiva Miller

Yitzhak
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