[Avodah] The Talmud's Many Demons

[Akiva Miller]

R' Zev Sero wrote:

> I did not mean this as a metaphor.  I take it for granted that
> shedim do exist. ... I simply don't see a greater problem with
> believing in sheidim than in yetis. (The cat-ash recipe, OTOH,
> needs to be explained away somehow, because I can't believe
> that it actually works.)

This is exactly the point I was trying to make. But the cat-ash recipe bothers me quite a bit, and I'm not satisfied with saying that it "needs to be explained away somehow". I am stuck between these two ideas:

A) As RZS and others wrote, "sheidim" could be just another way of talking about germs, radios, and psychological phenomena. We can leave it at that, and wonder about the cat-ash recipe another day.

B) Or, perhaps the cat-ash recipe -- or more specifically, its ability to make these sheidim large and visible -- demonstrates a fundamental error in understanding the entire subject. The connection between sheidim and germs doesn't merely need to be fine-tuned, but it needs to be thrown out altogether.

R' Joel Rich cited Theodoric of York:

> "You know, medicine is not an exact science, but we are learning
> all the time. Why, just fifty years ago, they thought a disease
> like your daughter's was caused by demonic possession or
> witchcraft. But nowadays we know that Isabelle is suffering
> from an imbalance of bodily humors, perhaps caused by a toad
> or a small dwarf living in her stomach."

The problem with this response is that it addresses only conjecture and developing theories. It cannot stand up to visual testimony. Indeed, we ARE learning all the time, and explanations of what causes an illness will constantly change. But when a reliable source says, "Do such-and-such, and you WILL see the sheid," I must either believe it, or conclude that he was hallucinating.

Akiva Miller

____________________________________________________________
Woman is 53 But Looks 25
Mom reveals 1 simple wrinkle trick that has angered doctors...
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3131/502c505af2a78505a5815st04vuc