[Avodah] Removing Ayin Horah Remotely from Yerusholayim

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Jul 31, 2019 at 10:32:11PM +0300, Marty Bluke via Avodah wrote:
: https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/promotions/1767439/removing-ayin-horah-remotely-from-yerusholayim-3.html
: 
: What have we come to? Is this what we believe in, magic and superstition?
: Is this really al pi torah?

It seems that molybdomancy (from the Greek molybdos, meaning: lead)
has clear and well established precedent before its earliest document
use among Jews.

It traveled from Ancient Greece to Germany (as well as other Dutch
countries) and also took root in Tukey. You can by Bliegiessen kits in
Germany today. (Although generally they use tin, not lead, after the
gov't clamped down on a practice that too ofen led to lead poisoning.)
The word isn't even uniquely Yiddish.

R Chaim Kanievsky reports (Segulos Rabbosseinu 338-336, source provided
by R Shelomo Avineir) that there is no mention in the mishnah, gemara,
rishonim, SA or Acharonim, "ein la'asos kein".

R Aharon Yuda Grossman (VeDarashta veChaqata shu"t #22
<http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=52054&pgnum=177>
permits on the grounds that there is no derekh Emori when something is
being done for refu'ah (Shabbos 67a). Also relying heavily on the
Rashba (teshuvah 113)

To close with a witticism that reache me via R Eli Neuberger to RYGB,
R Aharon Feldman (RY NIRC) responded, "Klal Yisroel has gone from being
the Am Segula to the Am Segulos."

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 It's never too late
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   to become the person
Author: Widen Your Tent      you might have been.
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF                    - George Eliot