Jewish Magic And Superstition - A Study In Folk Religion Trachtenberg, Joshua Judaica,New Age/Metaphysical,Religion

Inscribed to Rabbi Nathaniel M. Keller by publisher upon front free endpaper. The most influential academic study on Jewish magical practices during the Middle Ages. "Offers a contribution to an understanding of folk Judaism, the beliefs and practices that expressed most eloquently the folk psyche - of all the vagaries which, coupled with the historic program of the Jewish faith, made up the everyday religion of the Jewish people. The material here presented is culled from the literature of Germanic Jewry - the Jewry of Germany, Northern France, England, Austria, and Poland, which constituted culturally and historically a single community - from the eleventh century through the sixteenth. The present work, I trust, will help to fill the gap in our understanding of the medieval Jew." - Foreword. Chapters include: The Legend of Jewish Sorcery; The Powers of Evil; Man and the Demons; The Spirits of the Dead; The Powers of Good; The Bible in Magic; Amulets; The War With the Spirits; Medicine; Diviniation; Dreams; Astrology; and more. "Carefully dissects and explores every facet of Jewish magic and superstition. Traces the non-Jewish incursions and explores the uniquely Jewish component. Allows one to see how Jewish magic and superstition is set apart from its Christian counterpart." - online review. "Joshua Trachtenberg (1904-1959) received his rabbinical ordination at Hebrew Union College in 1936 and went on to serve at multiple congregations. This is his most nobable work and was his Ph.D. dissertation at Columbia University." - Wikipedia. [vi]-xii, [2], 356 pages. Footnotes, bibliography, Hebrew glossary, index. Binding sound. Unmarked with somewhat above-average wear and soiling to original blue cloth decorated in red and gilt. No dust jacket, if one was issued. ; Sm 4to