Pt1 Demon-Infested Shadows: Sorb Trees, Amulets, and Exorcism (Pesachim 111b)
This is the first installment of a two-part series. Outline is below. On other parts of this sugya, see my other pieces, focusing on the danger of “pairs” (זוגות; i.e. actions performed in even pairs, as opposed to odd).
Outline
Rule: Trees with Many Branches Have Harmful Shadows, Except the Demon-Destroying “Kero Masa”
Identifying Specific Type of Demons by Tree and Location for Effective Amulet Protection
Anecdote: Scholar Flees Blind Demon Near Caper-Bush, Leading to Screaming Palm and Burst Demon
Sorb Trees Near Cities Host Sixty Demons, Key Detail for Crafting Protective Amulets
Story: A Town Officer Saved from Sorb Tree Demons by Rabbi’s Correct Amulet After Initial Rabbi’s Failure
Morning and Afternoon Demons: “Ketev Meriri” vs. “Ketev Yashud Tzaharayim”
Story: Abaye Protects Rav Huna from Demon, Trusts Rav Pappa's Good Luck for Safety
Demons in the Shadows: Tammuz Timing and Places of Hidden Danger
The Passage
Rule: Trees with Many Branches Have Harmful Shadows, Except the Demon-Destroying “Kero Masa”
The Talmud provides a rule (כללא דמילתא): trees with many branches or thorns (סילויה) have harmful shadows,1 except for the "kero masa"2 tree, which even though it has thorns, is dangerous to demons rather than humans.
A female demon (שידא) warned her son to avoid this tree,3 as it had killed her husband. It ultimately killed the son as well.
Rav Ashi observed that Rav Kahana avoided all types of shadows.
כללא דמילתא:
כל דנפיש ענפיה — קשי טוליה,
וכל דקשי סילויה — קשי טוליה,
לבר מכרו משא, אף על גב דקשי סילויה — לא קשי טוליה,
דאמרה לה שידא לברה: פירחי נפשיך מכרו משא,
דאיהו הוא דקטיל לאבוך,
וקטיל לדידיה.
אמר רב אשי: חזינא לרב כהנא דפריש מכולהו טולי.
The general rule of the matter is:
Whatever has many branches, its shadow is dangerous.
And any tree whose wood is hard, its shadow is dangerous,
except for the tree called kero masa. Although its wood is hard, its shadow is not dangerous,
as the demon said to her son: Leave the kero masa tree alone,
as it was that tree that killed your father.
And the tree later killed the son too. The kero masa tree is harmful to demons.
Rav Ashi said: I saw that Rav Kahana avoided all types of shadows.
Identifying Specific Type of Demons by Tree and Location for Effective Amulet Protection
The Talmud discusses different types of demons associated with specific locations:
Near the caper-bush (פרחי):4 Spirits (רוחי)
Near sorb trees (זרדתא): Demon (שידא - this is the standard talmudic word for “demon”)
On roofs (איגרי): Fire demons (רישפי)5
The practical importance of these distinctions lies in writing an amulet (קמיעא) for those harmed by demons, as it is essential to know the specific demon causing the harm.
בי פרחי — רוחי.
דבי זרדתא — שידא.
דבי איגרי — רישפי.
למאי נפקא מינה?
לקמיעא.
The Gemara comments:
The demons near the caper-bush are called ruḥei.
A demon found near the sorb trees is called shida.
The demons found on roofs are called rishfei.
The Gemara asks: What is the practical difference of these definitions?
It makes a difference for writing an amulet on behalf of one who has been harmed. It is necessary to know the name of the demon who caused the damage.
Anecdote: Scholar Flees Blind Demon Near Caper-Bush, Leading to Screaming Palm and Burst Demon
The demon near the caper-bush has no eyes, with the practical relevance being how one should flee6 from it.
The Talmud recounts an incident where a Torah scholar (צורבא מרבנן), while defecating (אפנויי) near a caper-bush, fled after hearing a demon approaching.7 The demon hugged (חבקיה) a palm tree, the palm tree screamed (צווח), and the demon burst.8
דבי פרחי — בריה שאין לה עינים.
למאי נפקא מינה?
לגזוזי לה.
זימנא חדא, הוה אזיל צורבא מרבנן לאפנויי לבי פרחי,
שמע דקא אתא עילויה, וגזי לה.
כי אזלא, חבקיה לדיקלא
צווח דיקלא, ופקעה היא.
The demon found near the caper-bush is a creature with no eyes.
What is the practical halakhic difference of this observation?
It is relevant with regard to fleeing from it.
The Gemara relates: Once a Torah scholar went to relieve himself near a caper-bush.
He heard the demon coming and fled from it.
When this evil spirit went, it grabbed a palm tree and got stuck there.
The palm tree dried out and the demon burst.
Sorb Trees Near Cities Host Sixty Demons, Key Detail for Crafting Protective Amulets
Sorb trees near a city are inhabited by no fewer than sixty demons.
This detail is practically significant for crafting an amulet that must account for the exact number of demons (as explained in the next section).
פרחא דבי זרדתא — שידי.
הא זרדתא דסמיכה למתא — לא פחתא משיתין שידי.
למאי נפקא מינה?
למיכתב לה קמיעא.
It was stated above that the demons found near the sorb tree are called sheidei.
The Gemara comments: This sorb tree that is close to the city contains no less than sixty demons.
The Gemara asks: What is the practical difference of this statement?
The Gemara answers: It is relevant for writing an amulet for this number.
Story: A Town Officer Saved from Sorb Tree Demons by Rabbi’s Correct Amulet After Initial Rabbi’s Failure
The Talmud tells of a city officer (בר קשא) who passed a sorb tree (זרדתא), and sixty demons entered him (עלו ביה). One of the rabbis (ההוא מרבנן) wrote the ruler an amulet (presumably to exorcise the demons) effective for one demon.
The demons were overheard mocking9 the rabbi, singing (משרו) that while he appeared scholarly, he couldn't even say the appropriate blessing10 when donning a scarf,11 mocking his inability to write a proper amulet.
Another, more knowledgeable rabbi came and wrote an amulet to exorcise all sixty demons. The demons, realizing they were now powerless, instructed each other to clear their belongings (מנייכו) and leave.
ההוא בר קשא דמתא,
דאזיל וקאי גבי זרדתא,
דהוה סמיך למתא,
עלו ביה שיתין שידי, ואיסתכן.
אתא לההוא מרבנן, דלא ידע דזרדתא דשיתין שידי היא,
כתב לה קמיע לחדא שידא.
שמע דתלו חינגא בגוויה,
וקא משרו הכי:
סודריה דמר כי צורבא מרבנן,
בדיקנא ביה במר דלא ידע ״ברוך״.
אתא ההוא מרבנן דידע דזרדתא שיתין שידי הוה,
כתב לה קמיעא דשיתין שידי,
שמע דקא אמרו: פנו מנייכו מהכא.
The Gemara relates: A certain ruler of a city
walked and stood by a sorb tree
that was near a city.
Sixty sheidei demons came upon him and he was in danger.
One of the Sages who did not know that it was a sorb tree of sixty sheidei came
and wrote him an amulet for one shida demon.
That man heard that there was a celebration inside the tree,
and the demons were singing:
The scarf of the Master is like that of a Torah scholar,
but we checked the Master and he does not know how to say barukh, the blessing when donning a scarf. The demons were mocking him and saying that he did not know how to write an amulet.
Another one of the Sages, who knew that it was a sorb tree of sixty sheidei, came
and wrote an amulet against sixty demons.
He heard them saying: Clear your items away from here.
On the danger of shadows, see a number of statements previously in that sugya.
כרו משא; Jastrow:
“כְּרוּמְשָׁא [...] service-tree. Pes[achim] 111b כרו משא ed. (Ms. M. כרכמושא, emend. כררמ׳); v. Löw Pfl[anzen] p. 287.
See Wikipedia, service-tree, that this is also know as sorb tree. The sorb tree is also mentioned a number of times throughout the sugya using the word זרדתא, which Jastrow glosses as follows:
bushes of sorb, or service-tree, growing in unhealthy marshes ([see] Löw, Pfl[antzen] p[age] 289)
פירחי נפשיך - literally: “fly yourself”.
This plant is mentioned earlier in the sugya as well.
See Deuteronomy.32.24:
מזי רעב,
ולחמי רשף,
וקטב מרירי
[…]
Wasting famine,
ravaging plague (רשף);
Deadly pestilence (קטב מרירי),
[…]
This verse is also referenced later in regards to ketev meriri (see next installment of this piece), where it’s considered to be the name of a demon, as it is here.
And compare Resheph - Wikipedia.
גזוזי; Steinsaltz translates as “flee”, but the typical meaning of this verb is “cut, trim, shear”, see Jastrow.
As defecation as a time of danger, see the talmudic sugya discussed in my series, second part here.
פקעה - for another talmudic passage with this same conclusion, see my piece on the story of the ex-wife (which I cited in the beginning of this piece), from earlier in this same sugya, where it ends:
אזיל חבקיה לדיקלא,
צווח דיקלא, ופקע הוא.
He went and hugged a palm tree for support;
the palm tree dried out due to the witchcraft, and he burst.
Due to the typical talmudic use of pronouns, it’s unclear in both stories who “hugged the palm tree”, the man or the demon.
Also Steinsaltz in both places translates צווח as “dried out”; the typical meaning of this word is “cry, shout, yell, scream”, see Jastrow and Hebrew Wiktionary.
For other talmudic stories of supernatural bursting, see my other piece here.
תלו חינגא בגוויה - literally: “hanging a dance circle in him”, presumably an idiom for celebration.
ברוך - the incipet of all talmudic blessings.
סודריה - from Greek sudarion.