Pairs, Planks, and Potions: Three Talmudic Tales of Witchcraft (Pesachim 110b and Sanhedrin 67b)
Story of a woman using witchcraft to kill her ex-husband; Magical donkeys
See also my previous piece on the story in the Talmud Yerushalmi of Shimon ben Shetah and the 80 witches of Ashkelon.
Story of a woman using witchcraft to kill her ex-husband (Pesachim 110b)
The Talmud tells a story of a man who divorced his wife, who then married a wine shopkeeper (חנואה). The first husband frequented the shop to drink wine. His ex-wife attempted to harm him through witchcraft, but these efforts failed, as he was cautious about “pairs”.1
One day, he drank excessively, losing track of pairs after 16 cups. In his drunken state, he unwittingly left the shop after consuming an even number of cups, making him vulnerable. An Arab (טייעא) noticed his bewitched state and commented on it, saying “a dead man walks here”. The man hugged a palm tree for support, which dried out due to the witchcraft, and he exploded (פקע).
ההוא גברא דגרשה לדביתהו.
(אזיל) אינסבה לחנואה.
כל יומא הוה אזיל ושתי חמרא.
הוה קא עבדא ליה כשפים,
ולא קא מהניא לה ביה,
משום דהוה מזדהר בנפשיה בזוגא.
יומא חד אשתי טובא, ולא הוה ידע כמה שתי.
עד שיתסר הוה צייל, ואיזדהר בנפשיה,
מכאן ואילך לא הוה צייל, ולא איזדהר בנפשיה,
אפיקתיה בזוגא.
כי הוה אזיל, גס ביה ההוא טייעא,
אמר ליה: גברא קטילא הוא דאזיל הכא.
אזיל חבקיה לדיקלא,
צווח דיקלא, ופקע הוא.
a certain man divorced his wife.
She went and married a shopkeeper who sold wine in his store.
Every day, the first husband would go and drink wine in that shop.
His ex-wife would perform witchcraft upon him,
and it would not be effective for her in her attempts to harm him
because he was careful with regard to pairs.
One day he drank a lot, and he did not know how much he drank.
Until he drank sixteen cups, he was lucid and was careful with regard to himself, to keep track of how many cups he had drunk.
From here onward he was not lucid and was not careful to watch himself,
and she caused him to leave after having consumed a pair, i.e., an even number of cups.
As he walked, a certain Arab met him and, noticing that he was bewitched,
said to him: It is a dead man who walks here.
He went and hugged a palm tree for support;
the palm tree dried out due to the witchcraft, and he burst.
Magical donkeys (Sanhedrin 67b)
Ze’eiri and the magical donkey
The Talmud recounts a story about Ze’eiri visiting Alexandria in Egypt,2 where he purchased a donkey. When he tried to give the donkey water, it touched the water and reverted to its true form, a plank from a bridge, as the magic spell was broken.
The sellers told him that they would not have refunded Ze’eiri if he were not a distinguished person. They rhetorically posit that in Alexandria, due to the prevalence of sorcery, buyers must examine their purchases to ensure they were not enchanted. If someone failed to do so and discovered the item was under a spell, it was their own fault for being negligent, and they had to bear the loss.
זעירי איקלע לאלכסנדריא של מצרים
זבן חמרא
כי מטא לאשקוייה מיא, פשר, וקם גמלא דוסקניתא
אמרו ליה: אי לאו זעירי את, לא הוה מהדרינן לך
מי איכא דזבין מידי הכא, ולא בדיק ליה אמיא?!
The Gemara relates: Ze’eiri happened to come to Alexandria of Egypt.
He bought a donkey.
When he was about to give it water to drink the magic thawed when the donkey touched the water and it was revealed that it was not a donkey, and it turned into the plank of a bridge.
The ones who sold it to him said to him: If you were not Ze’eiri, a distinguished person, we would not refund you the money for the donkey.
Is there anyone who buys an item here and does not examine it first with water?!
Yannai and the magical donkey
The Talmud tells of a man named Yannai who arrived at an inn3 and asked for water. The innkeepers gave him flour mixed with water (שתיתא). Noticing the innkeeper woman's lips moving, he suspected sorcery and poured some of the drink on the ground, revealing it to be infested with scorpions.
Realizing the sorcery, Yannai “returned the favor" by playing the same magic on the woman, with an enchanted drink, turning her into a donkey, and rode her to the marketplace. The woman's friend later released her from the spell, leading a farcical situation: everyone in the marketplace seeing Yannai riding on a woman.
ינאי איקלע לההוא אושפיזא
אמר להו: אשקין מיא
קריבו שתיתא, חזא דקא מרחשן שפוותה
שדא פורתא מיניה, הוו עקרבי
אמר להו: אנא שתאי מדידכו, אתון נמי שתו מדידי
אשקייה, הואי חמרא
רכבה, סליק לשוקא
אתא חברתה, פשרה לה
חזייה דרכיב וקאי אאיתתא בשוקא
The Gemara relates: A man named Yannai arrived at a certain inn.
He said to the innkeepers: Give me water to drink.
They brought him flour mixed with water. He saw that the lips of the innkeeper woman were moving,
and he cast a bit of the drink to the ground, and it turned into scorpions, and he understood that the innkeepers performed sorcery on the drink.
Yannai said to them: I drank from yours; you too drink from mine, and he also performed sorcery on the drink.
He gave it to her to drink and she turned into a donkey.
He rode upon her and went to the marketplace.
Her friend came and released her from the sorcery,
and people saw him riding on a woman in the marketplace.
זוגא - from Greek “zeugos” - meaning in this case, drinking an even number of cups of wine; see in that sugya in Tractate Pesachim at length on the presumed danger in this. (I plan on discussing this in a future piece.)
אלכסנדריא של מצרים - on Alexandria in the Talmud, see my previous piece.
אושפיזא - probably from Lating “hospice”.