Perilous Pairs: More on the Dangers of Pairs, Demons, and Witchcraft (Pesachim 110a-b)
See footnote for alternative titles.1 See also my previous piece on the danger of “pairs”, also from this same sugya.
Outline
Incident with Rava bar Livai after drinking “pairs”
Demons harm those who perform actions in pairs
Remedy for one who inadvertently goes outside after drinking an even number of cups of wine
An incantation against witches, from the chief witch
The danger of pairs in Eretz Yisrael; Rav Dimi from Neharde’a
“Consuming two eggs, two nuts, two cucumbers, and ‘another thing’ is dangerous in pairs”
Intro
The Passage
Incident with Rava bar Livai after drinking “pairs”
Rava allowed the Sages to leave after drinking four cups, despite an incident with Rava bar Livai (רבא בר ליואי), which he attributed to a different cause, not the even number of cups: Rava bar Livai was injured after drinking four cups and leaving, but Rava dismissed the notion that this was due to consuming an even number of cups.
Instead, he attributed the injury to Rava bar Livai challenging him during a public lecture, which Rava deemed inappropriate.
רבא אפקינהו לרבנן בארבעה כוסות,
אף על גב דאיתזק רבא בר ליואי,
לא חש לה למילתא,
דאמר: ההוא משום דאותבן בפירקא הוה.
Rava allowed the Sages to leave after having drunk four cups and was not concerned for their safety.
Although Rava bar Livai was injured on one such occasion,
Rava was not concerned that the matter had been caused by his consumption of an even number of cups,
as he said: That injury occurred because Rava bar Livai challenged me during the public lecture.
Demons harm those who perform actions in pairs
Rav Yosef relates a teaching from Yosef the Demon (יוסף שידא): Ashmedai, the king of demons (אשמדאי מלכא דשידי), oversees those who perform actions in pairs (זוגי), but doesn't cause harm himself, because a king does not engage in harmful behavior.
Others interpret this differently, suggesting that Ashmedai, as a king, can harm people performing actions in pairs, because he has the authority to do as he pleases.
אמר רב יוסף, אמר לי יוסף שידא:
אשמדאי מלכא דשידי — ממונה הוא אכולהו זוגי,
ומלכא לא איקרי מזיק.
איכא דאמרי לה להאי גיסא:
אדרבה, מלכא [רתחנא הוא], מאי דבעי עביד,
שהמלך פורץ גדר לעשות לו דרך, ואין מוחין בידו.
[...]
Rav Yosef said: Yosef the Demon said to me:
Ashmedai, the king of the demons, is appointed over all who perform actions in pairs,
and a king is not called a harmful spirit. A king would not cause harm. Consequently, there is no reason to fear the harm of demons for having performed an action in pairs.
Some say this statement in this manner:
On the contrary, he is an angry king who does what he wants,
as the halakha is that a king may breach the fence of an individual in order to form a path for himself, and none may protest his action. Similarly, the king of demons has full license to harm people who perform actions in pairs.
[...]
Remedy for one who inadvertently goes outside after drinking an even number of cups of wine
The Talmud discusses a remedy for one who inadvertently goes outside after drinking an even number of cups:
The individual should hold the thumb (זקפא) of their right hand in their left hand, and their left thumb in their right hand.
He should recite: "You (i.e. my thumbs), and I are 3 (i.e. which is not a pair)."
If he hears a voice saying: "You and I are 4 (i.e. which makes a pair)" they should respond: "You and I are 5."
If he hears the voice say: "You and I are 6," he should respond: "You and I are 7."
The Talmud recounts a story of someone who continued this process until he reached 101, causing the demon to burst (פקע).
ואי אישתלי ואיקרי ונפק, מאי תקנתיה?
לינקוט זקפא דידיה דימיניה בידא דשמאליה, וזקפא דשמאליה בידא דימיניה,
ונימא הכי: ״אתון ואנא — הא תלתא״.
ואי שמיע ליה דאמר: ״אתון ואנא — הא ארבעה״, נימא ליה: ״אתון ואנא — הא חמשה״.
ואי שמיע ליה דאמר: ״אתון ואנא — הא שיתא״, נימא ליה: ״אתון ואנא — הא שבעה״.
הוה עובדא עד מאה וחד, ופקע שידא.
The Gemara asks: And if one forgets and it happens that he goes outside after having drunk an even number of cups, what is his solution?
The Gemara answers: He should take his right thumb in his left hand, and his left thumb in his right hand,
and say as follows: You, my thumbs, and I are three, which is not a pair.
And if he hears a voice that says: You and I are four, which makes a pair, he should say to it: You and I are five.
And if he hears it say: You and I are six, he should say to it: You and I are seven.
The Gemara relates that there was an incident in which someone kept counting after the demon until he reached a hundred and one, and the demon burst in anger.
An incantation against witches, from the chief witch
Ameimar shared an incantation given to him by “the chief of witches” (רישתינהי דנשים כשפניות) for protection against witches.2 The incantation curses the witches (alternatively referred to as נשי דחרשייא and נשים כשפניות), wishing for:
Hot feces in torn date baskets (חרי חמימי, בדיקולא בזייא) in their mouths,
their hairs to fall out (קרח קרחייכי - literally: “become bald!”),
their magical crumbs and spices to scatter in the wind,
and their fresh saffron (מוריקא חדתא) to be carried away.
The incantation concludes with: “As long as I was shown favor [from Heaven] and you showed me favor, I did not come here. Now that I have come here, your favor toward me has cooled (or: “become bald!”) and you should find favor (or: “have favor on me!”).”
אמר אמימר: אמרה לי רישתינהי דנשים כשפניות:
האי מאן דפגע בהו בנשים כשפניות, נימא הכי:
״חרי חמימי, בדיקולא בזייא, לפומייכו, נשי דחרשייא,
קרח קרחייכי,
פרח פרחייכי, איבדור תבלונייכי,
פרחא זיקא למוריקא חדתא דנקטיתו, נשים כשפניות,
אדחנני וחננכי לא אתיתי לגו, השתא דאתיתי לגו — קרחנני וחננכי״.
Ameimar said: The chief of witches said to me:
One who encounters witches should say this incantation:
Hot feces in torn date baskets in your mouth, witches;
may your hairs fall out because you use them for witchcraft;
your crumbs, which you use for witchcraft, should scatter in the wind; your spices, which you use for your witchcraft, should scatter;
the wind should carry away the fresh saffron that you witches hold to perform your witchcraft.
As long as I was shown favor from Heaven and you showed me favor, I did not come here. Now that I have come here, your favor toward me has cooled and you should find favor.”
The danger of pairs in Eretz Yisrael; Rav Dimi from Neharde’a
The Talmud says that in Eretz Yisrael (מערבא), people were not concerned with performing actions in pairs. However, Rav Dimi from Neharde’a (רב דימי מנהרדעא) was careful even about writing pairs of symbols on a barrel, avoiding it due to the perceived danger. The Talmud then mentions an incident where a barrel with pairs of symbols burst (פקע).
The Talmud concludes that demons are particular with those who are particular about pairs, and not with those who are not particular. (From a modern objective perspective, this can be explained as confirmation bias.) Nonetheless, one should be cautious about deliberately performing actions in pairs due to potential harm.
במערבא לא קפדי אזוגי.
רב דימי מנהרדעא קפיד אפילו ארושמא דחביתא.
הוה עובדא, ופקע חביתא.
כללא דמילתא: כל דקפיד — קפדי בהדיה, ודלא קפיד — לא קפדי בהדיה,
ומיהו, למיחש מיבעי.
The Gemara relates that in the West, Eretz Yisrael, they were not particular with regard to pairs.
Rav Dimi from Neharde’a was particular about pairs even with regard to the signs on a barrel; he would not write pairs of symbols on a barrel.
There was an incident in which there were pairs of symbols on a barrel and the barrel burst.
The Gemara concludes: The rule of the matter is that all who are particular about pairs, the demons are particular with him; and if one is not particular, they are not particular with him.
However, one is required to be concerned about the harm that might result from purposely performing actions in pairs.
“Consuming two eggs, two nuts, two cucumbers, and another unspecified item is dangerous in pairs”
When Rav Dimi arrived in Babylonia from Eretz Yisrael, he reported that there is a halakha, an oral law transmitted to Moses at Sinai (הלכה למשה מסיני), stating that consuming two eggs, two nuts, two cucumbers, and “another thing” (דבר אחר - often a euphemism for sex or leprosy) is dangerous in pairs.
Due to uncertainty about what the unspecified item is, the Sages decreed that all pairs are prohibited to avoid potential danger.
כי אתא רב דימי, אמר:
שתי ביצים,
ושתי אגוזין,
שתי קישואין,
ודבר אחר —
הלכה למשה מסיני.
ומסתפקא להו לרבנן מאי ניהו דבר אחר,
וגזור רבנן בכולהו זוגי משום דבר אחר.
When Rav Dimi came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia, he said: With regard to
two eggs,
two nuts,
two cucumbers,
and another matter,
there is a halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai that they are dangerous in pairs.
But the Sages are uncertain about what the other matter is,
and therefore the Sages decreed that all pairs are prohibited due to that other matter.
Alternative titles:
1. "Double Trouble: Demons, Witches, and the Perils of Pairs"
2. "Even Stevens: The Talmudic Take on Twos"
3. "Pairs Beware: When One Plus One Equals Danger"
4. "Odd is the New Even: Talmudic Tales of Demonic Duos"
5. "Two's a Crowd: Unraveling the Mystical Menace of Multiples"
6. "The Devil's in the Doubles: Pesachim's Peculiar Pairings"
7. "Counting Curses: Why the Talmud Says Odd is Safer than Even"
8. "Twice as Nice? Not According to These Sages!"
9. "Singles Only: A Talmudic Guide to Avoiding Demonic Duets"
10. "Pair-anormal Activity: Pesachim's Guide to Supernatural Safety"
See Shai Secunda, The Iranian Talmud (2013), who cites Ford, that Amemar’s spell is found also in a Babylonian incantation bowl (קערת השבעה).