Pulsa De-Nura : The Innovation of Modern Magic and Ritual
Zohar, Zion.
Modern Judaism, Volume 27, Number 1, February 2007, pp. 72-99 (Article)
Published by Oxford University Press
For additional information about this article
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/mj/summary/v027/27.1zohar.html
Accessed 8 Dec 2014 03:07 GMT GMT
Zion Zohar
PULSA DE-NURA: THE INNOVATION OF
MODERN MAGIC AND RITUAL
INTRODUCTION
Every year as the fourth of November approaches, the majority of
Israeli society and world Jewry recall one of the most devastating
tragedies to take place in the history of the State of Israel. For on
November 4, 1995, a Jewish zealot assassinated the then-Prime
Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin.1 The scene is vividly etched in the
collective mind, and the consequences are well known. Yet, what
remains enigmatic is not the question of why the opposition wanted to
prevent Rabin from pursuing his peace initiative, but rather the
question: What motivated a fellow Jew to pick up a gun and kill the
democratically elected leader of the State of Israel?2
This question takes on even greater significance when we consider
that traditional Jews are obligated by Jewish law to observe an annual
day of fasting called Tzom Gedaliah, which memorializes the assassination of yet another Jewish political leader, Gedaliah ben Ahikam,
the Babylonian-appointed governor of Judah, over 2,500 years ago.
Gedaliah’s murder was the impetus for the final dispersion of the
Jewish remnant in the Land of Israel and thus, Jewish spiritual leaders
of the past decided to mark it annually as a day of fasting and selfreflection. Two and a half millennia later, the fast is still observed by
traditional Jews, indicating how dreadful the impact of the assassination was upon the nation.3
In view of the tragic consequences of Gedaliah’s death, questions
remain: How could such a thing happen again? What were the
circumstances that created the atmosphere allowing such a tragedy to
take place in our own time? As we try to uncover answers, we find
ourselves involved in a multi-layered investigation.
In order to understand the atmosphere leading up to the
assassination, we must recognize that overall, anti-Rabin actions were
undertaken by two types of political groups motivated by two distinctly
different underlying principles.4 One group engaged in anti-Rabin
Pulsa De-Nura
73
activities was driven by secular concerns, whereas the other group was
motivated by religious values. While the motives of Rabin’s secular
opponents were relatively straightforward, stemming as they did from
the political philosophy of Israel’s right-wing opposition,5 the motives
deriving from religion have been, by contrast, much more difficult to
decipher.6
On the one hand, some religious opposition to Rabin centered
upon halachic (Jewish religious legal) objections to his overtures for
peace with the Palestinians. Such objections were made manifest in
attempts by certain rabbis to determine whether Rabin’s political
behavior violated religious law and thus placed him into the legal
category of din rodef 7 and mosser,8 a traitor and betrayer of the Jewish
people. Alternatively, other religious opponents expressed their
objections utilizing a more mystical, magical approach—by performing
the ‘‘ritual’’ known as pulsa de-nura (‘‘Lashes of Fire’’).9
In this article, I intend to make a modest contribution to our
understanding of the events leading up to Prime Minister Rabin’s
assassination by tracing the sources and understanding the meaning
behind the magical10 ‘‘ritual’’11 known as the pulsa de-nura,12 which
was carried out by a group of radical, religious Jews with the intent of
cursing Yitzhak Rabin to death. Significantly, it is widely believed that
the origin of this mysterious ‘‘ritual’’ stems from The Zohar or some
other ancient Jewish mystical/magical source.13 This article will
attempt to disprove this supposition by critically analyzing all of the
likely sources in the Zoharic literature as well as many sources
from pre-Zoharic literature. However, before delving into a philological, textual, and theological discourse on this issue, let us first
acquaint ourselves with the ritual itself as well as the events
surrounding its use against Rabin as reported by the media and in
popular literature.
The Pulsa De-Nura in the Media and Popular Literature
In Murder in the Name of God: The Plot to Kill Yitzhak Rabin,14 the public
casting of the pulsa de-nura ritual (which occurred about a month
before the assassination) is described by the authors as follows:
[I]n October, on the eve of Yom Kippur, a very different sort of
incident had taken place in front of the prime minister’s official
residence in the quiet residential neighborhood of Rehavia
[in Jerusalem]. Wrapped in prayer shawls, a handful of Meir
Kahane’s disciples had stood in a circle on the sidewalk reciting an
ancient execration known as the Pulsa de-Nura [sic](‘‘Lashes of Fire’’).
According to a tradition dating to the Middle Ages, if ten rabbis
cursed a man by invoking the formula, he would meet his end within
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thirty days. The leader of the strange group was Avigdor Eskin, who
had come to Israel from the Soviet Union in the early 1970’s and
been drawn into Kahane’s circle . . . Rocking back and forth on the
sidewalk that day, he raised his eyes to the prime minister’s house
and solemnly intoned the words: ‘‘I deliver to you, the angels of
wrath and ire, Yitzhak, the son of Rosa Rabin, that you may smother
him and the specter of him, and cast him into bed, and dry up his
wealth, and plague his thoughts, and scatter his mind that he may
steadily be diminished until he reaches his death.’’ As Eskin
declaimed the Aramaic text, the men around him chimed in: ‘‘Put
to death the cursed Yitzhak, son of Rosa Rabin, as quickly as possible
because of his hatred for the Chosen People.’’ For the finale, Eskin
filled his lungs and shouted up at the building: ‘‘May you be damned,
damned, damned!’’15
Generally speaking, rituals similar to the pulsa de-nura16 belong in the
realm of practical Kabbalah.17 In contrast to theoretical Kabbalah,
which includes discourses concerning the structure and meaning of
the mystical-divine world, in texts of practical Kabbalah one finds
specific details and instructions on how to achieve some desired
outcome in life. For example, Kabbalistic texts of a practical nature
might include explanations on how to heal a sick person, predict the
future, talk with the dead, induce a person to fall in love with you, rid
a dangerous animal from your village, and the like, by means of
magical rituals.18 The ritual of pulsa de-nura would be19 the type of
procedure found within the texts of practical Kabbalah, with its
purpose being to place a fatal curse upon the intended recipient.
According to the description of the pulsa de-nura ‘‘ceremony’’ cited
above, as well as in other instances where this ritual is found in
popular literature,20 the invokers of this curse petition for two things.
First, they ask the protecting angel of the accursed to remove his
protection (seeing as every person has a personal, protecting angel),
and second, they request that divine angels of wrath take the life
of the accursed.
According to the majority of popular sources,21 this ritual must be
conducted by a quorum of at least ten mystics22 who gather in a
synagogue at midnight after having fasted for three consecutive days.
In the shadow of light cast by black candles, the mystics blow a shofar
(ram’s horn) while intoning the words of the curse in front of an open
ark, followed by the recitation of specific verses from the Book of
Deuteronomy.23 As soon as the curses are uttered, the candles
are extinguished—a sign that the light of heaven has also been
extinguished for the accursed.
In keeping with these sources, in order for the ritual to be
performed successfully, the participants need to know the exact name
of the guardian angel of the accursed, since an essential part of the
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ritual is directed at that particular shielding angel. In lieu of this name,
the curse may be directed upon the angel in charge of the month in
which the accursed was born. Using various formulas that include the
holy names of God and the angels,24 the casters of the curse request
divine help for what they perceive as their holy quest. Allegedly, this
ritual creates the necessary amount of negative energy to kill the
accursed within thirty days.25
One crucial caveat of the curse, however, is that under certain
circumstances, it could backfire upon those casting the curse, causing
death to either themselves or a family member. Indeed, because the
ritual’s release of powerful energy must be fulfilled in one way or
another, when the desired outcome does not take place, it is believed
that the curse must deflect upon one of the curse casters or his family.
Such an incident might occur if, for example, the accursed possesses
a good lineage, is known to be a righteous person, or has many merits
in this life or in past incarnations.26
This is, in short, the description of the ritual pulsa de-nura as
portrayed in the media and in some popular publications. Certainly,
it contains a very powerful and fascinating story with especially
compelling elements—a synagogue at midnight, ten mystics standing in
front of the open ark bathed in the shadows of light cast by black
candles, the eerie wail of the shofar (ram’s horn) as it pierces the
gloomy night, and so on.
Second, it features evocative content—a dangerous magical
formula filled with references to angels, sinners, harsh curses, and
the conflict between good and evil. In short, it is a very tempting ritual
for the masses to believe in and for journalists to report. Overall, it
would seem a perfect fulfillment of common preconceptions regarding the dark, ‘‘medieval’’ aspect of Jewish mysticism.
Perhaps most surprisingly, and certainly more problematic, is that
this account infiltrated not only popular culture, but the academic
world as well.27 To grasp how deeply this narrative has influenced
leading scholars, two descriptions of the ritual as found in works
published by fine academic presses are presented below.
The Pulsa De-Nura within Academic Research
In his book Liberal Democracy And The Limits Of Tolerance,28 Professor
Raphael Cohen-Almagor,29 Director Of The Center For Democratic
Studies At The University Of Haifa and a professor in the Department
of Communications, recounts:
The last example of incitement concerns a religious curse called pulsa
denurah. In October 1995, on the eve of the most sacred day in the
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Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, a person named Avigdor Askin,
together with some other people, distributed this curse, which was
composed by three Cabbalists (mekubalim) against Prime Minister
Rabin. Mr. Askin was photographed30 during the recitation of the
pulsa denurah prayer outside the prime minister’s official residence in
Jerusalem. The prayer called on Rabin to cease his wrongful deeds in
this world; it was recited in the presence of media reporters who
were invited to the scene to publicize the ceremony and to deliver an
inciting message to the public. The message was that Prime Minister
Rabin could not escape the death curse that was placed upon him
because of his evil policies. In effect, Rabin’s blood was allowed. This
was a provocative measure calling for his death.31
The late Ehud Sprinzak, professor of Political Science at the Hebrew
University and a world-renowned scholar on terrorism and religious
radicalism,32 also repeats this dramatic story. In two of his accounts on
the pulsa de-nura, we find parallels to the aforementioned descriptions
of the ritual. In his article ‘‘Israel’s Radical Right and the Countdown
to the Rabin Assassination’’,33 he writes:
On October 6, 1995, just two days after Yom Kippur34, an odd group
of extremists gathered in front of the prime minister’s Jerusalem
residence. The purpose of the meeting, convened by Avigdor Eskin,
a former Kach activist, was to conduct the traditional pulsa di nura
rite against Yitzhak Rabin. Pulsa di nura (‘‘blaze of fire’’ in aramaic) is
the most severe death curse that can be invoked against a Jewish
sinner. The invocation of this mystical penalty is rare and done, if at
all, by Kabbalistic rabbis. The curse rite is so rare and mysterious that
it is not even written down. The rules of its execution are said to be
passed orally from father to son and are not a simple matter. Ten
rabbis and community heads must convene in a synagogue, fast for
three days, and then say the curse at midnight. The curse is
considered dangerous because, if made against an innocent person, it
ricochets against the cursers. The curse text,35 uttered after a long
ceremony focused on a mystical dialogue with the angels of
destruction, reads . . . It is not known whether all the formal
requirements of the pulsa di nura were met by the group convened
in front of Rabin’s residence. But the fact that Israeli citizens,
although very few and very extreme, took part in its invocation and
preparation during Yom Kippur was telling. It indicates that the
verbal violence directed at Rabin in the fall of 1995 had become
serious enough to include death wishes. It showed, furthermore, that
given the risks involved in a fake pulsa di nura, the rabbis felt very
confident.36
Both Cohen-Almagor and Sprinzak’s colorful, even mesmerizing,
depictions contain some elements that are certainly fabricated.
Popular media knows very well that its audience is thirsty for
information on this sort of dramatic subject, and while ostensibly
committed to presenting the truth, it remains after all a commercial
enterprise that seeks to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.
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However, one generally expects more diligence and attention to detail
from scholars in the academic world. Accordingly, the following
pages are preliminary notes toward shedding greater light on this
important historical event and attempting to set the record straight.
As a starting point, I begin by investigating the following three major
components:
The term pulsa de-nura and its sources,
The curse formula and text, and
The surrounding ritual and all its elements
37
THE TERM PULSA DE-NURA AND ITS SOURCES
To properly understand the Aramic term ‘‘pulsa de-nura’’ in its various
contexts, it is essential to trace this concept from its initial
appearances in the Talmud to its subsequent treatment in the mystical
writings of The Zohar. Elsewhere,38 I have analyzed the most important
if its appearances in detail, attempting to comprehend the multiple
meanings of the term. Therefore, I will refrain from a lengthy
deliberation on the topic here. My findings may be summarized
as followed:
Pulsa De-Nura in the Talmud
Talmudic sources mention the term a mere four times.39 While in
each case it seems to refer to a punishment of fiery lashes, in context
the term does not seem to be intended as actual or physical
chastisements. Rather, these lashes serve as some sort of metaphoric
or spiritual retribution. Two of the usages are directed against nonhuman or celestial beings,40 and the other two relate to human beings.
However, one is directed against a deceased person and the other
against a rabbi by his rabbinical colleague during a heated argument.
The latter is clearly an expression of displeasure and in both cases, the
term is used metaphorically or as a figure of speech.
After thorough investigation, we can categorically state that the
ritual formula recited by the group of so-called ‘‘Kabbalists’’ in front of
Prime Minister Rabin’s house in November, 1995 as well as the one
used against Prime Minister Sharon in the old cemetery of Rosh Pina
on July, 2005 are not found in Talmudic literature whatsoever. While
the term pulsa de-nura is utilized in Talmudic texts as an instrument
of punishment against sinners, in every case it is meant to be taken in
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a metaphorical, rather than realistic sense, and primarily seems to
apply to non-living/non-humans in any case.
Pulsa De-Nura in the Zohar
The term appears six times in Zoharic literature. It is mentioned once
in its singular form (pulsa de-nura), and five times in its plural form,
(pulsei de-nura). After close textual analysis of the different contexts in
which it is placed within The Book of the Zohar, we found that the term
is utilized in the following manner:
Pulsa
De-Nura as an Educational Tool
In the only text containing the singular form of pulsa de-nura,41 the
author attempts to understand the idea of fear, specifically fear of
God, within a mystical framework. Reading the passage in its proper
context, it becomes clear that pulsa de-nura is meant to serve as an
educational tool encouraging fear of God, which in turn, eventually
leads to a love of God. Thus, in the broader context of this Zoharic
discourse, pulsa de-nura is portrayed as a positive tool propelling
people to a higher level of spiritual conduct, rather than as a tool of
punishment.
Pulsa
De-Nura as a Protective Tool
The first instance of the term’s use in its plural form42 comprises a
story about Rabbi Simon, the main hero of The Zohar, who travels on a
donkey while two of his students, Rabbi Abba and Rabbi Judah, walk
by his side. As is customary in The Zohar, a whole discussion
concerning the mystical understanding of the Bible ensues during
which the term is used. In this context, the term pulsei de-nura is
understood not as a tool of punishment, but rather as a tool of
protection or as a weapon enabling the angel to accomplish his task,
i.e., the task of serving the Shekhinah by keeping all of the external
negative forces from clinging to her.
Similarly, in the second instance of its use in plural form,43 sixty
pulsei de-nura clothe the Shekhinah, serving as her ‘‘dress’’, so to speak,
since they surround and shield her at all times. Here, in contrast to its
treatment in the Talmud, pulsei de-nura are understood to be lights or
powers that are used by the Shekhinah to reward the angelic being
Metatron so that he may serve her properly.
The third mention of pulsei de-nura is found earlier in the same
Torah portion of The Zohar,44 and presents pulsei de-nura or whips of
fire as a manifestation of the Sefirah of judgment (din) in combination
with grace (hesed). While these two sefirot are considered opposites of
each other, they serve the necessary purpose of maintaining balance
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79
and harmony in the Divine world. Thus, although the sixty pulsei
de-nura or whips of fire are clearly stated here in connection with
instruments of judgment and severity, they also represent part of the
wholeness of perfection, a very positive image.
Again, we find that pulsei de-nura utilized by the shekhinah do not
represent a tool or instrument intended to punish, nor serve as a kind
of curse, nor is it employed in connection with an angelic being.
Rather, the pulsei de-nura contribute to perfection and the implementation of harmony in the divine world, as well as by extension, the
lower world—our own world here on earth.
CONCLUSION: FINDINGS ON PULSA DE-NURA IN THE CLASSICAL TEXTS
In sum, we may conclude that pulsei de-nura—the lashes, whips, clubs,
or rods of fire—as they are variously translated from Aramaic, serve a
very different purpose in the texts of The Zohar than they do in
the texts of the Talmud. Whereas in the Talmud they function as
a means of punishment, in The Zohar they typically operate in a more
positive fashion as tools of education, protection, and service, which
ultimately lead to and create harmony in the worlds above that
and below.
What makes this specific inquiry most important is the fact that
there exists a widespread belief within the Jewish religious community
that the origin of this mysterious ‘‘ritual’’ stems supposedly from The
Book of the Zohar, the central book of Jewish mysticism. This association
with The Zohar imbues it with considerable religious authority
(both mystical and political) in the eyes of those who hold The Zohar
in the highest regard. Consequently, a significant amount of power45
has been granted those who have performed this ritual and those
associated with the performers; hence, the importance of understanding and tracing its true sources.
For this reason, we have critically analyzed all the available sources
relating to the term pulsa de-nura in the Talmudic, as well as the
Zoharic literature in an attempt to disprove the supposition that this
ritual is found in either the Talmud or The Zohar. Again, it must be
categorically stated that in no place within the Talmud or The Zohar is
there any discussion or even indication that this term refers to a
ceremony, ritual, or curse whose purpose is to take life, human or
otherwise.
If neither the Talmud nor The Zohar is the source of the pulsa de-nura
ritual, then what is its source? To get closer to answering this question,
let us turn now to the second of the three major components under
investigation—an examination of the textual formula of the ritual.
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THE CURSE TEXT FORMULA AND RITUAL
The Curse Text Formula
Regarding the text of the curse, there would seem to be no one
specific formula. Rather, there are multiple versions, of which I have
found four so far. Three were directed against the late Prime Minister
Rabin and the fourth, against Prime Minister Sharon. Two of the four
seemed to be fragmented, while the other two are more complete.
Needless to say, the availability of several different formulas raises
certain issues of credibility.
Regarding the curse directed against the late Prime Minister
Rabin, one might expect to have a single identical formula cited in
all the three reports, but that was not the case. At the very least,
this indicates that the reports are based on shaky foundations, since
logic would dictate that reports of the same event would be consistent.
Although the fourth version used against Prime Minister Sharon was
videotaped and, therefore, is not in question, the three versions
directed at the late Prime Minister Rabin are quite problematic.46
Lacking evidence that might lead us to prefer one version over
another, each are analyzed subsequently.
The first text formula is taken from the book Murder in the Name of
God: The Plot to Kill Yitzhak Rabin.47 The authors claim that it was used
against Prime Minister Rabin in the fall of 1995:
‘‘I deliver to you, the angels of wrath and ire, Yitzhak, son of Rosa
Rabin, that you may smother him and the specter of him and cast
him into bed, and dry up his wealth, and plague his thoughts, and
scatter his mind that he may be steadily diminished until he reaches
death . . . Put to death the cursed Yitzhak, son of Rosa Rabin, as
quickly as possible because of his hatred for the Chosen
People . . . May you be damned, damned, damned!’’48
The second text formula can be found in two different sources with
translations that deviate slightly but are almost identical. Both are
reported by Ehud Sprinzak; one in his book Brother Against Brother:
Violence and Extremism in Israeli Politics from Altalena to the Rabin
Assassination, the other a year later in his article ‘‘Israel’s Radical Right
and the Countdown to the Rabin Assassination’’.49 In the latter
account, we find the following updated formula:
‘‘Angels of destruction will strike him. He is damned wherever he
goes. His soul will instantly leave his body . . . and he will not survive
the month. Dark will be his path and God’s angel will pursue him. A
disaster he has never experienced will beset him, and all curses
known in the Torah will apply to him.’’50
Although both are brutal curses aimed at Prime Minister Rabin, it is
obvious that the first and second curses are quite different. The first
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81
part of the first text from ‘‘I deliver to you, the angels of wrath and
ire . . .’’ to ‘‘that he may be steadily diminished until he reaches death’’
is found in one of the central books of Jewish magic from antiquity,
Sepher Ha-Razim.51 The original source for the second text,52
as reported by Sprinzak, is still unclear to me.53 Having said that,
the usage in the second reported text (Sprinzak’s) of ‘‘Angels of
destruction’’ and the call for the immediate death of the accursed with
the words ‘‘His soul will instantly leave his body’’ are repeated themes
in all of the texts. Moreover, the paraphrased biblical expression
‘‘all curses known in the Torah will apply to him’’ also appears in three
of the four versions.
Even though the first text is partially based on an authentic
magical source (Sepher Harazim), it is important to stress that the
original citation in Sepher Harazim has nothing to do with the term
pulsa de-nura. Of further interest, the term pulsa de-nura is found
nowhere in Sepher Harazim, which by all accounts is one of the most
important books of Jewish magic.
It appears as if these two texts are not two parts of one common
source and that we seem to possess two texts, one from an academic
book and one journalistic, which simply report the same event in two
different ways. Again, this divergence casts doubt on the reliability of
these reports. Credibility becomes an even greater issue when we take
into consideration that there is still one more formula (at least) that
was reportedly employed against Prime Minister Rabin. This third text
differs from the first two, as we shall now see. In the following pages,
I will provide my own English translation in a ‘‘critical edition’’
format54 of the last two curse texts, which were originally reported
in Aramaic and Hebrew.55
The third text formula is found in a home-produced, printed
booklet entitled Pulsa DeNura that circulated in limited numbers
among right-wing religious extremists, such as Kach members and the
like.56 The author, Yossi Dayan,57 claims that he used the curse
formula included in the pamphlet against the late Prime Minister
Rabin.58 This third formula appears to be a complete curse, possessing
a beginning, middle, and an end:
And upon that man, Yitzhak, son of Rosa, known as Rabin, we have
permission to call upon the celestial beings, and it is permissible for
us in this place to demand of the angels of wrath that they run a
sword through this evil man. Furthermore, the Angels of Wrath, who
are earthly messengers, have no authority to be merciful to him and
forgive him his sins. Therefore, all the merits that he acquired in this
world will be forgotten. And these are the two gates59 that will be
opened in order to kill him for his incitement of the holy people and
for delivering60 the Land of Israel to its enemies, the descendents of
Ishmael, may they perish immediately. About this it is written,
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‘‘The Lord will never be willing to forgive him.’’ 61 Rabbi Yose said that:62
‘‘All the goodness of the tree of life will never be given to him, and
nor will he enjoy its fruits. That is [the tree of life] good insight63
without evil whatsoever.’’ As long as no good is bestowed upon him
[upon Rabin], the world is blessed, and that is [when] good insight
[is] without evil. May all of the achievements64 of that one who stands
at the head of the evil government [of Israel] be voided. Of him it
should be said twelve times: ‘‘To the men who sit upon the wall, that they
may eat their own dung, and drink their own urine.’’ 65 And until he dies
a strange death, ‘‘let every curse66 recorded in the Torah67 come down
upon him.’’ 68 May not even one be omitted.
Note that the first two curse texts were reported by people who were
not involved in the casting of the curse and, therefore, saw themselves
as objective third-parties covering the event for journalistic or
academic purposes. In contrast, this third text formula represents
a first-hand account given by one of the curse-casters himself.
In numerous media appearances, Dayan proudly acknowledged his
involvement in performing the ritual and issuing the curse against
Rabin. As Dayan points out in his booklet, the version mentioned
above is the shorter one.69 Be that as it may, the next curse version is
much longer than the third one, and resemblance between the two
is quite obvious.
In contrast to the previous three texts that were used against
P.M Rabin, the fourth pulsa de-nura formula was employed against
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. In front of television cameras,
approximately twenty ‘‘Kabbalists’’ conducted the ritual early on the
morning of July 22, 200570 in the old cemetery of Rosh Pina near the
grave of Shlomo Ben-Yosef,71 who was executed by the British
mandatory government for his anti-British and anti-Arab activities.
Based upon a tape of the ceremony that was shown on Israeli
television,72 I have translated the formula as follows:
Here we stand at this time with pure thought ‘‘at the spring of water’’73
from which prayers issue forth. We offer our supplications before the
Master of earth and heaven, that He will pass judgment against this
man. Since, by his hand, he stole and violently robbed the crown74
and stands as the head of the holy assembly of Israel; he is Ariel
Sharon, the son of Vera of the Sheinerman family, nicknamed Arik
Sharon. Each and every one of us ‘‘born of a woman’’ 75 have
permission to call upon the celestial beings; it is permissible for us in
this place to demand from the Angels of Wrath that they run him
through with a sword along with the sinners that are with him.
May the Angels of Wrath, who are earthly messengers, have no
[authority to forgive him for his sins . . .]76 ‘‘The Lord will never be willing to forgive him.’’ 77 All of his merits from the past will be forgotten;
his countless lies and iniquities–because of them, he should die. As it
is written in Kabbalah: ‘‘If a righteous person turns away from his
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83
righteousness and does evil, practicing the very abominations that the wicked
person practiced, shall he do them and live? None of the righteous deeds that
he did shall be remembered; because of the treachery he has practiced and the
sins he has committed-because of them, he should die’’78 now, at this time.
‘‘It is not an enemy who reviles me—I could bear that; it is not my foe who
vaunts himself against me—I could hide from him’’79 as it has been said: ‘‘the
righteous man will rejoice when he sees retribution; he will bathe his feet in the
blood of the wicked. Men will say, ‘there is, surely a reward for the righteous;
there is, indeed, divine justice on earth’ ’’80 because he ‘‘had strengthened
his hand in the slaying of his brothers,’’81 to hand over [limsor]82 to our
enemies the territories from the Land of Israel, ‘‘on which the Holy
One keeps His eye from year’s beginning to year’s end’’83 ‘‘shall never come
to pass,’’ ‘‘shall never come to pass,’’ ‘‘shall never come to pass.’’84
And because of this, ‘‘God will never be willing to forgive him; for the
anger and fury of the Holy One will rage against that man, and all the
curses85 recorded in the Torah86 will come down upon him, and He will blot
out his name from under heaven.’’87 And he shall die immediately;
because he has spoken slander ‘‘against the Lord our God, who brought
us out of exile and redeemed us out of the house of slavery.’’88
Elsewhere,89 I have analyzed the manipulative use of biblical verses in
the pulsa de-nura curses as a form of hate speech and incitement to
violence. Due to limited space, here I will restrict myself to the two
main examples of manipulation found in this formula. In the
quotation above, I have placed all of the biblical references
throughout the text in italics90 to demonstrate the extent to which
this passage is not based on any Kabbalistic texts, but primarily on
either biblical verses or biblical language. As the extensive italics
clearly indicate, the claim that this is a ‘‘kabbalistic’’ curse, as has been
reported in the print and visual media as well as endless sites on the
worldwide web,91 is baseless. Nevertheless, the text’s author had the
audacity to make such a claim in the body of the curse text itself by
stating in the second paragraph ‘‘as it is written in Kabbalah’’,
when the text that follows is obviously a biblical verse taken from
Ezekiel 18:24.
The main biblical text that frames the most important part of the
curse and serves as the backbone of the whole formula is a verse from
Deuteronomy 29:19—‘‘The Lord will never be willing to forgive him.’’
The second paragraph of the curse opens with it, and it also serves as
one of the two closing verses for the formula. In the opening, it is
briefly mentioned, is recited in Hebrew and sets the tone. However,
the second time it is used the entire verse is quoted fully, and this time
in Aramaic. The change to Aramaic is likely an attempt to lead the
reader to assume the quotation is taken from The Zohar or some
similar kabbalistic literature. In fact, I found that the source for the
Aramaic quotation is actually an ancient Aramaic text—but not
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kabbalistic in the least. It was taken almost word for word from the
traditional, ancient Aramaic translation of the Torah (known as
Targum Onkelos) on the verse in question, Deuteronomy 29:19. Once
again, these curse-casters going to great lengths to bestow a pseudomystical/kabbalistic aura to a text that has almost nothing to do with
mystical or kabbalistic sources.
Overall, this fourth curse formula can be roughly divided into
three types of texts. The first and largest part constitutes direct
quotations from the Bible and the use of biblical language. The second
part refers to Prime Minister Sharon. Finally, only in the third
and smallest part is there a vague resemblance to magic or Kabbalah
by way of mentioning ‘‘angels of destruction’’, although the formula
does not even mention the angels by their specific names as
is customary in authentic magical and mystical texts. Ironically, in
many ways, this fourth text formula—the longest and most public
of all92—is the least kabbalistic or magical of all the curse formulas
mentioned thus far.
THE SURROUNDING RITUAL AND ALL ITS ELEMENTS
No less an important feature of the pulsa de-nura is its ceremonial
aspect. Due to limitations of space, I will not elaborate on it at length,
commenting about it only briefly. As detailed in the introduction, the
ritual involved a long list of dramatic and symbolic acts meant to
bestow on it an impression of solemn sanctity, on the one hand, as
well as urgent necessity, on the other. As reported to us, the ceremony
of pulsa de-nura contains all the elements and the structure of a
ritual.93
In an interview conducted by the ultra-Orthodox weekly magazine
Sha’ah Tovah, Yossi Dayan attempts to clear up the mystery around the
curse by declaring:
Like any Jew, when he or she encounters a certain problem, they turn
to God and ask to be redeemed by words of redemption and
compassion. It is so with the opposite as well. When there is a person
who commits acts that should not be done and betrays his people, we
curse that person. . . the principle is that we come and say to the Holy
One Blessed Be He: ‘‘this man has sinned, transgressed, revolted and
betrayed his people. We testify that he deserves death and he should
indeed die. For that we pray in a meaningful place.’’94
Indeed, these words clearly emphasize the ordinary act of prayer,
rather than the power of the mysterious ritual that was so much a part
of the media coverage on the curse. This is the testimony of Yossi
Dayan himself, the person who conducted the curse against Rabin
Pulsa De-Nura
85
as well as Sharon. An echo of this reading can be found in the
introductory comment of the interviewer and writer of the article,
Mr Schiff, when he states: ‘‘Rabbi Yossi Dayan, who researched the
topic deeply and also wrote a book on the ‘Pulsa Denura,’95 said to us:
‘First of all, one should understand what ‘‘Pulsa Denura’’ is exactly’ ’’96
and then the writer interprets Dayan as saying: ‘‘No, we are not talking
about an event with a mystical aura, performed by ghostly images
clothed in black at midnight by the light of candles.’’ 97 This denial
of any trace of mystical elements in the curse is repeated throughout
the article.
If this report is accurate, meaning the mystical aspects are in fact
absent from the curse ritual, then can we conclude that the media and
the popular literature fabricated the whole thing?
While I cannot elaborate at length, it is sufficient in this context to
state a few key observations. It is possible that the curse casters had no
mystical intention, and one might even take Dayan’s testimony that:
‘‘this was merely a prayer’’ at face value. However, what of the
frequent actions by the curse casters, including Dayan himself, that
involved lights, Torah scrolls, midnight ceremonies, shofar blowing,
and the like during the performance of the ritual? While they claim
their intention is purely prayerful, their actions point to a different
and more sinister intent altogether.
In my opinion, the picture that Dayan tries to portray is far from
being accurate. As I have indicated previously, while the media might
share the blame in promoting the mystical aura surrounding the pulsa
de-nura, the curse casters have made no attempt to correct this
impression over the past ten years, and in fact have contributed
greatly to it.98 This burst of seemingly candid revelation on the part of
Mr Dayan in the aforementioned interview likely stems from his
attempt at ‘‘damage control’’ so as not to be charged for incitement by
the authorities. Moreover, it was probably also meant to counterbalance the strong criticism uttered against him and his compatriots
from within the ultra-Orthodox community.99
Pulsa De-Nura and the Herem (Ritual of Excommunication)
After thoroughly analyzing the multiple formulas of pulsa de-nura and
the ceremonial actions attached to it, nowhere can a connection be
found between the term pulsa de-nura as mentioned in classical sources
and the rituals described throughout this article. If the original,
authentic pulsa de-nura term has nothing to do with the contemporary
ritual called pulsa de-nura, what then is this contemporary ritual
exactly? What is its source, and when was the connection to pulsa
de-nura made?
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Unfortunately, there seems to be no simple answer to these
questions. However, we can say that one of the first places in which
this connection appears is in modern time is in the book of Yigal
Arica.100 Arica boldly links the term pulsa de-nura and the ritual
pulsa de-nura, which those scholars who come after him accept as a
firm reality.101 Furthermore, upon further examination of Arica’s
description of the pulsa de-nura ritual (as outlined in the introduction
to this article), we find that it strongly resembles the traditional
excommunication ceremony known in Hebrew as herem.
Indeed, it is in the herem ritual that we discover many of the most
dramatic mood setting aspects of the modern pulsa de-nura ceremony,
on the one hand, as well as fragments of the ‘‘pulsa’’ curse texts,
on the other. A significant source for the herem ritual is found in the
book Ozar Dinim U-Minhagim:
‘‘The great excommunication (herem) was held in the synagogue by a
group of people with black lit candles in their hands and with the
blowing of the ram’s horn (shofar). Then they pronounce harsh
curses and at the conclusion of the curses, the candles are
extinguished as a sign that the light of heaven has been
extinguished and the Lamp of God will no longer shine on the
individual who was excommunicated. The formula of the excommunication varies according to the individual and his sin, but above all
the harshest curse is applied to mossrim.102 A story was told about a
mosser . . . that was excommunicated in the presence of the Torah
scroll and extinguished candles, etc . . . Furthermore, the religious
court is authorized to be harsh on him . . . especially in the case of the
mosser, who at times they allowed to be put to death . . . but Rabbi
Solomon Ben Aderet wrote: ‘I have never seen that a sinner was
treated according to [these harsh regulations] . . ..’ ’’103
The history of the herem is long and detailed, stretching back to
biblical times. Since then, the herem has evolved from a relatively
simple concept into a complex ritual with many variations and levels
of severity.104 One should pay close attention to the many significant
points of correlation (indicated by the bolded words in the body of the
text) between the herem ceremony and reports of the modern pulsa
de-nura ritual.105
CONCLUSION
In sum, in our analysis of classical texts, we found no correspondence
between the original term pulsa de-nura and the ceremony known by
that name. Furthermore, we found no evidence in these classical texts
of the ritual called pulsa de-nura. Instead, I did notice a distinct
correlation of said ceremony to that of the herem.
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Pulsa De-Nura
Therefore, I tend to believe that what we in modern times call the
pulsa de-nura ritual is in actuality a very recent innovation, meant to
serve a specific political purpose. Such rituals against Rabin and
Sharon, asserts Menachem Friedman, a sociologist and an expert
on ultra-Orthodoxy, are the mechanisms of the helpless to deal with
their helplessness. ‘‘Magic isn’t used by the regime or the group in
power. It’s used by the powerless. When they do abracadabra
ceremonies it shows that they’re terrified. Magic gives them a sense
of power.’’106
Because in an open, modern society the power of the herem ritual
is virtually non-existent outside the ultra-Orthodox world, what the
curse-casters have done is renew this out-moded ceremony of
excommunication by grafting an ancient, seemingly mystical
term—i.e., pulsa de-nura–onto it. If correct, the contemporary incarnation of the pulsa de-nura ritual would then be a prime example of a
type of modern myth-creation that attempts, consciously or not, to
follow the ancient pattern of pseudoepigraphy,107 and by so doing,
confers a fresh measure of religious authenticity onto a ritual that had
become virtually obsolete.108
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
NOTES
As I was preparing to submit this article for publication, I received a
popular, non-academic article from my colleague Yaacov Maoz in
Jerusalem on the topic ‘‘Who Is Afraid of the Pulsa De-Nura?’’
(Hebrew). The article was published in the religion supplement of the
ultra-Orthodox weekly Mishpacha (Nissan 2005, pp. 22–26) and written by
Rabbi Dov Schwartz (not to be confused with the Bar Ilan University
professor of Jewish thought mentioned below) and Rabbi Moshe Isaac
Blau, an ultra-Orthodox journalist/activist. In spite of what seems to be
certain correct conclusions, the article carries a strong sectarian and
polemical overtone against the Israeli secular public and media. Having
advanced this caveat, I would like to thank Rabbi Blau for his exchange of
thoughts on two occasions concerning this subject—first in the summer of
2003 in which I introduced my intention to publish this article and shared
with him some preliminary findings, and again in August of 2005 during
which we further discussed our thoughts but mainly our differences.
1. This article is partially based on papers I delivered at two academic
forums—the American Academy of Religion, Atlanta, Georgia, November,
2003, and the Coolidge Scholars Colloquium, Auburn Seminary,
New York, July, 2004. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all
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who were present at those forums for their valuable feedback and critique.
My deepest gratitude goes to Moshe Idel, Samantha Baskind, and
Yuval Harari, who provided me with a thorough evaluation of this
article. Without their help, this article would be lacking essential
information. Words cannot express my thanks for their generosity of
time and of spirit.
2. This year (2005–2006) marks the tenth anniversary of P.M. Rabin’s
assassination, and as such, is expected to be filled with ceremonies
commemorating his life. May this article (and another one on a related
topic—forthcoming) be my modest contribution in tribute to Rabin’s life,
his sacrifice for peace, as well as his service to the Jewish people and
all humanity.
3. Ironically, Rabin’s assassin, Yigal Amir, is a practicing Orthodox
Jew, and therefore, quite likely observes this day of fasting and reflection
as well.
4. For a similar and more specific division of motivations relating to
the general phenomenon of Right-Wing religious Zionist ties to the
land and the diverse behaviors stemming from these ties, see Dov
Schwartz, The Land Of Israel In Religious Zionist Thought (Tel Aviv, 1997),
pp. 18–20 [Hebrew].
5. Such as that of the Likud Party and its leader at that time,
Benjamin Netanyahu.
6. Attempts to capture the complexity of Jewish fundamentalism can
be found in the many scholarly works published over the past three
decades. See, e.g., Norman, J. Cohen, (ed.), The Fundamentalist
Phenomenon: A View From Within A Response From Without (Grand
Rapids, Michigan, 1990); R. Scott Appleby, (ed.), Spokesmen For The
Despised, Fundamentalist Leaders Of The Middle East (Chicago and London,
1997). In the latter book, see in particular articles by Gideon Aran,
‘‘The Father, The Son, And The Holy Land: The Spiritual Authorities Of
Jewish-Zionist Fundamentalism In Israel,’’ pp. 294–327, and Samuel C.
Heilman, ‘‘Guides of The Faithful, Contemporary Religious Zionist
Rabbis,’’ pp. 328–362. More recently, see Gabriel A. Almond, R. Scott
Appleby, and Emmanuel Sivan, Strong Religion: The Rise Of
Fundamentalisms Around The World (Chicago, 2003).
7. Author Samuel Heilman maintains that the following arguments
were circulating in yeshiva circles since at least 1993: ‘‘If the withdrawals
[from Judea and Samaria] were truly endangering life, then the Jews
who
were
making
and
implementing
these
life-threatening
agreements might be defined as a rodef . . . According to Jewish law,
a rodef (pursuer) is someone who threatens the life of a Jew or through
his action puts the life of a Jew in danger . . . The law asserts that
one must, or at least may, kill the rodef and punish the
moyser.’’ Heilman, in Spokesmen for the Despised, (ed.) R. Scott Appelby,
pp. 353–354.
8. In Hebrew, mosser is the term for ‘‘one who delivers the Land of
Israel to enemies’’, and refers to a halachic (legal) category that sanctions
Pulsa De-Nura
89
the killing of such a person in order to protect the Jewish community as a
whole. A fragment of conversation from the interrogation of the assassin,
Yigal Amir, as well as that of his accomplice is cited here. The same
justification that Amir gives below for murdering Rabin is also articulated
by a leading American Orthodox figure, Rabbi Hecht (see the end of this
footnote):
‘‘Yigal Amir: ‘I would not have done all that I did were it not for my
religious obligation to defend the Land of Israel from the mosser, Yitzhak
Rabin, as explained by numerous rabbis who fear for the fate of the
Land of Israel and the Jewish people. I did it for God, people and
country . . .’
Q: Where did you get the halachic authorization? Yigal Amir: ‘From my
own knowledge and from religious leaders.’
Q: Can you give the names of these religious leaders? Amir: ‘No.’
Q: Why? Amir: ‘Because’ Q: Can you state that they were unequivocal in
their decision? Amir: ‘Yes.’
During the interrogation of Amir’s accomplice, Dror Adani, he said:
‘The law of rodef applies to both Rabin and Peres, meaning they are both
deserving of death. If we had seen that Rabin went easily, we would have
continued with Peres . . . When Yigal Amir spoke to me of the law of rodef
applying to Rabin, that he should be killed . . . I wouldn’t have done it, but
as far as the Shulchan Aruch [the Code of Jewish Law] and the rabbis are
concerned, Rabin was designated a mosser, and as such, he was deserving
of death.’ ’’ [Originally published in the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth
Aharonot, December 11, 1995.] Taken from an English translation in:
Amnon Rubinstein, From Herzl to Rabin: The Changing Image of Zionism,
(New York, 2000), p. 148. Noteworthy also is the statement made by Rabbi
Abraham Hecht, the senior leader of New York’s large Shaarei Zion
synagogue and one of the more prominent leaders of Orthodox Jewry in
America, in an interview on October 9, 1995: ‘‘According to Jewish
Halakha, Rabin deserves to die. He who intentionally transfers living
people, money, or property to strangers commits, according to the
Halakha, a crime punishable by death.’’ And he added: ‘‘Maimonides
maintained that he who kills such a person is doing the right thing.’’ From
Ehud Sprinzak, ‘‘Israel’s Radical Right and the Countdown to the Rabin
Assassination,’’ in The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, (ed.) Yoram Peri
(Stanford, 2000), p. 100.
9. This will be described in detail subsequently. Inevitably, some
individuals’ anti-Rabin perspective was influenced by both halachic and
mystical paths.
10. Magic has been a fundamental (though often discouraged) practice
within Judaism since antiquity. For a detailed treatment of the subject, see
the works of: Yuval Harari, Early Jewish Magic—Methodological and
Phenomenological Studies, PhD dissertation, Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, (Jerusalem, 1998), [Hebrew]; Harari, ‘‘What is a Magical
Text?—Methodological Reflections aimed at Redefining Early Jewish
Magic,’’ in Officina Magica—The Working of Magic, (ed.) S. Shaked
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(Leiden 2005) pp. 91–124; Harari,‘‘ ‘The Opening of the Heart’: Magical
Practices for Gaining Knowledge, Understanding and Good Memory in
Judaism of Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages’’, in Shefa Tal, Studies in
Jewish Thought and Culture presented to Bracha Sack, (eds.) Z. Gries,
H. Kreisel, and B. Huss (Beer Sheva, 2004), pp. 303–347; Harari, ‘‘How to
Do Things with Words: Philosophical Theory and Magical Deeds,’’
in Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Folklore, No. 19–20 ( Jerusalem, 1998),
pp. 365–392, [Hebrew]; Harari, ‘‘If You Wish to Kill a Person: Harmful
Magic and Protection from it in Early Jewish Magic,’’ in Jewish Studies,
No. 37 ( Jerusalem, 1997), pp. 111–142, [Hebrew]; Harari, ‘‘Power and
Money: Economic Aspects of the Use of Magic by Jews in Ancient Times
and the Early Middle Ages,’’ Pe’amim, Vol. 85 ( Jerusalem, 2000),
pp. 14–42, [Hebrew]; Moshe Idel, ‘‘Judaism, Jewish Mysticism And
Magic,’’ Jewish Studies ( Jerusalem), No. 36 (1996), pp. 25–40, [Hebrew];
P. Schäfer and S. Shaked, Magische Texte aus der Kairoer Geniza, Vols. I–III
(Tübingen 1994–1999); Joseph Naveh and Shaul Shaked, Amulets and
Magic Bowls: Aramaic Incantations of Late Antiquity ( Jerusalem, 1987);
Naveh and Shaked, Magic Spells and Formulae: Aramaic Incantations of Late
Antiquity ( Jerusalem, 1993). A more general treatment of the phenomenon of Jewish and non-Jewish magic can be found in: Joshua
Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic and Superstition (New York, 1939; reprint
Philadelphia, 2004); Dov Schwartz, Astral Magic in Medieval Jewish Thought
(Ramat Gan, 1999); Esther Liebes, (ed.), Devils, Demons and Souls, Essays on
Demonology by Gershom Scholem, ( Jerusalem, 2004); and Bengt Ankarloo
and Stuart Clark, (eds.), Witchcraft and Magic in Europe: The Middle Ages
(Philadelphia, 2001). Regarding the academic construction and the
methods of research of magic, see in particular: Randall Styers, Making
Magic: Religion, Magic & Science in the Modern World (Oxford, 2004).
11. In ‘‘Who Is Afraid of the Pulsa De-Nura?,’’ in Mishpacha (Nissan
2005), pp. 22–26, [Hebrew], Rabbis Dov Schwartz and Isaac Moshe Blau
claim that no such ritual as the pulsa de-nura exists. Recently, Rabbi Blau
made the same claim in Aaron Granot, ‘‘ The Pulsa De-Nura That Has
Never Existed,’’ Mishpacha ( July 28, 2005), p. 4, [Hebrew]. As I show here,
the picture is much more complicated and requires a detailed and
nuanced deliberation.
12. In a forthcoming publication, I will explore the connections
between the term pulsa de-nura and other rabbinic and mystical terms in
which the word ‘‘fire’’ is present, such as the term river of fire, houses of fire,
sparks of fire, swords of fire, angels of fire and the like.
13. Of the many specious assertions, is the one that this ritual
originates in The Zohar. In my conversations with various rabbis, I posed
the question: ‘‘What is the source of the pulsa de-nura’s ritualistic
formula?’’ Most replied immediately: ‘‘It is in The Zohar.’’ However,
when I asked them to tell me where it is found in The Zohar, the majority
could not indicate an exact location. Those who could cite a particular
passage referred me to a text in which the term pulsa de-nura is found, but
in reality does not relate to the ritual/formula that was employed against
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91
Rabin. This latter response, given without a second thought, indicates how
little actual knowledge of the ritual even the most learned religious
leaders possess. See also the quote in the body of the text cited from
Michael Karpin and Ina Friedman, Murder in the Name of God: The Plot to
Kill Yitzhak Rabin (New York, 1998): ‘‘. . .According to a tradition dating to
the Middle Ages, if ten rabbis cursed a man by invoking the formula, he
would meet his end within thirty days . . ..’’ (the emphasis is mine). Here
again the source of the formula is said to be from the Middle Ages though
no proof of this claim has been found. Such an assumption about the
origins of the curse ritual is not only confined to rabbis. In the media as
well as within academic literature, it is almost always described as deriving
from a Jewish mystical or Kabbalistic source, though no one is ever able to
precisely cite it. See, e.g., the article by Yaakov Katz, ‘‘Rabbi Who Cursed
Rabin Targets Sharon,’’ The Jerusalem Post, March 30, 2005: ‘‘. . . the curse
which is based on passages from the Zohar, Kabbala’s major work . . .’’
(the emphasis is mine). Also E. Sprinzak, The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin,
pp. 119–120: ‘‘The purpose of the meeting, convened by Avigdor Eskin, a
former Kach activist, was to conduct the traditional Pulsa de-Nura rite
against Yitzhak Rabin. Pulsa di Nura (‘‘blaze of fire’’ in Aramaic) is the
most severe death curse that can be invoked against a Jewish sinner. The
invocation of this mystical penalty is rare and done, if at all, by
Kabbalistic rabbis. The curse rite is so rare and mysterious that it is not
even written down. The rules of its execution are said to be passed orally
from father to son and are not a simple matter.’’ (the emphasis is mine).
This article will, at the very least, prove this connection to The Zohar
unsubstantiated.
14. M. Karpin and I. Friedman, Murder in the Name of God.
15. Karpin and Friedman, Murder in the Name of God, pp. 90–91.
16. None of the different scholars of Jewish mysticism and magic that
I have consulted over the last four years concerning the sources of this
ritual knew its original source, or if it actually exists at all. In light of
this, I was pleased when my colleague Yuval Harari referred me to a
potential source for a fragment of the formula, which will be explored in
the section on formulas below. By the end of this article, I will offer
a potential answer to the dilemma of whether the pulsa de-nura ritual and
formula are in fact traceable to a particular, historical Jewish text. See also
Idel, Judaism, Jewish Mysticism And Magic, p. 34. Having said that, the term,
though not the ritual, is mentioned numerous times in rabbinic
as well as kabbalistic sources, which will be discussed briefly, later in
this article.
17. A brief description of practical Kabbalah can be found in Gershom
Scholem, Kabbalah (New York, 1974), pp. 182–189.
18. For an example of practical Kabbalah, see Sepher Ha-Razim:
The Book of the Mysteries, trans. Michael A. Morgan, in the Texts and
Translations Pseudepigrapha Series, Harold W. Attridge, (ed.), Society of
Biblical Literature (Chico, 1983). Also Sepher Ha-Razim: A Newly Recovered
Book of Magic From the Talmudic Period, edited with introduction and
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annotation by Mordechai Margalioth, ( Jerusalem, 1966). Despite the
fact that Kabbalah is a product of the Middle Ages originating
with the 11th century Kabbalistic text Sefer Ha-Bahir, Gershom Scholem
nevertheless holds the position that: ‘‘Historically speaking, a large part of
the contents of practical Kabbalah considerably predate those
of speculative Kabbalah and are not dependent on them. In effect,
what came to be considered practical Kabbalah constituted an agglomeration of all the magical practices that developed in Judaism from
the Talmudic period down through the Middle Ages.’’ Scholem,
Kabbalah, p. 183.
19. If it truly exists.
20. Unfortunately, most of this literature was not written by qualified
academic scholars and thus is lacking in many ways. In fact, generally it
amounts to a jumble of well-known facts mixed with unconfirmed
hypotheses. Some of this information is provided here as it appears in
the literature.
21. See, e.g., Yigal Arica, Kabbalah In Clear Light, (Tel Aviv, 1996)
p. 258, [Hebrew] as well as Karpin and Friedman, Murder in the Name
of God, pp. 90–91.
22. Some claim three mystics and the rest of the participants can be lay
people, see Roni Zinger and Nadav Shragai, ‘‘A Rabbi from Pesagot: I Will
Perform Pulsa Denura Against Sharon.’’ Haaretz, (September 14, 2004),
http://forums.nrg.co.il/index.php?act¼forum&do¼print&forum¼3&
id¼41211&PHPSESSID¼55fb125dc4e5904fa32f29819fbb8b44
23. See Arica, Kabbalah in Clear Light, p. 258, where he claims the
verses are taken from part of Moses’ last speech to the Children of Israel.
There, Moses gives the people a choice between God’s blessing or curse:
‘‘See, this day I set before you blessing and curse . . .’’ (Deuteronomy
11:26–2, Parashat Re’eh).
24. Lists of these angels and the months over which each is responsible
can be found in texts of theoretical and practical Kabbalah, such as
Mal’achei Elyon, (ed.) Reuven Margaliot ( Jerusalem, 1988) [Hebrew]
or Raziel Hamal’ach (Photocopy of the traditional Amsterdam edition
[1701]). ( Jerusalem, n.d.) [Hebrew]. An excellent example of the role
of Angels in the magical process can be found in the healing
text known as Pishra De-Rabbi Haninah Ben Dosa published from a
14th century manuscript by F.M Tocci: ‘‘Note e documenti di letteratura
religiosa e parareligiosa giudaica’’, Annali dell’Instituto Orientale di Napoli,
Vol. 46 (1986), pp. 101–108. Many thanks to Yuval Harari for his
referral to this article.
25. A full description of this ritual and commentary on it can be found
in two popular books: Karpin and Friedman, Murder in the Name of God,
pp. 90–91 and Arica, Kabbalah in Clear Light, pp. 258–260. In a
conversation I had with the author of the latter book, he admitted that
he does not know the source of the ritual. All he could share was that he
saw the formula of the ritual in an old book he glanced at while visiting
some Kabbalists in Jerusalem.
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93
26. According to Arica, Kabbalah in Clear Light (p. 259), an example
of such a deflection is believed to have happened to the head of one of
the ultra-Orthodox communities in Jerusalem. Rabbi Nachum Visepish
performed the ritual against Saddam Hussein, then President of Iraq
during the first Gulf War. As of the time this article as written, Hussein is
still alive. However, one of the rabbi’s family members died for no
apparent reason a year later, despite the fact that Hussein did not seem to
have fulfilled the necessary requirements for the curse to be deflected.
27. As we shall see soon, several well-known scholars were seduced by
the allure of this fascinating narrative. Yet, as the journalistic dictum goes:
‘‘a story is only as good as its sources’’. Thus, when the sources are
questionable, the entire story loses its credibility, which applies not only in
the field of journalism, but even more so in the world of academia.
28. Raphael Cohen-Almagor, ‘‘Boundaries of Freedom of Expression
before and after Prime Minister Rabin’s Assassination,’’ in Liberal
Democracy and the Limits of Tolerance: Essays in Honor and Memory
of Yitzhak Rabin, (ed.) Raphael Cohen-Almagor, (Ann Arbor, 2000).
29. For more details about him, see his web page http://hcc.haifa.ac.
il/rca or http://almagor.fetchauthor.info.
30. For the photograph, see Karpin and Friedman, Murder in the Name
of Religion, pp. 148–149.
31. Cohen-Almagor, Liberal Democracy and the Limits of Tolerance, p. 90.
32. An expert on terrorism and right-wing extremism in Israeli politics
and society, Sprinzak’s list of accomplishments and honors is truly
impressive. He was a senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace
from 1997–1998 and a grantee in 1990. Institute President Richard
Solomon recalled, ‘‘Ehud’s views were sought out by policy-makers in
Israel and in Washington.’’ Sprinzak served as an adviser to former Israeli
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, whom he once warned might be the
target of an assassination attempt. Eitan Haber, director-general of Rabin’s
Prime Minister’s Office, noted that for Rabin, Sprinzak was ‘‘a partner
to important and fateful decisions.’’ For more details about him, see,
http://www2.aya.yale.edu/clubs/israel/newsletter_1.htm and http://
www.usip.org/newsmedia/releases/2002/1112_pr.html.
33. E. Sprinzak, The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.
34. Note the discrepancy in the timing of the event between these two
scholars. While Cohen-Almagor claims that the event took place ‘‘on the
eve of the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur’’, Sprinzak,
in contrast, holds the position that the event took place: ‘‘just two days
after Yom Kippur’’.
35. While it is clear from Sprinzak’s footnote that the curse was taken
from a report found in an Israeli newspaper article (namely, Dov
Elboim, ‘‘The Killing Curse,’’ Yediot Aharonot, November 13, 1995
[Hebrew]), it is not clear what Sprinzak’s sources were for the rest of
the story.
36. E. Sprinzak, The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, p. 120. This very
same account, identical almost word for word, can be found in Sprinzak’s
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other scholarship Brother Against Brother: Violence And Extremism In Israeli
Politics From Altalena To The Rabin Assassination, (New York, 1999),
pp. 274–275.
37. Over the past four years, I have continually attempted to trace the
origin of this ritual by researching about it at the Institute of Manuscripts
of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as well as in the manuscript
collection of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. In addition,
I have talked with academic scholars, rabbis, Kabbalists, and authors of
popular literature. As of the publication date, I have not gotten a firm and
full answer to this question.
38. In an article currently entitled, Pulsa Denura: The True Historical
Textual Concept and Modern Distortions, (in progress). In this article, I offer
a thorough exploration of this controversial idiom.
39. B.T. Yoma 76b–77a; B.T, Baba Metzia 85b; B.T, Hagigah 15a;
B.T, Baba Metzia 47a.
40. These are beings that exist in the divine realm, such as angels, divine
powers, and deceased prophets like Elijah (or a deceased sinner, see Minor
Tractates, Kalah Rabbati 2:9), who clearly have no material bodies or
corporeality, as do normal humans. See the Adin Steinsaltz edition of the
Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Baba Metzia, p. 199 at the bottom.
41. The Zohar, Vol. 3, p. 263b. All references from and to The Zohar in
this article are from Reuven Margaliot’s edition ( Jerusalem, 1984)
[Hebrew and Aramaic]. The English translation is based on that of
Soncino Press (The Zohar, (trans.) Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon
(London, 1970) as well as Dr Daniel C. Matt (The Zohar: Pritzker Edition,
Standford, 2004), with modifications as I deemed appropriate.
42. The Zohar, Vol. 1, p. 223b.
43. The Zohar, Vol. 2, pp. 66b–67a.
44. The Zohar, Vol. 2, pp. 51b.
45. One indication of this power is the frequent threats by religious
extremists to employ this ‘‘ritual’’ against public figures whenever their
actions do not meet with the extremists’ approval. The power of the
extremists is magnified even more by the reactions to these threats, not
only in the media and among the public, but also mainly from the Israeli
legal and security authorities.
46. Unless the two fragmented versions and the third one that seems
to be complete can all be traced to one source.
47. Karpin and Friedman, Murder in the Name of God.
48. Karpin and Friedman, Murder in the Name of God, pp. 90–91.
Ellipses appear in the quotation because I have edited out the author’s
comments inserted in the text.
49. Ehud Sprinzak, The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.
50. Sprinzak, The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, p. 120.
51. Mordechai Margalioth (ed.), Sepher Harazim: A Newly Recovered
Book of Magic from the Talmudic Period, ( Jerusalem, 1966), p. 70, lines
63–66 [Hebrew]. The English version of this text is found in Michael A.
Morgan (trans. and ed.), Sepher Harazim: The Book Of The Mysteries,
Pulsa De-Nura
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(Chico, 1983), p. 27. Note that the text reported by Karpin and Friedman
is a direct translation from the Hebrew version of this book and not a
replica of the English version. I would like to thank Dr Yuval Harari,
expert on Jewish magic, for directing me to this book.
52. Sprinzak’s reference for the curse is an article in the Israeli
newspaper Yediot Acharonot, but he did not provide the original classical
source.
53. Although certain words and phrases in this text can also be found
in texts three and four below, I was unable to find the classical source of
the entire text, if it indeed exists.
54. I go beyond a mere translation of the curse texts (more so in the
fourth text than this one) by providing the potential biblical verses that
serve as the direct or the inspirational source for many of the phrases
utilized in these curses.
55. This is the first time, to my knowledge, that these texts appear in
the English language. To capture the tone, style, and intention of the
original text, I have utilized two biblical translations (JPS and Artscroll) as
I deemed necessary.
56. Founded by the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, Kach was a military antiArab, far-right wing political party in Israel, which was outlawed by the
State of Israel in 1988 for ‘‘incitement to racism’’.
57. Yossi Dayan is a former member of the Kach party. Before party
membership was deemed illegal, he was listed second after Kahane on the
party list to the Knesset (Israel’s Parliament) in the elections of 1988.
58. This third curse formula text as well as the fourth one was written
originally in Hebrew and Aramaic.
59. Alluding to two Kabbalistic concepts, the sefirot Yesod and
Shekhinah, see The Zohar 1:8a, in which Yesod and Shekhinah correspond
respectively to Good and Understanding (or insight): ‘‘Hence in that
place abides fear, which is the gateway to all that is good. ‘Good’
and ‘understanding’ are two gates,’’ Zohar, Bereshith (E.T., London, 1970),
Section 1, p. 8a. Matok Medvash interprets the two gates as Yesod and
Tiferet, See Daniel Frish, Matok Me-Devash, ( Jerusalem, 2005) [Hebrew],
but I tend to accept Daniel Matt’s understanding in which Yesod and
Shekhinah are Good and lower Wisdom (or insight) respectively, see
Daniel Matt, The Zohar, Vol. 1, p. 51, fn 357. In any case, Yesod is
often called ‘‘Good’’, thus the curse writer’s usage of the ‘‘gates’’ as a
source of harm and killing in this context is quite puzzling to me.
60. This refers to the Hebrew term, mosser, explained in fn 8.
61. Deuteronomy 29:19
62. The author of this text paraphrases a Zoharic discourse concerning
the ideas of fear, wisdom, and the tree of life, which refers to the biblical
verse: ‘‘The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord; all who practice
it gain sound understanding [sechel tov]. Praise of Him is everlasting.’’
(Psalms 111:10) The Zoharic text, taken from the Daniel Matt translation,
The Zohar, reads as follows: ‘‘Rabbi Yose said, ‘Good insight [sechel tov] is
the Tree of Life—good insight with no evil at all. Since no evil abides there,
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it is good insight without evil.’ ’’ Thus, from ‘‘Rabbi Yose’’ to ‘‘[when] good
insight [is] without evil’’ only is a paraphrase from the actual Zoharic text.
One can see that the usage of this discourse is not only taken out of
context (i.e., from the context of a mystical journey attained by a mystic
who thorough a spiritual process eventually reaches the upper wisdom
(hokhmah) in the Sefirotic realm), but the writer also took the liberty of
corrupting the Zoharic text in order for it to fit his ‘‘holy quest’’, the death
of Rabin.
63. The term used in The Zohar is ‘‘sechel tov’’, which means good
insight (according to Matt’s translation of The Zohar) or good understanding (according to the Soncino translation).
64. Literally ‘‘the doings of his hands’’.
65. Isaiah 36:12, based on the Soncino translation on CD-ROM.
66. In Deuteronomy 29:19, the word ‘‘ala’’ is used, which means
‘‘a curse’’. In the wording of this ritual, Dayan prefers a more simple and
colloquial form for the word ‘‘curse’’, using term ‘‘klalah’’ instead.
This usage might imply that he seeks to be accessible to an audience that
likely would not understand the more obscure biblical term ‘‘ala’’.
Despite the opening words of the ritual, the curse is clearly not meant to
apply only to celestial beings.
67. Dayan uses the phrase ‘‘in the Torah’’, while in the original Hebrew
of the Bible (Deuteronomy 29:19) the words are ‘‘in this book’’.
68. Based on Deuteronomy 29:19.
69. One wonders where the longer version is.
70. According to Ben-Horin, a Right-Wing extremist and one of the
participants in the ritual, the event took place on July 21, 2005. Perhaps
the discrepancy can be explained by positing the ritual’s start at midnight
on Thursday night and its continuance through the early morning of
Friday the 22nd.
71. Shlomo Ben-Yosef was arrested by the British mandatory authorities in pre-State Palestine after shooting at an Arab bus in retaliation for
the murder of six Jews. He was sentenced to death, and on June 29, 1938,
was hanged in the Acre jail at the age of 25. Ben-Yosef was subsequently
buried in the Rosh Pina cemetery.
72. A segment of the ritual can be seen via the following link to
channel 2 news in Israel: http://213.8.193.29/msnvideo/Channel2/
News8/pulsadenura_050726.wmv
73. Referring to Genesis 16:7
74. Referring to the fact that for the curse casters, Sharon had acted
against the majority of the members of his own party by seeking
to withdraw the Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip. Because he had
only a small number of supporters for this decision within his party,
his actions were considered illegitimate by many: ‘‘Sharon’s death is
more important [than] that [of] Rabin’s. With Rabin, he was just one man
surrounded by many others in power who were pushing for the same
capitulation to terror. Here, Sharon is the single man pushing his party
and many unwilling people to go along with the evil evacuation plan.
Pulsa De-Nura
97
Getting rid of Sharon can do the trick.’’ For more, see the link
to the article of Aaron Klein in WorldDailyNet.com (July 26, 2005):
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID¼45454 or
in an article on July 27, 2005, from the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz at:
http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo¼605002
75. Referring to Job 14:1, 15:14, 25:4.
76. The additions in square brackets are mine. The rest of the sentence
contained within the square brackets is my own reconstruction of the text
based on what was shown briefly on TV as well as that found in Yossi
Dayan’s booklet. The video clearly shows that the leader of the group lost
his focus and coughed at this point during the ritual, obscuring the rest of
this sentence.
77. Deuteronomy 29:19. In the original biblical context, God is unwilling
to forgive the person or group that turns away from serving Him in order to
serve other gods. The text also notes that such a person would hear the
words of this curse and think he would be safe even though he chose to
follow his own willful heart. Such an individual or group will be ‘‘set aside for
evil’’ by God and the Land will be cursed as well.
78. Ezekiel 18:24.
79. Psalms 55:13.
80. Psalms 58:11.
81. A paraphrase of Judges 9:24.
82. Limsor is the verbal form of the same root as the Hebrew term
mosser, alluding to ‘‘one who delivers the Land of Israel to enemies’’.
83. Deuteronomy 11:12.
84. Ezekiel 20:32.
85. The biblical text uses the word ‘‘kol ha-ala’’ meaning ‘‘the entire
imprecation’’ or ‘‘every sanction’’.
86. In the ritual, the text employs the words ‘‘in the Torah’’ (oraita in
Aramaic), while in the original Hebrew of the Bible the words are ‘‘in this
book’’.
87. Deuteronomy 29:19. During the ritual, this verse was recited in
Aramaic based upon the traditional, ancient Aramaic translation of
the Torah known as Targum Onkelos, and is taken from it almost word
for word.
88. This is a very ‘‘creative’’, or more accurately, a very distorted
paraphrase of Deuteronomy 13:6, which refers in the original biblical
context to a false prophet who tries to lead the people to worship other
gods. This textual manipulation is obviously designed to insinuate that
Sharon is not only leading the Jewish people astray through public
support of false ideas, but is also deserving of death—the biblical
punishment for false prophets. Note also Deuteronomy 13: 9–10
‘‘. . . show no pity or compassion, and do not cover up the matter; but
take that person’s life . . .’’
89. In a chapter in my book in progress on pulsa de-nura.
90. I have, in fact, italicized biblical texts in all four of the curse
versions discussed.
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91. See for example the article by Yaakov Katz, ‘‘Rabbi Who Cursed
Rabin Targets Sharon,’’ The Jerusalem Post, March 30, 2005; and
E. Sprinzak, Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, pp. 119–120.
92. I call it ‘‘the most public of all’’ because it was captured on film and
broadcast widely on television. P.M. Sharon’s subsequent illness only
heightened its effect.
93. ‘‘Ritual is a system of actions and beliefs that has a beginning, a
middle, and an end, and is directly related to superhuman
beings . . . This relation is usually expressed through the language
of ritual belief. It is this relation that constitutes ritual. Thus, ritual is
made up of act and belief. Rituals have a specific system or
structure . . . This structure has three stages that can be identified
as follows: the preliminal stage, the liminal stage, and the postliminal
stage. All rituals . . . consist of this threefold structure that marks the
beginning, the middle, and the end of a ritual.’’ Jonathan Z. Smith (ed.),
‘‘Ritual,’’ The Harper Collins Dictionary of Religion, (San Francisco, 1995),
pp. 930–931.
94. H. Schiff, Sha’ah Tovah, the week of January 14, 2006, pp. 14–15.
95. It is not a book; it is merely a small booklet, which mostly
constitutes page after page of direct quotes from classical sources.
This, as we have shown, has nothing to do with the modern version of
the ritual of Pulsa De-nura.
96. H. Schiff, Sha’ah Tovah, p. 14.
97. ibid, p. 14.
98. See Dayan’s booklet in which he makes use of many Kabbalistic
texts within which the term Pulsa De-nura is used. His attempt to
contextualize the whole ritual in a mystical framework is self evident.
99. See mainly Rabbi Dov Schwartz and Rabbi Moshe Blau,
‘‘Who Is Afraid of the Pulsa De-Nura?,’’ Mishpacha ( Jerusalem, Nissan
2005, pp. 22–26), [Hebrew].
100. See Arica, Kabbalah In Clear Light, p. 258. Unfortunately, I do not
have access to Dov Elboim’s article, ‘‘The Murdering Curse,’’ Yediot
Aharonot, November 13, 1995 [in Hebrew], which may be even earlier than
Arica. In any case, Arica’s work is no doubt one of the earliest modern
versions of the connection between the ritual and the term, if not the
earliest one. However, I would be remiss if I do not mention the existence
of a potential source predating modernity from the circle of Rabbi Luria
Ashkenazi, which has not been mentioned by anyone thus far in any
context and requires greater deliberation beyond the scope of this article.
101. Rabbi Moshe Blau asserts that the first time this connection was
made it was by the leader of the Neturei Carta, Rabbi Amram Blau, in
1950, who purportedly performed a condemning ritual in the Beit Midrash
Kehal Yereim Hasidim that he called, for the first time, Pulsa De-nura. It was
used against another member of the ultra-Orthodox community who had
cooperated with the authorities in their attempt to relocate an old Jewish
cemetery in order to allow greater space for the building of the new
government headquarters and the Israel Parliament. I have yet to see the
Pulsa De-Nura
99
documentation for this story. See Yaakov Stern, ‘‘The Pulsa Denura
of Rabbi Amram Blau’’, Sha’ah Tovah, the week of January 14, 2006,
pp. 16–17 [Hebrew]. In an even earlier episode of its use, Professor
Moshe Idel reports hearing personally from Professor Gershom Scholem
that during World War II the Haredi community performed Pulsa De-nura
against Hitler. Although in Stern’s article, Moshe Blau dismisses
this information, saying, ‘‘There never was a Pulsa De-nura performed
against Hitler.’’
102. See endnote 8.
103. J.D Eisenstein, Ozar Dinim U-Minhagim: A Digest of Jewish Laws and
Customs in Alphabetic Order, (New York, 1938) pp. 143–144, [Hebrew]. The
translation and emphasized words are mine. A detailed form of the herem
can be found in the anthology Sefer Kol Bo, Part II (printed version,
Jerusalem, 1997), pp. 524–526.
104. For the history of the herem (excommunication), see the term in the
following sources: Encyclopedia Judaica, CD-ROM Version, Keter
Publishing, Jerusalem, 1997, as well as Encyclopaedia Britannica, CD-ROM
Version 1994–1998. See also Encyclopaedia Hebraica, Vol. 18, pp. 51–56,
[Hebrew]. For herem in the biblical period, see, Encyclopaedia Biblica,
(Jerusalem, 1958), Vol. 3, pp. 290–292 [Hebrew]. For specific kinds of
herem, see: R. J. Zwi Werblowsky and Geoffrey Wigoder (eds.), ‘‘Herem
Beit Din’’ and ‘‘Herem Ha-Yishuv,’’ The Oxford Dictionary Of The Jewish
Religion (Oxford, 1997), p. 317.
105. Even if the reports about the pulsa de-nura ceremony do not reflect
reality, by which I mean that even if the ritual did not actually take place,
it is, in any case, important to discuss due to the fact that these accounts
are attested to in written sources and are believed to have taken place by
many readers. Thus, an objective review is required in all cases.
106. http://mystical-politics.blogspot.com/2004/09/i-named-thisweblog-mystical-politics.html
107. The art of attributing works to well-known texts and personalities
from ancient times.
108. It is considered outmoded in modern times by all except for a
small minority among some haredi circles.