#Joshua Trachtenberg

[ouroboros8ontology]

The mezuzah was also an object of suspicion, and at the same time desire. That it was regarded as a magical device by Christians we know, for a fifteenth-century writer admonished his readers to affix a mezuzah to their doors even when they occupied a house owned by a non-Jew, despite the fact that the landlord might accuse them of sorcery. Indeed, the Jews in the Rhineland had to cover over their mezuzot, for, as a thirteenth-century writer complained, “the Christians, out of malice and to annoy us, stick knives into the mezuzah openings and cut up the parchment,” Out of malice, no doubt—but the magical repute of the mezuzah must have lent special force to their vindictiveness. Yet even Christians in high places were not averse to using these magical instruments themselves. Toward the end of the fourteenth century the Bishop of Salzburg asked a Jew to give him a mezuzah to attach to the gate of his castle, but the rabbinic authority to whom this Jew turned for advice refused to countenance so outrageous a prostitution of a distinctively religious symbol.

Joshua Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion; The Legend of Jewish Sorcery

[strideofpride]

😭❤️🫡

[yiddisheyfe]

איצט לייענען ~

ייִדיש כּישוף און גלייבעכץ: אַ לערנען אין פאָלק רעליגיע פֿון יהושע טראַכּטנבערג (געשריבן 1939) לייענען די פּדפֿ בעכינעם דאָ.

Now reading~

Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion by Joshua Trachtenberg (written 1939) Read the pdf for free here.

[hailruth]

From Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion by Rabbi Joshua Trachtenberg

[creature-wizard]

Do you have any book recommendations about the Satanic Panic and/or debunking conspiracy theories (particularly the ones that are pervasive in "mystical" communities) in general?

You might check out Richard Beck's We Believe The Children: A Moral Panic In The 1980s, The Devil and the Jews The Medieval Conception of the Jew and Its Relation to Modern Anti-Semitism by Joshua Trachtenberg, and the works of Bart D. Ehrman. (Ehrman's works aren't really about debunking, but the historical realities about early Christianity that he talks about basically preclude many conspiracy theories about the origins of Christianity.)

[haorev]

I got some new underwear, the Ashton dice from Critical Role, and two kerchiefs and Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion by Joshua Trachtenberg from Jewitches! Overall, a very nice birthday selection.

[alchemy-fic]

My book wishlist!

Egyptian Magic by E.A. Wallis Budge (1901)

Magic of the Ordinary: Recovering the Shamanic in Judaism by Gershon Winkler, David Carson (2003)

Ashkenazi Herbalism: Rediscovering the Herbal Traditions of Eastern European Jews by Deatra Cohen, Adam Siegel (2021)

Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion by Joshua Trachtenberg (1939)

Ancient Jewish Magic: A History by Gideon Bohak (2008)

The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic & Mysticism: Second Edition by Geoffrey W. Dennis (2007)

The Green Mysteries: An Occult Herbarium by Daniel A Schulke, Benjamin A Vierling (2023)

Reading Sumerian Poetry (Athlone Publications in Egyptology & Ancient Near Eastern Studies) by Jeremy Black (2001)

The Literature of Ancient Sumer by Jeremy Black, Graham Cunningham (2006)

Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia by Stephen Bertman (2002)

Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East by Amanda H. Podany

Auguste Racinet. The Costume History (Bibliotheca Universalis) by Françoise Tétart-Vittu

The Arthur of the Welsh: The Arthurian Legend in Medieval Welsh Literature by Rachel Bromwich (2009)

The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English: Seventh Edition (Penguin Classics) by Geza Vermes

Thomas Aquinas: Selected Writings (Penguin Classics) by Thomas Aquinas, Ralph McInerny

The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion by Thorkild Jacobsen

The Tibetan Book of the Dead: First Complete Translation (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) by Graham Coleman, Thupten Jinpa

The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Penguin Classics) by Wallace Budge, John Romer

History Begins at Sumer: Thirty-Nine Firsts in Recorded History by Samuel Noah Kramer (1981)

The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character (Phoenix Books) by Samuel Noah Kramer

Welsh Witchcraft: A Guide to the Spirits, Lore, and Magic of Wales by Mhara Starling

An Annotated Sumerian Dictionary by Mark E. Cohen

A Sumerian Chrestomathy by Konrad Volk

Toward the Image of Tammuz and Other Essays on Mesopotamian History and Culture by Thorkild Jacobsen

Early Mesopotamia by Nicholas Postgate

Amulets and Talismans by E. A. Wallis Budge

Mundane Astrology by Michael Baigent, Campion, Nicholas, Harvey, Charles

[sapropel]

MAB give me your nonfiction recs

You're gonna notice a theme probably :^)

The Body Keeps the Score -- Bessel van Der Kok

Jewish Peoplehood: An American Innovation -- Noam Pianko

Bears on Bears: Interviews & Discussions -- Ron Suresha

Nothing Sacred: The Truth About Judaism -- Douglas Rushkoff

Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion -- Joshua Trachtenberg*

The Sabbath -- Abraham Joshua Heschel

Parting Ways: Jewishness and the Critique of Zionism -- Judith Butler*

Ehyeh: A Kabbalah For Tomorrow -- Arthur Green*

Salt Fat Acid Heat -- Samin Nosrat

From Lokshen to Lo Mein: The Jewish Love Affair with Chinese Food -- Don Siegel

*haven't finished it yet :)

[libraryleopard]

I know we’re like fully into 2025 now but I’m recording a podcast on my favorite books of 2024 which will include some reading goals for 2025 and I think I need to make a list of nonfiction books to read. Since I’m not in college or grad school at the moment, I’ve got more free time to read longer/more challenging/in-depth nonfiction and I feel like I should take advantage of that.

Specific books I would like to read:

An African History of Africa by Zeinab Badawi

We Don’t Yet Know Ourselves by Fintan O’Toole

How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith

The Devil and the Jews by Joshua Trachtenberg (writing research)

The Scapegoat by Lucy Hughes-Hallett

Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyon Woo

Topics I should look into finding books on and would accept recs if anyone has some:

Ukraine

The AIDS crisis

The Ottoman Empire (writing research)

Gender and sexuality in Weirmar Germany

The Cold War/the Soviet Union

[leanstooneside]

Janet Reno

- MAKSIM CHMERKOVSKIY'S FLABBY SHOULDER

- CHRIS EVANS'S AUTOLYTIC LIP

- TIFFANI THIESSEN'S JUICY FINGER

- SEAL'S CONCENTRATED HAND

- NICK JONAS'S CLOSED TONGUE

- JAY LENO'S CREAMY THIGH

- QUEEN LATIFAH'S BRIGHT CHEEK

- PAUL SCULFOR'S RETICENT HEAD

- COURTNEY LOVE'S POWERFUL LIP

- WILLOW SMITH'S OAKED THUMB

- MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG'S MUSTY BELLY

- CONNIE BRITTON'S EXTRACTED EYELASH

- ZAYN MALIK'S BAKED ELBOW

- MARK SALLING'S BRILLIANCE BREAST

- KIMORA LEE SIMMONS'S COMPLEX HAIR

- BRUCE WILLIS'S LEES ANKLE

- ROONEY MARA'S OPULENT FINGER

- CHRISTIE BRINKLEY'S ROUGH LIP

- JANE LYNCH'S BUTTERY ELBOW

- HEATHER GRAHAM'S STRUCTURED WRIST

- ANDERSON COOPER'S TRANSPARENT THIGH

- OZZY OSBOURNE'S BARNYARD HIP

- LAMAR ODOM'S BAKED BELLY

- CAMILLE GRAMMER'S DIRTY EAR

- ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC'S PETROLLY EAR

- BOBBI KRISTINA BROWN'S HEAVY HEAD

- CYNTHIA NIXON'S ASTRINGENT TONGUE

- SALMA HAYEK'S MUSTY TONGUE

- CHANDRA WILSON'S DEPTH LOWER LEG

- ANNA FARIS'S HOLLOW LIP

- JOSHUA JACKSON'S LASER-LIKE BACK

[ouroboros8ontology]

*finally* starting Jewish Magic and Superstition by Joshua Trachtenberg

she’s cute! it’s wild to think this was published before the shoah (1939)…

anyway, expect some quotes from my read through over the next month+ :)

for any book i read i tag with the author, the title, and the chapter (and any other relevant tags, like folk judaism/jewish folk magic)

[nerdyqueerandjewish]

@graciecatfamilyband it’s from Joshua Trachtenberg’s Jewish Magic and Superstition!

Talking about how demons get jealous of people having property rights and how to avoid upsetting them - you don’t want to build on their favorite meeting place.

[nofatclips]

Mumbay by Sarathy Korwar (featuring MC Mawali) from the album More Arriving - Director/DP - Harshbir Singh Phull

[vaspider]

Hey, I have a question about judaism. I'm writing a ghost story that centers a house where multiple people are trying to stay for purposes of winning the house (typical 'can you spend the night in a haunted house' concept made a little more intense). I'm starting by working out each character's personal relationship with the concept of a ghost. Would you have any sources I could look at about jewish perspectives on ghosts/hauntings/etc? Thank you!

Sure:

I own both of these books and have used them in reference.

Of interest in this (but hardly the definitive in this case) is the incident from I Samuel -- Chabad translates her as a "necromanceress" and other translations (such as the KJV which we all know how I feel about that) call her "the woman who divineth by a ghost."

It's a complicated thing, for sure!

[arcane-offerings]

Joshua Trachtenberg. Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion. Foreword by Moshe Idel. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004. Paperback. 356 pages. 

Shop link in bio.

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[keshetchai]

Suggestions:

Dara Horn's People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted History. This is an exploration of how Jewish history is exploited for the comfort of gentiles, which illuminates a lot about modern day antisemitism.

Joshua Trachtenberg's The Devil And The Jews: The Medieval Conception Of The Jew And Its Relation to Modern Antisemitism is about how heavily influenced modern antisemitism is by the medieval construct of "the Jew." ...and by modern, I mean this book was first published in 1943, and the full text is free online (at the link). It remains relevant and a great exploration of antisemitic canards.

The Jewish Book Council has a tag for books about or including discussions of Antisemitism, and there's reviews or summaries for many of them. That link is filtered for nonfiction books tagged with #antisemitism (because obviously many fictional books cover the topic too). The Dara Horn book is one of the Editor's Picks.

Inevitably there will be quibbles about the specific politics of various NGO's, but the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance has plenty of educational material, as does the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Resource/education collated lists at various websites are also abundant.

[ Caveat emptor: yes, many of this resource link pages will include ADL links and info, because whether or not you agree with the Antisemitism Defense League's politics regarding Israel, or their approaches, they are an org that is explicitly about fighting antisemitism.

Like I fully acknowledge there are very fair criticisms to be made about ADL, but also they are frequently referenced or linked for a reason in these kinds of resources/education lists.

My personal stance is that it's useful to take in information from a variety of resources and then also recognize the inherent politics/missions of various orgs as influencing thoss resources. also recognizing what different groups do or don't include in their discussion is useful! Basically none of these links are a total endorsement of everything you may find or every organization's every action or political alignments. You should be exposed to a broad variety of discussions and viewpoints about a topic, especially one where part of the issue isn't merely historical facts, but also individualized experiences and interactions. You don't have to agree with an org's stance on criticizing Israel and whether or not it's antisemitic. But you may as well learn the point- and counterpoint- of that argument to better dissect what you personally believe, and also to at least understand how various arguments are rationalized. ]

A lot of these are aimed at educators of children or college students but regardless of your age may be useful because the educator is assumed to be an adult.

US department of education's Resources for Preventing and Addressing Antisemitism in Schools also the Safe Supportive Learning resources

UC Berkeley's Antisemitism Education Resources

Interfaith Alliance's Mobilizing against Antisemitism

Jewish education project's: Pride and Prejudice: Educational Resources on Anti-Semitism

PBS resources

Facing History's Resources (filtered by antisemitism. You might jump straight to The Roots and Impact of Antisemitism)

This Jewish federation resources page

Resources for combatting antisemitism

Hey Jewish Tumblr,

Do you have any good books I can read to better understand antisemitism and the Jewish experience in modern day?

Before you say to Google, I'm not knowledgeable on researching nonfiction enough to know what's a good resource and what's not, and I'd rather ask real, living Jews than blindly trust Google. I'm afraid if I just Google it, I'll accidentally get something that's actually antisemitic and I don't want to give am antisemite my money. I'd rather give a Jewish scholar/author my money.

Anything from a scholarly book, to memoirs. Anything that you think is a good resource to explain antisemitism to someone who's never experienced it first hand.

Thank you for your time and consideration, and I hope you have a wonderful day 💜