#eruvin

[dafyomilimerick]

Eruvin 62

Said the folks to Rav Chisda, "We wish To have eggs cooked in kutach, a dish Made with milk. Can we do it?" "I'll not get into it, In this place, where my Rav sets his tisch."

[keshetchai]

#oh this is a really interesting perspective#I definitely know of (more younger) pagans who latch on to Lilith#which I think is interesting because most of the early neopagan practitioners used the figures of Diana or Hecate or Frig or Brigid or even#the Morrigan to stand in for the ‘divine feminine’ or whatever#lots of goyim (and I’m no exception) found the popular culture imagining of Lilith as the ‘mother of monsters’ inspirational#but she has been robbed of context and repackaged as another pop culture goddess#(don’t get me started on witch washing)#anyway I’ve always found her appearance in the epic of Gilgamesh

(Do get started on Witch-washing, lol!) I think this is interesting to mention the Gilgamesh appearance, because the idea that "Lilith" is even in the Epic of Gilgamesh is disputed by some academics.

Because what we have is ki-sikil-lil-la-ke mentioned in Tablet XII (An Assyrian Akkadian translation), and it happened to be one single translator in 1932 who translated the "lil-la-ke" part as Lilith.

I'm not really convinced we have genuine textual grounds to firmly connect the ki-sikil-lil-la-ke with Lilit (Lilith) as an individual character. The Lil-la-ke of the Assyrian Gilgamesh has also been argued to be a water-spirit, or an owl (given that it makes a home within the tree trunk). Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian scripts variously refer to classes of spirits/demons known as: lilu, hilu, lili, and lilitu -- but they aren't typically individuals. It would seem to me that is why the lil-la-ke in question is specified as the "ki-sikil" -- which has been suggested to mean "sacred place".

This would be more similar to the Jewish usage of "lilin" as a class of being, but not a specific individual like Lilit (Lilith). The singular use of "lilit" within the Hebrew Bible is in the book of Isaiah. There is a Dead Sea Scrolls fragment of the same part of Isaiah that actually renders this in plural form -- liliyyot.

Tablet XII is a translation from about 600 BCE, and the historical Isaiah would've been mid-late 8th century BCE. The development of a story of "first Eve," and even "mother of monsters" however, is centuries later. The DSS has one mention of a lilit singular in a "Songs of the Sage":

And I, the Instructor, proclaim His glorious splendour so as to frighten and to te[rrify] all the spirits of the destroying angels, spirits of the bastards, demons, Lilith, howlers, and [desert dwellers]...

This dates to the Herodian period. So like... nearly 600 years later, there is another one (still extent) mention of Lilith (singular).

And it's maybe a century or two after that before a "mother of monsters" association is found in Jewish texts.

I do get the appeal of a "mother of monsters" vibe comes from -- of course I understand why people are drawn to safety, acceptance, protection for those the world might deem "monstrous."

But like, in Jewish mythology, Lilith like...I mean she's not a great mother? The first mention of a Lilith who is mother of monster children that we have is literally Moses mentioning she murders her own children.

Now that this has got me thinking, there's one other very good reason all the appeal is in the "Eve" parallel (which is...actually medieval, not ancient), combined with misunderstanding "mother of monsters" as potentially empowering/subversive. And that's that absolutely no one latches on to Adam in the same way, and that has never been part of the pop culture thrall, and yet we have just as solid reasons to see him as the father of countless monsters within Judaism.

and like, for some reason, "Adam's wet dreams created hundreds of spirits, demons, and female-demons" never really got this pop culture pagan feminist treatment, lmfao.

Btw the reason gentile pagans are fixated with Lilith is because she is the parallel to their fixation with "Lucifer," or "Satan," as a means of deconstructing their fucked up relationship with Christianity and Christian theology, and the internalized terrible garbage they picked up from Christian normativity, even if they weren't previously practicing Christians.

Lucifer/Satan gets to replace Jesus/God (the representation of XYZ Christian theologies they have issues with) and Lilith gets to replace Eve (the representation of XYZ Christian theologies relating to women that they have issues with).

The replacements represent - to some extent - themselves. They choose means of interpreting these characters that specifically make them into people who were unfairly victimized (within Christian theology) and marginalized, and who were ultimately "right." Or more "powerful," or ultimately more sympathetic/human/compassionate.

It's a fantasy wherein they get to validate their own frustration/pain/feeling of exclusion or powerlessness/treatment of being seen as an "ungodly" or "bad" person, and then make that person who typifies those things in their mind as the real hero, regardless of how doing that affects other people, or even if it makes sense.

It's actually very transparent when you think about it. I can almost guarantee Lilith would hold almost no sway to any of them if she wasn't explicitly mentioned as a counterpoint to Eve.

[baroque-hashem]

I've seen some people support the teacup mikvah by saying things to the effect of: "Well you can choose to drive or not on Shabbat so clearly you can choose how you want your mikvah!"

Cherry picking Jewish practices and explaining them incorrectly, using Jewish practices to support their arguments even though the practices do nothing of the sort.

And like, no.

On the matter of Shabbat:

You can choose to observe Shabbat or not. That is a choice regarding a specific Jewish practice.

The teacup mikvah is a distortion of an established Jewish practice. And Jewish writings are surprisingly unanimous about the nature of the mikvah, and the teacup mikvah does not align with accepted standards, it is not a mikvah, and there really isn't any wiggle room here. Why? Because the ultimate authority for our laws is G-d, and the laws in the Torah are said to come from G-d. And the Torah specifies that immersion must be full and total. There is no "ya ya, dance around the teacup, ya ya". It is a full, ritual immersion. Every inch of your body fully covered in water. A simple knowledge of science will tell you that there is no way a teacup of water is gonna cut it. (Eruvin 4b, Mishnah Mikvaot--yeah there's a whole fucking part of the Mishnah which talks about mikvaot, Leviticus 15 talks about purity and immersion, and it's mostly where the Mishnah and Talmud and later sources get the whole concept of a mikvah from)

Judaism is full of nuance. For the most part, you really can practice in a way that works for you. You can adopt what practices you are freely able to adopt. And there are accepted, agreed upon practices--yes, I know, shocking, Jews agreeing on things! We've been known to, from time to time. But you cannot distort a practice or a law. You cannot lie and say a practice is in alignment with Jewish law when you know full well it is not.

We Jews are an honest people (which is why it is so absurd that antisemites have this idea that we are liars). We value honesty so highly. We do not take kindly to people intentionally distorting our practices and lying to others about who we are and what we do.

You can choose what practices you accept. But with some practices, there is little to no wiggle room. And you cannot, under any circumstances, willingly distort Jewish practices for selfish reasons.

[snissel613]

I don’t think enough people know that the Ship of Theseus is a solved problem. It’s been settled for over a thousand years. There is a clear ruling in the Mishnah (Keilim 18:6, 26:4) which is explicitly interpreted as “it’s a different ship” twice in the gemara (Shabbas 112b, Eruvin 24a). The best part of it all? That’s the boring part of the sugya! Dig a little deeper and you’ve got physical matter being part of two objects at once, temporal contact, impurity by association, it’s great!

[magnetothemagnificent]

Rabbi Yochanan in Eruvin 100b: "If we hadn't been given the Torah we would have still learned modesty from cats"

Cats in real life:

-Stretch in such a way when they're grooming themselves that their butthole is visible for all to see

-Beg to be let into the bathroom when their human is in there

-Hide inside the bathroom and don't come out until their human is sitting on the toilet, and then they meow and beg for pets

[writer-at-the-table]

I am once again asking for diagrams of the city, town, and village setups discussed in the Talmud. This is like Eruvin all over again,

[lostcauses-noregrets]

were you in the fandom when the acwnr anime first released? what was the fandoms reaction to the adaptation being different from the manga i am curious.

I wasn't in the fandom when ACWNR first aired. I joined in fandom in late 2015 and the ACWNR OVA came out at the end of 2014. I asked some of the Veterans who were around at the time though and they were kind enough to share their reminiscences 🙏

@darlingpoppet: "I just remember we all had Thoughts™️ about Erwin’s ending speech… that’s never really changed has it 😂"

@he1chouarts: "We were all pissed about Erwin. Weak nose bump, weird dialogue."

@masksarehot2: "Part 1, everyone went nuts. Part 2, mixed reactions. After part 1 we were concerned they would cut a lot of content, and we were right 😭 Levi going feral was the repeated clip everyone sobbed over for weeks, it was the first time we saw him really emotional. There was a mostly negative reaction to Erwin's reaction to Farlan and Isabel's deaths. And the cut "your wings are the real thing after all" was also a hot topic of discussion. ERUVIN SMISSU. Levi saying that, clip circulated for a while.

Despite its obvious flaws the ACWNR anime will always hold a special place in my heart because it was my gateway drug for the SnK manga and Eruri shipping. So even though I'm still pissed about Erwin's characterisation, I can't be too mad at it!

[power-chords]

As Moshe Idel points out, pardes, comprising the Hebrew consonants P-R-D-S, “stands for peshat or plain meaning, remez or hint, sometimes designating allegorical explanations, derash or homiletic exposition, and sod or secret (namely symbolic) interpretation of the text. In Kafka such fullness of interpretation counts as paradise—another meaning of pardes—as his aphorism on the coming of the messiah declares: “the messiah will come as soon as the most unbridled individualism of faith becomes possible.” Kafka's version of the Talmudic parable thus suggests that such fullness of interpretation is possible without the destructiveness that tradition assigns to the heretic other, and it quietly celebrates the multiplicity of the traditional Hebrew text.

Uncle Jakob's “intermediary trade” (Zwischenhandel) reflects this same kind of interpretive transaction, where respect for the law and love for interpretive freedom go side by side. The accurate transcription of messages in Jakob's office echoes this principle, evoking a modern form of the traditional copying of the Torah famously depicted in S. Y. Agnon's modern Hebrew tale “The Torah Scribe.” Thus in Jakob's New York office Karl is astonished to see how “Meldungen,” or “messages,” are “taken down by two other employees and then compared [verglichen], so that errors [Irrtümer] could be ruled out as much as possible.” In the Talmudic tradition, the same Rabbi Meir whom Kafka mentions in his pardes version was famous for strictly following the letter of the law, and with the same paradoxical effect. The more that literal correctness is valued, the more each word comes to be invested with a mystical, even world-changing significance, as attention to the letter eventually reveals potential “others” that open up the meaning of the text. As Rabbi Meir declares in the Talmud, here quoted in a version of Eruvin 13a that Gershom Scholem provides: “When I was studying with Rabbi Akiba, I used to put vitriol in the ink and he said nothing. But when I went to Rabbi Ishmael, he asked me: My son, what is your occupation? I answered: I am a scribe [of the Torah]. And he said to me: My son, be careful in your work, for it is the work of God; if you omit a single letter, or write a letter too many, you will destroy the whole world.” Fidelity to the letter and its “messages,” as Uncle Jakob practices this notion, leads to a flourishing “business” in New York in a more comic form. Scrupulous attention to the letter thus acquaints the reader with the infinite potential of its inferences, multiple meanings, and even secret combinations of the letters of the law. As a Jewish scholar who used Kafka's pardes passage for his commentary on Exodus once declared, “whoever believes only in the plain sense of the Bible, peshat, is indeed a fool,” playfully demonstrating his reading by rearranging the consonants of peshat to show that they also spell the Hebrew word tipesh, that is, “foolish,” meaning someone who misses the hidden meanings of the traditional text.

—David Suchoff, excerpted from Kafka’s Jewish Languages: The Hidden Openness of Tradition, 2012.

[33-108]

ZOHAR AND LILITH:

"References to Lilith in the Zohar include the following:

She roams at night, and goes all about the world and makes sport with men and causes them to emit seed. In every place where a man sleeps alone in a house, she visits him and grabs him and attaches herself to him and has her desire from him, and bears from him.

And she also afflicts him with sickness, and he knows it not, and all this takes place when the moon is on the wane.

This passage may be related to the mention of Lilith in Talmud Shabbath 151b (see above), and also to Talmud Eruvin 18b where nocturnal emissions are connected with the begettal of demons.

According to Rapahel Patai, older sources state clearly that after Lilith's Red Sea sojourn (mentioned also in Louis Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews), she returned to Adam and begat children from him by forcing herself upon him.

Before doing so, she attaches herself to Cain and bears him numerous spirits and demons.

In the Zohar, however, Lilith is said to have succeeded in begetting offspring from Adam even during their short-lived sexual experience.

Lilith leaves Adam in Eden, as she is not a suitable helpmate for him.

Gershom Scholem proposes that the author of the Zohar, Rabbi Moses de Leon, was aware of both the folk tradition of Lilith and another conflicting version, possibly older.

The Zohar adds further that two female spirits instead of one, Lilith and Naamah, desired Adam and seduced him.

The issue of these unions were demons and spirits called "the plagues of humankind", and the usual added explanation was that it was through Adam's own sin that Lilith overcame him against his will.

17th-century Hebrew magical amulets

Medieval Hebrew amulet intended to protect a mother and her child from Lilith (see picture)

A copy of Jean de Pauly's translation of the Zohar in the Ritman Library contains an inserted late 17th century printed Hebrew sheet for use in magical amulets where the prophet Elijah confronts Lilith.

The sheet contains two texts within borders, which are amulets, one for a male ('lazakhar'), the other one for a female ('lanekevah').

The invocations mention Adam, Eve and Lilith, 'Chavah Rishonah' (the first Eve, who is identical with Lilith), also devils or angels:

Sanoy, Sansinoy, Smangeluf, Shmari'el (the guardian) and Hasdi'el (the merciful).

A few lines in Yiddish are followed by the dialogue between the prophet Elijah and Lilith when he met her with her host of demons to kill the mother and take her new-born child ('to drink her blood, suck her bones and eat her flesh'). She tells Elijah that she will lose her power if someone uses her secret names, which she reveals at the end: lilith, abitu, abizu, hakash, avers hikpodu, ayalu, matrota ...

In other amulets, probably informed by The Alphabet of Ben-Sira, she is Adam's first wife. (Yalqut Reubeni, Zohar 1:34b, 3:19

Charles Richardson's dictionary portion of the Encyclopædia Metropolitana appends to his etymological discussion of lullaby "a [manuscript] note written in a copy of Skinner" [i.e. Stephen Skinner's 1671 Etymologicon Linguæ Anglicanæ], which asserts that the word lullaby originates from Lillu abi abi, a Hebrew incantation meaning "Lilith begone" recited by Jewish mothers over an infant's cradle.

Richardson did not endorse the theory and modern lexicographers consider it a false etymology."- Adam van norden

[eli-kittim]

Is Mara bar Serapion’s Letter a Forgery?

Eli Kittim

The letter has been claimed to include no

Christian themes.

— Wiki

Mara bar Serapion was a stoic philosopher. He is noted for a lengthy letter that he wrote to his son. The letter was composed in Syriac, written sometime between 73 AD and the 3rd century. Many Christian apologists have suggested that Mara bar Serapion is alluding to Jesus Christ in this letter. But there are several problems with that theory.

First, a nonChristian like Mara bar Serapion would never have referred to Jesus as a “king.” Only dedicated and reborn Christians refer to Jesus as their Lord of lords and kings of Kings, not pagans.

Second, Jesus was not known as a “king.” In fact, according to Bruce Chilton and Craig A. Evans (“Studying the Historical Jesus,” pp. 455–457), “the term ‘king of the Jews’ has never been seen in the Christian literature of antiquity as a title for Jesus.”

Third, Jesus was not known as a “wise king.” The only Jew known to be a “wise king” was King Solomon, who was in fact a *king,* and whose *wisdom* was known throughout the ancient world. What is more, King Solomon is well known for being the author of many books of *wisdom* in the Bible.

Fourth, Mara bar Serapion does not even mention the terms “Jesus” or “Christ.” And when referring to famous heroic philosophers who died, and what happened after their death, he never mentions Jesus’ resurrection. Even if he didn’t believe it, he would have, at least, mentioned the *rumor* of Jesus being raised from the dead. The fact that he doesn’t mention it at all means that he’s not talking about Jesus:

[Robert E.] Van Voorst adds two factors

that indicate Mara was not a Christian, the

first being his failure to mention the terms

Jesus or Christ. The second factor (also

supported by Chilton and Evans) is that

Mara's statement that Jesus lives on based

on the wisdom of his teachings, in contrast

to the Christian concept that Jesus

continues to live through his resurrection,

indicates that he was not a Christian.

— Wiki

Fifth, the language of the document suggests that Mara bar Serapion is referring to an actual king who enacted new laws and established new practices. For example, Jewish tradition ascribes ritual hand washing and eruvin to King Solomon, who also served as a Judge (e.g. the “Judgment of Solomon”). He was also responsible for building the first temple, and for instituting new laws of how the temple services would run:

Nay, Socrates did ‘not’ die, because of

Plato; nor yet Pythagoras, because of the

statue of Hera; nor yet the Wise King,

because of the new laws which he enacted.

— Wiki

Sixth, there’s something very odd about the reference to the Jews in this letter. This is quite a long letter, which is based entirely on Greek philosophy. Scholars are in agreement that Mara bar Serapion was a Stoic philosopher and a pagan. As a rule, Stoic philosophers held Jewish teachings in contempt, and so they would never have placed them on a par with the teachings of Socrates, Plato, and Pythagoras. We know this from the apostle Paul who was scoffed at when preaching to stoic philosophers in Athens (Acts 17:15-34). The addition of the “Jewish” element, therefore, reads like a non sequitur, like a strange interpolation that doesn’t belong there… It sounds as if someone added it at a later time. And it seems as if the author (or editor?) got things wrong. Pythagoras was not burned, and King Solomon was not killed. And the expulsion of the Jews might be a reference to the deportation of the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC, or to that of Judah in 586 BC:

The letter refers to the unjust treatment of

‘three wise men’: the murder of Socrates,

the burning of Pythagoras, and the

execution of ‘the wise king’ of the Jews.

— Wiki

Now that I have offered my critique, let’s actually read that portion of the letter that apologists have employed time after time as evidence for the historicity of Jesus. Do you think that this pericope constitutes strong evidence for the existence of Jesus? Hardly! Not by a long shot:

For what benefit did the Athenians obtain

by putting Socrates to death, seeing that

they received as retribution for it famine and

pestilence?  Or the people of Samos by the

burning of Pythagoras, seeing that in one

hour the whole of their country was covered

with sand?  Or the Jews by the murder of

their Wise King, seeing that from that very

time their kingdom was driven away from

them?  For with justice did God grant a

recompense to the wisdom of all three of

them.  For the Athenians died by famine;

and the people of Samos were covered by

the sea without remedy; and the Jews,

brought to desolation and expelled from

their kingdom, are driven away into every

land.  Nay, Socrates did “not” die, because

of Plato; nor yet Pythagoras, because of the

statue of Hera; nor yet the Wise King,

because of the new laws which he enacted.

— Wiki

[dafyomilimerick]

Eruvin 54

One with pains in their neck or their head Or their guts or the bones, it is said Should learn Torah all day Till the pains go away (Also pains through their body widespread).

[seborn9000]

Not really an ask, either. Not sure why you can't accept direct messsaging, but thanks for the message (even though it's not showing up in my tumblr ask file. Did you delete it?) Just decided to get off my duff and restart writing these limericks. Things just slogged in the Eruvin days because I had lost my job. But I'm in a better place emotionally at the moment

I don't know why either! I've been failing to learn to use multiple different platforms at once, and it's just a mystery.

Glad you're doing better now. And it can be intimidating to pick up something you wandered away from or let go, even if it was for really good reasons (and that's some major stress). But you charged right through and that rocks.

[el-smacko]

In the Platonic interpretation of Genesis 2 (“rib” actually means “face” [i.e. “side” rather than “thing of the side”] and Adam had two faces before Eve was cleft from him, which is why humans crave companionship) Adam was originally made androgynous in Gd’s image but Gd made him incomplete (i.e. not like Gd, who is One) and thus more like the animals, which had been explicitly made “male and female.” We can only sin like the animals, which merely lack mens rea without the apple, because of that incompleteness. Anyway, since we are ultimately referring to the Bible, it can be argued that, according to one mishnah (Bereshit Rabbah 8) and the Talmud (Eruvin 18a) syncretizing Plato’s Symposium (189&seq), all animals are (unactionable) criminals.

I'm watching Pingu right now and wow how did I forget that Pingu once tried to recreate the Tower of Babel.

[ablogtopost]

Sete Pecados Capitais

In Christianity as well as in western culture there is a well-known concept of “Seven Deadly Sins” usually enumerated as: pride, covetousness, lust (understood as illicit sexual desire), envy, gluttony, anger and sloth.

(Fonte)

In particular this theme is well known through the art of Hieronymus Bosch. Even though there is no Clear biblical source for this particular list of sins, in general the number seven plays a major role in the Bible and in particular the concept of some “seven sins” is thought to come from Proverbs;

"Seis são as coisas, que o Senhor abomina, e a Sua Alma detesta uma sétima: Olhos altivos, língua mentirosa, mãos que derramam sangue inocente, coração que maquina perversos projetos, pés velozes para correr ao mal, testemunha falsa que profere mentiras, e o que semeia discórdias entre seus irmãos."

Pr 6,16-19

In traditional jewish literature the number seven [1] certainly plays a very important role. The Talmud (Sukkah 52a) mentions seven "names" (or types) of Yetzer Hara and in a different place (Eruvin 19a) seven names of Gehinom. The Zohar (Hechalot in Parshat Pekude) associates the two with each level in Hell ruled bye different aspect of Satan. One would therefore expect some list of “seven deadly sins” in our literature as weil. However it would come as a surprise to find the list that is almost identical Stull such a source does exist. The Vilna Gaon [2] comments on the Agada in Berachot (4b) that the Angel of Death flies in eight steps (מלאך המות בשמונה):

[reinato]

Devocional diário

DESCOBERTAS da fé - RODRIGO SILVA

SEM SABOR E SEM GRAÇA

Para nada mais presta senão para, lançado fora, ser pisado pelos homens. Mateus 5:13

No texto de ontem, você viu que o sal, mesmo sendo um produto resistente, pode perder o sabor. Jesus foi claro ao apontar o sentido espiritual disso. Mas a sequência de Suas palavras continua enigmática: Por que o sal sem gosto é pisado pelos homens?

Por se tratar de um elemento imprescindível nos sacrifícios judaicos, grandes quantidades de sal eram trazidas do Mar Morto para Jerusalém (cf. Esdras 6:9; 7:22). No templo, havia uma câmara só para armazenar o produto. Os levitas jogavam sal tanto nas ofertas quanto na rampa do altar para evitar que os sacerdotes escorregassem nela (Talmude, Eruvin 104a).

O motivo para isso estava na neve que caía em Jerusalém durante o inverno. Até hoje, em países muito frios, o sal é espalhado no asfalto para evitar o acúmulo de neve e a formação do “gelo negro” (black ice em inglês), que, por ser muito escorregadio, pode causar acidentes. Mesmo andando a pé, uma fina camada de gelo pode resultar em escorregões perigosos. Por isso, a aplicação de sal é fundamental para derreter o gelo.

O problema era que, apesar de sua eficácia, o sal era muito caro para ser jogado no chão do templo. Ainda mais que, não somente a rampa, mas todo o complexo de 144 mil metros quadrados precisava ser “salinizado” a fim de impedir que os peregrinos escorregassem nos ladrilhos de calcário, alabastro e mármore. Com o gelo na superfície, eles ficavam muito lisos.

A solução foi utilizar aqueles carregamentos de sal que eventualmente caíam durante o transporte e se contaminavam com terra ou outros elementos, tornando-os impróprios para consumo e muito menos para o serviço no templo. Provavelmente, era esse sal que eles jogavam no pátio para ser “pisado pelos homens”. Imagine as sandálias passando por cima de uma mistura de terra, sal e neve derretida. Um produto tão caro virava lama!

É claro que alguém pode dizer: “Mesmo assim, o sal continuava servindo para alguma coisa.” Sim, é verdade. Isso ilustra que, tanto os salvos quanto os perdidos confirmam para o Universo o caráter justo de Deus, que ofereceu salvação a todos sem forçá-la a ninguém. Mas certamente é melhor pertencer ao grupo que não perdeu seu sabor, você não acha? Decida hoje ser uma benção para as pessoas ao seu redor.

[niepoboznasmierc]

Lilith(druga, bardziej obszerna część)

Mezopotamia

Starożytna Mezopotamia w swojej bogatej mitologii wspomina o różnego rodzaju duchach, chociaż ja zmierzam do 2, jeden z nich(meski Lilu i żeńskia Lilitu) to rodzaj, uważam że są równie istotne jak 2 duch, który już jest stricte bóstwem/demonem.

Duchy te zradzały się z osób których śmierć dotknęła przed seksem i/lub ślubem, demony te były ściśle powiązane z wiatrem, co patrząc na współczesną Panią Ciemności ma dużo sensu. Zajmowały się nawiedzaniem ludzi(zazwyczaj Lilu nawiedzały kobiety, a Lilitu nawiedzały mężczyzn). Ich wizytom towarzyszyły: gorączka, mokre sny i ataki padaczki. Pomimo ich złowrogiej natury wiele ludzi bardziej im współczuło, że nigdy nie doświadczyły życia(często demonami stawały się dzieci).

Z drugiej strony mamy demoniczną bogini Lamasztu, córkę Anu(boga nieba). Wierzono że to Lamasztu atakowała kobiety w połogu i noworodki, prowadząc do katastrofalnych skutków a z czasem do śmierci. Ludzie obawiali się bogini do tego stopnia, że zwracali się do innego demona, który miał za zadanie od nich odpędzać duchy swojego rodzaju, Pazuzu.

Z czasem te 2 rodzaje duchów zaczęły się łączyć w jednego, stając się pierwszym znanym nam prototypem Lilith.

Biblia

W samej biblii Lilit wspomniana jest raz, kiedy to YHWH przepowiada destrukcję Królestwa Edomu.

"Zdziczałe psy spotkają się z hienami i kozły będą się przyzywać wzajemnie; co więcej, tam Lilit przycupnie i znajdzie sobie zacisze na spoczynek."

W tym fragmencie Lilit to żeński pustynny demon wiatru przebywający w ruinach.

Późniejsza tradycja żydowska

Lilith wspomniana jest kolejny raz, około 600 później, w żydowskim manuskrypcie znajdującym się w Zwojach znad Morza Martwego(Dead Sea Scrolls) jeden raz, w Pieśni Mędrca

""A ja, instruktor, głoszę Jego chwalebny blask, aby przerazić i straszyć wszystkie duchy niszczycielskich aniołów, duchy bękartów, demonów, Lilith, wyjców i [mieszkańców pustyni...] oraz tych, którzy spadają na ludzi bez ostrzeżenia, aby sprowadzić ich na manowce z ducha zrozumienia".

W Zwojach znad Morza Martwego znajduje się inny fragment, który może odnosić się do Lilith

"Jej bramy są bramami śmierci, a od wejścia do domu wyrusza w kierunku Sheolu (podziemi),

Żaden z tych, którzy tam wejdą, nigdy nie wróci,a wszyscy, którzy ją posiadają, zejdą do dołu".

Dopiero w średniowieczu Lilith zaczęła grać większą rolę w żydowskiej tradycji, gdzie wspomniana jest w Talmudzie Babilońskim(kompilacji żydowskich nauk):

"Nauczano w baraicie, że trzy dodatkowe przekleństwa to: Zapuszcza długie włosy jak Lilit, demon; siedzi i oddaje mocz, jak zwierzę; i służy jako poduszka dla męża podczas stosunków" (Eruvin 100b:26)

"Rav Yehuda mówi, że Szmuel mówi: W przypadku kobiety, która wydala płód, który ma postać lilith, żeńskiego demona ze skrzydłami i ludzką twarzą, jego matka jest nieczystą nieczystością kobiety po porodzie, ponieważ jest to zdolne do życia potomstwo, tyle że ma skrzydła" (Niddah 24b:10)

"Rabbi Ḥanina powiedział: Zabronione jest spanie samotnie w domu, a każdy, kto śpi samotnie w domu, zostanie zawładnięty przez złego ducha Lilith." (Szabat 151b:10)

Jak można się domyślić Lilith w tym kontekście to rodzaj ducha zamiast konkretnej jednostki. Duchy te były opisywane jako skrzydlate demonice wiatru o długich włosach. Niezmiennie przewija się tutaj silny aspekt seksualny tego ducha(lub tych duchów).

Drugim razem kiedy Pani Ciemności wspominana jest w Talmudzie brzmi tak:

"Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar powiedział: Przez wszystkie te lata, podczas których Adam był ostracyzowany za grzech związany z Drzewem Poznania, spłodził duchy, demony i żeńskie demony, jak jest powiedziane: "I żył Adam sto trzydzieści lat, i spłodził syna na podobieństwo swoje, na obraz swój, i nazwał imię jego Set" (Rodzaju 5:3).

Fragment ten następuje po tym kiedy to Adam opuszcza Ewę w celu powstrzymania się od grzechu. Jednak po jakimś czasie zaczął spładzać demony.

Lilithy zaczęły(jak miały w zwyczaju) nawiedzać Adama nocami, co doprowadziło do narodzin masy duchów.

Przeciwko Lilith powstawało mnóstwo mis zaklęć, misy te miały też chronić przed męskimi lilinami i żeńskimi lithami.

"To jest amulet przeciwko lilitom, które nawiedzają dom tego Ephry... które czynią przemoc, depczą, biczują i okaleczają... które ukazują się ludziom, mężczyznom na podobieństwo kobiet i kobietom na podobieństwo mężczyzn... z formułą... napisałem przeciwko tobie, złe lilith, jakiekolwiek jest twoje imię"

Alfabet Ben Siracha

Napisany około roku 1000 p.n.e Alfabet Ben Sirach omawia wiele tematów taboo zaraz koło ukazywania satyrycznych karykatur wielu postaci biblijnych, to właśnie tutaj znajduje się większość przekonań o Lilith panujących do dzisiaj.

Rozdział 4 tej księgi zaczyna się od historii o synu Nabuchadnezzara II, króla Babilonu, zapadającym na ciężką chorobę. Kiedy nikt nie daje rady polepszyć jego stanu. Zadaniu podejmuje się Ben Sira, ten zaczyna inwokować YHWH i 3 aniołów: Senoya, Sansenoya i Semangelofa. Kiedy król zapytał kim są ci aniołowie Sira decyduje się opowiedzieć mu opowieść o Lilith, Adamie i 3 aniołach:

"Kiedy Bóg stworzył swój świat i stworzył Adama, zobaczył, że Adam jest samotny, i natychmiast stworzył dla niego kobietę z ziemi, taką jak on, i nazwał ją Lilith. Przyprowadził ją do Adama i natychmiast zaczęli walczyć: Adam powiedział: "Położysz się poniżej", a Lilith powiedziała: "Położysz się poniżej, ponieważ jesteśmy równi i oboje zostaliśmy stworzeni z ziemi""

Kiedy Lilith zobaczyła jak się sprawy mają, wymamrotała święte imię YHWH po czym odleciała z ogrodu Eden. Adam natychmiast stanął w modlitwie przed Bogiem i powiedział:

"Panie wszechświata, zobacz, że kobieta, którą mi dałeś, już odleciała"

Bóg natychmiast posłał trzech aniołów i powiedział im:

"Idźcie i przyprowadźcie Lilith; jeśli zgodzi się przyjść, przyprowadźcie ją, a jeśli nie, przyprowadźcie ją siłą"

Senoy, Sensenoy i Semenglof po złapaniu Lilith nad Morzem Czerwonym rzekli:

"Jeśli zgodzisz się pójść z nami, to chodź, a jeśli nie, to utopimy Cię w morzu"

Na co Lilit odpowiedziała:

"Kochani, ja sama wiem, że Bóg stworzył mnie tylko po to, by trapić dzieci śmiertelną chorobą, gdy mają osiem dni; będę miała pozwolenie na krzywdzenie ich od urodzenia do ósmego dnia i nie dłużej; jeśli jest to dziecko płci męskiej; ale jeśli jest to dziecko płci żeńskiej, będę miała pozwolenie na dwanaście dni".

Pomimo tego, wysłańcy YHWH nie dali za wygraną dopóki ta nie przyrzekła na jego imię, że nie ruszy noworodka objętego ich ochroną(amuletem z ich imionami).

"Następnie natychmiast ją opuścili. To jest historia Lilith, która nęka dzieci chorobami".

Opisano, że Lilith pokłóciła się z Adamem o ich pozycję podczas stosunku, ale to nie jest najważniejsze w tej historii. Najważniejszymi rzeczami o których ten fragment mówi są:

• Wierzono, że poprawne wypowiedzenie imienia YHWH obdarowuje mocą, dlatego Lilith mogła wylecieć z Edenu

• Lilith miała władzę nad noworodkami płci męskiej do momentu obrzezania(do ósmego dnia życia)

• Lilith twierdzi, że została stworzona do ściągania chorób na noworodki

Europejskie manuskrypty Alfabetu Ben Siracha dodały kluczowy detal do tej historii:

"Próbowali zabrać ją z powrotem, ale odmówiła. Zapytali ją: "Dlaczego nie chcesz wrócić?". Odpowiedziała im: 'Wiem, że zostałam stworzona wyłącznie po to, aby dzieci chorowały od dnia narodzin do ósmego dnia, kiedy mam pozwolenie, a po ośmiu dniach nie mam pozwolenia. A jeśli jest to kobieta, to przez dwanaście dni!". Powiedzieli jej: "Jeśli nie wrócisz, utopimy cię w morzu". Odpowiedziała: "Nie mogę wrócić z powodu tego, co jest powiedziane w Torze - "Jej były mąż, który ją odesłał, nie może jej ponownie wziąć za żonę, po tym, jak została splugawiona", to znaczy, gdy spał z nią jako ostatni. A Wielki Demon już ze mną spał".

Miano "Wielkiego Demona" nie zostało znalezione w żadnej Żydowskiej literaturze, ale nie zajęło to długo aby nadano mu imię Szatana czy też w samym Judaizmie, Samaela. Co ciekawe, ralacja pomiędzy Lilith a Szatanem nie rozpowszechniła się w samej tradycji Żydowskiej tak jak w zachodniej części świata, ale pozostaje podstawą współczesnych wierzeń Żydowskiej demonologii.

Opis rytuału, który miał chronić przed Lilith:

Wcześniej wspominani aniołowie są tutaj przedstawieni jako 3 dziwnie ukształtowane figury, a kluczowym zdaniem tej inkantacji jest "Adam i Ewa. Lilith wychodzi!"

Sztuka

Kiedy Lilith rozprzestrzeniała się po Europie, była w stanie przyciągnąć wiele artystów, jednym z nich był pochodzący z Rzymu Michaelangelo(Michał Anioł). Zobrazował Lilith jako kobietę-węża zawiniętą wokoło Drzewa Wiedzy, próbując skusić Adama.

Za to pochodzący z Wielkiej Brytanii Dante Gabriel Rossetti na swoim obrazie ukazał Lilith jako kobietę ubraną w białą suknię i przeczesującą swoje rude włosy, przeglądając się w lustrze.

Współczesność

W roku 1972, amerykańska pisarka i aktywistka, znana jako pierwsza Żydowska feministyczna teolożka, Judith Plaskow, napisała od nowa mit o Lilith, Ewie i Adamie.

W wersji Plaskow, Adam zmusza Lilith do wyręczania go w różnego rodzaju sprawach dopóki ta od niego nie ucieka. Po ucieczce pierwszej kobiety, Adam skarży się YHWH i prosi o stworzenie drugiej, bardziej posłusznej, i tak właśnie z żebra Adama zrodziła się Ewa. Mężczyzna także buduje wokół ogrodu mur, który ma zapobiec powrotu Lilith, która desperacko tęskni za dawnym życiem. Za ten czas Adam opowiada, a raczej manipuluje Ewą przekręcając historie, o tym jak zachowywała sie Lilit. W opowieściach Adama, wygnana kobieta ma przynosić nieszczęście, klęski i kataklizmy. Kiedy jednak udaje jej się znów wejść do ogrodu, aby skonfrontować Adama, zostaje znów wygnana. W tym momencie, Ewa zauważa, że wysiedlona była żona Adama jest, tak jak ona, kobietą, wykrada się pod osłoną nocy poza ogród, porozmawiać z czekającą Lilith. Kiedy to one wymieniały się swoim zdaniem i spostrzeżeniami, Adam zauważając nieobecność Ewy, ogarnęła go panika i zdecydował się zostać w ogrodzie, bojąc się dnia powrotu obydwóch kobiet.

Na koniec ciekawostka.

Łatwo można stwierdzić, że Lilith przypisana jest do Saturna po jej pieczęci:

W której znajduje się symbol Saturna