Jewish Daily Life in Medieval Northern Europe 1080-1350: A Sourcebook, Kalamazoo, Medieval Institute Publications, 2022 Designed to introduce students to the everyday lives of the Jews who lived in the German Empire, northern France, and England from the 11th to the mid-14th centuries, the volume consists of translatio...

The method and descriptive quote come from Barzilay, Levinson, and Baumgarten's "Jewish Daily Life in Medieval Northern Europe, 1080-1350: A Sourcebook" (3/3) www.academia.edu/92601189/Jew...

"The method Isaac utilized was to sum up the numerical value of the couple’s names, add sixteen to the amount, then divide the result by nine, until left with a remainder between one and nine. Each number represents a particular planet and thus a particular destiny" (2/3)

Text describing the process

I ran into bit of Jewish love magic of "he loves me, he loves me not" variety documented Yitzhak ben Yitzhak in Chinon, France around 1250. It starts with gematria (numeric values of of the bride and groom's names), math, numerology, and then an astrological look up table. (1/3)

That’s really interesting and makes the study title an even weirder choice.

That’s cool….i’m kinda baffled by the title

THE CHILDREN OF AHASUERUS: A Study of Jews and Judaism in Fantastic Fiction by Ben Indick Yellow cover. Illustration is a group of cowled faced within a Star of David, with a hand and a smaller star beneath.

@adnesadeh.bsky.social In the mail today.

Me too. Ok. I’ll let you know on what I find.

אין מױל ארײן: ‏ ‏ Supernatural Phenomena of the Yiddish World (and Pumpkins) כּישוף און באַניעס אױף ייִדיש On my various visits to Europe, I never came across pumpkins or anything made with them. Maybe it's because none of my trips were during pumpkin-harvest season.

@bluma.bsky.social Are you familiar with the term "bobik" referring to a supernatural creature? דער באָביק I just ran into it on this site. inmolaraan.blogspot.com/2013/10/supe...

Is There a Witch Bottle in Your House? - JSTOR Daily In the 16th-18th centuries, vessels filled with nails, thorns, hair, and other materials, were used as a form of ritual protection against witches.

Ok...could be? There is an English magic tradition called "witch bottles" that serve a similar protective purpose though they're more likely to hold pins and urine than mercury. They date as early at the late Middle Ages. No idea if those jars are witch jars though.

daily.jstor.org/is-there-a-w...

I'm looking for 17th and 18th century Ashkenazi Jewish jars like this. These jars are 100-200 years and a lot of miles apart, so I don't want to leap to conclusions. But it's interesting.

Here's a link to the small jars on @wikimediafoundation.org Commons. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:19...

Two 19th century brown stoneware jars which have a slip or glaze. They both taper towards the top where there is a shallow rolled lip. One is smaller than the other and the smaller one has lost some of its glaze/slip. These jars were found under the floorboards of a house with a stone carved face see LVPL-554BD1. Noramlly these objects would be too late to record on the PAS database but due to their association with the stone head they have been recorded. he Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) is a voluntary programme run by the United Kingdom government to record the increasing numbers of small finds of archaeological interest found by members of the public. The scheme started in 1997 and now covers most of England and Wales. Finds are published at https://finds.org.uk

One of the Baal Shem Tov's house protection rituals includes reciting certain Psalms after burying quicksilver (mercury) in small jars, sealed in wax, under your doorposts and corners of the house. Check out these small British jars and their description. I wonder if they served a similar purpose?

Rafe Neis, In this episode, we explore the work of Raphael Rachel Neis, a professor of ancient history at the University of Michigan, whose book, When a Human Gives Birth to a Raven, delves into ancient rabbinic

Was listening to Rafe Neis @postrafelite.bsky.social on the Frankely Judaic podcast. Great discussion about talmudic rabbi's understanding of species and generation including the idea that Adne Sadeh and sirens as being the wild/land and water versions of humans.
soundcloud.com/user-7807164...

The Altneu New York on Instagram: "Our gallery space is always on the look-out for new talent. Share this opportunity with your artist-friends ➡️" 695 likes, 61 comments - altneusynagogue on March 23, 2026: "Our gallery space is always on the look-out for new talent. Share this opportunity with your artist-friends ➡️".

My art submission to The Altneu synagogue gallery got rejected. All good. Was fun submitting and I appreciate them putting out an open call. The call is open until the 10th in case anyone wants submit. www.instagram.com/p/DWO-ipZjvIm/

Huh. Ok I need to read that.

Digital collage

Chanukat Habayit Three. Riffing on a scape-rooster ritual.

9 needles, a shin, a house, and some text.

Here's the second. It's pretty drab and commerical...all it needs is Nike swoosh. Both use nine needles from a ritual beginning with...“Take a pack of needles and count them out nine times nine. Place each nine down separately. After finishing, mix them together. ..."

digital collage. There's stars, land, a door, a room, lots of needles and a crab. Not sure when the crab came from. He just sort of wandered in.

Just for fun, I'm doing a series of digital collages called Chanukat HaBayit ("dedication of the house") using images from a protection (shemirah) for a house from Rabbi Israel Ba’al Shem Tov described in Shivhei ha-Besht]. Just playing around with styles. This first one's a bit wild :)

Can’t wait!

Got my copy. Great fun. Kinda a John Constantine: Hellblazer vibe. First graphic novel is a bit overstuffed with activity and a bit under character-developed but has me excited for the next installment. Great job!
@golempress.bsky.social

That’s a great idea

Jewish Monsters and Magic Trading Cards - Aleph and Bet Deck Bundle - Adne Sadeh's Ko-fi Shop Jewish Magic and Monster Trading Cards showcase the wildness and richness of Jewish lore through a unique collection of trading cards. The cards featu...

Lauri….you might consider my Jewish Monsters and Magic trading cards too. They’ve already been used in teen religious a school. I’d be happy to write a teachers guide to go with. ko-fi.com/s/3a04d5f963

Cover of the Hunters of Sheydim comic book.

Hunters of Sheydim! There's a new Jewish mythology themed comic out from Golem Press. It's "a supernatural action-horror graphic novel rooted in Jewish mysticism, ancient tradition, and modern conspiracy." Looks fun. Check it out.
www.golem-press.com

Pesachim 109b:4 | Sefaria Library We learned in the mishna that even with regard to the poorest of Jews, the charity distributors should not give him less than four cups of wine. The Gemara...

They debated in Pesachim 109b, suggesting its a non-issue because of the protective power the Passover night and because there's a fifth cup, the cup of Hallel, the Grace after Meals. So, we're good. Relax like a free person and drink up. (2/2)
www.sefaria.org/Pesachim.109...

Graphic with four cups of wine and a fifth cup. Title reads "Do not Eat or Drink in Pairs on Passover?"

The Passover Haggadah is built on fours, including four questions, four children, and four cups of wine. But the rabbis of the Talmud considered doing things, such as drinking, in pairs (four= two pairs) an unlucky number that could attract sorcery and demons (shedim). (1/2)

Yup. 💯. I’m reading Peninnah Schram’s collection and the Talmud quote is in her commentary on the story. I had to go look it up.

Lol. "In my own city, I am honored for my name; in a place that is not my own city, I am honored for my clothing."

Was reading some Elijah stories and ran into this fun quote from Talmud (Shabbat 145b).

Inside of my well worn Haggadah with notes from multiple years.

The Scholars Haggadah and the Kol Menchem Haggadah.

Daniel Matt’s book “Becoming Elijah”

Seder prep. Fun seeing some of planning notes and themes from previous years and adding more. I always start the Seder with a question to get us going. This year’s will be “where are you going and what sustains you?”

Another interpretation, “seek peace and pursue it” – there was once an incident involving Rabbi Meir, who was sitting and lecturing…. *And a certain woman came to hear his lecture. That woman went home. It was Shabbat eve, and she found that her candle had already become extinguished. Her husband asked her: ‘Where have you been until now?’ She said to him: ‘I was listening to Rabbi Meir lecture.’ That man was a scoffer, and he said to her: ‘I swear, you will not enter my house until you go and spit in Rabbi Meir’s face.’ She left his house. Elijah, of blessed memory, appeared to Rabbi Meir, and said to him: ‘Because of you, that woman has left her house.’ Elijah, of blessed memory, informed him how the incident transpired. What did Rabbi Meir do? He went and sat in the great study hall. That woman came there to pray and he saw her. He pretended to have a sore [in his eye] and said: ‘Does anyone know how to cure an eye with a charm?’ That woman said to him: ‘I have come to cure by using charms.’ She spat in his face. *That was the cure for an eye sore. He said to her: ‘Say to your husband: I have spat in Rabbi Meir’s face.’ He said to her [further]: ‘Go and reconcile with your husband.’ See how great the power of peace is.

Reading about Elijah & ran into a fun bit of Talmud about magical/medicinal use of spit. To save a marriage (the husband is a jerk) & at the prompting of Elijah Rabbi Meir "pretended to have a sore in his eye & said: ‘Does anyone know how to cure an eye with a charm?’" The wife then spits in his eye

😂 still excited but also foiled! Got a print copy of Dan Ben-Amos dissertation which is titled “Narrative Forms in The Haggadah.” How Passover appropriate right? Nope! He means “aggadah” (non-legal rabbinic lit). Not “Haggadah” eg Passover seder text. Yay transliteration! Ok, back to Elijah then.

Serach bat Asher, adopted daughter of Asher and granddaughter of Jacob is one of my favorite characters in Jewish lore. While this year I'm studying the prophet Elijah in advance of leading our family seder, I couldn't resist posting a Serach story.