What is "ayin hara" - "the evil eye?" Is it mere jealousy or is it some harmful metaphysical force? Is it truly avoided by oral declarations and mystical practices? Or is its contemporary treatment rooted in superstition and pagan culture?
"Or is its contemporary treatment rooted in superstition and pagan culture? "
Assuming for a second that we're inclined to answer the latter, how can we know whether the concept of ayin hara is rooted /originally/ in superstition or whether it is rooted /originally/ in kosher sources?
Eh, I chose the wrong "dibbur hamaskil". It's not clear what I meant by "the latter." By "latter" I just meant "superstition and pagan culture" as opposed to "kosher sources."
By seeing whether we only began applying it the way we do after our exposure to pagan cultures in which such an application was dominant, and by investigating whether our current application of it is backed up by authentic Torah sources.
A lot of what we see today i think is superstition, not necessarily pagan, some homegrown or really convoluted
ReplyDelete"Or is its contemporary treatment rooted in superstition and pagan culture? "
ReplyDeleteAssuming for a second that we're inclined to answer the latter, how can we know whether the concept of ayin hara is rooted /originally/ in superstition or whether it is rooted /originally/ in kosher sources?
Eh, I chose the wrong "dibbur hamaskil". It's not clear what I meant by "the latter." By "latter" I just meant "superstition and pagan culture" as opposed to "kosher sources."
ReplyDeleteBy seeing whether we only began applying it the way we do after our exposure to pagan cultures in which such an application was dominant, and by investigating whether our current application of it is backed up by authentic Torah sources.
ReplyDelete