ADDENDUM to Mishpatim: Judaism’s Stance on (Extrajudicial) Witch Hunts

I wrote this as an addendum to my last article because it is speculative and cites a controversial halacha (which is why I'm keeping it behind a paywall).

The Torah content for the entire month of February has been sponsored by Y.K. with gratitude to Rabbi Schneeweiss for providing a clear and easily accessible path to personal growth via his reliably interesting and inspiring Torah content.

It goes without saying that this addendum is intended to be read only AFTER reading the main article, Mishpatim: Judaism’s Stance on (Extrajudicial) Witch Hunts. The audio and printer-friendly versions of this article are only available to paid subscribers (scroll to the end of the article for the PDF, after the end notes).

Artwork: Adobe Firefly 3.0’s response to the prompt, “painting of an angry mob converging on an angry, menacing, cackling female witch who is about to cast a spell on them,” modeled after Cuombajj Witches, by Seb McKinnon

ADDENDUM to Mishpatim: Judaism’s Stance on (Extrajudicial) Witch Hunts

We’ll begin with a quick bullet-point summary of the main article:

• The Torah says, “A witch you shall not allow to live” (Shemos 22:17).

• According to the mainstream view, a sorcerer is liable for skilah after trial in beis din. Because kishuf is such a severe crime, the Torah reinforces it with a lo taaseh, prohibiting us from allowing a convicted sorcerer to live, in addition to the aseh which commands us to execute him or her.

• According to a minority view (Bechor Shor, Chizkuni, and Hadar Zekeinim), the Torah tells us to kill a sorcerer without a trial. R’ Dovid Tzvi Hoffmann takes this even further, suggesting execution before the crime is even committed!

• We asked, “How can they hold this?” and offered two answers:

1. They don’t actually hold this as a halachic position but are interpreting the Torah lefi derech eretz, emphasizing that a sorcerer deserves extrajudicial execution.

2. They hold that while the crime itself warrants skilah, a witch is such a severe threat that she is regarded as a rodef and must be killed before she can cause harm.

This interpretation makes sense for those who believe in magic. If sorcery is real, a witch is as dangerous as a terrorist wielding a weapon. But what about those who maintain that magic isn’t real? [1]

The most famous proponent of this view is the Rambam. He concludes his codification of the Torah prohibitions against occult practices (Hilchos Avodah Zarah v'Chukos ha'Goyim 11:16) with the following:

All these things are matters of falsehood and deception. They were used by the early idolaters to mislead the nations of the earth into following them. It is unbefitting for Israelites, who are supremely wise, to be drawn after such nonsense or to think there is any benefit in them, as it is stated: “For there is no omen-reading in Jacob nor fortunetelling in Israel” (Bamidbar 23:23), and it is stated, “For these nations that you are dispossessing listen to the astrologers and fortunetellers, but as for you – not so has Hashem, your God, given for you” (Devarim 18:14).

Anyone who believes in these things and similar matters, thinking in his heart that they are true and wise but forbidden by the Torah, is nothing but a fool with a deficient mind, in the same category as those women and children whose minds are underdeveloped. But those who possess wisdom and sound reason know with clear proofs that all these practices prohibited by the Torah are not wisdom, but vanity and emptiness; only those lacking understanding are drawn to them, abandoning all paths of truth as a result. Therefore, in prohibiting all these follies, the Torah exhorts: "You shall be wholehearted with Hashem, your God" (ibid. 18:13).

One could simply answer that Bechor Shor, Chizkuni, and Hadar Zekeinim believe in magic, whereas the Rambam does not—nor does he subscribe to their interpretation of lo techayeh. But if he did—what might he say?