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Does Judaism Believe In Witchcraft and Magic?

Dear Jew in the City, With Halloween coming up, I was wondering what the Jewish view on witchcraft and magic is. Is it mentioned anywhere in Jewish texts? Do you need to believe in it to be an observant Jew? The ancients might have believed in it, but we now know that magic is a […]

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How Can I Believe That Jonah Was Swallowed By A Fish?

The book of Jonah tells the famous story of a big fish (not whale) swallowing Jonah for three days until the prophet emerged unscathed. To someone like me with more of skeptical point-of-view, this episode is hard to swallow. Jonah had fled from the land of Israel after God set for him an unpleasant task, […]

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How Could The Torah Allow Animal Sacrifices?

Dear Jew in the City,  I am troubled by the mitzvah of seir l’azazel (the scapegoat of the Yom Kippur service). We are taught to believe and hope and pray for a redemption and a third Beis HaMikdash. If these commandments were just for ancient time, why all the daily prayers for and reminders of […]

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