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Pesachim 111b

פסחים קי״א ע״ב

Learn Pesachim 111b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Harmful spirits, dangerous shadows, amulets, and everyday habits that cause harm (Pesachim 111b)

Overview

This amud continues the גמרא's list of everyday dangers from רוחות and שדים. It opens with dangers connected to a palm tree, then lists dangerous shadows. Two general rules follow: many branches or hard wood make a shadow dangerous, with the כרו משא tree as an exception. Next the גמרא names the demons found in different places and explains that the names, and even their number, matter for writing a קמיע. Stories of a blind demon and of sixty demons in a sorb tree show these points. Then it describes the two קטב demons, tells how אביי protected a student from one, and gives the season and places where they are found. The amud ends with practical warnings from רב יוסף and others about habits that harm eyesight, bring poverty, or cause fear.

Opening lines

הַאי מַאן דְּמִפְּנֵי אַגִּירְדָּא דְּדִיקְלָא —

One who relieves himself on the stump of a palm tree

אָחֲדָא לֵיהּ לְדִידֵיהּ רוּחַ פַּלְגָא.

a 'palga' spirit seizes him

וְהַאי מַאן דְּמַצְלֵי רֵישֵׁיהּ

And one who leans his head

אַגִּירְדָּא דְּדִיקְלָא —

on the stump of a palm tree

The steps (36)

  1. StatementDangers of using a palm tree stump
  2. StatementDanger of stepping over a palm tree
  3. StatementLimit on the stepping-over danger
  4. StatementList of dangerous shadows
  5. StatementSome add a ship and a willow
  6. StatementGeneral rule for dangerous shadows
  7. StatementException: the כרו משא tree
  8. ProofThe demon's warning to her son
  9. Statementרב כהנא avoided all shadows
  10. StatementNames of demons by location
  11. QuestionWhy do the names matter?
  12. ResponseThe names are needed for an amulet
  13. StatementThe caper-bush demon has no eyes
  14. QuestionWhy does it matter that it is blind?
  15. ResponseYou can escape it by running
  16. ProofA scholar escapes the blind demon
  17. StatementThe sorb tree near town holds sixty demons
  18. QuestionWhy does the number sixty matter?
  19. ResponseThe number is needed for an amulet
  20. ProofAn amulet for one demon fails
  21. ProofAn amulet for sixty demons works
  22. StatementThere are two kinds of קטב
  23. StatementNames and signs of the two קטב demons
  24. Proofאביי moves his students away from a demon
  25. Questionרב פפא asks why he was not protected
  26. ResponseYour good fortune protects you
  27. StatementWhen the demons are found: the dates in תמוז
  28. StatementWhere the demons are found: in short shadows
  29. Statementרב יוסף: three habits that harm eyesight
  30. StatementHanging food in the house brings poverty
  31. StatementThe warning applies only to bread
  32. StatementBran and crumbs in the house; demons on certain nights
  33. StatementThe names of the angels over food and over poverty
  34. StatementA plate placed on a jug causes poverty
  35. StatementDrinking water from a plate harms the eyes
  36. StatementEating cress without washing hands brings thirty days of fear