Dear Efrat,



The Talmudic Sages believed in nonsense, such as the stars having influence on this world. For more detail, see the question The knowledge of the Sages on the stars and Ibn Ezra believed in astrology.

Similarly, the Sages were scared of and believed in the evil eye and warned people against it (Bava Batra 118a).

I will translate for you how the Sages recommend escaping the evil eye: One who enters a city and is afraid of the evil eye should tie his right thumb to his left and say “I, so-and-so the son of such-and-such am a descendent of Joseph, upon whom the evil eye has no dominion” and if he fears his own evil eye he should look at the left side of his nose (Berachot 55b).

To keep you from explaining that the Sages said these ridiculous things to calm the masses who believed in such nonsense, I will translate for you their suggestion for escape from the demon who customarily harms those who drink an even number of glasses of liquids: Rav Papa said, “Joseph the demon told me [thus did the Sages speak with demons and heard from the demons themselves of their evil ways] ‘One who drinks two cups I will kill and one who drinks four cups I will harm.’ One who forgot and wants to be saved from the demon’s harm should tie his right thumb to his left and say ‘You and I are three.’ If he hears a voice which says ‘You and I are four’ he should say ‘You and I are five,” etc.” There was an incident in which the counting reached a hundred and the demon died (Pesachim 111a).

Even the Sages themselves believed in this nonsense.

The methods of escaping the evil eye, like the hamsa, garlic, and fish, do not appear in the Talmud. The hamsa, for example, is taken from Islam (The outstretched hand of Mohammed’s daughter Fatima).



We see that Jews who now believe in the evil eye have abandoned the methods of the Talmudic Sages and preserve the methods of the Islamic Sages.



Sincerely



Daat Emet

Dear Amit,



The Talmud is loaded with nonsensical and empty beliefs; an entire book wouldn’t be large enough to include them all.

We will cite one source here because it has Halachic implications.

The Talmudic Sages, as you have seen, believed in the evil eye in a real and tangible way, to the extent that they rule the “evil eye” causes financial harm to produce. Therefore they required the building of a partition so that people would not look upon the produce and cause harm. In the Talmud it is written, “A man is forbidden to stand in his neighbor’s field when it is producing” (Bava Batra 2b).

See what we wrote on the portion of Chukat on the issue of one who looks at a “serpent made of brass” which heals a person from snake venom.



Sincerely,



Daat Emet