daf bit: Pesachim 112

[cellio]

It was taught: do not go out alone at night, on the nights of Wednesday or Shabbat, because Igrath the daughter of Mahalath (the queen of demons) and 180,000 destroying angels go out then with permission to wreak destruction. Originally they went about by day, but one day she met R. Chanina b. Dosa and said to him: "had they not made an announcement in heaven, 'take heed of Chanina and his learning', I would have put you in danger". He replied: "if I am of account in heaven, then I order you to never pass through settled areas". She pleaded with him: "leave me a little room", and so he left her the nights of Wednesday and Shabbat. (112b)

(It is not explained why he chose those nights. Shabbat in particular seems counter-intuitive to me. If it's not already answered there I plan to ask on Mi Yodeya, along with a question about demons in general.)

Today's g'mara (and nearby pages) is full of short bits of rabbinic advice. Another from today's daf: don't go into a house with a cat barefoot, because cats kill snakes and you might stick yourself with a snake-bone. But also don't go into a house without a cat in the dark, lest a snake attack you. I didn't actually know that cats kill snakes, nor that this was understood to be a hazard at the time of the g'mara.

Comments

[woodwindy.livejournal.com]

I had never heard of Igrath the daughter of Mahalath before. What an interesting little story...

[cellio]

Yeah, this was new to me too. Demons show up elsewhere in the talmud, too, but this story still stands out.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I wonder if Shabbat because of the assumption that people go home right after dark, possibly even in groups (to courtyards), if there isn't a within-walls little place to daven, and then people don't go out again, so Mahalath wouldn't catch Jews out on Shabbat night.

[cellio]

I had been thinking that Shabbat, being a time of extra hospitality, would be a particularly-bad night for this (people have to walk home afterward), but someone suggested that I might be being anachronistic on this. I don't know what hospitality trends were like at the time of the g'mara.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree that it's entirely possible that people didn't go out to meals in the same way we think of it now. Maybe it was always within the courtyard, or staying overnight in addition to dinner.

[chaos-wrangler.livejournal.com]

I didn't actually know that cats kill snakes, nor that this was understood to be a hazard at the time of the g'mara.

They certainly knew that snakes can bite and at least sometimes they are poisonous. As for cats killing snakes, I'm not surprised given that they go after frogs and lizards and such, although I'm sure a house cat would have trouble with a full grown large snake and probably wouldn't try attacking one for real.

[cellio]

No argument on them knowing the danger of snakes; I seem to recall snakes making other talmudic appearances (along with scorpions).

I didn't know cats went after frogs and lizards, but if so then snakes don't seem like a stretch. Thanks.

[fauxklore]

Hmmm. The more usual Jewish superstition is not to walk near rivers on Tuesday and Friday nights. Tuesday because it is the beginning of the 4th day (i.e. the evening of Wednesday)and G-d saw it was good twice in the depiction of creation. (Which is also why Tuesday night is still a traditional night for weddings in some Jewish circles). And, of course, Friday night because of Shabbat.

My understanding is that those of the nights that the demons are released from Gehenna and the first thing they want to do is go to the rivers to cool off from the fires. (There are associated superstitions re: it being safer to be with odd numbers of people. If a demon approaches you, it will say "you and I are two" and you can protect yourself by replying "you and I are three." Demons, apparently, cannot count very well.)

[cellio]

Good catch. It turns out that it's really Tuesday night (and Friday night); the English translation I was working from said "Wednesday", which I incorrectly interpreted as Wednesday night rather than Tuesday night (which occurs on the same day as Wednesday). If I'd checked the Aramaic it would have been clearer, presumably (since it probably just specifies a day number).

I asked about this on Mi Yodeya, where it turned out to be a duplicate (ha!). The terse answer there says these are the nights that scholars are intimate with their wives, meaning they're staying home. I guess demons out in the streets would motivate you to stay home even if you can't be intimate with your wife on that particular night.

Thanks for the info about the rivers and bad math; I didn't know that.