Superstitions have unpleasant effects on the Jewish population regarding the Jewish religion. Jewish people such as Isaac Bashevis Singers father Pinchos Menachem Singer, a rabbi, believed more strongly in the superstitions that are filled into his head than what the Torah and Pentateuch teach him. One of the end results of the superstitious ways of Pinchos Singer is the belief of superstitions by Itchele. Superstitions have become the backbone for the Jewish religion.
In the book A Day of Pleasure, Bathsheba Singer, Pinchoss husband, is a very rational, very realistic, and very skeptical Jewish woman. Jewish tradition teaches that you are not to allow yourself to believe in these superstitious happenings due to the fact that they are from the devil. Pinchos put into Itchele the belief that the sound of the dead geese must mean that the geese are all powerful supernatural beings that are letting their presence be known. Superstitious beliefs were taught to young Itchele all the time. In his household they spoke of these evil spirits a great deal of times, On our home there was always talk about spirits of the dead that possess the bodies of living, souls reincarnated as animals, houses inhabited by demons Singer(39).
It is through hearing such discussions in his own house that Itchele learns to believe in these superstitions. There are many wonders in the Jewish religion on how such superstitions could be significant to so many Jewish people. It is very possible that it could be due to the twisting and misinterpretations of philosophers, During the Middle Ages, Jewish philosophers such as Maimonides taught that evil was the result of human free choice to sin. Sin diverted our moral strength and damaged our intellectual abilities, (Ariel98).
Brum2 For this to be true that means that God made evil and superstition. This is true because God made free choice available to humans. Through this we make mistakes and create evil. Parts of evil are demons, imps, and superstitious beliefs. Maimonides completely contradicts himself. If he is to claimhe is a true Jewish philosopher he can not possibly write how God brought superstition into the world. Jewish people are not to believe in such superstition. It is written in the Torah that it is a sin due to the fact that it comes from evil.
At a certain point, Itchele speaks of what his parents teach him about the afterlife. Instead of using scripture from the Pentateuch they again discuss superstitions, When I used this murky stairway, I was pursued by all the devils, evil spirits, demons, and imps of whom my parents spoke to prove that there is a God and life after death(Singer165). In this quote his parents try to teach him that there is an afterlife which is true to Jewish belief, yet at the same time they lie to him and teach him that there are also evil spirits, devils, demons, and imps. The Jewish culture is teaching the truth through teaching an outright sin.
It seems that believing in superstitions is alright as long as you believe in an afterlife. If Itchele is expected to enter Gehenna, the Jewish equivalent to Heaven, he should not be taught to instill beliefs in such matters that go against the word of God. Knowing that Itcheles father is a rabbi, he of all people should know not to believe or teach superstitions to his child especially at such an influential age and time in his life. If not for his influence Itchele might not be so superstitious.
There are times in a persons life where they will blame their misfortunes on God Brum3 or the devil. This is also true for the boy in The Calf, So I was unhappy with my unhappiness, regarding it as the work of the Evil Spirit, (100). The idea of a presence of an evil spirit is not true. What is causing the little boys unhappiness is the death of his cow which was caused by the fact that the characters family owned it and were now slaughtering it. The cow is meant to be slaughtered and to be sold or eaten by the owner. For the boy in the story to blame his unhappiness on an evil spirit is ridiculous. God feels it is the time and so the cow is now deceased. To believe that an evil spirit is taking part of the whole ordeal is superstition and should not be the focus of his feelings.
It is supposed by Jewish people that God loves you and will always be there for you. Yet it is written, Moral actions from persecution and sin brings an estrangement from Gods goodness which results in the loss of protection from harm, (Ariel98). If the Jewish community believes in free choice how can they believe that you will ever have Gods protection. There is also nothing to be protected from except for the beliefs that superstition is true and there are harmful sources such as devils and demons to need protection from.
It is often found that when people make mistakes it is hard for them to take responsibility for their actions. Some people use sin to emphasize the need or importance to repent, Singer uses Satan to bring renewed dread and urgency to moral dilemmas and to make ethical decisions a mode of self- creation or self-destruction Bodoff(14). Instead of letting people just choose to change their immoral ways Singer uses Satan to make everyone worry and to call attention to the moral predicament in their lives. If someone Brum4 has a moral predicament then he or she needs to want to solve it for themselves and for God. The apprehension of Satan should not motivate someone to want to solve any ethical problems he or she might possess.
It is natural to fear God but you ought to be able to use your conscience as your guide to what might be moral or immoral. God teaches the Jewish people that they need to acquire a good and moral conscience. While they also need to fear God, they need not live in constant fear of the devil himself.
Bashevis father instills so many superstitious viewpoints in his head he really does believe that the world is swarming with evil spirits. Soon enough Itchele believes that he is surrounded by evil spirits, According to Bashevis the world teems with devils and spirits (Biletzky58). In the Jewish religion you are to believe that God surrounds you and that you can speak to him any time you need to.
For Isaac to believe that the world is occupied with devils and spirits then how does he ever expect to communicate well with God when there are so many evil demons around everywhere. The more that people deny Gods existence the bigger of an opening the devil has to taunt a person with sin, While Gods existence is defined by a lack of presence, the Devil makes himself readily available to those willing to listen (Bodoff13). God is not present for the Jewish people. They are being ignored by God and almost forced to listen to the devil. Many of times Jewish people in the past are tortured and persecuted. The Jewish people believe that if God is not there that they should just start telling people of spirits and the evil demons that allegedly surround them.
Often times people find themselves being tempted. Whether you give in or not Brum5 has to do with your morals and the strength of your faith. Jewish people believe in free will yet they also believe that It is the devils purpose to bring ruin to individuals one by one (Bodoff10). In the Jewish religion you are not destroyed by the devil. The bad luck or unfortunate circumstances that come into your life are just coincidence or the result of something you do. There is no possible way that the devil destroys you. The devil can only tempt you and whether you give in or not is your decision. In the end it shall be God who judges you.
God will be the one who decides whether you descend into heaven or hell. In survival of the fittest only the strongest survive. The same can be said of the Jewish religion, Jewish peoples are known to believe in spirits and demons. In Isaac Bashevis Singers work, imps destroy people by using their passions against them (10). The weak give in to temptation and their passions overwhelm them. Again spirits, demons, and imps can not destroy you. Nevertheless the devil can tempt you. Isaac, being a rabbis son, should have stronger faith in God. It is essential that Isaac recognizes that these superstitious beliefs are not acceptable according to God.
Due to the superstitious ways of Jewish people God might see this as a way of turning their backs on all of the wonderful things He gives them. They may not have cared too much during the time of Day of Pleasure because it appears that if God has turned His back on them: A woman met us on the staircase and said Are you the rabbis wife? Woe, my God, youve been robbed from head to foot Why didnt you watch? Brum6 my mother asked Joshua. You cant watch all of them. You start to argue with one and meanwhile ten others steal from you(18). Jewish people are being stolen from. Not just their personal belongings but also their lives. All through time Jewish people have been severely persecuted. They have been treated as if they were not human. They may turned to superstitions in spite of God.
Jewish people do not even deny the fact that they believe in superstitions it is as if they are part of their religious teachings. Some superstitions have even persuaded their traditions, Some of our customs and beliefs come from religious beliefs some come from age-old superstitions that have no rhyme or reason except that they just are(Sogolow17). Not only are these people professing these superstitions but they are incorporating them into their religious traditions. They are not even acknowledging the fact that superstitions are evil. Just believing in such notions is a sin and denies God.
Superstitions have been relevant in the Jewish community for many years. Even in simple traditions practiced all around the world come from Jewish superstitions: Why baby boys wear blue and girls only wear pink. According to research the idea originated with ancient fear of evil spirits hovering over the nursery. It was thought that evil spirits were allergic to certain colors, the strongest of which was blue. It was believed that the association of blue with the heavenly sky rendered those evil forces helpless(Sogolow25).
Again evil forces are believed to be all around, even suspended over nurseries. This belief Brum7 is almost Pagan-like. Jewish people should understand that they are surrounded by Gods love, especially little innocent new born babies. Life is a miracle from God and therefore we should welcome the entering of a new baby into the world. We should not be troubled by such things as evil spirits.
Superstitions have multiple consequences that Jewish people, who have faith in them, should deliberate before regarding them as truth. They spread these lies that they perceive as reality. While all the while all they are doing is believing in fabrications of the truth. God does not approve of the use of the use of superstitions as a basis for a persons faith. Jewish people should just trust that God will not let evil spirits intrude upon their daily lives. They are committing sins when they believe, discuss, and teach superstitions.
