Pulsa De-Nura: The Innovation of Modern Magic and Ritual

Abstract

Every year as the fourth of November approaches, the majority of Israeli society and world Jewry recall one of the most devastating tragedies to take place in the history of the State of Israel. For on November 4, 1995, a Jewish zealot assassinated the then-Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin.' The scene is vividly etched in the collective mind, and the consequences are well known. Yet, what remains enigmatic is not the question of why the opposition wanted to prevent Rabin from pursuing his peace initiative, but rather the question: What motivated a fellow Jew to pick up a gun and kill the democratically elected leader of the State of Israel?2 This question takes on even greater significance when we consider that traditional Jews are obligated by Jewish law to observe an annual day of fasting called Tzom Gedaliah, which memorializes the assassination of yet another Jewish political leader, Gedaliah ben Ahikam, the Babylonian-appointed governor of Judah, over 2,500 years ago. Gedaliah's murder was the impetus for the final dispersion of the Jewish remnant in the Land of Israel and thus, Jewish spiritual leaders of the past decided to mark it annually as a day of fasting and selfreflection. Two and a half millennia later, the fast is still observed by traditional Jews, indicating how dreadful the impact of the assassination was upon the nation.: In view of the tragic consequences of Gedaliah's death, questions remain: How could such a thing happen again? What were the circumstances that created the atmosphere allowing such a tragedy to take place in our own time? As we try to uncover answers, we find ourselves involved in a multi-layered investigation. In order to understand the atmosphere leading up to the assassination, we must recognize that overall, anti-Rabin actions were undertaken by two types of political groups motivated by two distinctly different underlying principles.4 One group engaged in anti-Rabin