On today’s daf, we encounter a beraita that lists a number of actions that are forbidden because performing them makes it appear as though one has engaged in idol worship. Here are a few:
If a thorn became imbedded in one’s foot while they were standing before an idol, they may not bend down and remove the thorn, because they appear to be bowing down to the idol; but if they are not seen, it is permitted. If one’s coins were scattered while they are before an idol, they may not bend down and pick them up, because they appear to be bowing down to the idol; but if they are not seen, it is permitted. Likewise, if there is a spring that runs before an idol, one may not bend down and drink from it, because they appear to be bowing down to the idol; but if they are not seen, it is permitted.
The rabbinic principle at work here is marit ayin, avoiding even the appearance of violating the law. The point is to make sure one doesn’t accidentally mislead others into thinking a behavior is permitted.
Having mentioned bending to drink water, the beraita contains a medical footnote:
One may not place his mouth on a pipe and drink due to the danger that this poses.
The concern here is not idolatry, but safety. The Gemara cites another beraita that explains: Drinking water directly from rivers or ponds or pipes could lead (apologies to the squeamish) to swallowing a leech. The Talmud goes on to offer a remedy to this unfortunate accident: drinking hot water mixed with vinegar. (Today’s daf also recommends drinking vinegar after swallowing a hornet. Doing so, it says, will not save your life, but it will extend it so that you can put your affairs in order.) The digression continues. Having warned us about the presence of leeches in drinking water, the rabbis turn our attention to another water-related threat — the demon Shabriri who, as Rabbi Josh Kulp explains, “causes blindness in anyone who drinks from uncovered water at night.”
Does this mean that if you are thirsty at night that you have to wait until morning to get a drink? Apparently not. If someone else is around, you can wake them up and take them with you to get a drink, because being in the company of others is effective protection from demons. But there’s also a solution if you are alone:
Knock with the lid on the jug of water and say to yourself: So-and-so, son of so-and-so (i.e., insert your name here), your mother said to you to beware of the shavrirei verirei rirei yirei rei found in white cups.
My mother never taught me this phrase, but it seems that repeating the name of the demon, shortening it by one letter each time, forces the demon to leave the room, as if reducing its name reduces its presence. (I can think of a number of problems that I wish I could solve this way, if only.)
In a few short lines, today’s daf has taken us from idol worship, to dangers lurking in drinking water, to medical remedies, to incantations that offer protection from demons. To a modern reader, this might feel incongruous. How can belief in demons and vehement opposition to idolatry so comfortably coexist in rabbinic culture, and on this single page of Talmud? Why do the rabbis abhor worship of an idol, but encourage belief in supernatural creatures like demons?
The answer is that demons and idols are not the same. Idols are direct competitors with the one true God. Demons are not. They are supernatural, yes, and dangerous, but they are mostly manageable nuisances whose power ranks so far below that of the Omnipresent they are not in danger of being mistaken for divine.
Do we believe in demons today? Most don’t. Does belief in demons naturally derive from the Torah? Also no, though the Torah does refer to supernatural dangers and creatures on occasion. The rabbis’ anxiety about demons arises largely from their cultural context: The rabbis were susceptible to the same fears and believed in the superstitions as those who lived around them. In their view, a world teeming with demons who have supernatural powers and are vulnerable to potions and incantations is not incompatible with the worldview that arises from Torah. And while their first priority was to carry out the commandments of the Torah, chief among them to avoid and ultimately root out idol worship, it was not incongruous for them to turn to the folkways of their day to find protection from leeches, demons and other threats.
Read all of Avodah Zarah 12 Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on June 30, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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