5. Eliezer Papo

Tamar Alexander - Eliezer Papo ON THE POWER OF THE WORD
letter by letter, and that it has been tried and true for a number of ills. 48
Usually, traditional Sephardic rabbis did not quote women (young or old)
as the source of reliable information. However, though, in the question of healing
on the Sabbath, 49 as well as in case of differentiating between healing methods
that had been proven as effective (and therefore excluded from the prohibition of
following darḫe ha-Emori 50 i. e. religious beliefs of the nations of the world) 51 the
female medical traditions were taken into consideration and seriously dealt with.
Rabbinic law, as a rule, relies upon the opinion of experts in different non-legal
fields, and being the fact that in the area of folk medicine the opinion of women
professionals is considered authoritative, their traditions are mentioned honorably.
It should be stressed, however, that elderly men were added to the women as
a source of information, and their appearance even precedes that of the women.
In the negative context, however, of the indulko ritual, Ribbi Eliezer ben Santo
(Šem-Tov) Papo imputes the phenomenon exclusively to women. Moreover, he
terms the phenomenon as aznedades de mujeres (asinine deeds of women). Ribbi
David Pardo also begins his description of the indulko grande by ascribing the
phenomenon to the women, saying: I was astounded daily by deeds that the women
perform here for the ill…. 52
In the continuation, Dr. Izrael himself stresses the distinction between the
activity of the women and that of the men in this context:
Healing the evil eye is not the exclusive bailiwick of these
grandmothers, elderly rabbis or God-fearing rabbinic sages are versed
in this as well—but then the ceremony is not based on any formulas—
but rather on reading scriptural verses and prayers, especially from
Psalms. 53
48 E. S. Papo, Mešeq Beti (see n. 25 above), entry ḥoleh (ill person), par. 23, at the end of the
paragraph.
49 See Šulḥan c Aruḫ, Oraḥ Hayyim, # 301, pars. 25–27.
50 The term Darḫe ha-Emori refers to the customs of other nations that have no elements
of idol worship but at the same time are not considered as wisdom of the non-Jews (rationally
acceptable things) but rather belong to the realm of their religious beliefs. They are prohibited
owing to You shall not copy the practices (Lev. 18:3) or You shall not follow their practices (Ex.
23:24). For further explication of the term, see Talmudic Encylopedia, vol. 7, entry Dereḫ ha-
Emori [Hebrew].
51 For example, see Šulḥan c Aruḫ, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, # 301, par. 27; # 605, par. 2; # 448, par. 1;
and also Yore De c a, # 450.
52 The end of the sentence is written in Aramaic.
53 See n. 27 above.
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