Shabbat Gathering: What's a hamsa?

Dear Chevrei, as is our custom, we will gather tonight at 5.45p ct to welcome Shabbat. These are the coordinates:

Zoom
Meeting ID: 883 8469 4181
Password: 822665
Phone: +1 312 626 6799

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Here we go.

You’ve probably seen them, something that vaguely looks like a hand, sometime with an eye in the palm. It’s called a hamsa.

The history of the hamsa can be traced all the way back to amulets dedicated to the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar. And the earliest use of the hamsa in a Jewish context can be dated back to 8th-century bce Israelite tomb containing a hamsa-like hand.

Sephardic Jews are believed to be the first Jews to use the hamsa. The roots of the hamsa as a religious symbol can be traced to the text of the ten commandments as recorded in Deuteronomy 5:15 where it’s written that G!d’s “strong hand” led the Jews out of Egypt.

The use of the hamsa in Jewish culture has been intermittent, often used by Jews during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, then used less and less over time into the mid-twentieth century.

The evil eye.

The eye that typically adorns the palm of the hand is to protect us from the evil eye, a magical belief in curses that can come from a wicked glare that’s usually the result of jealousy. The eye on the hamsa is believed to repel the evil eye and direct the wicked energy back to the one trying to hex us.

My experience.

What I know about the hamsa is this: When I moved to Arkansas to take care of my mother, a special friend sent me a hamsa to protect me while I was gone and it worked. Your mileage my vary.

And may it be for all of us a blessing.

See you tonight!
Gut Shabbes!

All my love,
brian.

PS

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