How some ‘Jewitches’ embrace both Judaism and witchcraft

By HEATHER GREENE and EMILY McFARLAN MILLER
Religion News Service

In both the modern witchcraft and Jewish communities, people are bringing together magic — often called witchcraft — and religious ritual. The ways in which these two seemingly distinct practices merge is often highly personal, depending on heritage, education and spiritual calling. That may seem contradictory, considering that at several points the Torah specifically forbids witchcraft. But Alicia Jo Rabins, a Jewish artist and educator who incorporates elements of witchcraft into her practice of Judaism, says she doesn’t see the practices she’s caught glimpses of in the edges of Scripture and in Jewish cultures as opposed to Judaism, but building on it. “The kinds of witchcraft that I practice draw on my training in Jewish ritual,” Rabins said.