With Halloween approaching this weekend, this week's Daily Kavanot will share some meaningful tales of ghosts and spirits from Jewish tradition. The Babylonian Talmud (Ketubot 103A) shares the story of Rabbi Judah the Prince, who, upon his deathbed, instructed his children to honor their mother, to set his lamp, bed, and table in their usual place, and to keep his servants, who would serve him in death just as they did in life. These arrangements were essential because, every Friday night, the ghost of Rabbi Judah the Prince returned to his home to celebrate Shabbat. One Friday evening, however, a neighbor knocked at the door, and the maid scolded the visitor, "Be quiet, for Rabbi Judah the Prince is sitting at his table." After the rabbi heard his maid reveal his presence to the neighbor, he never returned home, lest he make a public insult to the earlier sages, [...]

With Halloween approaching this weekend, this week's Daily Kavanot will share some meaningful tales of ghosts and spirits from Jewish tradition. According to the Talmud (Kiddushin 29B: 12-13), Abaye was troubled by a demon in his house of study. When he learned that Rav Aha bar Ya'akov was visiting town, he discouraged the townsfolk from offering the rabbi a place to stay. Since Rav Aha bar Ya'akov was so righteous, Abaye thought a miracle would occur on his behalf, enabling him to slay the demon. When Rav Aha found no place to spend the night, he slept in the House of Study. The demon—a serpent-like creature with seven heads—then appeared before him. Rav Aha began to pray, and with each bow he took, one of the demon’s heads fell off, until it died. The next day, Rav Aha chastised the townsfolk, telling them, "Had it not been for a [...]

With Halloween approaching this weekend, this week's Daily Kavanot will share some meaningful tales of ghosts and spirits from Jewish tradition. The Babylonian Talmud (Berakhot 18B) shares the tale of a pious man who, ridiculed by his family for giving away a full dinar during a drought, slept in a cemetery to escape their mocking jests. There, he overheard two ghosts discussing the weather. One informed the other that hail would fall, striking any crops planted during the first rainy season. So, the pious man planted his crops during the second rainy season and ate well while everyone else suffered. The next year on the very same day, the man returned to sleep in the cemetery and overheard two ghosts discussing how all crops planted during the second rainy season would suffer from blight. So, the pious man planted his crops during the first rainy season, while everyone else, [...]

With Halloween approaching this weekend, this week's Daily Kavanot will share some meaningful tales of ghosts and spirits from Jewish tradition. Perhaps the oldest ghost story in Jewish tradition comes from 1 Samuel 28, and concerns the first king of Israel, Saul. Fearful of the Philistine forces encamped around him, Saul sought Divine guidance through dreams, through priests, and through prophets, but no guidance came. Desperate, Saul decided to seek counsel from Samuel, the late prophet who guided him in his youth, even though Saul himself had banned the practice of necromancy throughout Israel. He then traveled to the village of Ein Dor to meet with a witch who spoke to the dead. She refused to help, out of fear that the king might learn of her crime, but after Saul revealed himself and assured her of her safety, she raised a robed spirit. Saul bowed low to the [...]