Week’s mitzvah: Dispatching witches, warlocks

After her blatant anti-Semitism was exposed to the world, Helen Thomas became persona non grata in much of the Jewish community, so much so that when she passed away, some Facebook feeds were lit up with the verse from this week’s parsha, Mishpatim, of “mechashefah lo techayeh” (“a witch shall not live”) (22:17).

The reference to Ms. Thomas was a pitiful joke at the expense of the woman’s natural death. No one was accusing her of witchcraft, nor did anyone have the right to actually impose the death penalty upon her. This mitzvah is a clear statement in the Torah that is nonetheless difficult to understand in its literal sense. My daughter loves the Harry Potter books, and the first time she read this verse, I had to explain to her that as Hermione Granger is a fictional character, the verse does not apply to her. (Phew!)

Is the Torah of the view that witchcraft is real? (See Rabbenu Bachaye who records both views in the words of our sages — some say Yay, some say Nay.) How are we to understand the verse?

Many commentators note that although the verse is written in the feminine, it refers to male “witches” (warlocks? wizards? Look out, Harry Potter!) as well. They debate over which form of death punishment would have to be applied to the offenders. They also agree on two things: 1) The Torah’s terminology is in the feminine form because “women are more apt to be involved in witchcraft,” and 2) The Torah leaves the form of punishment vague as a means to leave open the possibility of actually imposing the capital punishment upon the offending necromancer for, as Rabbi Chaim Paltiel notes, were the witch to know of the potential punishment, he or she could take measures against that particular death affecting them.

But some commentators also look at the context in which this prohibition appears. The commandment preceding this one relates to repercussions that befall a man who seduces a virgin; the commandment that follows it lays out the prohibition against bestiality.