Page 150 - Tzurba M'Rabanan Volume1

148 · Halachot of Sorcery, Magic, and Superstition Tzurba M’Rabanan

In summary: Deception of the eyes even through sleight of תולק ידי לע וליפא םיניעה תזיחא :םוכיסב
hand and quickness without any sorcery at all is [still] prohibited ,ללכ ףושיכ םש ןיאו תוזירזו העונתה
biblically, and it is prohibited to do so even for the sake of םג ןכ תושעל רוסאו ,הרותה ןמ הרוסא
gladdening a chatan and kalla and the like. .המודכו הלכו ןתח תחמשב

By contrast, Rav Yekutiel Yehuda Halberstam, the Klausenberger Rebbe, writes that he believes one may
be lenient when the magician explains that he performs his tricks using sleight of hand, as in this manner
the audience understands that he is not performing any prohibited actions and there is no prohibition of
genevat da’at, deceiving another, either.

p Responsa Divrei Yatziv, Yoreh Deah 57 זנ ד״וי | ביצי ירבד ת”וש . 35

However, in my humble opinion, one can differentiate as follows: הזב רוסיאהד ,הזב קלחל ד”נעל םנמא
The prohibition applies where he deceives the eyes and states השוע אוהש רמואו םיניעה תא זחואשכ
that he is doing a wondrous act with a higher power, etc. In such בייח זאש ,’ודכו ןוילע חכ הזיאב אלפ רבד
a case, he is liable even though he does not perform any act of אלא ףושכ השעמ םוש השוע וניאש ףא
sorcery, just sleight of hand, as the Rambam and Chinuch write ךוניחהו ם”במרה ש”מכו ,םידי תוזירזב
about the reason for the prohibition that [people] will be misled ןכתיש ןימאהל הזמ ועטיש רבדה םעטב
to believe that miraculous matters can occur without the will of
the Creator, blessed be His name, G-d forbid. This is not the case ,ו”ח ש”תיבה חכ ידעלב םייעבט לע םינינע
where he reveals to them explicitly that he does so through tricks השועש שרופמב םהל הלגמשכ כ”אשמ
and sleight of hand. In such [a case] there is no prohibition of הזב ןיא ,םידי תוזירזו תולובחתב תאז
me’onein, since everyone knows that this is his expertise. And even אוהש םיעדוי לכהש ןויכ ןנועמ םושמ
regarding [the prohibition] of deceiving people’s minds, there is תעד תבינג םושמ וליפאו ,ךכב דמולמ
no [problem] and this is similar to going on an airplane and other ראשו ריוא תניפסב גילפמכ הז ירהו ,אכיל
wondrous things that have been invented in our times. .ונינמזב ואצמוהש אלפ לש םינינע

RABBI YEKUTIEL YEHUDA HALBERSTAM – THE KLAUSENBERGER REBBE (1904–1995)
Rav Halberstam was born in 1904 in the Galicia section of Poland and died in Netanya in 1995. He was a descendant of the great Rav
Chaim of Sanz, the Divrei Chaim. He served as the Chassidic rebbe of Klausenberg (located in Transylvania) for a short time before the
Holocaust. During the Holocaust, he was transported to the concentration camps together with his family and community, most of whom
perished there, including his wife and eleven children. He survived though, and his conduct during that time served as an example to
others how to maintain one’s G-dly image even within such terrible surroundings. He also assisted many others physically and spiritually
as much as he could. Following the Holocaust, he helped the survivors to rehabilitate and restore their lives, including bringing Judaism
to the refugee camps that were established in Germany. After some time, he moved to the United States, and succeeded in rebuilding
the chassidut of Sanz-Klausenberg in New York. He later moved to Israel and established the neighborhood of Kiryat Sanz in Netanya,
including Laniado Hospital, which still operates based on the guidelines he gave during his lifetime. During these years, he worked
tirelessly to restore the Torah world that had been destroyed during the Holocaust. He was involved in creating institutions of Torah
and chessed across the globe, while simultaneously leading the Sanz chassidut in New York and Israel and writing halachic responsa to
questioners from all over the world. Following his death, his responsa were collected and published, including a few that had survived
from his writings before the Holocaust.

Rav Betzalel Stern in his responsa B’tzeil Hachochma also permits performing magic tricks, and allows one
to do so even when he does not disclose to the audience that he is not engaging in any kind of sorcery, as in
his opinion, this is not even called deception of the eyes.

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