Prohibition Against Casting Spells (and other magic related things)

When I was choosing my mitzvah for the mitzvah project I wanted to pick something that deeply intrigued me. For some reason I have always been interested in the prohibition we have against magic (maybe it comes from my love of Harry Potter). I decided to reserch the prohibition with a focus on casting spells. One might think that this prohibition is not relevant to us today. Years ago, magic and witchcraft was very popular, but it is unlikely for you to meet someone today who calls themselves a sorcerer and most people don't study spell books in their free time, and practice incantations. However, this mitzvah is fully applicable today to men and women. Why, because casting a spell is not limited to murmuring latin while waving a wand, the root of the averah is saying words that you believe have an inherit value to change the outcome of a situation you have no control over. For example, a sports fan must say, "I have to sing my team's fight song while holding an apple, so they win the game."

So why do we have such a strong prohibition against magic? There are two main reasons. Rambam explains that we shouldn't get involved with these things because they are not real. Ramban says that doing magic interferes with nature and it is not our job to do that, it is the responsibility of G-d. Modern day Rabbis such as, Rabbi Osher Chaim Levene and Rabbi Ahron Lopiansky, agree with the Ramban. Both saying that magic is not a "Jewish activity" or concept. Rabbi Lopiansky explains that if you don't appreciate nature as the creation of G-d (and under his control) you think that you have the ability to control which leads to disbelief in G-d. You may come to think that you have powers of G-d and not remember that no matter what we do, everything comes from G-d.

I enjoyed researching this mitzvah because I gained a stronger grasp on it's relevance to our lives. Obviously I knew that the mitzvah wasn't gotten rid of because witch craft is not common today, but I didn't realize how apperant it was in our everyday lives. Many people might be guilty of this without even realizing because they are just saying words. Now that I have a deeper understanding, I can see that this mitzvah isn't just another thing on the list of things we can't do; it is a mitzvah that protects our belief and relationship with G-d, and recognizing him as the Creator.