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>It is true that the Talmud, a book generally characterized by pronounced rationalism, strictly condemns magic and sorcery, considering it a mere practice of quackery and relating women's magic to sexual vices (Sanh.67a). The condemnation of magic by the Torah as an idolatrous cult of pagan gods and by the Talmud as a practice specific to the Amorites, constituted an axiom that was transmitted among Jews, from generation to generation, until recent times and, for centuries, Jewish specialists in matters of religious jurisprudence (halakah) strongly rejected practices that they considered suspicious of idolatry; the justification arguments are of a very different nature: by the use of the Holy Scriptures for a profane purpose; by the use of spells used profusely in the ritual of pagan magic and which, as such, the Torah expressly disapproved; or by the use of amulets, which were given supernatural powers. But while the theory regarding magic was clear and rigorous, the reality was much more diffuse. Thus, none of the teachers of the Talmud denied the power of magic, and even though its practice was prohibited, some of the Talmudists fought against black magic with what could be called white magic. Later, in medieval times, the attitude of Spanish rabbis had generally become very permissive towards magic, with some of them even practicing it themselves
