In this article, we will explore some more exorcism cases made by R’ Yehuda Fetaya in his book Ruchot Messaprot

If you haven’t yet read part 1 or part 2, it’s highly recommended you do so before continuing. We see from these previous articles that R’ Yehuda Fetaya clearly quotes Shaar HaGilgulim from the Arizal.

And so, without further delay we continue our exploration…

Another time, in the year 5667 [1907], when I returned from the holy city of Jerusalem, may it be built and established, Rima, the daughter of Parha, came to see me. She had within her a spirit by the name of Yitzhak the son of Khatoun. He was a wicked, licentious man, and a total ignoramus. I strove with him for many years, but he would not leave. Until this very year, 5693 [1933], he is still within the said Rima, and he also blinded her in both eyes, may the Merciful One spare us.

Also, in the year 5671 [1911], in the month of Elul, a spirit entered a young man named Ephraim, the son of Nissim Hangil (of blessed memory), and caused him great anguish. His father and mother went to a Muslim soothsayer, but to no avail. The spirit cursed the soothsayer and his god and slapped the soothsayer in his face. The spirit cried out bitterly, “Take this filth away from me. I cannot bear to see these impure ones. Have mercy on me, bring Yehuda (i.e. R’ Yehuda Fetaya), and I will obey his every command, for he will rectify me.”

Jewish Exorcism in paranormal investigation

Then, his father and mother and all his relatives called on me. When I came to his house I saw him lying in bed with only the whites of his eyes showing, his mind unsound. And the spirit, if it enters a person who has committed no sin—just as I, Rosa, entered the aforesaid Khatoun—it enters like a thief and with great difficulty. On the other hand, no great efforts are necessary when it departs.

You should also know that the spirits have no knowledge of things they have not yet attained. If you were to ask them about Hell and its departments, for example, or about Gan Eden, and certainly about the World to Come (which comes much later) and even about the movement of the sun and the moon and their orbits, they know nothing about all these, because they cannot fly high enough to the high heavens, only up to a distance of forty years, no more, since they would be consumed by the purity of the atmosphere.

Besides which, they are always in pain and pursued and beaten by the destroyers, and they have no patience to contemplate the universe, which would scarcely afford them any respite.

Chaim’s commentary: This is a very interesting chiddush. When a person dies, he doesn’t just suddenly “know everything” about the world. They may get some information of things he did and what they accomplished or the effects of his actions, but not much more than that. Spirits are definitely not “all-knowing”, unless we are talking about a very high level soul or angel.

How spirits fly around

Know, too,” she said, “that there are types of spirits that have wings with which to fly, but most do not have wings.” (The Shaar Hagilgulim, preface 35, 38b, explains that there are spirits with wings, which are from the world of Emanation (i.e. Atzilut), and others without wings, which are from the three worlds of Creation, Formation and Action, see there.)

“All of them fly in an upright position, as they would have walked in this world. None of the spirits eat or taste anything at all, either spiritual or physical. Only the bailiffs in charge of them eat a type of food similar to red lentils that is absorbed into the body. I do not know how that food tastes, since they don’t let a single lentil fall for us to taste.”

(This is obviously Manna, which is what the Children of Israel ate in the desert and which sustains the righteous in the Garden of Eden and also the angels, as written in the Idra Rabba, 128b and Zuta, 292b: And this is the manna that is ground for the righteous in the World to Come, and reddish hues can be seen in it, as written: And its appearance was like a bdellium [Numbers 11:7]. The leftovers of this Manna are eaten by the destroyers, since it becomes more substantial when it falls down, more tangible and red, like lentils.)

“Every Saturday night we are released from the chains that bind us on the Sabbath day, and we are given permission to wander and fly wherever we wish for three hours. After three hours, each spirit returns to the authority of those in charge of it. This is why most spirits do not enter people or animals except on Saturday nights, when they can enter even without permission. Very few receive permission from those in charge of them to enter on other days of the week.

Chaim’s commentary: as we saw in the previous parts and other articles, spirits need permission to enter a person. It could be a sin or some other negative Middah that weakens the soul’s natural protection (the aura). But apparently, on Motzaei Shabbat, the spirits come back somewhat stronger and can more easily attach themselves to people or animals. It seems to me this is because Motzaei Shabbat is a time of greater din (judments), more so than the coming regular days of the week.

“You should also know,” she said, “that there are some spirits that do not cause any harm to a person when they enter him. It is only after they have relaxed, rested and settled down, that they begin to make the person shudder, have pangs in his heart, black out and so on. These sorts can be forced to speak with you when you effect unifications (Yichudim) over them, because they cannot bear being silent. Some spirits do not cause a person’s body to shake but only give him a headache, an eye ailment or some other disease, and the doctors despair, since no remedy or medication helps.

More information about spirits

“There are other spirits that inhabit a person’s heart, causing him to have wicked and atheistic thoughts, thoughts of adultery, depression or despair. These spirits will not speak, even if you effect a number of unifications over them. Great efforts are necessary and a lot of time, about two years, in order to get them to speak to you. During that time you might not know whether or not there is a spirit within the person, for they do not wish to reveal themselves, since they were accustomed when still alive to speak sparingly and to go about their business quietly.

They would speak politely to their friends but secretly lie in ambush for them in order to cause their friends to fall into ruin. Then, after their friends would fall, they would come and bemoan them and act as if they felt sorry for them so that they not be discovered. They behave likewise now, when they are spirits, and indicate no visible illness, no spasms or seizures.

You can be sure without a doubt that anyone who entertains such thoughts has a spirit passing through him. A spirit who had a talkative nature when it was alive, however, or who could not keep a secret, will be unable now, too, after its demise, to restrain itself from speaking to the unifier and will not be able to hide.”

So ended Rosa’s answers to my questions.

On Sunday night, the 6th of Tevet, the girl Khatoun and her mother lodged in our parlor. I enjoined Rosa not to go to the Celestial Court before the eleventh hour of the night, and that is what she did. At the eleventh hour, when the young girl Khatoun was fast asleep, I went over to her to see if Rosa had gone up to Court or if she was still within the girl.

I called, “Rosa! Rosa! Rosa!” but there was no answer. Then, I heard a voice coming from another direction like the voice of a doorkeeper (called ajwani in Arabic). It answered me in Arabic, saying, “Rah, Rosa. Rah, Rosa. Rah, Rosa,” meaning, Rosa has gone. Afterwards, he spoke to me in a whisper and repeated a few times, “Yitzhak Rima, Yitzhak Rima, Yitzhak Rima.” I heard but did not understand what he meant, because what does Yitzhak Rima have to do with me calling Rosa?

“I am the officer who is presently on duty guarding Rosa’s place until she returns from the court,” he said to me. “No one is with Rosa now besides one officer named Salah the son of Rahma, who stands on her left and who has accompanied her to the Celestial Court. In order for Rosa’s place not to remain unguarded, he called on me to guard his place until he returns from Court.

We are three friends—me Yitzhak the son of Rima, Salah the son of Rahma and Sasson the son of Rebecca—who care for each other and do each other favors. At first, Salah, Sasson and I were assigned to Rosa, one on the right, one on the left and one in front of her. Hillel the son of Serah, who died five days after Rosa told you her name, was in charge of us.

“When Rosa divulged her name, Sasson the son of Rebecca left immediately and was assigned to someone named Salah the son of Joseph A’ezig, to torment him with an eye disease for having transgressed a certain prohibition, for which it had been decreed upon him that he be stricken with an eye disease for six months. After the Court ruled that clothes be provided for Rosa to wear” (as I will describe shortly), “I also went to Sasson, and the two of us have been guarding Salah the son of Joseph A’ezig. Upon completion of the six months we will leave him, and a healing angel will come to heal him.

(I, the author, did not know if there was anyone in Baghdad named Salah Joseph A’ezig, so that day, I asked the sage Rabbi Shimon Agassi, of blessed memory, who was still alive then, and he told me that there was indeed such a person, who had been afflicted with an eye disease for four months already. I then told him the whole story).

Concluding remarks

This shows us a little bit of the complexity of the spiritual worlds and how everything happens there first before happening in the physical realm. There’s a judgment and there’s a lot of order. Everything happens through the angels, which was very surprising to me since I thought everyone who died would suddenly see Hashem and get all the answers he wanted.

I realize a lot of the material here is hard to digest, but Hashem wants us to be purified completely so we merit the full reward in Olam HaBah (World to Come). There’s a cute story from the Midrash that once a king left his faithful farmer under the supervision of a cruel servant. The servant used to beat up the farmer for every little thing and speak harshly to him all the time.

But when the king came back, he realized the situation and gave a massive diamond for every beating or harsh word the farmer suffered. When the farmer came back home with a mountain of jewels, his wife asked him “why are you still dejected? We can now retire royally and in peace!”. The farmer replied “Alas, I could’ve endured a lot more and our reward would’ve been much greater!”.

As we will learn, there’s always time to fix everything before we depart from this world and everything is done through immense compassion. As the Zohar teaches: “A person doesn’t get punished for even 1% of what Hashem’s attribute of Justice would demand.