Page - 47 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 07/01

Born under a Lucky Star | 47www.jrfm.eu 2021, 7/1, 45–65 diac signs, (2) lithographs in which a menorah is formed from micrography, (3) prints with a wide, striking ornamental frame, (4) prints with a single il- lustration in the upper part, and (5) prints without illustrations at all. Most of the objects known to me belong to the latter three types and show the same Hebrew-Yiddish text,7 which consists of seven to nine elements: 1. The heading, which identifies the print as either “for a girl” or “for a boy”. 2. A Yiddish text, which is only found on some prints and which explains the protective function of the amulet against demons, ghosts, and sorcerers. 3. An invocation of Adam, Eve, and five angels, which is connected to the exclamation “Lilith out!”. 4. A summary of the following story in Yiddish. 5. A story in which the prophet Elijah meets the child-killing demoness Lilith and, by threatening her, makes her reveal her secret names. By the power of these names, which can also be read on the amulet, the mother and the child are to be protected.8 6. A name of God, which can also be translated as “Tear Satan!”, as well as sev- eral variations of Exodus 22:17 (“You shall not permit a sorceress to live!”),9 created by word rearrangement and a repetition of the formula “amen, sela”. 7. A second invocation of Adam, Eve, and five angels with the exclamation “Lilith out!”. 8. Psalm 121, in which God is praised as the never-sleeping guardian of Israel. 9. At the end some prints mention the three women-specific commandments (hebr. nidda, ḥalla, hadlaqa), in the version for a girl, or make reference to the covenant of circumcision, in the version for a boy. In all prints of this text, a distinction is made between a version for a girl and a version for a boy, versions that are often found on the front and back of the same sheet. Except for the heading and grammatical details,10 the text of the two versions does not differ, but the illustrations do. 7 See Folmer 2007, 47–56. 8 The basic structure of this narrative has roots in antiquity. It was published in this form by David Lida (Amsterdam, c.1700) and by Ḥaim Yosef David Azulai (Hebron, 1724–1806), see Folmer 2007, 48–50. 9 For the function of this verse, which is usually understood as a ban on “magic”, see Mei- ning haus 2020. 10 However, the text is often set incorrectly, with the grammatical forms not consistently adapted to the child’s gender.