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Ramban's Commentary on the Torah form an edition printed in Lisbon in 1489 (Marsh's Library Exhibits, accessed January 23, 2022, https://www.marshlibrary.ie/digi/items/show/528) |
Introduction
Ramban
(Nachmanides 1194-1270), known as the ‘father’ of Kabbalah, was a
Spanish born rabbi from Girona, whose Catalan name was Bonastruc ça Porta (Mazal
tov at the gate). This article, based extensively on the research by
Professor Reimund Leicht from
the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as well as Professor Dov Schwartz from
Bar Ilan University, deals with Ramban’s unusual usage of the word נגרמונסיא, or ‘necromancy’,
which occurs four times
in his Commentary on the Torah. “Necromancy” is defined as “the act of communication with
the dead in order to discover what is going to happen in the future”.
Although Ramban does not necessarily follow this exact technical definition of
the term, he has some very interesting views on magic, idolatry, demons and
astrology.