ABSTRACT
IT WAS pointed out in Chapter II of this work that Jewish Folklore has been profoundly influenced by the Jewish Religion, and that to this influence it owes certain characteristics which distinguish it from all other folklores. To a certain extent the converse is also true—that Jewish Folklore has influenced the Jewish Religion; and it would not be fitting to take leave of the present work without devoting a short space to this subject, not only on account of its intrinsic interest and importance, but also because highly erroneous ideas on it have been disseminated by writers whose words carry weight both with the learned world and with the general public. It is even pretended that Judaism itself is a mere survival, and that the Old Testament, not to speak of the Talmud, belongs to the domain of Folklore; that all the religious practices to which Israel still clings are a mere collection of quaint and curious superstitions which more enlightened nations, who had opened wide their windows and allowed the fresh air wafted in to scatter the dust accumulated by preceding generations, had long ago thrown overboard. The truth, however, is, as should have been made clear by the foregoing survey, that the superstitious beliefs and practices belonging to the domain of Folklore which have been prevalent in olden times and still obtain among the Jewish masses have never been accepted by official Judaism; and that the majority of such practices are not a natural outgrowth of monotheistic Judaism, but have been imported from without.
