Q&A: Segulot
Segulot
Question
- Do you believe in segulot at all? Segulot for making a living, for having children, and so on?
- And specifically regarding Perek Shirah? I heard that if you read it continuously for 40 days, afterward you can ask the Holy One, blessed be He, for whatever you want.
If not, why not? After all, there is a significant number of segulot mentioned in the Talmud?!
Answer
- As for making a living, I believe mainly in one segulah, which I received from my father: go to work.
- You can certainly ask. The question is whether you'll get it. By the way, you can ask even without reading Perek Shirah. In my estimation, your chances of being answered are pretty similar.
This claim of mine is also true regarding segulot written in the Talmud. I do not know where the Sages drew their information about those segulot from, and therefore in my opinion either this is simply folk belief, or these are symbols for philosophical ideas and not actual segulot.
Discussion on Answer
Fine—if I saw that there was something real to it, maybe I would consider the possibility that this is a tradition from Sinai. But there is no indication of that whatsoever. This is a folk tradition that starts from some made-up claim, and then spreads and becomes an accepted truth.
Rabbi, aside from pigeons on the belly of jaundice patients,
right?
Of course. Proven and tested. And from Sinai.
Presumably they drew them from their tradition, from what they received from their fathers?! And if so, why not believe them? They have essential authority, since it is more reasonable to assume that they are right, no?