Fear Lightning — Our Grandmothers’ Jewish Prohibitions
According to Sefer Chasidim (Paragraph 469), there is particular reason for people whose faces were covered by a membrane at birth — “mikhse” — to fear lightning. These are those who were “born with a caul,” and who, according to Russian folk belief, are happy throughout their lives. The same is stated in the collection of beliefs and customs “Sefer Zehira” (Siman ʿZ. Sefer Zehira, 1729), in the chapter on dangers, and in the Sephardic work from the beginning of the twentieth century, Kaf HaChaim (Yaakov Chaim HaSofer, Kaf HaChaim, Yoreh De’ah 116:181).
Interestingly, those “born with a caul” in the Russian understanding of the expression also appear in Jewish tradition.
The renowned Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai (Rabbeinu Chida) writes about the patriarch Gad in his book “Midbar Kedemot” (3:2): “Gad was born covered by a membrane, like a garment. That is why Leah said at his birth: ‘ba-gad,’ which is read as two words — ‘good fortune has come,’ but written as one word, just like ‘beged’ — ‘garment.’ And this is a good sign for all who are born this way.”
The author of the book “Shmirat HaGuf VeHaNefesh” — Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Lerner resolves this contradiction: in his view, those whose bodies were covered by a membrane at birth are fortunate, whereas those whose faces were covered should fear lightning.
(“Shmirat HaGuf VeHaNefesh” — Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Lerner)
