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Does the Halacha allow the use of a hamsa as a good luck charm, considering that it originated as a Muslim symbol?

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    One can ask the question even without considering the hamsa's origin. Lo s'nachashu and all that.... One of my high-school teachers, Rabbi David Feinstein (Rabbi R'uven Feinstein's son) was asked by a classmate of mine whether he (the classmate) may wear a red string around his wrist on Shabas outside an eruv. Rabbi Feinstein responded with a smile that the student should first ask whether he can wear it during the week. (The student forbore, IIRC; or, at least, got no answer if he asked.)
    – msh210 ♦
    Commented May 29, 2011 at 4:19
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    Wearing a red string for protection has a long history. See the discussion in Tosefta kifshuta (Shabbos 6th perek, note 2-3) where it describes how common it was in Europe as a prevention against scarlet fever, and he notes that none of the rabbis protested. It is also cited as having curative properties in the gemara in Gittin 69b. So one should be careful about criticizing such a practice.
    – Curiouser
    Commented Sep 1, 2011 at 19:53
  • @Curiouser Rav Mutzafi says it is not allowed.
    – Hacham Gabriel
    Commented Jan 9, 2012 at 18:20
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    I didn't see the Tosefta kipshuta, but this is what the Tosefta has to say: אלו דברים מדרכי האמורי... והקושר [מטולטלת על יריכו וחוט אדום על אצבעו והמונה ומשליך צרורות לים או לנהר הרי זה מדרכי] האמורי
    – Ariel K
    Commented Jan 9, 2012 at 20:19
  • see post on the topic here: hirhurim.blogspot.com/2007/08/red-string.html
    – Ariel K
    Commented Jan 9, 2012 at 20:22

2 Answers 2

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Ben Ish Hai (Shana Bet Parashat Pinehas sim. 13) actually endorses the Hamsa.

A few months ago, I asked HaGaon HaRav Meir Elyiahu Shelit"a this question (question 108 on RabiMeir.com):

שמעתי שקדן גדול בהיסטוריה, כי חמסה היא מן התרבות המוסלמית, ולכן החלטתי לתפוס לדעת כי היא, שאסור להשתמש בהם. האם זה נכון

He answered:

צורת החמסה אכן לקוחה מאגדה ערבית ישנה אולם מצינו הרבה מחכמי המערב שהיו משתתפים בצורה זו ואין פוצה פה ומצפצף ופשוט שאין פה משום חוקת הגוים.‏

He admits that it is taken from the Muslims, but since a lot of big rabbis didn't protest but actually promoted it, it is simple to him that there is no Hukot HaGoyim involved.

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    I don't think once can just wave "minhag mevatel halacha" at any prohibition, definitely not idolatrous ones. Many Jews drive on shabbos nowadays, and there were times when many Jews worshipped avodah zara, but the issur does not just disappear.
    – Ariel K
    Commented Jan 9, 2012 at 18:44
  • Yeah...but there aren't any poskim who allow doing that. Here we have an actual Posek who allows it.
    – Hacham Gabriel
    Commented Jan 9, 2012 at 19:10
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    Q: If a posek or navi tells you to do avodah zara and they say "this is the minhag, kach yafeh lanu", what should you do?
    – Ariel K
    Commented Jan 9, 2012 at 20:11
  • While this case isn't actual avodah zara, so there's no mesis or anything here, it is in the realm of that issur and must be treated stringently.
    – Ariel K
    Commented Jan 9, 2012 at 20:12
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    The updated answer does not address the pagan issue. If something is a religious symbol of pagans, that is quite distinct from monotheistic Muslims.
    – Yaakov Kuperman
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 22:34
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The Wikipedia page discusses how it pre-dates Islam and seems to have pagan origins, which would be a worse problem. Good luck charms are problematic on their own, but pagan ones are definitely assur.

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    And yet they are extremely common among Jews. In Israel various souvenirs depicting a hamsa often overlayed with Jewish prayers or blessings are sold practically on every corner. If owning a hamsa is forbidden, one would expect some form of protest from the haredi community.
    – Dima
    Commented May 30, 2011 at 0:19
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    @Dima, my impression is that problematic superstitious practices are not on the list of things the Chareidi world is best at ostracizing.
    – Isaac Moses ♦
    Commented May 31, 2011 at 2:47
  • The pagan origins are "theories" according to wikipedia, while the true origin is unknown. If the origin truly is Islam and Middle Eastern (non-Jewish) culture, is it still forbidden?
    – Tal Fishman
    Commented Sep 1, 2011 at 20:34
  • If this is true then I need to ask a historian rabbi about this, no?
    – Hacham Gabriel
    Commented Dec 27, 2011 at 3:59

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