D&D 3E/3.5 Jewish magic items?

[Eltab]

Both Moses and Aaron seem to have magical staves, Moses uses his when parting the sea and to make water come from a rock. Could their walking sticks have had other powers?

The 4e Dark Sun book had a Staff of the Wanderer, which allowed you and your friends a speed boost for overland travel.
Moses' staff could hold a property that other people travelling with you do not straggle behind / get lost.

 

[Arvok]

Considering creatures of Jewish lore, the clay golem is lifted directly from Jewish tradition (although after the medieval period, I believe).

 

[embee]

I'm thinkin that the Ark of the Covenant and the Tablets of the Law were magical items, and some of the items used regularly by the priesthood during services in the Temple could have been holy items. Both Moses and Aaron seem to have magical staves, Moses uses his when parting the sea and to make water come from a rock. Could their walking sticks have had other powers?

NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Moses did NOT part the Red Sea. God parted the Red Sea.

וַיֵּ֨ט מֹשֶׁ֣ה אֶת־יָדוֹ֮ עַל־הַיָּם֒ וַיּ֣וֹלֶךְ יְהוָ֣ה ׀ אֶת־הַ֠יָּם בְּר֨וּחַ קָדִ֤ים עַזָּה֙ כָּל־הַלַּ֔יְלָה וַיָּ֥שֶׂם אֶת־הַיָּ֖ם לֶחָרָבָ֑ה וַיִּבָּקְע֖וּ הַמָּֽיִם׃

Then Moses held out his arm over the sea and the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind all that night, and turned the sea into dry ground. The waters were split,

(Exodus 14:21)

 

[cbwjm]

I'm thinkin that the Ark of the Covenant and the Tablets of the Law were magical items, and some of the items used regularly by the priesthood during services in the Temple could have been holy items. Both Moses and Aaron seem to have magical staves, Moses uses his when parting the sea and to make water come from a rock. Could their walking sticks have had other powers?

With the way 5e works, maybe they were their staves were their divine focus for casting the spells control water and create water?

 

[embee]

Seriously, please kill this thread.

Trying to reframe a religion - any religion - as a set of magical spells and superstitions is highly offensive. "Magic" is generally used to describe the religious and ritual practices of people of whom the speaker disapproves. Historically there is an attitude that “what I do is ritual, but what other people do is magic or idolatry.”

Terms like superstition and magic are usually used to describe the beliefs or religious practices of other people. The beliefs of Jews, for instance, were considered long considered superstitious by Christian Europe.

So when you say, "Well Moses' staff must have been magic for that miracle to have happened," to me, you're saying "Moses' God isn't real like my God is and that's why what Moses did was magic, not a miracle."

The oil in the menorah in the Temple didn't burn for 8 days because it was magic. It burned for 8 days because it was a miracle which was a manifestation in the Jews' faith in God in the face of oppression. You all can say "Har har har!" all you want but that - BEING TOLD TO ABANDON YOUR GOD OR BE KILLED - is what you're laughing at.

Was the rabbi's breastplate magic? NO! It was a symbol of his authority. And it was kept not by the rabbi. It was kept by the Romans who occupied Judea. It wasn't magic; it was a hostage.

And to all of this cheapening of my religion, I say emphatically NO!

How did Moses part the Red Sea? He didn't. God did. It wasn't a magic trick. It was a miracle.

Please stop denigrating my religion.

 

[Morrus]

So, folks, we have a number of Jewish members participating in this thread, reporting each other for antisemitism (and that happened in another thread recently which I had to close for the same reason). I'm not sure how best to deal with that.

I would love our Jewish members to be able to discuss RPGs in the context of their religion, but I'm not qualified or knowledgeable enough adjudicate this. I'm going to close it for the moment and let tempers cool while I think about how to proceed. There is a reason why we have a no religion rule here, and this might be a good example of why.