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Asmakta Asmodeus

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

determine the question; and lie distinguishes the case in which it is used for the purpose of consum-

mating the contract from the case

which

in

it is

though the penalty

is an exceptionally large one, it not to be considered an Asmakta and it may be collected by law as damages for the shame suffered b}r the innocent party, for which no amount may beconsidered too high. And furthermore, in this case, as in the case of gambling contracts, the conditions are mutual and reciprocal, and hence there is no Asmakta (lloshen Mishpat, I.e. 16). conditional promise strengthened by a vow, (6) an oath, or a hand-clasp is not an Asmakta (ib. 19) hence the rule of Asmakta does not apply where objects are conditionally dedicated to religious or charitable uses, these being considered as vows (ib. Shulhan Aruk, Yore De'ah, 258, 10). 19, gloss If a contract is an Asmakta, a notice in the deed that " this shall not be considered an Asmakta " is of no effect (Hoshen Mishpat, I.e. 18): the substance of the contract determines its legal character-, irrespective of what the parties choose to call it. Bibliography Moses Mendelssohn, Rttualgexetzc derjuden, iv. 3, §5; Z. Frankel, Der Gerichtliche Bewcis nach Moxaixch-Talmudischem RecMe, pp. 376 et seq. M. Bloch, Der Vertrag nach Mosatech-Talmuditschem Rechte, pp. 29 et seq. J. sn. D. W. A. is

for

the imposition of a penalty for the breach of the contract (Gloss to Hoshen Mishpat, I.e.). If A gives his house to B " on condition that " he marry a sister of A, the intention of is that B shall receive the house only after he has married his sister and therefore the phrase " on condition that " is equivalent to " from now on," and there is no Asmakta. If and B are adjoining landowners and wishes to buy B's land for the purpose of preventing it from falling into the hands of a third person, but B refuses to sell, and, for the purpose of pacifying A, declares that he will not sell his land without first offering it to A, " on condition that " if he breaks this promise he will pay a certain sum of money, this condition is merely a penalty for breach of promise, and is not like the form "from now on," but is like the form

A





A

A

A

'



A

"if," and it is an Asmakta ("Bet Yosef " to Hoshen Mishpat, 207, 14; responsa of Solomon ben Adret, Nos. 917 and 1149). (3) If the subject of the contract is real estate, and possession of it is taken at the time of the contract, in such case, even if the condition is in the form "if," there is no Asmakta (Mekirah, xi. 3, according to Kesef Mishneh, ad loe.). (4) If the contract is concluded with Kinyan (ceremony of symbolic seizure) in the presence of a tribunal of three judges learned in the law, and the document is deposited in court on condition that it is to be delivered to the debtor in case the creditor is not able, within a certain specified time, to establish his claim, then there is no Asmakta, no matter how the condition is expressed. Unless the creditor is prevented from appearing within the time fixed, by sickness or some other unavoidable occurrence, the debtor is entitled to delivery of the document (Ned. 27*; Mekirah, xi. 13, 14; Hoshen Mishpat, I.e. 15).





ASMODEUS, DAI]

or

('Aa/Liodaw;,

ASHMEDAI [ASHMA-

'KIOCK)



Name of

the prince of

The meaning of the name and the identity of the two forms here given are still in dispute. Asmodeus first appears in the Book of Tobit. According to Tobit iii. 8, vi. 14, the evil spirit Asmodemons.

deus

In the

—

"

king of the demons, " in the

Hebrew and Chaldaic

versions, is a love with Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, and for that reason prevented her from having a husband. After killing seven men successively on the nights of their marriage to her, he was rendered harmless when Tobias married her, following the instructions given him by the angel Raphael. Asmodeus "fled into the utmost parts of Egypt and the angel [Raphael] bound him" (ib. iii. 8, vi. 14 et

Book

of Tobit.

A case is cited in the Talmud in which two parties A moved the court to grant a

had a lawsuit, and

Akin

—

fell in

2^).

seq. viii.

continuance of thirty days in order to enable him to bring his proofs. The court suspected that the demand for continuance was merely for delay, and granted it .only on condition that A should deposit in court all the documentary evidence which he had, with the understanding that if he did not appear within thirty days, the continuance was to be conThe thirty days passed, and sidered null and void. A did not appear. The question arose as to the legality of the condition made by the court, it being

later addition

to this representation in

Asmodeus

Tobit

is

the descrip-

Testament of In Solomon, a pseudepigraphic work, the Testament original portions of which date from of Solomon, the first century. Asmodeus answered King Solomon's question concerning his name and functions as follows: " I am called Asmodeus among mortals, and my business Is to plot against the newly wedded, so that they may not know one another. And I sever them utterly by many calamities; and I tion of

in the

argued that

waste away the beauty of virgins and estrange their hearts.

condition

wives of their own, so that they leave them and go off by night and day to others that belong to other men with the result that

this was an Asmakta, inasmuch as the was only accepted by A because he cerThe tainly hoped to be able to appear in time. Talmud answers this problem by saying that in this

I

Solomon,

fits

of

.

.

.

madness and desire when they have

transl. in

fall into murderous deeds."— Test, of "Jewish Quarterly Review," xi. 20.

Solomon obtained the further information that it was the archangel Raphael who could render Asmo'

In such cases, even

into



inasmuch as the proofs were deposited in court, the non-fulfilment of the condition was tantamount to a relinquishment of the claim, and there was no Asmakta-; and it was established as a general

breach of contract of marriage.

men

they commit sin and

case,

proposition of law that if the contract is concluded with Kinyan in the presence of a learned court of three judges, and the creditor is not prevented from fulfilling the condition by an unavoidable occurrence, there is no Asmakta (Ned. 27«, b). penalties for (5) It is customary to fix certain

transport

deus innocuous, and that the latter could be put to flight by smoke from a certain fish's gall (compare Tobit viii. 2). The king availed himself of this knowledge, and by means of the smoke from the liver and gall he frustrated the "unbearable malice" Asmodeus then was compelled to of this demon. help in the building of the Temple and, fettered in chains, he worked clay with his ieet, and drew