Remember the wonder, enchantment and awe that filled your mind
when you saw your first magic trick?
Rabbi Mychal Rosenbaum and world-famous Magic Castle member
Joseph Tran instructed and entertained such a group of
“˜spellbound’ students at the Hillel Center Tuesday
night.
The event was presented through the cooperation of the UCLA
Jewish Student Union, Ha’am Newsmagazine and the Jewish
Awareness Movement, and was held at UCLA’s Hillel Center.
About 30 members of the UCLA and local Los Angeles community,
including young children, were present.
Rabbi Rosenbaum, associate director of Jewish Student Life at
the Hillel Center, passed around modern day amulets and discussed
with the audience passages in the Talmud, a collection of religious
writings, that dealt with the subjects of magic and mysticism.
For example, prohibitions in the Torah condemned anyone found
practicing the use of magic to death. Yet, as Rosenbaum notes, the
Talmud explicitly records the occurrence of the use of magic by
members of the Jewish community.
“(In antiquity), magic was OK as long as it was done
correctly and for the right purpose,” Rosenbaum said.
She also said that rabbis struggled to define magic and give
guidance to Jews regarding its uses and consequences.
Rabbi Rosenbaum’s presentation was then followed by
tantalizing illusions and magic tricks by professional magician
Joseph Tran. Tran is a member of Magic Castle, an organization
dedicated to the advancement of the ancient art of magic.
The crowd responded enthusiastically to the show, with acts that
included disappearing playing cards and a few caged white doves
turned into a large white rabbit. However, Tran had a message for
the audience.
“Magic isn’t about secrets or tricks. It’s
about having a good time” and rekindling that
“childlike wonder in all of us,” he said.
Howard Chernin, president of the Jewish Student Association and
one of the organizers, said he hoped the show would attract people
to a creative and entertaining experience.
“It’s a nice escape and it helps reconnect with the
kid in me,” Chernin said. “(The magic show) has no
agenda, it requires no prior knowledge, and it involves all the
senses.”
Michael Weinstein, a third-year microbiology student, was very
pleased with the presentation.
“It was even better than I expected. A good night of
learning and entertainment,” he said.
Some of the most famous magicians of all time are Jewish. David
Copperfield, David Blaine and Harry Houdini are just a sample of a
long and illustrious list of successful Jewish magicians and
entertainers.
After reconnecting a torn piece of string in front of his
awestruck audience, Tran ended his show with inspirational
words.
“If you believe in something enough, nothing is
impossible,” he said.