Israeli Policeman's Witch Hunt

ו' באב תשס"ז

I didn't like it when witches were run out of a small Illinois town and I don't like it when witches in Israel are sued because some policeman isn't satisfied with a witch's witchery.

Coffee grounds brewed trouble for Israeli fortuneteller
By Dion Nissenbaum, McClatchy Newspapers
Fri Jul 20, 10:10 AM ET

JAFFA, Israel— For nearly a quarter-century, Sana Kuma has been staring into the bottoms of coffee cups to divine the future for top Israeli models, actresses and businessmen.

It is in the chocolate swirls of coffee grounds that the dark-eyed, lemon-blond- haired, 40-something fortuneteller can see what lies ahead.

Her fawning customers consider Kuma a sage and soothsayer.

To the Israeli government she was a witch and a fraud.

This year, Kuma became one of the few people ever to be charged in Israel with practicing magic, a unique crime punishable by up to five years in jail.

"It's against the law to be a fortuneteller," said Ofer Almog , a Tel Aviv attorney who represented Kuma and has become something of a specialist in defending accused witches.

The law, said Almog, is vague and imprecise: It is OK to offer advice based on tarot cards and the stars. But not coffee grounds.

"There is a problem defining magic in the law," Almog said. "You have to be pretending for this law to include you."

The Israeli witch in question returned her accuser's money to him, an Israeli police officer, who said she was a fraud and isn't satisfied with the refund. Was she really a fraud, Mr. Beihou, or just a blonde witch not interested in you?

Read the full story at link above.