For the source text click/tap here: Pesachim 110
To download, click/tap here: PDF
The Me’iri points out that during Talmudic times there were popular beliefs in destructive forces, amulets, etc. – ideas that today would be considered superstition.
One of these beliefs was the danger of zugot – that is to say, that doing things in pairs was hazardous. This concern leads to a question being raised about the Seder night. How can the Sages obligate participants to drink four cups of wine, when doing so would be involving oneself in zugot?
This leads us to the character of Joseph the demon who advises on the respective dangers of one set of wine cups zugot (two) vs two sets of zugot (four).
What is the attitude of our talmudic sages to demons and their advice?