Kimpetbrivls and Kame’ot: Papercut Protection
In the past, Jewish women gave birth with the help of midwives and female relatives, without pain relief or modern medicine. In many homes, a protective amulet hung nearby—on a wall or near a window or doorway. Among Ashkenazim (Jews of Central and Eastern European descent), these birthing amulets were called kimpetbrivls, meaning “childbed letters” in Yiddish. Sephardim (Jews of Iberian and Mediterranean descent) simply called them kame’a, the Hebrew word for amulet.
Hung over the mother’s bed or the baby’s cradle, a kimpetbrivl was believed to protect the new mother during labor and to guard the infant during the dangerous first days of life.
While many of these amulets were simple handwritten slips, others were beautifully crafted papercuts that included folkloric drawings of protective angels and occasionally an image of the “demon” Lilith crossed out to show her banishment. Part sacred text, part folk practice, part art, these amulets offer a window into a time when childbirth carried both great medical and spiritual risk.
What Makes Up a Kimpetbrivl
Kimpetbrivls, like most amulets, follow a formula. While I haven’t studied the Sefer Raziel to learn the exact ritual method for writing healing amulets, I have studied Traditional Jewish Papercuts by Joseph Shadur as closely as a textbook.
* I am not a rabbinical scholar. If you choose to purchase one of my amulets, please take them at face value.
What I have concluded is that kimpetbrivls almost always include warnings against witches (while functioning as protective objects themselves), the names of angels, and most importantly, prayers or psalms that ask for comfort and strength.
Judaism contains multitudes.
If you’re wondering about the rabbinic stance on amulets, the answer is that there wasn’t one unified opinion. On one side stood Maimonides, who rejected superstition. On the other were kabbalists, who held that an amulet proven effective three times could be considered valid and made by an “expert.” Yes, that standard appears in the Talmud.
Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof vs. Lilith on the Birth Amulet
Most kimpetbrivls call upon angels for protection. Some include the archangels Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael. But the three names that appear most often are Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof.
According to the medieval (as well as “provocative and often misogynistic“) text, the Alphabet of Ben Sira, these three angels were sent by God to bring Lilith back to Eden and to Adam. She refused.
In later retellings, Lilith vows to harm women in childbirth and their infants. The angels demand she swear that she will not harm any mother or child who bears their names on an amulet. That promise is the origin of their presence on kimpetbrivls.
Some amulets also invoke Adam and Eve as protective ancestors. Others include the verse from Exodus 22:17: “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” In the context of these amulets, this was directed toward Lilith.
As the first matriarch and patriarch in the Torah, Adam and Eve were believed to care for and protect their descendants. For this reason, some birthing amulets explicitly invoked them with the phrase, “Adam and Eve—Excluding Lilith!” Others quoted Exodus 22:17, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,” a verse understood in this context as a direct warning against Lilith.
Women, Folk Religion, and the Art of Protection
Although many amulets were written by male scribes, women were often involved in their making, exchange, and use. Folk religion existed alongside formal Jewish law, giving women a way to care for one another through ritual, objects, and shared belief.
These pieces often combine Hebrew, Aramaic, and Yiddish text. The mixture of languages reflects the layered cultural and religious life of Ashkenazi communities.
The bottom three sections read as follows (from R to L):
War teachers—
(Senoy)
Adam;
Abraham;
Isaac;
Jacob
A man with his sword on his head—
(and Sansenoy)
Witch will not live; Live witch will not; No witch will live
Afraid at night—
(and Semangelof)
And Eve;
And Sara;
And Rebecca;
And Leah
This phrasing about witches appears as a theme on many kimpetbrivls.
Reclaiming the Birth Amulet
The tradition of hanging a kimpetbrivl over the childbed nearly disappeared in the 20th century, especially after the Holocaust disrupted many lines of folk practice. In recent years, some Jews have begun reclaiming and reinterpreting these traditions.
Today, a kimpetbrivl can serve as a connection to the past, a visual prayer, or a source of comfort in moments we cannot fully control.
As a Jewish woman in 2025, I am not comfortable vilifying Lilith as a purely evil figure. Her story reflects deeper tensions about gender, autonomy, and power. The traditional narratives feel at odds with rachmones, the Jewish value of compassion and empathy.
I have no desire to banish Lilith or witches, but I do want to preserve the emotional and cultural purpose of the amulet: to offer protection, comfort, and continuity.
Reimagining the Amulet in Contemporary Papercutting
When I set out to create my own version of a kimpetbrivl, I asked:
What should I keep?
What should I release?
What should I add?
My contemporary papercut birth amulet centers Psalm 121 (Shir LaMa’alot) arranged in concentric circles around a Star of David.
The psalm focuses the mind. The star represents balance, protection, and Jewish identity. Together, they form a modern expression of the same desire for safety and reassurance that shaped historic amulets.
For many of us today, the comfort of a birth amulet is no longer rooted in fear of Lilith or demons. It is rooted in connection—to generations of Jewish mothers who faced childbirth with courage, faith, and community.
A kimpetbrivl was never just a piece of paper.
It was hope, cut from faith and love.
If you’d like to see my contemporary papercut birth amulet or learn more about the design, you can view it here:
What Do You Think?
What would you want included or excluded on a modern amulet?
💬 Share your thoughts in the comments!
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