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MODERN JUDAISM. 
 
Qui Religionem Talmudicam, seu pr/esentem Judaismum, earn esse, quae 
 in Lege et Prophetis enarratur, putat, is hisce in rebus hospes est. 
 
 Owen Theolog, Lib. v. Digr. iv. 
 
MODERN JUDAISM: 
 
 OR, 
 
 A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 OPINIONS, TRADITIONS, RITES, AND CEREMONIES 
 
 OF THE JEWS IN MODERN TIMES : 
 
 BY JOHN ALLEN 
 
 SECOND EDITION : REVISED AND CORRECTED. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY R. B. SEELEY AND W. BURNSIDE 
 
 AND SOLD BY L. B. SEELEY AND SONS, 
 
 FLEET STREET, LONDON. 
 
 MDCCCXXX. 
 
^ 
 
 PRINTED BY L. B. SEELEY AND SONS, WESTON GREEN, 
 THAMES DITTON. 
 
TO 
 THE REVEREND 
 
 JOHN COLLIER JONES, D. D., 
 
 RECTOR OF EXETER COLLEGE, OXFORD, 
 
 AND 
 
 VICE-CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY; 
 
 IN REMEMBRANCE 
 
 OF THE AMIABLE QUALITIES 
 
 OF MIND AND HEART, 
 
 DISPLAYED BY HIM IN EARLY YOUTH, 
 
 WHEN THEY WERE 
 
 HARMONIOUSLY AND HAPPILY ASSOCIATED, 
 
 FOR SUCCESSIVE MONTHS AND YEARS, 
 
 IN THE SAME STUDIES 
 
 OF THE SAME GRAMMAR SCHOOL ; 
 
 AND 
 
 OF THE TALENTS, HABITS, AND ATTAINMENTS, 
 
 WHICH THEN GAVE PROMISE OF FUTURE EMINENCE ; 
 
 THIS WORK 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED 
 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 April 20th, 1830. 
 
 h/il35489 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The Jewish history has judiciously been divided 
 into two grand periods ; the former period reaching 
 from Abraham to Christ, the latter including all the 
 time that has passed since : and the Jews living in 
 these two periods have respectively been distinguished 
 as ancient and modern. ^ 
 
 Judaism requires the same distinction. Ancient 
 Judaism may be defined as the system of doctrines 
 and rites taught and prescribed in the Old Testa- 
 ment ; which were retained, though amidst much 
 general corruption, till the time of Christ. Modern 
 Judaism comprehends the Opinions, Traditions, 
 Rites, and Ceremonies, which began to be received 
 and practised before the destruction of the second 
 temple, were afterwards enlarged and embodied in 
 the CabbaUstic and Talmudic writings, and have 
 been professed and followed by the great body of 
 the Jewish people, without any material alteration, 
 down to the present day. To collect information 
 
 • * modernos Judseos a veteribm ita discernimus, ut veterum 
 
 * aDtatem inde ab Abrahamo usque ad adventum Christi deducamus : 
 
 * jnodeniorum inde a Christi adventu .' Jo. Ben. Carpzovii 
 
 Introduct. in Theol. Jud. c. ii. s. 3. 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 respecting this system, and to exhibit it to the public 
 in a compendious form, has been the design of the 
 Author in the following work. He is not acquainted 
 with any other work on this subject, uniting the 
 comprehension of plan and conciseness of detail 
 which he proposed to himself. How far his attempt 
 has succeeded, others must determine. 
 
 In procuring materials from every source within his 
 reach, in separating the correct from the erroneous, 
 and in selecting and arranging the most interesting 
 and important particulars, he has spared neither 
 time nor labour. . For most of his statements he has 
 referred to written authorities : in the few accounts 
 communicated from oral information, he has been 
 careful to satisfy himself of their authenticity : 
 and of some of the circumstances which he has 
 described, he has, in more instances than he has 
 thought necessary to mention, been an eye and ear 
 witness. 
 
 Most of the works cited in the notes, are referred 
 to as authorities for the statements contained in the 
 text : some of them furnish details which the limits 
 of the present volume would not allow to be included : 
 and others give accounts and representations which 
 the Author thought he had reason to reject, or main- 
 tain opinions from which he felt himself obliged to 
 dissent. These references are inserted for the sake 
 of those readers who may have inclination and oppor- 
 tunity for further inquiries into these subjects. 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 The Author is not uninformed that within the last 
 few years infidelity has gained some converts among 
 the Jews, especially in Prussia ; and that some mem- 
 bers of the synagogue evince as little veneration for 
 Moses as for Christ. But these are inconsiderable 
 exceptions to the great body of their nation. He is 
 also aware that the Israelites convened at Paris in the 
 year 1806, commonly called the Parisian Sanhedrim, 
 in their answers to the questions proposed by the 
 French Government, professed principles at variance, 
 in a few points, with the statements of Jewish opinions 
 given in the following pages. But he regards the 
 transactions connected with that assembly as the 
 mere effects of state policy on the one hand and 
 of temporizing servility on the other, and therefore 
 unworthy of being taken into the account. 
 
 The plan of this work not being polemical, the 
 Author has refrained, as far as possible, from dis- 
 cussions of theological doctrines, or questions at 
 issue between Jews and Christians : but he has 
 not been able to avoid some disquisitions which 
 may be considered as controversial. These how- 
 ever will be found to relate, chiefly if not entirely, 
 to matters of historical credibility or incredibility ; 
 such as, the pretensions of the Jews respecting 
 their oral law. Impartiality appeared to require 
 that their own account of it should be submitted 
 to the reader ; and truth- called for an examination 
 of its claims and an exposure of their futility. In 
 the notes, he has sometimes indulged a latitude 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 of remark, which, if not allowed to be strictly 
 within the limits of his plan, he hopes will at least 
 be excused as pardonable digression. 
 
 A firm believer in Christianity himself, the 
 Author cannot but contemplate Modern Judaism 
 as an awful delusion. The predictions of the 
 prophets appear to him to be strikingly fulfilled, 
 not only in the dispersion, sufferings, and preser- 
 vation of the Jews, but also in the moral darkness 
 which has enveloped their minds, the errors which 
 have infatuated their hearts, ever since they shut 
 their eyes to the day-spring from on high, and 
 rejected the wisdom of God. 
 
 But while he would disclaim the idea of neutrality, 
 he has studied to be impartial ; neither to extenuate 
 nor to exaggerate, but to describe things as they 
 are. The cause of Christianity neither needs nor 
 sanctions the least misrepresentation of its bitterest 
 opponents. If the censures occasionally expressed 
 or implied in the course of the work, seem to any 
 readers at all inconsistent with a profession of im- 
 partiality, they are requested to consider how 
 difficult it is to speak of things frivolous and odious, 
 absurd and profane, without employing any terms 
 expressive of ridicule or disgust, contempt or abhor- 
 rence. Whatever may have been introduced like 
 personal reflection, whether general or individual, 
 is directed exclusively against the rabhies ; many 
 of whom the Author cannot but regard as corrupt 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 seducers, of their brethren, as contrivers and pro- 
 moters, rather than victims, of the popular deception. 
 
 But whatever contempt or abhorrence the Author 
 feels for errors or frauds which appear to him 
 contemptible or detestable, he neither feels, nor has 
 ever felt, such sentiments towards the Jewish people. 
 He has the satisfaction of remembering that he has 
 always disapproved and condemned the insults and 
 injuries committed against them by multitudes bearing 
 the christian name. Blest with a Father whose good 
 sense and piety raised him above this vulgar error, 
 the Author's earliest impressions respecting this 
 people were those of benevolence, pity, and vene- 
 ration : benevolence, due to all the descendants 
 of our common father ; pity, excited by the moral 
 degradation of their present condition ; veneration, 
 inspired by the miracles of their ancient history and 
 the prophetic visions of their future glory. 
 
 Soon may the dawn of that glory break forth 
 upon the world. Soon may they acknowledge the 
 true Messiah whom their fathers crucified. Then 
 will the accounts of reveries and superstitions of 
 which so much of this volume consists, be changed 
 from descriptions of living error to memorials of a 
 delusion for ever past away. 
 
 London, 
 August 29, 1816. 
 
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 The acceptance of this portraiture of Modern 
 Judaism by the public, has proved that the Author 
 was correct in regarding it as a desideratum in 
 our Hterature. And the concurrent testimonies 
 of the Critical Journals and other high literary 
 authorities, in approbation of its execution, have 
 afforded him much satisfaction, and constituted 
 no small reward for his labour. The work has 
 been out of print for several years : and the 
 numerous and increasing inquiries for it, with 
 the great and growing interest of the British 
 public in the extraordinary people to whom it 
 relates, have called forth another edition. No 
 material alterations have been introduced, but the 
 Author has taken the opportunity of making all 
 the corrections which on a careful revision he 
 found to be necessary. 
 
 April 20th, 1830. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Old Testament received by the Jews : — Threefold Division : — 
 Order of the Books : — Jews unjustly accused of corrupting the 
 Hebrew Text: — Have counted the Words and Letters of the 
 Pentateuch, — and the Letters in the Bible. Table of Sections 
 of the Law and Prophets as read in the Synagogues . . . . , 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Targums or Chaldee Paraphrases : — Their Origin, — Authors, — 
 Jonathan, — Onkelos, — Some by unknown Authors and of un- 
 certain Age. Uses of the Targums 13 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Talmud. Rabbinical Account of the Oral Law. Compilation 
 of the Mishna: — of the Jerusalem Gemara: — of the Babylonian 
 Geraara. Remark on want of Evidence in favour of the Oral 
 Law. Alleged Necessity of an Oral Law. — Reason why it was 
 not committed to writing. Praises of the Talmud. The thirteen 
 Ways of reasoning employed by the Rabbies in expounding the 
 Law , 22 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Reasons for believing the Story of an Oral Law to be a Fiction. — 
 The Mishna at variance with the Pentateuch, and favourable to 
 Chicanery and Prevarication. The Contents of the Gemara 
 frivolous and superstitious, impious and blasphemous, absurd 
 and fabulous. Apologies for the Talmud answered. Difference 
 of earlier and later Editions of the Talmud 46 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Cabbala :— the Term explained :— Two Kinds, Theoretical 
 and Practical: — The latter a mere System of magical Super- 
 stition. — ^The Theoretical Cabbala subdivided into two Species, 
 — Symbolical and Literal. — Some account of each. Different 
 Opinions of the Value and Use of the Cabbala 07 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Thirteen Articles of Jewish Faith. — Remarks on their general 
 Design : — Slight Notice of a Messiah : — Silence on Pardon of 
 Sin. Various Opinions concerning the Resurrection. Precepts 
 of the Jewish Religion, six hundred and thirteen : — Divided 
 into affirmative and negative. What Obedience sufficient. — 
 Duties of Jewish Females. Seven Precepts said to have been 
 given to the Sons of Noah, — binding on the Gentiles 97 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Jewish Opinions on the present moral Condition of Human 
 Nature : — Sin : — Remedies for Sin : — Repentance : — Punish- 
 ment : — Salvation : — Case of Apostates — and Christians 110 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Rabbinical Traditions concerning God. Remarks on tiieir Pro- 
 faneness. Some Traditions filthy, and some obscene 143 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Traditions concerning Angels : — When created ; — Their different 
 Natures, — Durations, — Classes, — Orders, — Magnitudes, — and 
 Statures. Residences, — Seventy Angels set over Seventy 
 Nations. A presiding Angel over every Thing, animate and 
 inanimate. Guardian Angels, — one for every Man: — Their 
 Functions. Various Accounts of a Personage called Metatron. 
 
 Traditions concerning Demons: — When Created: — In what 
 Condition : — Their different Natures : — Classes : — Some the 
 Offspring of Others ; and some of Human Beings. — Account 
 of Lilith. — Sammael and others, Angels of Death. Demons 
 troublesome, — mischievous, — learned in the Law, — accustomed 
 to frequent the Synagogues 149 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Traditions concerning Paradise. Paradise twofold, Upper and 
 Lower. Lower, when created, — where situated. Both called 
 by seven Names. Communication between them. J^ower, the 
 first Abode of the disembodied Righteous: — its Light, — and 
 Sustenance. Residents in the Upper revisit the Lower. — Both 
 divided into seven Districts. Occupied by seven Orders of 
 righteous Spirits : — Their Stations, — Clothing. Stratagem of a 
 cunning Rabbi to force himself into Paradise. Traditions con- 
 cerning Hell. Hell twofold : — Creation, — Names, — Extent, — 
 Divisions, — Punishments; — Their Duration, — Intermissions .. 173 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Traditions concerning Human Souls. Souls described as triple ; 
 — as quintuple. Every Jew inspired with a supernumerary 
 Soul on the Sabbath. DifTerent Origin of the Souls of Jews 
 and Gentiles. All Souls created on the first Day :— consulted 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 about the formation of Bodies : — sent into Embryos respectively 
 prepared for them. Information and Instruction previous to 
 the Birth. Number of Israel itish Souls. Souls originally 
 created in Pairs. Reception of a disembodied Soul entering 
 into Paradise. Transmigration of Souls : — Whether the whole 
 Soul, or only a Part, transmigrates, — and how many Times. 
 Souls migrating into Human Bodies, Male and Female : — Into 
 Brutes, Quadrupeds, Insects, Reptiles, Fishes : — Into Vegetables 
 — and other inanimate Things. Another knid of Transmigration 
 called Ibbur . « 191 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Traditions concerning Persons mentioned in the Old Testament. 
 Adam and Eve : — Abraham and Sarah : — Joseph : — Serah : — 
 Moses : — Og, King of Bashan : — David : — Solomon : — Elijah : 
 — Esau's Descendants 218 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Traditions concerning Behemoth, a huge Quadruped : — Leviathan, 
 an immense Fish : — Bar Juchne, an enormous Bird ; — Powerful 
 Kingdoms of Israelites : — Sambation, a wonderful River 233 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Traditions concerning Jesus of Nazareth : — Toldoth Yeshu : — 
 Two Books with this Title. The Miracles of Jesus said by the 
 Jews to have been performed by the Power of the Shem-ham- 
 phorash .-—Absurdity of this Pretence 1 242 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Traditions concerning Messiah :— Expected about the Year of the 
 World 4000. After the rejection of Jesus, Jews deluded by 
 numerous Impostors. The Talmud pretends Messiah's coming 
 to be delayed : — Gives various Descriptions of the Period of his 
 Appearance : — Denounces Vengeance on all who compute the 
 exact Time: — Yet many Calculations made by Rabbies in 
 different Ages. Recent Prognostications. Benefits expected 
 by Jews from their Messiah. Ten Signs to precede and attend 
 his coming : — Ten Consolations. All Israel to be restored to 
 Palestine : — To be entertained by Messiah with a grand Festival : 
 — Spectacles and Games, — Sumptuous Banquet, — Music and 
 Dancing. Messiah to possess universal Empire : — To live long 
 and be succeeded by his Posterity. — The Earth to bring forth 
 spontaneously. All Work and Labour to be performed by 
 Gentiles. Israelites to enjoy perpetual Ease, Luxury, and Joy. 
 All these Representations expected to be literally realized .... 253 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Birth. Circumcision. Purification. Redemption of First-born. 
 Nursing. Education. Age of Majority 290 
 
Xvi CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 PAGK 
 
 Dresses worn by Jews. Talleih or Tsitsith, a square Garment 
 with Fringes or Tassels : — Small one worn constantly ; — Large 
 one for daily Prayers and other Occasions, Great Virtues of 
 these Vestments. Tephillin or Phylacteries, — for the Head, — 
 and for the Arm : — Made with minute Care, and possessed 
 of wonderful Virtues. Mezuzoth, or Schedules for door-posts. . 314 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Number required for a Congregation. Synagogues : — hired, or 
 built. General Description of them. Copies of the Law used 
 in them. Separate Part for Women. Officers. Privilege of 
 performing certain Functions sold by Auction. Rabbies. 
 Chief Rabbi. Want of Reverence in Jewish Worship 330 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Forms of Prayer :— All in Hebrew. Daily Prayers. Recital of 
 the Shema. Daily Services in Synagogue. Services on Mon- 
 days and Thursdays. Celebration of the Sabbath 338 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Traditions respecting the Age of the World, and the ancient 
 Hebrew Months and Years. Present Jewish Calendar described, 
 and illustrated by various Tables 366 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Festivals and Fasts. Feast of New Moon. Feast of Passover. 
 Thirty-third of Omer. Feast of Pentecost. Fast 1 7 Tamuz — 
 Fast 9 Ab. Feast of New Year. Fast of Gedaliah. Fast of 
 Atonement. Feast of Tabernacles. Hosanna Rabba. Feast 
 of Joy of the Law. Feast of Dedication. Fast of the Tenth 
 Month. Fast of Esther. Feast of Purim 390 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Meats. Drinks. Culinary and Table Utensils 420 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Marriage. Divorce. Customs relating to Widows and the 
 Brothers of their deceased Husbands 424 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 Sickness. Death. Burial. Mourning 434 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Brief Notice of the Caraites :— Their Situations,— Number,^ 
 Origin, — and distinguishing Principles 442 
 
MODERN JUDAISM, 
 
 &G. &C. 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Old Testament received by the Jews : — Threefold Divi- 
 sion : — Order of the Books : — Jews unjustly accused 
 of corrupting the Hebrew Text : — Have counted the 
 Words and Letters of the Pentateuch, — and the Letters 
 in the Bible, — Table of Sections of the Law and 
 Prophets as read in the Synagogues. 
 
 Our first inquiry respecting Modern Judaism is 
 naturally directed to those writings, which are 
 regarded by its professors as standards of the 
 system. 
 
 By the great body of the Jewish people the scrip- 
 tures of the Old Testament have always been received 
 as written by divine inspiration. They divide the 
 sacred books into three classes, — the Law, the 
 Prophets, and the Hagiographa, or Holy Writings. 
 
 Of the reason of this division nothing certain can 
 be determined. Some modern rabbles affirm it 
 to have been a designed allusion to the threefold 
 
i'i 
 
 2 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 division of the tabernacle and temple : the Law 
 answering to the Most Holy Place, in which were 
 the Ark, the Propitiatory, and the Book of the Law ; 
 the Prophets corresponding to the Holy Place, in 
 which were the Table of Shew -bread, the Golden 
 Candlestick, and the Altar of Incense ; and the 
 Hagiographa to the Court of the Temple, where stood 
 the Altar of Burnt offering.^ 
 
 But whatever may have been the reason of the 
 division, it is doubtless of high antiquity. The son 
 of Sirach seems to allude to it in the preface to the 
 book of Ecclesiasticus, written and published about 
 a hundred and thirty years before the Christian era ; ^ 
 where he mentions ' The Law, the Prophets, and 
 the other Books of our Fathers.' It is probable that 
 the same was intended by our Lord, when he spoke 
 of ^' The Law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the 
 ** Psalms,"^ in an address to his disciples after his 
 resurrection. Josephus, who wrote soon after the 
 destruction of the second temple, says : * We have 
 ^ only twenty-two books, which contain the records 
 
 * of all past times, which are justly believed to be 
 ' divine. Of them, five belong to Moses, which 
 ' contain his Law, and the traditions of the origin 
 ' of mankind till his death. In the interval of time 
 ' from the death of Moses to the reign of Artaxerxes, 
 
 * successor of Xerxes, king of Persia, the Prophets 
 
 ' R. Ephod (or, more correctly, Peripoth Duran) Pracf. in Gram, 
 cited by Simon, Crit. Hist. O. T. B. i. c. 9. R. Abarbinel, Prsefat. in 
 Josuam, vel. Dissert, viii. Basil, 1662. 
 
 « Wolf. Bib. Hob. vol. i. p. 255, &c. ^ ]^^,i4e xxiv. 44. 
 
THE SCRIPTURES. 3 
 
 ' who were after Moses wrote down what was done in 
 
 * their times > in thirteen books. The remaining four 
 ' books contain hymns to God, and precepts for the 
 
 * conduct of human life.' ^ According to this distri- 
 bution the books may be enumerated in the following 
 manner. I. The Law. 1. Genesis. 2. Exodus. 
 3. Leviticus. 4. Numbers. 5. Deuteronomy. IL 
 The Prophets. 1. Joshua. 2. Judges and Ruth. 
 3. Samuel. 4. Kings. 5. Chronicles. 6. Isaiah. 
 7. Jeremiah, including the Lamentations. 8. Ezekiel. 
 9. Daniel. 10. Twelve Minor Prophets. 11. Ezra 
 and Nehemiah. 12. Esther. 13. Job. IIL The 
 Hagiographa. 1. The Psalms. 2. Proverbs. 3. 
 Ecclesiastes. 4. Song of Solomon. The descrip- 
 tions given by Josephus of the books of the second 
 and third classes leave room for some doubt to which 
 he meant to refer the book of Job : but if he included 
 it in the third, he must have reckoned two of Solo- 
 mon's books, perhaps Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, as 
 one ; and may have made up the number he assigns 
 to the second class by counting Ezra and Nehemiah 
 as two books. There is much probability in the 
 supposition of Dean Prideaux,^ that this numeration 
 was adopted for the sake of reducing the books to 
 the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. 
 
 The writings comprehended in the Jewish canon 
 have been neither increased nor diminished, and 
 the same threefold division is still retained ; but 
 some books included by Josephus in the second 
 
 ' Contra Ap. L. i. S. 8. * Connect. P. i. B. 5. 
 
 B 2 
 
4 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 class are now found in the third, and the separation 
 of Ruth from Judges, and the Lamentations of 
 Jeremiah from his Prophecies, has increased the 
 number to twenty-four. No record enables us to 
 ascertain either the time or the cause of this alter- 
 ation : but that it was prior to the twelfth century 
 of the Christian era, is evident from a passage of 
 Maimonides ; ^ and an expression of Jerome ^ affords 
 some reason to believe that the division into twenty- 
 four books may be traced as high as the fourth 
 century. Some Jewish copies of the scriptures 
 differ from others,^ as to the order of the several 
 books in the classes to which they are assigned, 
 especially the Prophets ; but they are most generally 
 arranged in the following manner : — I. The Law, 
 Five Books. 1. Genesis. 2. Exodus. 3. Leviti- 
 cus. 4. Numbers. 5. Deuteronomy. — IL The Pro- 
 phets, Eight Books. The former prophets four, 
 6. Joshua. 7. Judges. 8. Samuel. 9. Kings. The 
 Za^^er prophets /owr. 10. Isaiah. 11. Jeremiah. 12. 
 
 > Mor. Nev. P. ii. cap. 45. 
 
 2 Preef. in Esdiam, cited by Simon, Cr. Hist. O. T. B. i. c. 9. 
 
 3 Many of these variations may be found in some Tables of the 
 number and order followed by different Jewish writers, in enumerating 
 the sacred books, and in several Hebrew Bibles, both printed and 
 manuscript, — compiled by Hodi/y and inserted in Wolf. Bib. Heb. vol. 
 ii. p. 50 — 53. The seven following pages donlain similar tables of 
 variations in the arrangement of the sacred canon, by the Councils and 
 Fathers of the Christian Church, both Greek and Latin. 
 
 In the catalogue of the sacred books given in the Talmud, Isaiah is 
 placed after Jeremiah and Ezekiel ; and the order of the Hagiographa 
 is as follows : Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song cf Songs? 
 Lamentations, Daniel, Esther, Ezra and Nehemiah, Chronicles. The 
 same order is observed by Maimonides. Raymundi Martini Pugio 
 Fidel, p. 115, 116. Lipsise, 1687. 
 
THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 Ezekiel. 13. Twelve minor prophets, reckoned as 
 one book, — Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, 
 Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zech- 
 ariah, Malachi. — III. The Hagiographa, Eleven 
 Books. 14. Psalms. 15. Proverbs. 16. Job. 17. 
 Song of Songs. 18. Ruth. 19. Lamentations. 20. 
 Ecclesiastes. 21. Esther. 22. Daniel. 23. Ezra and 
 Nehemiah. 24. Chronicles.^ 
 
 Some learned Christians have charged the Jews 
 with altering the distribution of their scriptures for 
 the sake of degrading the authority of Daniel ; whose 
 writings the universal reception of them by their 
 forefathers forbad them to reject, but whom they 
 were desirous of expunging from the list of prophets, 
 because they found it impossible to make his pre- 
 dictions consist with their notions of a Messiah yet 
 to come. But to sustain so serious a charge appears 
 to me to require stronger and more direct evidence 
 than any that has been adduced. Maimonides, indeed, 
 in a passage just referred to, says : ' Our nation has 
 
 * unanimously agreed in ranking the book of Daniel 
 ' among the books called Hagiographa, and not 
 
 * among the Prophets.' It would be easy to shew, 
 that some of the reasons alleged for this denial 
 of Daniel's prophetical character are destitute of any 
 foundation in truth, and that others furnish nothing 
 more than frivolous distinctions without any real 
 difference. But it will be sufficient to cite a con- 
 fession of Maimonides himself, in the same work, — 
 
 » Bib. Heb. a Vander Hooght. Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. ibid. Wolf. 
 Bib. Heb. vol. ii. p. 47 — 49. Frey's Narrative, p. 9. 
 
6 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 that Daniel wrote by the Holy Spirit. The testimonies 
 of some of the most learned Jews are highly in his 
 favoiir. Abarbinel maintains, that his spirit of com- 
 prehension was that of true prophecy ; Jacchiades 
 states, that he attained to the highest pitch of pro- 
 phecy ; and the Talmud ranks him with Haggai, 
 Zechariah, and Malachi. The reader who is desirous 
 of further information on this point may consult the 
 works referred to below.* 
 
 The Jews have been accused, or at least sus- 
 pected, of wilfully corrupting various parts of the 
 Hebrew text. This suspicion seems to have ori- 
 ginated in the difference between many passages 
 in the Septuagint version, and the correspondent 
 passages in the version of Aquila, a Jewish pro- 
 selyte, who, in the second century of the Christian 
 era, undertook to furnish an improved translation 
 for those Jews who used the Greek language. 
 Assuming that the Septuagint was invariably correct, 
 the early Fathers of the Christian church were very 
 severe in their censures of every variation from 
 it ; which they imputed to a desire of evading the 
 real force of those parts which were favourable to 
 Christianity. But whatever truth there may have 
 been in this imputation, no evidence has been 
 adduced of their wilful alteration of any part of 
 the Hebrew text. Many differences exist between 
 diFerent copies ; but this circumstance can excite 
 
 ' llaym. Mart. Pug. Fid. p. 121, 122. Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. ii. 
 p. 295—298. Wolf. Rib. Heb. vol. ii. p. 46. Simon Crit. Hist. O. T. 
 B. i. c. 9. Jewish Repository, vol. ii. p. 441 — 448. 
 
THE SCRIPTURES. 7 
 
 no surprise. From the last of the prophets under 
 the Old Testament, to the invention of printing, 
 were more than eighteen hundred years. During 
 this long period numerous transcripts were made, 
 both for public and for private use. Nothing but 
 an immediate divine inspiration of each transcriber 
 of the whole or any part of the scriptures could 
 have secured the perfect accuracy of every copy. 
 When errors had crept into one copy, they were 
 likely to be retained in other copies made from it ; 
 and future transcribers were liable to new errors. 
 In the last century, all the manuscripts that could 
 be obtained were collated with the greatest care ; 
 and collections of the various readings have been 
 published to the world. Similar varieties are detected 
 in the copies of all ancient writings, especially of 
 the New Testament. But among all the various 
 readings, none have been found to affect any point 
 of doctrine or moral practice : so that the sacred 
 volume has been handed down to our times in sach 
 a state as to demand from all its friends a grateful 
 acknowledgment of the divine providence in its 
 preservation.^ 
 
 There are not wanting proofs of the most scru- 
 pulous care of the Hebrew text on the part of the 
 Jews : they have counted the large and small sections, 
 the verses, the words, and even the letters, in some 
 of the books. Father Simon says he had seen a 
 
 ' llaym. Mart. Pug. Fid. p. 147 — 149. Augustin. De Civ. Dei, 
 c, 13. ibidem. Walton. Prol. v. vi. vii. Simon Crit. Hist. B. i. 
 c. 1. 18. 23. Kennicott, Dissert. 1. 
 
MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 manuscript of Perpignan, which contained the fol- 
 lowing computation.^ 
 
 
 GREAT 
 SBCTIONS. 
 
 SMALL 
 SECTIONS. 
 
 VERSES. 
 
 WORDS. 
 
 LETTERS. 
 
 Genesis 
 
 12 
 
 43 
 
 1534 
 
 20713 
 
 78100 
 
 Exodus 
 
 11 
 
 33 
 
 1209 
 
 
 63467 
 
 Leviticus 
 
 10 
 
 25 
 
 859 
 
 11902 
 
 44989 
 
 Numbers 
 
 10 
 
 33 
 
 1288 
 
 16707 
 
 62529 
 
 Deuteronon 
 
 ay 11 
 
 31 
 
 955 
 
 16394 
 
 54892 
 
 They have likewise reckoned, which is the middle 
 letter of the Pentateuch, which is the middle clause 
 of each book, and how many times each letter of the 
 alphabet occurs in all the Hebrew Scriptures. The 
 curiosity of some readers may be gratified by this 
 statement.^ 
 
 ^* Aleph 
 
 42377 
 
 b Lamed 
 
 41517 
 
 1 Beth 
 
 38218 
 
 D Mem 
 
 77778 
 
 :i Gimel 
 
 29537 
 
 3 Nun 
 
 41696 
 
 •7 Daleth 
 
 32530 
 
 D Samech 
 
 13580 
 
 n He 
 
 47554 
 
 y Ain 
 
 20175 
 
 ) Vau 
 
 76922 
 
 2 Pe 
 
 22725 
 
 ? Zain 
 
 22867 
 
 :i Tzaddi 
 
 21882 
 
 n Cheth 
 
 23447 
 
 p Koph 
 
 22972 
 
 D Teth 
 
 11052 
 
 -) Resh 
 
 22147 
 
 - Yod 
 
 66420 
 
 \i; Shin 
 
 32148 
 
 D Caph 
 
 48253 
 
 n Tau 
 
 59343 
 
 ' Simon Crit. Hist. B. i. c. 26. Having had no opportunity of 
 seeing the original of this book, I quote from the English Translation, 
 in which the number of words in Exodus is not stated. 
 
 » Walton. Proleg. viii. s. 8. For a statement generally the same, 
 but differing in a few numbers, Vid. Wolf. Bib. Heb. vol. ii. p. 475. 
 
THE SCRIPTURES. 9 
 
 Little or no advantage, indeed, can result from 
 these enumerations : for admitting their accuracy as 
 to the contents of any particular copy, which is a 
 case by no means probable, we cannot suppose any 
 other copy to be exactly the same in every letter ; 
 and there is reason to believe the autographs had 
 been lost long before any such computations were 
 attempted. But, as a learned writer justly remarks, 
 
 * How trifling soever this scrupulous exactness may 
 
 * appear, yet it suggests to us one observation, — that 
 ' the Jews were religiously careful to preserve the 
 ' literal sense of scripture ; and consequently, not- 
 
 * withstanding their enmity and obstinate aversion to 
 
 * Christianity, they are not to be charged with this 
 ' additional crime of having corrupted the Bible.' ^ 
 
 I shall conclude this chapter with a Table of the 
 Sections of the Law and of the Prophets, as read in 
 succession in the synagogues on sabbath-days.^ The 
 Jews in different countries have not, in all instances, 
 chosen the same portions of the prophets. In the 
 annexed Table, — ^where a section of the law is fol- 
 lowed by two sections of the prophets, that in the 
 first line is according to the Spanish and Portuguese, 
 and that in the second line according to the German 
 and Polish Jews. In one instance, it will be observed, 
 there is a still greater variety. — ^The numbers are all 
 
 » Chappelow cited by Gill, Dissertation on the Hebrew Language, 
 &c. Pref. 
 
 ' Bib. Heb. a Vander Hooght, passim. Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. 
 p. 97, 98, 133, 134. Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. ii. p. 593—598. 
 655—664. Hebrew and English Prayer Book, p. 203—209. London 
 A.M. 5530. 
 
10 
 
 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 inclusive. The chapters and verses are given accord- 
 ing to Vander Hooght's Hebrew Bible, with which 
 those in our English Bible do not always correspond. 
 In the Parashioth, as the whole of the Pentateuch 
 is read, I have thought it unnecessary to specify these 
 variations. But whenever a difference occurs in the 
 Haphtorothj the chapter and verse according to our 
 English Bible are given in a note : that every reader 
 may have a correct view of these selections from the 
 prophets. These readings will require to be further 
 noticed when we come to speak of the services of the 
 synagogue. 
 
 PARASHIOTH, 
 OR SECTIONS OF THE LAW. 
 
 HaPHTOROTH 
 
 OR SECTIONS OF THE PROPHETS. 
 
 SECT. 
 
 GENESIS. 
 
 
 I. 
 
 i. 1. to vi. 8. 
 
 Isaiah xlii. 5 — 21. 
 Isai. xlii. 5. to xliii. 10. 
 
 11. 
 
 vi. 9. to xi. 32. 
 
 Isai. liv. 1—10. 
 Isai. liv. 1. to Iv. 5. 
 
 III. 
 
 xii. 1. to xvii. 27. 
 
 Isai. xl. 27. to xli. 16. 
 
 IV. 
 
 xviii. 1. to xxii. 24. 
 
 2 Kings iv. 1 — 23. 
 2 Kings iv. 1 — 37. 
 
 V. 
 
 xxiii. 1. to XXV. 18. 
 
 1 Kings i. 1 — 31. 
 
 VI. 
 
 XXV. 19. to xxviii. 9. 
 
 Mai. i. 1. to ii. 7. 
 
 VII. 
 
 xxviii. 10. to xxxii. 3. 
 
 *Hos. xi. 7. to xii. 12 
 
 VIII. 
 
 xxxii. 4. to xxxvi. 43. 
 
 Obadiah throughout. 
 fllos. xii. 13. toxiv. 1 
 
 IX. 
 
 xxxvii. 1. toxl. 23. 
 
 Amos ii. 6. to iii. 8. 
 
 X. 
 
 xli. 1. toxliv. 17. 
 
 1 Kings iii. 15. to iv. 1 
 
 XI. 
 
 xliv. 18. to xlvii. 27. 
 
 tEzek. xxxvii. 16—28. 
 
 XII. 
 
 xlvii. 28. to 1. 26. 
 
 1 Kings ii. 1 — 12. 
 
 * xi. 7. to xii. 11. f xii. 12. to xiii. 16. 
 
 { xxxvii. 1.5 — 28. 
 
THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 11 
 
 PARASHIOTH, 
 
 OR SECTIONS OF THE LAW. 
 SECT. EXODUS. 
 
 XIII. i. l.tovi. 1. 
 
 XIV. vi. 2. to ix. 35. 
 
 XV. X. 1. toxiii. 16. 
 
 XVI.' xiii. 17. to xvii. 16. 
 
 XVII. xviii- 1. toxx. 26. 
 
 XVIII. xxi. 1. toxxiv. 18. 
 
 XIX. XXV. 1. to xxvii. 19. 
 
 XX. xxvii. 20. to xxx. 10. 
 
 XXI. xxx. 11. to xxxiv. 35. 
 
 XXII. xxxv.l.toxxxviii.20. 
 
 XXIII. xxxviii. 21. to xl. 38. 
 
 LEVITICUS. 
 
 XXIV. i. l.tov. 26. 
 XXV. vi. 1. to viii. 36. 
 
 XXVI. ix. l.toxi. 47. 
 
 XXVII. xii. l.toxiii. 59. 
 
 XXVIII. xiv. 1. toxv. 33. 
 
 XXIX. xvi. l.toxviii. 30. 
 
 XXX. xix. l.to XX. 27. 
 
 XXXI. xxi. 1. toxxiv. 23. 
 
 XXXII. XXV. l.toxxvi. 2. 
 
 XXXIII. xxvi. 3. to xxvii. 34. 
 
 NUMBERS. 
 
 XXXIV. i.l.toiv. 20. 
 
 HAPHTOROTH, 
 
 OR SECTIONS OF THE PROPHETS. 
 
 Jerera. i. 1. to ii. 3. 
 
 Isai. xxvii. 6. to xxviii. 13. and 
 
 xxix. 22, 23. 
 Ezek. xxviii. 25. to xxix. 21. 
 Jerem. xlvi. 13 — 28. 
 Judges V. 1 — 31. 
 Judges iv. 4. to V. 31. 
 Isai. vi. 1 — 13. 
 
 Isai. vi. 1. to vii. 6. and* ix. 5, 6. 
 Jer. xxxiv. 8 — 22. & xxxiii. 25, 26. 
 f 1 Kings V. 26. to vi. 13. 
 Ezek. xliii. 10—27. 
 1 Kings xviii. 20—39. 
 1 Kings xviii. 1—39. 
 1 Kings vii. 13 — 26. 
 1 Kings vii. 40 — 50. 
 1 Kings vii. 40 — 50. 
 
 1 Kings vii, 51. to viii. 21. 
 
 Isa. xliii. 21. to xliv. 23. 
 
 Jer. vii. 21.to viii.3. andix. 23,24. 
 
 2 Sara. vi. 1 — 19. 
 
 2 Sam. vi. 1. to vii. 17. 
 2 Kings iv. 42. to v. 19. 
 2 Kings vii. 3 — 20. 
 Amos ix. 7 — 15; 
 Ezek. xxii. 1 — 16. 
 Ezek. XX. 2 — 20. 
 Amos ix. 7 — 15. 
 Ezek. xliv. 15—31. 
 Jerem. xxxii. 6 — 27. 
 Jerem. xvi. 19. to xvii. 14. 
 
 JHos. ii. 1—21. 
 
 * ix. 6, 7, 
 
 f V. 12. to vi. 13. 
 
 X i. 10. to ii. 20. 
 
12 
 
 MODERN JUDAISM. 
 
 PARASHIOTH, 
 
 OR SECTIONS OF THE LAW. 
 
 SECT. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 XXXVIIL 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 XL. 
 
 XLI. 
 
 XLII. 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 NUMBERS. 
 
 iv. 21. to vii. 89. 
 viii. 1. to xii. 16. 
 xiii. 1. to XV. 41. 
 xvi. 1. to xviii. 32. 
 xix, 1. to xxii. 1. 
 xxii. 2. to XXV. 9. 
 
 XXV. 10. to XXX. 1. 
 
 XXX. 2. to xxxii. 42. 
 xxxiii. 1. toxxxvi. 13. 
 
 HAPHTOROTH, 
 
 OR SECTIONS OF THE PROPHETS. 
 
 Judges xiii. 2 — 25. 
 * Zech. ii. 14. to iv. 7. 
 Josh. ii. 1—24. 
 1 Sara. xi. 14. to xii. 22. 
 Judges xi. 1 — 33. 
 fMicah V. 6. to vi. 8. 
 1 Kings xviii. 46. to xix. 21. 
 Jerem. i. 1. to ii. 3. 
 Jerem. ii. 4 — 28. and iv. 1, 2. 
 Jerem. ii. 4 — 28. and iii. 4. 
 
 DEUTERONOMY. 
 
 XLIV. i. 1. to iii. 22. 
 
 XLV. iii. 23. to vii. 11. 
 
 XLVI. vii. 12. toxi. 25. 
 
 XLVII. xi. 26. to xvi. 17. 
 
 XLVIII. xvi. 18. to xxi. 9. 
 
 XLIX. xxi. 10. to XXV. 19. 
 
 L. xxvi. 1. to xxix. 8. 
 
 LI. xxix. 9. to XXX. 20. 
 
 LII. xxxi. 1 — 30. 
 
 LIII. xxxii. 1—52. 
 
 LIV. xxxiii. 1. to xxxiv. 12. 
 
 Isaiah i. 1 — 27. 
 
 Isaiah xl. 1—26. 
 
 Isaiah xlix. 14. to Ii. 3. 
 
 Isaiah liv. 11. to Iv. 5. 
 
 Isaiah Ii. 12. to Iii. 12. 
 
 Isaiah liv. 1 — 10. 
 
 Isaiah xl, 1 — 22. 
 
 Isaiah lix. 10. to Ixiii. 9. 
 
 X Hos. iv. 2—10. Mic. vii. 18— 20. 
 
 Isaiah Iv. 6. to Ivi. 8. 
 
 2 Sam. xxii. 1 — 51. 
 
 X Hos. xiv. 2—10. Joei ii. 15—27. 
 
 Ezek. xvii. 22. to xviii. 32. 
 
 The preceding Section repeated. 
 
 n. 10. to iv. 7. 
 
 t V. 7. to vi. 8. 
 
 X xiv. 1— c 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Targums or Chaldee Paraphrases : — Their Origin, — 
 Authors, — Jonathan.-^Onkelos. — Some by unknown 
 Authors and of uncertain Age. — Uses of the Targums, 
 
 The next Jewish writings which claim our attention 
 are the Targums. Tar gum is a Chaldee word, signi- 
 fying an interpretation^ version, paraphrase, or exposi- 
 tion. It denotes a translation of the sense from one 
 language into another, rather than a mere literal 
 version, though some of the Targums are very- 
 literal. ^ 
 
 The general opinion is, that these paraphrases 
 originated in the circumstances arising out of the 
 Babylonian captivity ; that, being dispersed in 
 various parts of Chaldea, the Jews were under the 
 necessity of adopting the language of their masters ; 
 that Hebrew ceasing to be a vernacular tongue, 
 the knowledge of it, from that period, was confined 
 to the priests and Levites, and a few of the principal 
 persons of the nation ; that when the law was 
 publicly read to the people, after their return to 
 Jerusalem, they required an interpretation to enable 
 
 » Walton. Proleg. xii. s. 4, Wolf. Bib. Heb. vol. ii. p. 1137. Castell. 
 Lex. Hept. col. 3944. Leusdem Philol. Heb. Dis. vi. s. 11. 
 
14 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 them to understand it ; ^ and this interpretation 
 must necessarily have been in Chaldee, the only 
 language with which the majority were acquainted. 
 It has indeed been contended, that though during 
 the captivity the Jews might have acquired some 
 knowledge of the Chaldean tongue, it is unreason- 
 able to suppose they had forgotten their own ; that 
 the prophecies of Ezekiel and Daniel, Haggai, 
 Zechariah and Malachi, and the books of Ezra, 
 Nehemiah and Esther, would never have been 
 delivered to the people in a language which they 
 did not understand ; that the general adherence 
 of the Jews to their ancient idiom may be fairly 
 inferred from the complaint of Nehemiah, against the 
 strange dialect spoken in the families of those who 
 had married wives of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab ; 
 that the account of the sacred historian respecting 
 Ezra and his associates, who '' read in the book, 
 ** in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, 
 *' and caused the people to understand the law," 
 imports an exposition in the same language, not an 
 interpretation in another, and represents Ezra, on 
 these occasions, not as an interpreter, but as a 
 preacher; and, lastly, that though Hebrew might 
 not have been spoken in its ancient purity, or with- 
 out some intermixture of Chaldee, yet it was not 
 wholly superseded, as the vernacular language of 
 Judea, till after the death of Alexander the Great. 
 But no historical evidence has been adduced of such 
 a change- taking place at the period assigned; and 
 
 ' Nehem. viii. 7, 8. 
 
THE TARGUMS. 15 
 
 if the Hebrew had continued to be generally spoken 
 till that time, it seems very difficult, if not impossible, 
 to account for Chaldee being the language then 
 substituted in its room. To discuss this question 
 at large, however, would be foreign from the present 
 design. There -is reason to believe that the method 
 adopted in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, and 
 continued for several generations, on every sabbath 
 day, was for a verse or sentence of the law to be read 
 in Hebrew by one person, and then interpreted in 
 Chaldee by another, and so each successive clause to 
 the end of the section ; and that these interpretations 
 were at first given extempore by persons familiar 
 with both languages, and under the superintendence 
 of Ezra and some of the latter prophets. At what 
 period written versions were introduced, history has 
 not recorded. It is probable that some of the oral 
 illustrations of the interpreters were perpetuated by 
 their insertion on the margins of copies of the law ; 
 and that, increasing in number from time to time, 
 they were at length collected by some industrious 
 and competent individual, who supplied what was 
 yet wanting to a complete version of any one or 
 more books of the sacred code.^ 
 
 Some have supposed that there were many Tar- 
 gums which have been lost in the lapse of ages.*^ 
 
 * Walton. Proleg. xii. s. 5 — 7, Pseif. Theol, Jud. Exerc. ii. c. 1, 2. 
 Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. p. 140. Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. p. 406. 
 Leusden. Philol. Heb. Diss. v. s. 1—4. Wolf. Bib. Heb. vol. ii. 
 p. 1135 — 1146. Allix's Judgment of the Jewish Church, c. 7. 
 
 ' WaltG?^. Prolesr. xii. s. 12. 
 
16 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 Of those which have descended to our times, the 
 most ancient are those of Onkelos on the Law, and 
 that of Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Prophets. 
 
 Jonathan Ben Uzziel is generally believed to have 
 composed his Targum before the birth of Christ. 
 He was a disciple of Hillel, one of the most eminent 
 of the Jewish doctors ; who was president of the 
 sanhedrim about a hundred years before the destruc- 
 tion of the second temple. He is allowed to have 
 written in a better and purer style than any other 
 Targumist except Onkelos : on the former prophets 
 he is more literal and simple ; on the latter prophets 
 more paraphrastic and allegorical, with some mixture 
 of the fabulous. Numerous prophecies are applied 
 by him to the Messiah, in the same manner as by 
 Christians. The high estimation in which he is held 
 by the Jews is evinced by the following extravagant 
 eulogium. ' Our rabbies say : Hillel the elder had 
 
 * eighty disciples ; of whom thirty were worthy that 
 
 * the shechinah, or divine glory, should rest upon 
 ' them, as upon Moses our master, of blessed memory; 
 ' thirty were worthy that the sun should stand 
 
 * still for them, as for Joshua the son of Nun ; 
 
 * and twenty possessed mediocrity of worth ; but 
 
 * the greatest of them all was Jonathan the son 
 ' of Uzziel.' They extol his work as of divine 
 authority, affirming that he received it from the 
 mouth of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi ; and 
 that his writing it was honoured with the sanction 
 of heaven, in several miracles which attended its 
 commencement and completion. But he was not 
 
THE TARGUMS. 17 
 
 cotemporary with either of these prophets, the last 
 of whom had been dead at least three hundred years ; 
 and the miracles are unsupported by any evidence 
 worthy of credit.^ 
 
 It is undetermined among the learned, whether 
 Onkelos was a Jew by birth, or a proselyte who 
 embraced Judaism after having arrived at years 
 of maturity. Some writers have confounded him 
 with Aquila of Pontus, whom I have already had 
 occasion to mention ; who was first a heathen, after- 
 wards embraced Christianity, and lastly apostatized 
 to Judaism ; and after his apostacy produced a 
 version of the Old Testament into Greek, about the 
 year of Christ 130. Others have described him as 
 a nephew of Titus Vespasian the Roman emperor, 
 proselyted after the destruction of Jerusalem. Others 
 have affirmed that he was a proselyte, cotemporary 
 with Jonathan, though considerably younger, and 
 one of the disciples of Hillel and Shammai. His 
 name is considered by some as affording decisive 
 evidence that he was of Gentile race ; while others 
 think it altogether incredible that he could have 
 attained the accuracy and elegance which distin- 
 guish his composition, unless he had been born 
 and educated a Jew. His work is rather a version 
 than a paraphrase, and has been much admired 
 
 » Raym. Mart. Pug Fid. p. 143, 317. Walton. Proleg. xii. s. 10. 
 Owen. Theolog. L. v. D. 3. s. 4. Pseif. Theol. Jud. Ex. 2. Leusden. 
 Philol. Heb. Dis. vi. Wolf. Bib. Heb. vol. ii. p. 1159—1167. Bava 
 Bathra, c. viii. f. 134, et Megilla, c, i. f. 3. apud Pseif. & Wolf. 
 AUix's Judgment, ibid. 
 
 C 
 
18 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 for its close adherence to the words, and general 
 fidelity to the meaning, of the sacred original. In 
 simplicity and purity of style it approaches more 
 nearly to the Chaldee of Daniel and Ezra than 
 any other writings now extant. This circumstance 
 affords no slight ground for the conjecture, that it 
 is more ancient than even the Targum of Jonathan 
 on the Prophets. The form of many manuscripts 
 of the Law, in which this version is inserted after 
 the Hebrew text, verse for verse, shews the high 
 veneration it has received from the Jews. Before 
 the art of printing was invented, while the other 
 Targums were very scarce, the copies of Onkelos 
 were multiplied, and were in general use among 
 them. They considered themselves obliged, every 
 sabbath day, to read the section or lesson for 
 that week, once in the original Hebrew, and 
 once in his Targum ; a practice which, though 
 in a great measure, if not wholly, discontinued 
 in this part of the world, I am informed, is 
 still retained among the Jews in Palestine. They 
 agree, however, in representing this version as 
 of equal authority with the Mosaic text; for they 
 affirm that Onkelos only committed to writing 
 what had been handed down by tradition from 
 Mount Sinai. ^ 
 
 There is another Targum on the Law, which 
 
 ' Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. p. 144, 317. Walton. Proleg. xii. s. 9, 16. 
 Owen. Theolog. L. v. D. 3. s. 3. Pseif. Theol. Jud. Ex. ii. c. 4. 
 Leusden. Phil. Ileb. Dis. vi. Wolf. Bib. Ileb. vol. ii. 11.47—1158. 
 Prid. Connect. P. ii. B. R. AUix's Judgment, ibid. 
 
THE TARGUMS. 19 
 
 bears the name of Jonathan Ben Uzziel ; but the 
 great difference between this work and that on the 
 Prophets which was really written by Jonathan, 
 proves it to have been the production of a different 
 writer. The style is more corrupt, the manner 
 more prolix, and it abounds with traditions and 
 fables. The writer, it is supposed, must have lived 
 at least two hundred years later than Jonathan. 
 There are several other Targums, of inferior author- 
 ity, unknown authors, and uncertain age ; though 
 they are generally, and with good reason, believed 
 to have been written several centuries after the 
 destruction of the second temple : — the Jerusalem 
 Targum, which consists only of fragments upon 
 some passages of the Law ; the Targum on the 
 Megilloth, or five books of Ruth, Esther, Song of 
 Solomon, Ecclesiastes, and Lamentations ; a second 
 Targum on Esther ; the Targum which bears the 
 name of Joseph, on the books of Job, Psalms, and 
 Proverbs ; and the Targum on the Chronicles. 
 No Targum has appeared on Ezra, Nehemiah, or 
 Daniel ; and it is believed there is none extant. 
 That on the Chronicles was long concealed from 
 the world, and its existence was unknown : it was 
 discovered and published at Augsburgh ; — on the 
 first book in 1680, and on the second in 1683.^ 
 The learned reader, who is desirous of consulting 
 any of these Targums, except the second on Esther 
 
 » Walton. Proleg. xii. s. 8. 11, 13, 15. Pseif. Theol. Jud. Ex. ii. 
 c. 5, 6. Leusden. Phil. Heb. Dis. v. vi. vii. Wolf. Bib. Heb. vol. ii. 
 p. 1161—1164,1168—1181. 
 
 C 2 
 
20 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 and that on Chronicles, may find all the others, 
 accompanied with literal Latin versions, in Walton's 
 Polyglot Bible. 
 
 Notwithstanding all the faults which have been 
 detected in these compositions, they have been of 
 great use to the Biblical student. They serve to 
 confirm the genuineness of the Hebrew Scriptures ; 
 determine the meaning of many w^ords, especially 
 those of rare occurrence ; illustrate obscure phrases ; 
 explain some difficult texts ; furnish information 
 respecting ancient rites and customs ; and place 
 beyond all doubt the sense in which many im- 
 portant passages were understood by the ancient 
 synagogue. Many learned men have contended 
 that the manner in which the Targumists mention 
 Jehovah, The Word of Jehovah, and The Shechinah, 
 or Habitation of Jehovah, proves them to have had 
 some notion of a Trinity in the Godhead. Others 
 have maintained that these expressions are nothing 
 more than idioms of the Chaldean tongue : The 
 Word of Jehovah they consider as a mere periphrasis 
 for Jehovah himself. But this explanation has not 
 been deemed satisfactory, even by some of the 
 modern rabbies ; and though a few passages may 
 be found in which these phrases might be taken 
 for circumlocutions, yet they occur in many others 
 where this construction would be altogether forced 
 and unnatural. The Targums also contain nume- 
 rous interpretations, which, whether they are to be 
 regarded as the unbiassed language of Jews who 
 lived before the crucifixion of Christ, or as con- 
 
THE TARGUMS. 21 
 
 cessions which the force of truth has extorted from 
 their prejudiced successors, have been employed by 
 Christian writers with advantage and success.^ 
 
 I Walton. Proleg. xii. s. 17—19. Pseif. Theol. Jud. Ex. ii. c. 7. 
 Hoornbeck. de Convinc. Jud. Proleg. Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. 
 p. 412. Leusden. Phil. Heb. Dis. v. s. 7. Simon. Crit. Hist. O. T. 
 B. ii. c. 18. B. iii. c. 24. Wolf. Bib. Heb. vol. ii. p. 1182—1188. 
 Prid. Connect. P. ii. B. 8. AUix's Judgment, c. 16. Basnage's History 
 of the Jews, B. iv. c. 5. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Talmud, — Rabbinical Account of the Oral Law. — 
 Compilation of the Mishna : — of the Jerusalem Ge- 
 mara: — of the Babylonian Gemara, — Remark on 
 Want of Evidence in favour of the Oral Law. — 
 Alleged Necessity of an Oral Law. — Reason why 
 it was not committed to writing. — Praises of the 
 Talmud. — 2'he thirteen Ways of reasoning employed 
 by the Rahbies in expounding the Law. 
 
 This work is not designed to include an account 
 of all the Jewish writers who have flourished in 
 modern ages, and whose works have been held in 
 high esteem by their nation down to the present day. 
 They are so numerous, that a catalogue of their 
 names, with a brief specification of the times when 
 they lived and the treatises which they wrote, would 
 exceed the limits of this volume.^ But among the 
 productions of Jewish pens, it is necessary to devote 
 a few pages to the Talmud ; which is regarded by 
 the rahbies and their followers with a veneration 
 exceeding what they shew even for the scriptures 
 themselves.^ 
 
 1 Vid. Biblioth. Mag. Rabb. Bartoloc. et Imbonat. 5 torn. Wolf. 
 Biblioth. 1 1 cb. 4 vol. 
 = Pseif. Theol. Jud. Ex. i. Th. 37. 
 
THE TALMUD. 23 
 
 The word Talmud signifies learning, wisdom, 
 doctrine. The work distinguished by this title con- 
 sists of two parts, — the Mishna, which denotes a 
 repeated or second law ; and the Gemara, by which 
 some understand a supplement or completion, and 
 others a commentary or discussion} 
 
 The Jews acknowledge two laws which they believe 
 to have been delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai ; 
 of which one was immediately committed to writing 
 in the text of the Pentateuch, and the other is said 
 to have been handed down from generation to gene- 
 ration, for many ages, by oral tradition. Of the 
 origin and transmission of this Oral Law, they have 
 favoured the world with the following account. 
 
 All the precepts of the law given to Moses were 
 accompanied with an interpretation. God first dic- 
 tated the text, and then gave him an explication 
 of every thing comprehended in it. The text was 
 commanded to be put into writing ; and the 
 explication to be committed to memory, and to be 
 communicated to that generation, and afterwards 
 transmitted to posterity, only by word of mouth. 
 Hence the former is called the written law, and the 
 latter the oral law. — When Moses came down from 
 the mount, he delivered both these laws to the people. 
 As soon as he returned to his tent, he was attended 
 
 1 Buxtorf. Lex. Chald. Talm. et Rabb. Col. 1146, 1147. 2474. 452. 
 Wolf. Bib. Heb. vol. ii. p. 658—663. 
 
 The word Talmud is sometimes applied exclusively to the Gemara, 
 and sometimes, though more seldom, exclusively to the Mishna; but 
 this is only by a common figure of speech, which gives to a part the 
 name of the whole. 
 
24 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 by Aaron ; who sat at his feet, and to whom he 
 recited the text, and taught the interpretation, which 
 he had received from God in the momit. Then 
 Aaron rising and seating himself on the right hand 
 of Moses ; Eleazar and Ithamar entered, and Moses 
 repeated to them all that he had communicated to 
 their father : after which they arose, and seated them- 
 selves, one on the left hand of Moses and the other 
 on the right hand of Aaron. Then went in the 
 seventy elders, and Moses taught them in the same 
 manner as he had taught Aaron and his sons. After- 
 wards entered the congregation at large, or all of them 
 who were desirous of knowing the divine will ; and 
 to them also Moses recited the text and the inter- 
 pretation, in the same manner as before. These two 
 laws, as delivered by Moses, had now been heard, by 
 Aaron four times, by his sons three times, by the 
 seventy elders twice, and by the rest of the people 
 once. After this, Moses withdrawing, Aaron repeated 
 the whole that he had heard from Moses, and with- 
 drew : then Eleazar and Ithamar did the same ; and 
 on their withdrawing, the same was done by the 
 seventy elders : so that each of them having heard 
 both these laws repeated four times, they all had them 
 firmly fixed in their memories.^ 
 
 Toward the end of the fortieth year after the 
 departure from Egypt, Moses assembled the people, 
 announced the time of his death to be near, directed 
 
 1 Mainion. in Pocock. Porta Mosis, p. 5—7. Oxon. 1665. This 
 treatise is also given under the title of Maimonidis Prsefatio in Surenhusii 
 Mischna, vol. i. Amst. 1698. 
 
THE TALMUD. 25 
 
 those who had forgotten any tradition that he had 
 delivered to come to him that he might repeat it to 
 them anew, and invited them to apply to him for a 
 solution of all questions in which they found any 
 difficulty. The last month of his life was employed 
 in giving these repetitions and explications to the 
 people, and especially to Joshua, his successor ; who 
 was the second receiver of the oral law, and was 
 charged with the transmission of it to the next gene- 
 ration. According to these explications, Joshua and 
 the elders of his time gave sentence. Whatever they 
 had received from Moses, was admitted without any 
 controversy or disagreement : but if there was any 
 branch respecting which nothing had been delivered 
 by Moses, the decision proper to be made in such a 
 case was discovered by fair inference from the original 
 precepts, by the help of some of the thirteen rules 
 given to Moses on Mount Sinai, which are so many 
 ways of argumentation to elicit the true sense of the 
 law. In some cases of this kind, there was but one 
 opinion, and the decision was received with universal 
 consent : wherever there was a difference of sentiment, 
 the opinion of the majority prevailed. Towards these 
 explications of the law, and the deductions drawn 
 from it by the thirteen rules, no assistance was con- 
 tributed by the spirit of prophecy ; but Joshua and 
 Phineas proceeded merely in a way of disquisition 
 and argumentation as Rabina and Rabbi Ashe did 
 afterwards.^ 
 
 » Ibid. p. 9—11. 
 
26 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 A prophet might suspend any law, or authorize 
 a violation of any precept, except those against 
 idolatry, for a limited time. Thus, after the 
 erection of the temple at Jerusalem, where alone 
 sacrifices were thenceforth to be offered, Elijah, 
 in order to confound the priests of Baal, offered a 
 sacrifice upon Mount Carmel : and God testified 
 his acceptance of it by consuming it with fire from 
 heaven.^ If a prophet of undoubted credentials 
 should command all persons, both men and women, 
 to light fires on the sabbath day, for the purpose 
 of preparing instruments to arm themselves for war, 
 and on the same day to kill the inhabitants of any 
 place, to seize their wealth, and use their women 
 according to their pleasure ; it would behove all 
 who have received the law of Moses, to rise up 
 against that place without delay, at the prophet's 
 command, and speedily and diligently to execute 
 all that he should direct, without scruple or hesi- 
 tation ; believing that all these actions done on the 
 sabbath day would be rewarded by God as acts of 
 obedience to the prophet, obedience to whom has 
 been enjoined by the Lord in an affirmative precept 
 given by Moses : '* Unto him shall ye hearken." 
 Deut. xviii. 15.2 g^|- ^ prophet had no power to 
 abrogate, extend, or diminish any precepts of the 
 written law, or any received traditional explication 
 of them. Thus, if he should say in opposition to 
 the written law, (Lev. xix. 23—25.) that the fruit 
 
 ' Ibid. p. 27, 28. 3 Ibid 29, 30. 
 
THE TALMUD. 2? 
 
 of newly planted trees might lawfully be eaten the 
 third year, or might not lawfully be eaten the fourth 
 year : or, if he should contradict any traditional 
 explication, even though the letter of the text be in 
 his favour ; as for example, if he should say, that 
 the denunciation of the law, (Deut. xxv. 12.) 
 '* Thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not 
 " pity her," is not to be understood of a pecuniary 
 fine, according to the traditional interpretation, but 
 is to be taken according to the literal sense of the 
 words : in either of these or any similar cases he 
 ought to be strangled as a liar.^ — In disquisition, 
 and reasoning, and judgment in the law, prophets 
 are on a level with other wise men of equal abilities 
 who are not endued with the spirit of prophecy. 
 If a thousand prophets, all equal to Elijah and 
 Elisha, should offer an interpretation of any precept, 
 and a thousand and one wise men should give a 
 contrary interpretation of it, we are bound to abide 
 by the opinion of the thousand and one wise men, 
 and to reject the opinion of the thousand illustrious 
 prophets.^ 
 
 When Joshua died, all the interpretations which 
 he had received from Moses, together with all that 
 had been made in his time, whether settled by 
 unanimous consent or determined by the opinion 
 of the majority, were transmitted by him to the 
 elders who survived him. (Josh xxiv. 31.) Those 
 elders conveyed them to the prophets, and by one 
 
 ' Ibid. p. 14, 15. 2 Ibid. p. 32. 
 
28 MODERN JUDAISM: 
 
 prophet they were delivered to another : so that 
 no age passed without inquiries being made into 
 the meaning of the law, and conclusions being 
 drawn from it ; the men of every age taking the 
 determinations of their predecessors as the foun- 
 dations of their conclusions. Now respecting the 
 foundations received by tradition, there never was 
 any disagreement, down to the time of the men 
 of the Great Synagogue ; which consisted of Hag- 
 gai, Zechariah, Malachi, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, 
 Azariah, Ezra the scribe, Nehemiah the son of 
 Chacaliah, Mordecai, Zerubbabel the son of She- 
 altiel, and others who were associated with these 
 prophets ; being in all one hundred and twenty of 
 the most eminent and leading men of the nation ; 
 who followed the example of those in former ages, 
 inquiring into the sense of the law, making decrees, 
 and appointing constitutions. The last of this 
 venerable assembly was Simeon the Just, who then 
 filled the office of high priest, and who was the first 
 of the wise men that are mentioned in the Mishna. 
 After him followed a regular succession which ter- 
 minated with Rabbi Jehuda Hakkodesh, or the Holy, 
 a man of most eminent talent and virtue.^ 
 
 From the time of Moses to the days of Rabbi 
 Jehuda, no part of the oral law had ever been 
 committed to writing for public perusal. In every 
 generation, the president of the sanhedrim or the 
 
 ' Ibid. 33 — 35. Some marvellous stories respecting this rabbi, his 
 holiness and purity, life and death, are given in Wagenseil. Sota. 
 Not. p. 999—1002. 
 
THE TALMUD. 29 
 
 prophet of his age, for his own private use, wrote 
 notes of the traditions which he had heard from 
 his teachers ; hut he taught in public only by word 
 of mouth : and thus each individual wrote for 
 himself an exposition of the law and the ceremonies 
 it enjoined, according to what he had heard. With 
 respect to the new decisions which were made in 
 different ages, not according to any tradition, but 
 according to any of the thirteen rules, their autho- 
 rity rested on the determination of the sanhedrim. 
 Thus things proceeded till the days of Rabbi 
 Jehuda. He observed that the students of the law 
 were gradually diminishing, that difficulties and 
 distresses were multiplying, that the kingdom of 
 impiety ^ was increasing in strength and extending 
 itself over the world, and that the people of Israel 
 were driven to the ends of the earth. Fearing lest 
 in these circumstances the traditions would be 
 forgotten and lost, he collected them all, arranged 
 them under distinct heads, and formed them into a 
 methodical code of traditional law. Of this book, 
 entitled the Mishna, copies were speedily multiplied 
 and extensively circulated ; and the Jews at large 
 received it with the highest veneration. ^ 
 
 The various ordinances contained in the Mishna 
 may be classed under the following heads. 
 
 » By this term it is highly probable that the writer meant ChristianSy 
 or Christianity. Eisenmenger Entecd. Jud. p. 756. as cited by Wolf. 
 Bib. Heb. vol. ii. p. 674. 
 
 2 Maim, in Poc. Port. Mos. p. 35—37. Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. 
 p. 28—30. Wolf, Bib. Heb. vol. ii. p. 670. 
 
30 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 I. Interpretations received from Moses, which 
 are either impUed in the written law, or ehcited 
 from it by reasoning ; and these have never been 
 controverted, but as soon as any one said, * I have 
 ' received it by tradition,' the point was settled. 
 
 II. Determinations which are called Constitutions 
 of Moses from Mount Sinai ; which have no proof 
 from the written law to support them, but have 
 never been disputed. Thus when the law says, 
 * Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth," (Exod. xxi. 24.) 
 and *'Thou shalt cut oif her hand," (Deut. xxv. 12.) 
 both these passages are to be understood of pecuniary 
 penalties.^ 
 
 III. Opinions that had been formed by the 
 thirteen ways of reasoning, and which were first 
 controverted and afterwards determined by the 
 majority. These controversies related to questions 
 of minor importance, and cases of peculiar obscu- 
 rity, respecting which there was no tradition. 
 
 IV. Decrees made by prophets and wise men in 
 the several ages, to serve as a hedge and a fence to 
 the law ; — that is, by carrying the prohibitions beyond 
 the letter of the text, in order to keep the people at 
 a greater distance from every thing that was unlawful. 
 Respecting cases of this kind there were sometimes 
 divisions among the doctors, as between Shammai 
 and Hillel, and their respective followers : but when 
 such a decree passed without controversy, it was 
 deemed irreversible ; so that even Elias himself could 
 
 ' Maim, in Poc. Port. Mos. p. 38. 
 
THE TALMUD. 31 
 
 not abolish any one of the eighteen points which 
 the schools of Shammai and Hillel had agreed in 
 establishing. 
 
 V. Constitutions resembling legal decisions and 
 the proceedings of human judicatures ; by which 
 nothing is either added to the law or taken from it. 
 Traditions of this class are very numerous ; some 
 concerning things prohibited and permitted, some 
 concerning pecuniary matters. Some of these 
 regulations were made by the prophets, by Moses, 
 Joshua, and Ezra; and others by the wise men in 
 succeeding ages.^ 
 
 The Mishna is written in a very concise style, and 
 consists chiefly of aphoristic sentences, which admit 
 considerable variety of interpretations. Perspicuous 
 as it was to the superior understanding of the 
 compiler, it was scarcely intelligible to the generality 
 of readers. Learned men employed themselves in 
 explaining its difficulties. ^ About a century after, 
 Rabbi Jochanan, president of a school in Palestine, 
 collected their various opinions, and compiled the 
 Gemara or Commentary, which, added to the text 
 of the Mishna, forms what is denominated the 
 Jerusalem Talmud.^ 
 
 The Jews in Chaldea were not satisfied with this 
 production. The Mishna was the chief study in 
 all their schools and colleges, and their doctors 
 for several generations made it their text book, 
 
 ' Maim, in Poc. Port. Mos. p. 44—52. ^ jbid. p. 78. 
 
 3 Gedalia in Shalshal. Hakkab. apud Wolf. Bib. Ileb. vol. ii. 
 p. 682, 683. Rayra. Mart. Pug. Fid. p. 67. 
 
32 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 investigating its latent meaning, and delivering 
 interpretations, each according to the degree of his 
 knowledge and understanding. The expositions of 
 some doctors were at variance with the conclusions 
 of others ; so that in process of time very different 
 and contradictory opinions were promulgated respect- 
 ing many of the Mishnic maxims and ordinances. 
 These researches and discussions were continued to 
 the days of Rabina and Rabbi Ashe. Rabbi Ashe 
 undertook to make a collection of these various 
 interpretations and conclusions. In this compilation, 
 which bears the name of the Babylonian Gemara, 
 and together with the Mishna forms the Babylonian 
 Talmud, he proposed to do these four things : — 
 
 I. To explain the Mishna; to state the different 
 explications of words admitting of various senses, 
 with the arguments by which each interpreter de- 
 fended his own, and to shew which interpretation 
 was the true one. 
 
 II. To pronounce sentence on every controverted 
 case ; whether concerning the Mishnic text, or its 
 interpretation, or the consequences deduced from it, 
 or the points dependent upon it. 
 
 III. To exhibit the conclusions drawn from the 
 Mishna, with the foundations on which they were 
 erected, and the arguments by which they were 
 supported, by the learned men of every age since 
 it had been published. 
 
 IV. To give mystical explications adapted to the 
 sense of every chapter susceptible of such a mode 
 of exposition : these ought not to be disregarded as 
 
THE TALMUD. 33 
 
 mean or of little use, but to be considered as elevated 
 to a high degree of excellence by the rare enigmas 
 and wonderful elegancies which they contain. In 
 these explications, when very closely examined, will 
 be discovered many things superlatively good, so 
 that nothing can be added to them ; and great light 
 will be thrown upon all those divine opinions and 
 truths, which are most highly esteemed by the 
 learned, and in which the philosophers of every 
 age have agreed. Regarded according to their 
 literal import, these explications will be found 
 absurd or unintelligible in the extreme : but they 
 were so expressed by their authors for wonderful 
 reasons ; of which one was, to sharpen the under- 
 standings of students ; another was, to veil them 
 from fools whose hearts are never enlightened, and 
 who through defect of capacity turn away from truth 
 that is proposed to them ; and a third was, that it 
 was the custom of the wise men to conceal their 
 mysterious discoveries from each other. ^ 
 
 When the Talmud was completed by Rabbi Ashe 
 and his coadjutors and successors, the doctors who 
 came after them made it their sole object to un- 
 derstand and explain what was contained in that 
 compilation, without presuming to add any thing 
 to it, or to take any thing away from it.^ 
 
 The preceding account is translated, with some 
 abridgment, almost wholly from one of the most 
 eminent modern Jewish writers, who lived in the 
 
 » Maimon. ip Pocock. Port. Mos. p. 79—82. ' Ibid. p. 106, 
 
 O 
 
34 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 twelfth century. But few persons whose faith is not 
 regulated by the canons of the synagogue, will be 
 disposed to admit the bare assertion of Maimonides 
 as sufficient authority for such a detail of circum- 
 stances alleged to have happened above two thousand 
 five hundred years before he was bom. He mentions 
 no authentic records as sources from which his 
 information had been derived ; nor does he pretend 
 to have received it by inspiration from above. It 
 would not be surprising if some sturdy disciple of 
 the rabbinical school, resorting to the doctrine 
 of transmigration for a solution of this difficulty, 
 should conjecture, or even assert, the soul of 
 Maimonides to have been the same which formerly 
 animated the body of Moses or of Aaron, of Eleazar 
 or Ithamar, or some one of the elders of Israel, and 
 to have retained a remembrance of events which 
 occurred during its former embodied state I Among 
 other minute particulars, inserted perhaps to fortify 
 the credibility of the narrative, it is remarkable that 
 he has forgotten to specify the dimensions of Moses's 
 tent. It must have been very capacious, to admit 
 Moses, Aaron, and his sons, and the seventy {or 
 rather seventy-two) elders : but when it is added that 
 
 * the congregation at large, or all of them who were 
 
 * desirous of knowing the divine will, entered* after 
 them ; even credulity itself must be staggered ! 
 
 But reserving some remarks on the incredibility 
 of all this story about the pretended oral law, to the 
 next chapter, I shall now introduce a few passages 
 from other rabbies, which will ^give the reader some 
 
THE TALMUD. 35 
 
 further information respecting the sentiments pro- 
 fessed by modern Jews on this leading article of their 
 system. 
 
 Rabbi Bechai suggests a curious question : ' When 
 ' Moses was with the Lord for forty days and forty 
 
 * nights, how could he distinguish day from night ? ' 
 His ingenuity also furnishes an answer : * When God 
 
 was teaching him the written law, then he understood 
 ' it was day ; but when God was teaching him the 
 ' oral 'law, he knew^ it was night ! ' ^ 
 
 The necessity of an oral law is asserted by Rabbi 
 Moses Kotsensis : ' If the oral law had not been 
 
 * added to the written law, the whole law would 
 
 * have been obscure and unintelligible. For in the 
 ' first place, there are scriptures contrary and repug- 
 
 * nant to each other ; and in the next place, the 
 ' written law is imperfect, and comprehends not all 
 
 * that is necessary to be known.'- 
 
 The same writer undertakes to assign the reason 
 why God would not have this law likewise committed 
 to writing : ' Because God foresaw that the nations 
 ' of this world would copy out the twenty four books, 
 ' which are contained in the Law, the Prophets, and 
 ' the Hagiographa, and would abuse them to heresy 
 
 * and impiety ; he delivered to Moses an oral ex- 
 
 * position : nor would he allow it to be committed to 
 ' writing till the sects of the Edomites and Ishmaelites 
 
 * had arisen, lest this also should be translated by the 
 
 * Gentiles, and perverted to the same evil purposes 
 
 * Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iii. p. 54, 55. Basil, 1661. 
 2 Ibid. p. 49. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * as the written law. In the world to come, God 
 
 * will inquire who are his children. Then the Gen- 
 
 * tiles, as well as all the Israelites, shall produce the 
 
 * book of the law, and they shall both affirm them- 
 ' selves to be his children. Therefore God will 
 ' inquire again, with whom is the oral exposition 
 ' which he delivered on Mount Sinai. At this all 
 
 * will be dumb, and not one except Israel will be 
 
 * found to have any knowledge of it.' ^ 
 
 Aben Ezra, in the preface to his Commentary on 
 the Pentateuch, asserts the entire consistency of the 
 written and oral law, but expresses himself in a 
 manner which fully implies the superiority of the 
 latter. * That is an evident sign to us that Moses 
 ' laid for his foundation the oral law, which is joy 
 
 * to the heart and healing to the bones. For there 
 ' is no difference between these two laws, which 
 ' have both been handed down to us from our fore- 
 ' fathers.' And in another place he says, ' In short, 
 ' we cannot produce a complete exposition, if we 
 ' confine ourselves to the precepts of the written law, 
 
 * and do not lay the foundation in the words of our 
 ' wise men of pious memory.' ^ 
 
 The reverence of the synagogue for this oral law 
 may be inferred from a circumstance mentioned by 
 Orobio : ' By some of our rabbies, not only the 
 
 * Pentateuch, but also the Mishna, which is a larger 
 
 * volume, is committed to memory : so that they are 
 
 * in the habit of reciting it word for word.' ^ 
 
 ' Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iii, p. 55—57. - Ibid. p. 62. 
 
 ^ Limborcb, Arnica Collatiocum Erud. Jud. p. 144. 
 
THE TALMUD. 37 
 
 All this is in perfect accordance with a maxim 
 delivered in the Gemara : ' He that has learned the 
 
 * Scripture, and not the Mishna, is a blockhead.' ^ 
 
 Rabbi Isaac cautions his readers against too high 
 an estimation of the written law : * Do not imagine 
 
 * that the written law is the foundation of our religion, 
 
 * which is really founded on the oral law ; for it was 
 
 * upon the oral law that the covenant of God with 
 
 * Israel was made, as it is written, '^ For after the 
 ' tenour of these words I have made a covenant with 
 
 * thee and with Israel." These words are the treasure 
 ' of the Holy and Blessed God.' 2 
 
 As the oral law is preferred to the written law, so 
 the Gemara is preferred to both, according to the 
 following order of precedence : * The Bible is like 
 
 * water, the Mishna like wine, and the Gemara like 
 ' spiced wine.' * The Law is like salt, the Mishna 
 
 * like pepper, and the Gemara like balmy spice.' ^ 
 
 The comparative merit and advantage of studying 
 these different writings are sufficiently indicated in a 
 Talmudical treatise : ' To study the Bible can scarcely 
 
 * be deemed a virtue ; to study the Mishna is a virtue 
 
 * that will certainly be rewarded ; but to study the 
 
 * Gemara is a virtue never to be surpassed.' ^ 
 
 Of ^ those who apply themselves to any other 
 
 * science or study than the study of the Talmud, 
 
 * which is the true wisdom and the foundation of the 
 
 * law,' it has been affirmed that they * all " labour in 
 
 » Wagens. Sota. p. 516. ^ Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iii. p. 63. 
 
 ^ Stehelin's Traditions, vol. i. p. 39. Letter to the English Tsraelite, 
 
 p. 24. London, 1809. * Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iii. p. 67. 
 
38 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * vain and bring forth for trouble," as Isaiah says, 
 ^ (Ixv. 23.) and that they consume their days in 
 
 * frivolous and useless pursuits, that they ** walk 
 ' after vanity and become vain," (Jerem. ii. 5.) ' ^ It 
 is a caution often given in the rabbinical writings ; 
 ' My son, attend thou to the words of the Scribes, 
 
 * more than to the words of the Law.' ^ And some, 
 in the fervour of their zeal for the exclusive study 
 of the Talmud, have not been ashamed to pronounce 
 in express terms, that * even to study the Bible is 
 
 * nothing but a waste of time.' ^ 
 
 The reader may expect some account of the Thirteen 
 RuleSj which are affirmed to have been given to 
 Moses on Mount Sinai, and to have guided the 
 doctors of succeeding ages in their deductions or 
 inferences from the letter of the Law, of which the 
 Mishna and Gemara partly consist. These rules are 
 said by the Jews to ' contain a complete ' system 
 
 * of Scripture logic : ' they may fairly be regarded as 
 a system of rahbinical logic. The repetition of them 
 forms part of their daily service, and they are in- 
 serted in their prayer-books, with this introduction : 
 ' Rabbi Ishmael'* says. The sense of the Law is 
 
 * discovered by thirteen ways of augmentation.^ I 
 shall lay before the reader the rules themselves, and 
 a few examples of their application. 
 
 1. Ldght and Heavy. This is what logicians 
 call argumentum ah imparl, from the less to the 
 greater, or the contrary. If a less cause produces 
 
 ' Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iii. p. 67. ^ jbij. p. 72. 
 
 3 Ibid. p. 68. " Wolf. Bib. Heb. vol. ii. p. 849. 
 
THE TALMUD. 39 
 
 such effects, how much greater must be the effects 
 of a greater cause. To exemplify this rule, the 
 Talmudists allege what is said of Miriam, who 
 was stricken with leprosy for murmuring against 
 Moses. Num. xii. 14, " The Lord said. If her 
 *' father had but spit in her face should she not be 
 '' ashamed seven days ? Let her be shut out from 
 ** the camp seven days, and after that let her be 
 " received in again." If a father's rebuke ought 
 to make her ashamed seven days, how much rather 
 ought she to be so affected by a rebuke from God, 
 who was pleased to shew his mercy by requiring 
 no more. Arguments from less to greater affirm, 
 but from greater to less deny. 
 
 2. Equality or Agreement of words. When 
 the same word occurs in two texts, conclusions are 
 drawn from the one to the other ; or when two 
 texts relate to the same subject, an argument is 
 drawn from that agreement. In Deut. xiv. 1, it is 
 said to the Israelites in general, *' Ye shall not make 
 *' any baldness between your eyes for the dead." In 
 Lev. xxi. 5, it is commanded concerning the priests, 
 ** They shall not make any baldness upon their 
 ** heads." From these two passages, in both which 
 the word baldness occurs, they draw two conclusions. 
 First, from the rule laid down for the priests, they 
 infer that the prohibition given to the Israelites in 
 general, though in express words it only fordids 
 making baldness between the eyeSy ought to be under- 
 stood of the whole head. Secondly, from the 
 occasion on which the Israelites are forbidden to 
 
40 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 make this baldness, namely, for the dead, they infer 
 that the prohibition imposed upon the priests relates 
 to the same occasion. 
 
 3. The building of the father. When one passage 
 of scripture furnishes an explanation of other similar 
 passages, the passage which teaches is as a father, 
 and the other passages which are taught or explained 
 by it are compared to children. In Exod. xii. 16, it 
 is said, *' And in the first day there shall be an holy 
 '^ convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be 
 ** an holy convocation to you : no manner of work 
 *' shall be done in them, save that which every man 
 " must eat, that only may be done of you." Hence 
 the rabbies conclude that the celebration of all other 
 festivals is to be subject to the same regulation ; that 
 no work is to be done on them, except about their 
 necessary food, whether this be particularly mentioned 
 in the command of such festival or not. 
 
 4. Universal and particular, or general and special ; 
 that is, wherever a precept is delivered first in general 
 and then in particular terms, the particular only is 
 to be observed. In Lev. i. 2, it is commanded, ** If 
 *' any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, 
 ** ye shall bring your offering of the cattle : " — the 
 word here translated cattle, the rabbies say, includes 
 all beasts wild as well as tame, by which it would 
 seem that any were eligible for this purpose — but the 
 next clause, specifying *^ of the herd and of the 
 *' flock," restricts the precept to beeves, sheep, and 
 goats. 
 
 5. Particular and universal. This rule is the 
 
THE TALMUD. 41 
 
 reverse of the preceding : when a precept first par- 
 ticularizes any one or more species, and then adds 
 a general term, it is understood to include all the 
 species of that kind. The command in Deut. xxii. 
 1 — 3, respecting the restoration of things lost, spe- 
 cifies an ox J a sheep, an asSj and raiment : hence 
 it might be argued that a man was obliged to restore 
 these things only ; but the next clause adds, *' and 
 ^' with all lost things of thy brother's, which he 
 *' hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do 
 *^ likewise : " — here the universal prevails, and 
 comprehends every possible particular, 
 
 6. Universal and particular, and then universal 
 again, where the determination is made by the particu- 
 lar. In Exod. xxii. 9 — 1 1 , the oath of a person accused 
 of theft, *' that he hath not put his hand unto his 
 ** neighbour's goods," is directed to be taken, first gene- 
 rally " for all manner of trespass," then particularly 
 '^ for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment," and then 
 generally again, " for any manner of lost thing." 
 Hence the rabbies infer that the application must be 
 regulated by a similarity to the particulars specified ; 
 that is, as an ox, an ass, a sheep, and raiment are 
 moveables, and may be bartered or disposed of as 
 merchandise, so this precept extends to all things 
 that come under this description ; but not to lands, 
 or slaves which, like lands, were to be " taken as an 
 ** inheritance : " (Lev. xxv. 46.) the oath was not 
 required for them. 
 
 7. Something general, that wants something special ; 
 and something special that wants something general. 
 
42 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 In Numb. iii. 40, *' And the Lord said unto Moses, 
 *' Number all the first born of the males of the 
 '* children of Israel." This command contains both 
 a general and a particular term, each of which needs 
 the other to explain it. The general term, all the 
 first born, includes both males and females ; there was 
 a necessity for the special term of the males, in order 
 to exclude the females. So had it been said only, 
 Number the males, this might have been supposed to 
 include all the males whether first born or not : the 
 term first born fixes the matter beyond all doubt. 
 
 8. When any thing is taught generally, and there 
 is something particular specified, that specification is 
 not for its own sake, but to shew that the general rule 
 is to be generally understood. In Lev. xx. 2, it is 
 commanded, that ** Whosoever he be of the children 
 " of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, 
 '" that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall 
 " surely be put to death ; the people of the land 
 *' shall stone him with stones." If it be asked, why 
 the sin of offering to Molech, which was already 
 included among other abominations, is here particu- 
 larly specified, the rabbies say, that this denunciation 
 is designed to teach that all who were guilty of 
 the other abominations were to suffer the same 
 punishment. 
 
 9. When any thing that comes under a general rule 
 is excepted, to lay a particular obligation upon that 
 thing which otherwise would be comprized in the 
 general. In this case the exception alleviates and 
 not aggravates. In Lev. xxiv. 17, it is commanded 
 
THE TALMUD. ,43 
 
 that '* He that killeth any man, shall surely be put 
 " to death." Here is no distinction between wilful 
 murder, and casual or accidental manslaughter. But 
 in Deut. xix. 5, is the following exception : '* When 
 '* a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to 
 ** hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the 
 *' ax to cut down the tree, and the head shppeth 
 '* from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour 
 '* that he die ; he shall flee into one of those cities, 
 ** and live." Thus a man who killed another 
 ignorantly or undesignedly, was exempted from the 
 punishment of death to which he would have been 
 liable according to the general law. 
 
 10. When any thing that comes under a general 
 rule is excepted, to lay a particular obligation not 
 agreeing with the sense of the general rule. In this 
 case, the exception both alleviates and aggravates. 
 This rule is founded on the following texts : Exod. 
 xxi. 2, ** If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years 
 '^ shall he serve ; and in the seventh he shall go out 
 " free for nothing." This might include both men 
 and women, as in Deut. xv. 12. But in Exod. xxi. 
 7 — 11, it is said, *' If a man sell his daughter to be 
 " a maid-servant, she shall not go out as the men- 
 *' servants do, &c." This exception in the case of a 
 maid-servant both alleviates and aggravates. On the 
 one hand, she might in certain circumstances obtain 
 her freedom before ; on the other, the master had 
 a right to marry her without her consent. 
 
 11. When there is an exception from a general rule, 
 in order to determine a new matter, that new matter 
 
44 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 cannot be brought back to its general rule again, unless 
 it be expressly mentioned in the text. Thus in Levit. 
 xxii. 11, respecting those who might eat of the priest's 
 meat, it is given as a general rule : ** If the priest 
 *' buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and 
 ** he that is born in his house ; they shall eat of it." 
 This would include his daughters married or un- 
 married ; but in the next verse follows an exception : 
 " If the priest's daughter be married unto a stranger, 
 ** she may not eat of an offering of the holy things." 
 This exception would always have excluded her from 
 eating of the holy things, even though she might 
 have returned to her father's house in consequence 
 of a divorce or of the death of her husband ; but in 
 either of these cases, if she had no child, express pro- 
 vision is made in the following verse for restoring 
 her to her former privilege : '* If the priest's daughter 
 *' be a widow or divorced, and have no child, and is 
 *' returned unto her father's house as in her youth, 
 " she shall eat of her father's meat." 
 
 12. Things that teach from the subject , and things 
 that teach from the end. This rule is explained in 
 the following manner. In Lev. xxi. 12, it is com- 
 manded respecting the high priest, *' Neither shall 
 " he go out of the sanctuary." This might be sup- 
 posed to mean that he was never to go out of the 
 temple ; but from the subject of the context it clearly 
 signifies no more than that he is not to go out to 
 defile himself with a dead body, even of any of his 
 nearest relatives. In Lev. xviii. 6, it is commanded 
 respecting marriage, '' None of you shall approach to 
 
THE TALMUD. 45 
 
 ** any that is near of kin to him/' Here all marriages 
 between relatives would seem to be forbidden ; but 
 the end or conclusion of this law limits its application, 
 by enumerating the various degrees of consanguinity 
 and affinity, to which the prohibition was designed 
 to extend. 
 
 13. When two texts contradict one another, and 
 a third comes and weighs them both down. In Exod. 
 XX. 22, *' The Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou 
 " shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen 
 *' that I have talked with you from heaven." In 
 Deut. V. 4, Moses says, ^' The Lord talked with you 
 ** face to face in the mount, out of the midst of the 
 *' fire." These two passages are reconciled by a 
 third : in Deut. iv. 36, Moses says, ** Out of heaven 
 *' he made thee to hear his voice, that he might 
 *' instruct thee : and upon earth he shewed thee his 
 *^ great fire, and thou heardest his voice out of the 
 " midst of the fire." 1 
 
 ^ Veter. Rabbin, in expon. Pentateuch. Modi Tredecira, a Philip. 
 Aquin. Heb. Liter. Profess. Lutet. Paris. 1620. Raym. Mart. Pug. 
 Fid. p. 63— 65. Jewish Prayer Book, London, A.M. 5530. Spanish 
 and Portuguese Jews' Prayer Book, London, A.M. 5670. Dr. Wotton's 
 Miscel. Discourses, c. 3. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Reasons for believing the Story of an Oral Law to he a 
 Fiction. — The Mishna at variance with the Pentafeuchy 
 and favourable to Chicanery and Prevarication.—^ 
 The Contents of the Gemara, frivolous and supersti- 
 tious, impious and blasphemous, absurd and fabulous. 
 — u^pologies for the Talmud answered, — Difference 
 of earlier and later Editions of the Talmud. 
 
 The statements and quotations in the preceding 
 chapter will leave the reader at no loss to appreciate 
 the reverence which the Jews profess for the Law 
 of Moses. They regard the written law no otherwise 
 than as it is expounded, extended, or limited, by an 
 oral law, which they pretend to have been given at 
 the same time ' and by the same authority. But the 
 remark which has been made respecting the narrative 
 of Maimonides, may be applied to the accounts 
 of other Jewish writers on this subject : — they are 
 unsupported by any evidence whatever. Their having 
 produced no evidence, justifies the suspicion that 
 they had none to produce, and that the whole story 
 is a fiction. A few considerations will shew it to 
 be unworthy of the smallest credit. 
 
 The ancient and original record of Mosaic legis- 
 lation is the Pentateuch : — that contains not the least 
 
REMARKS ON THE TALMUD. 4? 
 
 allusion to an oral law, or any trace of its existence. 
 The same may be affirmed of all the other books 
 of the Old Testament. But if an oral law had really 
 been given, is it probable that the scripture, which 
 notices with the utmost exactness things of far 
 inferior moment, would have been entirely silent 
 upon a fact of such vast importance ? Surely it 
 would somewhere have suggested, that, beside the 
 written law, Moses had received another, which 
 ought to be a subject of diligent study, though it 
 was not allowed to be committed to writing ; we 
 should have found some exhortations to obey it, 
 and some intimations of the danger of transgression. 
 On the contrary the scripture is not only silent in 
 its favour, but furnishes evidence more than sufficient 
 to justify the rejection of it as a fable. 
 
 The notion on which the whole traditional system 
 is founded, — that when Moses was on Mount Sinai 
 for forty days and forty nights, God gave him the 
 whole of the law, with explications and rules fully 
 providing for every case that could arise, — is con- 
 tradicted by various parts of the sacred history. 
 
 In the twenty-fourth chapter of Leviticus, it is 
 related, not long after Moses came down from the 
 mount, that *' the son of an Israelitish woman, 
 " whose father was an Egyptian, blasphemed the 
 ** name of the Lord, and cursed." — This was a 
 case not provided for by any law yet given ; Moses 
 considered himself not authorized to decide on the 
 punishment to be infficted ; and therefore '* they put 
 *' him in ward, that the mind of the Lord might be 
 
48 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ** shewed them." Then follows, not only a sentence 
 on this individual transgressor, but a general law 
 for the punishment of the same crime in all future 
 cases : ** Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his 
 " sin : and he that blasphemeth the Name of the 
 ** Lord, as well the stranger as he that is born 
 *' in the land, shall be put to death." The next 
 chapter resumes the account of the laws given in 
 mount Sinai. 
 
 The book of Numbers contains several new com- 
 mands, given on different occasions during the 
 journeys of the Israelites through the wilderness ; 
 and concludes with the following declaration : *' These 
 " are the commandments and the judgments which 
 *' the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses unto 
 '' the children of Israel, in the plains of Moah, by 
 " Jordan near Jericho." Does not this passage fully 
 disprove the assertion, that the whole law was given 
 on mount Sinai ? 
 
 The book of Deuteronomy consists of little more 
 than repetitions of certain precepts given before, 
 commands supplementary to or explanatory of former 
 ones, and others entirely new, with exhortations to 
 observe the law in general. If oral explications 
 of all the written commands had been previously 
 given, could these written explications have been 
 necessary ; and if the whole law was given on Sinai 
 forty years before, how can we account for the 
 addition of these new precepts? That these new 
 laws were not of small importance, will be evident 
 even on a cursory review. The following are some 
 
REMARKS ON THE TALMUD. 49 
 
 of them. Respecting individuals guilty of idolatry ; 
 Deut. xiii. 6 — 11. — Respecting cities seduced to ido- 
 latry; vi. 12 — 18. — Respecting tithes; xiv. 23 — 29. 
 — Against planting groves near God's altar; xvi. 21. 
 — Respecting judicial decision in difficult cases ; xvii. 
 8 — 13. Here is nothing of the Sanhedrim, or of the 
 rules by which the rabbles tell us their decisions were 
 guided. — Against removing a neighbour's landmark ; 
 xix. 14. — About besieging a city; xxi. 19, 20. — 
 Respecting expiation of uncertain murder ; xxi. 1 — 9. 
 — How to treat female captives; xxi. 10 — 14. — 
 Respecting children by a hated wife; xxi. 15 — 17. 
 — The punishment of a rebellious son ; xxi. 18 — 21. 
 In the recital which Moses gives of the trans- 
 actions of Mount Sinai, he says : '* The Lord 
 *' commanded me at that time, to teach you (U^pTi) 
 *' statutes and (D''^St:^S5) judgments.'' Deut. iv. 14. 
 If we are to believe some modern rabbies,^ these 
 statutes and judgments were no other than the oral 
 law. But this is- an assertion without proof, an 
 opinion not supported by the general use of the 
 original terms. In the following passages, the 
 singular of the first of these words, both in the 
 masculine and in the feminine form, is used with 
 immediate reference to a particular law, recited just 
 before or just after, with the most circumstantial 
 minuteness. Exodus xxvii. 21. xxviii. 43. xxx. 21. 
 Leviticus iii. 17. vi. 18, 22. vii. 36. x. 9. xvii. 7. 
 
 ^ Maimon. de Studio Legis, a Clavering, c. i. s. 7. R. Aben Ezra, 
 R. Solomon Jarclii, R. Bechai, and others. Vid. Buxtorf. Synagog. 
 Jud. c. iii. p. 54. 
 
 E . 
 
50 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 Numbers xviii. 23. The singular of the other word 
 is also used in a similar way; Exodus xxi. 31. — In 
 the same manner we find both words used together in 
 the singular number in these passages ; Numbers 
 xxviii. 11. XXXV. 29. — ^And in several passages in 
 Deuteronomy both words, in the plural, are applied 
 to the commands delivered by Moses to Israel, and 
 written in that book; chap. v. 1. " Hear, O Israel, 
 " THE STATUTES AND JUDGMENTS which I speak in 
 *' your ears this day." vi. 1. *' Now these are 
 *^ the commandments, the statutes and the 
 '* JUDGMENTS which the Lord your God commanded 
 *' me to teach you." Surely the disciples of the 
 Talmud cannot be supposed to be better acquainted 
 with the original meaning and application of these 
 terms, than the writer of the second book of Kings. 
 In that book, (xvii. 37.) the statutes and the judg- 
 ments are expressly declared to have been written. 
 In our English version, the same Hebrew word, 
 which in the passages above quoted is translated 
 judgments, is here translated ordinances: — '* the 
 " STATUTES AND THE Ordinances, or judgments, 
 '^ and the law, and the commandment, which he 
 *^ WROTE for you." — The number of quotations 
 might easily be increased ; but these will be sufficient 
 to satisfy the reader, that, whatever be the precise 
 meaning of the terms, statutes and judgments, they 
 are used to designate, either the written law in 
 general, or some particular parts of it, and that 
 the application of them to a supposed oral law will 
 not stand the test of fair criticism. 
 
REMARKS ON THE TALMUD. 51 
 
 As the alleged origin and existence of an oral law 
 are at variance with the language of the Pentateuch, 
 so the account of its pretended transmission from age 
 to age, by a chain of uninterrupted tradition, is equally 
 irreconcileable with the representations of the suc- 
 ceeding books of the sacred canon. 
 
 From the death of Joshua to the birth of Samuel, 
 the first prophet recorded to have arisen in Israel after 
 Moses, was a period of three hundred years. Of the 
 state of their affairs, during more than two centuries 
 of that time, we find a succinct but most melancholy 
 discription, in the second chapter of the book of 
 Judges: verses 10 — 19. This was the period intended 
 by Azariah, a prophet who, in the days of Asa, re- 
 minded his countrymen that '* for a long season 
 *^ Israel had been without the true god, and 
 '* without a teaching priest, and without 
 *' LAW." ^ Who can admit these to be faithful des- 
 criptions ; and at the same time believe, that no age 
 passed without inquiries being made into the meaning 
 of the law hy a Sanhedrim or assembly of authorized 
 expounders, who made decrees and appointed constitu- 
 tions, and that in every age the president of that 
 Sanhedrim taught the people in public ? 
 
 On occasions when efforts were made to recall the 
 people of Israel to the first principles of their religion 
 and polity, we find references and appeals to the 
 written law, and to that only. When Jehoshaphat 
 sent princes, priests, and Levites to teach in the cities 
 
 » 2 Chron. xv. 3. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 of Judah, '* they had the hook of the law of the 
 '* Lord with them, and went throughout all the 
 *^ cities of Judah and taught the people." ^ Even 
 after the days of Hosea, Amos, Micah, Isaiah, and 
 other illustrious prophets, Manasseh caused an idol to 
 be made and set up as an object of worship in the 
 temple of Jehovah. During his impious reign of more 
 than half a century, the book of the law was neg- 
 lected and lost ; and it was not till twenty years after 
 his death, that a copy of it was unexpectedly found 
 in the temple by Hilkiah the high priest. The sur- 
 prize discovered by Josiah and his court forbids the 
 supposition that any of them had ever heard or read 
 the law before. If there had then been a succession 
 of conservators and expounders, such as the Tal- 
 mudists pretend to have constituted their Sanhedrim 
 in (every age, is it conceivable that there would have 
 been, to that time, no communication between them 
 and the king ; who had reigned eighteen years, and 
 from his accession to the throne had evinced the 
 most laudable zeal for the suppression of idolatry and 
 the re-establishment of the true worship ? Josiah 
 immediately availed himself of the happy discovery, 
 to confirm and complete the reformation which he 
 had begun. If the writers of the books of Kings and 
 Chronicles are entitled to any credit, the book of the 
 law was avowed to be the sole regulator of future 
 proceedings, both by himself and by his people : they 
 assembled in the temple, and bound themselves ''to 
 
 * 2 Chron. xvii. 7—9. 
 
REMARKS ON THE TALMUD. 53 
 
 '* perform the words of this covenant, that were 
 '^ WRITTEN IN THIS BOOK." What then becomes 
 of the notion, that the basis of the divine covenant 
 was not the written law, which was unintelligible and 
 defective ? Josiah and his people seem to have 
 entertained a more respectful opinion of it. 
 
 The Jews are not even agreed among themselves 
 respecting the Chain of Tradition, as they call it, or 
 the persons by whom their pretended oral law was 
 transmitted from one generation to another. The 
 dissonance between Maimonides, Abarbinel, and 
 other oracles of the synagogue, extends to several 
 particulars which it would be tedious to specify.^ It 
 is probable that most readers will think enough has 
 been said to establish the conclusion, that the whole 
 story of an oral law is nothing but a rabbinical 
 fiction. They will not however be displeased, to see 
 this opinion corroborated by the contents of the 
 Mishna itself. 
 
 The Mishna makes no pretensions to the high 
 antiquity which the Jews ascribe to it. Among the 
 rabbies whose names are mentioned as authorities for 
 the traditions it contains, the earliest is Simeon the 
 Just, who lived about the time of Alexander the 
 Great. The frequent discordance and contrariety 
 between the different rabbies whose opinions it records, 
 are subversive of every claim to divine authority. 
 We can be guilty of no presumption in affirming, 
 that whatever is unjust cannot have been commanded 
 
 ' Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. p. 7—10. 
 
64 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 or sanctioned by God ; and that a precept which con- 
 tradicts or evades the plain import of any part of his 
 written law, cannot have proceeded from the same 
 divine author. 
 
 The fourth commandment is an express prohibition 
 of all servile work on the sabbath day. But according 
 to the Mishna, when any thing was done, which one 
 man could do alone, as removing a light piece of wood, 
 for instance; — if two removed it together, neither 
 of them broke the sabbath, because neither of them 
 did the work singly, 
 
 God commands, that *' If a man vow a vow unto 
 *' the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with 
 *' a bond ; he shall not break his word, he shall do 
 '* according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth." 
 Num. XXX. 2. But the Mishna permits a man who 
 is dissatisfied with his vow, to go to some one whom 
 he regards as a wise man, or in his absence to any 
 three other persons, and he or they may release him 
 from the obligation. This refers to such vows as 
 involve no violation of duty or breach of divine com- 
 mand. But rash vows which cannot be made without 
 impiety, are represented as equally binding. If a man 
 in a fit of sinful passion vows that his parents shall 
 not be benefited by his property, the Mishna admits 
 such a vow to be a sufficient impediment to his 
 affording them any assistance, whatever be their 
 necessities ; though, if he repent of his unnatural 
 conduct, it allows the obligation of this infamous 
 vow to be disannulled, the claims of natural affection 
 to be renewed, and the fifth commandment to be 
 
REMARKS ON THE TALMUD. 55 
 
 reinstated in its authority, by a decision of one of the 
 wise men. 
 
 Those parts of the law of Moses which regulated 
 the transactions of civil life have furnished models 
 of simplicity and equity to all succeeding ages. But 
 a country administered according to the Mishnic code 
 would be a grand theatre of chicanery and prevarica- 
 tion. Of this any one may satisfy himself by perusing 
 the Mishna, especially the title Bava Kama, which 
 relates to compensations for damages. A few in- 
 stances, as specimens, will be sufficient. — If an ass 
 eat a peck of dates, the property of another man, dates 
 not being its usual food, and not being supposed to 
 nourish, more than an equal quantity of barley ; the 
 owner of the ass shall pay, not the value of a peck 
 of dates, but only the value of a peck of barley. — If a 
 beast belonging to an Israelite trespass and feed in the 
 field of one who is not an Israelite, the Mishna 
 exempts the owner of the beast from all obligation 
 to make restitution. — In cases of damage it allows 
 none but Israelites to be witnesses. — If the beast of an 
 Israelite gore the beast of an alien, there needs be no 
 compensation ; but if an alien's beast gore the beast 
 of an Israelite, nothing less than full restitution is 
 required. 
 
 The following is one of the enactments of the 
 Mishna relating to depredations of holy things. — 
 
 * If a man take away a consecrated stone, or beam, 
 ' he commits no trespass. If he give it to his com- 
 
 * panion, he commits a trespass, and his companion 
 
 * commits no trespass. If he put it by way of building 
 
56 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * into his house, he commits no trespass, till he lives 
 ' long enough in that house to gain, by that stone or 
 ' beam, the value of a pruta.' — Pruta here signifies 
 the smallest piece of brass money that the Jews 
 formerly used in exchange. — ' If he take away a con- 
 
 * secrated pruta, he commits no trespass ; if he give 
 
 * it to his companion, he commits a trespass, but his 
 
 * companion commits no trespass. If he give it to 
 
 * a bath-keeper, he commits a trespass, though he 
 
 * does not bathe ; because the bath-keeper says to 
 
 * him, See, the bath is open ; go in, and bathe.' 
 
 The following passage is so plain, that any variety 
 of interpretation would seem altogether impossible. 
 '* If a man cause a blemish in his neighbour, as he 
 '* hath done so shall it be done unto him : breach 
 " for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth : as he hath 
 ** caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to 
 *' him again." (Levit. xxiv. 19, 20. Exod. xxi. 
 23 — 25. Deut. xix. 21.) Thus the Law commands 
 punishment by judicial retaliation. The Mishna, 
 on the contrary, determines that in such cases the 
 punishment is to be wholly pecuniary, and directs 
 the damages to be estimated in the following manner. 
 
 * When a man wounds his neighbour, the estimation 
 
 * of the damage is made five ways : for the damage 
 
 * itself, for the pain, for the cure, for loss of time, and 
 
 * for the shame. For the damage — if a man put out 
 
 * his neighbour's eye, or cut off his hand, or wound 
 
 * his foot, the sufferer is considered as a slave that 
 
 * is sold in the market ; and the price of the 
 ^ slave sound, and of the same slave maimed, being 
 
REMARKS ON THE TALMUD. 57 
 
 ' computed, the difference of value is the compen- 
 ' sation for the loss or injury of the limb. For 
 ' the smart — they consider how much such a man 
 
 * may be willing to take, to have his nail wounded 
 
 * with a pin or a nail which leaves no scar. The cure 
 
 * must be paid by the person who did the injury. 
 
 * If pustules arise from the wound's not being cured, 
 
 * he must pay for their cure : if they do not arise 
 ^ from the wound, he is free. If it be healed, and 
 
 * break out again, he must pay for completing the 
 
 * cure. If it was completely cured, he is not obliged 
 
 * to pay for any further cure. For loss of time, the 
 
 * patient is considered as if he kept cucumbers, be- 
 
 * cause he is already paid for his eye, or hand, or 
 ' foot. The shame is estimated with regard to the 
 ' person who gave and the person who received the 
 ' affront.' — Must not all the disciples of the Mishna 
 fall under the censure once addressed to their pharisaic 
 predecessors ? " Thus have ye made the command- 
 *' ment of God of none effect by your tradition." 
 Matt. XV. 6.1 
 
 The study of the Mishna, however, has not been 
 wholly unproductive of advantage to Christians. 
 Being compiled about the close of the second century, 
 it may, in the main, be regarded as a digest of the 
 traditions received and practised by the Pharisees in 
 the days of our Lord. Some learned expositors have 
 accordingly made considerable use of it, in illustrat- 
 
 » Wagenseil. Tela Ignea Sat. Pref. p. 580—598. Hoorribeck de 
 Judaeis, c. i. Wotton's Miscellaneous Discourses, p. 39—71. 157, 158. 
 Address to the Jews, by John Xeres, a converted Jew, p, 7 — 10. 
 
58 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ing the narratives and allusions of the New Testament, 
 as well as in explaining various passages of the Old 
 Testament. ^ 
 
 A similar use has also been made of the Jerusalem 
 Gemara ; though as a work of later date, being com- 
 piled about the year 300, it is consequently, on every 
 historical question, of inferior authority. The Baby- 
 lonian Gemara, being compiled about the year 500, 
 in another country, and a different dialect, the Biblical 
 student has derived still less assistance from its per- 
 usal. It is this, however, which obtains the highest 
 estimation from the generality of modern Jews. The 
 Jerusalem Talmud, including the Mishna and Gemara, 
 is printed in one large folio volume : and the Baby- 
 lonian extends, in some editions, to twelve folios, 
 and in others to thirteen. 
 
 The Babylonian Talmud has been justly described 
 as containing things frivolous and superstitious, 
 impieties and blasphemies, absurdities and fables. 
 Some modern rabbies endeavour to rescue this object 
 of Jewish veneration from so serious a censure. Those 
 things which have been reputed superstitious and 
 frivolous, they affirm to be traditional interpretations 
 of the law, constitutions of Moses from Mount Sinai, 
 or determinations of their wise men in different ages, 
 made by virtue of the authority vested in the San- 
 hedrim, and according to the rules received from 
 Moses for regulating such determinations. But the 
 futihty of this assertion has been sufficiently proved 
 in the former part of this chapter. 
 
 • See particularly the works of Dr. Lightfoot and Dr. Gill. 
 
REMARKS ON THE TALMUD. 59 
 
 Those things which have been reprobated as im- 
 pieties and blasphemies, they maintain to be only 
 imitations of the Scriptures, which frequently speak 
 of the Divine Being in language borrowed from the 
 parts, affections, and passions of creatures. But the 
 tropes and metaphors of the inspired writers furnish 
 no plea for the mean, extravagant and abominable 
 representations of the Talmud. The pious reader 
 will excuse my presenting him with two extracts, as 
 specimens. — * Rabbi Simeon the son of Pazzai taught 
 
 * the following things : It is written, '^ And God 
 ' made two great lights : " it is also written, '' The 
 ' greater light and the lesser light." The Moon said 
 
 * to God, Lord of the universe, can two kings reign 
 
 * under one crown ? God said. Go thou, and be 
 ' lessened. — The Moon said, Lord of the world, 
 
 * because I have spoken what is right before thee, 
 
 * shall I therefore be diminished ? God said. Go 
 ' thou, and rule by day and by night. — The Moon 
 
 * said. What honour and dignity will this confer upon 
 ' me ? Of what use is a candle at noon-day ? God 
 ' said. Go thou, and Israel shall compute their days 
 
 * and years by thee. — The Moon said. They will also 
 
 * compute them by the Sun, nor is it possible to 
 
 * compute the four seasons of the year any otherwise ; 
 ' for it is written, *' And let them be for signs and 
 
 * for seasons, and for days and years." God said, 
 
 * Go thou, and just men shall be called by thy name : 
 ' as Jacob the little, Samuel the little, and David the 
 
 * little. — God saw that the Moon was not satisfied, 
 
 * and he said. Bring ye a propitiation iov me, because 
 
60 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ' I have lessened the Moon. And it was on account 
 
 * of this, that Simeon the son of Lakish said, Why is 
 
 * the goat that used to be offered at the new moon 
 
 * spoken of differently from others, as it is written, 
 
 * {bi^nb HKIDn) for a sin-offering for the Lord ? Num. 
 
 * xxviii. 15. It is as though God had said. That 
 ' goat shall be a sin-offering for me, because I have 
 
 * lessened the moon.' ^ — Another part of the Talmud 
 represents God as having contracted impurity by the 
 burial of Moses, and as washing in fire in order to 
 cleanse himself. * An infidel asks Rabbi Abuhu, 
 ' Since your God is a priest, for it is said, *' Bring 
 ' me an offering : " (Exod. xxv. 2.) when he buried 
 ' Moses, and became unclean, with what did he wash 
 
 * himself? Num. xix. 11, &c. It could not be with 
 ' water ; for it is said, ** Who hath measured the 
 ' waters in the hollow of his hand ; " that is, the 
 ^ waters would not suffice for him to dip in. R. 
 ^ Abuhu replied. He washed himself in fire : *' for, 
 
 * behold the Lord will come with," or in ''fire.*' 
 
 * (Isa. Ixvi. 15.) How, asked the infidel, is there such 
 
 * a thing as washing in fire to be found any where ? 
 
 * R. Abuhu replied, Certainly, the chief washing is 
 ' with fire : " All that abideth not the fire," that is, 
 
 * that would be consumed by fire, ** ye shall make go 
 
 * through the water." (Num. xxxi. 23.) '^ — Deity 
 polluted, and requiring ablution ! God confessing 
 
 • Talmud. Cod. Cholin. c. iii. fol. 60. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn, 
 i. p. 633, 634. Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xxii. p. 478, 479. Jewish 
 Repos. vol. i. p. 453. 
 
 5 Sanhcdrin, fol. 39. col. 1. cited in Jcvyish Repos. vol. i. p. 478. 
 
REMARKS ON THE TALMUD. 61 
 
 sin, and wanting an atonement ! How applicable to 
 a writer of such fictions, is the reproof which Asaph 
 represents God as addressing *' to the wicked ! Thou 
 *' though test that I was altogether such an one as 
 *' thyself." What a deplorable consideration, that 
 the professed worshippers of Jehovah have disgorged 
 impieties and blasphemies, never exceeded by the 
 votaries of Baal, Jupiter, or Brama ! 
 
 Those things which have been condemned as 
 absurdities and fables, the admirers of the Talmud 
 extol as beautiful apologues, conveying in parabolical 
 language the sublimest lessons of heavenly wisdom. — 
 To this it is replied : that though some of these 
 stories may admit of being explained as allegories or 
 parables, yet this cannot be justly regarded as their 
 general character. The Talmudists frequently urge 
 the truth and certainty of their accounts, which is not 
 usual in parables. Thus after a relation which rivals 
 the ravings of insanity, one of them gravely declares, 
 I could not have believed this, if I had not seen the 
 place myself. — They often meet tacit objections, en- 
 deavour to vindicate their stories from inconsistency, 
 and labour hard to support the principal circumstances 
 from the text of the scripture. — They add no moral 
 to their fables, which are often so constructed as 
 not to admit of any. The applications of some 
 later writers are, if possible, more absurd than 
 the fables of their predecessors. To attempt a moral 
 application of every fable in Ovid's Metamorphoses 
 would not be a more hopeless task than a rational 
 
62 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 construction of the monstrous romances of the 
 Talmud. ^ 
 
 Princes and pontiffs of former ages, supposing the 
 perusal of these volumes to be favourable to the pro- 
 motion of Judaism, and their very existence to be 
 dangerous to the interests of Christianity, issued 
 various decrees, prohibiting them from being read, 
 and directing all the copies of them to be committed 
 to the flames. Many were burnt at Rome, Ancona, 
 and other places ; but many were concealed by the 
 Jews, and these decrees were only partially executed. ^ 
 The invention of printing supplied the means of multi- 
 plying these as well as all other books. There is 
 reason to believe, however, that many passages, which 
 were contained in the earlier impressions, have been 
 omitted by the Jews themselves in the later editions. 
 The following account of the matter is given in a 
 work published at Amsterdam in the year 1723, by 
 Christian Meyer, a learned Jew, who, after having 
 held the office of a rabbi at Hamburgh, had embraced 
 Christianity, and after his conversion lived many 
 years, uniformly sustaining an unblemished reputation. 
 
 He states that a complete edition of the Talmud 
 had been printed by the Jews at Cracow in Poland, 
 and circulated all over that country : that after this, 
 
 » Pseif. Theol. Jud. Ex. i. Thes. 27—33. Hulsius De Theol. Jud. p. 
 445. W^agenseil. Tela Ignea Sat. Praef. p. 61, &c. Leusden. Philol. 
 Heb. Diss, xiii, xiv. 
 
 » Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. iii. p. 731—748. Wolf. Bib. Heb, vol. 
 ii. p. 931—934. 
 
REMARKS ON THE TALMUD. 63 
 
 many Jews being converted to the Roman Catholic 
 faith, they made their new friends acquainted with 
 all that was said in the Talmud respecting Jesus 
 of Nazareth : that in consequence of this the Jews 
 suffered a dreadful persecution, during which, in 
 Cracow and other parts of Poland, thousands of them 
 were killed : that the terror of those who escaped 
 was very great, and induced them to think of some 
 expedient to prevent the recurrence of such a cala- 
 mity. After the storm had subsided, an assembly 
 v/as convened, consisting of the principal Jews 
 of Great and Little Poland, Lithuania and Russia. 
 They met at Jareslow in Little Poland, in the months 
 of Elul and Tisri ; the latter of which was the first 
 in the Jewish year 5391, and answers to September 
 in the year of our Lord, 1630. They agreed on the 
 following circular letter to be sent to all their brethren. 
 
 ' Great peace be to our beloved brethren of the 
 ' house of Israel. 
 
 ' Having received information that many Chris- 
 ^ tians have applied themselves with great care, to 
 
 * acquire a knowledge of the language in which 
 ' our books are written ; we therefore enjoin you, 
 
 * under the penalty of the great ban, to be inflicted 
 
 * upon such of you as shall transgress this our decree, 
 
 * that you do not, in any new edition of either the 
 
 * Mishna or the Gemara, publish any thing relative 
 
 * to Jesus the Nazarene ; and that you take especial 
 
 * care not to write any thing concerning him, 
 
 * either good or bad, so that neither ourselves nor 
 
 * our religion may be exposed to any injury ; for 
 
64 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * we know what those men of Belial have done to 
 
 * us when they became Christians : and how their 
 
 * representations have obtained credit. Therefore 
 ' let this make you cautious. If you do not pay 
 ' strict attention to this our letter, but act contrary 
 
 * thereto, and continue to publish our books in the 
 ' same manner as before, you may occasion, both 
 
 * to us and to yourselves, greater afflictions than we 
 
 * have hitherto experienced, and be the means 
 ' of our being compelled to embrace the Christian 
 
 * religion, as we were formerly ; and thus our latter 
 
 * troubles may be worse than the former. — For 
 ' these reasons we command you, if you publish 
 
 * any new edition of those books, let the places 
 
 * relating to Jesus the Nazarene be left in blank, 
 ' and fill up the place with a circle like this O. But 
 ' the rabbies and teachers of children will know 
 
 * how to instruct the youth by word of mouth. 
 
 * Then Christians will no longer have any thing 
 
 * to shew against us upon this subject, and we 
 
 * may expect deliverance from the afflictions we 
 ' have laboured under, and may reasonably hope to 
 
 * live in peace. 
 
 * Written at Jareslow in presence of the rabbies, 
 * in the year of the world 5391.' 
 
 Meyer proceeds to state, that all the copies of the 
 old editions were carefully concealed, and the new 
 editions were printed according to the directions of 
 this circular letter. The detection of the omissions, 
 and the consequent preference discovered by learned 
 Christians for the old copies, furnished an opportunity 
 
REMARKS ON THE TALMUD. 65 
 
 for a masterpiece of rabbinical fraud. ' At length 
 
 * when the Christians were observed to be more 
 
 * desirous of obtaining the former Cracow edition 
 
 * than the latter, the Jews thought of a scheme to 
 
 * deceive them, and to gain a great deal of money 
 
 * by it. They printed a number of copies on old 
 
 * paper and from an old type, resembling the paper 
 
 * and type of the former edition ; and put the former 
 ' date and the same binding. The Christians believed 
 
 * the Jews, and purchased them readily at a great 
 ' price : but there was no more to be found in them 
 
 * than in any of the new editions.' ^ 
 
 The passages which Meyer asserts to have been 
 omitted, appear to have contained the same accounts 
 which have also been exhibited in a separate book, 
 under the title of Toldoth Yeshu, purporting to be 
 a history of the birth, life, and death of Jesus 
 of Nazareth ; of which a brief summary will be 
 given in another part of this work. — A writer in the 
 Jewish Repository ^ asserts, that ' a great number 
 
 * of these passages may be traced in a copy of the 
 
 * Talmud, deposited by the learned Selden in the 
 ' Bodleian library, at Oxford, and in which an attempt 
 ' has been made to obliterate them with ink.' By 
 whom these obliterations were made or attempted, 
 seems to be a matter of uncertainty. A learned 
 Frenchman gives the following account, but without 
 stating whence he derived it. ' In the public library 
 
 • Meyer. Vera Generat. Immanuel. Hebr. et Latin. Amst. 17 23. 
 p. 72 — 75. Jewish Repos. vol. ii. p. 89, 90. 
 2 Vol. iii. p. 3. 
 
 F 
 
66 MODERN JUDAISM. 
 
 ' at Oxford there is a copy of the Babylonian Talmud, 
 ' printed at Venice in ten volumes folio, which 
 
 * belonged to Selden. This copy had been revised, 
 ' conformably to the orders of the Inquisition, by 
 ' a Capuchin, who has obliterated all the passages 
 ' relating to the Messiah, the Virgin Mary, the 
 ' Apostles and the Evangelists, and all the places 
 ' that mention the Roman empire, which the Tal- 
 ' mud calls The kingdom of Impiety, or The 
 ' Impious Kingdom, These obliterated passages 
 
 * are wholly illegible : the ink has penetrated the 
 ' paper, so that it is not possible even to read the 
 ' words on the opposite page/ ^ 
 
 > Michael de la Roche, Memoires Britan. torn. xiv. p. 492, apud 
 Schoetgen. Horse Heb. et Talmud, torn. ii. p. 840. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Cabbala : — the Term explained : — Two Kinds, 
 Theoretical and Practical : — The latter a mere Si/stem 
 of magical Superstition, — The Theoi^etical Cabbala 
 subdivided into two Species, — Symbolical and Literal. 
 — Some Account of each. — Differ e7it Opinions of the 
 Value and Use of the Cabbala, 
 
 One of the principal branches of Modern Judaism, 
 and that which its professors extol as the sublimest 
 of all sciences, is the Cabbala. This word is of 
 Hebrew origin, being derived from a root which 
 signifies to receive. It has sometimes been used in a 
 large sense, as comprehending all the explications, 
 maxims, and ceremonies, which the Jews have re- 
 ceived from their fathers ; but is oftener employed 
 in a more limited acceptation^ to designate a species 
 of theology and philosophy, very different from the 
 civil and criminal, ritual and ecclesiastical traditions, 
 which form the principal contents of the Mishna. 
 The term Cabbala is generally applied to those mys- 
 tical interpretations of the scripture, and metaphysical 
 speculations concerning the Deity and other beings, 
 which are found in many Jewish authors, and which 
 
 F 2 
 
68 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 are said to have been handed down by a secret tradition 
 from the earliest ages.^ 
 
 To dignify the Cabbala with the sanction of high 
 antiquity, it has been pretended that Moses was on 
 Mount Sinai for three several periods, of forty days 
 each ; that during the first period he received the 
 Written Law, that during the second he was in- 
 structed in the Mishna, and that the last forty days 
 were spent in the study of the Cabbala.^ Spurious 
 writings have been produced under the most venerable 
 names. The apocryphal writer who assumes the 
 character of Ezra, says : ' And my mouth was opened, 
 ' and shut no more. The Most High gave under- 
 ' standing unto the five men, that they wrote the high 
 ' thing of the night, which they understood not. 
 
 * But in the night they did eat bread ; but I spake by 
 ' days and held not my tongue by night. In forty 
 ' days they wrote two hundred and four books. And 
 ' when the forty days were fiilfiUed, the Most High 
 
 * spake saying, The first that thou hast written, 
 
 * publish openly, that the worthy and unworthy may 
 
 * read. But keep the last seventy, that thou mayest 
 ' give them to the wise among thy people. For in 
 ' them is the vein of understanding, and the fountain 
 ' of wisdom, and the river of knowledge.'^ These 
 seventy books have been supposed to contain a copious 
 exposition of the Cabbalistic system ; the vein of un- 
 
 » Buxtorf. Lex. Chald. Talm. and Rabb. col. 1453. Raym. Mart. 
 Pug. Fid. p. 71. 709. Menasseh Ben Israel Conciliator, p. 169. 
 Impress. A. D. 1643. Brucker. Hist. Crit. Philos. torn. ii. p. 832. 917. 
 
 2 Menass. Conciliat. p. 170. ^ Book ii. c. 14. v. 41—47. 
 
THE CABBALA. 69 
 
 derstanding being an ineffable theology concerning 
 the supersubstantial Deity ; the fountain of wisdom^ 
 an exact metaphysic concerning intelligible and angelic 
 forms ; and the river of knowledge, a very clear phi- 
 losophy respecting natural things. Volumes have 
 been exhibited as some of this number, and represented 
 as the genuine productions of Ezra, the inspired scribe ; 
 but without a shadow of evidence, either external or 
 internal, to support such pretensions, or to redeem 
 them from the censure of being contemptible forgeries 
 of modern times. ^ With equal disregard of truth, and 
 with superior effrontery, the Jews have attributed 
 one Cabbalistic book to the patriarch Abraham ; 
 and another to Adam himself, or to an angel, 
 called Rasiel, from whom they affirm that Adam 
 received it.^ 
 
 But dismissing these fictions, we find no Cabba- 
 listic writings but what are evidently posterior to the 
 destruction of the second temple. The most cele- 
 brated of them are the Sepher Jetsira, or Book of the 
 Creation, and Sepher Zohar, or Book of Splendour. 
 The former is the book which some Jews have 
 ascribed to the patriarch Abraham ; but others, with 
 greater appearance of truth, attribute it to Akiba, a 
 famous rabbi, who lost his life in the cause of Bar- 
 chocheba, a false Messiah, in the reign of the Roman 
 emperor Adrian, The author of the Zohar is said to 
 have been a disciple of Akiba, Simeon Ben Jochai, 
 
 » Wolf. Bib. Heb. vol. i. p. 942. vol. ii. p. 1196. Leusden. Philol. 
 Ileb. Dis. xxvi. s. 15. 
 
 2 Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. p. 15—80. Wolf. Bib. lleb. vol. i. 
 p. 23. 111. Schoetgen. Horec Heb. torn. ii. p, 44. 
 
70 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 whom the Jews consider as the prince of the Cabbalists, 
 and to whose authority, in every point in which he is 
 not contradicted by the Talmud, they render an implicit 
 submission. Some learned men have doubted whether 
 these books came from the hands of these rabbies, or 
 even, as the substance of their dictation, from the 
 hands of their immediate disciples, in the state in 
 which they now appear ; but the general opinion is, 
 that, though they may have undergone some alter- 
 ations or interpolations, there is no reason to doubt 
 their being for the most part the same ; that there is 
 sufficient ground for believing them to have been 
 written before the Talmud ; and that they contain 
 the notions which were commonly adopted by specu- 
 lative Jews in the age to which they are thus attributed. 
 The same notions have been followed by the more 
 modern Cabbalists, who have lived chiefly since the 
 tenth century, and have employed themselves in 
 amplifying and commenting upon the dogmas of their 
 predecessors.^ 
 
 The Cabbala is of two kinds, theoretical and prac- 
 tical. The theoretical is so denominated from the 
 things about which it is conversant, being objects to 
 be apprehended by speculation and meditation. The 
 practical is nothing more than a system of magic, 
 consisting in a superstitious use of the Scriptures, 
 and especially of the divine names, with the hope or 
 pretence, of effecting things beyond the capacity and 
 course of nature. Abraham, Moses, Solomon, and 
 
 Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. iv. p. 272— 274. 412—417. Wolf. Bib. 
 Heb. vol. i. p. 23. 955. 1134. Wagens. Sota, 982. Brucker. Hist. 
 Philos. torn. ii. p. 834—841. 845j &c. 
 
THE CABBALA. 
 
 71 
 
 others in ancient times, are said to have been dis- 
 tinguished for a profound knowledge and skilful 
 application of these mysteries ; some experience in 
 which was deemed an essential requisite in every 
 candidate for a seat in the Sanhedrim. This study 
 was much cultivated by the Jews in the middle ages ; 
 when by diagrams delineated in certain forms, and 
 inscribed with mystical terms produced by trans- 
 positions of the letters of sacred names, or com- 
 binations of the initials of particular words, they 
 pretended to heal or secure from wounds, extinguish 
 fires, and achieve other wonderful exploits. The 
 following was one of the figures most celebrated 
 for these potent qualities. It was called The Shield 
 of David: the inscription Agla is composed of the 
 initials of four Hebrew words. ^ 
 
 ' "^DIS DbK?b "1^3 nriM winch may be rendered, Thou art strong 
 for ever, Lord ! or, Thou art strong in the eternal God. 
 
72 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 Sovereign virtues were believed to be annexed 
 to the seventy-two names of the Deity, which the 
 Cabbalists formed by decomposing the nineteenth, 
 twentieth, and twenty-first verses of the fourteenth 
 chapter of Exodus, which contain seventy- two 
 letters each, and distributing them into seventy-two 
 words of three letters each. — ^Whether it was from 
 a want of efficacy in these divine names, or because 
 all the multiplications of rabbinical ingenuity had 
 failed of supplying a number adequate to the demand, 
 that recourse has been had to the name of an 
 infernal spirit, furnished by the same fruitful source 
 of invention, we are not informed. Such, however, 
 has been the strange fact. — ^The Talmud, after 
 cautioning its votaries against drinking water by 
 night, lest it should cause dizziness and blindness, 
 instructs them, if they do drink at that time, how 
 to guard against these maladies : it is by repeating 
 Shiavriri, Vriri, Riri, Iri, Ri, I. The rabbies say 
 that (>'T>11tir) Shiavriri is the demon who presides 
 over these plagues, and that any person afflicted with 
 them may obtain a certain cure by writing the name 
 of this personage in the following form ; in which as 
 the name gradually diminishes to one small letter, so 
 the disorder will daily abate till it be wholly removed. 
 *> ^ '> n 1 \D 
 
THE CABBALA. 73 
 
 This will remind the reader of the Abracadabra 
 which used to be deemed a remedy for agues. — 
 Medallions were also made, according to Cabba- 
 listic art, and prized as amulets of astonishing 
 power. Some of them contained, in a circular field, 
 an emblematical figure of the Moon ; and on the 
 reverse a square Table, divided into eighty-one com- 
 partments, with one or two Hebrew letters in each : 
 and these letters were so disposed that if cast up as 
 numerals, perpendicularly, horizontally, and diagon- 
 ally, in twenty different lines, they exhibited the 
 same total, 369. There were similar medalions 
 of the primary planets. Mercury, Venus, Mars, 
 Jupiter, and Saturn ; and also of the Sun, which 
 were the most esteemed of them all. The wearer 
 of one of the solar medallions was assured, that he 
 should be fortunate in all things, should be feared by 
 all men, should obtain from kings and princes whatever 
 he should desire either by personal application or by 
 messages, should recover what he might happen to 
 lose, and that himself and all his affairs should be 
 under the special blessing of God.^ — A famous rabbi, 
 who lived in the thirteenth century, relates two 
 marvellous adventures : — one of a Jew, who, being 
 sentenced to be burnt alive for adultery, contrived by 
 his Cabbalistic skill that the executioners of justice 
 mistook a horse for him, and burnt the horse in his 
 stead ; so that he escaped : — the other of himself, — 
 
 » Wolf. Bib. Ileb. vol. ii. p. 1210, 1213—1216. Brucker. Hist. 
 Philos. torn. ii. 970, 875, 876. Baitoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. p. 251. 
 torn. iv. p. 232, 233, 250—255. 
 
74 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 that at Barcelona, in the presence of the king, he, 
 by a cabbalistical use of the name Jehovah, actually 
 launched a ship, after the shipwrights had done their 
 utmost to launch it, and abandoned the attempt as 
 impracticable.^ — The name of this rabbi was Moses 
 Ben Nachman, frequently called Nachmanides ; to 
 whose wonderful tales the reader will give as much 
 credit as he may deem them to deserve. 
 
 The Theoretical Cabbala is subdivided into two 
 species ; artificial or literal, and symbolical or 
 dogmatical. The latter leaves nothing to art or 
 ingenuity, but propounds doctrines received from 
 the teachers of this science. The former opens a 
 large field for the exercise of ingenuity or industry : 
 it presents several mystical modes of expounding the 
 scriptures, and eliciting the recondite senses which 
 they are supposed to contain. 
 
 Menasseh Ben Israel, who flourished about the 
 middle of the seventeenth century, and whom the 
 present chief Rabbi of the Portuguese Jews in 
 London ^ extols as a ' Divine Philosopher, endowed 
 with profound learning and extreme piety, compares 
 the Law to the body, the Mishna to the soul, and the 
 Cabbala to the soul of the soul. The ignorant 
 vulgar, he says, may be satisfied with the first : wise 
 servants of the Most High attend to the second ; but 
 the wisest direct their contemplations to the third. 
 
 ' Stehelin's Traditions, vol. i. p. 146. 
 
 ' Form of Service in commemoration of the Dedication of the 
 Portuguese Jew Synagogue. By Dr. R. Meldola. For Friday Evening. 
 Tisri 17, A.M. 5575. i. e. September 29, A. D. 1814. 
 
THE Cabbala. 75 
 
 Those who confine their attention to the ritual and 
 civil regulations of the Mishna and Gemara, he 
 compares to compounders of medicines, who, with- 
 out knowing the virtues of the various ingredients, 
 merely follow the prescriptions confided to their care : 
 but persons that study the mysteries of the Cabbala, 
 he compares to physicians, who understand the 
 nature and design of all the remedies which they 
 prescribe. As the Talmudical doctors have thirteen 
 dialectical canons for determining the sense of the 
 law in all civil and ecclesiastical cases ; so, Menasseh 
 says, the Cabbalists, those divine theologians, as he 
 frequently styles them, have thirteen rules by which 
 they are enabled to penetrate the mysteries with 
 which the scriptures abound. 
 
 By some of these rules the Cabbalists pretend to 
 discover profundities of meaning — in the figures of all 
 the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet ; — in the form of a 
 particular letter at the end of a word being different 
 from that which it generally bears when it is a final 
 letter, or in a letter being written in the middle of a 
 word in a character generally used only at the end ; — 
 in any letter or letters being written in a size smaller 
 or larger than the rest of the manuscript, or in a 
 letter being written upside down ; — in the variations 
 found in the spelling of certain words, which have a 
 letter more in some places than they have in others ; 
 — in peculiarities observed in the position of any 
 of the points or accents ; — in certain expressions 
 supposed to be elliptical or redundant. Most per- 
 sons, not initiated into the Cabbalistic arcana, will 
 
76 
 
 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 think these varieties easily to be accounted for by 
 negligencies or accidents in transcription, and will 
 not expect much knowledge to be gained by grinding 
 and pulverising the Hebrew characters. Menasseh, 
 however, strenuously insists, though he offers no 
 argument or proof in support of his opinion, that in 
 transcribing sacred writings these things could not be 
 accidental, but must all have been designed to convey 
 latent instruction ; and maintains that the Hebrew 
 language having God for its author, even the forms 
 of the letters are symbolical lessons of wisdom, and 
 all the straight and curved lines which compose them 
 are pregnant with mysteries. But the principal 
 branches of the literal Cabbala are three, denominated 
 Gematria, Notaricon, and Temura. 
 
 Gematria is a word which the rabbies have bor- 
 rowed from the Greek, and signifies quantity, propor- 
 tion, or equal dimension. This is a mathematical 
 way of contemplating the scriptures. All the Hebrew 
 letters are considered as numerals ; according to the 
 following Table. 
 
 UNITS 
 
 . 
 
 TENS. 
 
 HUNDREDS. 
 
 Aleph 
 
 ^? 1 
 
 Yod 
 
 ^ 10 
 
 Koph p 100 
 
 Beth 
 
 1 2 
 
 Caph 
 
 D 20 
 
 Resh 1 200 
 
 Gimel 
 
 J 3 
 
 Lamed 
 
 b 30 
 
 Shin t:; 300 
 
 Daleth 
 
 1 4 
 
 Mem 
 
 ID 40 
 
 Tau n 400 
 
 He 
 
 n 5 
 
 Nun 
 
 3 50 
 
 Final Caph f 500 
 
 Vau 
 
 ) 6 
 
 Samech 
 
 D 60 
 
 Final Mem D 600 
 
 Zain 
 
 r 7 
 
 Ain 
 
 V 70 
 
 Final Nun | 700 
 
 Cheth 
 
 n 8 
 
 Pe 
 
 3 80 
 
 Final Pe ^ 800 
 
 Teth 
 
 ro 9 
 
 Tzaddi 
 
 :i 90 
 
 Final Tzaddi V 900 
 
THE CABBALA. 77 
 
 Any two words or phrases, occurring in different 
 texts, and containing letters of the same numerical 
 amount, are deemed mutually convertible ; and any 
 one or more words, consisting of letters which, cast 
 up as numerals, make the same total sum as the 
 word or words of any particular text, are at once 
 admitted as developing the latent signification of that 
 text. Thus, the letters of the words n^^iir Kl** Shiloh 
 shall come, (in Gen. xlix. 10.) amounting to 358 ; 
 and the word rT't^D Messiah, containing the same 
 number ; it has been deemed a sufficient proof that 
 this passage is a prophecy of the Messiah : and some 
 of the most eminent commentators among the modern 
 rabbies, in expounding the prediction in Zechariah 
 iii. 8, *' I will bring forth my servant the Branch,'* 
 have argued that this must be the Messiah, because 
 the word DIl^D Comforter, a name given to the Mes- 
 siah by the Talmudists, and the word r\D)i Branch, 
 contain letters of the same numerical value. But 
 correct as these two conclusions undoubtedly are, we 
 cannot admire a way of arriving at them, which is as 
 likely to conduct to error as to truth. 
 
 Notaricon is a term borrowed from the Romans, 
 among whom the notarii, notaries or short hand 
 writers, were accustomed to use single letters to 
 signify whole words, with other methods of abbre- 
 viation. Notaricon is twofold : sometimes one word 
 is formed from the initial or final letters of two or 
 more words ; and sometimes the letters of one word 
 are taken as the initials of so many other words : 
 and the words so collected are deemed faithful ex- 
 
78 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 positions of some of the meanings of the text in 
 question. In Deut. xxx. 1*2. Moses asks, ** Who 
 " shall go up for us to heaven ? " ^ The initial letters 
 of the original words form the Hebrew word for 
 circumcision, ^ — and the final letters compose the 
 word Jehovah.^ Hence it is inferred that God gave 
 circumcision as the way to heaven. So the six 
 letters of the first word in Genesis, translated ** In 
 ** the beginning," 4 are the initials of six Hebrew 
 words, which signify. In the beginning God saw that 
 Israel would accept the law.^ 
 
 Temura, which is a word of Hebrew origin, signifies 
 permutation. Sometimes the letters of a word are 
 transposed so as to form another word : — and some- 
 times a word in any particular text is exchanged for a 
 word, formed by the substitution of other letters in 
 the place of the original letters, according to esta- 
 blished rules of alphabetical permutation ; of which 
 there are several sorts, but the most common is, to 
 put .the twenty-second letter of the alphabet in the 
 place of the first, the twenty-first instead of the second, 
 the twentieth instead of the third, and so on. Thus 
 they tell us that Jeremiah, by the word Sheshach, 
 intended Babel.^ Whether the prophet Jeremiah 
 ever heard or thought of this rule of permutation, I 
 leave to others to discuss ; and only remark, that 
 these modes of interpretation tend to represent the 
 
 ' n»'»»t^n "l^b rrbs?'' •'^ ^ nb'^tt circumcision. 
 
 '^^T^'^ Jehovah. < rT^tTMIlS 
 
 ' ^WW for bnn Jer. xxv. 26. 
 
THE CABBALA. 79 
 
 scriptures as a collection of acrostics, anagrams, and 
 riddles.^ 
 
 To give a clear account of the symbolical or dog- 
 matical Cabbala, is a work of no small difficulty. A 
 learned and judicious writer, who had paid consider- 
 able attention to the Cabbalists, compares an inves- 
 tigation of their meaning to an attempt to penetrate 
 a forest through which there is no beaten path, and 
 where every step of the progress is obstructed by 
 briars and thorns. He suggests a doubt whether 
 these writers themselves always annexed clear and 
 distinct ideas to the language they employed ; a sus- 
 picion justified by their awkward endeavours to convey 
 metaphysical notions, which can only be comprehended 
 by the acutest mental abstraction, under the garb 
 of corporeal symbols which are destitute of all con- 
 nection with those metaphysical ideas, and tend, not 
 to elucidate, but to involve them in more palpable 
 obscurity. To throw light into this region of dark- 
 ness, — to disentangle the most intricate perplexities, — 
 to delineate absurd symbols with a rational inter- 
 pretation, — to solve strange enigmas, — and to extract 
 a probable meaning from propositions which sound 
 like the incoherencies of lunacy, — is the hard task 
 required of an expounder of the Cabbalistic writings. 
 These formidable difficulties, however, have not pre- 
 
 » Buxtorf. Lex. Chald. Talm. et Rab. col. 440, 441.1339,1340. 
 1178. Walton. Proleg. ix. s. 35—38. Leusden. Philol. Heb. Dis. 
 xxvi. Menass. Conciliator, p. 168—174. Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. 
 p. 246—250. Wolf. Bib. Heb. vol. ii. p. 1211.— 1213. Brucker. 
 Hist. Philos. torn. ii. p. 972—974. Buxtorf. Syn. Jud. c. iv, p. 86. 
 
80 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 vented the study. It has been prosecuted by men 
 whom no obstacles could discourage ; and the results 
 of their researches afford sufficient to satisfy the 
 inquirer into this mysterious part of Modern Judaism. 
 The limits of the present work will only permit a 
 brief summary of the leading points of the system, 
 which shall be given with as much plainness of lan- 
 guage, and as little of the jargon in which they are 
 sometimes expressed, as is compatible with the 
 abstruseness of the subject.^ 
 
 1. From nothing, nothing can be produced. — 
 This is the foundation or principal point of the 
 whole Cabbalistic philosophy, and of all the ema- 
 native system ; which therefore pronounces that all 
 things have emanated from the divine essence, 
 deeming it impossible that being can by any means 
 be produced from non-entity, something from nothing. 
 
 2. There is no essence or substance, therefore, 
 which has proceeded from nothing, or been created 
 out of nothing. 
 
 3. Hence matter cannot have proceeded from 
 nothing, but must have had some other origin. 
 
 4. Matter is too mean in its nature to have been 
 self-originated, or self-existent. 
 
 5. Hence it follows, that there is no such essence 
 as matter, properly so called, in the universe. 
 
 6. The conclusion deducible from these premises 
 is, — that all that exists is spirit. 
 
 7. This spirit is uncreated, eternal, intellectual, 
 
 » Bruckor. Hist. Pliilos. torn. ii. p. 952, 953. 
 
THE CABBALA. 81 
 
 sentient, possessing inherent life and motive power, 
 filling immensity, and self-existing by necessity of 
 nature. 
 
 8. This spirit is the infinite being/ or Deity, the 
 cause of all other causes and beings. 
 
 9. From this infinite spirit, therefore, all things 
 must emanate and proceed. 
 
 10. This being the true spiritual source of all 
 things, all things must necessarily have emanated 
 from it, and therefore must also subsist in it. 
 
 1 1 . The universe, therefore, is an immanent 
 offspring of Deity, in which the divine essence has 
 in various degrees unfolded and modified its attributes 
 and properties. 
 
 12. The nearer any emanation is to the primordial 
 source, it is so much the more excellent and divine. 
 
 13. The further any emanation is removed from 
 this supreme source, its nature is so much the less 
 excellent and divine. 
 
 14. The process of emanation is sometimes repre- 
 sented in the following order. — That emanations 
 might issue from the primordial source of infinite 
 light, and modifications of the divine perfections 
 might appear, the deity caused first to emanate from 
 himself a kind of original and principal fountain, or 
 channel, by or through which all other emanations 
 might be produced. This First born ^ of the Infinite 
 has, in his emanations, manifested his divinity in 
 peculiar ways, and has sent forth from himself ten 
 
 * ^1D ]'^M Ain Soph, a term frequently used by the Cabbalists. 
 
 ' Frequently called by the Cabbalists ^IDlp CIM Adam Kadmon. 
 
82 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 luminous streams, which are called sephiroth. This 
 word is translated, by some authors, numerations ^ 
 and by others, splendours.^ 
 
 15. Before the creation or emanation of the 
 universe, all space was filled with the infinite light. 
 There was no vacuum, or empty space, to admit 
 of any thing being produced. But when the volition 
 for the formation of the universe arose in the divine 
 mind, the supreme light which had been diffused 
 through immensity retired, from a certain point, to 
 an equal distance all around it ; thus leaving a 
 vacuum, or empty space, perfectly spherical. In 
 this sphere there still remained some vestiges of the 
 Infinite, which were to be the receptacles of the rays 
 about to be emitted by the supreme light for the 
 formation of future worlds. From a part of the 
 concave, a beam of light was sent forth into the 
 opaque sphere. This stream of light formed a 
 channel, through which streams of light were to 
 flow, for the production of worlds. The light 
 conveyed through this channel proceeded not long in 
 a rectilinear course ; but, diverging on each side at 
 ten different points, formed so many subordinate 
 concentric circles of light, separated from each other, 
 and from the supreme light by portions of empty or 
 opaque space, and leaving still an opaque sphere, in 
 the centre. 
 
 16. The ten numerations or splendours are deno- 
 minated, Supreme Crown, Wisdom, Understanding, 
 
 » From •ISD to number. ' From T'DD « sapphire. 
 
THE CABBALA. 83 
 
 Mercy, Severity, Beauty, Victory, Glory, Stability, 
 and Sovereignty. — These are not like instruments 
 used by an agent, distinct and separate from the hand 
 which employs them, but essential instruments 
 of divine communication, substantially existing in 
 the divine nature, and proceeding from it through 
 the medium of the first offspring of Deity ; as rays 
 issuing from the Sun are instruments of heat, of the 
 same nature as their source. 
 
 17. Through these luminous channels all things 
 have proceeded from the first emanation of Deity ; — 
 things celestial and immanent in emanation ; spi- 
 ritual, and produced without pre-existent matter ; 
 angelic, and created in substance and subject ; and 
 material, which depend on matter for their being, 
 subsistence, powers, and operations. — These con- 
 stitute four worlds. Aziluth, or the world of 
 emanation ; proceeding from the primordial light, 
 through the medium of the firstborn of Infinity ; 
 and comprehending all the excellencies of the inferior 
 worlds, without any of their imperfections. Bria, 
 or the world of creation ; containing those spiritual 
 beings which derive their t:!xistence immediately from 
 the Aziluthic world. Jetsira, or the formative 
 world ; containing those spiritual substances which 
 derive their immediate origin from the Briatic world. 
 AsHiA, or the material and' visible world ; including 
 all those substances which are capable of composition, 
 motion, division, generaticm, and corruption : this 
 world consists of the very dregs of emanation, and 
 is the residence of evil spiritr>. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 18. The universe, therefore, is distinct from 
 God, as an effect from its cause ; not, however, as 
 a transient, but as an immanent effect : so that the 
 emanation of all things from the Deity shews that 
 the universe is God manifested, or that it is an 
 evolution and expansion of the Deity ; who is 
 concealed in his own essence, but in the universe 
 is revealed and visible ; ^ and is exhibited in the 
 
 * This very much resembles the doctrine of the Stoics. Seneca, who 
 was of that sect, says: Quid est Deus? Mens universi. Quid est 
 Deus? Quod vides totum, et quod non vides totum. ^ What is God? 
 
 * The mind of the universe. What is God ? Every thing both visible 
 
 * and invisible.' Nat. Quasi. Prof. — In another place he says : Vis ilium 
 Fatum vocare ? Non errabis: hie est ex quo suspensa sunt omnia, 
 causa causarum. Vis ilium Providentiam dicere ? Recte dices : est 
 enim cujus consilio huic mundo providetur, ut inconcussus eat, et 
 actus suos explicet Vis ilium Naturam vocare ? Non peccabis : est 
 enim ex quo nata sunt omnia, cujus spiritu vivimus. Vis ilium 
 vocare Mundum? Non falleris: Ipse enim est totum quod vides, 
 totus suis partibus inditus, et se sustinens vi sua. ' Will you call him 
 ' Fate? You will be right : on him all things depend ; he is the cause 
 t of causes. Will you call him Providence ? You will be correct : 
 
 * for by his wisdom and care is the world guided, so that it proceeds 
 
 * undisturbed, and develops its operations. Will you call him Nature? 
 
 * You will not err : for from him all things have originated, and by 
 
 * his breath we live. Will you call him the World ? You will not be 
 
 * mistaken ; for he is himself all that is visible, a whole consisting 
 
 * of its various parts, and sustaining itself by its own power.' Ibid. 
 Lib. ii. c. 45. — In another place he: says: Ipse qui ea {scil. omnia) 
 tractat, qui condidit, qui totum hoc fundavit deditque circa se, 
 major est pars operis sui ac melior, effugit oculos, cogitatione visendus 
 est. * He who has made and gove rns all things, who has constructed 
 ' this universe and thrown it around himself, is the greater and better 
 ' part of his own work; he eludes tl le sight, and is only to be perceived 
 
 * by the thoughts.' Ibid. Lib. vii. c. 30. The classical reader cannot 
 fail of recollecting two beautiful p assages in which Virgil has delivered 
 this doctrine of the philosophers. 
 
THE CABBALA. 85 
 
 diiferent worlds, with a splendour succesively decreas- 
 ing, according to their distance from the first cause. 
 The last and remotest production of emanative energy 
 is matter ; which is rather a privation of perfection, 
 than a distinct essence ; being found where the light. 
 
 Esse apibus partem divinae mentis, et haustus 
 ^thereos dixere : Deum namque ire per omnes 
 Terrasque, tractusque maris, coelumque profundum. 
 Hinc pecudes, arraenta, viros, genus omne ferarum, 
 Quemque sibi tenues nascentem arcessere vitas. 
 
 Georg. Lib. iv. v. 220. 
 
 Sages have opined, 
 That bees have portions of a heavenly mind : 
 That God pervades, and, like one common soul, 
 Fills, feeds, and animates, the world's great whole; 
 That flocks, herds, beasts, and men, from him receive 
 Their vital breath, in him ail move and live. 
 
 Warton's Translation. 
 
 Principio coslum, ac terras, camposque liquentes, 
 Lucentemque globum Lunse, Titaniaque astra, 
 Spiritus intus alit, totamque infusa per artus 
 Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet. 
 Inde honiinum pecudumque genus, vitaeque volantum, 
 Et quae marmoreo fert monstra sub sequore pontus. 
 
 ^neid. Lib. vi. v. 724. 
 
 Know first, a spirit, with an active flame, 
 
 Fills, feeds, and animates this mighty frame; 
 
 Runs through the watery world, the fields of air, 
 
 The ponderous earth, the depths of heaven ; and there 
 
 Glows in the sun, and moon, and burns in every star. 
 
 Thus mingling with the mass, the general soul 
 
 Lives in the parts, and agitates the whole. 
 
 From that celestial energy began 
 
 The low-brow'd brute, the imperial race of man, 
 
 The painted birds who wing th' aerial plain. 
 
 And all the mighty monsters of the main. 
 
 Pitt's Translation. 
 
86 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 by its distance from the primordial source, is so 
 attenuated, that it exhibits a mere residuum of divine 
 emanation, very little above non-entity. 
 
 Sometimes the first emanation of Deity, called 
 Adam Kadmon, is represented under the emblem 
 of a human figure, on the different parts of which 
 are inscribed the names of the Sephiroth : — on the 
 top of the head. Supreme Crown ; on the right side 
 of the head. Wisdom ; on the left. Understanding ; 
 on the right arm, Mercy ; on the left arm. Severity ; 
 
 These passages of Virgil have evidently been imitated, and, I think 
 I may venture to add, have been equalled, by one of our own poets, 
 who has amplified the same notion, in lines which I can never read 
 without admiring the charms of the verse, while I regret that the 
 poem is constructed on principles so much at variance with those 
 of divine revelation. 
 
 All are but parts of one stupendous whole, 
 
 Whose body Nature is, and God the soul : 
 
 That, changed through all, and yet in all the same ; 
 
 Great in the earth, as in the ethereal frame, 
 
 Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, 
 
 Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees, 
 
 Lives through all life, extends through all extent, 
 
 Spreads undivided, operates unspent ; 
 
 Breathes in our soul, informs our mortal part, 
 
 As full, as perfect, in a hair as heart; 
 
 As full, as perfect, in vile man that mourns 
 
 As the rapt seraph that adores and burns ; 
 
 To him no high, no low, no great, no small; 
 
 lie fills, he bounds, connects, and equals all. 
 
 Pope, Essay on Man. 
 
 There is this difference between Mr. Pope »nd the Cabbalists: they 
 represent the energies of Deity as diminishing in vigour in their progress 
 downwards from the superior to the inferior gradations of being; but 
 he describes them as equally perfect in all. 
 
THE CABBALA. 87 
 
 on the breast, Beauty ; on the right thigh, Victory ; 
 on the left, Glory ; on the knees, Stability ; under 
 the feet. Sovereignty. There is a little variety 
 among the Cabbalists in the names of the Sephiroth ; 
 which are sometimes described as follows : Mercy, 
 the right arm; Might, the left arm; Beauty, the 
 body ; the right thigh. Power ; the left thigh. Glory ; 
 the feet. Foundation ; the mouth. Kingdom ; the 
 brain. Wisdom ; the heart. Understanding. 
 
 Sometimes the Sephiroth are represented under 
 the figure of a tree, consisting of a root, stem, and 
 branches. The root is concealed, but manifests its 
 influence in the stem, which conveys its virtue into 
 the branches. The crown is the concealed root ; 
 the three minds, or spirits, are the stem ; and the 
 seven other numerations are the branches. 
 
 Menasseh Ben Israel states it as the universal 
 opinion of the Cabbalists, that the word Jehovah 
 not only is the peculiar name of the divine essence, 
 but also designates the Aziluthic world, or world 
 of emanation, which contains the ten Sephiroth. — 
 The point of the letter Jod (according to what he 
 deems the proper mode of writing this word) denotes 
 the Supreme Crown; which some Cabbalists also call 
 the Central Point : the Jod itself denotes Wisdom ; 
 the first He, Understanding ; the Vau, which is 
 equivalent to six, denotes the next six numerations ; 
 and the final He, the tenth and last. — Among other 
 curious observations on the four letters of which this 
 word consists, he remarks that they may be variously 
 arranged, so as to form twelve different words of the 
 
88 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 same meaning ; all signifying to he} In this respect, 
 he says, it stands alone, for that no other word can 
 be found, which will admit of being so transposed 
 without a change of signification. ^ 
 
 Here I suppose most readers will readily excuse 
 me from proceeding to further details. Some of the 
 notions of the Cabbalists respecting angels and 
 human souls, will be noticed, with other rabbinical 
 traditions, in a subsequent part of this work. 
 
 Respecting the origin and value of the Cabbala, 
 very different opinions have been formed by learned 
 Christians. Some think that it originated in the 
 earlier and purer ages of the Jewish Church : — that 
 various explications and interpretations were handed 
 down, by oral tradition, from one generation to 
 another; by which the faithful were taught the 
 spiritual meaning of the legal ceremonies and types, 
 and the true nature of certain doctrines and pro- 
 phecies, especially those relating to the economy 
 designed to be established under the Messiah, which 
 were veiled in the Scriptures under considerable 
 obscurity of language : — that several of these divine 
 truths, mingled, it is admitted, with many errors, 
 are to be found in the cabbalistic writings : — that 
 the three superior Sephiroth denote the three Persons 
 of the sacred Trinity ; and the seven inferior ones, 
 
 imn nm \-rm nNni vnn nni "^vm nnv v^n^^ rwrv ' 
 
 3 Brucker. Hist. Philos. torn. ii. p. 985, 988—993, 996—998, 1026, 
 1028, 1031. Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. tonti. iv. p. 230, 231. Menass. 
 Conciliat. p. 86, 87, 102—104. Maurice's Indian Antiquities, vol. iv. 
 
THE CABBALA. 89 
 
 the attributes of the divine nature, or seven spirits 
 that stand before the divine throne, or seven orders 
 of angels : — that the first emanation of the infinite 
 light, which conveys divine communications to in- 
 ferior beings, is no other than the Messiah, the true 
 Mediator between heaven and earth : — and that the 
 system also contains other principles substantially 
 similar to the doctrines of Christianity. Some have 
 supposed the Sephiroth, represented as appellations 
 of various parts of the human form, to be an em- 
 blematical description of the person and attributes 
 of the Messiah. Others have contended, — that to 
 conclude the faithful under the Old Testament to 
 have been so largely acquainted with the true nature 
 of the Messiah's kingdom as the preceding hypothesis 
 supposes, is a groundless assumption : ^ — that though 
 the writings of the Cabbalists contain some words 
 
 * On this subject, I take the liberty of transcribing the following 
 sentences from a work just published. * What were the precise views 
 
 * entertained by the true Israel, of the offices of the Messiah, and 
 
 * of the work of redemption, previously to the Christian era, is one 
 
 * of the most curious and intricate questions of theology. — There is 
 
 * reason to suspect, that the average degree of knowledge which 
 ' divines have been accustomed to ascribe to Jewish believers, has 
 
 * been overrated, — It is no more essential to the existence of a type, 
 
 * that its import be understood before it is verified, than it is essential 
 < to prophecy, that its just interpretation be comprehended before it is 
 ' fulfilled. If we consider the benefit derived to the ancient church 
 ' from prophecy in its strictest sense, we shall find it consisted not in 
 ' making men prophets, or enabling them to foretel future events, but 
 
 * rather in maintaining high and consolatory views of the providence 
 
 * and attributes of God, accompanied with a firm but humble assur- 
 ' ranee of his gracious interference in their concerns. — A general 
 
 * expectation of the Messiah's advent, as of some glorious and divine 
 
 * personage, who would bestow the highest spiritual and temporal 
 
90 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 and phrases borrowed from that typical prefiguration 
 of the economy of grace which is justly believed to 
 have been revealed under the ancient dispensation, 
 yet this only proves, that those philosophists, des- 
 pising the mysteries of divine revelation, and desirous 
 of reasoning more aptly and elegantly, as they sup- 
 posed, in imitation of the vain philosophy of the 
 Gentiles, exchanged the sound principles of their 
 fathers for the dreams of a fanatical imagination ; and, 
 in order to conceal the fraud from their brethren, 
 and to persuade the Gentiles that such immense 
 treasures of wisdom had been originally derived from 
 the ancient Hebrews, retained the sacred phraseology, 
 and, by means of forced interpretations and absurd 
 allegories, adapted it to the impious system they 
 had espoused : — that the reveries of the Cabbala are 
 altogether at variance with the dictates of revelation : 
 that the doctrine of the Zohar, for instance, respect- 
 ing the superior Sephiroth, or three principal emana- 
 tions from the Deity, bears no analogy to the 
 Christian doctrine of the Trinity : for that those three 
 principles are neither coeval nor coequal with the 
 infinite Deity, but, having originated from it, are 
 consequently inferior to it ; that they are not coequal 
 
 * felicity ; without descending to details, or foreseeing the precise 
 ' method by which his interposition was to become effectual, appears to 
 
 * have nearly bounded the views of such as " waited for the consolation 
 ' of Israel." Thus vague and general, at least ; were the expectations 
 
 * of the faithful at the time of his appearance ; to suppose they were 
 
 * ever materially different, is a gratuitous supposition, totally devoid 
 
 * of proof.' The Essential Difference between Christian Baptism and 
 the Baptism of John. By Robert Hall, M. A. 
 
THE CABBALA. 91 
 
 with each other ; and that they emanate into inferior 
 beings, so that their essence is extended through all 
 worlds, not excepting matter itself: — and that the 
 books of the Cabbalists are written in a style so 
 elliptical, abrupt, and often uninteUigible, and abound 
 with such foolish allegories and absurd symbols, that 
 they deserve to be treated as the ravings of madmen, 
 rather than as the disquisitions of pious theologians, 
 or even sober philosophers. 
 
 It is not my design to decide or discuss this 
 argument, both sides of v^^hich have been supported 
 by some of the most learned and respectable writers 
 that have appeared since the revival of learning. 
 But 1 cannot help observing that there are numerous 
 passages in the Cabbalistic writings, which are far 
 more intelligible on the supposition that their authors 
 had some belief of a plurality in the divine being, 
 and that plurality a trinity, than they are upon any 
 other supposition. Let the following quotations from 
 the Zohar serve as specimens. ' Jehovah, our God, 
 
 * Jehovah : these are three degrees with respect to 
 ' this sublime mystery. In the beginning God, or 
 ' Elohim, created.' — ' There is an unity which is 
 
 * called Jehovah the first, our God, Jehovah : behold ! 
 
 * they are all one, and therefore called one : lo ! 
 
 * these three names are as one ; and although we 
 
 * call them one, and they are one ; but by the 
 
 * revelation of the holy spirit it is made known, 
 
 * and they are by the sight of the eye to be known, 
 
 * that these three are one ; and this is the mystery 
 
 * of the voice that is heard ; the voice is one ; and 
 
92 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * there are three things, fire and wind and water, 
 ' and they are all one, in the mystery of the voice, 
 ' and they are but one : so here, Jehovah, our God, 
 ' Jehovah ; these three modes, forms, or things, 
 ' are one.' These and similar passages furnish an 
 argumerdum ad hominem against a Jewish opponent 
 of the scriptural doctrine of the Trinity, which he 
 will find it difficult, if not impossible, to repel, 
 without relinquishing what he professes to venerate.^ 
 
 A similar use may be made of Gematria, Nota- 
 ricon, and Temura, in controversies with Jews^ 
 
 * This remark derives no small confirmation from the reluctance 
 betrayed by intelligent Jews to discuss this point with Christians versed 
 in rabbinical literature. A learned friend of mine, who has had some 
 experience in this way, tells me, that he has found the best informed 
 Israelites ready to dispute on any other doctrine, but that whenever 
 the controversy has touched on the Trinity, or on a plurality in the 
 Godhead, they have uniformly evaded the subject, or abruptly terminated 
 the discussion. The author of several letters, published in the second 
 volume of the Jewish Repository, under the signature of S. M. whom I 
 apprehend to be a respectable member of the Portuguese Synagogue in 
 London, while he strenuously argues against the Messiahship of Jesus, 
 declares his determination not to enter into any dispute respecting the 
 Trinity. The reasons he assigns for this determination are, — respect for 
 the established religion of the country, and reluctance to a discussion 
 that might any way affect the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, 
 (p. 152, 296.) But if these were the true reasons of his forbearance, 
 would they not equally have prevented his writing against the Messiah- 
 ship of Jesus ? Is not that as fundamental a doctrine of the established 
 religion, and of Christianity itself, as the Trinity ? And was he not 
 aware, that if he ventured on this controversy, many writers, who are 
 still revered as the most orthodox expositors of Jewish faith, would 
 supply numerous testimonies in favour of his opponents? 
 
 2 Among other arguments addressed to the Jew mentioned in the 
 preceding note, to shew that by the "righteousness" predicted in 
 Daniel ix. 24, no other object could have been in contemplation than 
 the reign of the Messias, a writer in the Jewish Repository (vol. iii. 
 p. 461,) observes that the original phrase D'^^bs? pl)^ which he 
 
THE CABBALA. 93 
 
 respecting the various points at issue between them 
 and us. But it may be questioned, whether the 
 
 translates righteousness of ageSf is by gematria niH"' IT^tZ^D the 
 anointed (or Messiah) of Jehovah ; ' a proof, ' he adds, ' which I believe 
 ' has hitherto escaped the notice of interpreters.' 
 
 The following remarkable instance of exposition upon Cabbalistic 
 principles was exhibited by an eminent rabbi of the seventeenth 
 century. Salomon Meir Ben Moses was born at Casal in the duchy 
 of Montserrat, in the year 1606. He was named Salomon in memory 
 of his grandfather, and 3Ieir, which signifies illuminating, because the 
 section of the law read in the synagogue on the day of his nativity was 
 the account of the birth of Moses the prophet, whose entrance into 
 the world rabbinical tradition declares to have been distinguished by a 
 supernatural light, which illuminated all his father's house on that 
 occasion. In the thirteenth year of his age Salomon began to compose 
 discourses in the Hebrew language; and he prosecuted his studies in 
 the Talmud and Cabbala for many years with such success, that he at 
 length attained the reputation of one of the most learned Jews of that 
 age. Wherever he travelled, his lectures in the synagogues were heard 
 with admiration; and the Jews at Jerusalem honoured him with the 
 title of rabbi, and frequently sent him to collect the eleemosynary 
 contributions, which they are in the habit of receiving from their 
 brethren in other countries of Asia, Africa, and Europe. In the fifty- 
 ninth year of his age, he embraced the Christian religion, was baptized, 
 and assumed the name of Prosper Rugere. Where this event happened, 
 the writer from whom the present account is taken, has not stated ; but 
 it is probable that it was in Italy. His desertion of Judaism rendered 
 him odious to his brethren ; and his subsequent attempts to convince 
 them of the truth of Christianity served, in most instances, only to 
 exasperate their resentment. Nothing could exceed the ferocious 
 malignity discovered by one whom he had hitherto numbered among 
 his friends, — David Jouaillier, a dealer in jewels, well known and highly 
 respected by the Italian princes, and generally denomisated The Duke 
 of the Hebrews. This man publicly declared that he wished to have 
 Prosper's heart, that he might broil it upon the coals, and then throw it 
 to be devoured by the dogs. Accidentally meeting with David at the 
 house of a Christian, Prosper inquired whether it was true that he had 
 uttered this savage wish. David acknowledged he had, and declared 
 his persuasion, that, if their circumstances had been reversed, Prosper 
 would have said the same. Would you repeat this wish, said Prosper, 
 
94 MODERN JUDAISM ! 
 
 advantage derivable from such modes of argument 
 be not rather in a way of confutation than of 
 
 if you were convinced of the truth of the Christian faith ? By no means, 
 said David, but how will you prove that faith to be true ? P. I will 
 open to you the mysteries of the Christian faith contained in the very 
 first word of the law of Moses. D. If you will prove that, I will 
 immediately profess myself a Christian. P. Consider what you are 
 promising, David. D. I sincerely repeat my promise. Prosper first 
 remarked that the word (n*^li7S"in) Bereshith, literally translated, 
 signifies In the beginning of, leaving an ellipsis, which some have 
 supplied by inserting all, and others by repeating the second word in 
 the text; as, In the beginning of all things, or In the beginning of the 
 creation, God created. This elliptical form of expression was used by 
 God, not for want of other words, but from design, to indicate some 
 hidden mystery. Divide the word into two, and you have (n''L£?M "Hi) 
 Bar ashith, I will appoint, set up, or place the Son. The word (n;S) 
 Bar has a twofold meaning : it als«o signifies grain, or bread corn, in 
 allusion to the bread of the eucharist, and to the words of our Lord 
 himself, who says, " I am the living bread, which came down from 
 heaven." There is great beauty in designating the Son by a term 
 applicable also to bread corn, in preference to other words signifying 
 only a Son; and there is likewise a striking propriety in the appellation 
 here given to bread corn, which has been distinguished by three names 
 adapted to the three different states in which men have been found. 
 Before the fall, man was to subsist on the produce of the tree of paradise, 
 made into bread, and called (pi) Dagan, that is, from the garden : 
 from the fall to the advent of Messiah, bread made from grain was to 
 be called (St^H) Chitta, that is, sin ; since the coming of the Messiah, 
 the bread of the faithful is properly denominated (ni^) Bar, that is, the 
 incarnate Son of God ; according to the declaration of our Lord, '* If any 
 man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever." David having confessed 
 himself delighted with this interpretation. Prosper proceeded to consider 
 the letters of this word as the initials of six words, substituting for each 
 letter successively a word beginning with that letter. He immediately 
 produced six sets of words of this description. It may gratify the 
 curiosity of some readers to specify them. The first was p n*)") IlM 
 D'^^n 1XV UrW^hw signifying, The Son, the Spirit, the Father, their 
 Trinity, Perfect Unity. The second was '^TV Ur\W"hw :n« n")*1 7^ 
 "iTI^yn The Son, the Spirit, the Father, ye shall equally worship their 
 Trinity. The third was ^innvn ^^W> l^tt? niTM "^aitt^Nn niDS 
 
THE CABBALA. 95 
 
 conviction : they seem more calculated for the de- 
 molition of Jewish error than for the establishment 
 of Christian truth. ^ 
 
 Ye shall worship my first-born, my first, whose name is Jesus. The 
 fourth was llinm VW^ ^72W nW^ pi «1Dn When the 
 Master shall come, whose name is Jesus, ye shall worship. The fifth 
 
 was n"in^?«n vw^ ibnw "nnnw T^i«n rib^n^ i wni choose 
 
 a virgin worthy to bring forth Jesus, and ye shall cull her blessed. The 
 
 sixth was ^Q^:\w nnno^ D^D!^-i n:ii27n ib^wn vr^^ i wHi 
 
 hide myself in cake baked with coals, for ye shall eat Jesus, my body. 
 Here the Cabbalist evidently alluded to the doctrine of transubstantiation. 
 The next mode of exposition which Prosper tried, was, for each letter 
 of this word to substitute as many words as there are letters in the 
 Hebrew name by which each character is distinguished. By this method 
 he obtained eighteen words ; the next step of the process increased them 
 to a hundred and twenty ; and by another magical operation of the 
 same art, this prolific word was multiplied to the number of seven 
 hundred and twenty. Prosper next availed himself of the numerical 
 power of the letters, and then of different modes of transposition ; from 
 all of which he extracted numerous mysteries. David was overcome 
 by these arguments of his friend, and professed himself a Christian. 
 Prosper promised to introduce him to further mysteries, and accordingly 
 proceeded to delineate and explain various Cabbalistic figures, which 
 he represented as illustrating the various doctrines of Christianity. — 
 Bartoloc. Bibliotheca Rabbinica, torn. iv. p. 526 — 536. I confess I 
 should not entertain very favourable expectations from a conversion 
 effected by such means. About three yekrs ago, I conversed with a 
 Jew who declared himself a Christian, and professed to discover some 
 strong grounds for his belief in the first word of the first chapter of the 
 first Book of Chronicles. I doubted the sincerity of his professions, and 
 am sorry to be able to add, that a few months after he placed the matter 
 beyond all doubt by his return to the synagogue. 
 
 * This was the opinion of the very learned Vitringa ; as appears from 
 a letter of recommendation prefixed to a work of Christian Meyer, 
 which I had occasion to mention in the preceding chapter, and which 
 contains many testimonies and arguments in favour of the Messiahship 
 of Jesus, drawn from the Talmud and other rabbinical writings. After 
 speaking of the character and qualifications of Meyer, as giving him 
 strong claims to the attention of the public, this eminent professor has 
 
96 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 The discordances of the Cabbalistic system with 
 the representations of the inspired writers are too 
 numerous and obvious to be overlooked : their 
 perplexed and grovelling speculations present a mean 
 contrast to the simplicity and dignity of Moses and 
 the Prophets. The fundamental principle, that all 
 existencies are emanations from God, the evolution 
 and expansion of whose essence constitutes the 
 universe, — is of heathen origin : and the agreement 
 of their leading tenets with the dogmas of the 
 Alexandrian philosophy, has with high probability 
 been thought by many learned men to justify the 
 conclusion, that they were derived from that com- ' 
 pound of Pythagorean, Platonic, and Oriental 
 notions, which prevailed at Alexandria about the 
 commencement of the Christian era.^ 
 
 a passage, of which the following is a translation. ' For, though I am 
 
 * not of the opinion and party of those who suspend any thing important 
 
 * to our faith on the agreement of a Talmudical interpretation, whether 
 
 * private or public, of a prophetical passage, with the interpretation 
 
 * given by the evangelists and apostles; and though I am fully persuaded 
 
 * that the Church will never, in this way, obtain the desired and expected 
 
 * conversion of the Jewish nation ; because our faith rests on solid and 
 
 * invincible demonstration, derived from internal evidences ; yet I do 
 ' not censure, but commend the zeal of a Jew to serve the cause of 
 
 * Christianity in that way for which he is best qualified, and which he 
 
 * knows to be approved and adapted to the taste and habits of his 
 ' brethren.' 
 
 * Brucker. Hist. Philos. tom. ii. p. 644, 865, 930—949, 958—968, 
 995—1000, 1001, 1003, 1004, 1007—1011,1052,1053,1058—1062. 
 Allix's Judgment, c. iii. Vitringse Observ. Sacr. Lib. i. c. 10. Wolf. 
 Bib. Heb. vol. ii. p. 1229, &c. Leusden. Phil. Heb. Dis. xxvi. s. 16. 
 Basnage, B. iii. c. 10—14. Maurice's Indian Antiquities, vol. iv. 
 p. 166—188. Zohar in Gen. fol. 2, 3. in Exod. fol. 12, 3, 4. cited by 
 Gill on Mark xii. 29. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Thirteen Articles of Jewish Faith. — Remarks on their 
 general Design : — Slight Notice of a Messiah : — Silence 
 on Pardon of Sin, — Various Opinions concerning the 
 Resurrection. — Precejits of the Jewish Religion, six 
 hundred and thirteen : — Divided into affirmative and 
 negative. — What Obedience sufficient, — Duties of Jew- 
 ish Females. — Seven Precepts said to have been given 
 to the Sons of Noah, — binding on the Gentiles. 
 
 Every system of religion includes doctrines and 
 precepts. In addition to the many other services 
 rendered to his nation, Maimonides has furnished 
 them with the following summary of the doctrines 
 of Judaism, in thirteen articles ; which he calls 
 foundations or roots of the faith, and which every 
 Jew is required to believe, on pain of excision from 
 the communion of Israel in this world, and con- 
 demnation with the wicked in the next. 
 
 I. I believe with a perfect faith, that the Creator ^ 
 (blessed be his name) is the Creator ^ and Governor 
 
 • The intelligent reader cannot fail of observing that this clause, if it 
 be not an identical proposition, very much resembles the form of one. It 
 was to avoid this appearance, I suppose, that David Levi, in a prayer 
 book edited by him for the use of the German Jews in England, has 
 
 H 
 
98 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 of all creatures, that he alone has made, does make, 
 and will make all things. 
 
 II. I believe with a perfect faith, that the Creator 
 (blessed be his name) is only one, in unity to which 
 there is no resemblance, and that he alone has been, 
 is, and will be our God. 
 
 III. I believe with a perfect faith, that the Creator 
 (blessed be his name) is not corporeal, nor to be com- 
 prehended by an understanding capable of compre- 
 hending what is corporeal ; and that there is nothing 
 like him in the universe. 
 
 IV. I believe with a perfect faith, that the Creator 
 (blessed be his name) is the First and the Last. 
 
 V. I believe with a perfect faith, that the Creator 
 (blessed be his name) is the only object of adoration, 
 and that no other being whatever ought to be wor- 
 shipped. 
 
 VI. I believe with a perfect faith, that all the words 
 of the prophets are true. 
 
 VII. I believe with a perfect faith, that the pro- 
 phecies of Moses our master (may he rest in peace) 
 are true ; and that he is the father of all the wise 
 men, as well of those who went before him, as of 
 those who have succeeded him. 
 
 VIII. I believe with a perfect faith, that the whole 
 law which we have in our hands at this day, was 
 
 translated the clause thus -.—God is the Creator. But the Hebrew term 
 is the same in both places, MTl^ ; which cannot be otherwise expressed 
 in English, so well as by the word Creator. It occurs ten times in 
 these Articles, and I have thought myself obliged to render it uniformly 
 throughout. 
 
DOCTRINES AND PRECEPTS. 99 
 
 delivered by Moses our master (may he rest in 
 peace) . 
 
 IX. I believe with a perfect faith, that this law 
 will never be changed, and that no other law will ever 
 be given by the Creator (blessed be his name). 
 
 X. I believe w4th a perfect faith, that the Creator 
 (blessed be his name) knows all the actions of men, 
 and all their thoughts, as it is said ; " He fashioneth 
 '' all the hearts of them, and understandeth all their 
 *' works." 
 
 XI. I believe with a perfect faith, that the Creator 
 (blessed be his name) rewards those who observe his 
 commands, and punishes those who transgress them. 
 
 XII. I believe with a perfect faith, that the Messiah 
 will come, and though he delays, nevertheless I will 
 always expect him till he come. 
 
 XIII. I believe with a perfect faith, that the dead 
 will be restored to life, when it shall be so ordained 
 by the decree of the Creator ; blessed be his name, 
 and exalted be his remembrance for ever and ever. 
 
 ' Whosoever,' says Maimonides, * shall believe all 
 
 * these fundamental articles to be true, enters into the 
 ' bosom of Israel,^ and is entitled to receive from us 
 ' all those demonstrations of brotherly love and good 
 
 * will which God has enjoined us to shew towards 
 ' each other ; ^ and is bound to love his brother and 
 ' his neighbour with all his heart, according to all 
 
 * that God has commanded : and, however many or 
 
 * See the note on next page. 
 H 2 
 
100 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ' great sins he may have committed from mental 
 ' infirmity, — after he shall have been punished for 
 * them in this world, he shall participate in the hap- 
 ' piness of the world to come. But if any man shall 
 ' deny one of these fundamental articles, he is fallen 
 ' from the bosom of Israel, has denied a foundation 
 ' of the faith, and is to be esteemed a heretic, an 
 -* epicurean, and a destroyer of plants ; wherefore we 
 ' are bound to persecute him with every odium and 
 Mnjury, according to the Psalmist; "Shall not I 
 ' hate him, O Lord, that hateth thee ? " ' ^ 
 
 Joseph Albo, a Spanish rabbi of the fifteenth 
 century, in a treatise which its vehement opposition 
 against Christianity recommends to high estimation 
 among the Jews, has animadverted upon Maimonides 
 for not having duly considered the true meaning and 
 proper application of the term (*)pv) ^^o^ or foundation. 
 He rejects the article concerning the Messiah, and 
 several others, from the foundations of the faith ; 
 which he reduces to three : — The existence of one 
 God : — The divine origin of the law of Moses : — and 
 a future state of rewards and punishments. The ten 
 other articles propounded by Maimonides, he admits 
 ought to be believed by a Jew ; but contends that 
 
 ' Coram, on Massecheth Sanhedrin, c. 11. Surenhus. Mishna, Par. 
 iv. p. 264. The original of this passage is cited, and accompanied with 
 a Latin version, by Carpzovius, in Introduct. Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. 
 p; 43. The second declarative clause being differently rendered by these 
 two learned men ; by Carpzovius, as confering a claim to be treated 
 with brotherly love ; by Surenhusius, as imposing an obligation to 
 exercise it ; and the general object of the whole passage not being 
 affected by this variation, I have thought it best to include both senses. 
 
DOCTRINES AND PRECEPTS. 101 
 
 they are to be regarded only as branches issuing from 
 these three roots : so that he who denies either of them, 
 subverts the whole law ; whereas he who denies the 
 advent of the Messiah, the resurrection of the dead, 
 or any similar article, is not chargeable with sub- 
 verting the law ; because he does not touch the root, 
 but merely lops off one of the branches from the 
 tree, which will nevertheless stand without it. — It 
 has further been argued, that Rabbi Hillel, the famous 
 contemporary of Shammai, declared that Israel will 
 have no Messias, having already enjoyed him in the 
 person of Hezekiah ; and that it must not be affirmed 
 that Hillel had denied the law, and excluded himself 
 from the privileges of an Israelite. Abarbinel notices 
 this anecdote of Hillel, and employs no little sophistry 
 to explain away the declaration attributed to him ; 
 imposing upon it a sense very different from what the 
 words naturally convey, and strenuously insisting that 
 Hillel did not really disbelieve the future advent of a 
 Messiah. He has replied to the objections of Albo, 
 and supported all the thirteen articles of Maimonides. 
 They have been approved and sanctioned by almost 
 all the rabbies for the last five hundred years. They 
 have been publicly adopted as the creed of the syna- 
 gogue, and have been inserted in the prayer books as 
 fundamentals, which all Jews are expected to believe, 
 and are required to repeat every day.^ 
 
 > Albo, Sepher Ikkarim, Orat. i. c. 3, 4.23. Orat. iv. c. 42. apud 
 Huls. Theol. Jud. p. 8. Maim. Symbolura Fi i. a Genebrard. p. 6—18. 
 Abarbinel De Cap. Fidei, a Vorstio, p. 12. 62 — 65. Ileb. and Eng. 
 Prayer Book, London, 1770. p. 2 — 4. Fleb. and Eng. Prayer Book for 
 Germ. Jews, p. 58, 59. London, A. M. 5569. i, e. A. D. 1809. 
 
102 MODERN JUDAISM I 
 
 Most of these articles are capable of an interpre- 
 tation in which the Christian will coincide with the 
 Jew : but many learned men have considered the 
 whole as designed by the compiler, more as an 
 abnegation of Christianity, than as an assertion of 
 Judaism. No reasonable doubt can be entertained 
 respecting the sense in which they are received by 
 the generality of intelligent Jews. Those articles 
 which affirm the unity, incorporeity, and eternity 
 of God, are intended as a rejection and condemnation 
 of the Christian doctrines of the Trinity and Incar- 
 nation. The sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and 
 twelfth, are pointed against the mission of Jesus, 
 the inspiration of the New Testament, the abrogation 
 of the Mosaic ritual, and the introduction of another 
 economy. The eleventh is understood as a denial 
 of the doctrine of vicarious sacrifice and atonement 
 by the death of Christ.^ 
 
 The advent of a Messiah appears to possess much 
 less importance in this creed of modern Jews than 
 there is reason to believe was assigned to it in the 
 system of their pious ancestors. Nor will this 
 alteration excite the wonder of any person, who 
 considers the hopes which they have indulged and 
 the disappointments which they have experienced for 
 so many ages.^ 
 
 The eleventh article asserts, that obedience to the 
 divine commands is rewarded, and transgression 
 punished : but, — whether the present condition of 
 
 ' Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iii. p. 23 — 25. 
 ' Huls.Th^ol. Jud. p. 8. 
 
DOCTRINES AND PRECEPTS. 103 
 
 human nature is a state of innocence or depravity ; — 
 whether any man actually performs an obedience that 
 merits reward ; — how pardon is to be obtained for 
 transgression ; or whether there is any forgiveness 
 attainable at all ; — this creed is wholly silent. The 
 sentiments of modern Jews on these momentous 
 points must be sought elsewhere. 
 
 The thirteenth article is expressed in terms suffi- 
 ciently general to comprehend the various opinions 
 maintained by Jewish writers on the resurrection of 
 the dead. Some have considered it as the exclusive 
 privilege of pious Israelites ; some have represented 
 it as promised to all Israelites, but to no Gentiles. 
 Some suppose that pious Israelites will be raised at 
 the coming of the Messiah, and the rest of the nation 
 at the end of the world. According to some, the 
 pious will rise to be rewarded, and the wicked to be 
 punished ; but those who have been neither pious 
 nor wicked, will not be raised at all. Some expect 
 all Israelites to be raised, except those who disbelieve 
 a resurrection, deny the divine authority of the law, 
 or become epicureans. Others extend the privilege 
 to the pious among the Gentiles, who observe the 
 precepts which the Jews say were given to the sons 
 of Noah. But none of the rabbies allow the resur- 
 rection to include all mankind.^ 
 
 The precepts of the Jewish religion are six hundred 
 and thirteen. They are considered as a digest of the 
 whole law ; and every precept is referred to some 
 
 ' Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iii. p. 31 — 35. Huls. Theol. Jud. p. 173. 
 llooinbeck contra Jud. p. 433—435, 551—553. 
 
1-04 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 text in which it is believed to be either expressed or 
 implied. Some difference exists as to the matter 
 of a few precepts ; but almost all the rabbies agree 
 in the total number, and the specification given 
 of them by Maimonides has been generally followed. 
 They are divided into two classes, affirmative and 
 negative. The affirmative are two hundred and 
 forty-eight ; answering, as is alleged, to the number 
 of members in the human body : the negative three 
 hundred and sixty-five ; which rabbinical anatomy 
 pronounces to be the number of veins or other 
 smaller vessels : according to others the negative 
 precepts correspond to the days in a solar year. By 
 one learned rabbi the total is stated to be the same 
 as the number of letters in the decalogue : another, 
 equally learned, counting in his copy of the decalogue 
 six hundred and twenty letters, has thought an 
 addition of seven precepts necessary to supply the 
 deficiency. All these correspondencies have been 
 represented as full of the most valuable instruction.^ 
 Speaking of the two tables of the decalogue, Mr. 
 CrooU says : ' These two tables contained the whole 
 ' law ; for in the Ten Commandments there are six 
 ' hundred and thirteen letters, and each letter stands 
 * for one command, and in the whole law of Moses 
 ' there are six hundred and thirteen commandments ; 
 
 ' Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. p. 85—89. Maimon. Symbol. Fid. et 
 Legis Pracept. a Genebrard. p. 36—66. Buxtorf. Synag. Jiid. c. iii. 
 p. 39, 41. Leusden. Phil. Heb. Dis. v. s. 2. See also a recital of all 
 these Precepts in Hebrew and English, in Prayers for the Feast of 
 Pentecost, p. 119—131. London, A. M. 5567. i. e. A. D. 1807. 
 
DOCTRINES AND PRECEPTS. 105 
 
 * and such was the power of these two tables, that 
 
 * it contained the complete law of Moses. Thus 
 
 * far it is proved, that a perfect God gave a perfect 
 
 * law.'i 
 
 The following curious specimen of anatomico- 
 theology is found among the prayers for the New 
 Year : — ' O deign to hear the voice of those who 
 
 * glorify thee with all their members, according to 
 ' the number of the two hundred and forty-eight 
 
 * affirmative precepts. In this month they blow 
 
 * thirty sounds, according to the thirty members 
 
 * of the soles of their feet : the additional offerings 
 
 * of the day are ten, according to the ten in their 
 
 * ancles: they approach the altar'^ twice, according 
 
 * to their two legs : five men are called to the law, 
 
 * according to the five joints in their knees: they 
 
 * observe the appointed time to sound the cornet, 
 
 * on the first day of the month according to the 
 
 * one in their thigh: they sound the horn thrice, 
 
 * according to the three in their hips : lo, with the 
 ' additional offering of the new moon, they are 
 
 * eleven, according to their eleven ribs : they pour 
 
 * out the supplication with nine blessings, according 
 
 * to the muscles in their arms: and which contain 
 
 * thirty verses, according to the thirty in the palms 
 
 * of their hand: they daily repeat the prayer of 
 
 * eighteen blessings, according to the eighteen ver- 
 ' tebrae in their spine : at the offering of the continual 
 
 ' Restoration of Israel, p. 32, 33. 
 
 ^ This is said to mean the desk where the reader stands to read 
 the service. 
 
106 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * sacrifice, they sound nine times, according to the 
 ' nine muscles in their head: in the two orisons 
 ' they blow eight times, according to the eight 
 
 * vertebrae of their neck: their statutes and law 
 
 * are contained in five books, according to the five 
 
 * perforations : he hath ordained the six orders of the 
 ' Mishna, according to the different imaginations 
 
 * of the heart and inward parts ; also the animal 
 
 * life, spirit, rational soul, perception, appetite, the 
 
 * skin, flesh, veins, and bones ; these shall all lift 
 
 * up the eye, and pierce the ear, and open the mouth, 
 
 * that with the tongue and speech of their lips, and 
 ' firom the sole of their foot to the head, may shew 
 
 * the particulars of their good acts ; so that when 
 
 * the sound of the cornet ascends, their adversaries 
 
 * may be ashamed ; that they may be justified on the 
 ' day of judgment, and hear the second time from 
 
 * their God.' 1 
 
 The negative precepts are deemed obligatory on 
 every Israelite at all times. Of the affirmative, the 
 observance of some is optional ; some are restricted 
 to certain seasons, and others to certain offices ; 
 some can only be performed within the limits of 
 Palestine, and others are confined to the regulation 
 of ceremonies and services discontinued since the 
 destruction of the temple. Much as the number 
 of precepts generally applicable must be reduced by 
 these exceptions, the rabbles have kindly endeavoured 
 to relieve the minds of their disciples from excessive 
 
 ' Prayers for the New Year, p. 128, 129. London, A. M. 5567, 
 i. e. A.D. 1807. 
 
DOCTRINES AND PRECEPTS. 107 
 
 scrupulosity, or needless anxiety respecting an 
 observance of the remainder. To preclude the 
 supposition of this being necessary or expected, 
 one of them says : * Human perfection is acquired 
 even by one precept of the law of Moses. Other- 
 wise the law of Moses would hinder men from 
 attaining human perfection, — a term by which our 
 doctors of blessed memory designate the life of the 
 world to come. Whereas by virtue of the law 
 of the sons of Noah men might attain some place 
 in the world to come, according to that sentence 
 of the Talmud : The pious among them will be 
 partakers of the world to come : that is, they who 
 observe the seven precepts given to the sons of 
 Noah will have a portion in the world to come. 
 But if the professors of the law of Moses were 
 required to observe all that multitude of precepts 
 in order to attain a portion in eternal life ; the law 
 of Moses would rather hinder men from the enjoy- 
 ment of perfection, than promote their attainment 
 of it : which would be contrary to its design : as 
 our masters of blessed memory have taught : God 
 wished to justify Israel, and therefore multiplied the 
 laiv and precepts. Whereas there are many precepts 
 in the law, this does not prove them to be necessary, 
 but advantageous ; the design being that every 
 Israelite might be able to merit the world to come 
 even by an observance of one of them.'^ The 
 sentiments of the rabbies concerning the moral 
 
 » Ilaym. Mart. Pug, Fid. p, 69, 00. 
 
108 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 condition of human nature, concerning sin, repent- 
 ance, and the terms of salvation, particularly with 
 respect to the Jews, will be more fully stated in the 
 next chapter. It is proper to remark here that the 
 obligations imposed on Jewish women by the affirm- 
 ative precepts are very few. * The rabbies teach, 
 ' that, before marriage, females have nothing to do 
 
 * with religion or the observance of any of the 
 
 * commandments ; and after marriage have only 
 ' to observe three ; viz. first, their purifications ; 
 
 * secondly, to bless the sabbath bread, that is, to 
 
 * take a small piece of dough, repeat a prayer over 
 ' it, and throw it into the fire ; and, third, to light 
 ' the candles on the eve of the sabbath, or of any 
 ' holiday, and repeat a prayer whilst doing it.' ^ — 
 It is expressly maintained that every Jewish father 
 is bound to instruct his sons in the knowledge of the 
 law, but not his daughters ; and that women are 
 neither obliged to learn the law themselves, nor 
 required to teach it to their children. ^ Abarbinel 
 contends, that when the scripture says, ** God created 
 " man in his own image, in the image of God 
 '' created he him," it is not to be understood of the 
 man and woman, but exclusively of the man ; and 
 he endeavours with much subtilty of criticism to 
 prove women to be very inferior beings. ^ We need 
 
 * Obligations of Christians to attempt the Conversion of the Jews, 
 p. 32. London, 1813. See also Levi's Ceremonies of the Jews, 
 p. 219,220. 
 
 2 Maim. De Stud. Leg. a Clavering, p. 1. 
 
 '-' Ibid. cit. in Annot. p. 125, 126. 
 
DOCTRINES AND PRECEPTS. 109 
 
 not wonder, then, at the thanksgiving inserted in all 
 the prayer-books, and forming a part of the daily 
 devotions of every male member of the synagogue : 
 ' Blessed art thou, O Lord, our God ! King of the 
 ^ universe ! who hast not made me a woman ! ' 
 
 The law which the Jews affirm to have been given 
 by God to the sons of Noah consists of the seven 
 following precepts. I. Not to commit idolatry. 
 II. Not to blaspheme the name of God. III. To 
 constitute upright judges for the maintenance of 
 justice and its impartial administration to all persons. 
 IV. Not to commit incest. V. Not to commit 
 murder. VI . Not to rob or steal. VII. Not to 
 eat a member of any li\dng creature. ' Every one 
 * that observes these seven commandments,' accord- 
 ing to a Jewish writer now living, * is entitled to 
 ' happiness.' But to observe them merely from a 
 sense of their propriety, is deemed by Maimonides 
 insufficient to constitute a pious Gentile, or to confer 
 a title to happiness in the world to come : it is 
 requisite that they be observed because they are 
 divine commands. ^ 
 
 ^ Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. iii. p. 584. Maim. De Leg. & Poenit. 
 a Clavering, p. 146, 147. Levi's Ceremonies, p. 278. CrooU's 
 Restoration of Israel, p. 50. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 JTewish Opinions on the present moral Condition of Human 
 Nature : — Sin : — Remedies for Sin : — Repentance : — 
 Funis hnent : — Salvation : — Case of Apostates — and 
 Christians, 
 
 Respecting the moral condition of human nature, 
 Jewish writers have been far from maintaining an 
 uniformity of opinion. The variety of sentiments 
 promulgated in the rabbinical books, and the total 
 silence of the thirteen articles^ render it difficult to 
 ascertain the precise doctrine of the synagogue on 
 this important subject. There is reason, however, 
 to believe that the notions entertained by the generality 
 of'its members are nearly, if not altogether, the same 
 that in the Christian Church have been distinguished 
 by the name of Pelagianism. 
 
 In some of the Jewish prayer books the following 
 passage forms part of the morning service for every 
 day : ' My God ! the soul which thou hast given me, 
 
 * is pure ; thou hast created, formed, and breathed it 
 ' into me ; thou dost also carefully guard it within 
 
 * me ; thou wilt hereafter take it from me, and restore 
 
 * it unto me in futurity.' ^ From the natural import 
 
 ■ Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Prayer Book, p. 4. 
 
SIN. Ill 
 
 of this language it would seem that those who adopt 
 it consider themselves as free from all sin. But this 
 interpretation is completely at variance with the 
 numerous confessions of sin contained in the same 
 service. The principal idea designed to be conveyed 
 in this extraordinary passage, probably, is — that men 
 derive no corruption from their first parents, but are 
 bom as pure as Adam was when he came from the 
 hand of his Creator. 
 
 To the question. Whether the Jews believe original 
 sin ? a learned rabbi gives the following answer. 
 
 * The Jews deny original sin, and that for the most 
 ' weighty reasons. For the seat of sin is exclusively 
 ' in the soul, and all souls derive their origin, not 
 
 * from Adam, but from God the Creator ; whence it 
 ' follows that the souls of the descendants of Adam 
 ' could not have sinned. That sin is seated in the 
 ' soul, is evident ; for that vice or delinquency is 
 ^ committed by the soul or intellect. And the scrip- 
 ' ture expressly declares, " That soul shall utterly 
 ^ be cut off: his iniquity shall be upon him," or 
 ' in it. Hence then it may be clearly perceived that 
 ' sin is seated in the soul. In like manner, that 
 
 * souls are created by God, without the mediation 
 ' of any instrument, is testified by Isaiah: "The 
 ' spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I 
 
 * have made." Ezekiel confirms the same, when he 
 ' represents God as saying, '* All souls are mine, as 
 ' the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is 
 ' mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die." Hence 
 ' then it clearly and certainly follows, that the souls 
 
112 MODERN JUDAISM: 
 
 * of Adam's posterity could not have sinned in him, 
 
 * and that all mankind are born obnoxious to the 
 ' punishments due to the sin of Adam, which, as 
 
 * they are all corporeal, affect also the bodies of all 
 
 * his children, inasmuch as they are his children with 
 
 * respect to their bodies : just as if a man be brought 
 
 * into a state of slavery, all his children become 
 ' slaves also, in consequence of being the offspring 
 ' of an enslaved parent/ ^ By Maimonides, original 
 sin is rejected as a most flagrant absurdity ; the 
 idea of a man being born with an inherent principle 
 of sin or holiness, he pronounces to be as incon- 
 ceivable as his being born an adept in any art or 
 science. 2 
 
 On the other hand the Talmudists and other Jewish 
 writers, frequently speak of something which they 
 denominate (^nn IT) Jetser Hara, a term that may 
 be rendered Evil Principle^ Inclination^ Desire^ or 
 Propensity ; which they represent as the internal 
 cause of all the sins that men commit. 
 
 The Talmud mentions a form of supplication intro- 
 duced by Rabbi Alexander : ' Lord of the universe ! 
 
 * it is known to thee, that our desire is to do thy 
 
 * will. And what hinders us ? The leaven that is in 
 
 * the mass.' Jarchi says : ' The leaven that is in the 
 
 * mass, is the evil principle which is in our hearts, 
 
 * and corrupts us.' Another eminent rabbi says : 
 
 * By our doctors of blessed memory, the evil principle 
 
 * has been called the leaven that is in the mass : 
 
 ' Hoornbeck contra Jud, L. iv. c. 2. p. 356. 
 
 2 More Nevocli. p. I.e. xxxiv. cit. by Basnage, B. iv. c. 13. s. 14. 
 
HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 113 
 
 * because as a little leaven leavens and corrupts a 
 ' large mass, so the evil principle corrupts men.' ^ 
 
 Another part of the Talmud states that this prin- 
 ciple is designated in the scripture by seven different 
 appellations : that God calls it evil ; that Moses 
 describes it as uncircumcision ; that David calls it 
 uncleanness ; Solomon, an enemy; Isaiah, a stum- 
 Ming block; Ezekiel, a stone; and Joel, a hidden 
 thing. '^ 
 
 Very different accounts have been given by the 
 rabbies, of the origin of this principle. An eminent 
 expositor says : ' The evil principle is born with 
 ' a man, and grows with him all his days.'^ On 
 part of the fifty-first Psalm, Aben Ezra has the 
 following comment : ' Because of the concupiscence 
 ' implanted in the human heart, David says, '* I was 
 
 * shapen in iniquity : " the meaning is that the evil 
 
 * principle is implanted in the heart in the hour 
 
 * of nativity. When he prays, " Create in me a 
 ' clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within 
 
 * me ; " the meaning is, that the concupiscence im- 
 
 * planted in him had seduced him to sin, and therefore 
 ' he supplicates God to assist him against his inherent 
 
 ' Berachoth, c. ii. p. 17. Rashi in loc. R. Abraham Shalom in 
 Neve Shalom, trac. xi. c. 2, apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. p. 
 65, 66. 
 
 2 Succa, c. V. p. 52. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. p. 45, 46. 
 For these seven appellations references are made to the following texts : 
 Gen. viii. 21. Deut. x. 16. Ps. li. 10. Prov. xxv. 21. Isai. Ivii. 14. 
 Ezek.xi. 19. Joel ii. 20. 
 
 3 Medrash Tillim, Ps. xxxiv. p. 26. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. 
 p. 71, 72. 
 
 I 
 
114 MODERN JUDAISM: 
 
 * concupiscence, that he may never fall into a similar 
 
 * transgression.' ^ The compiler of the Mishna is 
 represented as vacillating in his opinion, whether 
 the evil principle is implanted in man at the moment 
 of his birth, or at an earlier period. ^ 
 
 ^nother rabbi ^ says : * There is no reason to 
 
 * wonder why the sin of Adam and Eve was inscribed 
 
 * and sealed with a royal signet, to be propagated to 
 ' succeeding generations : because on the day in 
 ' which Adam was created, all things were finished ; 
 
 * he was the perfection and completion of the whole 
 
 * mundane structure : so when he sinned, the whole 
 ' world sinned ; and we bear and suffer for his sin : 
 ' but this is not the case with the sins of his 
 ' posterity.' 
 
 Some rabbles have unblushingly maintained that 
 this evil principle in the heart of man was created by 
 God. On that passage of Jeremiah, (x. 23.) '' O 
 *' Lord, I know that the way of man is not in him- 
 ** self: it is not in man that walketh to direct his 
 " steps : " Jarchi says, ' The evil principle which 
 
 * God has created in him, causes him to wander from 
 
 * the way.' Another of the doctors, not content 
 with simple blasphemy, has put this horrible decla- 
 ration into the mouth of God himself: * I am 
 ' affrighted because I have created the evil principle 
 
 ' Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. p. 586. 
 3 Bereshith Rabba, apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. p. 44. 
 3 R. Menachem Recanatensis, Medrash Tillim, sect. Bereshith, apud 
 Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. p. 590. 
 
HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 115 
 
 * in man ; for if I had not created it in him, he 
 
 * would never have rebelled against me.' ^ 
 
 Some rabbies speak of two principles in man, one 
 evil, the other good ; the former born with him, the 
 latter implanted at the age of thirteen. This doctrine 
 is extracted from a passage in the book of Ecclesiastes, 
 which has been tortm-ed by the following pretended 
 comment. ** Better is a poor and wise child : " 
 
 * that is, the good principle. Why is it called a child? 
 
 * Because it is not united to man, except from his 
 
 * thirteenth year and upward. Why is it called poor ? 
 ' Because all do not obey it. Why is it called wise ? 
 ' Because it teaches creatures the right way.' — *' Than 
 
 * an old and foolish king : " ' that is, the evil principle, 
 
 * Why is it called a king ? Because all obey it. Why 
 
 * is it called old ? Because it is united to man, from 
 ' his childhood even to old age. Why is it called 
 
 * foolish ? Because it teaches man an evil way, which 
 
 * he knovv^s not how to avoid.' ^ In the Talmud this 
 evil principle is personified, and represented as acting 
 the part of Satan : * The evil principle entices men 
 ' to sin in this world, and in the other world bears 
 ' witness against them.'^ 
 
 On the language of David in the fifty-first Psalm, 
 which has been already cited, Menasseh Ben Israel 
 remarks : ' Whether this be understood of our com- 
 
 ' Jarchi in Jerem. x. 23. Bereshith Rabba, Paras, xxviii. p. 30. 
 col. 3. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. ii. p. 47, 48. 
 
 2 Medrash Koheleth in Eccles. iv. 13. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn, 
 ii. p. 67, 68. 
 
 ' Succa, apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. ii. p. 61. 
 
 I 2 
 
116 MODERN JUDAISM > 
 
 ' mon parent, Eve, or whether David spoke exclu- 
 
 * sively of his own immediate mother ; he meant to 
 
 * suggest, that sin is as it were natural and inseparable 
 
 * in the present life : and one of our ancient sages 
 ^ infers from this passage, that it is impossible, even 
 
 * for men the most eminent in piety and virtue, to 
 ' avoid sometimes falling into sin.' In another place 
 he says, ' that not only David, but what is more, the 
 
 * whole human race sin from their origin, ever since 
 
 * the introduction of sin into the world.' ^ 
 
 Of the opinions of modern Jews, respecting the 
 terms of acceptance with God, as well for their 
 ancestors who enjoyed the privileges of the temple, 
 as for themselves who are without priest, altar, or 
 sacrifice, a member of the synagogue has favoured 
 the public with the following representation. * Ac- 
 ' cording to our faith, a strict and due observance 
 
 * of the decalogue and precepts as ordained by the 
 ' Almighty, in the law he gave to his chosen people, the 
 ' Jews, is the only intermediate medium, or mediator, 
 
 * that they require, to ensure their salvation in the 
 ' future state ; and they offer in proof thereof, how 
 ' great a sinner king David was, and yet sincere 
 ' repentance was the only mediating medium that 
 
 * procured him the Almighty's forgiveness ; for, as 
 ' Jews, they would deem it to imply mutability in 
 ' the Supreme, were they to entertain any belief, that 
 
 * sincere contrition and repentance does now require 
 
 * a mediator to render it acceptable to the Almighty. 
 
 » Menass. de Fragil. p. 2. et Conciliat. in Psa. p. 66, 67. apud 
 Hoornbeck contra Jud. L. iv. c. 2. p. 346, 347. 
 
MEANS OF ATONEMENT. Il7 
 
 * Such are the opinions of the Jews on this head, and 
 
 * such are mine.' ^ — This passage is exceedingly con- 
 fused and illogical, but I apprehend the meaning to 
 be, as it has been interpreted by another writer, — 
 
 * that with the Jew a perfect conformity to the law 
 
 * of Moses will ensure his salvation in the next world ; 
 ' and, that for every violation of the divine precepts, 
 ' whereby eternal life should seem to have been for- 
 
 * feited, no other atonement or expiation either now 
 'is, or ever was, required by the Almighty, than 
 
 * sincere repentance.' ^ 
 
 But that Israelites of ancient times, who enjoyed 
 the privileges of the altar and temple, obtained the 
 remission of their sins by repentance only, without 
 any other expiation or atonement, — is a notion 
 altogether at variance with the highest rabbinical 
 authorities. Maimonides, in his treatise on Repent- 
 ance, says : ' Because the emissary goat was an 
 
 * atonement for all Israel, on that account the high 
 ' priest made a confession of sins over him in the 
 
 * name of all Israel.'^ The language of the Mishna 
 on this subject is very explicit : * Moreover, for the 
 ' wilful defiling of the sanctuary and its holy things, 
 ^ the goat which was disposed of within, and the day 
 
 * of atonement, made expiation : but for the other 
 ' transgressions specified in the law ; whether light 
 
 * or heavy ; whether committed in wantonness, or 
 
 * in ignorance ; whether with the knowledge of the 
 
 * Jewish Repository, vol. ii. p. 149. Letter signed S. M. 
 2 Jewish Repository, vol. ii. p. 462, 463. 
 ' Mairaon. de Poenit. a Clavering, p. 44. 
 
118 MODERN JUDAISM: 
 
 ' thing done, or without the knowledge of it ; 
 
 * whether against an affirmative or a negative precept ; 
 ' whether liable to be punished with excision or with 
 
 * death inflicted by the sanhedrim ; the emissary goat 
 ' made expiation.' ^ This notion is likewise in direct 
 contradiction to the doctrine maintained in the formu- 
 laries of the synagogue, and solemnly professed by 
 every individual who unites in the prescribed services. 
 The reader is not desired to receive this assertion 
 without proof, and as it is a point of some import- 
 ance, his attention is requested to several extracts 
 from the daily, weekly, and festival prayers. If their 
 recitals, lamentations, and confessions be made with 
 any truth, and their petitions uttered with any sin- 
 cerity, if their private sentiments be not repugnant to 
 their public professions, it will appear to be the 
 opinion of modern Jews, — that their ancestors ob- 
 tained the remission of their sins by virtue of certain 
 expiations, prescribed in the Mosaic ritual ; and that 
 forgiveness is now to be obtained by prayer, contrition, 
 and other means, supposed to be substitutes, accepted 
 by the divine mercy instead of those expiations which 
 it is not at present in their power to perform. 
 
 In the daily morning service contained in one 
 prayer book, a long and particular account of several 
 piacular sacrifices, and of the ceremonies necessary to 
 be observed, an ' omission ' of which is said to have 
 
 * impeded the atonement,' is preceded by this prayer : 
 
 * Sovereign of the universe ! thou didst command us 
 
 * Shebuoth. Mishna Surenhus. Par. iv. cap. vi. pag. 294. 
 
MEANS OF ATONEMENT. 119 
 
 * to offer the daily sacrifice in its appointed time ; 
 
 * and that the priests should officiate in their proper 
 
 * service, and the Levites at their desk, and the Israel- 
 
 * ites in their station. But, at present, on account 
 
 * of our sins, the temple is laid waste, and the daily 
 
 * sacrifice hath ceased ; for we have neither an offici- 
 
 * ating priest, nor a Levite on the desk, nor an 
 ' Israelite at his station. But thou hast said, that 
 ' the prayers of our lips shall be accepted as the 
 
 * offering of bulls. Therefore let it be acceptable 
 ' before thee, O Lord, our God, and the God of our 
 
 * ancestors, that the prayers of our lips may be 
 
 * accounted, accepted, and esteemed before thee, as 
 ' if we had offered the daily sacrifice in its appointed 
 
 * time, and had stood in our station.' ^ 
 
 In another prayer-book, part of the daily morning 
 service is as follows : * May it be acceptable in thy 
 
 * presence, O Eternal, our God, and the God of our 
 
 * ancestors, to compassionate us, to pardon all our 
 ' sins, forgive all our iniquities, and to grant us 
 
 * remission for all our transgressions ; and that the 
 
 * holy temple may speedily be rebuilt in our days, 
 ' that we may offer in thy presence the continual 
 ' burnt-offering, that it may atone for us ; as thou 
 
 * has commanded in thy law.' Here they recite 
 the first eight verses of the twenty-eighth chapter 
 of Numbers, and the eleventh verse of the first 
 chapter of Leviticus, as containing the law of the 
 daily morning and evening sacrifices ; and then 
 
 ' Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Prayer Book, p. 14. 
 
120 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 proceed : ' May this recital be as acceptable unto 
 
 * thee, O Eternal, our God, and the God of our 
 
 * ancestors, as if we had offered thee continual burnt- 
 
 * offering in its due season.' — * Sovereign of the 
 
 * universe ! whilst the holy temple was established, 
 
 * if a man sinned, he brought an offering, and made 
 
 * an atonement for himself; but now, because of our 
 
 * iniquities, we have neither sanctuary, nor altar, 
 
 * nor offering, nor priest, to atone for us ; there is 
 ' nothing left us but the commemoration of them. 
 
 * O may that be our expiation, and we will render the 
 
 * prayers of our lips instead of offerings.' ^ 
 
 Maimohides indeed says : ' When we have no 
 ' temple nor altar, there is no other expiation made 
 
 * for sin than repentance only.'^ The general doc- 
 trine of the synagogue, however, appears to be, that 
 there are other substitutes as well as repentance. 
 The following form of prayer, prescribed for a fast, 
 represents a diminution of corporeal substance as 
 one of them. ' Sovereign of the universe ! it is 
 ' clearly known unto thee, that wliilst the holy 
 
 * temple was established, if a man sinned, he brought 
 ' an offering ; of which they only offered its fat and 
 
 * blood ; yet didst thou in thine abundant mercy 
 
 * grant him pardon ; but now, because of our ini- 
 
 * qui ties, the holy temple is destroyed, and we have 
 
 * neither sanctuary nor priest to atone for us. O 
 ' may it therefore be acceptable in thy presence, that 
 
 * the diminution of my fat and blood, which hath 
 
 ^ German and Polish Jews' Prayer Book, p. 9, 10 
 ' Maimon. d« Pcenit. a Clavering, p. 45. 
 
MEANS OF ATONEMENT. 121 
 
 ' been diminished this day, may be accounted as fat 
 
 * offered and placed on the altar, and thus be accepted 
 
 * of me.^ 
 
 The service for the day of atonement prescribes 
 a peculiar expression of sorrow for the loss of the 
 ancient means of expiation. * The altar that re- 
 ' moved sin, made atonement for us, and rendered 
 ' us acceptable to God, exists no more ; the continual 
 
 * morning and evening offerings have ceased ; the 
 
 * burning coals on the altar are quenched in dark- 
 
 * ness, and the blood and members cease to make 
 
 * atonement. The anointed priest, attired with his 
 
 * numerous garments, faileth ; and there is none that 
 
 * is able to make reconciliation by his abundant 
 
 * prayer ; both presumptuous and ignorant sins have 
 
 * increased abundantly ; our spirit is wounded, our 
 
 * light is quenched. '2 
 
 A detail of the various services anciently performed 
 by the high priest on the day of atonement, in which 
 he is described as expiating by different sacrifices, 
 first, the sins of himself and his household, next 
 those of the sons of Aaron, and lastly, the iniquities 
 of all the people, — is followed by this prayer : ' Thus 
 
 * have I particularly rehearsed the service of the day 
 
 * of atonement. May the memorial of it be as 
 
 * acceptable as its offering in the temple. O pardon 
 
 * our sins, and make them as white as snow and 
 
 * wool, as it was aforetime, when the appointed 
 
 * man was sent with the kid to the wilderness. We 
 
 ' German and Polish Jews' Prayer Book, p. 42. 
 ' Prayers for the Day of Atonement, p. 148, 149. 
 
122 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * seek for pardon, but have not wherewith to make 
 ' atonement. The offerings have ceased, and they 
 
 * who made atonement for us are no more. O grant 
 
 * us redemption, and cleanse us, according to all 
 ' that is written in the book ; for on this day shall 
 ' he make an atonement.'^ 
 
 That one of the atonements made for the sins of 
 the ancient Israelites consisted in the garments worn 
 by the high priest, is a notion which will probably 
 be new to most of my readers ; it is gravely asserted, 
 however, in these formularies, which celebrate the 
 piacular virtue of every part of the pontifical attire, 
 and pathetically lament the loss of such efficacious 
 
 * means of pardon and expiation.' ' Verily, we 
 
 * are sinners, and trespassers ; w^herewith shall our 
 ' abundant iniquities be expiated ? From the time 
 
 * that the honour of the glorious house departed 
 
 * from us, we have not the means of pardon and 
 
 * expiation. While the holy temple was established 
 ' on its basis, he that sinned brought an offering, 
 
 * and his iniquity was forgiven. And if it was not 
 
 * in his power to bring much, he brought little ; for 
 
 * there is no restraint to the Lord, to save by many 
 ' or by few. Thou didst prepare eight beautiful 
 
 * garments for the high priest, who made expiation 
 
 * therewith, to expiate the sins of thy people. The 
 ' pure coat, formed of flax and wool woven together, 
 
 * was to do away entirely the sin of sowing a mixture 
 
 * of different seed. The linen breeches, which reached 
 
 ' Prayers for the Day of Atonement, p. 74. 
 
MEANS OF ATONEMENT. 123 
 
 ' from the loins to the thigh, was a ransom for those 
 
 * who uncovered the nakedness of the joints of the 
 
 * thigh. The mitre was placed on his head, to 
 
 * atone for the proud spirited, who hold their heads 
 
 * high. The work of the girdle, which was woven 
 
 * full of cavities, was to cleanse the sin of the thief, 
 ' and him who concealeth his actions. The breast- 
 ' plate of judgment was placed against his heart, to 
 
 * make atonement for the perversion of judgment 
 
 * and justice. The interweaving of the scarlet thread 
 
 * with the fine twined linen in the ' ephod, was to 
 ' make atonement for the transgression of idolatry. 
 
 * The golden bells and purple pomegi'anates, were 
 ' to remove the sin of slander. The plate of the 
 
 * crown, on which was engraven the holy name, was 
 
 * fixed on his forehead, to procure forgiveness for those 
 
 * who profaned God's name. But we have perverted 
 
 * our way, and have therefore lost all ' these ; they 
 
 * are no more ; we are deprived of them all.'^ 
 
 On this point I shall introduce but one extract 
 more, which, after mentioning several of the ancient 
 expiations and deploring their discontinuance, proposes 
 to substitute in their room the suffering and super- 
 erogatory merits of reputed saints and martyrs. ' The 
 
 * high priest, who was the most respectable of his 
 
 * brethren, drew nigh on this day to offer, and to 
 
 * mix, and bring in the blood of the sin-offering. He 
 
 * sprinkled the blood of his bull in the all-seeing pre- 
 
 * sence of the Almighty, and on this day made an 
 
 ^ Prayers for the Day of Atonement, p. 71, 72. 
 
124 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 atonement for the iniquity he had committed. His 
 linen garments were costly, his clothing was con- 
 formable to his honourable station, when the incense 
 was in his hand, together with the flaming coals 
 of fire. He offered the incense as a present before 
 thee, according to the statute of the law ; and was 
 not defective in the commandment. The filthy 
 presumptuous sins were all forgiven by the scape- 
 goat that was sent to the strong rock in the desert. 
 My sins were then blotted out, by the blood that 
 was sprinkled ; but now they are engraven and there 
 is no end of them. My lambs are cut off from the 
 fold, and made an end of. I am become as food in 
 the mouth of the exactors of gold. The beautiful 
 clime is laid waste, and wholly destroyed ; and there 
 is no burnt-offering of appearance, nor any incum- 
 bent burnt-offering. My glory hath been emptied, 
 since the sprinkling of the blood hath failed ; and 
 the sin of the backsliding daughter (the nation) hath 
 not been cleansed. For the sake of the blood that 
 hath been spilt, of those who suffered death for the 
 sake of thy name ; for the love of them, I beseech 
 thee now to "forgive my sins. — Accept them and 
 their blood favourably, instead of the service of the 
 priest, to expiate for them who make mention of 
 them. O appoint their reward for me. May it be 
 accounted as a burnt-offering, offered with a liberal 
 spirit, and in memory of the binding of Isaac from 
 visitation to visitation. Teach them to find mercy ; 
 their soul longeth for thee ; may their righteousness 
 exist and continue to ages. Be thou found in 
 
REPENTANCE. 125 
 
 ' mercy to them, accept their righteousness favourably, 
 * and suffer not wrath to go forth against my afflicted 
 ' soul.'i 
 
 Some other ceremonies practised by modern Jews, 
 with the hope of procuring the expiation or oblitera- 
 tion of their sins, will be noticed in the account 
 of their services for the New Year and the day of 
 Atonement, and of their prayers for the sick. 
 
 On the subject of human ability to repent and obey 
 the divine will, some rabbies have maintained, that 
 men are capable of repentance, and of attaining the 
 highest degrees of piety and virtue, by the sole use 
 of their natural powers ; and that, whatever be their 
 characters, they are wholly self-determined either to 
 vice or to virtue.^ Others have admitted a concurrent 
 providence, which they represent as assisting men to 
 finish the good works they have begun ; but which 
 they will not allow to be the exciting cause of the 
 first volition that leads to a course of virtuous con- 
 duct.^ The prescribed forms of prayers contain 
 passages which are altogether inconsistent with these 
 notions, and imply a belief in a much higher degree 
 of divine influence, exerted in some cases, if not 
 necessary in all, to produce holy desires, good voli- 
 tions, and virtuous actions. Not to adduce those 
 which are mere recitals of the scriptures, two extracts 
 will be sufficient. ' May it be acceptable in thy 
 ' presence, O Lord, our God, and the God of our 
 
 * Prayers for the Day of Atonement, p. 81, 82. 
 
 * Mairaon. de Pcenit. a Clavering, p. 70. 
 
 ^ Menass. et al. apud Hoornbeck contra Jud. L. iv. c. 2. p. 483, 484. 
 
126 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ^ fathers, to cause us to walk in thy law, and to cleave 
 ' to thy precepts : lead us not into the power of sin, 
 
 * transgression, iniquity, temptation, or contempt. 
 ' Suffer not evil imagination ^ to have dominion over 
 ' us ; but remove far from us evil men and wicked 
 ' associates ; give us the inclination to good,^ and 
 ' good works ; humbling our imagination, that it 
 ' may be subservient unto thee. ^ 
 
 ' Blessed be our God, who hath created us for his 
 ' glory, and separated us from those who go astray, 
 ' and hath given us the law of truth, and planted 
 ' eternal life within us. May he open our hearts to 
 
 * the reception of his law, and firmly fix his love and 
 ' fear in our hearts, that we may perform his will, 
 ' and serve him with an upright heart ; so that we 
 
 * may not labour in vain, nor generate a short-lived 
 ' race. May it be acceptable in thy presence, O Lord, 
 ' our God, and the God of our fathers, to enable us 
 
 * to observe thy statutes and thy precepts in this 
 ' world, so that we may be worthy to live, and inherit 
 
 * the good, and the blessing reserved for the life of the 
 
 * future world. '^ 
 
 Perfectly in harmony with the language of these 
 petitions is the doctrine propounded in some positions 
 of a Catechism, composed and published by an Italian 
 rabbi at the close of the sixteenth century ; which 
 
 ' 2^151 1!^'' Jetser Hara, the evil principle, mentioned above. 
 
 ^ ^ItD l!^*' Jetser Tob, the good principle. This clause would have 
 been more perspicuous, and not less agreeable to the original, if it had 
 been rendered — Give us the, or a, good principle and good works. 
 
 3 Prayers for the New Year, p. 7. 
 
 * Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Prayer Book, p. 55. 
 
REPENTANCE. 127 
 
 has been several times reprinted, and, in an edition 
 which issued from the Jewish press at Amsterdam, is 
 accompanied with what is called a Jewish-German 
 version, that is, a German translation printed in 
 rabbinical characters.^ Concerning faith, hope, and 
 divine love, this manual inculcates the following 
 sentiments. * Faith is the gift of God, imparted to 
 
 * our minds, and leading us to believe all that God 
 ' has declared to us by his prophets.' — * Hope is the 
 
 * gift of God, imparted to our minds, and producing a 
 
 * confident expectation that our souls will obtain those 
 
 * joys which are the consummation of true felicity, 
 
 * not by our own righteousness and good works, but 
 ' from the supreme goodness of God.' — ^ Love is 
 
 * a gift bestowed upon us by God, which leads us to 
 ' love God on account of his greatness, and excel- 
 
 * lence, and his goodness towards us.^ 
 
 Some other passages of the same Catechism, 
 however, may be thought to accord with the doctrine, 
 which has been almost uniformly maintained by the 
 rabbles, — that the first motion towards any thing 
 good is not caused by divine influence, but in all cases 
 originates from human choice. The self-determina- 
 tion of the human mind to good or evil is also clearly 
 asserted in a maxim delivered in the Talmud, and 
 received by all its disciples with implicit reverence ; 
 
 * Catechism. Judaeor. a R, Abrah. Jagel, cum versione a De Veil. 
 London, 1690. Carpzov. Introd. ad Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. p. 43—45. 
 Bartoloc. Rib. Rab. torn. i. p. 26. Wolf. Bib. Heb. vol. i. p. 54—56. 
 vol. iii. 34, 35. vol. iv. p. 763. 
 
 2 Apud De Veil, ibid. p. 5, 6. 15. 22. Apud Carpzov. ibid, p. 46. 
 52. 57. 
 
128 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 — that every thing is in the power of God, except the 
 fear of God. ^ 
 
 On the efficacy of repentance and its absolute 
 sufficiency, since the discontinuance of sacrifices, 
 to expiate all sin, there is reason to believe that 
 most Jews of the present age agree with Maimonides. 
 He says : ' Repentance expiates all transgressions. 
 ' Though any one be wicked during almost the whole 
 
 * of life, yet if he afterward repent, his sins are not 
 
 * at all imputed to him. — The day of atonement 
 
 * expiates penitents. — Although a man be a transgres- 
 ' sor all his life, yet if he repent on the approach 
 ' of death, and die a penitent, all his sins are 
 forgiven.' Repentance is to be accompanied with 
 confession, of which a few specimens have already 
 been introduced, and some further notice will be 
 necessary in describing the services of particular days. 
 In matters of offence or injury committed by one 
 Israelite against another, the offender is required to 
 evince his repentance by confession and restitution, 
 or some kind of compensation, such as the nature 
 of each case may admit.^ 
 
 Of the manner in which the characters of men are 
 estimated before the divine tribunal, Maimonides 
 gives the following description. ' In every man 
 ■ virtues are mixed with vices. If the virtues of an 
 ' individual exceed his vices, he is esteemed righteous : 
 
 * if his vices exceed his virtues, he is accounted 
 
 » Berachoth, c. v. apud Menass. Conciliat. p. 107. Hoorabeck 
 contra Jud. L. iv. c. 2. 
 
 » Maimon. de Poenit. a Clavering, p. 45, 48, 49, 52. 
 
REPENTANCE. 129 
 
 * wicked: and if his virtues and vices be equal, then 
 *■ he is called an intermediate. — The estimation of this 
 ^ matter depends not on the number of virtues and 
 
 * vices, but on their greatness. For one virtue 
 
 * sometimes outweighs many vices ; and sometimes 
 
 * one vice outweighs many virtues. — As at the death 
 ' of an individual, an estimate is taken of his virtues 
 
 * and vices ; so, on the festival of each new year, 
 
 * every man's virtues are compared with his vices. 
 ' He that is found righteous, is adjudged to life ; he 
 ' that is found wicked, is sentenced to death. Res- 
 ' pec ting an intermediate ; judgment is suspended till 
 
 * the day of atonement : if he repent before that day, 
 ' he is adjudged to life ; but if not, he is then liable 
 ' to death. — When a man's virtues and vices are 
 
 * compared, the first and second sins are not 
 
 * reckoned, but only the third and those which follow. 
 ' If on computing from the third his vices be found 
 ' to exceed his virtues, then the first two sins are 
 ' added to the number, and judgment is passed upon 
 
 * him for the whole. But if on numbering from the 
 
 * third his virtues and vices be equal, then no account 
 ' is taken of the first two, because the third is con- 
 ' sidered as the first ; for two are now pardoned : and 
 ' the fourth becomes the first, because the third is 
 
 * forgiven ; and so onwards even to the end. How 
 ' is it to be understood ? Only of an individual ; as 
 ' it is said, Lo all these things will God do with a 
 ' man twice and thrice. (Job xxxiii. 29.) For to 
 
 * the congregation neither the first, second, nor third 
 ' sin is imputed, according as it is said. For three 
 
 K 
 
130 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * transgressions of Israel, yea even for four, I will 
 ' not turn away. (Amos ii. 6.) And when an 
 
 * account is thus taken of their sins, the computation 
 
 * commences with the fourth, which is reckoned as 
 'the first. '^ 
 
 Some rabbies inculcate that repentance ought to 
 be accompanied by certain acts of corporeal mor- 
 tification and penance ; and have furnished their 
 disciples with minute directions for the performance 
 of this discipline, according to the various offences 
 of which they may have been guilty .^ But I appre- 
 hend that these austerities are not much practised by 
 the Jews in the present age. They have a very 
 general persuasion, however, that the bodily pains 
 which they suffer are expiations for sins ; and if a 
 man happen to wound one of his fingers in the same 
 place where it has been wounded before, and not yet 
 healed, the acuteness of the pain is deemed sufficient 
 to obliterate all his transgressions. 
 
 The doctrine of the metempsychosis, or that one 
 human soul animates several bodies in succession, 
 being generally adopted by the Jews, renders it 
 difficult to exhibit a clear view of their sentiments 
 respecting the rewards and punishments to be dis- 
 pensed in a future state. One eminent rabbi endea- 
 vours to vindicate the justice of Divine Providence, 
 in inflicting severe calamities on some men who lead 
 
 » Maimon. de Poenit. a Clavering, p. 54, 55, 57, 58. 
 
 2 Directions for various penances are given in a book entitled Reschit 
 Cochma, of which a large extract, with a Latin version, may be seen in 
 Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. p. 832—836. 
 
REWARD AND PUNISHMENT. 131 
 
 virtuous lives, by suggesting a high probabiHty that 
 those miseries are the punishments of crimes com- 
 mitted by their souls in other bodies which those 
 souls formerly occupied. Every thinking person must 
 perceive the tendency of this doctrine to perplex and 
 confound all ideas of personal identity and individual 
 consciousness, and to involve the whole subject 
 of moral agency in the greatest obscurity. The 
 notions of the rabbles on the transmigration of souls 
 will form one of the subjects of another chapter : I 
 shall now lay before the reader some of their strange 
 accounts respecting the retributions of the im^sible 
 world. 
 
 Of the transactions which take place immediately 
 after death, they have given the following description. 
 ' A man is judged in this world in the same hour in 
 
 * which he dies : and when the soul leaves the body, 
 ' the presence of the divine majesty is near him. 
 ' If then the law and good works are found with 
 ' him, he is happy, because he has cleaved to 
 
 * the divine majesty ; and his soul is quaUfied to 
 ' ascend to the holy place. But woe unto him who 
 ' cleaves not to the divine majesty, and from whom 
 ' the divine majesty withdraws. When such a man 
 ' is carried to his grave, all the works he has done in 
 ' this world present themselves before him : and three 
 ^ heralds (one before him, another on his right hand, 
 ' and the third on his left) make the following pro- 
 ' clamation : * This N. has been averse to his Creator, 
 ' who reigns above and below, and in the four parts 
 ' of the world. He has been rebellious against the 
 
 K 2 
 
132 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * law and the commandments. Behold his works, 
 
 * and observe his words. It had been better for 
 
 * him, if he had never been created.' Before he 
 
 * arrives at his grave, all the dead bodies tremble 
 
 * and move from their places because of him, and 
 
 * say, ' Woe unto him that is buried with his evil 
 
 * works which he has done.' All his wicked actions, 
 ' which at the time of his departure stand near 
 
 * him, go before him to his grave, and trample 
 
 * upon his body. The angel Duma likewise rises, 
 
 * attended by those under his command who are 
 ' appointed for the beating of the dead, which is 
 ' called Chibbut Hakkefer, and is performed in 
 
 * the grave. They hold in their hands three fiery 
 ' rods, and judge at once the body and the soul. 
 ' Woe unto him on account of that judgment. Woe 
 
 * unto him by reason of his evil works. — How many 
 
 * judgments then does such a man undergo, when he 
 
 * leaves this world ? The first is when the soul 
 
 * departs from the body. The second is when his 
 
 * works go before him, and exclaim against him. 
 ' The third is when the body is laid in the grave. 
 
 * The fourth is Chibbut Hakkefer, that is, the beating 
 
 * in the grave. The fifth is the judgment of the 
 ' worms. When his body has lain in the grave three 
 ' days, he is ripped open, his entrails come out ; 
 
 * and his bowels, with the sordes in them, are taken 
 '^and dashed in his face, with this address. Take 
 
 * what thou hast given to thy stomach, of that 
 ' which thou didst daily eat and drink, and of which, 
 
 * in all thy daily feastings, thou distributedst nothing 
 
REWARD AND PUNISHMENT. 133 
 
 ' to the poor and needy : as it is said, *' I will 
 ' spread upon your faces the dung of your solemn 
 
 * feasts." Mai. ii. 3. After the three days, a man 
 
 * receives judgment on his e3'es, his hands, and his 
 ' feet, which have committed iniquities, till the 
 
 * thirtieth day : and in all these thirty days the soul 
 ' and body are judged together. Wherefore the soul 
 
 * during this time remains here upon earth, and 
 ' is not suffered to go to the place to which it 
 ' belongs. — The sixth is the judgment of Hell. The 
 ' seventh is, that his soul wanders, and is driven 
 ' about the world, finding no rest any where till the 
 ' days of her punishment are ended. These are the 
 ' seven judgments inflicted upon men ; and these are 
 
 * what are signified in the threatening, ** Then will 
 ' I walk contrary unto you also in fury ; and I, even 
 ' I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.'' 
 'Lev. xxvi. 28.'^ — If any person is disposed to 
 doubt whether a dead body be capable of feeling, 
 let him listen to the language of the Talmud ; 
 ' Rabbi Isaac says, A worm in a dead body is as 
 ' painful as a needle in a living one.' ^ 
 
 The Talmud says : ' At the day of future judgment 
 ' there will be found three classes of persons. The 
 ' first will consist of those who are perfectly right- 
 ' eous ; the second, of the perfectly wicked ; the 
 
 * third, of the intermediate, whose iniquities and 
 ' righteousnesses are equal. The perfectly righteous 
 
 * will immediately be adjudged and sealed to eternal 
 
 1 Sepher Jareh Chattaim, cit. in Stehelin's Trad. vol. i. p. 235—238, 
 
 2 Shabbath, apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. iii. p. 392. 
 
134 
 
 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 life. The perfectly wicked will be adjudged and 
 sealed to hell. The intermediate, whose sins and 
 good works are equal, shall go down into hell, 
 where they shall peep, and thence they shall come 
 up again.' ^ Rabbi Bechai says, * The intermediate 
 will go down into hell, and there they will be 
 punished for twelve months ; after the twelve 
 months shall have elapsed, their body will be 
 consumed, and their soul burnt up, and the wind 
 will scatter the ashes under the soles of the feet of 
 the righteous.' 2 Moses Gerundensis says, * Those 
 who are obnoxious to punishment are sentenced to 
 hell for twelve months, every one as he deserves ; 
 but after twelve months, his soul is burnt up and 
 becomes like ashes ; that is, loses its form and is 
 like any thing consumed.'^ 
 
 Maimonides says, * The punishment which awaits 
 the wicked, is, that they will have no share in that 
 life, but will die and be utterly destroyed. Whoever 
 has not merited life, is delivered over to death ; for 
 he will not live for ever, but on account of his 
 iniquities will be cut off and perish like the brute. 
 For the soul to be cut off and deprived of the future 
 life, is to be accounted a most heavy punishment. 
 It is said. That soul shall be utterly cut off, his 
 iniquity shall be upon him. This destruction is 
 metaphorically denominated, *' the pit of corruption, 
 the pit of destruction, tophet, the horseleech ; " and 
 
 ^ Cit. in Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iii. p. 32, 33. 
 
 3 Ibid. p. 33. 
 
 3 Cit. a Vorstio, in Maimon. de Fundam. Legis, p. 48. 
 
REWARD ANI> PUNISHMENT. 135 
 
 ' is distinguished by every appellation by which cor- 
 
 * ruption or perdition can be denoted ; for it is a 
 
 * corruption from which no resurrection will ever 
 
 * be granted, a perdition from which there will 
 ' be no return.'^ Menasseh Ben Israel says, * that 
 ' Maimonides understood this excision of the soul 
 ' to be no other than an annihilation of it.'^ David 
 Kimchi says, ' There will be no resurrection for the 
 
 * wicked ; when they die their souls will perish with 
 
 * their bodies.'^ 
 
 Menasseh Ben Israel says, * That souls, not hav- 
 
 * ing in them any efficient cause of corruption, are 
 
 * immortal and incorruptible ; that the souls of the 
 ' wicked are also eternal, and do not perish with 
 ' their bodies ; that the wdcked and impious shall 
 ' be punished ; and that the souls of the wicked 
 ' shall at length be delivered from punishments 
 
 * and tortures, for that their torments will not be 
 ' perpetual/^ 
 
 Maimonides says, ' The future life is that good 
 
 * which is reserved for the pious and righteous. In 
 ' that life no one is liable to death ; and in that good 
 
 * there is no mixture of evil. The reward which will 
 ' be bestowed upon the pious and righteous, will 
 ' consist in an enjoyment of supreme pleasure, and 
 ' an abundance of every good. Nothing corporeal 
 ' or material has any place in the future world ; 
 
 * Maimon. de PcEnit. a Clavering, p. 87, 90. 
 
 2 Menass. de Resur. apud Hoornbeck contra Jud. L. viii, c. 7. p. 575. 
 
 3 In Psalm, prim, apud Buxtorf. Synag. c. iii. p. 34. 
 
 * De Great, apud Hoornbeck contra Jud. L. viii. c. 7. p. 572. 
 
136 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * there, are only the souls of the righteous, divested 
 
 * of bodies and resembling ministering angels. In 
 
 * the future life there is no death ; because death is 
 ' only an accident of body, and no body can have 
 
 * any place there. Our ancient sages have taught 
 
 * us, — that future felicity cannot be at all clearly 
 ' conceived and comprehended by the human facul- 
 
 * ties : that its vastness, excellence, and essence are 
 ' altogether unknown, except to the blessed God ; 
 ' and that all those good things of which the prophets 
 ' have prophesied to Israel, are no other than the 
 
 * corporeal advantages which Israelites will enjoy 
 
 * in the days of our Messiah, when their kingdom 
 ' shall again be restored ; but that there is nothing 
 ' equal or similar to the felicity of the future life, 
 ' which the prophets therefore have never compared 
 ' to any thing, lest by a comparison they should in 
 ' any respect diminish or undervalue it. This is the 
 
 * sentiment conveyed by Isaiah; *' Neither hath eye 
 
 * seen, O God, beside thee, what thou hast prepared 
 
 * for him that waiteth for thee." Our sages have 
 
 * said, The prophets only prophesied concerning the 
 
 * days of Messiah ; but the future world has been 
 ' seen, O God, by no eyes but thine. '^ Thus far 
 Maimonides : but from the traditional accounts con- 
 cerning paradise, delivered in the Talmud and other 
 writings, some rabbies would seem to have obtained 
 an extensive acquaintance with that world, which 
 he affirms never to have been surveyed by any eye, 
 or made the subject of any revelation. 
 
 » Maimon. de Pcpnit. a Clarering, p. 88, 89, 92, 93. 
 
REWARD AND PUNISHMENT. 137 
 
 Moses Gerundensis says, * That the life of the 
 ' future world will he altogether spiritual, without 
 ' any of the present carnal or corporeal actions.' 
 On the contrary, Menasseh Ben Israel contends, 
 that after the resurrection, those who are raised 
 will exercise the same animal functions, experience 
 the same natural necessities, and perform the same 
 corporeal actions, in the future world, as they do 
 in the present. He also maintains, that though 
 they will then for the most part be inclined to 
 virtue, yet being free agents, it is not improbable 
 that they may fall into some lighter sins, even in 
 that life of transcendent integrity and holiness. 
 Pursuing the natural consequences of this notion, 
 he also supposes that they will be liable to death ; 
 and some rabbies have asserted that they will 
 actually die.^ 
 
 How grievous must be the condition of a Jew, 
 amidst all this uncertainty and contradiction, to be 
 told, from authority which he is accustomed to 
 revere, that his indispensable duty requires him to 
 receive all the dogmas and maxims of the rabbies, 
 not only without evidence, but even against e^ddence ! 
 Inculcating this implicit faith and obedience. Rabbi 
 Solomon Jarchi says, * Thou shalt not depart from 
 ' their words, even though they should tell thee, — 
 ' of the right hand. This is the left ; or of the left 
 ' hand. This is the right.' Nor must this be con- 
 sidered as a requisition only urged by the solitary 
 
 ' Apud Hoornbeck contra Jud. p. 563 — 565, 567, 568. 
 
138 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 arrogance of a single though eminent doctor. 
 Others of equal reputation, Rabbi Bechai and 
 Rabbi Moses Ben Nachman, have enforced the 
 same bhnd submission to rabbinical dictates ; and 
 the claim is supported by the sanctions of the 
 Talmud, which denounces the most horrible ven- 
 geance against all who contemn them : ' Whoever 
 
 * scorns the words of the wise men, shall be cast 
 ' into boiling dung in hell.'^ This seems to be the 
 punishment which is believed to be the doom of 
 those who apostatize from Judaism to Christianity ; 
 who are expressly excluded from all share of future 
 felicity, unless they timely repent and return to 
 the bosom of the synagogue. The rabbies however 
 allow such persons no time for consideration or 
 repentance ; apostacy is deemed to require immediate 
 extermination ; they pronounce it to be the duty 
 of all faithful Israelites, not to suffer an apostate to 
 die a natural death, but to hurry him away, either 
 by public execution, or private assassination, into 
 those torments which await him in another state. 
 Abarbinel says, ' If any man do not believe all 
 
 * these articles in a right manner, he is already 
 ' excluded from the sum (that is, Israel) ; such a 
 
 * person denies the foundation, and is called a min, 
 ' and an epicurean, and a cutter-off of plants ; and 
 ' it is our duty to hate, despise, and destroy him.' 
 The language of Maimonides is still more explicit : 
 
 ^ Jarchi : Bechai : Nachman : Talmud. Tract. Shabbat. Gittin. 
 Eruvin. apud Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iii. p. 73—75. Bartoloc. Bib. 
 Ilab. torn. iv. p. 361. 
 
APOSTATES. 139 
 
 * It is commanded to slay those of Israel who deny 
 ' the law and the prophets ; if the power is in our 
 
 * hand, then they are to be killed publicly by the 
 
 * sword ; if not, then we must seek, by craft or 
 
 * deceit J to accomplish their death.^^ 
 
 In countries blessed with a regular and vigilant 
 police, the justice of human laws may deter Jews 
 from proceeding to this murderous extremity ; but 
 I cannot find that the principle has ever been 
 formally disavowed or disclaimed by the authority 
 of the synagogue ; and the spirit of the generality 
 of the Jewish people is sufficiently manifest, in the 
 reproachful appellations by which they designate 
 their brethren who have embraced Christianity, and 
 in the curses with which the mention of an Ex-Jew 
 seldom fails to be accompanied by the disciples of 
 the Talmud. One of their most common terms 
 of reproach is ("TDIt^^D) Meshummad ; which signifies 
 a person ruined and destroyed ; and the imprecation 
 that generally follows is (n::n M2i^ Uty) Jemach Shemo 
 Vesicro ; Let his name and memory be blotted out.^ 
 ' Let his name be blotted out,'^ is a curse which 
 they sometimes discharge also against a Christian 
 of Gentile race.^ 
 
 ^ Abarb. Rosh. Amuna, fol. 5. col. 1. Maimon, Yad Hacliasaka, 
 P. 4. N. 10. fol. 49. col. 2. in Hilchoth Rosaiach. These passages are 
 cited in the original Hebrew, and accompanied with an English version, 
 in Frey's Narrative, p. 110, 111. 
 
 2 Frey's Narrative, p. 6, 106—109. Buxtorf. Lexic. Chald. Talm. 
 et Rabb. col. 2441. 
 
 3 R. Moses Ben Nachman. in Disputat. cum Fratre Paulo, p. 25, 
 apud Wagens. Tela Ignea. 
 
 * Other forms of execration in use among the Jews, are — ^Tiie name 
 
140 MODERN JUDAISM: 
 
 The opinion of modern Jews that * the pious 
 ' among the Gentiles will be partakers of future 
 ' happiness/ can only be considered as applicable 
 to virtuous Heathens : no rabbinical author has 
 expressed a similar hope concerning the pious among 
 the Christians, The Jewish writer in a late periodical 
 work, to whom I have already had occasion to refer, 
 has represented their charity as comprehending per- 
 sons of every persuasion. * Our doctrine,* he says,' 
 
 * with regard to a future state, is general to people 
 ' of all religions, expressly asserting * that the virtuous 
 
 * of all nations will be saved : ' for our ancient 
 
 * rabbies, in the Talmud treatise Sanhedrin, expressly 
 
 * say, * That the pious and virtuous of all nations 
 
 * will be rewarded in a future state for their good 
 
 * deeds.' 2 in a subsequent number of the same 
 
 OF THE WICKED SHALL ROT; borrowed from Proverbs x. 7. Thus in 
 one of their books called Sepher Juchasin : * There was Anan the 
 
 * wicked, and his son Saul, (the name of the wicked shall rot) who were 
 ' the disciples of R. Jehuda (blessed be his memory) and they disputed 
 
 * against him and his cabbala.' Thus Maimonides : ' It is commanded 
 
 * to lay violent hands on heretics and epicureans, to destroy them, and 
 
 * to thrust them down into the pit of corruption ; for they trouble Israel, 
 ' and afflict the people of God, like Sadok and Baithos, and their 
 
 * disciples; the name of the wicked shall rot. — Let their breath be 
 
 * stopped. Thus in Sepher Nizzachon : * The unbelievers say that these 
 
 * words relate to Mary, who was a virgin when she bare Jesus; let their 
 
 * breath be stopped, for their eyes see not, neither do their hearts under- 
 ' stand/ — His soul is in hell. Tims in Sepher Juchasin ; ' The 
 
 * temple was destroyed by Titus the wicked ; his soul is in hell.' — Let 
 
 * his bones be pounded. Thus in Bereshith Rabba: * The emperor 
 
 * Adrian {let his bones be pounded) inquired of Rabbi Joshua, the son 
 < of Chanina.' Vid. Nizzachon Vetus, p. 46, apud Wagens. Tela 
 Ignea. Not. in Abarb. de Cap. Fid. p. 85. Jewish Repository, vol. ii. 
 p. 146, 147. 5 Jewish Repository, vol. ii. p. 297. 
 
CASE OF CHRISTIANS. 141 
 
 work it was stated in reply to this gentleman, ' that 
 ' that part of the Talmud to which he had referred, 
 ' makes no such declaration ; ' and he was challenged 
 to * produce a single testimony from any respectable 
 ' author of the Jewish Church, that the Christian 
 ' shall be saved by virtue of his moral life.'^ No 
 such testimony having been produced by him, we 
 have no reason to believe the sentiment which he 
 professes, to be generally entertained by his brethren. 
 On this subject, it is impossible, perhaps, to cite a 
 higher authority than Maimonides ; and the following 
 passages are too plain to be misunderstood. ' The 
 ' pious among the Gentiles will enjoy a place in 
 ' the future world. Those whom we are about to 
 
 * enumerate have no portion in the future world , but 
 ' on account of iniquity and the greatness of their 
 
 * sins are doomed to eternal excision, perdition, and 
 
 * excommunication : heretics, epicureans, those who 
 
 * deny the law,' — after specifying several other kinds 
 of offenders, he proceeds to explain who are included 
 under the respective designations. * They who deny 
 ' the law are of three classes. He who asserts that 
 
 * the law did not come from God, that he never 
 ' revealed a verse or a word, but that Moses spake 
 ' for himself, denies the law ; as he does also, who 
 
 * denies its interpretation, that is, the oral law. He 
 
 * who denies the historical narrations it contains, as 
 
 * Sadoc and Baithos did ; and he who affirms that 
 
 * God has changed this law for another, and that 
 
 » Jewish Repository, vol. ii. p. 409. 
 
142 MODERN JUDAISM. 
 
 ' this law, though it came from God has now ceased, | 
 
 * which is affirmed by (Dn^nm Dn:ii:in) Christians I 
 
 * and Mahometans ; all these three deny the law,' ^ 
 Language so explicit from such a writer, the known 
 deference paid to his authority by the members of the 
 synagogue, the want of a contrary declaration from 
 any of the other doctors, and the numerous passages 
 in many of their writings, which imply the same 
 sentiment as is expressed by Maimonides, leave no 
 doubt respecting the opinion of modern Jews on the 
 future destiny of all Christians. 
 
 1 Maimon. de Pcenit. a Clavering, p. 58, 59, 60. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 JRahhinical Traditions concerning God, — Remarks on 
 their Profaneness. — Some Traditions filthy ^ and some 
 obscene. 
 
 Our attention is next called to the rabbinical 
 traditions, and in the first place to their traditions 
 concerning God. Some passages already cited from 
 the Talmudical and rabbinical writers ^ may serve as 
 specimens of the manner in which they have treated 
 the majesty of Him whom they profess to worship. 
 Most readers, it is presumed, will readily excuse the 
 omission of other extracts so replete with irreverence, 
 impiety and blasphemy. It will be necessary, how- 
 ever, to mention some of these traditions, with 
 references to authorities sufficient for the satisfaction 
 of those w^ho possess opportunity and inclination for 
 further inquiries. 
 
 They represent the Deity — as existing in a human 
 form, of a certain number of millions of miles in 
 height, which they have undertaken to specify, 
 together with the particular dimensions of his respec- 
 tive members : ^ — as circumscribed, since the destruc- 
 tion of the temple, within a space of four cubits : ^ 
 
 » Page 57—59. 112. 
 2 Sepher Rasiel, c. Ixvi. 1. Sepher Othioth, f. 16. c. 3. cited in the 
 Jewish Repository, vol. i. p. 13. 
 
 ^ Berachoth, c. i. p, 8. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. p. 595. 
 
144 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 — as dressed in a snow-white coat, and studying, in 
 the Scriptures by day, and in the Mishna by night : ^ 
 — as employed during the last three hours of every 
 day, before the destruction of the temple, in playing 
 with Leviathan ; and since that event, in sitting to 
 give instruction in the law to young Israelites who 
 have died in infancy : ^ — as reading the Talmud, and 
 rehearsing the decisions of all the rabbies except 
 one : ^ — as putting on the tephillin and taleth, and 
 appearing like a public prayer-reader in a synagogue : '* 
 — as actually praying : ^ — as groaning, howling, and 
 roaring : ^ — as weeping daily : '' — as shedding two 
 tears into the ocean, whenever he remembers the 
 dispersion and distress of his children ; which tears 
 produce an earthquake, and a noise that is heard to 
 the extremities of the world : ^ — as inflamed with 
 a momentary paroxysm of rage every day : ^ — as 
 creating and implanting in man a propensity to 
 
 * R. Menachem Recanatens. in Midrash, f. 97. c. 3, cited in Jewish 
 Repository, vol. i. p. 49. 
 
 2 Avoda Zara, c. i. p. 3, 4. apud Bartoloc. torn. i. p. 548. torn. iii. 
 p. 615. Yalkut Shimoni, f. 50. c. 4, cited in Jewish Repository, vol. i. 
 p. 45. 
 
 3 Chagiga, p. 15. apud Bartoloc. torn. iii. p. 410. 
 
 * Berachoth, c. i. p. 6, 7. Zohar in Exod. p. 62. Rosh Hashana, 
 c. i. p. 17. apud Bartoloc. torn. i. p. 564, 566, 592. 
 
 5 Berachoth, p. 7. apud Bartoloc. torn. i. p. 575. Yalkut Shimoni, 
 f. 54. c. 4. cited in Jewish Repository, vol. i, p. 518. 
 
 « Berachoth, c, i. p. 3. Cholin, c. iii. p. 59. apud Bartoloc. torn, i, 
 p. 553—556. 597, 598. 
 
 7 Chagiga, p. 5. c. 2. apud Bartoloc. torn. iii. p. 408. 
 
 8 Berachoth, o. ix. p. 59. apud Bartoloc. torn. i. p. 596. 
 
 » Berachoth, c. i. p. 7. Avoda Zara, c. i. p. 4. Sanhedrin Chelek, 
 0. ix. p. 105. apud Bartoloc. torn. i. p. 593—595. 
 
SOME TRADITIONS PROFANE. 145 
 
 sin : ^ — as swearing, and afterwards lamenting the 
 obligation, and desiring to be released from his oath ; 
 and at length being released by an angel : ^ — as being 
 deterred from revealing to Jacob the fate of his son 
 Joseph, by the curse which his other sons had 
 denounced upon any who should make that discovery, 
 expressly including God himself : ^ — as exercising 
 little or no providence over the Gentiles : ^ — as 
 engaging in arguments and disputations with angels 
 and even with devils who are supposed to study in 
 the colleges of heaven ; on one of which occasions 
 it is said a rabbi was called in to terminate the 
 controversy, which he decided in God's favour ; and 
 at another time God is said to have acknowledged 
 himself overpowered.^ 
 
 The apology for these representations, that they 
 were not intended to be literally understood, but 
 are altogether figurative and parabolical, which is 
 the only apology ever offered for them, has already 
 been noticed.^ A similar mode of exposition might 
 
 * Bereshith Rabba in Gen. p. 17. c. 2. apud Bartoloc. torn, ii. p. 48, 
 49. Sepher Amude Haggola, n. 53. cited in Jewish Repository, 
 vol. i. p. 404. 
 
 2 Bava Mezia, f- 74. c. 1. Ain Israel, f. 96. c. 2. Megilla Emii- 
 cboth, f. I.e. 4. f. 57. c. 1. cited in Jewish Repository, vol. i. p. 326. 
 
 ^ Jarchi in Gen. xxxvii. 34. apud Bartoloc. torn. i. p. 599. Zedah 
 Laderach, f. 23. c. 3, 4. f. 4. c. 1. Tancburaa, f. 15. c. 4. Bechai in 
 Leg. f. 47 . c. 4. cited in Jewish Repository, vol. i. p. 478. 
 
 * R. David Kimchi, in Amos, et in Isai. apud Bartoloc. torn. i. 
 p. 620, 621. 
 
 * Bava Mezia, c. iv. p. 86. 59. apud Bartoloc. torn. i. p. 636, 037. 
 Yalkut P^eubeni, f. 159. c. 3. Gittin, f. 68. c. 1. Cad Hakkemach, 
 f. 78. c. 4. Bava Mezia, f. 59. cited in Jewish Repository, vol. i. 
 p. 50. 88, 89. « Pages 57—60. 
 
 L 
 
146 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 be employed, and indeed has been employed, in 
 defence of the descriptions and exploits of the 
 fictitious deities of heathen poets ; and, it may safely 
 be added, with similar success. He who can believe 
 that all the reveries of the rabbles were intended 
 as moral and theological apologues, will find little 
 difficulty in persuading himself that there is a pleni- 
 tude of mystical instruction in the mythology of the 
 Heathens.^ 
 
 ' All the poetic beauties of Homer and Hesiod were insufficient to 
 protect them from the censures of some of the philosophers for their 
 fables respecting their gods, Pythagoras is represented by his bio- 
 grapher, as having a vision of these poets in the infernal regions, 
 suffering condign vengeance for those impieties. Xenophanes repro- 
 bated them both, in elegiac, iambic, and heroic verses. Plato is 
 known to have declared the reading of Homer unfit to be tolerated 
 in any well-governed state. Cicero involved the speculations of some 
 philosophers and the fables of the poets in a charge of almost equal 
 absurdity. Laert. Dlog. Lib. 8. Vit. Pi/thag. Lib. 9. Vit. Xenoph. 
 Of these verses of Xenophanes two fragments have been preserved, by 
 tJieir citation in a work of Sextus Empiricus adv. Mathem. p. 57, 341. 
 Vid. Mgid. Menag. in Diog. Laert. L. 9. — Plato de Repub. — Cicero de 
 Natura Deor. Lib. 1. — All these lived before the Christian era. It 
 was reserved for their successors, who witnessed and resisted the 
 promulgation of Christianity, to invent an apology for the poets, which 
 had escaped the sagacity of their admirers for a thousand years, 
 Determined to adhere to the system of polytheism, and to support 
 the orthodoxy of Homer, yet ashamed of 
 
 ' Gods changeful, partial, passionate, unjust; 
 * Whose attributes were rage, revenge, or lust;' 
 
 (Pope.) 
 
 Numcnius, Porphyry, and other heathen philosophers, who lived in the 
 second, third, and fourth centuries of the Christian era, contended that 
 what had been deemed absurd fictions were instructive allegories, and 
 that Homer's machinery was full of dignity and elegance, and pregnant 
 with the subliraest truths; and like some apologists for the Talmud, 
 
SOME TRADITIONS PROFANE. 1'47 
 
 Some learned men, while they have acknowledged 
 themselves incompetent to develop the moral and 
 theological wisdom which they suppose to be con- 
 cealed in numerous passages of the Talmud, have 
 deemed it an unanswerable argument in favour of some 
 figurative and parabolical sense being the true and 
 original meaning of those passages, to allege that 
 the writers could never have been so foolish and 
 absurd as to expect others to believe, or to intend 
 themselves, what their language literally expresses. 
 But this argument is scarcely to be distinguished 
 from what logicians call petitio p^incipii, a gratuitous 
 assumption of the point at issue. If the^ folly and 
 absurdity of any statements, narrative or didactic, 
 understood in the sense which the language of their 
 authors naturally conveys, were admitted as a suf- 
 ficient reason for concluding those authors to have 
 meant something much wiser and better than what 
 they have said; it would equally serve to explain 
 away all the absurdities and follies that were ever 
 broached in the world. 
 
 As the traditions stated in this chapter are horribly 
 profane ; so there are multitudes in the Talmud, 
 of which some cannot but disgust by their JilthinesSy 
 and others must excite detestation by their obscenity. 
 I shall not offend the chaste reader by any specimens 
 of the latter; neither shall I refer to the places 
 where they may be found. Of the former, I will 
 
 these advocates of heathen mythology, endeavoured to make their ex- 
 positions pass for the genuine theology of the author. Porp/n/r. de Anfro 
 Nymph. Essay ■prefixed to Popes Homer ^ sect. ii. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 MODERN JUDAISM. 
 
 venture to produce one sample in a note below, the 
 filthiness being partly concealed under the veil of a 
 dead language.^ — If there be any CEdipus, jealous for 
 the honour of the Talmud, and disposed to try his 
 skill in allegories, I would recommend his beginning 
 with this delicate anecdote ; which if he can succeed 
 in spiritualising or moralising, he need not be afraid 
 of meeting with any enigma too complicated or 
 abstruse for his penetration to decypher. 
 
 ^^ * Dixit R. Akiba ; Ingressus sum aliquando post R. Josuam in 
 ' sedis secretae locum, et tria ab eo didici : Didici primo, quod non 
 
 * versus orientem et occidentem, sed versus septenlrionem et austium 
 
 * nos convertere debeamus. Didici secundo, quod non in pedes 
 
 * erectum, sed jam considentem se retegere liceat. Didici tertio, quod 
 
 * podex non dextera, sed sinistra manu abstergendus sit. Ad hsec 
 ' objecit ibi Ben Hasai : Usque adeo vero perfricuisti frontem erga 
 
 magistrum tuum, ut cacantem observares. Respondit ille : Legis 
 
 * hsec arcana sunt, ad quae discenda id necessario mihi agendum sit. 
 
 * En vero EGREGiAM DOCTRiNAM MORALEM ! ' Talmud Massech. Berach. 
 /. 62. col.l. apud Brucker. Hist. Crit. Philosophioe, tom. ii. p. 836, 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Traditions concerniiis^ angels: — When created: — Their 
 different Natures, — Durations, — Classes, — Orders,-^ 
 Magnitudes and Statures, — Residences. — Seventy 
 Angels set over seventy Nations. — A presiding Angel 
 over every Thing, animate and inanimate, — Guardian 
 Angels, — one for every Man : — Their Functions, — 
 Various accowits of a Personage called Metatron, 
 
 Traditions concerning Demons : — When created : — In 
 what Condition : — Their different natures : — Classes : 
 — Some the Offspring of Others ; and some, of Human 
 Beings, — Account of Lilith, — Sammael and others. 
 Angels of death. — Demons troublesome, mischievous^ 
 — learned in the Law, accustomed to frequent the 
 Synagogues, 
 
 The rabbinical writings abound with traditions 
 concerning angels. Of the time of their creation 
 different accounts are given by different rabbles ; who 
 have endeavoured, in their usual manner, to support 
 their respective statements by the citation of texts 
 of scripture, which they wish their readers to accept 
 as decisive proofs of what they have taken upon 
 themselves to afhrm. To the question, * When 
 
 * were the angels created ? ' Rabbi Jochanan answered : 
 ' The angels were created on the second day ; this is 
 
 * what is written: '^ Who layeth the beams of his 
 
 * chambers in the waters ; who maketh the clouds 
 
 * his chariot ; who walketh upon the wings of the 
 
150 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * wind ; who maketh his angels spirits." Psalm civ. 
 
 * 3, 4. Rabbi Chanina said : * The angels were 
 
 * created on the fifth day ; this is what is found 
 ' written ; '* And fowl that may fly above the earth ; " 
 
 * and *' with twain he did fly." Gen. i. 20. Isa. vi. 2.' 
 Rabbi Luliani maintains the orthodoxy of both these 
 statements : ' They who follow the opinion of R. 
 ' Chanina, and those who adhere to that of R. Jocha- 
 ' nan, all agree that the angels were not created on 
 
 * the first day, that it might not be said, — -Michael 
 ' spread out the firmament in the south, Gabriel in 
 
 * the north, and the holy and blessed God in the 
 
 * middle ; — but — ** I am the Lord that maketh all 
 ' things, that stretcheth forth the heavens alone, that 
 ' spreadeth abroad the earth by myself." Isa. xliv. 
 
 * 24.' ^ — Rabbi Bechai harmonizes them : ' There are 
 
 * some angels who continue for ever, namely, those 
 
 * who w^ere created on the second day : but others 
 
 * perish, according to the explanation of our rabbies 
 ' of blessed memory, who say, that the holy and 
 
 * blessed God created daily a multitude of angels, 
 
 * who sing an anthem to his praise and glory, and 
 
 * then perish ; and they are those who were created 
 
 * on the fifth day.' — Another rabbi contradicts them 
 all : ' Before the creation of the world, the blessed 
 
 * God created the shape of the holy angels, w^ho 
 
 * were the beginning of all created beings, and were 
 
 * derived from the glance of his glory.' ^ The des- 
 
 » Bereshith Rabba, p. 3. c. 2. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. p. 262. 
 » Bechai in Leg. f. 14. c. 1. Jalkut Chadash, Num. 11. cited in 
 Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 72. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING ANGELS. 151 
 
 cription of Daniel, — *' A fiery stream issued, and 
 ** came forth before him : thousand- thousands minis- 
 ** tered unto him," ^ — is supposed by Jacchiades to 
 represent angels as emanations from the divine essence : 
 ' He means to say, that they are of the very substance 
 ' of that divine light, which is of the same nature 
 
 * with the throne of glory : and because they are 
 
 * supporters of the throne, which is flaming fire, they 
 
 * must needs be of a kindred species with it, and 
 
 * be fire, that is, pure light ; though there can be no 
 
 * doubt, but that the light of the throne is a more trans- 
 
 * cendent light, because it is with God himself, and 
 
 * emanated from him the first of any ; whereas the 
 ^ angels were created afterwards, being seraphs, and 
 
 * a stream of fire, that is, light drawn from the 
 
 * first light. '2 — But this comment is at variance with 
 the Talmud, which from the same text has extracted 
 the doctrine of a daily creation of angels who im- 
 mediately sing an anthem, and then expire ; that 
 standard of Jewish orthodoxy not confining this pro- 
 duction of celestial ephemera to one particular day, 
 as R. Bechai does, but extending it to every day : 
 
 * Every day ministering angels are created out of the 
 ' river Dinor, or fiery stream, Daniel vii. 10. and 
 ' they sing an anthem and cease to exist ; as it 
 ' is written : '' They are new every morning : great 
 ' is thy faithfulness.'' Lament, iii. 23.'^ — One book 
 
 * Daniel vii. 10. 
 2 Jacchiad. in Dan. cited by Rev. John Oxlee, on the Trinity, vol. i 
 p. 61, 62, 
 ' Chagiga, c. ii. p. 14. apud Bartoloc. torn. i. p. 257, 258. 
 
152 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 of high authority asserts all angels to be the short- 
 lived creatures of a single day : * The emperor 
 
 * Adrian (let his bones be pounded) once asked Rabbi 
 
 * Joshua, the son of Chanina ; You say that none 
 
 * of the multitudes of angels above do praise God 
 ' twice, but the holy and blessed God creates every 
 ' day in heaven a multitude of angels, who sing an 
 
 * anthem before him and then perish. And Rabbi 
 
 * Joshua answered him ; Yea, we do say so.* * 
 Another represents some angels as exempted from 
 this fate : ' The holy and blessed God creates every 
 
 * day a multitude of angels, and they sing a hymn ; 
 
 * except Michael and Gabriel and the princes of the 
 
 * chariot, and the Metatron and Sandalphon and 
 ' their equals, who remain in their glory with which 
 
 * they were invested in the six days' creation of the 
 
 * world, and their names are never changed. After 
 
 * their hymn of praise, the' ephemeral ' angels return 
 
 * again to the river Dinor, which is the place of their 
 
 * creation, and is derived from the sweat of those 
 
 * animals which are under the throne of glory ; ^ 
 
 * which sweat because they carry the throne of God.'^ 
 — Some angels are said to be created from fire ; 
 others from water : others from wind : but from the 
 sixth verse of the thirty- third Psalm, Rabbi Jona- 
 than inferred ' that there is an angel created by 
 
 > Bereshith Rabba, f. 70. c. 2. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 73. 
 Macbazor, p. 200. apud Bartoloc. torn. i. p. 333. 
 
 ' Jalkut lleubeiii, Num. 125. ibid. vol. ii. p. 73, 74, 
 ' Bereshith Rabba, ibid. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING ANGELS. 153 
 
 * every word that proceeds out of the mouth 
 ' of God.'i 
 
 Angels are described as differing greatly in mag- 
 nitude and stature. The Talmud declares one angel 
 to be taller than another by as many miles as a man 
 would travel in a journey of five hundred years. ^ 
 
 One rabbi affirms, that * four classes of ministering 
 
 * angels sing praises in the presence of the holy and 
 "* blessed God. The first class, at the head of which 
 
 * is Michael, is on his right hand : the second, under 
 ' Gabriel, on his left : the third, under Uriel, before 
 
 * him : the fourth, under Raphael, behind him : and 
 
 * the divine majesty is in the midst, seated on a throne 
 ' high and lifted up.'^ — The distance at which the 
 angels stand from the divine majesty, is pretended to 
 be stated by the famous Rabbi Akiba, almost with the 
 geometrical exactness of an actual admeasurement.^ 
 
 The angelic hierarchy is said by some rabbles to 
 include ten orders, to which they have assigned the fol- 
 lowing appellations : Chaioth-Hakkodesh, Ophanim, 
 Erellim, Chasmalim, Seraphim, Melachim, Elohim, 
 Beni-Elohim, Cherubim, Ishim.^ 
 
 In a book attributed to an angel, called Rasiel, but 
 written by some rabbi whose name is unknown, the 
 celestial regions are said to contain seven firmaments, 
 
 * Berith Menucha, f. 26. c. 1, 4. Menach. Recanat. in Pentateuch, 
 f. 36. c. 1. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 74. Chagiga, c. ii. p. 14. 
 Machazor, p. 500, 501. apud Bartoloc. torn. i. p, 258, 266, 267, 333. 
 
 ^ Chagiga, c. ii. p. 13. apud Bartoloc. tonti. i. p. 256. 
 
 3 R. Eliezer, Perakim, c. iv. apud Bartoloc. torn. i. p. 270, 271. 
 
 * Sephei- Othioth, f. 16. c. 3. cited in Jewish Repos. vol. i. p. 13. 
 
 ■'• Bartoloc. torn. i. p. '267. Koornbeck contra Jud. L. 4. c. 1. p. 308. 
 
154 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 each of them inhabited by angels, divided into classes 
 under the presidency of various archangels. As a 
 specimen of rabbinical angelology, I shall transcribe 
 part of the account given of the first or lowest of these 
 firmaments, which is represented as the least populous. 
 This region is denominated the heavens, and is affirmed 
 to be the residence of seven archangels : Orphaniel, 
 having under him seventy one-angels ; Thagra, seventy- 
 four ; Dandael, thirty-six ; Gadalmijah, forty-six ; 
 Assimur, fifty-eight ; Pascar, thirty-five ; Boel, forty. 
 The second firmament, designated as the heaven of 
 heavens, is divided into ten departments, each occupied 
 by numerous companies of angels under the command 
 of their respective chiefs. But these particulars, it is 
 presumed, will be sufficient on this subject.^ 
 
 High rabbinical authority affirms, that angels were 
 consulted respecting the creation of man ; that they 
 divided into parties, some strongly recommending 
 his creation, and others loudly protesting against it ; 
 that while they were engaged in a fierce dispute on 
 the subject, God made Adam without their know- 
 ledge, and then informed them that their contentions 
 were useless, for that man was already created. ^ — 
 Whatever satisfaction or dissatisfaction was produced 
 in the angelic council by this decision, it was, long 
 after, arraigned at the bar of rabbinical scrutiny, and 
 judgment was formally pronounced against the Creator. 
 The following anecdote of piety and sapience is re- 
 
 ' Sepher Herazim, apud Bartoloc. torn. i. p. 229, 230. 
 * Bereshith Rabba, s. viii. p. 10. c. 1. apud Bartoloc. torn. i. p. 
 263, 264. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING ANGELS. 155 
 
 corded in the Talmud : * The wise men say : For two 
 
 * years and a half the school of Shammai and the 
 
 * school of Hillel disputed among themselves ; some 
 ' asserting that it would have been better if man had 
 
 * not been created ; others contending that it was 
 
 * better for man to have been created. The votes 
 
 * being at length collected and counted, the majority 
 ' were of opinion, that it would have been better 
 
 * if man had not been created ; but that now since he 
 ' had been created, it was his duty to lead a virtuous 
 
 * life.' ^ — Another rabbinical author asserts that the 
 angels were pre^dously consulted about the creation 
 of the world.2 
 
 The writings of the rabbies abound with passages 
 relating to the seventy nations into which they allege 
 the Gentiles to be distributed, and the seventy angels 
 whom they represent as presiding over those seventy 
 nations ; which are said to have been assigned to 
 their respective angels by lot, at the same time that 
 Israel was placed by a fortunate lot under the 
 immediate superintendence of God himself. All this 
 is affirmed to have taken place at the time of the 
 building of Babel. The Targum on the Pentateuch 
 attributed to Jonathan, says : ' The Lord said to the 
 
 * seventy angels that stood before him, ' Come now, 
 
 * and let us go down, and' there let us confound their 
 
 * language, so that a man may not understand the 
 ' language of his companion.' ' And the word of the 
 ' Lord was discovered against that city, and with 
 
 ' Eruvin. fol. 13. b. apud Wagens. Sota, p. 114. 
 
 2 Jalkut. num. 17. p. 14. b. apud Bartoloc. torn. i. p. 264. 
 
156 MODERN JUDAISM: 
 
 * it the seventy angels, according to the seventy 
 
 * nations, — and their respective languages ; which 
 ' each angel respectively wrote with his hand : ' — 
 or as it has been rendered, — * every one had the 
 
 * language of his people, and in his hand their writ- 
 ' ing character.'^ — ' Rabbi Simeon says : * Whence 
 
 * is it proved that he cast lots among them ? From 
 
 * these words ; " When the Most High divided to 
 
 * the nations their inheritance : " then the lot of the 
 
 * holy and blessed God fell on Abraham and his 
 
 * seed, as it is said ; '* For the Lord's portion is his 
 
 * people/' Deut. xxxii. 8, 9. God said. This lot 
 
 * which is fallen to me is to my satisfaction ; as it 
 
 * is written ; " The lot is fallen unto me in a fair 
 
 * ground ; yea, I have a goodly heritage." Psa. xvi. 6. 
 
 * But God went down with the seventy angels which 
 
 * encompass his throne of glory, to confound the 
 
 * one language into seventy languages among seventy 
 
 * nations, and assign each nation its particular lan- 
 
 * guage and writing, and set an angel over each 
 
 * nation. 2 One expounder of the Pentateuch says, 
 
 * that when the people were divided at the building 
 
 * of the tower of Babel, to each nation was assigned 
 
 * a particular part of the earth, and also a prince to 
 ' rule over it.' Another unfolds a little more of this 
 rabbinical angelo-geography : ' The earth consisted 
 
 * of seven climates ; and every climate being divided 
 ' into ten parts, the seven climates together made 
 ' seventy degrees. Then was each country and people 
 
 ' Targum in Gen. xi. 7, 8. apud Walton. Polyglott. torn. iv. 
 » Pirke Eliezer, c. xxiv. cit. in Stehelin, vol. i. p. 178, 179. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING ANGELS. 
 
 157 
 
 * assigned to its respective prince ; and these princes 
 
 * are called the gods of the world. Thus were the 
 ' seventy nations divided among the seventy princes ; 
 ' the blessed God taking no part in them, because he 
 ' is pure. Wherefore they are not children of his 
 
 * image ; nor bear they any resemblance of him ; 
 
 * but Jacob is the portion of his inheritance. ' — 
 
 * The seventy princes which encompass the throne 
 ' of glory are called in the Canticles, '* Watchmen 
 
 * which go about the city." For by them the decrees 
 ' of heaven are brought down ; and each of them 
 ' watches over his people, and is their mediator with 
 
 * God.' ^ — The functions of providence over all the 
 Gentiles seem to be delegated to these angels ; ^ * who 
 ' procure them ease and good things : but as to the 
 
 * Menachem Recanat. in Gen. x. 5. Menachem Zijon. in Pent, 
 f, 105. c. 1. cited in Stehelin, vol. i. p. 175, 177. 
 
 2 That due honour might be rendered to the names of these celestial 
 personages, rabbinical ingenuity has furnished us with the following 
 catalogue. Vid. Bartoloc. Bib. Rah. torn. i. p. 228, 229. 
 
 Kadmiel 
 
 Saturia 
 
 Anael 
 
 Barakiel 
 
 Tatrusia 
 
 Michael 
 
 Gazriel 
 
 Achaniel 
 
 Tasuria 
 
 Chuniel 
 
 Gabriel 
 
 Vathriel 
 
 Rachamiel 
 
 Rabiel 
 
 Dabriel 
 
 Raphael 
 
 Lemael 
 
 Azriel 
 
 Shabniel 
 
 Vahariel 
 
 Nuriel 
 
 Chizkiel 
 
 Susnaia 
 
 Kanunia 
 
 Ilinnael 
 
 Keduraiel 
 
 Rahatiel 
 
 Vadargazia 
 
 Tsuria 
 
 Danadel 
 
 Malchiel 
 
 Kadshiel 
 
 Resisiel 
 
 Pesista 
 
 Gadiel 
 
 Tsadkiel 
 
 Shemael 
 
 Dumiel 
 
 Adriel 
 
 Badel 
 
 Pedael 
 
 Barchiel 
 
 Sania 
 
 Tsurtak 
 
 Anphiel 
 
 Turaiel 
 
 Ahaiel 
 
 Tahariel 
 
 Neriel 
 
 ^^aadiel 
 
 Chasdiel 
 
 Chaniel 
 
 Azariel 
 
 Maronia 
 
 Uriel 
 
 Tsuriel 
 
 Lahadiel 
 
 Neria 
 
 Lasni 
 
 Shior 
 
 Raziel 
 
 Machaniel 
 
 Samchiel 
 
 Camusia 
 
 Nesher 
 
 Jophiel 
 
 Aniel 
 
 Ramiel 
 
 Jediel 
 
 Arieh 
 
158 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * nations, the Lord is not their keeper.' ^ — On the 
 first day of every year, it is said, they are also judged 
 in the court of heaven, together with their people : 
 and in every case of delinquency or transgression, 
 punishment is inflicted, first on the angel-prince, and 
 then on the nation over which he presides.^ — Some- 
 times they are represented as espousing the quarrels 
 of their clients, and engaging in fierce contests with 
 each other, on behalf of those who are in the wrong, 
 as well as of those who have justice on their side.^ — 
 One rabbi assigns to these angels the office of ' mov- 
 
 * ing the heavenly bodies : ' another affirms them to 
 be * the souls of the heavenly bodies : ' and another 
 asserts them to be no other than ' the stars and 
 
 * planets.'^ 
 
 Though these guardians of the nations are frequently 
 described as angels of light, surrounding the throne 
 of the Supreme, and forming his council ; yet at 
 other times, with the usual inconsistency of rabbinical 
 statements, they are represented as demons of dark- 
 ness and powers of uncleanness. Two quotations 
 will be sufficient. ' Then did they (the heathens) 
 ' turn themselves to the worship of demons, which 
 
 1 Cad Hakkemacb, f. 42. c. 1. cited in Stehelin, vol. i. p. 182. 
 
 * Saare Ora, f. 65. c. 1. ibid. i. p. 182 — 184. R. Solomon in Joel, 
 apud Bartoloc. torn. i. p. 337. 
 
 3 .R. Salomon in Genes, apud Bartoloc. torn. i. p. 335, 336. 
 
 Tantsene animis ccelestibus ira ? 
 
 Virg. ^n. Lib. i. v. 15. 
 Can heavenly minds with such fell passions flame ? 
 
 * Nachman. in Legem. Bechai in Legem, f. 9. c. 3. Aben Ezra, 
 apud Abarbin. in Daniel, f. 69. c. 4. Menachem Recanat. in Legem, 
 f. 206. c. 1. ibid. p. 180- vol. ii. p. 83. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING ANGELS. 159 
 
 * are spirits ; some of which are placed as rulers over 
 ' the nations, each presiding over the country com- 
 ' mitted to his care, in order to defend it, and annoy 
 ' its enemies.' i — * The powers of uncleanness are 
 
 * the seventy princes, who liberally distribute to 
 ' the idolatrous nations that are subject to their 
 ' influence.' ^ 
 
 The tutelary functions of angels are not to be 
 limited to a general superintendence over whole 
 nations. Besides those who are honoured with this 
 delegation, the rabbies tell us of others, appointed to 
 preside over individual men ; over animals, reptiles, 
 fishes, and birds ; over fire and water, rain and hail, 
 thunder and lightning, trees and herbs. ^ It is con- 
 fidently asserted, that ' there is nothing in the world, 
 ' not even a small herb, without its governing angel, 
 ^ by whose words and laws it is directed. Wherefore 
 ' it is forbidden to mix things that are not of the 
 
 * same kind or species. For by so doing, the upper 
 ' economy, that is, the angels, will be thrown into 
 ' confusion.' ^ 
 
 The duties of guardian angels assigned to men, 
 are described as very important : ' Every man has his 
 
 » Nachraan. in Legem, f. 59. c. 3. cited in Stehelin, vol. i. p. 185. 
 
 3 Shepha Tal, f. 23. c. 3. ibid. p. 186. 
 
 3 Take the following specimen of rabbinical botany. It is well known 
 
 * that there are in the world two thousand one hundred different kinds 
 
 * of herbs, over which are set angels, according to the mystery of the 
 
 * words which God spake to Job, " Knowest thou the ordinances 
 
 * of heaven ? " that is, the angels who are set over the herbs.' Sepher 
 Magillath Amukoth, f. 32. c. 4. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 77. 
 
 * Jalkut Chadash, f. 147. c. 4. ibid. vol. ii. p. 77. 
 
160 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 angel who speaks for him, and prays for him ; 
 as it is said, (Psal. Ixv. 2.) ** O thou that hearest 
 prayer ; " that is the prayer of the angel, who is 
 the Mashal, or guardian of men. It follows ; 
 ** Unto thee shall all flesh come." Wherefore the 
 angels are not allowed to say their hymns above, 
 till the Israelites have said them here below : for all 
 that a man does is imitated by his Mashal, who 
 performs it above in the same manner in which it is 
 performed here below.' ^ — A man should never ask 
 his necessaries of God in the Syriac or Chaldaic 
 language. The ministering angels do not attend, 
 to carry any one's prayers before God, who petitions 
 for his necessaries in the Syriac language. — This is 
 meant of one single man who prays for himself: 
 by a whole congregation it may be done in all 
 languages, because the presence of God is among 
 them.' 2 — There are three who weave or make 
 garlands out of the prayers of the Israelites : the 
 first is Achtariel ; the second, Metatron ; and the 
 third, Sandalphon. Behold ! these three, who make 
 the garlands, do not attempt to make garlands 
 of any other prayers, but only of such as are made 
 in the Hebrew tongue.' — Amidst such a mass of 
 jargon and reverie, it will be a relief to the reader to 
 meet with a passage so rational and scriptural as the 
 following. * But if one poor in languages, and who 
 ' understands not the Hebrew language, pours out 
 * before the Lord who searches the reins and the 
 
 » Or Chadash, f. 20. c. 2. cited in Stehelin, vol, ii. p. 87. 
 * Talmud. Tract. Shabbath : Sota : ibid, vol, ii. p. 08, 89. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING ANGELS. 161 
 
 * heart, and says his prayers with a low, broken, and 
 ' contrite heart, though it be in a strange language, 
 
 * he will effect more than one who prays in Hebrew 
 
 * without fervency.' ^ 
 
 The rabbinical writers make frequent mention of a 
 personage whom they denominate Metatron, and to 
 whom they ascribe more illustrious prerogatives than 
 to any others of the heavenly host. One rabbi says : 
 
 * The angel Metatron is the king of angels. '^ Another 
 says : ' He is called by the name of Metatron, because 
 
 * that name has two significations, which express his 
 
 * condition, namely, that he is a lord and a messenger. 
 ^ He is lord over all that is under him ; for all the 
 
 * upper and lower lords are subject to his power ; and 
 
 * he is the messenger of him who is above him, who 
 ' is more exalted than himself, who has given him 
 
 * dominion over all that he possesses.'^ Another 
 says, * Metatron distributes among all the princes, 
 
 * or angels of the nations, their necessaries. He 
 
 * gathers all the songs that are made in the universe, 
 
 * because he is set over the songs of sinners, to bring 
 
 * them into the innermost. He ascends up to the 
 ' throne of glory above nine hundred firmaments, 
 
 * to carry up the prayers of the Israelites.'^ He is 
 alleged ^ to have been the conductor of Israel through 
 the wilderness, who is frequently styled an angel, 
 
 » Jalkut Chadash. f. 1 16. c. 2, 3. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 91, 92. 
 
 3 Zohar, f. 137. c. 4. ibid. vol. ii. p. 92. 
 
 ' Bechai in Leg. ibid. vol. ii. p. 92. 
 
 ^ Jalkut Reubeni, f. 27. c. 2, 4. f. 28. c. 1. ibid. vol. ii. p. 93, 94. 
 
 ^ Sanhedrin, perek iv. cited in Oxlee on the Trinity, vol. i. p. 127, 128. 
 
 M 
 
162 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 and of whom God says, *' My name is in him." ^ 
 In reference to that mission Moses Gerundensis says, 
 
 * Our fathers affirm that he is the Metatron ; a name 
 
 * signifying the director of the road.' The same 
 rabbi says, in another place, * The reason why the 
 ' term angel is applied to him, is on account of his 
 ' government of the world. Thus it is written, And 
 
 * the Lord caused us to go forth out of Egypt ; whilst 
 ' it is equally written, And he sent his angel, and 
 
 * caused us to go forth out of Egypt. The same 
 ' is he of whom it is said, '* But God shall suddenly 
 ^ come to his temple, the Lord whom ye seek, and 
 ' the angel of the covenant in whom ye delight, for 
 ' certain shall come." — Mai. iii. 1.'^ Another rabbi 
 says, ' There is a man that is an angel, and this is 
 
 * the Metatron. And there is a man in the image 
 
 » The explanation given of this by the 300 \D 40 Xi 
 
 Cahbalists, is, tliat Metatron is by gemafria 4 1 9 t^ 
 
 the same as Shaddai, or Almighty, according 10 ** 9 tD 
 
 to the annexed calculation. It is scarcely — • — 200 1 
 
 worth while to remark, that this numeration 314 6 ") 
 
 is inconsistent with their own rule, for that 50 3 
 
 Nun, being a final letter, must here be equi- 
 
 valent to 700, and consequently that the 314 
 
 sujiposed agreement does not exist. But 
 
 if the statement were correct, the principle which represents the name 
 Metatron as divine, would equally evince it to be diabolical. As (>m?) 
 Shaddai, Almighty, is one of the names of God, so ('^'^IT) Shed, 
 Desiroi/er, is one of the appellations of demons : and these two words, 
 according to the Cabbalistic temura, must be regarded as the same. 
 (See p. 74 — 76.) What shall we say to a principle of interpretation, 
 which represents names divine, angelic, and diabolical, as mutually 
 convertible ! 
 
 ' Comm. on Exod, xxiii. 20; iii. 2. cited in Oxlee on the Trinity, &c. 
 vol. i. p. 139—142. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING ANGELS. 163 
 
 * of God, who is an emanation from him, and this 
 
 * is Jehovah ; of whom can be affirmed neither 
 
 * creation, nor formation, nor fabrication, but only 
 ' emanation.' ^ From the original dignity and high 
 prerogatives asserted in these and other passages, 
 of which it would be easy to multiply quotations, 
 it has been argued, that the term angel, when 
 applied to this personage, is not employed in its 
 ordinary meaning, but merely expresses a delegation 
 to some illustrious office ; and that the rabbles must 
 have regarded the Metatron as a divine and eternal 
 subsistency, in essence and quality corresponding 
 with what Christians understand by the second 
 personality of the Godhead.^ Nor can it be denied, 
 that, without the supposition of this or some very 
 similar notion, much of what they have said is 
 altogether unintelligible. But, whatever vestiges 
 of ancient revelation may have been preserved in 
 some accounts of the Metatron, the truth requires 
 it to be stated, that the doctors of the synagogue 
 have betrayed, on this point, the same confusion and 
 inconsistency which characterizes their speculations 
 on so many other subjects. One authority says, 
 ' Behold, out of the bodies of Enoch and Elijah 
 '■ are made angelical forms ; for out of Enoch is 
 
 * made Metatron, and out of the body of Elijah 
 
 • Tykune Zohar, Tyk. 67. p. 101. cited in Oxlee on the Trinity, &c. 
 vol. i. p. 132, 133. 
 
 2 Vide Tiie Christian Doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation 
 considered and maintained on the Principles of Judaism. By the 
 Rev. John Oxlee, vol. i. chap. viii. 
 
 M 2 
 
164 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * is made Sandalphon.' ^ Of the language of Moses 
 respecting ^^ Enoch," that he ** walked with God, 
 '^ and was not, for God took him," an eminent rabbi 
 gives the following exposition : * Rabbi Ismael writes 
 
 * thus, I have said unto Metatron, Why art thou 
 
 * with the name of thy Creator called with seventy 
 
 * names ; and why art thou greater than all the 
 
 * princes, and more exalted than all the angels ; 
 
 * more excellent in size, authority, and glory than 
 
 * all the powerful ; more acceptable than all the 
 
 * servants ; and more honoured than all the host ? 
 
 * Then answered he me and said. Because I am 
 
 * Enoch, the son of the Sacred. What did the holy 
 
 * and blessed God, when the generation of the flood 
 ' had sinned and done unrighteous works, saying 
 
 * unto God, Withdraw from us ? He took me away 
 
 * from among them to be a witness against them to 
 
 * all those that should come into the world ; and 
 
 * after the holy and blessed God had taken me away 
 
 * to serve before the throne of glory and the wheels 
 
 * of the chariot, and to do my oflice to the divine 
 
 * majesty, my flesh was presently changed into a 
 
 * flame, my sinews into fire, my bones into juniper 
 ^ coals, and the light of my eyes into flashes of 
 
 * lightning, my eyeballs into fiery torches, and all 
 < my limbs into burning fiery wings, and the trunk 
 
 * of my body into burning fire ; from my right 
 
 * hand were seen fiery flames, and from my left 
 
 * hand burning fiery torches/ ^ According to the 
 
 > Emek Hammelech, f. 178 c. 3. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 57. 
 » Menacliem liecanatens. in Legem, f. 26. c. 3, ibid. vol. ii. p. 94, 95. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING ANGELS. 165 
 
 statement of another rabbi, whose language delicacy 
 forbids me to recite, — while Enoch, alias Metatron, 
 was in the course of his ascension to the celestial 
 regions, the various orders of angels ' smelled the 
 
 * scent of him five thousand three hundred and eighty 
 
 * miles off,' and were somewhat displeased at the 
 introduction or intrusion of a being of human race 
 into their superior world, till God pacified them by 
 explaining the cause of his translation. To complete 
 the ludicrous contrast of meanness with magnificence, 
 it is also affirmed, that ' Metatron was a cobler, and 
 ' was very intent on every stitch, and he spake of 
 ' God : The name of the glory of his kingdom be 
 
 ■ blessed for ever.' ^ 
 
 Having occupied so many pages with the reveries 
 of the rabbies concerning angels, I shall not detain 
 the reader long with their equally wild and incon- 
 sistent accounts concerning demons. 
 
 Various are the notions that have been promul- 
 gated respecting the origin of these evil beings. 
 Sometimes they are represented as having been first, 
 inhabitants of heaven, and having afterwards fallen 
 from that state of holiness and glory, according 
 to some, soon after the creation of Adam ; ^ 
 according to others, in the days of Noah.^ But 
 
 » JalkutReubeni, f. 26. c. 2. f. 28. c. 2. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 95, 96. 
 
 ^ Menachem Recanatens. in Legem, f. 24. c. 1. Jalkut Reubeni, 
 n. 3. Jalkut Shimoni, f. 8. c. 4. ibid. vol. i. p. 193, 196. 
 
 3 R. Eliezer, Perakim. c. 1. p. 8. &c. 27. apud Bartoloc. vol. i. p. 
 297, 317. R. Menass. Ben Israel, Nishmath Chajini; f. 116. c. 1. 
 ibid. vol. ii. p. 115. 
 
166 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 many of the rabbles declare them to have proceeded 
 from the hands of the Creator with all their present 
 evil propensities. Sometimes, they are said to have 
 been made on the same day that witnessed the forma- 
 tion of hell to receive them ; which is asserted to 
 have been the second of the days of creation.^ Some 
 have affirmed that they were made at the close of the 
 sixth day, and that the Creator intended to provide 
 them with bodies, but that immediately on the 
 creation of their spirits, the sabbath commenced, so 
 that there was not time for the Former of all things 
 to complete this part of his plan.^ 
 
 One authority declares that some are made of fire, 
 others of air, others of water and earth.*^ Other 
 rabbles assert them to be all composed of two 
 elements, fire and air> The Talmud says : * Six 
 
 * things are declared concerning demons. They have 
 
 * three things in common with ministering angels : 
 ' and three in common with men. They have 
 
 * wings ; — they fly from one extremity of the world 
 
 * to the other ; — they know future events ; — like 
 ' ministering angels. They eat and drink ; — they 
 ' propagate and multiply ; — and they die ; — like 
 
 * men.' ^ — Some of them are described as the 
 
 ' Menass. de Great, Problem, 23, apiul Iloornbeck contra Jud. L. iv. 
 c. 1. p. 308. Menass. Nishmath Cliajim, f. 32, c. 2. cited in Stehelin, 
 vol. ii. p. 34. 
 
 '■^ Bereshith jlabba, s. 7. p. 9. c. 3. Jalkut, n. 12. p. 11, Zohar, 
 p, 14. apiul Bartoloc. torn. i. p, 289. 
 
 ^ Taf ilaarez, f. 9. c. 1. ibid vol. ii. p. 106. 
 
 '' Nachman in Pentateuch, apud Bartoloc. lorn, i. p. 289. Nishmath 
 Chajim, f. 117. c, 2, ibid. vol. ii. p. 106. 
 
 ^ Cod. Chagiga, o. 2. p. 16. apiid Bartoloc. torn. i. p. 290. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING ANGELS. 167 
 
 offspring of Sammael, who is said to be a fallen 
 seraph, the prince of the infernal host ; — of other 
 demons ; — of Adam, the father of all mankind ; — 
 of Cain ; — and of other men. The rabbies have 
 also provided them with mothers as well as fathers ; 
 and have specified the names of four females to 
 w^hom they attribute this honour: Lilith, Eve our 
 common parent, Naamah, and Agrath.^ From 
 these fables I shall select as much as decency will 
 permit of the story of Lilith ; which may serve as a 
 sufficient specimen of the rest. 
 
 * When the blessed God created the first man, 
 
 * whom he formed alone, without a companion, he 
 
 * said. It is not good that the man should be alone : 
 
 * and therefore he created a woman also out of the 
 ' ground, and named her Lilith. They immediately 
 '^ began to contend with each other for superiority. 
 
 * The man said : It behoves thee to be obedient ; 
 
 * I am to rule over thee. The woman replied : 
 
 * We are on a perfect equality : for we were both 
 
 * formed out of the same earth. So neither would 
 
 * submit to the other. Lilith, seeing this, uttered 
 ' the Shem-hamphorash,' that is, pronounced the 
 name (mn"') Jehovah, ' and instantly flew away 
 
 * through the air. Adam then addressed himself to 
 
 * God, and said : Lord of the universe ! the woman 
 
 » Jalkut, sect. Ber. p. 26. Zohar, sec. Ber. p. 28. Shalsbal. Hak- 
 kabala, p. 83. Zohar, ad cap. 18. Levit. p. 55, 76. apud Bartoloc. 
 torn. i. p. 291— 294. Talmud, Eruvin, f. 18. c. 2. Bereshith Rabba, 
 f. 20. c, 2. Bechai in Legem, f. G. c. 2. Menasseh Ben Israel, Nishmath 
 Chajira, f. 114, c. 2. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 107, 108. 
 
168 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 whom thou gavest me, has flown away from me. 
 God immediately dispatched three angels, Sennoi, 
 Sansennoi, and Sammangeloph, to bring back the 
 fugitive : he said to them : If she consent to return, 
 well ; but if not, you are to leave her, after 
 declaring to her that a hundred of her children shall 
 die every day. These angels then pursued her, and 
 found her in the midst of the sea, in the mighty 
 waters in which the Egyptians were to be afterwards 
 destroyed. They made known to her the divine 
 message, but she refused to return. They threat- 
 ened, unless she would return, to drown her in the 
 sea. She then said, Let me go ; for I was created 
 for no other purpose than to debilitate and destroy 
 young infants ; my power over the males will extend 
 to eight days, and over the females to twenty days, 
 after their birth. On hearing this, the angels 
 were proceeding to seize her and carry her back 
 to Adam by force : but Lilith swore by the name 
 of the living God, that she would refrain from 
 doing any injury to infants, wherever and when- 
 ever she should find those angels, or their names, 
 or their pictures, on parchment or paper, or on 
 whatever else they might be written or drawn : 
 and she consented to the punishment denounced 
 against her by God, that a hundred of her children 
 should die every day. Hence it is that every 
 day witnesses the death of a hundred young 
 demons of her progeny. And for this reason we 
 write the names of these angels on slips of paper 
 or parchment, and bind them upon infants, that 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING DEMONS. 169 
 
 ' Lilith, on seeing them, may remember her oath, 
 
 * and may abstain from doing our infants any 
 
 * injury.' ^ — Another rabbinical writer says : * I 
 
 * have also heard that when the child laughs in its 
 
 * sleep in the night of the sabbath or of the new 
 ' moon, the Lilith laughs and toys with it {': and 
 
 * that it is proper for the father, or mother, or any 
 ' one that sees the infant laugh, to tap it on the 
 ' nose, and say, Hence, begone, cursed LiUth ; for 
 
 * thy abode is not here. This should be said three 
 
 * times, and each repetition should be accompanied 
 
 * with a pat on the nose. This is of great benefit, 
 
 * because it is in the power of Lilith to destroy 
 
 * children whenever she pleases.' ^ 
 
 The rabbies represent the removal of men from the 
 present life as effected by the agency of angels or 
 demons, whom they denominate Angels of Death. 
 The execution of the mortal sentence, on those who 
 die in the land of Israel, is assigned to Gabriel, 
 whom they style an angel of mercy ; and those who 
 die in other countries are dispatched by the hand 
 of Sammael, the prince of demons. * These two 
 
 * are deputies of Metatron, to whom God daily makes 
 
 * known those who are appointed to die. These 
 
 * deputies do not themselves bring away any souls 
 
 * out of the world ; but each of them employs some 
 ' of his host for that purpose.' — The title of angel 
 of death, however, is most commonly given to 
 
 ' Ben Sira, p. 23. apud Bartoloc. torn. i. p. 69 — 71. Buxtorf, 
 Synag. Jud. c. 4. p. 81 — 83. 
 
 ' Emek Hammelech, f. 84. c. 2. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 1 13c 
 
170 MODERN JUDAISM: 
 
 Sammael ; but several of the rabbles confidently 
 assert that he has no power over the Jews : God 
 himself is represented as saying to him, ' The world 
 
 * is in thy power, except this people. — I have given 
 
 * thee authority to root out the idolaters ; but over 
 
 * this people I have given thee no power.' ^ 
 
 Menasseh Ben Israel tells us ; ' The Mishnic doctors 
 ' have said that there are three sorts of demons : the 
 ' first, resembling ministering angels ; the second 
 ' resembling the children of men ; and the third, like 
 
 * the cattle.' — Of the first class he says, * There are 
 
 * those among them, who are wise in the law, both 
 
 * written and oral.' ^ 
 
 Some demons are described as having no power to 
 do any*great mischief, but as delighting themselves 
 with hoaxing men by various waggish tricks. Others 
 are represented as polluting fountains and streams 
 of water ; others, as afflicting mankind with sudden 
 and grievous distempers ; and others, as doing various 
 injuries to human beings while asleep.^ 
 
 On the divine command to Noah, to '* bring into 
 ** the ark of every living thing of all flesh, two 
 *' of every sort, to keep them alive," — one of the 
 oracles of the synagogue says : ' Our rabbies of blessed 
 
 ' Taf Haarez, f. 16. c. 3. f. 31. c. 4. Jalkut Chadash, f. 31. c. 3, 4. 
 Vajikra Rabba, f. 151. c. 1. Bamidbar Rabba, f. 219. c. 1. Mena- 
 chern Recanatens, f. 120. c. 3. Jalkut Reubeni, f. 189. c. 2. cited 
 in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 213 — ^215. 
 
 2 Nishmath Chajim, f. 114. c. 1. ibid. p. 115, 116. 
 
 s Emek Hammelech, f. 130. c. 1. Talmud. Tract. Cholin, f. 105. 
 c. 2. Nis!imath Chajim, f. 142. c. 2. Jalkut Reubeni, n. 7. Zohar, 
 f. 29. 387 ibid. p. 117, 1 18- 128, 129. 132. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING DEMONS. 171 
 
 ' memory have explained it so, that even the demons 
 ' were comprehended among them, and that the 
 ' blessed God commanded Noah to suffer them to 
 ' enter the ark; and this explanation is right.' — The 
 same rabbi says, ' The preservation of the demons 
 
 * consists in the harmony of the elements of which 
 
 * they are composed, and their death in the division 
 
 * thereof.' — Another authority says, * There will 
 
 * none of the powers of uncleanness perish ; but they 
 ' will all be purified and made holy.' ^ 
 
 This brief sketch of traditions concerning demons 
 shall be concluded with an extract from the Talmud.^ 
 
 * If the eye had been capable of discerning, no man 
 
 * could subsist on account of the demons. There are 
 
 * more of them than of us : they stand about us, as 
 
 * a fence flung up out of ditches, about land in a 
 ' garden. Every rabbi has a thousand on his left, 
 ' and ten thousand on his right side. The thronging 
 ' and squeezing on a sabbath in our synagogues, 
 
 * where one would think there is room enough, yet 
 ' each imagines he sits too close to another, is oc- 
 
 * casioned by them ; for they come to hear the 
 ' sermon.' To any person desirous of seeing these 
 ghostly personages in his dwelling house, the Talmud, 
 in the same page, prescribes the following method, 
 no doubt a most efficacious one, of sharpening his 
 corporeal vision, ' Let him who wishes to discover 
 
 * them (demons) take clear ashes, and pass them 
 
 ^ R. Bechai in Legem, f. 18. c. 1. f. 139. c. 5 .Jalkut Chadash, 
 f. 66. c. 1. f. 184. c. 1. cited in Stehelin, vol, ii. p. 133, 139. 
 - Berachothjf. 6. c. 1. ibid. p. 123, 
 
172 MODERN JUDAISM. 
 
 * through a sieve at his beside ; and in the morning 
 ' he will perceive the tracings, as it were, of the feet 
 
 * of cocks. Let him who desires to see them take 
 
 * of the secundine of a black cat, which is of the 
 
 * first litter of a black cat, which was of the first litter 
 
 * of the mother ; and, having burnt the same in the 
 
 * fire, beat it to powder, and put a little of it in his 
 
 * eyes ; and then he will see them.' — The reader will 
 remember that these passages are to be found in a 
 book which the rabbies have pronounced far more 
 valuable than the writings of Moses and the Prophets.^ 
 
 ' See pages 35, 36. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Traditions concerning Paradise. — Paradise twofold, 
 Upper and Lotver.—Loiver, when created, — where 
 situated. — Both called by seven Names. — Communica- 
 tion between them. — Lower, the first Abode of the 
 disembodied Righteous : — Its Light, — and Sustenance. 
 — Residents in the Upper revisit the Lower. — Both 
 divided into seven Districts. — Occupied by Seven Orders 
 of Righteous Spirits: — Their Stations, — Clothing. — 
 Stratagem of a cunning Rabbi to force himself into 
 Paradise. — 
 
 Traditions concerning Hell. Hell twofold, — Creation, — 
 Names, — Extent, — Divisions, — Punishments : — Their 
 Duration, — Intermissions. 
 
 The pretensions of the rabbles to an extensive 
 acquaintance with Paradise have been alluded to in a 
 former chapter. ^ They profess to have obtained 
 an equal knowledge of Hell. The present chapter 
 will exhibit an abstract of their multifarious tradi- 
 tions concerning those abodes of happiness and 
 misery. 
 
 Paradise is asserted to be twofold. Menasseh Ben 
 Israel says, * that the experienced in the Cabbala 
 * unanimously declare, that one paradise is above, 
 ' and another here below : and they speak the truth. — 
 
 ' Page 136. 
 
174 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * There is a paradise above in heaven, and a paradise 
 ' here below upon earth.' ^ 
 
 Some authorities say, that ' paradise was created 
 ' on the second day of the creation.' One affirms, 
 ' that the lower paradise was created 1365 years 
 ' before the creation of the world.' ^ 
 
 A rabbinical geographer of the fifteenth century 
 tells us where this lower paradise is situated. ' It is 
 
 * clear from the words of the scribes, that on a certain 
 ' portion of this earth there is a paradise ; and that 
 ^ thence issue four rivers, one of which is Euphrates 
 / that encompasses the land of Israel. — It is likewise 
 ' asserted by the knowing, that paradise is situated 
 ' under the middle line of the world, where the days 
 
 * are always of equal length.' ^ — Another authority 
 says, in one place, ' Paradise and Hell are close to 
 ' one another, being only parted by a wall ; ' and in 
 another place, * The distance between paradise and 
 ' hell is but the thickness of a thread.''* 
 
 In their descriptions of both the upper and lower 
 paradise they have followed their usual custom of 
 referring or alluding, on every possible occasion, to 
 some passages of scripture which they wish to be 
 considered as supporting their whimsical tradition. 
 ' Behold,' says Menasseh, * the upper paradise is 
 
 * called by seven names ; — The bundle of life ; — ^I'he 
 
 ' Nishmath Chajim, f. 25. c. 2. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 2, 3. 
 a Jalkut Shimoni, f. 5. c. 4. Bereshith Rabba, f. 21. c.l. Jalkut 
 Reubeni, f. 41. c. 2. ibid. p. 3. 
 
 ^ Sepher Hamunoth, f. 65. c. 1. ibid. p. 4. 
 " Zijoni, f, 11. c. 2. f. 69. c. 3. ibid. p. 21, 22. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING PARADISE. 175 
 
 ' tabernacle of the Lord ; — The holy hill ; — The 
 
 * courts of the Lord ; — The house of the Lord ; — 
 ' The hill of the Lord ; — and the holy place.' — ' In 
 
 * like manner as there is a paradise above, so there 
 ' is one here below : and I have discovered that this 
 ' lower paradise passes under seven appellations. It 
 ' is called — The garden of Eden, that is, the garden 
 ' of delight ; — The palace of the Lord ; — The land 
 
 * of the living ; — The sanctuary of God ; — The city 
 ' of God ; — The dwelling of the Lord ; — lands, in 
 ' the plural number, The lands of the living.' ^ 
 
 On the communication between the lower and 
 upper paradise, one authority says : * There is an 
 ' upper and a lower paradise ; and between them, 
 
 * upright, is fixed a pillar : by this they are joined 
 
 * together, and it is called the strength of the hill 
 
 * of Zion. By this pillar, on every sabbath and 
 
 * festival, the righteous climb up, and feed themselves 
 
 * with a glance of the divine majesty, till the end 
 ' of the sabbath or festival ; • when they slide down 
 ' and return to the lower paradise.' ^ Access to the 
 upper paradise is represented as a privilege not granted 
 to the spirits of the righteous immediatel) on their 
 being disembodied : it would seem, they are first to 
 pass a kind of noviciate in the lower paradise. ' The 
 ' soul does not presently, and as soon as she is out 
 
 * of the body, ascend into the upper paradise. 
 ' Having been habituated to the dulness and obscurity 
 
 * of the body to which she was allied, she is not able 
 
 » NishmathChajim,f. 26. c.l.f.27.c.l.citedin Stehelin, vol.ii. p. 5—8. 
 2 Jalkut Chadash, f. 57. c. 2. ibid. p. 25. 
 
176 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * to bear the mighty light above, which is infinite ; 
 
 * till by degrees she is accustomed to it in the lower 
 
 * paradise : and this lower paradise is the middle state 
 
 * between this corporeal world and that spiritual pure 
 ' and illustrious world : it is made of the matter of 
 
 * them both, and contains such things as are found 
 
 * in both. '1 
 
 Another rabbi describes the perpetual light which 
 illuminates paradise, and the sustenance of its 
 inhabitants. * Our sages have committed this oral 
 
 * tradition to writing ; — that that place (Paradise) is 
 
 * of a mighty compass, and that therein stands a 
 ' vast laver, which is filled with the dew of the 
 
 * highest heaven, the mystery of the name of the 
 
 * holy and blessed God : — that there is a light which 
 
 * is never eclipsed or obscured, derived from that 
 ' upper light by which the first men could view the 
 
 * world from one end to the other ; and that this is 
 ' that acceptable light wherewith the righteous are 
 
 * crowned : — that the ground is paved with precious 
 
 * stones, the lustre of which may be compared to 
 
 * the light of burning torches : — also that all round 
 
 * on the sides of this laver grow various trees and 
 ' herbs, of great fragrancy and medicinal virtues. — 
 ' All this glory and excellency and delight for the 
 
 * souls of the righteous, is prepared in the lower 
 
 * paradise. For twice every day the dew of life flows 
 
 * upon them : and with this dew the holy and blessed 
 
 * God will hereafter awake the dead : and with this 
 
 > Avodath Hakkodesh, f. 44. c. 4. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 25. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING PARADISE. 177 
 
 * dew the righteous are nourished, in the same manner 
 
 * as the angels are subsisted through the glory 
 
 * of the divine majesty : and through this they know 
 
 * and comprehend all things, past, present, and to 
 
 * come, till the resurrection of the dead : and after 
 ' all this glory and excellency they are made worthy 
 
 * to appear before the king, the Lord of hosts, in 
 ' the place of his glory in the upper paradise.' ^ 
 
 Disembodied spirits appear to be in the habit of 
 revisiting this lower world even after their admission 
 into the upper paradise. ^ In like manner as souls 
 ' do, every twelve month after their departure from 
 ' the body, ascend and descend, because they cannot 
 
 * be utterly separated from their bodies, the abodes 
 
 * of their glory ; so do they sometimes descend to 
 
 * the lower paradise, on account of the wonderful 
 
 * pleasure and delight which they enjoyed there : and 
 ' being come to that paradise, they repair to their 
 
 * former palaces or habitations ; like great kings, 
 
 * who, beside the palaces in their cities of residence, 
 ' have other royal houses and places, to which they 
 
 * repair for pleasure, or when they are on journeys, 
 
 * in order to magnify the idea of their grandeur and 
 
 * magnificence.' ^ 
 
 * Both in the upper and in the lower paradise there 
 
 * are ' asserted to be * seven apartments or dwellings 
 
 * for the reward of the righteous.' Respecting many 
 of the accounts of paradise, it is difficult to ascertain 
 whether they refer to the upper or lower paradise ; 
 
 ' Avodath Ilakkodesb, f. 46. c. 1,2. cited in Slehelin, vol. ii. p. 20, 
 23, 24. 2 Nishmath Chajim, f. 28. c. 1. ibid. p. 20. 
 
 N 
 
178 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 or whether some of the writers had any notion 
 of more than one paradise. A certain rabbi is said 
 to have * sought all over paradise, and he found 
 
 * therein seven houses or dwellings : and each house 
 
 * was twelve times ten thousand miles long, and 
 ' twelve times ten thousand miles wide.' ^ 
 
 It is stated, that ' there are seven parties or orders 
 
 * which shall hereafter stand before God,' and that 
 
 * each of these orders or parties has its particular 
 ' abode or dwelling in the upper paradise.' ^ — ' The 
 
 * First party or order consists of those who, for the 
 ' kingdom and honour of God, suffered death, by 
 ' the government under whose authority they were : 
 
 * as the Rabbi Akiba and his disciples were put to 
 
 * death by the government of Rome. The Second 
 
 * order consists of those who have been drowned in 
 ' the sea. The Third is the rabbi Jochanan Ben 
 
 * Zachai and his disciples. The Fourth order consists 
 ' of those on whom descended a cloud which covered 
 
 * them. The Fifth consists of those who have re- 
 
 * pen ted : and in the same place as the penitents, 
 ' stand the perfectly righteous. The Sixth order 
 
 * consists of those who never married, and who in all 
 
 * their lives never tasted of sin. The Seventh consists 
 
 * of the poor, who exercised themselves in the Bible 
 
 * and Mishna, and in an honest vocation. — Observe, 
 
 * then, that to every order is allotted a distinct abode : 
 
 * and the highest order, beyond which none can go, 
 
 * consists of those who, for the kingdom and honour 
 
 1 Nishmath Chajim, Talmud, cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 8, 9. 
 
 2 Midrash Tillim, f. 11. c. 3. ibid. p. 12, 13. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING PARADISE. 179 
 
 ' of God, suffered death from the government under 
 
 * which they lived ; as the Rabbi Akiba^ and his 
 ' disciples.'- — Most of the inhabitants of paradise 
 are represented as stationary, but to a select few 
 rabbinical courtesy has allotted the privilege of oc- 
 casional perambulation to visit their neigbours. * In 
 
 * paradise, every one has his particular abode, and is 
 ' not allowed to go out, or ascend to the dwelling 
 
 * of his superior neighbour ; for if he do, he is pre- 
 ' sently consumed by his neighbour's great fire. And 
 
 * thus they are called slanders, because they stand or 
 '■ keep to their posts, or allotted places. There are, 
 
 * indeed, some pious ones, but their number is small, 
 
 * who, being worthy of cleaving to the holy and 
 
 * blessed God, are suffered to ascend or descend, to 
 ' go into the upper and lower places, and to walk in 
 ' all the quarters, and about all the gates and apart- 
 
 * ments : and this is a preeminence above which 
 ' there is none : and these, when they walk about in 
 ' the palaces of the angels, the quarters of paradise, 
 
 * and the dwellings of the other righteous, com- 
 ' municate to them of the lustre of that wisdom 
 
 * which God has abundantly vouchsafed to them.* ^ 
 
 » The reader who remembers the filthy anecdote of this rabbi, related 
 in p. 148, and the cause in which he lost his life, p. 69, may reasonably 
 doubt whether personal purity of manners, virtuous conduct towards 
 men, or piety towards God, form any of the requisites to a canonization 
 among Jewish martyrs. Yet this high eulogium on Rabbi Akiba is 
 pronounced by one who is reputed * a man of extreme piety.' See 
 page 74. 
 
 2 Menass. Ben Israel in Nishmath Chajim, f. 27. c. 2. cited in Stehelni, 
 vol. ii. p. 13, 14. 
 
 3 Nishmath Adam, c. 10. f. 39. ibid, page 15, 1(5. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 The dead are represented, by some rabbles, as 
 wearing in another world the clothes in which they 
 are laid in their graves ; and by others, as being 
 stripped of those garments, and invested with new 
 and splendid attire. — * Rabbi Ponim, an ancient man, 
 whose business was about the dead, in the holy 
 community at Worms,' is asserted to have seen 
 an apparition, who had a garland on his head, and 
 who said. Yesterday when thou didst clothe me in 
 my funeral attire, thou didst tear my sleeve. Then 
 asked Rabbi Ponim, What is the meaning of that 
 garland ? The apparition answered, I wear it that 
 the wind of the world may not have power over 
 me ; for it consists of excellent herbs of paradise. 
 Then did Rabbi Ponim mend the sleeve of the 
 deceased : for the deceased had said, that if it was 
 not mended, he should be ashamed to be seen among 
 others whose apparel was whole. -And then the 
 apparition vanished.' ^ Another book of high 
 authority, gives the following very different account. 
 There are in paradise two gates of rubies ; and over 
 them stand sixty times ten thousand ministering 
 spirits ; and the countenance of every one shines 
 like the brightness of the firmament. When one 
 of the righteous arrives there, they take off the 
 clothes with which he was laid in the grave, and 
 clothe him in eight garments of the clouds of glory. 
 Then they put upon his head two crowns, one 
 composed of pearls and jewels, and the other 
 
 ' Masae Book_, c. 213, cited in Stelielin, vol. ii. p. 19, 20. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING PARADISE. 181 
 
 * of fine gold ; and put into his hand eight myrrh- 
 
 * plants. Then they praise him and say, ' Go now, 
 
 * eat thy bread with joy.' ^ 
 
 This part of the chapter shall be concluded with 
 an account of the stratagem by which Jehosha, a 
 cunning rabbi, is represented in the Talmud, as 
 outwitting the angel of death, and getting himself, 
 both soul and body, into paradise without dying. 
 
 * Our rabbies of blessed memory say, that Rabbi 
 ' Jehosha Ben Levi was a perfectly righteous man. 
 
 * Now when the time of his departure from this 
 ' world was at hand, the holy and blessed God said 
 
 * to the angel of death, Comply with all that he 
 
 * requires of thee. Then said the angel to Jehosha, 
 
 * The time draweth nigh w^hen thou art to depart 
 ' from this world : I will grant thee all that thou 
 
 * requirest. When Rabbi Jehosha heard this, he said 
 
 * to him, My request to thee is, that thou wilt shew 
 
 * me my place in paradise. And the angel said to 
 
 * him, Come along with me : I will shew it thee. 
 
 * Whereupon Rabbi Jehosha said. Give me thy sword, 
 ' that thou may est not therewith surprise me. And 
 
 * immediately the angel of death gave him his sword ; 
 ' and they went together, till they came up to the 
 
 * walls of paradise. When they were come up to 
 
 * the walls, the angel of death raised Rabbi Jehosha 
 ' up, and set him upon them. Then jumped Rabbi 
 
 * Jehosha Ben Levi from the walls, and descended 
 ' into paradise. But the angel of death caught hold 
 
 » Jalkat Shimoni, f. 7. c. 1. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 16. 
 
182 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ' of the skirts of his cloak, and said to him, Do thou 
 
 * come out. But Rabbi Jehosha did swear by the 
 ' name of the eternal God that he would not come 
 ' out from thence : and the angel of death had not 
 
 * power to enter in. Hereupon the ministering angels 
 ' presented themselves before God, and said, Behold 
 ' what the son of Levi has done : he has by force 
 ' taken his part in paradise.' Then follows a con- 
 versation which terminates in a decision that ' he 
 
 * shall not go out of paradise. And the angel of 
 ' death, seeing that he could not draw him out, said 
 
 * to him. Give me my sword. But Rabbi Jehosha 
 ' refused to give it him, till ' (another rabbinical 
 authority says, * at the end of seven years ' ) * a 
 ' voice came from heaven, which said, Give him 
 
 * the sword ; for he has occasion for it, for the 
 ' killing of others therewith. And Rabbi Jehosha 
 
 * said to him, Swear thou to me, that thou wilt not 
 
 * let it be seen by man, or any creature, when thou 
 
 * takest away their souls. For before that time the 
 ' angel had been used to slay mankind, even the 
 
 * infant on the mother's lap, in a manner visible to 
 ' all. And the angel of death did swear in that 
 ' same hour ; and Jehosha gave him his sword 
 ' again. Then Elijah began to lift up his voice 
 ' before Rabbi Jehosha, saying to the righteous, 
 ' Make room for the son of Levi ; make room for 
 ' the son of Levi.' ^ 
 
 » Talmud Treat. Clietuvoth, f. 77. c. 2. Colbo, f. 136. c. 4. f. 137. 
 c. 1. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 220 — 222. Ben Sira, ibid, p. 219- 
 Vid. Bartoloc. Bib. Ilab. torn. iii. p. 280, 281. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING HELL. 183 
 
 * As there is an upper and a lower paradise, so 
 
 * likewise,' some of the rabbies affirm, * there is an 
 
 * upper and a lower Hell.' ^ But from the language 
 of many, it is doubtful whether this notion was 
 generally adopted by them. 
 
 By some rabbies. Hell is said to have been created 
 before the world : but others assert it to have been 
 formed on the second day of the creation ; ^ and 
 the omission on the second day of the declaration 
 made concerning the work of every other day, *' that 
 it was good," is supposed to have been occasioned by 
 the creation of hell on that day. 
 
 The general appellation by which the rabbies de- 
 signate this region of misery is Gehinnom ; borrowed 
 from the name of a valley near to Jerusalem, where 
 idolatrous Israelites sometimes sacrificed their children 
 in the fire to Moloch.^ From various passages of 
 scripture the Talmud has derived, or extorted, seven 
 other names : — Hell ; — Destruction ; — Corruption ; — 
 A horrible pit ; — The miry clay ; — The Shadow 
 of death ; — The nether parts of the earth.* — These 
 names are said to be the appellations of seven sections, 
 or mansions, into which Hell is divided. * Each 
 
 * of these names is assigned to a distinct abode ; 
 ' and they are all together called Gehinnom.'^ — It 
 
 * Avodath Hakkodesh, f. 47. c. 1. et al. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 35. 
 
 2 Midrash Mishle. Jalkut Chadash. Bechai in Legem, f. 5. c, 4. 
 Jalkut Shimoni, f. 5. c. 4. ibid. p. 34, 
 
 3 Elias Tishbit. f. 14. c. 2. D. Kimchi, in 2 Kings xxiii. 10. in 
 Psalm xxvii. 13. ibid. p. 31—33. 
 
 * Eruvin, c. ii. p. 19. apvid Bartoloc. torn. ii. p. 131. ibid. vol. ii. 
 p. 33. 
 
 ^ Avodath Hakkodesh, f. 47. c 1. ibid. p. 36, 37. 
 
184 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 is further stated, that ' In Hell there are seven 
 
 * dwellings or divisions ; and in each division, six 
 
 * thousand houses ; and in each house, six thousand 
 
 * chests ; and in each chest, six thousand barrels 
 ' of gall.' 1 
 
 According to one authority, each of these seven 
 divisions is 'one hundred miles in length, and fifty 
 
 * miles in breadth : ' ^ by another, every one is de- 
 clared to be * three hundred miles in length, three 
 
 * hundred miles in breadth, three hundred miles thick, 
 ' and one hundred miles deep.' ^ — In another book 
 they are represented as very spacious, but of very 
 unequal extent : * The seven abodes are very spacious : 
 ' and in each there are seven rivers of fire, and seven 
 
 * rivers of hail. The second abode is sixty times 
 ' larger than the first, and every abode is sixty times 
 ' larger than that which precedes it. In each abode 
 ' are seven thousand caverns ; and in each cavern, 
 
 . ' seven thousand clifts ; and in each clift, seven 
 ' thousand scorpions ; each scorpion has seven limbs, 
 ' and on each limb are seven thousand barrels of gall. 
 ' There are likewise seven rivers of the rankest poison, 
 ' which when a man touches, he bursts.'^ Another 
 high authority affirms each of these divisions to be 
 ' as far in depth as one can walk in three hundred 
 
 ' Reshith Cochmah, f. 47. c. 2. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 37, 38. 
 
 2 Torath Adam, f. 97. c. 1. ibid. p. 47. 
 
 ^ Jalkut Chadash, f. 144. c. 2. ibid. p. 38.— If the mathematical 
 reader feel any surprise at this discovery of a fourth dimension, he must 
 remember that rabbinical science almost entirely consists of wonders 
 unknown to tiie rest of the world. 
 
 1 Jalkut lleubeui, f. 3. c. 2. ibid, p. 52. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING HELL, 185 
 
 ' years.' * — The whole extent is described in the 
 Talmud in the following terms : ' Egypt is four 
 ' hundred miles in length and the same in breadth. 
 
 * Egypt is equal in extent to a sixth part of Ethiopia ; 
 
 * Ethiopia to a sixth part of the world ; the world to 
 
 * a sixth part of the garden of Eden ; the garden to 
 
 * a sixth part of Eden ; Eden to a sixth part of Hell. 
 
 * The whole world, therefore, in respect of Hell is but 
 
 * as the cover of a caldron ; and the extent of Hell 
 
 * is inadequately expressed even by this comparison.' ^ 
 
 The different districts of hell are sometimes said 
 to be appointed for the infliction of different degrees 
 of punishment. * The punishment of the wicked is 
 
 * not alike among them all. — Every one is assigned 
 
 * to this or that dwelling, according as he has deserved. 
 
 * For which reason the fire of one division is more 
 ' fierce and devouring than that of another. So 
 
 * that our rabbies have said, that the fire in the first 
 
 * division is not a sixtieth part so fierce as the fire in 
 ' the second ; and that there is that difference in 
 
 * violence between all the other fires.' -^ — Of the fire 
 of hell generally, Menasseh says, * It is able to burn 
 ' the souls of the wicked ; which no terrestrial fire 
 ' can do. ' ^ — Another rabbinical writer says, of the 
 first division ; * In it there are many caverns, and in 
 
 * them are fiery lions : and when a man falls into one 
 
 * Sepher Rasiel, f. 47. c. 1. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 38. 
 
 2 Pesachim, f. 94. a. Taanith, f. 10. a. apud Wagens. Sota, p. 220. 
 Bartoloc. torn. ii. p. 161. ibid. vol. ii. p. 36. 
 
 ' Avodalh llakkoJcsb, f. 47. c. 1. ibid. p. 36, 38. 
 
 * Nishmath Chajim, f. 34. c. 1. ibid. p. 38, 39. 
 
186 MODERN JUDAISM *. 
 
 ' of those caverns, the lions devour him : and when 
 
 * he is consumed, he appears again, as perfect as if he 
 ' had not been touched by the fire : and they who 
 ' are thus restored, are afterwards thrown into the 
 
 * fire of every cavern in the first division. — In it are 
 ' ten of the seventy nations : ^ and among them is 
 
 * Absalom. — An angel beats every one with a fiery 
 
 * whip, — and they are thrown in and consumed with 
 ' fire. Then are brought forth others, whom he like- 
 ' wise beats ; and they are thrown into the fire. And 
 ' thus are all of them served, till all have had their 
 ' doom. Last of all, Absalom is brought forth, in 
 
 * order to his receiving the same punishment. But 
 ' then is heard a voice from heaven, saying, Beat him 
 
 * not, neither burn him ; because he is one of the 
 
 * sons of my beloved, who said at Mount Sinai, All 
 ' that the Lord hath said, we will do.' The process 
 of beating and burning is said to be repeated seven 
 times in the day, and three times in the night ; but 
 Absalom is declared to be exempted from it all. The 
 same writer proceeds to describe each of the six other 
 infernal mansions as containing ten of the seventy 
 nations who undergo the same punishments, and one 
 or more wicked Israelites who enjoy the same exemp- 
 tion as Absalom. ^ Such is the manner in which 
 rabbinical justice dispenses vengeance to the Gentiles, 
 and impunity to wicked Israelites. The Talmud 
 declares, that ' The fire of hell has no power over 
 
 * See page 155, &c. 
 
 ^ Torath Adam, f. 07. c. 1—3. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 47—50. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING HELL. 187 
 
 ' the sinners among the Israelites. ' ^ Another oracle 
 says : * Hereafter both the Israelites and the people 
 
 * of the world shall go down to hell : and the people 
 
 * of the world shall be consumed and destroyed ; but 
 ' the Israelites shall come out again unhurt.' ^ 
 
 Infernal punishment is frequently represented as a 
 purgatorial process, necessary in almost all cases, to 
 qualify for a state of future happiness. Menasseh 
 Ben Israel says : * If a soul is polluted with an evil 
 ' faith and with abominable works, and is not washed 
 ' with the nitre of God's commandments, then she 
 ' remains, without repentance, defiled ; and her sins 
 
 * are stains from which she is not to be cleansed but 
 
 * in hell. Yet punishment is not alike to all men. 
 
 * For as to the righteous who have once or twice 
 
 * wrought the works of the wicked and transgressed 
 
 * the law (for in truth there is no one upon earth so 
 ' righteous as to do good and commit no sin) these 
 
 * undergo no more than to be washed in water, and 
 
 * to continue a little time in hell ; for they quickly 
 
 * pass through it. And our cabbalists are of opinion, 
 
 * that most of the righteous who appear on earth are 
 ' subject to this punishment, in order to their being 
 
 * cleansed from their stains. ' ^ — According to other 
 statements, there seems, as far as Israelites are con- 
 cerned, to be very little difference made between the 
 righteous and the wicked : * Nor has the fire of hell 
 
 * any power over the sinful Israelites, so as to consume 
 
 1 Eruvin, f. 19. c. 1. Chagiga, f. 27. c. 1. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. 
 p. 50. - Pesikta llabath. f. 17. c. 4. ibid. j). 51. 
 
 • Nishnaath Chajim, f. 82. c. 2, ibid. p. 44. 
 
188 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * or destroy them ; but they go down thither only to 
 
 * be put into some emotion and frightened a little ; 
 
 * but some, indeed, are scorched for their offences.' ^ 
 
 The liberation of Israelites from hell is said to be 
 greatly promoted and accelerated by the prayers of 
 their surviving sons. Menasseh Ben Israel gravely 
 relates, that a certain man, who had been a great 
 sinner and left his wife pregnant at his death, was 
 detained a considerable time in punishment, for want 
 of a son capable of performing this act of fiHal piety ; 
 that he appeared and made known his sufferings to 
 rabbi Akiba ; that on inquiry finding the man's wife 
 to have been delivered of a son, Akiba took the lad, 
 instructed him in the law, and taught him to pray for 
 his father ; that the lad accordingly prayed, * and in 
 
 * the same hour,' says Menasseh, ' his father was 
 
 * freed from hell : and the father appeared in a dream 
 
 * to rabbi Akiba, and said to him,' May the rest 
 
 * of paradise be thy portion, because thou hast rescued 
 
 * me from the punishment of hell. — The like power 
 ' hath likewise the Kodesh,' — that is, a certain prayer 
 in the daily morning service. ^ — * When the son 
 
 ' Jalkut Chadash, f. 55. c. 3. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 50. 
 2 The prayer which is said to possess this wonderful efficacy is as 
 follows : — 
 
 ' O may the mighty power of the Lord be now magnified, as thou 
 
 * hast declared, saying, O Lord ! remember thy tender mercies and 
 
 * thy loving kindnesses, for they have been of old. — May his great 
 
 * name be exalted and sanctified throughout the world, which he hath 
 ' created according to his will. May he establish his kingdom in your 
 
 * life time, and in the life time of the whole house of Israel ; soon, 
 
 * and in a short time, and say ye. Amen. Amen. May his great 
 
 * name be blessed and glorified for ever and ever. — May his hallowed 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING HELL. 189 
 
 * prays, and says the Kodesh publicly, then rcleascth 
 
 * he his father and his mother out of hell.' ^ 
 
 Respecting the final state of the most wicked who 
 are sentenced to hell, we have already seen that some 
 of the rabbies maintain their speedy annihilation, and 
 others, their ultimate deliverance.^ — We cannot 
 compliment these writers for consistency with them- 
 selves, any more than for harmony with each other. 
 Menasseh, who says in one place, that * their torments 
 'will not be perpetual,'^ says in another, 'They 
 
 * remain in hell a longer or a shorter time : some 
 
 * twelve months ; others longer ; and some to all 
 ' eternity.' 4 
 
 But whatever be the duration of infernal punishment, 
 it is represented as having certain seasons of inter- 
 mission. Menasseh says, ' Even the wicked, of whom 
 ' it is said that they descend into hell, and ascend not 
 
 ' name be praised, glorified, exalted, magnified, honoured, and most 
 ' excellently adored : blessed is he, far exceeding all blessings, hymns, 
 
 * praises, and beatitudes, that are repeated throughout the world ; 
 
 * and say ye. Amen. — May our prayers be accepted with mercy and 
 
 * kindness. — May the prayers and supplications of the whole house 
 ' of Israel be accepted in the presence of their Father who is in heaven : 
 
 * and say ye, Amen. — Blessed be the name of the Lord, from hence- 
 
 * forth and for evermore. May the fulness of peace from heaven, 
 
 * with life, be granted unto us and all Israel : and say ye. Amen. — 
 
 * My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. — May he 
 ' who maketh peace in his high heavens, bestow peace on us and on 
 
 * all Israel : and say ye. Amen.' German and Polish Jews' Prayer 
 Book, p. 55, 56. 
 
 ' Nishmath Chajim, f. 89. c. 2. f. 9. c. 1. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. 
 p. 62—65. 
 
 8 Chapter vii. p 134, 13 5 
 
 3 De Great, apud Hoornbeck contra Jud. L. viii. c. 7. p. 572. 
 • * Nishmath Chajim, f. 37. c. 2. ibid. vol. ii. p. 59, 60. 
 
190 MODERN JUDAISM. 
 
 * from thence, enjoy rest on the sabbath. The sabbath 
 ' is therefore called '* a delight/' because thereon 
 ' those above and below are both delighted.'* — 
 Another writer says, ' The sabbath is to the wicked 
 
 * in hell a day of rest. — But for this they receive a 
 ' double punishment on the sixth day.'^ — Another 
 says, that they ' have every day, at each time of prayer, 
 
 * morning, evening, and night, an hour and half of 
 
 * rest. Wherefore they rest, in the whole, every day, 
 
 * four hours and half. — They likewise rest twenty 
 ' four hours every sabbath ; which, added to the 
 
 * other, make fifty one hours of rest in the week.' ^ 
 
 » Nislimath Chajim, f. 39. c. 1. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 56. 
 
 2 Jalkut Chadashjf. 163. c. 4. ibid. p. 59. 
 
 3 Jalkut Reubeni, f. 167. c. 4, ibid. p. 54. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 Traditions concerning Human Souls, — Souls described as 
 triple; — as quintuple. — Evert/ Jew inspired xvith a 
 supernumerary Soul on the Sabbath. — Different Origin 
 of the Souls of Jews and Gentiles. — All Souls created 
 on the first Day : — consulted about the formation of 
 Bodies: — sent into Embryos respectively j^'^'^pcit'^d for 
 them, — Information and Instruction 2)revious to the 
 Birth. — Number of Israelitish Souls. — Souls originally 
 created in Pairs. — Reception of a disembodied Soul 
 entering into Paradise, — 7Va7ismigration of Souls : — 
 Whether the whole Soul, or only a Part, transmigrates ; 
 — and how many times, — Souls migrating bito Human 
 Bodies, Male and Female : — into Brutes, Quadrupeds, 
 Insects, Reptiles, Fishes : — Into Vegetables, — and other 
 inanimate Things. — Another Kind of Transmigration, 
 called Ibbur. 
 
 Concerning human souls, there are many tra- 
 ditions which could not properly be introduced at all 
 in any former chapter ; and of some that have been 
 incidentally mentioned, it is necessary to give a more 
 particular statement. 
 
 According to many of the rabbies, the body 
 of man is animated by a triple soul, which they 
 designate by the terms, nephesh, ruach, and ne- 
 
192 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 shama. ^ Rabbi Meir says : * In man there is a 
 
 * nephesh, and a ruach ; and according to his works 
 
 * he is made worthy of a higher glory, in what is 
 ' called the neshama. — ^All is bound together ; the 
 ' nephesh to the ruach ; the ruach to the neshama ; 
 ' and the neshama to the holy and blessed God.' ^ 
 Another authority says : * God created three worlds ; 
 ' the upper world, the middle world, and the lower 
 ' world. — Farther, it is said in Zohar, that God 
 
 * created three souls, answering to the three worlds ; 
 ' namely, the nephesh, that is, the soul ; and the 
 
 * ruach, that is, the spirit ; and the neshama, that is, 
 
 * the precious soul. The nephesh is created with a 
 ' view to the middle world ; but the neshama, with 
 
 * a regard to the upper world. Wherefore by means 
 
 * of these three souls a man is qualified to inhabit the 
 
 * three worlds ; and he abides sometimes in the lower, 
 ' sometimes in the middle, and sometimes in the 
 ' upper world : all which happens according to his 
 ' qualification, and the qualifications of these souls.' ^ 
 ' — Distinct periods are assigned for the entrance 
 of these souls into the body : * The mystery of the 
 ' conjoining of souls, which is called ibbur, consists 
 
 * in the following particulars. First, the nephesh 
 
 ' Two of these words, nephesh and neshama, are used in the account 
 of the creation of man, Gen. ii. 7. " And the Lord God formed man 
 <' of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils" (ntttt?D, 
 in statu constructo pro nDtt73 neshama : Vid. Robertson, Clav. Pent, 
 p. 24.) " the breath of life ; and man became " (tt?Q3 nephesh) " a 
 living souU^ The other word (ni"n) ruach, when applied to the rational 
 part of man, is generally translated spirit. 
 
 2 Avodath Ilakkodesh, f. 4. c. 2. cited in Stehelin, vol. i. p. 244, 245. 
 
 ' Tseror Hammaor, f. 3. c. 1. ibid. p. 245, 24G, 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING HUMAN SOULS. 193 
 
 * enters at the birth of a man : at the age of thirteen 
 
 * years and one day, if his deeds are right, he becomes 
 ' possessed of the ruach : if his deeds continue to be 
 ' right, in the twentieth year enters the neshama. 
 ' But if, on the contrary, his deeds are not right, the 
 ' nephesh and ruach remain without the neshama. 
 
 * Sometimes a man is only v/orthy of the nephesh, 
 ' and so continues without the ruach and the neshama ; 
 ' and then the ruach and neshama remain in a place 
 ' concealed, and known only to the holy and blessed 
 ' God.' 1 
 
 Another writer gives a very different account, both 
 of the number of these undefinable subsistencies, 
 and of the times of their respective accessions to 
 the body. First, indeed, he says, * There are in 
 ' man three forms of a soul : the first is the intel- 
 
 * ligible soul ; the second is the speaking or reasoning 
 
 * soul ; the third is the animal soul which is always 
 'craving. '2 Tn another place he says, * The soul 
 
 * Sepher Gilgulim, f. 40. c. 1. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p 247, 248. 
 
 2 It is probable that this theory of a threefold soul was of heathen 
 origin. The above description very much resembles the pneumatology 
 of Plato. 'H ^pv^y) ^lai^eTrai eiq r^ia,' ro fAv ya§ a.vrri<;, Ir* 'kQyi<ri'K-^^v' 
 TO te, imOvfArjliKov' ro Se Ovi^ikov. ' The soul is divided into three 
 ' parts : the first, the seat of reason ; the second, of appetite ; and the 
 ( third, of passion.' Laert. Diog. Lib. 3. Vit. Platon. p. 90. E. Vide 
 etiam p. 85. D. Edit. Pearon. Lond. 1664. Pythagoras also asserted 
 the soul to be threefold. — T^ Se av^pwirov ^/'V^V Statf crcr^a< tjxx^. 
 
 * The soul of man is divided into three parts '—€*'? re vcvv. koi f peva?, 
 KOii ^viMv — * the seat of sensation, of reason, and of passion.* Laert. 
 Diog. Lib. 8. Vit. Pythug. p. 221. B. The Stoics appear not to have 
 been satisfied with triple souls, ^acr* 8e t^v y^vxnv ehai o/cra/xej)^' 
 fAe^y) yocQ avTvjq ru re irej/Te atVS'yjTijpta, koI to (puvrirtKov (ao^iov, koci 
 
 O 
 
194 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * has five distinct forms or parts, and names. There 
 ' are the nephesh, the ruach, the neshama, the chaja, 
 ' the jechida. These are received by man at the 
 
 * following seasons. In the working days, between 
 ■ the feast and the increase of the moon comes to 
 
 * him the nephesh ; on the feast day comes to him 
 ' the ruach ; on the day of atonement, the neshama ; 
 ^ and on the sabbath, the supernumerary soul, which 
 ' is the mystery of chaja ; and in the life to come he 
 ' is made worthy to receive the jechida.' The design 
 of this supernumerary soul, with which the Jews 
 are said to be inspired on the sabbath, is taught by 
 the same author : ' The mystery of voluptuousness 
 
 on the sabbath, is, to exhilarate the supernumerary 
 soul, in order that she may utter a mighty prayer 
 in honour of the divine majesty among the lower, 
 that is, among men who dwell on the earth, when 
 they say grace at meals ; which is a duty not 
 enjoined among the upper, or those that dwell 
 in heaven.' ^ The benefit communicated by this 
 sabbatical guest is thus celebrated by one of the 
 gravest expounders of the Talmud: ' The super- 
 
 * numerary soul carries out the mind of man to 
 
 * eating and drinking, and makes him eat and 
 ' drink with appetite and pleasure.' ^ Menasseh 
 
 Ta 8<avovjTi/cov oWp eV'" ai^rvj ^ ^nxvoicc, kou to yevvriltKov. * They say 
 
 * that the soul consists of eight parts ; and that those parts are, the five 
 ' senses, the vocal faculty, the cogitative which is cogitation itself, and 
 ' the generative.' Laert. Diog. Lib. 7. Vit. Zenon. p. 190. C. 
 
 » Jalkut Chadash, f. 154. c. 1. f. 165. c. 3. f. 144. c. 1. cited in 
 Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 247, 274, 275. 
 
 ^ Rabbi Solomon Jarchi, in Taanith, f. 27. c. 1. ibid. p. 275. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING HUMAN SOULS. 195 
 
 Ben Israel however says, * If the reader supposes 
 
 * that an additional soul is given to an Israelite on 
 ' the sabbath, he is mistaken. For they who first 
 ' delivered this matter had no such conception. An 
 
 * additional soul signifies increase of knowledge and 
 
 * advancement in the study of the divine law.' But 
 that the language just quoted from other writers 
 was designed to convey the idea of spiritual improve- 
 ment, cannot be admitted upon the bare assertion 
 of Menasseh ; who must be regarded as opposing 
 in this respect the general doctrine of his brethren. 
 The nephesh, ruach, and neshama, he likewise main- 
 tains, signify nothing but the faculties, capacities, or 
 virtues of the soul.' ^ 
 
 Some of the rabbinical writings represent the souls 
 of Gentiles as having a very different origin from 
 the souls of Jews : the latter as emanations from 
 God ; the former as the spawn of demons. Two 
 passages may serve as specimens of others. * The 
 *- skin and flesh is the coat of a man. The spirit 
 ' within is the man. But the idolaters are not called 
 
 * men ; because their souls have their origin from 
 
 * the unclean spirit. But the souls of the Israelites 
 
 * are derived from the holy spirit.' * The souls of 
 
 * the nations, or Gentiles, have their origin from the 
 
 * extei'ior powers, the powers of Klippoth, or demons. 
 ' But the souls of the people of Israel have their 
 
 * origin in holy emanations from the blessed God.'^ 
 
 » Nishmath Chajim, f. 53. c. 2. f. 69. c. 2. f. 70. c. 1, 2. cited in 
 Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 246, 247. 
 
 ^ Jalkut Reubeni, Parasha Bereshith, f. 10. c. 1. Shefa Tal, f. 4. 
 c. 2. ihid. p. 254, 255. 
 
 O 2 
 
196 MODERN JUDAISM: 
 
 Some of the traditions, however, appear not to be 
 consistent with this notion ; and as to many of them, 
 it is difficult to understand, whether they are intended 
 to be restricted to the souls of Jews, or to include 
 those of all mankind. 
 
 Modern Jews have generally received the doc- 
 trine of what is called the pre-existence of souls. 
 
 * Although,' says Menasseh Ben Israel, ' the learned 
 ^ of the nations of the world are of opinion, that 
 
 * the souls are created with the body ; yet true 
 
 * Israelites believe with a perfect faith, - that they 
 ' all,' even * all the souls which have been from the 
 
 * time of the first man, and which shall be to the 
 ' end of the world, were created in the six days 
 
 * of the creation.' — ' And most of our sages agree 
 
 * in this, that the souls were created on the first day. 
 
 * Rabbi Moses Ben Nachman has written. It must 
 ' by no means be said, that they were created after 
 ' the first day ; because on the first day, the holy and 
 ' blessed God created something out of nothing ; 
 ' but from that day forward, during the rest of the 
 
 * days of the creation, he created something out 
 ' of something; and if so, then are the souls com- 
 ' prehended in what was created on the first day.' ^ — 
 Another writer attributes to the soul the same early 
 existence, but describes its nature in terms altogether 
 inapplicable to a creation out of nothing, and desig- 
 nating a kind of personality of the godhead : ' They,* 
 
 • Nishmath Chajim, f. 70. c. 2. f. 71. c. 2. Tanchuraa, f. 32. c. 2. 
 cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 263, 264. Menasseh de Great. Probl. 16. 
 apud Hoornbeck contra Jud. L. 4. c. i. p. 330—332. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING HUMAN SOULS. 197 
 
 the heathens, ' suppose, that the soul and spirit 
 
 * of man is a coruscation of the spheres. — The law, 
 
 * however, clearly demonstrates, that they are in an 
 
 * error ; that it is not a coruscation from the spheres, 
 
 * but that, on the contrary, the spirit of God, that 
 
 * is, the spirit of man, a coruscation and particle 
 
 * of the Deity, brooded over the face of the waters ; 
 ' that whilst as yet nothing existed except what was 
 
 * in the waters, the soul of man had an existence 
 ' anterior to the formation of the heavens, they being 
 
 * nothing but fire and water.' ^ The same WTiter 
 elsewhere 2 says, * The human soul is a particle 
 ' of the Deity from above, an intermede between 
 
 * us and the proprietor of us ; and is eternal like 
 
 * the heavenly natures.'^ 
 
 ^ R. Joseph Ben Chajim, Jad Joseph, f. 6. cited in Oxlee on Trinity, 
 &c. vol. i. p. 64, 65. 
 
 ' Dar. iv. p. 150. cited in Jewish Repository, vol. ii. p. 413. 
 
 3 The want of any foundation for the notion of a pre-existence of souls, 
 in the writings of Moses and the prophets, justifies something beyond a 
 suspicion that the rabbies borrowed it from the Heathens. Menasseh 
 Ben Israel, indeed, ( J)e Creatione, Problem xv.) most confidently affirms 
 that the Gentile philosophers derived it from the -Hebrews ; but he offers 
 no proof or argument in support of the assertion. There is not the least 
 evidence of its having been adopted by any Jews, till within a century 
 before the Christian era. One of the most distinguished advocates of 
 this opinion, who died above three hundred years before the birth 
 of Christ, was Plato. The grand argument, or rather sophism, on which 
 he rests it, is the assumption^ that all our knowledge is mere remembrance, 
 *H/>t~v rj fjidOyjo-ii; ovk oXKq t* ^ a]/ocfxvifj<ri<; rvy^avei ova-a, Ka) Kala 
 rovTQ avdyKV} ttov TjfAcit; iv vrpoTepa) rivl %povaj [Ji€iA,ci6rjKeva.i a vvv 
 a,va,(/.ilJt.yvjcrK0fA€6ci. Tovro Se abvyocrop, el jt*^ ^v irov ^/xwv vj 4'^%^} irfiv 
 €V TojSe rS oo/B^WTtlva etSet yeviarOai. — Eiriq r) avaixv^o-B-^a-iraif ^eTv 
 uvTQV rovro 'TrpoTcpov ttore iiiKTraadat, — Kat €l [asv y€ Xoc^oi/ret; (at) 
 €K«<7T0T€ i%i'\€K'^(ry.€6ocr, (l^oreq au ytyv<a-$cct, ku) ae* 5<a ftiov e/^eVa/. 
 
198 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 It is said, * There is in heaven a treasury, called 
 
 * Guph ; and all the souls which were created in 
 
 To ya^ fthevai toi/t' to-Ti, XajSovra rov ewAO-Ti^jLMjv e^e^v, Kol [mj 
 avoXaXeKevai' vj ov rovro X'^d-qv Xe'yojWev, i'ici<rr'^[Arj(; airo^oXrjV. — El le 
 ye XajSovT€^ it^h yevia-dai, yiyvof/.€V(ii ScrruXia'afAev, vcrre^ov Se raTg 
 alarB'^fTio'i x^cofAiyoi ite^t avra iKcivaq ayaXajx^dvofAfv rat; hcKTTrifA.aq 
 ctq "jroTe Koi nt^iv efp^o/xcy, ap' ovx % /caXoi/jtAev /xav^avejv, oiKeiav av 
 ivta-T'^l/.rjv avaXotfA^dveiv etij ; rovro di irov aya[Ai[A.v^<TKe(rda,i Xeyovre^j 
 o^Buq av Xeyoi[^€v ; — IIoTe Xa^ovaai al ypvxal 7jfA,av ry/v e'TTitmj/ATjv ; ov 
 •y^p 5oj af' ov yS avd^wiroi y€yovcc[A€v. — Jlpoxepov apa. — H<rav a^a. at 
 if/v^al Kul TrpoTep&v, ir^tv eivat iv dvB^aitov e^Set %«t?p*? <roof/.druv, Kccl 
 f^vy}<riy eT%oy. * Our learning i^ in reality no other than reminiscence ; 
 
 * and hence it follows, that what we remember now, we must have 
 < learned at some former time. But this would be impossible, unless 
 
 * our soul had existed somewhere, before it came into this human form. 
 
 * If a person remember any thing, he must have known it before. If we 
 
 * never forgot what we had acquired, we must invariably be born 
 
 * with that knowledge, and must always retain it through life : for to 
 
 * know, is to retain and not lose the knowledge we have acquired : 
 
 * is not a loss of knowledge denominated forgetfulness ? — If having 
 
 * acquired knowledge before we are born, we lose it at our birth, 
 
 * and, afterwards employing our senses about those objects, regain 
 
 * the knowledge we previously possessed, must not what we call 
 
 * science be a recovery of our inherent knowledge, and may we not 
 ' rightly denominate this, reminiscence ? — When did our souls acquire 
 
 * knowledge ? For it was not since we were born human beings. 
 
 * Then it must have been before. Consequently, souls existed without 
 
 * bodies, and were endued with intelligence, before they earae into the 
 "^ human form/ Phado. s. 16 — 18. 
 
 If it were necessary, it would be easy to shew the fallaciousness 
 of this reasoning. If the proposition, that science is reminiscence, 
 ' be admitted to have any limitation, the philosopher's argument falls 
 to the ground at once : and if it be pretended to be universally true, 
 the reflecting reaJer will immediately perceive, that the same argument 
 might be pursued ad infinitum ; so that we could never arrive at the 
 origin of knowledge in created beings; and an uncreated, eternal, 
 immutable being could have no knowledge at all. Plato, Aristotle, and 
 others, supposed the soul to be eternal, or, in the language of Cicero, 
 sempiternal. Deus ajternus — animus sempitetnus. ' God eternal — 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING HUMAN SOULS. 199 
 
 * the beginning and are hereafter to come into the 
 
 * world, God placed therein/ — ' Out of this trea- 
 
 * the mind, thinking principle, or soul, sempiternal/^ Cicer. de Repub. 
 L, vi. It was frequently described as roU Ato? diroa-Traa-y.a, a fragment 
 or section, of Jupiter : Marc. Anton. L. v. c. 27. iw-efo? rov deov, 
 
 * a portion of Deity : ' Epictct. Dissert. L. i. c. 14. Plutarch. Quasi. 
 Platon. L. }. Pars Dei : divini spiritus pars ac veluti scintilla qusedam : 
 *a part of God: a part and spark, as it were, of the divine spirit:' 
 Senec. Epist. 92. et De Olio Sapient. Divinoe particulam aurae : ' a 
 
 * particle of breath divine.' Horat. Sat. ii. 2. 79. 
 
 What uncertainty and fallacy characterise the speculations of the 
 wisest of men, unenlightened by divine revelation ! But from these 
 strangers to revelation the Jews appear to have derived this among 
 other dogmas. The passages quoted from some of the rabbies, shew 
 that they had learned to consider the human soul as an efflux of the 
 eternal, intellectual light, a particle of the infinite spirit, an emanation 
 from Deity, anterior to the creation of the material universe. 
 
 The heathen notions of the pre-existence of souls and their subsequent 
 transmigration, at one period, also found advocates within the pale 
 of the Christian Church, in the famous Origen and his followers : but 
 they have for many ages been extinct. Harmenop. de Sect. s. ix. p. 562. 
 Photius, Epist. i. p. 11. In Biblioth. Cod. viii. p. 9. apud Suicer. 
 Thesaur. torn. ii. col. 1587, 1588. 
 
 The last few years have witnessed, in this enlightened country, an 
 attempt to revive these obsolete and long exploded errors. It has 
 even been maintained that human souls must necessarily have existed 
 from eternity. Commentaries of ProcluSy with Notes, ^-c. hy Thomas 
 Taylor, vol. i, p. 25, 59, 60. vol. ii. p. 287, 288. The principal con- 
 tents of the volumes now referred to give them a just claim, beyond 
 most works of modern times, to be placed on the same shelf with the 
 jargon and reveries of the cabbalistic rabbies. The reveries of this 
 writer, however, seem not very likely to gain many disciples. He 
 asserts 'the reasonableness and truth of polytheism ;' vol. ii. p. 385. — 
 states an * argument for the existence of a multitude of gods,' which 
 he affirms is * perfectly demonstrative and clear;' vol. ii. p. 384. — 
 avows that though * the religion of the Heathens has, for many 
 
 * centuries, been the object of ridicule and contempt, yet he is not 
 ^ ashamed to own himself a convert to it in every particular, as it was 
 
 * understood and illustrated by the Pythagoric and Platonic philo- 
 ^ sophers : ' vol. i. p. 17.— boasts that < it is capable of being supported 
 
200 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ' sury God furnishes children in the womb with 
 ' souls.' ^ 
 
 On the sixth day of their existence they are 
 described as having the honour of being consulted 
 respected their future incarceration in bodies. — 
 
 * When the Creator said, *' Let us make man," 
 ' he addressed himself to the souls : and hence our 
 
 * rabbies have concluded, that God did not force 
 
 * souls into the prison of the body without their 
 
 * consent.^ It would seem, however that they were 
 in no want of bodies to the perfection of their being 
 or the completion of their happiness. * It is certain, 
 ' that as those souls were happy and blessed in that 
 ' glorious state of theirs, for some centuries before 
 
 * they were embodied, so they might be again after 
 ' death ; and therefore there is no need of the 
 
 * resurrection of the dead, in order that happiness 
 ' may be enjoyed by souls which have been united 
 
 * by sound reasoning and sublime philosophy ; ' — declares that * its 
 'restoration is the object of his most ardent desires ; ' — and expresses 
 his confidence * that the revolution is certain, however remote.' Vol. ii. 
 pref. p. 1, 2. — How must every Christian pity a man, whatever be his 
 intellectual acuteness or literary attainments, who seriously believes 
 that the worship of Jehovah will one day be exchanged for the worship 
 of Jupiter and a multitude of other gods ! Not less visionary or pitiable 
 are the expectations of the modern Jew, who anticipates the triumph 
 of the Talmud over the Gospel, and the establishment of the Synagogue 
 on the ruins of the Church. See CroolVs Restoration of Israel, p. 
 17, 18. 
 
 1 R. Solomon Jarchi in Chagiga, f. 5. c. 1. Tseror IIammaor> 
 f. 152. c. 1, cited in Stehelin, vol. i. p. 264. 
 
 2 Bereshith Ilabba, c. viii. in Menass. de Great. Probl. 15, apud 
 Hoornbeck contra Jud. L. iv. c. 1. p. 324. Vid. eiiam Menass. 
 Conciliat. in Gen. p. 13. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING HUMAN SOULS. 201 
 
 * to bodies.' ^ Their unembodied condition, however, 
 is sometimes described in less favourable terms ; and 
 their descent into the bodies assigned for their 
 occupation is represented as not always perfectly 
 voluntary. Take the following account of the 
 manner in which the spirit is said to be united to 
 the embryo body. ' Immediately God beckons to 
 ' the angel who is set over spirits, and says to him, 
 
 * Bring me such a spirit. For this is the way they 
 ' always do, on being formed, from the day that 
 ' the world was created, till the world shall be at an 
 
 * end. Presently, he appears before Jehovah, and 
 
 * worships in his presence. Then says Jehovah to 
 ' him : Betake thyself into this matter. Instantly, the 
 ' spirit excuses himself, and says to him : Governor 
 ' of the world, I am satisfied with the world in 
 
 * which I have been from the day that I was created. 
 
 * If it please thee, do not oblige me to betake myself 
 
 * into this putrid matter ; for I am holy and pure. 
 ' Jehovah says to him : The world into which I am 
 ' going to send thee, is better than the world where 
 
 * thou now art : besides, when I formed thee, I did 
 ' not form thee but for this very matter. Immediately 
 ' God forces him, whether willing or unwilling, into 
 
 * the midst of the matter.^ 
 
 Just before the birth of a child, it is represented 
 as receiving, from an attendant angel, the following 
 
 * Menasseh de Resurrec. L. ii. c. 19, apud Hoornbeck contra Jud. 
 L. iv. c. 1. p. 320. and Oxlee on Trinity, &c. vol. i. p. 45. 
 
 ^ An old Manuscript, apud Wagenseil, cited in Oxlee, vol. i. 
 p. 45, 46. 
 
202 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 information and instruction. ' One places on its 
 head, in the womb, a burning candle, by which it 
 may view the world from one end to the other ; 
 as it is said, '^When his candle shined upon my 
 head." Job xxix. 3. Early in the morning, the 
 angel takes the child and conveys it into paradise, 
 and shews it the righteous who are there seated 
 with garlands on their heads. And the angel says 
 to it : Thou must know who these are that thou 
 beholdest : these, like thee, were created in their 
 mother's womb ; and they entered the world, and 
 kept the commandments of the holy and blessed 
 God : wherefore they were accounted worthy of this 
 happiness to which they have been called. It is 
 now the time for thee to depart out of thy mother's 
 womb ; and if thou be just, and keep the com- 
 mandments, then shalt thou be accounted worthy 
 to sit with them : but if thou be not so, thou wilt 
 be compelled to dwell in another place. In the 
 evening, the angel conveys the child into hell, and 
 lets it behold the wicked, tormented by the angel 
 of destruction with fiery rods, and crying out. 
 Woe I Woe ! And the angel says to the child : 
 Thou must know, that those who are here tormented 
 with fire, were created like thee, and went into the 
 world ; but they kept not the commandments of the 
 holy and blessed God ; wherefore they are punished 
 and brought to this shame. Now must thou also 
 go forth into the world : be just then and not 
 wicked, that thou mayest live.' ^ 
 
 ' Hakkodesh, f. 42. c. I, 2. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 22, 23. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING HUMAN SOULS. 203 
 
 * Before his birth a child is' also said to be 
 ' instructed in the whole law : ' but the salutary 
 tendency of these instructions is described as 
 counteracted by another angelic operation ; which 
 produces a total oblivion of all that had been 
 learned, till it be recovered by subsequent instruc- 
 tion and study. ' As soon as he enters into the 
 air of the world, an angel comes and hits him on 
 the mouth, and causes him to forget the whole 
 law. And while he grows up he is like one that 
 has lost something and endeavours to find it. He 
 looks for it with the lantern of his understanding ; 
 and by that means finds all the wisdom and know- 
 ledge which he had lost.^ On which account the 
 scripture says: ** Happy is the man that findeth 
 wisdom." Prov. iii. 13. — '* For they are life unto 
 those that find them, and health to all their flesh." 
 Prov. iv. 22. The meaning of which words is, 
 the finding of the law which they had lost; and 
 afterwards eternal life, and health to all their flesh ; 
 because these are healings to the blow which the 
 angel gave them on their mouths, and which made 
 them forget the law ; and they become what they 
 were before.' ^ 
 
 ' All the souls of the Israelites,' it is said, * were 
 contained in the soul of the first man, and were 
 made ready in the world to enter into the Israelites. 
 — The number of the souls of the Israelites is six 
 hundred thousand. — The soul of the first man 
 
 * See the quotation from Plato, in Note, p. 198, 199. 
 
 = Nishmath Adam, f. 26. c. i. cited in Stehelin, vol. i. p. 37, 38. 
 
204 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * consisted of six hundred thousand souls, twisted 
 
 * together hke so many threads. — Of these six 
 
 * hundred thousand souls, there is never one man 
 ' wanting ; which shews them to be a model of the 
 ' upper chariot, in which are to be found six hundred 
 
 * thousand sciences ; as is well known to such as are 
 ' acquainted with those sciences.' Another book 
 gives the following luminous statement. * The 
 ' number of souls is six hundred thousand; and 
 ' the law is the root of the souls of the Israelites ; 
 
 * and every verse in the law has six hundred thousand 
 ' explanations ; and every soul is formed particularly 
 ' out of one explanation,' ^ 
 
 * It is also necessary to be known, according to 
 
 * the doctrine of the Cabbalists,' says Menasseh, 
 
 * that at the beginning of the world souls were 
 
 * created by God in pairs, consisting each of a 
 
 * male and female ; and therefore they affirm that 
 ' marriage is either a reward or a punishment, 
 ' according to the works which a man has done. 
 ' For if a man is deserving, and accounted worthy, 
 
 * he obtains his original consort ; the person with 
 ' whom he was created is bestowed upon him as a 
 ' reward. But, if otherwise, he is punished by being 
 ' united to a person of uncongenial dispositions and 
 
 * manners ; with whom he is doomed to live in 
 ' almost continual strifes, contentions, and other 
 
 * similar miseries.' ^ 
 
 » Nishmath Adam, f. 7. c. i. f. 6. c. 1. Jalkut Chadash, f. 155. c. 1. 
 cited in Stehelin, vol. i. p. 289, 290, 265. 
 
 2 De Termino Vitse, s. viii. p. 207. apud Hoornbeck, L. iv. c. 1. 
 p. 320. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING HUMAN SOULS. 205 
 
 ' As there is one mansion for the residence of 
 ' those souls who have never yet descended into 
 ' the world, there is ' said to be * another for the 
 
 * reception of those who have departed out of the 
 ' world, and on the decease of the body have 
 
 * returned to their source and origin.' The follow- 
 ing passage professes to describe the manner in 
 which a soul is received on its arrival in the latter 
 of these places. * When a soul first enters into 
 
 * paradise, particularly if beloved by or related to 
 
 * any that are there, it is immediately welcomed 
 ' by them with pleasant countenances : and as the 
 ' people of this world, delighting to hear news from 
 ' distant parts, put many questions to strangers 
 ' concerning them ; so do the righteous who are 
 ' already in paradise, welcome the arrival of their 
 ' friends and kindred, and ask them concerning the 
 ' affairs of this world.' ^ 
 
 The doctrine of the metempsychosis, or that one 
 soul animates several bodies in succession, has been 
 generally adopted by the Jews for many ages, and 
 is professed by them to the present day. ^ The 
 ' revolution of souls from one body to another,' 
 says Menasseh, * is a matter of justifiable faith 
 ' throughout our whole community. Nor are there' 
 more than two or three rabbies * who deny or reject 
 
 * it. — But there is another very great party of the 
 
 * sages of Israel who beheve it ; and they maintain 
 
 ^ Menasseh de Great. Probl. 15. apud Iloornbeck, contra Jud. L. iv. 
 c. 1. p. 326. Nishmath Chajim, f. 28. c. 1. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. 
 p. 29. 
 
206 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ' it to be a fundamental, or principle of the law ; 
 
 * and as we are all bound to hearken to the words 
 
 * of these teachers, so we are to embrace this faith 
 ' without any doubt or hesitation.' ^ This doc- 
 trine is plainly recognized in the following prayer. 
 
 * Sovereign of the universe ! behold, I freely forgive 
 ' and pardon every one who hath aggrieved or vexed 
 
 * me ; or who hath injured me, either in body, goods, 
 
 * honour, or any thing belonging to me, whether by 
 
 * compulsion or choice, ignorantly or presumptuously, 
 
 * in word or deed, in this transitory state (^:i^:i 
 
 * transmigration, revolution), or in any former one.'^ 
 
 There is no little variety of opinion among the 
 rabbies, respecting the number of transmigrations 
 performed by each soul ; nor are they agreed, 
 whether it is the whole soul that transmigrates, 
 or merely a portion of it. According to various 
 statements it would appear, that the human soul 
 is an emanative substance, capable of dividing itself, 
 as the generality maintain, into three ; but as 
 one rabbi has asserted, into thirteen individual 
 subsistencies ; in order that the defects of the first 
 subsistency may be repaired and counterbalanced 
 by the perfection of the others. A rabbi of the 
 sixteenth century says, * It has been handed down 
 ' to us by tradition, that by a transmigration of the 
 ' soul David becomes the Messias : not that the 
 ' body of David shall be abolished, and the whole 
 
 * of his spirit enter into another body; but that a 
 
 ' Nishmath Chajim, f. 152. c. 2. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 278, 279. 
 ^ Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Prayer Book, p. 81. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING HUMAN SOULS. 207 
 
 ' germination of a particle of the light of his spirit 
 
 * which was in his first body, should be what would 
 ' subsist in the Messias.' * Abarbinel, on the con- 
 trary, represents the whole of the soul, and not a 
 separate portion of it only, as thus migrating from 
 one body to another ; and contends * that many of 
 ' the dead shall awake, indeed, but not all of them ; 
 
 * it being highly credible, that, at the time of the 
 ' resurrection, the souls will return to their first 
 
 * bodies in which they abode. — For a certainty, judg- 
 ' ment accompanied with rewards and punishments, 
 ' or the day of retribution, concerns the soul with 
 ' the first body, but not with the rest.' ^ 
 
 * Some say that the soul goes but into three 
 ' bodies ; ' — * that the soul transmigrates but three 
 ' times ; not reckoning in the number the time 
 ' when she first enters the world in a human body : 
 ' and this is what Elihu signified to Job, when he 
 ' said, " Lo, all these things worketh God twice 
 ' and thrice with man." Job xxxiii. 29.' — * Others 
 ' say, that the soul transmigrates into four bodies : ' 
 — * this is the mystery of the words, " Visiting the 
 
 * iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the 
 ^ third and fourth generation," Exod. xx. 5.'^ — 
 Another account states, that ' When sin has disor- 
 
 * dered the soul, she may, in order to recover 
 
 * R. Moses Alshech, Comm. Isaiah xi. 1. cited in Jewish Repository, 
 vol. i-ii. p. 352. 
 
 2 Comm. Deut. xxv. 5. cited in Jewish Repository, vol. iii. p. 353. 
 
 * Zijoni. Nishmath Chajim. f. 161. c. 2. Zohar, Beresh, c. 150. 
 cited in Stehelin, vol. i. p. 315, 316. 
 
208 MODERN JUDAISM I 
 
 * herself, be frequently removed from body to body, 
 
 * even up to a thousand times : ' — * as it is said : 
 ' ** The word which he commanded to a thousand 
 ' generations." Psalm cv. 8.'^ 
 
 The discrepances between the oracles of the 
 synagogue on this subject have drawn the following 
 observations from Menasseh Ben Israel. * For stating 
 ' the uncertainties in which the rabbies are entangled 
 ' and at variance, touching the number of the trans- 
 ' migrations of the soul, it must be known that 
 
 * there are some who have said, that the doctrine 
 
 * of the soul's transmigrating into a thousand gene- 
 ' rations, is not to be understood as if she were to 
 ' transmigrate into a thousand different bodies ; but 
 
 * that the soul shall transmigrate to the end of the 
 
 * world ; and that this is the mystery of the six 
 ^ thousand years, appointed for the continuance 
 
 * of the world. Others allege the transmigration 
 ^ of souls to have been ordained for no other end, 
 ' than that souls might thereby be made perfect, and 
 ' men might reverence God, keep all his command- 
 ' ments, and become complete in worth and 
 'excellence; or that unjust souls might thereby be 
 
 * punished for their evil works, and so escape punish- 
 
 * ment in the world of spirits. — Moreover, they say 
 
 * that the soul returns three times, and no more, in 
 
 * order to her performing what she had disregarded ; 
 ' and that if she do not amend her works in these 
 
 * three returns, then the hope of man is lost, and he 
 
 > Emek Haramelech, f. 93. c. 4. Zohar, c. 152. cited in Stehelin, 
 vol. i. p. 318, 319. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING HUMAN SOULS. 209 
 
 ' is accounted irreclaimably wicked ; because in these 
 ' returns he is supposed to meet with all necessary 
 ' means and instruments for his reformation : but 
 
 * that when, after these returns, the soul transmi- 
 ' grates again, she transmigrates a thousand times, 
 
 * or till she has perfectly kept the six hundred and 
 
 * thirteen commandments ; all these returns being 
 ' intended for her benefit and happiness. Had I not 
 
 * an awe upon me, I would say that the first three 
 
 * returns of the soul are made into human bodies 
 
 * only ; and the thousand returns afterwards into the 
 ' bodies of animals. — But their being no traditions 
 
 * for this matter, God only knows whether the truth 
 
 * is in my mouth, and I am in the right.' ^ 
 
 Another rabbi ^ assigns two causes of transmi- 
 gration : * The soul of man passes into other bodies, 
 ' — either because she hath not remained her period, 
 ' or completed her time, in the first ; according as 
 ' is written, (Psalm xc. 10.) " The days of our 
 
 * years are threescore years and ten ; " and according 
 
 * to the promise God has made, (Exod. xxiii. 26.) 
 ' '' The number of thy days will I fulfil : "—or 
 
 * because the soul having committed sin, and being 
 
 * not perfectly purified from it ; but being clogged 
 
 * with the dust of her transgression cleaving to her, 
 ' as straw is clogged with clay ; she cannot ascend 
 ' to God, till, by being poured from one vessel to 
 ' another, she becomes light and clean, and is 
 
 * annexed to the upper spirits ; through which, 
 
 * Nishmath Chajim, f. 162. c. 1, cited in Stehelin, vol. i. p. 319, 320. 
 2 Salomon Ben Adderellu ibid. p. 320, 321. 
 
 P 
 
210 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * passing from one to another, she ascends to the 
 
 * place of her first residence, from which she 
 ' descended into the world.' 
 
 * Sometimes,' it is said, * when a man is covetous 
 
 * of his wealth, and gives no alms ; and likewise 
 
 * when he is covetous of his learning, and will 
 
 * not instruct others, he is punished by the passing 
 
 * of his soul into a woman.' The rabbies seem not 
 to be very eminent for courtesy to the ladies. ' The 
 ' soul of a woman goes into a man for her reward ; ' 
 says Menasseh : but * the soul of a man passes into 
 
 * a woman for punishment. — Such a transmigration 
 ' comes to pass on account of some heavy sin.' ^ 
 
 * The Cabbalists in like manner believe, that 
 
 * souls are removed out of bodies of one kind into 
 ' bodies of another kind : and they say, therefore, 
 
 * that the soul of him who transgresses the com- 
 ' mandment, by attempting to irritate another, and 
 ' does not repent, passes into a beast. — Some believe, 
 ' that the soul of a man passes into a beast, if he 
 
 * has committed one more sin than he has performed 
 
 * good works.' Some are said to pass into clean 
 animals, some into unclean ; some of the builders 
 of Babel are declared to have entered into cats and 
 monkies ; and some are said to migrate into noxious 
 insects or reptiles.^ ^ The soul of a governor, who 
 ^ proudly exalts himself above his people,' it is said, 
 
 * goes into a bee.' — The soul of a wicked and cruel 
 
 ' Nishmath Chajim, f. 168. c. 2. cited in Stehelin, vol. i. p. 282, 283. 
 » Nishmath Chajim, f. 160. c. 1, 2. Menachem Recanat. f. 137. 
 c. 2. f. 151. c. 1. ibid. p. 287 — 289. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING HUMAN SOULS. 211 
 
 tax-gatherer is said to have been punished for his 
 cruelty to the poor, by being sent into a raven, in 
 which he was recognized by a sagacious rabbi. This 
 rabbi instructed his disciples how they might know, 
 respecting men, whether their souls had ever before 
 been in the bodies of brutes. * When you see men 
 ' proud and impudent, you may certainly conclude,' 
 he says, * that their souls, before they came into 
 ' their bodies, were in wild beasts or unclean fowls : 
 
 * for they retain the habit they contracted in those 
 
 * creatures, and, like them, blush and are ashamed 
 
 * at nothing.' — * The souls of the righteous, whose 
 
 * conversation is with the law, and who only need a 
 
 * purification, go into fish. — Wherefore we are com- 
 
 * manded to eat on the sabbath, particularly at the 
 
 * third meal, of the choicest fish.' * 
 
 Other souls are said to transmigrate into vegetables. 
 For certain crimes, ' a soul goes into the leaf of a 
 
 * tree. Then the wind rises, and shakes it about, 
 
 * causing great torment. But this punishment ceases 
 
 * when the leaf falls to the ground. This is the 
 
 * mystery of the words, '* And the leaf shall fade." 
 
 * Jer. viii. 13. Sometimes indeed, such a soul 
 
 * passes from leaf to leaf through several leaves.^ 
 
 But the Jewish transmigration ^ is not confined 
 
 » Jalkut Chadash, f. 115. c. 2. f. 20. c. 4. Emek Hammelech, f. 11. 
 c. 2. f. 138. c. 4. f. 16. c. 3. f. 17. c. 3. cited in Stehelin vol. i. p. 
 294—297. 
 
 2 Emek Hammelech, f. 153. c. 2. Nishmath Chajim, f. 161. c. 1. 
 ihid. p. 298. 
 
 ' No reasonable doubt can be entertained that this is one of the 
 tenets which the Jews first learned from the Gentiles. It is known to 
 
 P 2 
 
212 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 to transitions into other human bodies. The rabbies 
 have condemned some souls to do penance in things 
 
 have been widely diffused in the heathen world, from the Druids of Gaul 
 and Britain (Casar de Bell. Gal. L. vi. c.lS.) to the Bramins of India, 
 by whom it has been maintained to the present day. Who were the 
 inventors of this wild speculation, it is difficult, if not impossible to 
 ascertain. Diogenes Laertius, (Proem, p. 3.) on the authority of Heca- 
 tseus, state* it to have been believed by the ancient Egyptians, that after 
 death (t^v 4'^X'^^ '^^^ iiri^iaiiA.eveiv Koi fAelefJi^alvciv) < the SOul both 
 '.survived and transmigrated;' but whether by this migration was 
 intended a removal into other bodies, Diogenes has not mentioned. 
 The opinion of the Egyptians is stated more at large by Heredotus, 
 who describes them as the first promulgators of the immortality 
 of the soul, and of its successive occupation of different bodies. 
 Il^wroi Se Kotl rov^e rov Koyov Aiyvrtriol ela-i ol el'rrovreq, ax; dvB^atrov 
 4>vXi] dBdvaroi; itm' rov o-w/xaro^ Se KOcraipQlvoyroq, it; aXXo ^Zov 
 ale) yivof^evov eo-Suero./ eiteav Se Trepie/.^Tj tiavra ra x^^a-ocTa. koi 
 roc OaXdcraKx, kcc) to. itereivd, avriq it; dvBguTtov a-a[xa yivofAevov 
 icr^vveiv" rr\v ite^iyikva-iv Se avr^ yiveaBtxi iv r^i<T)(^iXloi(ri er€(ri' 
 rovra rtS "kaya ela\ o'l 'EXX^vcyy c%j)0)o-aj/To, ol [/.ivf nzoorcgov, ol Se, 
 vcrregov, ax; Itico iuvruv iovri' rav eyw et^aq rd ovvofjiara, ov ypafflw. 
 'The Egyptians are the first who asserted the doctrine that the soul 
 
 * of man is immortal ; but that when the body decays, it enters into 
 *■ some other animal which is then born ; and that after having passed 
 
 * through all the different species of beasts, fishes, and birds, it again 
 ' enters into a new-born human body ; and that this revolution is 
 ' performed by it in three thousand years. Some Greeks, both in 
 ' earlier and later times, have inculcated this doctrine as their own : 
 ' I know their names, but forbear to mention them.' Herod. Euterp. 
 c. 123. — See also JEneas Gazaus in Thcophrast. p. 10. apiid Suicer. 
 Thesaur. tom. ii. col. 1588. 
 
 It is probable that one of the persons here alluded to, was Pythagoras, 
 who is generally regarded as the importer of this notion into Greece. 
 Whether he ever had it objected to him, or whether he perceived 
 it was likely to be objected, that the metempsychosis would require 
 something in the shape of evidence to ensure its reception among his 
 countrymen, and therefore had recourse, as Mahomet and other 
 impostors have in later ages, to the fraudulent invention of a story 
 in support of his hypothesis; or whether he was so infatuated as 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING HUMAN SOULS. 213 
 
 possessing no life, either animal or vegetable. * The 
 * soul of him who utters abuses, slanders, and the 
 
 to believe, himself, what he wished to be believed by his followers ; 
 — he professed to have experienced in a considerable degree the 
 transmigration which he taught. Horat. Sat. L, ii. s. 6. v. 63. — 
 According to the account of his biographer, he asserted himself to 
 have been, first iEthalides, reputed a son of Mercury ; then Euphorbus, 
 who was slain by Menelaus at the siege of Troy : {Homer II. xvii^ 
 59, 60.) next Hermotimus, who proved his soul to be the same as 
 that of Euphorbus, by going to Branchidae, entering the temple 
 of Apollo, and pointing out the reliques of his worn-out shield 
 which had been dedicated and deposited there by Menelaus ; afterwards 
 Pyrrhus, a fisherman of Delos ; and next Pythagoras ; when he 
 pretended to have a perfect remembrance of the various adventures 
 that had befallen him in all the bodies he had occupied. To prevent 
 any of his disciples, however, from encouraging a hope of similar 
 recollections, he declared this to be a peculiar privilege granted him 
 at his own request, by Mercury, who permitted him while he animated 
 the body of ^thalides, to ask any thing he wished, except exemption 
 from death. Laert. Diog. Lib. viii. Vit. Pythag. — It is surprising 
 that none of the rabbles have announced their souls to be the same 
 as those of certain illustrious Israelites of ancient times. — Another 
 writer gives a different account of the travels of this philosopher's 
 soul, which he represents as having once been embodied in a female, 
 named Alee, of great beauty, but no chastity. Aulus GelUus, i. iv. 
 c. 11. — The recognition of the shield of Euphorbus also is differently 
 related by Ovid ; who has introduced that circumstance, with an 
 account of the metempsychosis, in the following beautiful lines which 
 he puts into the mouth of Pythagoras himself. 
 
 Morte carent animoe : semperque, priore relicta 
 Sede, novis domibus habitant, vivuntque receptie. 
 Ipse ego (nam memini) Trojani tempore belli, 
 Panthoides Euphorbus eram ; cui pectore quondam 
 Sedit in adverso gravis hasta minoris Atridae. 
 Cognovi clypeum laevse gestamina nostrse 
 ■ Nuper Abanteis templo Junonis in Argis. 
 Omnia mutantur : nihil interit. Errat, el illinc 
 Hue venit, hinc illuc, et quoslibet occupat artus 
 Spiritus : eque feris huijiana in corpora transit, 
 
214 MODERN JUDAISM. 
 
 ' like, passes into a stone. — Concerning Nabal, it is 
 ' clear, that his soul went into a stone.' * Rabbi 
 
 Inque feras noster; nee tempore deperit ullo. 
 
 Utque novis fragilis signatur cera figuris, 
 
 Nee raanet ut fuerat, nee formas servat easdem ; 
 
 Sed taraen ipsa eadera est : animam sic semper eandem 
 
 Esse, sed in varias doceo migrare figuras. 
 
 Metamorph. L. xv. v. 158. 
 
 The spirit dies not, but new life repeats, 
 In other forms, and only changes seats. 
 Even I, who these mysterious truths declare. 
 Was once Euphorbus in the Trojan war : 
 My name and lineage 1 remember well. 
 And how in fight by Sparta's king I fell. 
 In Argive Juno^s fane I late beheld 
 My buckler hung, and ownM my former shield. 
 What then is death, but ancient matter, dress'd 
 In some new figure, and a varied vest? 
 Thus all things are but alter'd ; nothing dies : 
 And here and there th' unbodied spirit flies. 
 By time, or force, or sickness dispossess'd. 
 And lodges where it lights, in man or beast ; 
 Or hunts without, till ready limbs it find. 
 And actuates those according to their kind; 
 From tenement to tenement is toss'd; 
 The soul is still the same, the figure only lost: 
 And, as the soften'd wax new seals receives. 
 This face assumes, and that impression leaves ; 
 Now called by one, now by another name ; 
 Tlie form alone is changM, the wax is still the same : 
 Thus death, so call'd, can but the form deface ; 
 ^ The immortal soul flies out in empty space. 
 To seek her fortune in some other place. 
 
 Dryden's Translation. 
 
 It is curious, and not altogether unprofitable, to observe the various 
 and opposite ramifications of an erroneous principle. The belief that 
 brutes were the receptacles of human souls, laid the foundation of ab- 
 stinence from animal food, which Pythagoras enjoined upon all his 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING HUMAN SOULS. 215 
 
 ' Isaac Luria went on a time into the city of Ti- 
 
 * berias ; and passing by the great school of Rabbi 
 
 * Jochanan, who was then living, he shewed his 
 
 * disciples a stone in the wall ; and said to them, 
 
 * ' Into that stone has entered a soul, that cries 
 
 * to me to pray for her : and this is the mystery 
 
 * of the words, ** For the stone shall cry out 
 
 disciples. The rabbies on the contrary, (page 205.) made the same 
 notion an argument for indulgence in the greatest luxuries on the 
 sabbath. 
 
 The doctrine of Pythagoras found many advocates in Greece : among 
 them was Empedocles, who was the first that is known to have added 
 the notion of transmigration into vegetables. He also undertook to 
 determine the degrees of preference due to different migrations : 
 and those who credited the account he gave of himself, must have 
 deemed him well qualified to pronounce judgment on this matter. 
 For he declared himself to have had a previous existence in other 
 human bodies both male and female, to have been a bird, a fish, 
 and a shrub. Among vegetables, he preferred passing into a laurel ; 
 among animals, into a lion ; but he did mankind the honour of saying, 
 that migration into a human body was the most desirable of all. 
 Laert. Diog. L. viii. Vit. Empedoc. Mlian. L. xii. c. 7. 
 
 Plotinus, a Platonist who lived in the third century of the christian 
 era, is said to have taught, that, in consequence of wicked lives ia 
 human bodies, souls, after the death of those bodies, pass into brute 
 animals. Theodoret. in Epitom. div. Decret. cap. ix. p. 272. upud 
 Suicer. Thesaur. tom. ii. col. 1588. Porphyry, Jamblichus, Proclus, 
 and others of the latter Platonists, from the third to the fifth century, 
 were ashamed of the grosser parts of this dogma, and denied all 
 migration into vegetables or even into brutes. S. August. L. x. de 
 Civit. Dei. c, 30. apud Aldohrand. Annot. in Laert. Diog. L. viii. Vit* 
 Emperdoc. Brucker. Hist. Crit. Philosph. tom. iii. p. 452. But while 
 these heathens were confining transmigration into human bodies, the 
 Jews proceeded to extend it to things destitute of all life, animal or 
 vegetable; thus, while they profess to derive their tenets from the 
 volume of inspiration, yet in fact adopting and surpassing the absurdity 
 of their heathen masters. How just is the remark, that the corruption 
 of the best things is always the worst ! 
 
216 MODERN JUDAISM t 
 
 ' of the wall," Hab. ii. 11.'—^ The soul of him who 
 ' sheds blood, goes into the water ; and is continually 
 ' tossed in the water, and has no rest. The greatest 
 
 * misery of souls under this judgment, is, when they 
 ' are involved in cataracts or mighty falls of water ; 
 ' the stream hurling them down, and falling heavily 
 ' upon them, and tossing them furiously about. 
 ' Likewise, every one who has committed a crime 
 ' that is punished by strangling to death, undergoes 
 ' the judgment of the water ; and is there under a 
 
 * continual suffocation.' — Some souls are said to 
 transmigrate into water-mills. i — Whether they are 
 supposed to pass into windmills, I have not seen any 
 where stated : but for the generality of the rabbles, 
 who seem to have whirled themselves into a violent 
 mental vertigo, and, like maniacs, to exult in symp- 
 toms which excite the ridicule of some and the pity 
 of others, many of my readers would probably think 
 such a migration the most suitable that could possibly 
 be imagined. 
 
 I shall not trouble the reader by detailing the 
 scriptural arguments, if that appellation can be given 
 to mere citations of texts, which the rabbles have 
 adduced in support of this doctrine, without the least 
 regard to the context, or to any rules of just criticism 
 and rational interpretation. A fair sample of them 
 has been exhibited in the quotations already made. 
 I shall conclude this chapter with one extract on 
 another kind of transmigration, invented by the 
 
 » Emek Hammelech, f. 153. c. 2. f. 11. c. 2. f. 153. c. 2. f. 153. 
 c. 1. cited in Stebelin, vol. i. p. 298 — 302. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING HUMAN SOULS. 217 
 
 rabbles, that is, the inhabitation of one or more 
 souls of transcendent excellence, intellectual and 
 moral, within one of inferior knowledge and good- 
 ness, for the purpose of preserving the inferior soul 
 from error and transgression, and improving it in 
 knowledge and virtue. * Know, curious reader,' 
 says Menasseh,^ * that there are souls which trans- 
 
 * migrate after a different manner. But these are 
 ' not the souls on which depends life, or the existence 
 ' of the body : they are only auxiliaries or supports 
 
 * to them. And this, among the Cabbalists, is 
 ' called Ibbur, or impregnation. The souls of the 
 
 * righteous, without any impairment of themselves, 
 ' impregnate other souls ; darting out sparks for the 
 
 * aid of the generality, or any particular person 
 ' of their times ; and in this respect like candles, 
 
 * suffering no diminution from others being lighted 
 
 * up from them. Some have said that the soul 
 
 * of Seth was pure and unspotted, and was, on ac- 
 ' count of Israel, conveyed into Moses, to qualify 
 ^ him for the delivery of the law. The souls which 
 
 * pass through the mystery of the Ibbur, may return 
 ' or depart at any time. The souls of Moses and 
 
 * Aaron came, through the Ibbur, to the soul 
 
 * of Samuel. And I have been taught, that through 
 
 * the Ibbur, another spirit entered into Caleb, which 
 ^ strengthened and guided him in the right way, that 
 
 * he might not join in the report of the spies.' 
 
 ^ Nishmath Chajim, f. 159. c. 2. cited in Stehelin, vol. i. p. 334—336. 
 
CHAPTER XIL 
 
 Traditions concerning Persons mentioned in the Old 
 Testament, — Adam and Eve : — Abraham and Sarah : 
 — Joseph : — Serah : — Moses : — Og, King of Bashan : 
 — David: — Solomon : — Elijah : — Esau's Descendants. 
 
 The Traditions concerning persons mentioned in 
 the Old Testament are numerous and extensive. The 
 alterations and enlargements of the scriptural narra- 
 tives, and the entire additions manufactured by the 
 fertile invention of the rabbies, would fill volumes. 
 The present chapter will exhibit a few specimens 
 of these fables ; for such they must be accounted, by 
 all minds capable of appreciating them, or acquainted 
 in the smallest degree with the nature of moral 
 evidence. After what has been already stated, it may 
 be almost superfluous to add, that there is one class 
 of these traditions, and that not a small one, of which 
 no specimens can be given, for the reason assigned at 
 the end of the eighth chapter. 
 
 Adam is represented as having been created of an 
 enormous size. * He wafe formed at first of such a 
 
 * height that he reached from earth to heaven. When 
 the ministering angels saw him, they trembled and 
 ' feared. What did they do ? They all went up 
 
 * before God in the upper habitation, and said, Lord 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING ADAM AND EVE. 219 
 
 ' of the universe ! there are two powers in the world. 
 
 * Then God laid his hand upon Adam's head, and 
 
 * reduced him to a thousand cubits.' Another rabbi 
 affirms him to have been reduced to * nine hundred 
 
 * cubits ; ' another, to * three hundred ; ' another, to 
 ' two hundred ; ' and another, to * one hundred cubits 
 ^ in height.' ^ 
 
 The rabbies also tell us that * in the hour in which 
 
 * God created the first man, he made a double person, 
 
 * male and female, with two faces, but joined together 
 
 * behind ; that he afterwards cut asunder this twofold 
 ' person, thereby forming a man and a woman, and 
 
 * made a back for each.' Not satisfied with making 
 Adam a monster, they have also degraded him to the 
 likeness of brutes. Some of the rabbies have gravely 
 asserted that the Creator at first made Adam with a 
 tail, like an ouran-outang, but afterwards cut it off in 
 order to increase his beauty. ^ 
 
 Adam and Eve were buried, according to the 
 rabbias, in the cave of Macpelah ; and the following 
 altercation is said to have taken place there, about 
 twelve hundred years after their death. * When 
 ^ Abraham went to bury Sarah in the double cave, 
 
 * Adam and Eve arose, being unwilling to remain 
 ' there any longer. They said : We have always been 
 
 * ashamed and confounded before the blessed God, on 
 
 ' Jalkut, p. 6. c. 3. Talmud. Babyl. Bava Bathra, c. 5. Bereshith 
 Rabba, p. 14. c. 3, 4. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rabb. torn. i. p. 65, 66. 
 
 2 Bereshith Rabba, p. 14. c. 4. p. 17. c. 1. Talmud. Cod. Bera- 
 choth, c. 9. Eruvin, c. 2. Jalkut, p. 1. n. 20. apud Bartoloc. Bib. 
 Rabb. tom. i. p. €6 — 69. 
 
220 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * account of the sin we committed ; and you are come 
 
 * to increase our disgrace, for your good works over- 
 
 * whelm us with shame. Abraham answered : I 
 ' promise that I will intercede with God for you, that 
 
 * you may not be confounded any more. And so 
 ' Adam returned to his place ; but Eve, by no means 
 
 * satisfied with this, would not return : whereupon 
 
 * Abraham, without losing much time, carried her in 
 
 * with his own hands to Adam, and buried Sarah 
 ' and Eve together.' ^ 
 
 Abraham is sadly calumniated : the rabbies de- 
 scribe him as exercising a merciless tyranny over his 
 family, being guilty of impiety towards God, and 
 influencing persons who had embraced the true reli- 
 gion,' to forsake the worship of the living God and 
 return to idolatry. ^ 
 
 Perhaps the reader never heard of the manner in 
 which Sarah was conveyed when Abraham went into 
 Egypt. ' He put her into a chest, and locked the 
 
 * same upon her face, because none should behold 
 
 * her beauty. When he was come to the toll, or 
 
 * custom-house, they said. Pay us the custom : and 
 
 * he said, I will pay the custom. They said to him, 
 
 * Thou carriest clothes : and he said, I will pay for 
 ' the clothes. They said to him. Thou carriest gold : 
 
 * and he answered them, I will pay for my gold. 
 ' They said to him further. Thou carriest the finest 
 
 ' Jalkut Reubeni, apud Wagens. Sota, p. 293. Stehelin, vol. i. 
 p. 250—252. 
 
 2 Ain Isr|iel, par. ii. p. 19. c. 3. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. iii. 
 p. 529—531. 
 
; 
 
 CONDITIONS CONCERNING JOSEPH. 221 
 
 ' silk : then he said to them, I will pay for the finest 
 
 * silk. Further they said to him, Thou carries t 
 ' pearls : and he said to them, I will pay for the 
 ' pearls : and he was willing to pay custom as if he 
 ' had carried such valuable things. But they said to 
 ^ him. It cannot be, but thou must open, and shew us 
 
 * what is within. And when he had opened the chest, 
 
 * the whole land of Egypt was brightly illumined by 
 ' the lustre of Sarah.' ^ 
 
 Joseph, when he was dying *' took an oath of 
 " the children of Israel, saying, God will surely 
 '' visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from 
 *' hence : " and when '' the children of Israel went 
 '' up out of the land of Egypt, Moses took the bones 
 '^ of Joseph with him." ^ Thus far the Scripture. 
 The Talmud adds the following particulars. ' How 
 ' did Moses our master know where Joseph was 
 ' buried ? Serah, the daughter of Asher is said to 
 ' have been still alive. Moses therefore went to 
 ^ her, and inquired : Hast thou ever discovered 
 ' where Joseph was buried ? She answered : The 
 ' Egyptians prepared a molten coffin for him, and 
 ' immersed it in the Nile, in order to make the 
 ' waters of that river prosperous. Then Moses 
 
 * departed, stood on the banks of the Nile, and 
 
 * called aloud : Joseph ! Joseph ! the time is come, 
 ' at which the blessed God hath sworn that he will 
 
 * deliver Israel. The time is also at hand for the 
 
 * Bereshith Rabba, in Gen. xii. 14. f. 37. c. i. cited in Stehelin, 
 vol. i. p. 88, 89. 
 
 2 Genes. 1. 25. Exod. xiii. 18, 19. 
 
222 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ' fulfilment of the oath which thou didst impose 
 
 * upon Israel. If thou shew thyself, well : but if 
 
 * not, we are freed from the oath. Immediately 
 
 * Joseph's coffin swam upon the surface of the 
 
 * water. Nor is this to be wondered at ; for we 
 
 * read in the scripture, that '* iron did swim." 
 
 * 2 Kings vi. 5, 6. Now reasoning here from the 
 ' less to the greater, may we not infer the probability 
 ' of this account of Joseph's coffin ? For, if iron 
 
 * swam for the sake of Elisha, a disciple of Elijah, 
 ' who was himself a disciple of Moses, how much 
 
 * more credible is it that this should have happened 
 ' on account of Moses our master ? ' The Talmud 
 immediately proceeds to mention another place of 
 deposit assigned by tradition to this coffin. * Rabbi 
 ' Nathan affirms that Joseph was buried in the 
 
 * Mausoleum of the kings : that Moses went and 
 ' stood near that royal cemetery, and said, Joseph ! 
 ^ the time is arrived in which God swore that he 
 
 * would deliver Israel : the time is also come for 
 
 * Israel to fulfil the oath which thou didst impose 
 ' upon them : if thou shew thyself, well : but if not, 
 
 * we are released from our obligation : — that Joseph's 
 ' coffin instantly advanced ; that Moses took it and 
 
 * carried it off with him, and that during all the 
 
 * years that Israel passed in the wilderness, the coffin 
 
 * of Joseph and the ark of the Lord marched side 
 ' by side.' ^ 
 
 Serah, the daughter of Asher, is celebrated as a 
 
 ' Excerpt. Gemarse, apud Wagenseil. Sota p. 296—298. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MOSES. 223 
 
 * lady of uncommon longevity. ' Serah the daughter 
 
 * of Asher, and Jochebed the daughter of Levi, were 
 ' among those v^ho went down into Egypt and came 
 ' up out of it. Serah shewed Moses the place where 
 ' Joseph's coffin was sunk in tlie river ; and she was 
 ' that *' wise woman" who consulted with Joab, in 
 ' the affair of Sheba the son of Bichri.' ^ When she 
 died is not stated ; but if this account were true, she 
 must have attained to the age of at least seven 
 hundred years. 
 
 Moses is the subject of numerous traditions : two 
 or three anecdotes must suffice. ' And it came to 
 ' pass in the third year from Moses's birth, that 
 ' Pharaoh sat on his throne, and the queen at his 
 ' right hand, and the king's daughter on his left 
 ' hand, and she carried the child Moses in her arms ; 
 
 * and all the grandees of the kingdom sat near the 
 ' king ; and they were sitting at table. And the 
 ' child stretched forth his hand, and took the crown 
 ' from the king's head, and placed it on his own : 
 ' and the king was troubled at this matter, and all 
 
 * the princes ; and they wondered with great admira- 
 ' tion. Then Balaam the soothsayer, who was one 
 ' of the king's eunuchs, answered and said : * Re- 
 ' member, I beseech thee, O lord, my king, the 
 ' dream which thou hast seen, and which thy servant 
 ' has interpreted. And now, is not this child one 
 ' of the children of the Hebrews, who have God in 
 ' the midst of them, and he hath done this thing 
 
 * Shalshal. Hakkabal. p. 11. c. 1. apud Wagens. cited in Stehelin, 
 vol. i. p. 300. 
 
224 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * with understanding, and chosen the kingdom of 
 
 * Egypt for himself ? Now, if it please the king, 
 
 * let us shed his blood upon the ground, before he 
 
 * seize and take the kingdom out of thy hand, and 
 
 * the hope of the Egyptians concerning their king 
 ' perish.' But God sent one of his holy angels, 
 ' named Gabriel, and caused him to appear like 
 
 * one of the company : and the angel answered and 
 ' said : ' If it please the king, let a precious car- 
 ' buncle and a burning coal both be brought and 
 
 * placed before the child ; and it shall be, that if he 
 ' put his hand to the carbuncle, thou wilt know that he 
 ' has done this thing with understanding and design, 
 ' and we will slay him : but if he put his hand to 
 
 * the burning coal, thou wilt know that he has not 
 ' done this thing with understanding, and we will 
 ^ preserve him alive.' The proposal was pleasing in 
 ' the sight of the king and the princes ; and the king 
 ' did according to the word of the angel. - And they 
 
 * placed before Moses a carbuncle and a burning coal ; 
 ' and the angel drew his hand to the coal, and the 
 ' coal stuck to his finger, and he placed it on his 
 
 * mouth, and burnt part of his lip and part of his 
 ' tongue, and he became stammering and slow of 
 ' speech ; and the king delivered him, so that the 
 
 * princes slew him not : and he remained in the house 
 ' of Pharaoh, after that time, for fifteen years. And 
 
 * it came to pass, while he was a youth in the king's 
 ' house, clothed in purple, and educated among the 
 
 * king's sons, even in the eighteenth year of his age, 
 ' he was inflamed with a desire to see his parents, and 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MOSES. 225 
 
 ' he went to them, and went out to his brethren, 
 
 * and beheld their labours.' ^ 
 
 * R. Levi said : The rod ' of Moses * was created 
 
 * on the evening of the sabbath, and delivered to 
 
 * Adam in Paradise. Adam delivered it to Enoch ; 
 ' Enoch to Noah, Noah to Shem, Shem to Abraham, 
 
 * Abraham to Isaac, Isaac to Jacob ; and Jacob, 
 ' going down into Egypt, delivered it to his son 
 
 * Joseph. When Joseph was dead, and his house 
 
 * was plundered, it was deposited in the palace 
 
 * of Pharaoh. Now there was one of the Egyptian 
 
 * magicians, named Pharaoh, who saw this rod, 
 
 * and the characters engraven upon it : he coveted 
 
 * it in his heart, and took it, and brought, and 
 
 * planted it in the garden of the house of Jethro : 
 
 * and he saw the rod, and no man could approach 
 
 * to it any more. But when Moses came to Jethro 's 
 
 * house, he entered into his garden, saw the rod, 
 ' read the characters that were engraven upon it, and 
 
 * put forth his hand and took it.' ^ 
 
 Moses is represented by the Cabbalists as having 
 received the law, not as is commonly believed among 
 Christians, by the condescension of the divine 
 majesty on mount Sinai, but by actually ascending 
 into heaven to fetch it ; and ample details have been 
 given of the opposition he experienced from nume- 
 rous and mighty angels, and the means by which 
 
 ' Jalkut par. i. p. 102. c. 2. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rabb. torn. iv. 
 p. 123—125. 
 
 2 R. Eliezer, Perakim, cap. 40, apud Bavloloc. Bib. Rabb. torn. iv. 
 p. 128, 129. 
 
 Q 
 
226 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 he overcame that opposition, and surmounted othei* 
 difficulties in his progress through the celestial 
 regions. But to recount these cabbalistic adventures, 
 would require more room than the limits of the 
 present work will allow\^ 
 
 Og, King of Bashan, is confidently affirmed, 
 by many rabbinical authorities, to have lived before 
 the flood, and with Noah and his family, to have 
 survived the general destruction. They have given 
 two accounts of the manner of his preservation : 
 one, that he was tall enough to walk by the side 
 of the ark ; and the other, that he rode astride on the 
 top of it, and received from Noah a daily supply 
 of victuals. During the time that he was Noah's 
 guest, he is said to have consumed a thousand 
 oxen, and the same number of every sort of game. 
 The rabbies pretend that he was afterwards a servant 
 to Abraham, who is mentioned in scripture under 
 the name of Eliezer. His size would seem to have 
 been gigantic indeed. According to one account, 
 
 * the soles of his feet were forty miles long. Upon 
 ' a time Abraham scolding at him, fear shook a tooth 
 
 * out of his head. Abraham took the same, and out 
 
 * of it made a bedstead, and lay and slept upon it. 
 
 * Some say that out of this tooth Abraham made him- 
 ' self a chair, which he sat in as long as he lived.' ^ 
 
 ' Zohar in Exod. p. 58,78. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. p. 347, 351 . 
 
 2 Targ. Jonath. in Gen. xiv, 13. in Walton. Polyglott. torn. iv. 
 Talm. Kodash. Cod. Sevachim, cap. xiv. p. 113. Ain Israel, par. ii. 
 p. 164. c. 2. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rabb. torn. iii. p. 629. Jalkut 
 Shimoni, f. 15. c. 3. Talmud. Cod. Sopberim, Jalkut Chadash, f. 14. 
 c 4. cited in Stebelin, vol. i. p. 81, 82. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING SOLOM-QN. 227 
 
 David is represented by the sacred historian, as 
 being rendered an object of envy to Saul, by the 
 high praises which followed his conquest and 
 slaughter of Goliath. The rabbies assign to this 
 envy a little earlier commencement, and a very 
 different cause. ' And it is written of Saul, that 
 ' '' from his shoulders upward, he was higher than 
 ' any of the people." When " Saul armed David 
 
 * with his armour," (1 Sam. xvii. 38.) David's 
 
 * personal appearance became that of a king, and 
 ^ immediately the various parts of the armour fitted 
 
 * him. When Saul saw this, there forthwith entered 
 
 * into him an evil eye. But David, when he per- 
 
 * ceived that an evil eye had entered into Saul, said ; 
 
 * " 1 cannot go with these : for I have not proved 
 
 * them." Hence you may learn, that when a man 
 
 * is appointed to be a king, if he be short of stature, 
 
 * he instantly becomes tall ; and that by virtue of the 
 ' anointing oil with which he is anointed.' ^ 
 
 Solomon is recorded to have built the temple 
 *' of stone, made ready before it was brought 
 ** thither : so that there was neither hammer, nor 
 *' axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house, 
 ** while it was in building." Of the preparation 
 of the stones for the temple the rabbies have invented 
 a most absurd story, of which the following is a 
 very brief outline. When Solomon was about to 
 erect the temple, the Talmud says, he consulted 
 the Sanhedrim by what means he could get the 
 
 ' Jalkut, pav. ii. n. 127. apud Bartoloc. Rib. Rabh. tom. ii. j). 98. 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 stones prepared without tools. They told him he 
 must procure the Shamir, which had been employed 
 by Moses in working the stones for the pontifical 
 breast-plate. The Shamir, in another part of the 
 Talmud, is described as a creature of the size of a 
 barleycorn, created on the first of the days of crea- 
 tion, whose power the hardest substance in nature is 
 not firm enough to resist. Solomon inquired how 
 this insect was to be obtained. They advised his 
 evocation of two certain demons, a male and female, 
 who perhaps might inform him. At the command 
 of the king, who is represented as versed in magical 
 arts, those evil spirits appeared, and being interro- 
 gated, professed themselves ignorant of the abode 
 of the Shamir, but thought it likely to be known to 
 Ashmedai, their chief. Having learned the haunt 
 of this prince of demons, Solomon dispatched one 
 of his officers, who, partly by craft, and partly by 
 a chain possessed of cabbalistic power succeeded in 
 taking him into custody, and brought him into the 
 royal presence. The information given by Ashmedai, 
 directed the further pursuit, and Solomon obtained 
 possession of this wonder working insect, which 
 performed all the services he required.^ 
 
 Elijah the prophet is supposed by the Jews to 
 have been, at the time of his translation, nearly 
 six hundred years old. In the concluding service 
 for the sabbath, one of their prayer books has * a 
 
 * Talmud. Cod. Gittin, cap. vii. p. 68. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rabb. 
 torn. i. p. 491, 492. torn. iii. p. 501, 502. Sola cap. ix. p. 48. apud 
 Bartoloc. cited in Stehelin, vol. i. p. 332. Wagenseil. Sota, p. 1072. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING ELIJAH. 229 
 
 ' poem ' which commences with the following pas- 
 sages. * O may Elijah, the prophet, come to us 
 
 * speedily, with Messiah, the son of David. He 
 ' was the man who was zealous for the name of 
 ' God ; to whom tidings of peace were delivered 
 ' by the hand of Jekuthiel : he was the man who 
 
 * drew near, and made expiation for the children 
 ' of Israel. He was the man whose eyes saw twelve 
 
 * generations ; who was known and called an hairy 
 
 * man, girt with a girdle of leather about his loins : 
 
 * Elijah the prophet.' A note, by the Editor, states 
 twelve to be ' the number of generations, from the 
 
 * time of Moses till the second year of the reign of 
 ' Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, when Elijah was taken 
 
 * by a whirlwind into heaven.' In another note 
 he says : ' It must be observed, that the two first 
 
 * stanzas of this poem, are founded on the certain 
 ' tradition, that Elijah was the same with Phinehas, 
 ' the son of Eleazar, who slew the man of Israel 
 
 * and the Midianitish woman, in the affair of Baal- 
 ' peor. (See Num. xxv. 7, &c.) It therefore with 
 
 * great propriety may be said, that he was the man 
 ' who was zealous for the name of God. Of this 
 
 * we have the testimony of God himself in favour 
 
 * of Phinehas, saying, '' while he was zealous for 
 ' my sake among them : " and Elijah, in his answer 
 ' to the word of God, testifies the same of himself, 
 
 * in nearly the same language; '* I have been very 
 
 * jealous for the Lord God of hosts." 1 Kings xix. 
 
 * 10, 14. This being premised, the whole will appear 
 
 * clear ; for the expression ' to whom tidings of peace 
 
230 MODERN JUDAISM I 
 
 ' were delivered by the hand of Jekuthiel,' alludes to 
 ' that memorable message from God to Phinehas by 
 
 * Moses: ** Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him 
 
 * my covenant of peace." Num. xxv. 12.'^ 
 
 Elijah is believed to be frequently employed in 
 missions to mankind. The poem, just quoted, de- 
 scribes him as ' the man specially appointed to super- 
 
 * intend all good tidings,' and celebrates the felicity 
 of those who are objects of his attention. * Happy 
 ' is he who hath seen him in dreams ; happy is 
 
 * he who saluted him with peace, and to whom he 
 
 * returned the salutation of peace.' He is particularly 
 supposed to be present at the performance of circum- 
 cision, as it will be necessary to state when we come 
 to treat of that ceremony. — The manner in which 
 Elijah became qualified for these missions, Abarbinel 
 has undertaken to explain. ' In order that he might 
 ' frequently come and appear among mankind, he was 
 ' taken away with body and soul ; and has ever since 
 ' continued living in the union of body and soul ; to 
 
 * demonstrate that there still should be need of him 
 ' in this world. Wherefore he was carried away in 
 
 * a powerful wind, with a chariot and horses of fire, 
 ' that his moisture might be melted and dried away. — 
 ' Thus he became light and swift, to appear in all 
 ' places. He has no need of meat, or drink, or any 
 ' other things that are necessary for human life : 
 ' because his body was transformed into a spiritual 
 ' state, and he received a spiritual nature.' ^ 
 
 ' Spmiishancl Portuguese Jews' Prayers, p. 170,171. Notes, p. 17, 18. 
 2 Abarbiru in 2 Reg. ii. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 102> 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING EDOMITES. 231 
 
 Esau's descendants are the subjects of extensive 
 traditions, in which the rabbies, with an eifrontery at 
 which we should wonder in any other men, have set 
 at defiance all authentic history and accurate chrono- 
 logy. These representations, the fallacy of which 
 will be too obvious to require being pointed out, may 
 be briefly comprized under the following heads. 
 
 First. That the descendants of Esau, the sworn 
 enemies of the descendants of Jacob even to the end 
 of the world, were at first a small nation, inhabiting 
 mount Seir and the adjacent country, contiguous to 
 the land of Canaan : — that they were easily confined 
 within their own limits, as long as the Israelites 
 enjoyed a great and formidable empire in Canaan : — 
 but that after the powerful republic of the twelve 
 tribes was destroyed by the Assyrians and Babylonians, 
 they w^onderfully increased in numbers and strength, 
 extended their dominion towards the west, spread 
 their colonies far and wide, subjugated Italy, founded 
 Rome and the Roman empire, at length entirely over- 
 turned the Jewish State which had been restored after 
 the termination of the Babylonian captivity, the second 
 temple being destroyed by Titus Vespasian: — and 
 that in the present day, professing the religion of 
 Jesus of Nazareth, which they were the first of all 
 nations to embrace, they hold the dominion over all 
 Europe, Esau detaining in captivity his brother Jacob, 
 at least as far as regards the tribe of Judah, till his 
 Messiah Ben David shall appear. 
 
 Secondly. That the prophecies of the prophets 
 against Esau, Edom, Seh\ and the cities of Edoin, 
 
232 MODERN JUDAISM. 
 
 especially those of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Obadiah, 
 have not yet received their full accomplishment : — for 
 that though the House of Esau has experienced some 
 particular judgments of God, on account of the injuries 
 at different periods of time inflicted upon Israel ; yet 
 the final vengeance on account of that last and great- 
 est injury, the destruction of the second temple by 
 Titus, and the transportation of the Jews into captivity, 
 in which they are still most opprobriously detained, 
 is yet impending over it, to be executed in the time 
 of the Messiah ; — that this is foretold by the prophets 
 in all their denunciations of the severest plagues 
 against the house of Esau, the cities of Edom, and 
 Mount Seir, which all belong to Rome and the 
 Christians : — and that the fate of Christians at that 
 time will be far more dreadful than that of Maho- 
 metans. Abarbinel particularly says : * The slaughter 
 
 * of the Turks in the future battle will not be so great 
 ' as that of the Christians : for many of the Turks 
 
 * will escape, according to Isaiah Ixvi. 19. but of the 
 
 * Christians, Obadiah says : There shall not be any 
 
 * remaining of the House of Esau.' ^ 
 
 ' R. Bechai, Cad Hakkemach, f. 20. c. 1. R. D. Kimchi in Obadiara 
 et al. prophet, apud Buxt. Lex. Chald. Talra. ^t Rabb. col. 30, 31. 
 Abarb. in Zech. f. 294. 4. apud Pseif. Theol. Jud. Praef. p. 20. ibid. 
 Exerc. v. Thes. 19. Huls. Theol. Jud. p. 118, 119. Raym. Mart. 
 Pug. Fid. p. 399. 
 
CHAPTER XIII, 
 
 Traditions concerning Behemoth, a huge Quadruped : — 
 Leviathan, an immense Fish : — Bar Juchne, an enor- 
 mous Bird : — Powerful Kingdoms of Israelites : — 
 Sambation, a wonderful River, 
 
 The plan of the present work requires some 
 notice to be taken of the important discoveries, 
 which the doctors of the synagogue pretend to 
 have made in zoology, ichthyology, ornithology, 
 and geography. They have favoured the world 
 with descriptions of animals, countries, and people, 
 altogether unknown to naturalists and geographers 
 among the Gentiles. 
 
 Behemoth is represented by the rabbies as the 
 name of a species of quadrupeds of immense magni- 
 tude. They tell us, that, as God in the beginning 
 formed all other creatures male and female, so he 
 made a male and female Behemoth ; but that, to 
 prevent the depopulation of the world, which would 
 be the unavoidable consequence of an increase in 
 their number, he immediately rendered them incap- 
 able of propagating their kind, and reserved them to 
 be fattened for the banquet to be enjoyed by pious 
 Jews in the days of the Messiah. Among many 
 passages of scripture in which the Hebrew word 
 
234 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 behemoth occurs, is one in the fiftieth Psalm, where 
 it is generally regarded as a plural noun, and trans- 
 lated cattle : but the rabbies pronounce it to be the 
 name of a single animal, — " Behemoth upon a 
 thousand hills ;" that is, according to their expo- 
 sition, which every day eats up all the grass on a 
 thousand hills. If it be inquired, whether he must 
 not long ago have devoured the grass upon all 
 the hills in the world, they have precluded this 
 supposition, by stating, that he always remains in 
 the same place, and that the pasture which he eats 
 down is immediately reproduced ; the growth of each 
 night being equal to the consumption of the pre- 
 ceding day. This enormous animal swallows at 
 one draught, one rabbi says, as much water as the 
 Jordan yields in the course of six months ; another 
 affirms, double that quantity ; and another rabbi 
 asserts, that he drinks of a river which runs out 
 of Eden, and is called Juval.^ 
 
 Leviathan, according to the rabbies, is the name 
 of a species of fish. They say that two were created 
 at the beginning, male and female, of such stupendous 
 size and strength, that if they had been suffered to 
 multiply, they would soon have destroyed the world ; 
 that the Creator therefore immediately rendered the 
 male incapable of propagating his kind, and slew the 
 
 » Talmud. Cod. Bava Bathra, cap. v. apud Huls. Theol. Jud. 
 p. 230, 231. Bava Bathra, p. 74. c. 2. et Vajikra Ilabba, p. 191. c. 1. 
 apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. p. 517, 518. Bava Batiira, Vajikra 
 Habba, and Menachem Recanat. od Pentateuch, cited in Stehelin, 
 vol. i. p. 97 — 99. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING BAR JUCHNE. 235 
 
 female, which he laid up in salt for the feast of the 
 Messiah in the latter days. Of the size attributed 
 to this creature, some notion may be acquired from 
 the language of the Talmud. ' Rabbi Siphra says, 
 
 * Once when I was in a ship, we saw a certain fish, 
 
 * which lifted up his head above the waters, and had 
 ^ horns with this inscription on them ; I am the least 
 
 * of the creatures that are in the sea: and it was 
 
 * three hundred leagues in extent, and was swdlowed 
 
 * by the Leviathan.' A grave commentator on the 
 Talmud says, that this fish served Leviathan ' for 
 ' food for one day.' The Talmud also describes a 
 rabbi to have been terrified by the appearance of a 
 light in the sea, like the brightness of the sun ; 
 which, according to another rabbi, proceeded from 
 the eyes of Leviathan.^ 
 
 Bar Juchne is a rabbinical bird, not inferior to 
 Behemoth or Leviathan. Some faint conjectures 
 of its tremendous magnitude may be formed from 
 the following account. One of the most eminent 
 rabbles 2 says, that when she extends her wings 
 she causes a total eclipse of the sun. The Talmud 
 declares, that one of her eggs once fell out of her 
 nest, and broke down three hundred cedars, and 
 inundated sixty villages.^ 
 
 The person who can believe the foregoing relations 
 
 * Talmud. Cod. Bava Bathra, cap. v. p. 74. apud Huls. Theol. Jud. 
 p. 2S0, 231. et apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. p. 510, 511. 
 
 ^ R. David Kimclii, in Psalm 1. apud Buxloif. Synag. Jud. cap. 1. 
 p. 737. 
 
 ' Talmud. Cod. Btclioroth, cap. ix. p. 57. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. 
 torn. i. p. 520. Huls. Theol. Jud. p. 232, 233. 
 
236 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 and descriptions, will find no difficulty in crediting 
 the following statement, given in the same part 
 of the Talmud. ' Rabba, grandson of Channa, said : 
 ' I once saw a frog as large as the village of Akra 
 
 * in Hagronia. But how large was that village ? 
 
 * It contained sixty houses. There came a huge 
 
 * serpent, which swallowed the frog. But after 
 
 * that came a raven, which devoured the serpent 
 
 * together with the frog, as easily as a fox eats up 
 
 * a pear; and then flew off and perched upon the 
 
 * nearest tree. — Rabbi Pappa, the son of Samuel, 
 ' answered, If I had not seen it myself, I should 
 ' not have believed it.' * 
 
 It would seem that some of the rabbies have 
 been unwilling to acknowledge the abject circum- 
 stances to which their nation has been reduced 
 ever since the destruction of the second temple, 
 to be the universal condition of the sons of Jacob. 
 Benjamin, a rabbi of Tudela in Spain, who lived 
 in the twelfth century, and travelled into various 
 countries to visit his brethren, asserted the existence 
 of powerful states in some parts of Asia, consisting 
 respectively of different tribes of Israel, under the 
 dominion of their own princes, and governed by 
 their own laws. Similar accounts have been given, 
 by other rabbinical writers, of national estabhsh- 
 ments of Jews in Asia, Africa, and America. It 
 cannot be necessary to go into a refutation of these 
 fables : nor is it my design to detail them at length. 
 
 • Bava Bathra, cap. v. p. 73. apud Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. cap. 1. p. 737. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING ISRAEL. 237 
 
 An extract or two will enable the reader to appreciate 
 
 the whole. 
 
 ' In that country,' namely, a country inhabited by 
 
 Jews, governed by a prince named ' Solomon of the 
 lineage of David, are fifty cities, two hundred 
 villages, and one hundred castles. The capital 
 city, called Thenai, is very strong. They sow 
 and reap therein, because it is fifteen miles long 
 and broad : and there is the palace of Solomon. 
 It is also very beautiful : there are gardens and 
 orchards in it. Tilima is also a large city, in 
 which dwell near a hundred thousand Jews. — 
 Tilima is three days' journey from Kibar : and 
 the people say, they are the tribes of Reuben and 
 Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh : who were 
 made captives by Salmaneser, king of Assyria. 
 They went thither, and built large and strong 
 cities. They wage war with all the kingdoms 
 about them ; and none can come near them, 
 because of eighteen days' travel in a desert en- 
 tirely uninhabited. The city of Kibar also is 
 very large, and the Israelites who dwell there are 
 computed to be fifty thousand. — The mountains 
 of Nisbon lie near the river Gosan ; and there 
 sojourn in Persia people that come from thence, 
 who are Israelites, and who report that on the 
 mountains of Nisbon are four tribes of Israel, 
 Dan, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali. — They are 
 not in subjection to the Gentiles ; but there is a 
 prince set over them whose name is rabbi Joseph 
 
238 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ' Immarkela, the Levite.' This country is said to 
 
 be ' on the borders of India.' ^ 
 
 Another rabbinical geographer places some of these 
 
 tribes in a different part of the world. * Those four 
 tribes, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, have fixed 
 themselves in the ancient Chavila ; — and they have 
 laid their hands on the necks of their enemies. Every 
 year they wage war with seven kingdoms of seven 
 different languages, — which are beyond the rivers 
 of Ethiopia. — These tribes have gold, silver, and 
 precious stones, sheep and oxen, camels and asses 
 in abundance. They sow and reap, and dwell in 
 tents ; they travel and encamp in various places, 
 their encampment extending four days' journey each 
 way : nor do they pitch their tents in any place, 
 except where there are fruits, pastures, and vines. 
 The name of their king is Uzziel the son of Malchiel : 
 and their great prince is Nikoli, of the children of 
 Oliab. The name of their judge is Abdan, the 
 son of Mishael, of the tribe of Asher. — The tribe 
 of Issachar dwells in the mountains near the sea, at 
 the extremity of the country of the Medes and 
 Persians. — They are in subjection to no king, but 
 God. — They have a judge and prince, whose name 
 is Naashon. — They speak Hebrew, Arabic, and 
 Persian. — Near them are the children of Zebulun, 
 who pitch their tents on the mountains of Paran. — 
 Over against them, at the back of the mountains 
 
 ' Benjamin. Tudelens. Itinerar. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p>. 142 — 144. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING SAMBATION. 239 
 
 * of Paran, is the tribe of Reuben. — The tribe of Eph- 
 ' raim and the half tribe of Manasseh are in the 
 
 * southern mountains. — The tribe of Simeon and 
 
 * half of the tribe of Judah are in the country of the 
 
 * Cuzarim ; and their numbers are beyond all com- 
 ' putation : they receive tribute from twenty-five 
 
 * kingdoms.' ^ 
 
 The Talmud and several other Jewish writings 
 speak of a river, named Sambation ; which, they say, 
 flows during the first six days of every week with a 
 current so strong and rapid as to carry along with it, 
 and throw up, sand and even stones ; but which 
 ceases and dries up at the commencement of the 
 seventh day, and remains dry till the sabbath is over. 
 The rabbies are not all agreed as to the situation 
 of this river : some place it on the borders of Ethiopia ; 
 some, in India.^ Menasseh Ben Israel says : ' The 
 ' river Sambation is near the Caspian sea ; and many 
 ^ ancient writers have asserted the same.'^ The sand 
 of this river is said to retain its turbulent quality on 
 other days, and its habit of quiescence on the sabbath, 
 even when it is removed into another country. Me- 
 nasseh says : * Rabbi Mordecai Japheh confirms this, 
 ' by saying, that some one had a glass vessel ftdl 
 ' of that sand, which, during all the working days, 
 
 » Sepher Eldacl Haddani, apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. t. i. p. 101—112. 
 
 ' Talmud. Cod. Sanhedrin, p. 65. c. 2. Beresli. Rabba, parash. 11. 
 Elias Tliisbites, ad vocem Smnhation. Abraham Peritsol in Orchoth 
 01am. cap. ix. xv. xxiv. Tsemach David, ad vocem Sambation. Et 
 alii, apudBartoloc. Bib. Rabb. tom. i. p. 100 — 119. 
 
 3 Mikveh Israel, f. 40. c. 2. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 154. 
 
240 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * was in perpetual motion, but rested on the sabbath. 
 ' I, in like manner, do testify that, according to the 
 
 * testimony which I had from my father of blessed 
 
 * memory, and which is a certain truth ; for it is 
 
 * impossible that a father should relate falsehoods to 
 
 * his children : he has often told me that in the city 
 
 * of Lisbon, in the kingdom of Portugal, there was a 
 ' Moor who had a glass vessel full of that sand. — I 
 ^ have also been informed in relation to this matter 
 ' by Rabbi Meir, a physician, that he had seen a 
 ' Black-moor with a glass vessel, standing before 
 
 * a Turkish mosque in the city of Aleppo : but the 
 ' judge, passing by, asked the Moor about it, and 
 ' reproved him, saying he had done wrong in making 
 ' a shew of that glass, because it was a confirmation 
 ' of the Jewish Sabbath.' ^ The reader will remember 
 that Menasseh lived as late as the seventeenth century. 
 
 If we were inclined to regard this fabulous river as 
 a romance of superstitious ages, now become obsolete 
 and no longer believed by the members of the syna- 
 gogue, we are forbidden to entertain such an idea, by 
 the express language of one of their prayers. ' On 
 
 * the sabbath that food (the manna) did not descend ; 
 ' the necromancers were not answered on that day : 
 
 * remember that on it the incomprehensible river resteth.' 
 An explanatory note by the Editor says : ' This de- 
 ' notes the river |'i'':o:iOD fSamhationJ said to rest 
 
 * on the sabbath from throwing up stones, &c. which 
 ' it does all the week. See Sanhedrin, fol. 65. col. 2. 
 
 » Mikveh Israel, f. 38- c. 2. cited in Stehelin, vol. ii. p. 156. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING SAMBATION. 241 
 
 ' Yalkut on Isaiah, fol. 52. 1. Pesikta, Tanchuma, 
 ' sect. i^WD O — See also Shalsheleth Hakkabala, and 
 * Juchsin.' — This passage and note are copied from 
 page 81 of an Edition of the Prayers for the Feast 
 of Pentecost y in Hebrew and English , published in 
 the year 1807, with the approbation and support 
 of the principal members of the German Synagogue 
 in London. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Traditions concerning Jesus of Nazareth : — Toldoth 
 Yeshu : — Two Books with this Title, — The Miracles 
 of Jesus said hy the Jews to have been performed 
 by the Power of the Shem-hamphorash : — Absurdity 
 of this Pretence, 
 
 The rabbles have employed all the means which 
 enmity and ingenuity could supply to perpetuate and 
 strengthen the prejudices of their nation against the 
 Christian religion. Among other hostilities, they 
 have left no artifice untried to render the very name 
 of its Founder an object of abhorrence. Finding 
 his character unimpeachable by the testimony of 
 truth, they have adopted the nefarious policy of his 
 Pharisaic and sadducean persecutors by resorting to 
 the fabrications of falsehood. Unable to disprove or 
 invalidate the histories of the evangelists, they have 
 endeavoured to supplant them : and spurious narra- 
 tives, which pretend to recount the circumstances 
 of the birth, life, and death of Jesus of Nazareth, 
 have been imposed upon the deluded members of the 
 synagogue, from age to age, down to the present 
 day. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING JESUS. 243 
 
 In imitation of the superscription of St. Matthew's 
 Gospel, one of these productions has been entitled 
 Sepher Toldoth Yeshu, or Jesku,^ The Book of the 
 Generation of Jesus. This has been published, the 
 original Hebrew and a Latin version in parallel 
 columns, together with a refutation, by Wagenseil.^ 
 Another book, written with the same design, and 
 bearing the same title, but differing from the former 
 in various particulars, has been published in a small 
 volume, accompanied with a Latin version and a 
 refutation, by Huldric.^ 
 
 The Jew^s have been exceedingly careful to conceal 
 these books from the eyes of Christians ; and since 
 copies of them have been obtained, and published to 
 the w^orld, they have very generally disowned them. 
 But a writer in a late periodical work, says : * The 
 ' Toldoth Yeshu is of universal circulation among 
 ' the Jews : in fact, their children are taught it like 
 
 * nursery tales, and thence imbibe that inveterate 
 
 * prejudice against the historical relations of the gos- 
 
 * pels, which is so difficult to eradicate from their 
 
 * minds in more advanced years. For the answer is 
 
 * always the same : You believe all this ; but we 
 
 * know better : we have the i^eal history of Jesus, 
 
 * and it contains such things as we must not men- 
 
 ace''' n'nb'in "icd • 
 
 ' This volume contains several other Jewish Tracts against Christ 
 and Christianity, and is entitled, Tela Ignea Satanae, sive Arcani et 
 horribiles Judseorum, adversus Christum Deum, et Christianam 
 Religionem, libri. Alldorf. 1681. 
 
 'Liber Toldoth Jeschu, cum versione et refutatione, ;i Jac. Iluldric. 
 Lugfhoi. Bnfav. 1705. 
 
 R '2 
 
244 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * tion.' In another number of the same work, it is 
 said : ' The Jews are anxious to make the Christian 
 
 * public believe, that they place no reliance upon 
 
 * these publications : but it is notorious that, 
 
 * throughout Europe, they are in general circulation, 
 
 * though covertly ; and even where the books them- 
 
 * selves are not known, the relations they contain 
 
 * are received and transmitted by tradition, as 
 
 * authentic* ^ 
 
 A writer in another work, having observed that 
 the Jews of the present day * affect to deny any 
 ' knowledge, or at least any present use of this 
 
 * book among them,' proceeds to say : ' but let any 
 
 * candid and honest Jew declare what authority he 
 
 * refers to, when, upon being pressed with the 
 
 * history of our Saviour in the four gospels, he 
 
 * will tell you, as we have frequently been told, that 
 
 * the Jews have another and better account of the 
 ' birth, life, and death of Jesus. It is to the 
 
 * Toldoth Yeshu, absurd and outrageous to common 
 ' sense as it is, that they allude, and whence they 
 
 * draw their belief.' ^ The pretensions of the Jews 
 to a more correct knowledge of the history of Jesus 
 than can be derived from the four evangelists, I have 
 myself had an opportunity of witnessing ; and till, 
 at least, they exhibit the authority upon which these 
 pretensions are founded, they must excuse our con- 
 
 1 Jewish Repository, vol. iii. p. 233. p. 3. Vide etiam Wolf. Bib. 
 Heb. torn. ii. p. 1443 — 1449. 
 
 2 Leslie's Short and easy Method with the Jews. London^ 1812. p. 3. 
 Note by the Editor. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING JESUS. 245 
 
 sidering their disavowals of the Toldoth Yeshu as 
 not entitled to any credit. 
 
 The reasons for believing the existence and use 
 of such narratives among the Jews of the present 
 day, is strongly corroborated by the following cir- 
 cumstance. A respectable Israelite whom I have 
 already had occasion to quote, in a letter written 
 professedly to defend the Jewish faith, has the 
 following passage : ' I have also read, with a great 
 ' degree of interest, some of the Rev. Mr. King- 
 
 * horn's Demonstration Sermons ; for the language 
 ' is pleasing and shews the scholar, and the con- 
 
 * siderate manner in which he exhorts the Jews to 
 ^ be sensible of their error in rejecting the divine 
 
 * mission of Christ, proves him to be completely 
 ' qualified for the divine charge entrusted to him: 
 
 * beyond this, his arguments have made no further 
 ' impression on me.' ^ — The only publication of the 
 above description by the Rev. Mr. Kinghorn is 
 one Sermon, entitled, The Miracles of Jesus not 
 performed by the Power of the Shem-hamphorash, 
 with an Appendix, containing two Essays, which 
 perhaps this writer took for additional sermons. 
 The whole of the Sermon consists of arguments to 
 expose the absurdity of the accounts given in the 
 Toldoth Yeshu, and inferences pressed upon the 
 Jews from the concessions it contains. Now is it 
 to be supposed that an intelligent member of the 
 synagogue would content himself with speaking 
 
 ' Jewish Repository, vol. ii. p. 150. Letter signed S. M. 
 
246 
 
 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 of this Sermon in the language of the above para- 
 graph, if it had been in his power to answer it all by 
 alleging that the book against which its censures are 
 directed, and from which its argumenta ad homines 
 are derived, is either wholly unknown or never read 
 among the Jewish nation ? 
 
 If any doubt could yet remain on this subject, it 
 must be removed by the following testimony, from 
 one who was born a Jew, and educated in the reli- 
 gion of the Talmud. ' On the evening preceding 
 
 * the twenty-fifth of December, it being supposed 
 ' that Jesus Christ was born on that evening, the 
 
 * Jews do not study any thing sacred ; but our 
 
 * teacher always made us read a little book, called 
 
 * Toldoth Jeshu, The Generation of Jesus, which con- 
 
 * tains the most horrid blasphemies, and is calculated 
 
 * to fill any person who believes it, with prejudice, 
 
 * disgust, and hatred against Jesus and his fol- 
 lowers/^ — I have received information, upon 
 which the fullest reliance may be placed, that the 
 copies of this and similar works, which are circu- 
 lated among the Jews, are chiefly, if not wholly, 
 in manuscript. 
 
 It is not my intention to enlarge upon all the 
 absurdities and blasphemies ^ of either of the books 
 which pass under this name. Two or three things 
 will fully prove them to be contemptible forgeries. 
 
 * Frey's Narrative, p. 4, 5. 
 
 * For calumnies and blasphemies of the Jews concerning Jesus, Vid. 
 Pseif. Theol. Jud. Ex. v. Thes. 1—10. IIuls. Theol. Jud. p. 125. 
 Wagenseil. Tela Ignea Sat. praef. p. 52. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING JBSUS. 247 
 
 One account declares, that Jesus was born in the 
 beginning of the reign of Herod the Great, and that 
 he suffered death by the command of the same prince.^ 
 The other affirms, that he was born in the year of the 
 world 3671, in the reign of Alexander Jannaeus,^ and 
 was put to death by the Sanhedrim, in the reign 
 of Helena, who succeeded her husband Jannaeus.^ — 
 These accounts are too plainly contradictory for any 
 sophistry to reconcile. They are both at variance 
 with all authentic records : though the latter is more 
 erroneous than the former, yet it seems to be the 
 favourite story with some of the gravest rabbies. One 
 says : ^ ' It is a true tradition of our ancestors, that 
 ' that man (whom I do not choose to name) was a 
 
 * disciple of Joshua the son of Perachiah. And this 
 
 * is the sect =*«= ^ =>^ It must be considered as cer- 
 
 * tain, therefore, that that man was born in the fourth 
 
 * year of the reign of Alexander Jannaeus, two hundred 
 ' and sixty-three years before the destruction of the 
 
 * temple, and the fifty-first year of the government 
 
 * of the Asmoneans, which was the year of the world 
 
 > Toldoth Huldric. 
 
 ' Jannaeus's reign commenced in the year 107, and he died in the 
 year 79, before the Christian era. These years answer to the years of the 
 world 3897 and 3925. — Authentic history gives no account of his ever 
 having a wife named Helena. His wife who succeeded him in tlie 
 government was called Alexandra, — An anachronism of two or three 
 centuries, and the introduction or creation of personages never heard 
 of before, are trifles for rabbinical writers ! See Prid. Connect. Part. ii. 
 Book 6. 
 
 3 Toldoth Wagenseil. 
 
 < Abraham Zacuth in Juchasin, p. 16. c. 2. apud Wagens. Sota, 
 p. 1057, 1058. 
 
248 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ' 3671 : notwithstanding the assertions of his fol- 
 ' lowers that he was born in the reign of Herod.' 
 Another says : ^ * This happened in the days of that 
 ' man, whom those who are abominable for their 
 \ uncircumcision worship as God. Nor should any 
 ' credit be given to their words, when they affirm 
 
 * that he lived in the reign of Herod : for our wise 
 
 * men who were the greatest lovers of truth, declare 
 
 * that he was cotemporary with Simeon the son 
 ' Shetach : and this admits of no doubt.' 
 
 The credibility of the gospel history, which declares 
 Jesus to have been born near the end of Herod's 
 reign, and to have suffered death under the adminis- 
 tration of Pontius Pilate, is supported by a mass 
 of evidence which cannot fail to command the belief 
 of every unprejudiced mind. To suppose that all the 
 rabbies, who have circulated these anachronisms, 
 have fallen into them by unintentional mistake, re- 
 quires an excess of charity, or rather of credulity, 
 which would only betray weakness of mind in him 
 who should exercise it. There is great probability in 
 the suspicion that their real design was, to evade the 
 argument for the Messiahship of Jesus which Chris- 
 tians derive from the prophecy of Daniel, by insinu- 
 ating that he was born long before the time fixed for 
 the appearance of the Messiah in the writings of that 
 prophet. 
 
 Both these books describe Jesus as working various 
 miracles, which they allege that he accomplished 
 
 ' Aben Ezra in Daniel xi. 14. apud Wagens. Sola, p. 1057, 1058. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING JESUS. 249 
 
 wholly by the virtue of the Shem-hamphorash, or 
 ineffable name of God, as the Jews called the name 
 Jehovah. The Toldoth published by Wagenseil states : 
 — ^That in digging the foundation of the temple, 
 David found, on the mouth of the abyss, a certain 
 stone, on which was engraven the ineffable name 
 of God, and which he took up and deposited in the 
 holy of holies : — that lest curious young men should 
 learn this name, and bring devastation on the world 
 by the miracles it would enable them to perform, the 
 wise men, by magical arts, made two brazen lions, 
 which they stationed before the entrance of the holy 
 of holies, one on each side : — that if any one entered 
 and learned the name, the lions roared at him when 
 he came out, so that he entirely forgot it : — that 
 Jesus, by magical art and the power of incantations, 
 entered the temple undiscovered by the priests, learned 
 the sacred name, wrote it on parchment, made an 
 incision in his body, slipped the parchment under his 
 skin, and by an enunciation of the name secured 
 himself from pain and healed the wound :— that 
 when he came out, the lion roared and he forgot the 
 name : — that he went out of the city, re-opened his 
 skin, took out the parchment, learned the name 
 again, and then replaced the parchment under his 
 skin : — and that by the power of this name he 
 wrought all his miracles. 
 
 In this enlightened age, and for most persons who 
 are likely to pursue the present work, it cannot be 
 necessary to enter on a serious refutation of a story 
 
250 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 SO absurd, ridiculous, and impious. If any Jews 
 be desirous of examining the objections to its credi- 
 bility, and the inferences derivable from the conces- 
 sions with which it is accompanied, I would refer 
 them, in Latin, to the refutations of Wagenseil and 
 Huldric, already mentioned ; and in English, to the 
 Sermon by the Rev. Joseph Kinghorn, w^hich I have 
 also had occasion to notice. 
 
 The admissions of these anti-Christian books are 
 not unimportant. ^ That published by Wagenseil 
 states : that Jesus was born at Bethlehem : — that 
 his mother's name was Mary : — that he asserted 
 himself to have been born of a virgin : — that he 
 claimed the character of the Son of God : — that 
 the dry bones of a dead body being, at his own 
 request, brought to him from a sepulchre, he united 
 bone to bone, and clothed them with sinews, flesh, 
 and skin ; and that the body lived again, arose, 
 and stood upon its feet : — that he healed a leper : — 
 that he performed these and similar miracles on 
 various occasions ; — that he was betrayed by Judas : 
 
 > Not that the religion of Jesus requires these concessions, to establish 
 its authority. Every ingenuous mind must coincide with Dr. Lardner, 
 
 * That Christianity does not need such a testimony, nor such wit- 
 
 * nesses.' Jewish and Heathen Testimonies, vol. i. p. 247. First 
 Edition. But it is worthy of notice, and may well be observed with 
 satisfaction, that men who have surpassed all others in malignant and 
 inveterate enmity to Christ and his gospel, have been constrained to 
 acknowledge many of the most important and extraordinary facts 
 of the evangelical history ; and that in every act of labouring to 
 undermine it, by one of the foulest forgeries that ever insulted the 
 world. 
 
i 
 
 TRADITIONS CONCERNING JESUS. 251 
 
 — that he was scourged, crowned with thorns, and 
 had vinegar given him to drink : — that he was put 
 to death at the time of the passover, and buried 
 before the sabbath began : — that his followers in- 
 creased exceedingly after his death : — that twelve 
 of his disciples went into twelve kingdoms : — that 
 they were men of great authority, and confirmed 
 the religion of Jesus by declaring themselves his 
 messengers : — and that multitudes of Israelites 
 followed them. 
 
 There seem to be, what may be called, two other 
 editions of the same general story, beside those 
 published by Wagenseil and Huldric. One is found 
 in the work of Raymund des Martins, who lived in 
 the thirteenth century, and has given the tale as 
 circulated among the Jews in his time.^ The other 
 is recited in the travels of Sandys, as the story told 
 by the Jews in the East at the beginning of the 
 seventeenth century .^ 
 
 These several relations differ from each other in 
 various minor circumstances ; but they all agree 
 in admitting Jesus to have wrought real miracles, 
 and in asserting that he performed them by the 
 magical power of some name or names of the 
 Divine Being. That men should have invented so 
 unnatural, inconsistent, incredible a tale, to account 
 for miracles which they dared not deny, cannot but 
 
 • Pugio Fidei, Par. ii. cap. viii. p. 362 — 364. 
 
 ' Sandys' Travels, Book iii. p. 114. Londorif 1670. 
 
252 MODERN JUDAISM. 
 
 be regarded, even without adverting to any direct 
 evidence, as a strong presumption of the badness 
 of the cause v^hich they advocate, and the goodness 
 of that which they oppose. 
 
 Non tali auxilio, nee defensoribus istis, 
 
 Tempus eget. Virg, Mneid. L. ii. v. 521. 
 
 No aid like this a righteous cause demands, 
 But asks far other arms, far other hands. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Traditions concerning Messiah : — Expected about the 
 Year of the World 4000. — After the rejection of Jesus, 
 Jews deluded by numerous Impostors, — The Talmud 
 pretends Messiah's coming to be delayed: — Gives 
 various Descri'ptions of the Period of his appearance : 
 — Denounces Vengeance on all who compute the exact 
 Time : — Yet many Calculations made by Rabbies in 
 different Ages. — Recent Prog7iostications. — Benejits 
 expected by Jews from their Messiah. — Ten signs to 
 precede and attend his coming : — Ten Consolations : — 
 All Israel to be restored to Palestine : — To be enter- 
 tained by Messiah with a grand Festival : — Spectacles 
 and Games, — Sumptuous Banquet, — Music and Danc- 
 ing. — Messiah to possess universal Empire: — To live 
 long and be succeeded by his Posterity. — The Earth 
 to bring forth spontaneously. — All work and Labour 
 to be performed by Gentiles. — Israelites to enjoy 
 perpetual Ease, Luxury, and Joy, — All these Repre- 
 sentations expected to be literally realized. 
 
 We have seen that the coming of the Messiah is 
 the object of professed faith and hope to modern 
 Jews.^ But greater perplexity, or discordance 
 of opinion, cannot be imagined to exist on any 
 subject, than the doctors of the synagogue have 
 betrayed respecting the time of his coming. 
 
 The Talmud represents it as an ancient tradition, 
 
 ' Page 88. 
 
254 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 of high authority, that * The world is six thousand 
 
 * years ; two thousand years confusion, two thousand 
 ' years the law, two thousand years the days of the 
 
 * Messiah.'^ The obvious import of these words, 
 which contain a literal version of the original, 
 would place his advent about the end of the fourth 
 millennium of the world. It is a fact which admits 
 of no dispute, that an expectation of his speedy 
 appearance was generally entertained by the Jewish 
 people about that time. Though they rejected the 
 mission of Jesus, they were still impressed with a 
 persuasion that the promised deliverer was at hand ; 
 and great numbers followed the standard of every 
 pretender to that character. Many impostors arose 
 before the fall of Jerusalem ; the war which termi- 
 nated in that event, history ascribes to the confidence 
 of the Jews that their anticipations would then be 
 realized ; and after their conquest and dispersion 
 multitudes became victims of similar delusions. 
 
 Conscious that the time prescribed in prophecy, 
 and which they also allege to have been assigned 
 by tradition, had fully elapsed ; and being determined 
 not to acknowledge the Messiahship of Jesus, the 
 rabbies have found it necessary to attempt some 
 way of accounting for the disappointment. After 
 reciting the tradition which allots ' two thousand 
 ' years* for ' the days of the Messiah,' the Talmud 
 immediately adds, ' but because of our iniquities, 
 ' which are numerous, there have elapsed as many 
 
 • Talmud. Cod. Sanhedrin, cap. xi. apud Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. 
 p. 394. Jowisli Repository, vol. ii. p. 415. vol. iii. p. 458. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MESSIAH. 255 
 
 ' of them as have elapsed.* ^ Whether this passage 
 was intended to signify, that on account of the sins 
 of Israel, the Messiah was not yet born ; or that, 
 though born, he was not yet manifested, because 
 of those sins, is far from being clear. Net perfectly 
 satisfied, it would seem, with this explanation, the 
 Talmudists have brought forward what may be 
 regarded, either as a material addition to it, or as 
 an entirely different statement. They have asserted, 
 that the Messiah was born on the day on which the 
 second temple was destroyed ; but that he remains 
 concealed from the world on account of the wicked- 
 ness of the Jews ; and that he sits among the lepers 
 at the gates of Rome.^ Another rabbinical book 
 affirms that he is detained in paradise, fettered by 
 a woman's hair ; and this is pretended to be the 
 meaning of Solomon, when he says, '' The king 
 '^ is held in the galleries."^ 
 
 Here it may be proper to remark, that though, 
 from the time of the compilation of the Babylonian 
 Talmud, at the close of the fifth century, the Jews 
 have maintained the doctrine of two Messiahs, one to 
 suffer and the other to triumph ; yet they generally 
 employ the singular number and definite article, and 
 speak of The Messiah ; meaning him' whom they 
 
 > Talmud. Cod. Sanhedrin, cap. xi. apud Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. 
 p. 394. 
 
 2 Talmud. Hierosol. Cod. Berachoth: Bereshith Rabba: Talmud. 
 Cod. Sanhedrin, cap. xi. apud Raym. Mart. Pug, Fid. p. 348 — 351. 
 Vid. Hoornbeck contra Jud. L. ii. c. 1. p. 120, 121. 
 
 ' Sol. Song, vii. 5. Avodath Hakkodesb, f. 55. c. 2. cited in Notes 
 on Leslie's Method, p. 43. 
 
256 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 expect to subdue all their enemies, to establish a 
 universal monarchy, and make Jerusalem the capital 
 of the world. 
 
 Delayed as the appearance of the Messiah is now 
 pretended to be by the iniquity of Israel, the Talmud 
 fixes no precise year, or even century, when this 
 obstacle will be removed. But it lays down several 
 diagnostics, as descriptive of the season of his mani- 
 festation. The following specimens will enable the 
 reader to form a judgment of the whole. — * All the 
 
 * periods are completed, and the event only depends 
 ' on repentance and good works. If Israel were 
 ' penitent, they would immediately be delivered ; 
 ' and if not, they will not be delivered : ' that is, 
 says Jarchi in his commentary on this passage, ' If 
 
 * they repent the Messiah will come ; otherwise he 
 
 * will not come.' ^ ^ If Israel were penitent for 
 
 * one day, Messiah the Son of David would imme- 
 ' diately come. How is this proved? By these 
 
 * words ; ** To-day if ye will hear his voice." Psalm 
 
 ' xcv. 7.^ ' The son of David will not come, till 
 
 ' the impious kingdom be extended over the whole 
 ' world for nine months.'^ * The son of David 
 
 * will not come, till the two houses of Israel be 
 ' extinct : tfiey are, the head of the captivity in 
 ' Babylon, and the prince in the land of Israel.'^ 
 
 • Talmud. Cod. Sanhedrin, c. xi. apud Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. p. 401. 
 3 Talmud. Hierosol. Taanith; ibid. p. 402. 
 
 3 Talmud. Cod. Joma, c. i. p. 9. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. ill. 
 p. 425. Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid, p. 397, 396. 
 
 * Talmud. Cod. Sanhedrin, c. iii. p. 38. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. 
 torn. iii. p. 579. Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. p. 163,405,406. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MESSIAH. 25? 
 
 ' The son of David will not come, till the 
 
 * number of souls be completed that are contained 
 ' in ^ Guph :'2 that is, till all the souls created in the 
 beginning, and placed in that mansion, shall have 
 been sent into the world. * The son of David 
 
 * will not come while there shall be the smallest 
 ' piece of money left in the Jews' purses.'^ 
 
 The frustration of Jewish hopes, age after age, 
 may account for the maledictions which the Talmud- 
 ists and other rabbinical writers have undertaken 
 to denounce against all who should indulge any 
 conjectures, or calculations, respecting the exact 
 time of the Messiah's appearance. The author of a 
 book in high estimation, curses every one * who 
 ' calculates the time appointed for the advent of the 
 
 * Messiah, and publishes his calculations ; a thing 
 ' which is the cause of great calamity to our nation : 
 ' for if the Messiah come not at the assigned period, 
 
 * those who have long expected deliverance by him 
 
 * are thrown into dejection and despondency; and 
 
 * they consider themselves as perpetually deluded 
 
 * by hopes never to be accomplished.''* ^The 
 
 Talmud imprecates direful vengeance on * those 
 ' who compute the periods of the times : May their 
 ' bones swell and burst ; for the consequence is, 
 
 » Page 198. 
 
 2 Talmud. Cod. Jevamoth, c. vi. p. 63. apud Bartoloc. Bib. E,ab. 
 torn. iii. p. 466. Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. p. 441, 444. 
 
 ' Talmud. Cod. Sanhedrin, c. xi, p. 97. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. 
 torn. iv. p. 52. 
 
 * Shebet Jehuda, p. 245. apud Iloornbeck contra Jud. L. ii. c. 1. 
 p. 123. 
 
 S 
 
258 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ' that when the time arrives, and the promise is not 
 ' fulfilled, men say, it will never be fulfilled at all.' ^ 
 
 The severest interdictions, however, have not been 
 sufficient to prevent these computations. Many of 
 the most eminent doctors have employed their 
 sagacity in attempting to ascertain the period which 
 they anticipate as the consummation of Jewish glory, 
 but which they have repeatedly found it necessary 
 to postpone from one generation to another. The 
 rabbles, Saadias Gaon, who died in the year 942;^ 
 Salomon Jarchi, who lived in the twelfth century ; 
 Moses Ben Nachman and Bechai, \vho lived in 
 the thirteenth century ; and Levi Ben Gerson ; all 
 agreed in fixing the ad,vent of the Messiah to the 
 year 1358.^ Gerson had the mortification of living 
 to witness his mistake; he died in the year 1370.'* 
 Other rabbles fixed on the years 1575, and 1577.^ 
 — Abarbinel, in his commentary on Isaiah, finished 
 in 1498, fixed on the year 1503; and in that on 
 Jeremiah, finished in 1504, fixed on the year 1534. 
 He died in 1508.^ — Gedalia Ben Jacchia, a famous 
 rabbi of the sixteenth century,'' fixed on the year 
 
 * Talmud. Cod. Sanhedrin, c. xi. ibid. 
 
 ' The reader will observe that I here mention the years according 
 to the Christian era. 
 
 3 Rayra. Mart. Pug. Fid. p. 267. Wolf. Bib. Heb. torn. i. p. 933. 
 1057—1060, 876. 
 
 * Ibid. 726. 
 
 5 Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. p. 267. 
 
 « Raym. p. 267. Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. iii. p. 877. Wolf. 
 Bib. Heb. torn. i. p. 629. 
 
 7 Raym. p. 267. Wolf. Bib. Heb. torn. i. p. 277. Bartoloc. Bib. 
 Rab. torn. i. p. 707. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MESSIAH. 259 
 
 1598.^ — The author of the Zohar had long before 
 fixed on the year 1648.2 — Another period of Jewish 
 expectation was the year 1666.^ 
 
 Other false lights have appeared in different ages, 
 deluding unhappy Israelites with hopes never to be 
 realized : and it would seem that the sect of prog- 
 nosticators is not yet extinct. Mr. Crooll, in his 
 treatise, entitled, The Restoration of Israel, written 
 in the year 1812, says, * There are yet one hundred 
 
 * and thirty seven years to the time of the Messiah's 
 ' coming ; but we know that this time will be 
 
 * shortened; and according to the opinion of one 
 
 * great and eminent rabbi, there are only twenty -nine 
 ' years more to the time of his coming.'"^ In a sub- 
 sequent part of his work he exhibits a different 
 ' Account.' ^ The want of every thing like a plausible 
 basis for his computations must be obvious to every 
 reader. I shall transcribe the statement without any 
 remark. 
 
 * It ought to be observed that this number of seventy, 
 ' so much made use of, is not a vain thing ; but it 
 ' will instruct us to understand that the sons of Noah, 
 
 * only divided into seventy nations, should represent 
 
 * seventy jubilees ; that is, from the time of the 
 ' covenant, made with Abraham, until the coming 
 
 ' These and other rabbinical calculations on the same subject may 
 be found in Gedaliah's treatise, entitled Shalshaleth Ilakkabala ; a large 
 extract from which, accompanied with a Latin version, is inserted in the 
 first part of Wagenseil. Tela Ignea Sat. p. 614 — 629. 
 
 * In Genesis xxv. apud Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. p. 267. 
 3 Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. iv. p. 51. 
 
 * Page 48. 5 Page 65, QQ. 
 
 S 2 
 
260 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ' of the Messiah, and in the end of this number shall 
 
 * commence the Jubilee of Israel. 
 
 ' These seventy jubilees are to be divided into two 
 
 * divisions : the commencement of the first half, or 
 
 * thirty-five, began by the covenant, and ended by 
 ' the desolation of the second temple. 
 
 TEARS. 
 
 ' Account. — From the covenant until the law 430 
 
 * Israel had the land in possession only . . 850 
 
 * From the desolation of the first to the end 
 
 ' of the second temple 490 
 
 * N. B. This number will amount to thirty-five 
 
 * jubilees, and twenty years. Total 1770 
 
 * From the desolation of the second temple, 
 
 * until this present year (1812) is the 
 
 * number of 1745 
 
 ' This last number, of the dispersion of Israel, is 
 
 ' just now thirty-five jubilees. Both sums will amount 
 
 * to 3520 years, or the sum of seventy jubilees, and 
 
 * above twenty years. 
 
 * By this calculation, we may learn that the jubilee 
 ' of the restoration of Israel has begun already these 
 ' twenty years back, that is, just when the revolution 
 ' began in France ; at that very time, the seventy 
 ' jubilees were at an end. There are yet thirty-six 
 
 * years to the end of the jubilee of Israel, and 
 
 ' BEFORE THE END OF THESE THIRTY-SIX YEARS, 
 ' ISRAEL WILL BE RESTORED, AND THE MESSIAH 
 ' WILL TAKE POSSESSION OF HIS EMPIRE.' 
 
 The advgfntages which the Jews profess to expect 
 from the Messiah are earthly, sensual, and temporary. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MESSIAH. 261 
 
 In contemplating the anticipated glories of his 
 reign, they seem to have no conception of any thing 
 spiritual ; and that it has any connection with an 
 eternal world, they strenuously deny. Mr. Crooll 
 says, ' The Messiah's kingdom is not spiritual, but 
 ' absolutely earthly.' ^ He further asserts, ' There is 
 ' no Messiah for the Gentiles, and no joy have they 
 ' to expect by his coming, but the contrary.' ^ This 
 position he endeavours to establish by an enumeration 
 of the benefits which the Jews expect the Messiah 
 to confer. 'What shall the Messiah do for the 
 ^ Gentiles ? Shall he gather them ? they are not 
 
 * dispersed. Shall he give them kings ? they have 
 ' kings. Shall he give them lands ? they have lands. 
 ' Shall he give them nobles ? they have nobles. 
 ' Shall he give them riches ? they have riches. Shall 
 ' he give them glory ? they have glory. But Israel 
 ' has lost all these things, and therefore they have 
 ' need of the Messiah.' ^ Maimonides says, * That 
 ' ultimate reward or supreme felicity, which has no 
 
 * defect and can sustain no diminution, is found 
 
 * only in the life of the future world : but the days 
 ' of the Messiah will be spent on this our earth, and 
 
 * all things will proceed in the same course and after 
 
 * the same manner as they do now ; except that the 
 
 * dominion will again be restored to Israel. Our 
 
 * ancient sages have said, that the only difference 
 ' between the present times and the times of the 
 
 > Restoration of Israel, p. 36. 
 ' Ibid. p. 21. * Ibid. p. 89. 
 
262 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * Messiah, is, that then all the other nations will be 
 
 * subdued.' ^ 
 
 But it is necessary to exhibit a more particular 
 account of the expectations of the Jews respecting 
 the signs and portents that are to precede and ac- 
 company the appearance of this personage, the victories 
 he is to gain, the revolution he is to accomplish, the 
 privileges to be conferred upon Israel, and the glories 
 and felicities of his kingdom. 
 
 To describe the commotions and prodigies which 
 are to signalize his advent, and the various occur- 
 rences which are to terminate in the establishment 
 of his empire, I shall introduce some translated 
 extracts from a work^ of Rabbi Machir, who lived 
 at the close of the fourteenth century : ^ and though 
 they may be copious, the reader who considers how 
 important a part of Modern Judaism consists in the 
 doctrine of a Messiah yet to come, will hardly think 
 them more copious than the subject requires. It is 
 not pretended that all the doctors of the synagogue 
 maintain a perfect agreement with this author in 
 every minute circumstance he prognosticates : but 
 the points on which they differ are few and unim- 
 portant, in comparison with those on which they 
 
 ' Mairaon. de Pcenit. a Clavering, p. 98. 
 
 ' Avkath Roche] . This work has gone through several editions 
 among the Jews ; and the first book, which relates to the Messiah, has 
 been published by the learned Hulsius, in the original Hebrew, ac- 
 companied with a Latin version, and followed by numerous, and judicious 
 observations. Theologia Judaica Fars Prima de Messiaj SfC. Bredse, 
 1653. 
 
 3 Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. iv. p. 28. Wolf. Bib. Heb. vol. i. 
 p. 760. vol. iii. p. 683. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MESSIAH. 263 
 
 agree. The sameness of the outline and principal 
 strokes, in all their prospective delineations, reminds 
 us of the likeness of various pictures copied from 
 one original. It is impossible to read Mr. CrooU's 
 Restoration of Israel without perceiving, that, with 
 all the caution he may have deemed it prudent to 
 observe in a work designed chiefly for the perusal 
 of Christians, and as far as he has thought proper 
 to go into detail, his representations of the advent 
 and kingdom of the Messiah strikingly coincide, in 
 every thing material, with those of the author whom 
 I am about to quote. 
 
 ' First Sign. God will raise up three apostate 
 
 * and deceitful kings, who, to the eyes of men, will 
 ' appear to be worshippers of the divine majesty, 
 ' though they will not be so in reality, but will 
 
 * seduce men into error and will pervert the nations, 
 
 * urging them to depart from their faith ; so that 
 
 * many transgressors also in Israel, despairing of 
 
 * redemption, will be ready to deny God and 
 
 * abandon his fear ; of which generation it is said, 
 '** Truth hath failed." Isaiah lix. 15. What is 
 
 * intended by failing ? They that love truth shall 
 
 * flee away in troops, and shall hide themselves in 
 ' dens and caves of the earth ; all the mighty among 
 
 * the people shall be gathered together ; faithful men 
 
 * shall fail ; the gates of the wise shall be closed ; 
 ' and the whole world will be as it were turned 
 
 * upside down. At that time also there shall be 
 ' neither king nor prince in Israel, according to 
 ' that prophecy : '* The children of Israel shall 
 
264 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * abide many days without a king and without a 
 ' prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an 
 
 * image." Hosea iii. 4. There will be no masters 
 ' of academies, no chief of a synagogue, no faithful 
 ' pastors, no merciful, holy, or eminent men. The 
 
 * doors of heaven will be shut ; the gates of food 
 
 * and nutriment will be closed. At that time, in 
 
 * which the Messiah shall be revealed in his strength, 
 
 * generation after generation ^hall fall and die, in the 
 ' persecutions raised by various sudden and most 
 
 * cruel decrees of those three kings, conspiring 
 ' together for the denial of God and of the law ; 
 ' whose kingdom God has ordained shall continue 
 ' only nine months ; but as soon as one oppression 
 
 * shall have passed, it will be immediately followed 
 
 * by another; as it is said, *' Therefore will he give 
 
 * them up, until the time that she which travaileth 
 ' hath brought forth," Micah v. 3 : which therefore 
 ' is no other than an oath, according to this passage ; 
 ' *' Therefore have I sworn unto the house of Eli/' 
 
 * 1 Sam. iii. 14. Those decrees will indeed be 
 
 * excessively severe ; for they shall impose upon 
 
 * Israel ten times the usual tribute ; so that he who 
 ' before paid no more than eight, shall now pay 
 ' eighty, and whoever has no money, they shall cut 
 
 * off his head. During all those nine months the 
 
 * persecutions will be daily renewed, and with 
 
 * increasing severity ; so that every one will be 
 
 * succeeded by one still more cruel. Moreover 
 ' there shall come from the uttermost parts of the 
 
 * earth, men extremely deformed, on whom every 
 
TRADITIONS CONCEENING MESSIAH. 265 
 
 ' one who looks shall die with fear ; nor will they 
 
 * have need to wage war upon men, but they will 
 
 * kill them with mere terror ; for they will have each 
 
 * two heads, and seven eyes flaming with fire, and 
 ^ will run as swiftly as hinds. In that hour the 
 
 * Israelites will cry out and say, Alas ! Alas ! Their 
 
 * little ones, affrighted, will hide themselves, each 
 ' under his father and mother, and will say, Alas, 
 ' father, what shall we do ? But their fathers will 
 ' answer, Now the redemption of Israel is at hand.' ^ 
 
 * Second Sign. God shall send forth upon the 
 ' world, from the sun, a very great heat, with 
 
 * phthisis and burning fever, and other violent 
 ' diseases, plagues and pestilence, which will carry 
 
 * off out of the nations of the world a million of 
 ' men. So likewise shall die all the impious in 
 ' Israel ; while the Heathens are weeping, and 
 
 * crying, Alas for us ! whither shall we go ! whither 
 ' shall we flee ! Every one, while yet alive, shall 
 ' dig a sepulchre for himself. They shall be anxious 
 
 * to die ; they shall hide themselves in desert places, 
 ' in garrisons and fortresses ; and, to refresh them- 
 
 * selves, shaU enter into dens and caves of the earth. 
 ' If you ask how the just will be delivered from this 
 ' pestilent heat of the sun ; God will render it, on 
 
 * the contrary, medicinal to them, as it is said : 
 ' *' Unto you that fear my name, shall the sun 
 
 * of righteousness arise with healing in his wdngs." 
 ^ Malachi iv. 2. This sign was also predicted by the 
 
 » Avkath Rochel apud Huls. p. 22, 23. 
 
266 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ' impious Balaam : " Alas ! who shall live when 
 ' God doeth this ! " Num. xxiv. 23.' ^ 
 
 ' Third Sign, God will send down a bloody 
 
 * dew, which when they see it, men will suppose 
 
 * to be water, so that they will drink of it and 
 
 * die ; the impious in Israel also, who have despaired 
 ' of redemption, will, in like manner, drink of it 
 
 * and die : but the just, who have persevered in the 
 ' worship of God, wall receive no injury from it ; 
 
 * for it is said: '* And they that be wise shall shine 
 
 * as the brightness of the firmament." Dan. xii. 3. 
 ' The whole world will be flowing with blood for 
 'three days, according to this passage: *' And I 
 
 * will shew wonders in the heavens, and in the 
 
 * earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke." 
 ' Joelii. 30.' 2 
 
 * Fourth Sign. God will send down a salubrious 
 ' dew, of which the intermediate (persons who are 
 
 * neither pious nor impious) shall drink, that they 
 
 * may be cured of the diseases caused by the bloody 
 ' dew; as it is said: *' I will be as the dew unto 
 
 * Israel : he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth 
 
 * his roots as Lebanon." Hosea xiv. 5.'^ 
 
 * Fifth Sign. God will turn the sun into darkness 
 
 * for thirty days, as it is said: *' The sun shall be 
 ' turned into darkness, and the moon into blood." 
 ' Joel ii. 31. After thirty days he will restore their 
 
 * former splendour: for it is said; *' They shall 
 
 * be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered 
 
 » Avkath Rochel apud Huls. p. 27. 
 
 3 Ibid. p. 29. 3 Ibid. p. 31. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MESSIAH. 267 
 
 ' in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison ; and 
 ^ after many days they shall be visited." Isaiah 
 ' xxiv. 22. The nations of the earth shall be 
 ^ affrighted and ashamed, and shall acknowledge 
 ' all these signs to be for the sake of Israel ; many 
 ' of them, privately, shall become Jews, as it is 
 'said: ** They that observe lying vanities, forsake 
 ' their own mercy." Jonah ii. 8. ^ 
 
 ' Sixth Sign. God will cause one king to reign 
 ' over the whole world, as we have already said ; 
 ^ but will first raise up a king at Rome, who, for 
 ' nine months, shall rule the whole world, and lay 
 ' waste many provinces : but his anger shall be 
 ' kindled against Israel, on whom he will impose 
 ' a heavy tribute ; and at that time Israel shall be 
 ' involved in extreme distresses, in consequence of 
 ' the numerous persecutions and grievances, which 
 ' shall harass them anew from day to day, and by 
 ^ which they will be considerably diminished and 
 ' consumed, while there will be none to help them. 
 * This is that time foretold by the prophet : " And 
 ' he saw that there was no man, and wondered that 
 ' there was no helper." Isaiah lix. 16. At the end 
 ' of the nine months shall be revealed Messias Ben 
 ' Joseph, whose name shall be Nehemiah the son 
 ' of Chuziel, with the tribes of Ephraim, Menasseh, 
 ' and Benjamin, and part of the tribe of Gad : and 
 ' the Israelites in all countries, hearing that God's 
 ' Messiah is come, shall be gathered together to him ; 
 
 ' Avkath Rochel apud Huls. p. 33. 
 
268 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ^ a few out of every province and city, as it is said : 
 ' " Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord, 
 
 * for I am married unto you : and I will take you, 
 ^ one of a city and two of a family, and I will bring 
 ^ you to Zion/' Jer. iii. 14. And Messiah Ben 
 ' Joseph shall come, and shall fight with that king, 
 ^ and shall overcome him with great slaughter : for 
 ^ he shall slay the king himself, shall lay waste his 
 ^ territories, and shall bring forth part of the vessels 
 ' of the sanctuary, which had been kept concealed 
 
 * in the palace of the emperor Julian : and he shall 
 ' come to Jerusalem ; whither the Israelites, hearing 
 ' of it, shall be gathered together to him ; and the 
 ' king of Egypt shall make peace with him. He 
 ^ shall also destroy all the inhabitants of the country 
 ' about Jerusalem, even to Damascus and Ascalon ; 
 
 * which all the inhabitants of the world shall hear, 
 ^ and great terror shall seize them.' ^ 
 
 * Seventh Sign. — God who works wonders will 
 ' exhibit a prodigy in the world. They say that at 
 ' Rome there is a marble statue, in the form of a 
 ' most beautiful young female : which was not 
 
 * wrought into this shape by the hands of man, but 
 
 * created so by divine power. To this statue will 
 ^resort the most profligate men out of the nations 
 
 * of the world, and # # * # =9^ God will 
 c # ^ m ^ ^ form a creature within it in the 
 
 * shape of an infant. At length the statue, bursting, 
 
 * shall bring forth a being in human form, whose 
 
 » Avkath Rochel apud Huls. p; 85, 36. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MESSIAH. 269 
 
 ' name shall be Armillus, who shall be an adversary, 
 
 * and the Gentiles will call him Antichrist. His 
 ' height will be twelve cubits, and his breadth also 
 ' twelve cubits ; his eyes, which will be a span distant 
 ' from each other, will be hollow and red ; the hair 
 
 * of his head will be of the colour of gold ; the soles 
 ^ of his feet will be green ; and his head will have 
 
 * two crowns. He will go to the impious, and will 
 ' will say to them : I am your Messiah ; I am your 
 ' God. They will immediately believe in him, and 
 
 * appoint him their king. He shall be joined by all 
 ' the descendants of Esau, who will present themselves 
 ' before him : and he will go forth, and subdue all 
 ' the provinces, and will say to the sons of Esau : 
 
 * Bring hither my law which I have given you. They 
 ' will deliver to him the book of their prayers ; and 
 
 * then he will say to them : This is the truth which I 
 ' have delivered to you ; believe in me, for I am your 
 ' Messiah : — and they will instantly believe in him. 
 ' After that, he will send to Nehemiah the son 
 
 * of Chuziel, and to all Israel ; and will say to them : 
 ' Bring me your law, and confess to me that I am 
 
 * God. At those words they will be terrified and 
 
 * seized with astonishment. But at that time Ne- 
 ' hemiah the son of Chuziel will rise up, with thirty 
 ' thousand of the bravest of the sons of Ephraim ; 
 
 * and, taking the book of the law, will read from it 
 
 * in the presence of Armillus, the following words : 
 ' " I am the Lord thy God : thou shalt have no 
 
 * other gods before me." Exod. xx. 2, 3. Armillus 
 
 * will answer, There is nothing of that kind in your 
 

 270 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 law : come ye, and confess to me that I am God ; 
 as all the Gentiles have done. Nehemiah will 
 instantly resist him, and will say to his servants, 
 Seize him, and bind him. And Nehemiah the son 
 of Chuziel will arise, with his thirty thousand men, 
 and, joining battle with Armillus, will slay two 
 hundred thousand of his forces. Upon that the 
 wrath of the impious Armillus will be kindled, 
 and he will gather the 'forces of all the nations 
 of the world into '* the valley of decision ; " (Joel 
 iii. 14.) and there will fight with Israel, who a 
 second time will slaughter multitudes of the Gen- 
 tiles. Few of the Israelites will fall, but the Lord's 
 Messiah himself will be slain ; whose body will be 
 taken away by ministering angels, and preserved 
 with those of the patriarchs. Then the hearts 
 of the Israelites will melt, and their strength will 
 be weakened; but the impious Armillus shall not 
 know that the Messiah is dead ; for, if he were 
 to know it, he would leave neither survivor nor 
 fugitive in Israel. At that period all the nations 
 of the world will expel the Israelites out of their 
 provinces, and not suffer them to dwell among 
 them any more ; and they will say, Behold the 
 despised and abject people, who have rebelled 
 against us and appointed themselves a king. And 
 Israel shall experience distress, such as had never 
 been known, from the beginning of the world 
 even to that time. Then Michael shall stand 
 up, to purge out the impious from Israel, as 
 it is said : " And at that time shall Michael stand 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MESSIAH. 271 
 
 * up, the great prince which standeth for the children 
 ^ of thy people ; and there shall be a time of trouble, 
 ^ such as there never was since there was a nation." 
 ^ Dan. xii. 1 . Immediately all the Israelites will 
 ^ flee away into desert places ; and all who are 
 ^ hesitating and doubtful in their hearts, will return 
 ' to the Gentiles, and will say. Is this the redemption 
 ^ which we expected, that the Messiah himself has 
 ^ been slain ? Of that redemption therefore will all 
 ^ be ashamed, who shall disregard it, and cleave 
 ^ to the Gentiles. Thus will God prove all Israel, 
 ^ and purify them like gold and silver ; as it is 
 ^ written : '' And I will bring the third part through 
 ^ the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, 
 ' and will try them as gold is tried." Zech. xiii. 9. 
 ' Again : " And I will purge out from among you 
 ^ the rebels, and them that transgress against me." 
 ^ Ezek. XX. 38. Again: "Many shall be purified, 
 ^ and made white, and tried : but the wicked shall do 
 ^ wickedly." Dan. xii. 10. All the rest of Israel 
 ^ shall be holy and pure in the desert of Judah ; 
 ^ for forty-five days, grazing, and eating nettles, 
 
 * and plucking the leaves of herbs and shrubs. In 
 ^ them shall be fulfilled this prophecy : '^ Therefore 
 ^ behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the 
 ' wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her." 
 ^ Hosea ii. 13. That this time will be a period 
 ^ of forty-five days, is evident from what is written : 
 
 * " And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be 
 ' taken away, and the abomination that maketh 
 ' desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two 
 
I 
 
 272 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * hundred and ninety days." The words imme- 
 
 * diately following are ; " Blessed is he that 
 ' waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred 
 ' and five and thirty days." Daniel xii. 11, 12. 
 
 * From the end of the former period to the end 
 
 * of the latter, are forty-five days. In that interval, 
 
 * all the impious Israelites, who are not worthy to 
 
 * see the redemption will die. Armillus will come, 
 
 * and conquer and take possession of Egypt; for 
 
 * it is said: ''And the land of Egypt shall not 
 ' escape." Dan. xi. 42. Then he shall turn his 
 
 * face towards Jerusalem, to lay it waste a second 
 
 * time ; for it is said : ** And he shall plant the 
 ' tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the 
 
 * glorious holy mountain ; yet he shall come to his 
 
 * end, and none shall help him." Dan. xi. 45.' ^ 
 
 * Eighth Sign. — Michael shall arise, and shall 
 
 * blow a trumpet three times, as it is said : *' In 
 
 * that day the great trumpet shall be blown, and 
 ' they shall come which were ready to perish." 
 
 * Isaiah xxvii. 13. It is also written : '' The Lord 
 ' God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with 
 ' whirlwinds of the south." Zech. ix. 14. At the 
 ^ first blast shall be revealed Messiah Ben David, 
 ' and Elijah the prophet; at whose sign the just 
 
 * and pure Israelites, who had fled into the desert 
 ' of Judah, at the end of the forty-five days shall 
 ' recover their spirits, their hands which hung down 
 ' shall be strengthened ; and their feeble knees con- 
 
 » Avkath Rochel apud Huls. p. 51—54. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MESSIAH. 273 
 
 ^ firmed ; and on hearing the sound of the trumpet, 
 
 * all the rest of the Israelites throughout the world 
 ^ will know that God has visited his people, and 
 
 * granted perfect deliverance. They will therefore 
 ' gather together and come, as it is said : *^ And 
 ^ they shall come which were ready to perish in 
 
 * the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land 
 ^ of Egypt." Isaiah xxvii. 13. But that blast shall 
 
 * cause fear and trembling in the Gentiles, and 
 
 * they shall be seized with the most grievous diseases. 
 
 * In the mean time, the Israelites shall prepare them- 
 
 * selves to go forth ; and Messiah Ben David and 
 ' Elijah the prophet shall come, with the just 
 
 * who shall return from the desert of Judah, and 
 ^ with all the assembled Israelites, and will enter 
 
 * into Jerusalem ; and the son of David, going up 
 ' into the deserted palace, will there fix his residence. 
 
 * But when Armillus shall have heard that there has 
 ' arisen a king in Israel, he will say. How long shall 
 
 * that most vile and abject nation cause trouble ? 
 ^ And collecting the forces of all the nations of the 
 ^ world, he will come to fight with God's Messiah, 
 ' whom God will not send into the war, but will 
 
 * only say to him, " Sit thou at my right hand.'* 
 ^ Psal. ex. 1. And he will say to Israel: *' Stand 
 
 * still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he 
 ' will shew to you to-day." Exod. xiv. 13. Im- 
 ' mediately God himself will fight with their enemies, 
 
 * as it is said : '' Then shall the Lord go forth, 
 ^ and fight against those nations, as when he fought 
 ' in the day of battle." Zech. xiv. 3. And God 
 
 T 
 
274 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ^ will rain down fire and brimstone from heaven, as 
 
 * it is written : '' And I will plead against him with 
 ' pestilence, and with blood, and I will rain upon 
 
 * him, and upon his bands, and upon the many 
 
 * people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and 
 
 * great hailstones, fire and brimstone." Ezek. xxxviii. 
 
 * 22. And there shall the impious Armillus perish, 
 ' with his whole army ; and all the impious who 
 
 * destroyed the house of our God, and carried us 
 
 * away from our own land. In that very hour will 
 ' Israel take vengeance on them ; for it is said : 
 ' " And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the 
 
 * house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for 
 ' stubble." Obadiah 18.' i 
 
 ' Ninth Sign. — Michael shall blow a great blast, 
 
 * by which the sepulchres of the dead at Jerusalem 
 
 * shall be opened, and the blessed God will restore 
 ' them to life. Messiah Ben David also, and Elijah 
 ' the prophet with them, will raise from the dead 
 
 * Messiah Ben Joseph, who was preserved under the 
 ' gates of Jerusalem. Then they shall send Messiah 
 
 * Ben David to gather together the remainder of the 
 ' Jews dispersed in all countries : and forthwith all 
 ' the kings of the Gentiles throughout the world, 
 ' will take the Israelites upon their shoulders and 
 
 * bring them to God.' ^ 
 
 * Tenth Sign. — When Michael shall have sounded 
 ' again, the loudest blast, God will bring forth all 
 
 » Avk'dth Rochel apud Huls. p. 79—81. 
 ' Ibid. p. 138. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MESSIAH. 275 
 
 * the tribes from the rivers Gosan, Lachlach, and 
 
 * Chabor, and from the cities of the Medes, an 
 
 * innumerable multitude, and they shall come with 
 
 * the children of Moses. '' The land is as the garden 
 ' of Eden before them, and behind them a flame 
 
 * burneth : " Joel ii. 3. and they will leave the 
 
 * nations of the world nothing for their sustenance. 
 
 * And at that time when the tribes shall go forth, the 
 
 * glorious clouds of the divine majesty shall surround 
 
 * them : the blessed God himself will go before their 
 ' face, as it is said : '' The breaker is come up before 
 ' them." Mic. ii. 13. He will open to them the 
 
 * fountains of the tree of life, and he will drink 
 ' of them in the way, as it is said : "I will open 
 ' rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst 
 
 * of the valleys : I will make the wilderness a pool 
 
 * of water; and the dry land springs of water." Isaiah 
 ' xli. 18. It is also written : '* They shall not hunger 
 
 * nor thirst ; neither shall the heat nor sun smite 
 
 * them." Isaiah xlix. 10. God will make us worthy 
 ' to see the deliverance in a short time ; he will make 
 
 * us worthy to see the house of his choice, the temple. 
 
 * He will fulfil in us what is written : ^' Behold, I 
 
 * will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and 
 
 * have mercy on his dwelling places : and the city 
 
 * shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace 
 
 * shall remain after the manner thereof." Jerem. 
 
 * XXX. 18. And he will accomplish in us all his 
 
 * consolations and assurances promised by his pro- 
 
 * phets. *' At that time will I bring you, even in 
 
 * the time that I gather you : for I will make you 
 
 T 2 
 
276 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 a name and a praise among all people of the earth/' 
 Zeph. iii. 20.' ^ 
 
 * On the other hand also there are ten kinds of 
 Consolations and assurances in which God causes 
 Israel to trust : and, as the root of those consola- 
 tions, which are as branches proceeding from it, 
 the first is — the coming of the redeemer, for it 
 is said : ^^ Behold thy king cometh unto thee." 
 Zech. ix. 9. The second — the gathering toge- 
 ther of the captives, for it is said ; '^ Behold, I 
 will bring them from the north country, and gather 
 them from the coasts of the earth, and with them 
 the blind and the lame." Jerem. xxxi. 18. What 
 is meant by the ^' blind and the lame." This 
 teaches that every one of the just will return in the 
 same state in which he departed out of this life. He 
 who was blind, will return to life, blind : he who 
 was lame, will return to life, lame : and so they 
 will be raised with all their blemishes, in order that 
 every one may be able to recognise his companion, 
 that no one may say they are other persons : but 
 afterwards God will cure them, according to that 
 passage : *^ Then shall the lame man leap as an 
 hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing." Isaiah 
 
 XXXV. 6. The third — the resurrection of the 
 
 dead, as it is written : ^^ And many of them that 
 sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake." Dan. 
 
 xii. 2. The fourth — the building of the temple 
 
 according to the vision of Ezekiel in his prophecy. 
 
 » Avkath Rochel apud Huls. p. 142, 143. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MESSIAH. 277 
 
 The fifth — the reign of Israel from sea to sea, 
 
 over the whole world, as it is said : *' For the nation 
 and kingdom that will not serve thee, shall perish." 
 Isaiah Ix. 12. And the whole world shall return 
 to the judgment of God and to his law, according 
 to the prophecy : " Then will I turn to the people 
 a pure language, that they may all call upon the 
 
 name of the Lord." Zeph. iii. 9. The sixth — 
 
 that God will destroy all his enemies, and take 
 vengeance upon them, as it is said : *' And I will 
 
 lay my vengeance upon Edom." Ezek. xxv. 14. 
 
 The seventh — that God will take away from Israel 
 all disease and every plague, according to the 
 prophecy : " And the inhabitant shall not say, 
 I am sick : the people that dwell therein shall be 
 
 delivered from iniquity." Isaiah xxxiii. 24 The 
 
 eighth — that God will prolong the days of the 
 Israelites like those of a tree, according to the pro- 
 phecy : " As the days of a tree shall be the days 
 of my people." Isaiah Ixv. 22. It is also written : 
 " For the child shall die an hundred years old, but 
 the sinner being an hundred years old shall be 
 accursed." Isaiah Ixv. 20. It is also written : ** He 
 will swallow up death in victory ; and the Lord 
 God will wipe away tears from off all faces." 
 Isaiah xxv. 8. The ninth — that God will mani- 
 fest himself to Israel, face to face, for it is said : 
 '' And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and 
 all flesh shall see it together." Isaiah xl. 5. He 
 will also make all Israelites prophets, as it is said : 
 '* And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will 
 
278 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ' pour out my spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons 
 
 * and your daughters shall prophesy.'* Joel ii. 28. 
 
 ' The tenth — God will take away from Israel 
 
 ' the evil principle and all evil language, as it is said : 
 
 * " And I will give them one heart, and I will put 
 
 * a new spirit within you ; and I will take the stony 
 
 * heart out of their flesh, and I will give them an 
 ' heart of flesh." Ezek. xi. 19. The wars of the 
 
 * Messiah are ended. ''Harden" not '' our hearts 
 
 * from thy fear." Isaiah Ixiii. 17.' ^ 
 
 Of the felicities and glories to be anticipated under 
 the government of the Messiah, the Talmud and other 
 rabbinical books furnish ample and circumstantial 
 details ; which, in their usual manner, the writers 
 endeavour to corroborate by fanciful applications 
 of detached texts of scripture. 
 
 When Messiah shall have gathered all Israel out 
 of all nations, and brought them into the land of their 
 forefathers ; when he shall 4iave rebuilt the city and 
 restored the temple with its ancient services ; the 
 rabbies tell us, he will celebrate a royal festival, to 
 which all Israelites shall be invited, and where they 
 shall experience a most gracious reception, and every 
 one of them be seated at a golden table. ^ 
 
 As other kings and princes, at public festivals, are 
 accustomed to entertain their guests with spectacles 
 and games, so this banquet of Messiah is to be intro- 
 duced by a sportive exhibition. He will entertain 
 
 » Avkath Rochel apud Hals. p. 158—160. 
 
 = Talmud. Cod. Taanith, f. 25. c. 1. Pesachim, f. 119. Bava Bathra, 
 f. 75. apud Bttxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. 1. p. 734. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MESSIAH. 279 
 
 himself and the company with a battle between Behe- 
 moth and Leviathan, as it is written : " There all 
 '' the beasts of the field play." Job xl. 20. The 
 various feats of Behemoth will be highly gratifying 
 to Messiah : *' This also shall please the Lord, better 
 " than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs." 
 Psa. Ixix. 32. But Leviathan will advance to the 
 contest, armed with his scales as with a breast-plate 
 and coat of mail, dreadful to behold : '* His body 
 ** compacted with scales, close to each other, like 
 '* molten shields." Job xli. 15. The battle. will be 
 fierce ; but the combatants being equally matched, 
 neither will be victorious. They will both fall, 
 exhausted by fatigue. Then Messiah with a drawn 
 sword will stab and slay them both : '* In that day 
 ** the Lord, with his sore and great and strong 
 *' sword, shall punish Leviathan the piercing serpent, 
 *' even Leviathan that crooked serpent." Isaiah 
 xxvii. 1. *' He that made him, can make his sword 
 " to approach unto him." Job xl. 19. " Thou 
 ** brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters." 
 Psalm Ixxiv, 13. ^ 
 
 These huge animals, together with Bar Juchne, 
 the enormous bird, are then to be spitted and laid 
 to the fire ; and all requisite preparations to be made 
 for the splendid banquet ; as it is written : *' And in 
 *' this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto 
 " all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on 
 
 * Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. 1. p. 740, 741. Jalkut in Job, c. 40. 
 n. 927. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. p. 511—514. 
 
280 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 •* the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines 
 *' on the lees well refined." Isaiah xxv. 6. ^ 
 
 Having provided three courses, flesh, fish, and 
 fowl, the rabbies have not been unmindful of the 
 customary appendages of a sumptuous feast. Bread 
 is to be obtained from the wheat of that period, 
 which is expected to surpass the growth of our days, 
 as much as Bar Juchine exceeds a common bird. 
 Sauce is to be furnished, in high perfection by the 
 salted Leviathan. The dessert consists of all the 
 delicious productions of the garden of Eden, including 
 even some of the fruit of the tree of life.^ 
 
 The rabbies seem to have considered that good 
 eating requires good drinking. Accordingly their 
 Messiah is to treat his guests with the most ex- 
 quisite wine, which had been produced in paradise 
 immediately after the creation, and had been pre- 
 served in Adam's wine cellar, ever since, for this 
 grand occasion. To this purpose they cite the 
 following scriptures. ** In that day sing ye unto 
 *' her, A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep 
 ** it." Isaiah xxvii. 2. ** In the hand of the Lord 
 *' there is a cup, and the wine is red, it is full 
 *^ of mixture, and he poureth out of the same." 
 Psalm Ixxv. 8. " Since the beginning of the world 
 ** men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, 
 ** neither hath the eye seen, O God, besides thee, 
 
 * Buxtorf. Synag. Jud c. 50. p. 741 . 
 
 ^ Talmud. CoJ. Chetuvoth, c. 3. p. 111. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. 
 torn. i. p. 523, 524. Caphtor Uperach, f. 58. c. 1. et Targ. in Cantic, 
 viii. 2. apud Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. 1. p. 739. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MESSIAH. 281 
 
 ** what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for 
 " him." Isaiah Ixiv. 4. — It is said, that toward the 
 end of the feast, Messiah will fill a cup for them ; 
 over which, according to the usual custom, they 
 are to say grace : that the company, giving glory 
 to God will beseech him to undertake that office : 
 — that God will offer it to Michael, Michael to 
 Gabriel, Gabriel to Abraham, Abraham to Isaac, 
 Isaac to Moses, Moses to Joshua: — that all these 
 declining the office, as being unworthy of such 
 high honour, God will at last assign it to David ; 
 declaring it to be proper for an earthly king to 
 perform this service to the king of heaven : — that 
 David will say. Well, then I will give thanks, and 
 this office becomes n^ie, as it is said: '' I will take 
 ** the cup of salvation, and will call upon the name 
 *' of the Lord." Psalm cxvi. 13. — and that this cup 
 will contain two hundred and about fourteen gal- 
 lons, or, of Jewish measure, twenty-one logs, as 
 it is said : *' My cup runneth over : " Psalm xxiii. 5. 
 for that the Hebrew word here translated runneth 
 over, by gematria, makes the number two hundred 
 and twenty-one.^ 
 
 But it may be inquired, whether all these luxuries 
 are to be consumed, and nothing left to be removed 
 from the table. The rabbies tell us, that the re- 
 maining provisions will be divided among the guests, 
 who will expose them to sale in the market at Jeru- 
 
 ' Talmud. Cod. Pesachim, c. 10. p. 109, 119. Zohar, sec. Toldoth, 
 p. 135. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. p. 527, 529, 530. Pesach. 
 f. 34. c. 2. apud Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. 1. p. 739. 
 
^82 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 salem : that of part of the skin of Leviathan will be 
 made tabernacles, pavilions, or awnings for the just ; 
 and that the rest will be spread upon the walls 
 of Jerusalem, diffusing a light to the extremities 
 of the world; as it is written: ** And kings shall 
 ^' come to the brightness of thy rising." Isaiah Ix. 2.^ 
 The banquet is to be followed, and the festival 
 concluded, by music and dancing. The Talmud 
 says : ' God will entertain the just with music 
 
 * and dancing, and will himself sit in the midst 
 
 * of them in the garden of Eden ; and every one will 
 
 * point to him with an outstretched finger, *' And 
 
 * it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God, 
 ' we have waited for him : — we will be glad and 
 
 * rejoice in his salvation." Isaiah xxv. 9.^ 
 
 After these things, Messiah is to marry, as it is 
 written : " Kings' daughters among thy honourable 
 '* women : upon thy right hand standeth the queen 
 ** in gold of Ophir : " (Psalm xlv. 9.) that is, ac- 
 cording to the interpretation of the synagogue, 
 Among thy illustrious wives shall be the daughters 
 of kings : for that the kings of the earth will con- 
 sider themselves highly honoured in giving him 
 their daughters in marriage. But for his principal 
 wife and queen, the rabbles allot him one of the 
 most beautiful virgins of Israel ; who is to stand 
 
 » Jalkut in Job xl. n. 927. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. 
 p. 511—514. Talmud. Cod. Bava Bathra, f. 75. c. 1. apud Buxtorf. 
 Synag. Jud. c. 1. p, 740. 
 
 ^ Talmud. Cod. Taanith, c. iv. sub fin. apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. 
 torn. i. p. 533. Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. 1. p. 742. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MESSIAH. 283 
 
 at the right hand of the king, and constantly enjoy- 
 all the privileges of his consort ; while the others 
 will be kept in the haram, and never approach the 
 king except when he sends for them.^ 
 
 The duration of Messiah's reign has been variously 
 represented. Different rabbies have fixed for it the dif- 
 ferent periods of forty, seventy, three hundred, three 
 hundred and sixty-five, four hundred, and a thousand 
 years. Some say it will continue as many years as 
 shall have passed from the creation to its commence- 
 ment : and others extend it to seven thousand years. 
 But whatever be the length of his reign, the rabbies 
 are very generally agreed that at last he will die like 
 other men, and be succeeded by his son : as it is 
 written : '' He shall see his seed, he shall prolong 
 *' his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall 
 *' prosper in his hand : " that is, according to the 
 exposition of Maimonides, ' The Messiah shall live 
 ' to a great age, but at length also shall die in great 
 ' glory, and his son shall reign in his stead, and his 
 ^ posterity in succession.' ^ 
 
 The advantages, honours, and pleasures to be 
 enjoyed by the Israeli tish subjects of this dynasty, 
 are delineated by the rabbies in glowing colours. 
 Of the principal particulars in which they affirm 
 their happiness will consist, the following is a 
 summary statement. 
 
 That the Christians and other nations, whose lives 
 shall be spared by Israel, shall build houses and cities 
 
 » Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. 1. p. 742, 743. 
 
 ' Ibid. p. 743. Maimon. de Poenit. a Clavering, p. 98. 
 
284 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 for them, shall cultivate their fields, and plant their 
 vineyards, and all without any expectation of reward ; 
 for that they will also voluntarily offer them all their 
 property, and the princes and nobles will be their 
 subjects and servants ; but that Israelites shall be 
 arrayed in sumptuous garments, and walk about 
 like anointed priests, consecrated to the Lord ; as 
 it is written, ** The sons of strangers shall build up 
 *' thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee. 
 ** Thy gates shall be open continually, they shall 
 ** not be shut day nor night, that men may bring 
 " unto thee the wealth of the Gentiles, and that 
 *' their kings may be brought." — " And strangers 
 " shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons 
 *^ of the alien shall be your ploughmen and your 
 ** vine-dressers. But ye shall be named the priests 
 " of the Lord : men shall call you the ministers 
 '* of our God : ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, 
 '^ and in their glory shall you boast yourselves." 
 Isaiah Ix. 10, 11. Ixi. 5, 6.* 
 
 That Israelites will be immersed in perpetual joy, 
 
 • To such a length of extravagance and presumption has rabbinical 
 arrogance proceeded, as to promise, to each Jew, no less than two 
 thousand eight hundred Gentiles, as his servants and slaves. This 
 expectation is pretended to be derived from the prediction recorded 
 by Zechariah : " That ten men shall take hold out of all languages 
 " of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt," border or fringe, 
 " of him that is a Jew :" which is thus expounded by the celebrated 
 llabbi Solomon Jarchi : * Ten men out of each of the seventy nations* 
 
 * are seven hundred for each border or fringe of the garment ; but a 
 
 * garment has four borders or fringes, consequently there will be two 
 
 * thousand and eight hundred men for each Jew.' Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. 
 torn. i. p. 508, 509. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MESSIAH. 285 
 
 and will be constantly celebrating nuptial solemnities, 
 and incessantly chanting the praises of God, and 
 will be filled with divine knowledge and wisdom; 
 as it is written, " Again there shall be heard in this 
 *' place (which ye say shall be desolate, even in the 
 *' cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem) 
 '' the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the 
 ** voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the 
 '* bride, the voices of them that shall say. Praise 
 '^ the Lord of hosts." Jer. xxxiii. 10, 11. 
 
 That they will be fanned with the breezes of a pure 
 and salubrious atmosphere ; and will consequently 
 enjoy uninterrupted health, and attain to patriarchal 
 longevity; as it is written, " Behold, I create new 
 ^' heavens and a new earth." — " They shall still 
 ** bring forth fruit in old age : they shall be fat 
 *' and flourishing." Isaiah Ixv. 17. Psalm xcii. 14. 
 
 That corn, once sown, will spontaneously yield 
 a new crop in every successive year ; just as a vine 
 once planted in the earth. *' They shall revive as 
 " the corn, and grow as the vine." Hosea xiv. 7. 
 That wheat will grow tall like a palm tree, and one 
 grain of it be equal in size to two kidneys of a 
 large ox. That '' the fruit thereof shall shake like 
 '' Lebanon ;" Psalm Ixxii. 16 : that is, that the wind 
 shall separate the bran, so that the fine flour will 
 be ready for immediate use, without the labour of 
 reaping, threshing, winnowing, grinding, or bolting. 
 That they will feed on '' the fat of kidneys of wheat." 
 Deut. xxxii. 14. 
 
 That if any Israelite shall wish for a partial 
 
286 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 shower upon his own field or garden, or even on 
 one diminutive herb, his desire will be granted ; 
 as it is written, " Ask ye of the Lord rain in the 
 '* time of the latter rain, so the Lord shall make 
 ** bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to 
 '* every one grass in the field." Zech. x. 1. 
 
 That the trees shall every day bear new fruits : 
 that the earth shall bring forth delicious cakes, and 
 garments of muslin and silk, without any labour 
 of man ; just as it now produces different sorts 
 of mushrooms : and that women shall be delivered 
 of children every day ; as it is written, *' The woman 
 *' with child and her that travaileth with child 
 *' together.'' Isaiah xxxi. 8. 
 
 That when contention shall arise among the 
 heathen and foreign nations, Messiah shall be the 
 arbiter of peace and concord, so that no one shall 
 dare to draw the sword ; as it is written, '' And 
 '' he shall judge among the nations, and he shall 
 "■ rebuke many people : and they shall beat their 
 " swords into ploughshares, and their spears into 
 '' pruning-hooks : nation shall not lift up sword 
 *' against nation, neither shall they learn war any 
 '' more." Isaiah ii. 4.^ 
 
 Some Jewish writers have explained all these 
 things in an allegorical way, as carnal figures 
 designed to adumbrate the greatness of spiritual 
 and celestial benefits and joys ; and intended to 
 affect the hearts, and excite the desires of all 
 
 » Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. I. p. 742—745. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING MESSIAH. 287 
 
 Israelites, to become partakers of such high felicity. 
 Yet these same writers admit, that they are also to 
 be understood and believed according to the literal 
 signification of the terms in which they are expressed.^ 
 An eminent rabbi, ^ after having applied all these 
 things to spiritual benefits, immediately subjoins ; 
 
 * But let no person suppose, that I therefore deny 
 ' or call in question these representations of our 
 ' rabbies respecting the banquet of Messiah. Far 
 ' be it from us ! We only maintain, that the design 
 ' of those dainties will be, not to satiate the appetite, 
 
 * as some weak and foolish people imagine, but to 
 
 * enlarge the understanding, and capacitate it for 
 ' the attainment and comprehension of those things 
 ' which will then be the objects of its pursuit. 
 
 * There are, undoubtedly, some of these descriptions 
 
 * which have both an open and a hidden sense ; and 
 ' both are true. Our rabbies do not always express 
 ' themselves in simple terms, but necessity sometimes 
 ^ constrains them to use an enigmatical and figurative 
 ' phraseology : as when they treat of things which 
 ' are not suited to the capacity and use of the 
 
 * common people, but are designed for the learned 
 ' and intelligent.'^ 
 
 Rabbi Bechai says, ' We are absolutely required to 
 ' believe those things which are declared respecting 
 ' the corporeal banquet, in a literal sense, to the 
 
 ' Shulchan Arba, port. iv. apud Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. 1. p. 746. 
 
 2 R. Meir Aldabi, in Sheveleh Emunab, f. 113. apud Buxtorf. ibid, 
 p. 746, 747. 
 
 * Videatur et R. Moses Ben Maimon. in Hilcoth Teshuvah, cap. viii. 
 et Hilcoth Melachira, cap, ult. Buxtorf. Synag. Jnd. c, 1. p. 747. 
 
CHAPTER XVL 
 
 Birth, — Circumcision. — Furification, — Redemption of 
 First' horn.— Nursing, — Education, — jige of Majority, 
 
 When a Jewish woman is pregnant, and the period 
 of her delivery is at hand, her chamber is to be 
 decently prepared and furnished with all things neces- 
 sary for the occasion. The husband, or some other 
 Jew of approved character, takes a piece of chalk, 
 and describes a circle upon each of the walls or 
 partitions around the bed, and upon the door both 
 inside and outside : upon each wall or partition, and 
 about the bed, he also describes, in Hebrew characters, 
 the words Adam, Chava, Chuts, Lilith ;^ that is, 
 Adam, Eve ; Begone, Ldlith : by which they signify, 
 that if the woman is pregnant with a boy, they wish 
 God to give him a wife like Eve, and not like Lilith ; 
 but if of a girl, that she may hereafter be a helpmate 
 to her husband, as Eve was to Adam, and not re- 
 fractory and disobedient, like LiHth. On the inside 
 of the door are likewise written the names, as is 
 alleged, of three angels, which are supposed to defend 
 the child from the injuries of Lilith ; ^ who is said to 
 have been transformed into a female demon, and to 
 • n^b*»b v"in nin idin 
 
 3 For the story of Lilith, see pp. 168, 169. 
 
BIRTH. ' 291 
 
 take delight in debilitating and destroying young 
 infants.^ By these methods the room is believed 
 to be sufficiently protected against the intrusion of all 
 evil spirits. 
 
 Leo Modena, who wrote at the commencement 
 of the seventeenth century, represents the use of anti- 
 demoniacal charms on these occasions, as a vain 
 superstition, not very general at that time among his 
 brethren in Italy : ^ but Buxtorf, who wrote about 
 the middle of that century, states it to be commonly 
 practised by the Jews in Germany ; ^ and Addison, 
 towards the end of the same century, mentions it as 
 a general custom of the Jews in Barbary.'* Among 
 the German Jews it still continues. 
 
 The Jewish canon has strictly forbidden the em- 
 ployment of a Christian midwife, except in cases 
 of necessity, which has no law, or unless such 
 Christian midwife be surrounded by several Jewesses. 
 This prohibition and caution are founded on a pro- 
 fessed apprehension, that a Christian midwife may 
 dislocate some of the infant's limbs or murder it in 
 the birth. The following is the express language 
 of the Talmud on this subject : ' Our doctors have 
 
 * taught that a woman of any other nation cannot 
 ' act as a midwife to a daughter of Israel ; because, 
 ' according to Rabbi Meir, they are suspected of 
 
 * shedding blood. Our wise men, however, say 
 
 » Elias Levita in verbum Lilith, apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. 
 p. 71—73. 
 
 " Rites and Customs of Jews, Part iv. c. 8. 
 
 * Synag. Jud. c. iv. p. 80. * State of the Jews, p. 55, 56. 
 
 U 2 
 
292 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * that such a woman may perform this office when 
 ' other women (Jewesses) are present, but not alone. 
 ' But Rabbi Meir has said, They cannot be admitted 
 ' even when others are present ; for they sometimes 
 
 * press their hand on the forehead or brain, where 
 ' it is particularly tender, and kill the infant ; and 
 
 * that in such a way as cannot be seen or observed.^ 
 
 While the woman is in labour, in order to acce- 
 lerate the birth, it is customary among the Jews in 
 some places, for a rabbi, or other learned man, to 
 rise up, take in his hands the book of the law, and 
 recite certain psalms ; the twentieth, thirty-eighth, 
 ninety-second, and hundred and second : to which is 
 added a long prayer for a happy delivery and other 
 domestic blessings. ^ 
 
 If the woman is safely delivered of a son, it is a 
 season of great joy to the family : and it is the custom 
 of some, on the evening of the sabbath next after 
 the birth of a boy, to hold a feast, which they call 
 Jeshua Haben,^ The safety of the son, in demon- 
 stration of their joy that this son is born into the 
 world."* 
 
 The next object of attention is, to provide for the 
 solemn feast of the Circumcision, by procuring dainties 
 of all kinds ; fish, flesh, and fowl, and generous 
 
 • Talmud. Cod. Avoda Zara, c. ii. f. 26. c. 1. apud Buxtorf. Synag. 
 Jud. c. iv. p. 85, 86. 
 
 2 Buxtorf says this prayer is found in the Italian Jews' Prayer Book : 
 Synag. Jud. p. 86. 
 
 ^ prr VW> * Buxtorf. ibid. p. 86, 89. 
 
CIRCUMCISION. 293 
 
 wines. During these preparations, the guests are 
 invited, who are not to be fewer than ten in number, 
 and who must all have passed the thirteenth year 
 of their age.^ 
 
 On the seventh night, some of those who have 
 been invited to the banquet, and sometimes other 
 persons with them, visit the mother, and pass the 
 whole night in her room, feasting, playing at cards 
 or other games, singing, jesting, telling tales ; — and 
 the men drink freely, seldom confining themselves 
 within the limits of sobriety. This revelling is partly 
 intended to solace and exhilarate the mother, that 
 she may not be too much distressed and afflicted at 
 the circumcision of her son ; and partly from a 
 persuasion that on this night she is in more than 
 common danger of some misfortune. ^ Prayers 
 are repeated by some of the soberest of the 
 party ; who likewise admonish the person destined 
 to perform the act of circumcision against drinking 
 to excess, lest his hands should tremble in the 
 operation.^ 
 
 The circumciser ^ is required to be a Jew, a man 
 of experience, vigilance, and industry. Women, 
 because they are not circumcised themselves, are 
 excluded from this office, if a man can by any means 
 be obtained : but it is the opinion of some Jews, 
 
 ' Pirke Eliezer. cap. xix. apud Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iv. p. 89. 
 
 » See page 168, 169. 
 3 Buxtorf. ibid. p. 89, 90. Addison's State of the Jews, p. 59. Leo 
 Modena's Rites and Customs, P. iv. c. 8. s. 3. 
 ^ Called in Hebrew bn^D Mohel, from b^lD to circumcise. 
 
294 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 that, if no man be at hand, the ceremony may be 
 performed by a skilful woman ; though others con- 
 tend that this is altogether inadmissible. So neither 
 is a Christian allowed to circumcise, being himself 
 uncircumcised. But when the ceremony happens to 
 have been performed by a Christian, it is not deemed 
 necessary to be repeated : only some of the blood is 
 required to be drawn afresh, from the circumcised 
 part, by an Israelite.^ 
 
 Persons who have never yet performed the operation, 
 are not easily admitted to circumcise the children 
 of the more wealthy Jews ; who are afraid of novices, 
 and seldom consent to hazard the danger of the first 
 experiment. This is generally tried upon the son 
 of some poor Jew, whose consent is obtained by 
 money. A circumciser is distinguished from others 
 by very long and sharp nails, with which both his 
 thumbs are adorned, as the badge of his profession. 
 If the father is one of these professors, he may 
 circumcise his own son.^ 
 
 The instrument may be of any material adapted 
 for cutting, as stone, glass, or wood ; but they 
 generally use a steel knife, and that very sharp, like 
 a surgeon's lancet. Among the richer Jews, the 
 haft is sometimes cased with silver, and embellished 
 with jewels .3 
 
 In due season must also be provided a person whom 
 
 * Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iv. p. 90, 91. 
 ' Buxtorf. ibid. p. 91. Addison's State of the Jews, p. 61. Leo 
 Modena's Rites and Customs, P. iv. c. 8. s. 4. 
 ^ Buxtorf. ibid. p. 91, 92. 
 
CIRCUMCISION. 295 
 
 the rabbles call Baal Berith ; i and both he and the 
 operator are required to be men of piety, probity, and 
 respectability. They are to act as joint masters of the 
 ceremonies, and are to see that every thing be per- 
 formed with ritual and legal precision. ^ 
 
 The proper day for the circumcision is the eighth : 
 it must never be sooner than the eighth ; it may, in 
 some instances, be the ninth, tenth, eleventh, or even 
 twelfth, but never later, except in cases of illness.^ 
 
 * n*»"nn bs^lS Baal Berithy signifying a master of the covenanf, that 
 is, of circumcision. By those who have written in English, Jews as 
 well as Christians, the person sustaining this character has generally 
 been denominated the god-father : but, as there is so little agreement 
 between the duties prescribed to persons who bear that name in christian 
 communities, and the functions performed by this Jew, I have thought 
 the introduction of the original term preferable to the adoption of one so 
 likely to be associated with ideas foreign from the subject. The phrase^ 
 in the plural number, is found in Gen. xiv. 13. n***^Il *OV3, rendered 
 in our common version " confederate ; " literally masters of the 
 covenant. 
 
 * Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iv. p. 92. Leo Modena's Rites and 
 Customs, P. iv. c. 8. s. 4. 
 
 3 It is a maxim with the modern Jews, that circumcision is not to be 
 performed on the sabbath, or on any festival upon which all servile 
 work was interdicted, unless in cases of absolute certainty that such 
 sabbath or festival is precisely the eighth day of the infant's life. If a 
 son be born at any time between the end of the twilight on Friday 
 evening and sun-set on Saturday evening, they hold themselves obliged 
 to circumcise him on the following sabbath, which they reckon the 
 eighth day. But, if a child be born after sun-set and during twilight 
 on Friday evening, they account it uncertain, to which day his birth 
 is to be assigned, the Friday or the Saturday : and as the circumcision 
 must not take place, either on the Friday in the following week, 
 because it is uncertain whether that be the seventh or eighth day, 
 and this ceremony is in no case to be performed before the eighth day 
 is certainly come ; or on the Saturday, because the uncertainty whether 
 that be the eighth or ninth day prevents it from superseding the ob- 
 
296 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 The proper time is between the rising and the 
 setting of the sun. They never circumcise in 
 the night, but generally in the morning, while 
 the infant is fasting ; because then the wound is 
 believed to bleed less than when food has been 
 taken into the stomach ; and attention to this 
 rite at an early hour, they consider as testifying 
 their alacrity and promptitude in observing the divine 
 precepts.^ 
 
 The preparations for the ceremony are all con- 
 ducted in the most splendid style that the circum- 
 stances of the father enable him to attain. First 
 of all they provide two seats or chairs, or one that 
 with a division in the middle may supply the place 
 of two, adorned, where it can be afforded, with 
 beautiful coverings and silken cushions.^ The cere- 
 mony is performed either in the synagogue, or 
 in some room of the father's dwelling-house. When 
 it is done in the synagogue, the seat or seats 
 must be placed near the chest in which the book 
 
 ligations of the sabbath ; it must be deferred till the Sunday after, 
 which may be the tenth day. If, in such a case as this, the Sunday 
 happen to be a festival, it will be deferred till the Monday; and 
 if Sunday and Monday both be days of rest, it will be postponed to the 
 Tuesday, which may be the twelfth day. The circumcision of a child 
 born during twilight on Saturday evening, may, for the same reasons, 
 *all on the ninth, tenth, or eleventh days. Mishna Shabbat. See 
 David Levi, p. 151—154. 
 
 ' Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iv. p. 93. 
 ^ The soft settee ; one elbow at each end. 
 And in the midst an elbow, it receiv'd. 
 United, yet divided, twain at once. 
 
 Cowperh Taskf Book i. 
 
CIRCUMCISION. 297 
 
 of the law is deposited ; a part esteemed peculiarly 
 sacred. ^ 
 
 Then the baal-berith approaches and stands near 
 the chair, and near him stands the circumciser : the 
 other Jews follow, one of whom calls with a loud 
 voice, for every thing requisite to be brought. Then 
 enter some boys, one of them carrying a large torch 
 consisting of twelve wax tapers, in allusion to the 
 twelve tribes. Others follow, bearing in their hands 
 jugs or bowls of red wine. Then comes another with 
 the knife, another with a plate of sand ; and, lastly, 
 another brings a platter with olive oil, in which pieces 
 of clean, fine, and delicate linen lie steeping, to be 
 laid upon the wound. These all come together, and 
 place themselves as near as possible to the circumciser, 
 in order to see and learn every thing ; for the sake 
 of which it is not unusual for money to be given 
 by boys for being admitted to perform these offices. 
 Some of the attendants are also provided with 
 sweetmeats and generous and delicious wine, cloves, 
 cinnamon and other spices, in readiness for the father, 
 or baal-berith, or other friends, if any of them happen 
 to faint at the anguish of the infant. — When they 
 are all assembled, the baal-berith, or master of the 
 ceremony, seats himself in one of the chairs, or in 
 one part of the double chair ; and the circumciser sits 
 over against him, and with a loud voice sings the 
 song which the children of Israel sang after their 
 passage through the Red Sea ; and after that, several 
 
 ' Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iv. p. 93. Leo Modena's Rites and 
 Customs, P. iv. c. 8. s. 5. David Levi, p. 154. 
 
298 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 other songs. Next to him stands the father, to signify 
 that the circumciser is his deputy or substitute. ^ 
 
 Then the women come to the door of the room, 
 or synagogue, with the infant. Before this, he must 
 have been bathed in a temperate bath, well washed 
 and carefully cleansed from all impurity, and wrapped 
 in a swathe, that he may be clean during the cere- 
 mony. Otherwise, it is not allowable to say any 
 prayers over him ; and if, while they are proceeding, 
 he happen to befoul himself, the prayers must be 
 suspended till he is again cleansed. — He is generally 
 brought to the door by the wife of the baal-berith ; 
 for women are not allowed to enter the room, nor 
 are they at any time admitted into that part of the 
 synagogue which belongs to the men. So, on the 
 other hand, they say, that the baal-berith, in the ab- 
 sence of his wife, is not allowed to enter the lying-in 
 chamber and receive the infant from the mother ; — 
 because this is the business of women, and, as it 
 is not proper for women to enter the apartments 
 of men, so neither for men to enter the chambers 
 of women. The baal-berith, therefore, goes to the 
 door, and, having taken the infant, returns to his 
 station ; while the whole company shout Baruc 
 Habba,^ Blessed is he that cometh. The word Habba, 
 he that cometh, contains more than one occult 
 meaning. The Hebrew letters of which it consists 
 amounting, by gematria, to the number eight, it is 
 
 ' Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iv. p. 93 — 95. Addison's State of the Jews, 
 p. 62. 
 ' Snn T)"in " Blessed he he that cometh." Psalm cxviii. 26. 
 
CIRCUMCISION. 299 
 
 understood to denote his coming on the eighth dax^ 
 to be circumcised. By notaricon, these letters are 
 also considered as initials of three words, signifying 
 Behold Elijah cometh} For the Jews suppose that 
 the prophet Elijah enters the room with the infant, 
 and sits in the vacant chair, or in the vacant seat 
 of the double chair, to observe whether the covenant 
 of circumcision be duly administered. Hence this 
 other seat is called the seat of Elias. They say that 
 on a certain occasion, when circumcision was inter- 
 dicted to the Israelites, Elijah was so grieved in his 
 mind, that he determined to end his life in a cave : — 
 that when God asked him. What dost thou here, 
 Elijah ? he answered, I have been very jealous for 
 the Lord God of hosts, for the children of Israel 
 have forsaken thy covenant, meaning the covenant 
 of circumcision : — upon which, they add, God im- 
 mediately promised the prophet, that he should 
 always, in future, be present at that ceremony, that 
 the children of Israel might never more forsake this 
 covenant, but thenceforth might duly and rightly 
 administer it. When they prepare the seat for Elijah, 
 they are required to say with a loud voice, and in 
 express words, This is the seat of the prophet Elijah. 
 Unless this be expressly declared, they say, he comes 
 not to the circumcision, as not having been invited : 
 — and this loudness of voice they believe to be 
 necessary on account of his dulness of hearing, 
 which is the consequence of his extreme old age. 
 That he may wait with patience to the end of the 
 
 • in^bw NS nan 
 
300 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 circumcision, his chair is not removed from its place 
 for three days. ^ 
 
 The baal-berith then lays the infant on his knees. 
 The circumciser loosens the swathe with which the 
 child is bound, seizes the prepuce, presses back 
 the glans, fixes the prepuce in a kind of pincers, 
 and then rubs the prepuce, till the sensation is so 
 much blunted, that the child can have very little 
 feeling of the wound when it is inflicted. Then 
 taking the knife from one of the attendant boys, 
 he says with a loud voice : * Blessed art thou, 
 ' O Lord our God, King of the universe, who 
 * hast sanctified us with thy precepts, and hast 
 ' commanded us to observe circumcision.' ^ While 
 he is uttering these words, he cuts off a small 
 piece at the extremity of the prepuce, and throws 
 it into plate of sand ; at the same time returning 
 the knife to the boy. Then, taking a bowl, he fills 
 his mouth with wine, of which he sprinkles part 
 upon the wound, and spirts part upon the infant's 
 face, especially if he perceive any signs of debility 
 in him. ^ 
 
 Before the blood has covered the wound, or as soon 
 as its effusion has a little diminished, the circumciser 
 applies his thumb nails to the remainder of the cuticle 
 which still covers part of the glans ; and, dividing it 
 
 » Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iv. p. 92, 93. 95, 96. David Levi, p. 154. 
 Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, sec. 5. 
 
 ^ Span, and Portug. Jews' Prayer Book, p. 217. 
 
 3 Buxtorf. ibid. p. 97, 98. David Levi, p. 154, 155. Leo Modena, 
 ibid. s. 6. 
 
CIRCUMCISION. 301 
 
 assunder, rolls it back, so that it forms a kind of ring 
 round the glans, which is altogether uncovered and 
 permanently laid bare. This operation is called 
 Periah ; ^ and the pains it occasions to the infant 
 are far more acute than those of circumcision itself. 
 In the next place, to draw out all the extravasated 
 blood, to stop the haemorrhage, and to prevent in- 
 flammation, he sucks the blood with his mouth, 
 and then spits it out into one of the cups, or into 
 the sand plate. After this he takes some of the 
 linen, moistened with oil, and binds it three or four 
 times over the wound, and then wraps up the infant 
 again in the swathes. ^ 
 
 Between the excision of the prepuce and the 
 denudation of the glans, the father of the child says, 
 ' Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the 
 ^ universe ! who hast sanctified us with thy precepts, 
 
 * and commanded us to introduce him into the cove- 
 
 * nant of our father Abraham.' Then the other 
 Jews present say, * As thou hast introduced him into 
 ' the covenant, so may est thou initiate him into the 
 ' law, the precepts, the nuptial canopy, and good 
 
 * works. ^ 
 
 Then the circumciser carefully washes his mouth 
 and hands, and the baal-berith rises from his seat 
 with the child, and stands opposite to the circum- 
 
 ^ n37''*"iD from ^"^S to ujicover or make hare. 
 
 2 Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iv. p. 98* 99. Leo Modena's Rites and 
 Customs, P. iv. s. 6. Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. p. 786. David Levi, 
 p. 155, 156. 
 
 3 Buxtorf. ihid. p. 99. Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Prayer Book, 
 p. 217,218. 
 
302 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ciser ; who takes another cup or glass of red wine, 
 consecrates it with the usual benediction, and offers 
 up a longer prayer, which contains the following 
 petitions for the child. * Our God, and the God of our 
 ' fathers ! O preserve this child to his father and 
 
 * mother ; and his name shall be called in Israel 
 
 * .' (Here they first give the infant a name.) 
 
 ' O may the man rejoice in those who proceed from 
 ' his loins, and the woman be glad in the fruit of her 
 
 * womb ; as it is said : '' Thy father and thy mother 
 ' shall rejoice, and they who begot thee shall be 
 
 * glad." (Prov. xxiii. 25.) It is also said : *' And I 
 
 * passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own 
 
 * blood ; and I said unto thee, In thine own blood 
 
 * shalt thou live." (Ezek. xvi. 6.) And it is said : 
 
 * ** He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the 
 
 * word which he commanded to a thousand gene- 
 ' rations : which he covenanted with Abraham, and 
 
 * likewise his oath unto Isaac : and he confirmed the 
 
 * same to Jacob for a statute to Israel, for an ever- 
 
 * lasting covenant." (Psalm cv. 8 — 10.) O give 
 
 * thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy 
 
 * endureth for ever. A. B. this little one, may God 
 ' make him great. As he has been entered into the 
 ' covenant so may he be initiated into the law, the 
 
 * precepts, the nuptial canopy, and good works.' 
 While the circumciser pronounces this benediction, 
 he is required to hold the knife in his hand ; which 
 the rabbies say is signified in these words of the 
 Psalmist, ''The high praises of God in their mouth, 
 and a two-edged sword in their hands." (Psal. cxlix. 
 
CIRCUMCISION. 303 
 
 6.) The consecrated cup is then handed to the 
 baal-berith, and afterwards successively to all the 
 boys in attendance, who drink of it : and the whole 
 ceremony is concluded by carrying back the circumcised 
 infant, and replacing him in the arms of his mother.^ 
 
 Persons about to act the part of the baal-berith 
 sometimes wash themselves all over before they enter 
 on their functions. A father is not to engage one 
 and the same individual to perform this office to two, 
 three, or more children, but is to make choice of one 
 for each child. The reason assigned for this regu- 
 lation is, that a baal-berith is like a priest that burns 
 incense ; but that no priest was allowed to burn 
 incense more than once, because the performance 
 of this function was to be followed by great riches ; 
 for that when it is said, (Deut. xxxiii. 10.) ** They 
 shall put incense before thee," it is almost immediately 
 subjoined, " Bless, Lord, his substance." The office 
 of the baal-berith is esteemed superior to that of the 
 circumciser.2 
 
 When the circumciser says the last prayer, if the 
 ceremony is performed in the synagogue, he stands 
 with the baal-berith near the ark, a place deemed 
 peculiarly sacred. The obligation to take this position, 
 the rabbies have extracted from the Hebrew term for 
 circumcision : ^ the letters of which it is composed 
 
 ^ Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iv. p. 99, 100. 108. Addison's State 
 of the Jews, p. 64. Spanish and Portuguese Jews* Prayer Book, 
 p. 218, 219. David Levi, p. 156, 157. 
 
 2 Maharil, f. 84. c. 2. apud Buxtorf. ibid. p. 101. 
 
 ^ nb''^ Another cabbalistic interpretation of this word has been 
 given in page 78. 
 
304 MODERN JUDAISM. 
 
 being the initials of four words, signifying, The 
 circumciser shall come down and stand before the ark ; ^ 
 and also of four other words, signifying, The angel 
 sitteth before the ark,^ that is, Elijah, the angel of the 
 covenant. Some also, both before and after the 
 circumcision, lay the infant, for a short time, on the 
 cushion destined for Elijah, that the prophet may 
 touch and bless him.^ 
 
 That part of the ceremony which is called Periah 
 is said to be founded on the command given to 
 Joshua:'* ** Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise 
 *' again the children of Israel the second time J' 
 This the rabbies say, is to be understood of the 
 Periah, which is as it were a second circumcision. 
 The letters of the Hebrew word Periah amounting, 
 by gematria, to three hundred and sixty-five, and 
 that being the number of the negative precepts 
 of the law, it is also said that a person who has 
 undergone that operation is to be accounted as if he 
 had fulfilled all those precepts.^ But it would be 
 tedious, to recite all the mystical meanings which 
 the rabbies have connected with the various parts 
 of this ceremony.^ 
 
 ' Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iv. p. 101, 102. * Joshua v. 2. 
 
 « Buxtorf. ibid. p. 102, 103. Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. iii. p. 468, 469. 
 
 * The learned reader who is desirous of knowing the significant 
 allusions, divine instructions, and anti-satanical efficacy, attributed to 
 the casting of the extremity of the prepuce into the sand ; and of seeing 
 some curious disquisitions of the rabbies respecting the omission 
 of circumcision in the wilderness, is referred to Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. 
 c. iv. p. 103—106. 
 
CIRCUMCISION. 305 
 
 When a child is ill on the eighth day, circumcision 
 is postponed. In a case of acute disease, aifecting 
 the whole body, it is deferred seven days after the 
 cbUd is perfectly recovered : but, if the disease be 
 slight or partial, the ceremony is performed im- 
 mediately on the removal of the complaint. If any 
 one dies before the eighth day, uncircumcised, he is 
 circumcised in the burial ground, that the reproach 
 of uncircimicision may be taken away and not buried 
 with him. No prayers are said, but a name is given 
 him ; in order that at the resurrection, when he shall 
 be raised with the rest of the Jews, and every indi- 
 vidual shall know his own father, mother, and family, 
 this infant also may, by his name, be recognised by 
 his parents.^ 
 
 Spurious children are circumcised in the same 
 manner ; but part of the usual benediction is omitted. 
 In case of two sons at a birth, there are two cir- 
 cumcisers, and the preparations are all doubled. The 
 ceremony is invariably followed by a sumptuous 
 entertainment. 2 This also is found in the Hebrew 
 word circumcision ; which, by notaricon, is made to 
 signify, He shall prepare a feast for all the invited 
 guests? 
 
 The birth of a girl is attended with little feasting 
 or jolity. No ceremonies are used ; but at the end 
 
 ' Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iv. p. 106, 107. Addison's State of the 
 Jews, p. 66. Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, P. iv. s. 9. David 
 Levi, p. 158. 
 
 ^ Mahaiil, f. 86. c. 1. apud Buxlorf. ibid. p. 110, 112, 108. Leo 
 Modena, ibid. s. 9. 
 
 X 
 
306 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 of the month, when the mother goes to the syna- 
 gogue, the Chassan, or prayer-reader, pronounces a 
 benediction over the child and gives her the name 
 -appointed by the father,^ 
 
 The law of Moses, appointed for the 'purification 
 of a woman, forty days after the birth of a son, and 
 eighty days after the birth of a daughter. 2 The 
 rabbies have abolished the distinction, and limited 
 the time to forty days in each case. During this 
 period, her husband is to abstain from all intercourse 
 with her ; he is not allowed to touch her with a 
 finger, or to eat of the same dish. Nor is the inter- 
 diction removed, till she has undergone the customary 
 ablution ; which is required to be performed with a 
 particularity which it would be tedious to describe.^ 
 
 If a woman's first child was a boy, the law 
 of Moses declared him to be sacred to God, and 
 required him to be redeemed from the priest.'* The 
 modern Jews hold that ' if the first born of an Israelite 
 
 * be a son, the father is bound to redeem him from 
 
 * the thirtieth day forward. If he redeem him before 
 
 * that time, it is not accounted a redemption. If he 
 
 * omit it after that, he is guilty of neglecting an 
 
 * affirmative precept.' ^ 
 
 ' Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, P. iv. s. 1 1 . 
 2 Leviticus xii. 2 — 5. 
 3 Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. v. p. 119 — 124. Leo Modena, ihid. P. iv. 
 c. 5. Addison's State of the Jews, p. 70. 
 
 * Exodus xiii. 2. xxxiv. 19. 
 ^ Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Prayer Book, p. 219. 
 
REDEMPTION OF THE FIRST BORN. 307 
 
 On the thirty-first day after the birth, the father 
 sends for a priest and some friends. The person 
 who acts the part of a priest, is one who calls him- 
 self Cohen, or priest, and who is supposed to be a 
 descendant of Aaron, but who never pretends to 
 establish this claim by any genealogy. The father 
 places his little son on a table, and says to the priest, 
 ' My wife, who is an Israelitess, has brought me a 
 ' first-born, but the law assigns him to thee.' The 
 priest asks, * Dost thou therefore surrender him to 
 ' me ? ' The father answers in the affirmative. The 
 priest then inquires which he would rather have, his 
 first-born, or the five shekels ^ required for his 
 redemption. The father replies that he prefers his 
 son, and, charging the priest to accept the money, 
 subjoins these benedictions. ' Blessed art thou, O 
 
 * Lord our God, King of the universe ! who hast 
 ' sanctified us with thy precepts, and commanded us 
 ' to perform the redemption of the son. Blessed art 
 ^ thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe ! who 
 ' hast preserved us alive, sustained us, and brought 
 ' us to enjoy this season. 
 
 The father * then produces the value of five shekels,'^ 
 ' and the priest asks the mother, if she had been 
 ' delivered of any other child, or miscarried. If she 
 
 * answers in the negative, the priest ' takes the money, 
 
 * Numbers iii. 47. xviii. 16. 
 ^ According to Dr. Arbuthnot, the shekel was equivalent to two 
 shillings, three pence^ one farthing and half, sterlhig. Tlie sum paid on 
 this occasion by tlie German Jews, is a ducat, value about nine shillings 
 and four peme. 
 
 X 2 
 
308 MODERN JUDAISM *. 
 
 lays it on the head of the child, and says, ' This son 
 
 * being a first-born, the blessed God hath commanded 
 
 * us to redeem him, as it is said: ** And those that 
 
 * are to be redeemed, from a month old thou shalt 
 
 * redeem them, according to thine estimation, for the 
 
 * money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanc- 
 
 * tuary, which is twenty gerahs." (Num. xviii. 16.) 
 ' While thou wast in thy mother's womb, thou wast 
 
 * in the power of thy father who is in heaven, and in 
 ' the power of thy parents ; but now thou art in my 
 
 * power, for I am a priest. But thy father and 
 
 * mother are desirous to redeem thee, for thou art a 
 
 * sanctified first-born ; as it is written : "And the 
 ^ Lord spake unto Moses, saying. Sanctify unto me 
 
 * all the first-born ; whatsoever openeth the womb 
 
 * among the children of Israel, both of man and 
 ^ of beast : it is mine." Exod. xiii. 2.' He then 
 turns to the father, and says, * I have received these 
 ' five shekels from thee, for the redemption of this 
 
 * thy son ; and behold, he is therewith redeemed, 
 ^ according to the law of Moses and Israel.' ^ 
 
 This ceremony is followed by feasting and jollity, 
 in which they are permitted to indulge, even when 
 the day of redemption happens to fall on one of their 
 fasts. 
 
 It is not permitted to drive a bargain with the 
 priest, or to agree with him for a lower price than 
 the value of five shekels. This would annul the 
 redemption, and it would require to be done a second 
 
 » Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Prayer Book, p. 219, 220. 
 
NURSING. 309 
 
 time. The priest is at liberty, afterwards, to return 
 the money to the father ; but it must be as an 
 absolute gift, neither preceded nor accompanied by 
 any condition. 
 
 When the father dies before the thirty-first day, 
 the mother is not bound to redeem her son ; but a 
 piece of parchment, or a small plate of silver, is 
 suspended on the child's neck, with a Hebrew in- 
 scription, signifying — A first born son not redeemed, 
 or A son of a priest ; to teach him, when he grows 
 up, that he belongs to the priest, and must redeem 
 himself. 
 
 As the priests and Levites were anciently exempted 
 from this law of redemption, so it is now considered 
 as not obligatory on those who are believed to be 
 descendants of Aaron. ^ 
 
 Whilst a woman is suckling, she is enjoined to 
 make use of the most salubrious and nutritious 
 food. The rabbies have displayed great diligence 
 and solicitude on this subject ; deeming it of the 
 highest importance, not only to health and vigour 
 of body, but to the growth of the understanding, 
 and the cultivation of piety, that an infant should 
 have an ample supply of proper nutriment ; and 
 they represent the mother who takes due care of 
 this provision, as walking in the ways of the Lord, 
 according to the precept, " Thou shalt walk in his 
 '* ways :" (Deut. xxviii. 9.) which they understand 
 of the liberal supplies provided by God for all his 
 
 ' Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. vi. p. 124 — 128. Leo Modena's Rites and 
 Customs, P. iv. c. 9. David Levi, p. 158 — 162. 
 
310 MODERN JUDAISM: 
 
 creatures. They have indulged their fancies in 
 strange conceits respecting the situation of the 
 breasts ; and have entertained their disciples with 
 marvellous stories of infants, deprived of their 
 mothers, being suckled by men, and even by 
 stones. 
 
 They have prohibited carrying children, or suffer- 
 ing them to run about, without their clothes, either 
 by daylight or moonlight : which they suppose 
 would be attended with imminent danger, according 
 to their exposition of that text, Psalm cxxi. 6. 
 '' The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the 
 ** moon by night." Parents are cautioned against 
 permitting their children to walk about barefooted, 
 which is also considered as exposing them to great 
 dangers : but no cautions are more urgent than 
 those against their going out of doors with the 
 head uncovered ; a practice which the Talmud 
 reprobates with peculiar severity, as betraying a 
 contempt of the majesty of heaven, a want of all 
 modesty, and negligence of the divine commands. ^ 
 
 The education of Jewish children varies in many 
 particulars, in different countries, and according to 
 the external circumstances of the parents ; but 
 among those who are esteemed by their brethren 
 as the best members of their community, their 
 daughters are generally taught to read the Hebrew 
 prayer-book, that is, merely to pronounce the words 
 
 ' Buxtorf. Sytiag. Jud. c. vii. p. 128 — 134. Addison's Slate of the 
 Jews, p. 87. 
 
EDUCATION. 311 
 
 without understanding the meaning of a single 
 sentence : heyond this acquisition, their religious 
 education is very rarely known to extend.^ Their 
 sons begin to learn the Hebrew alphabet soon after 
 they are able to speak ; and at an early age they 
 are taught to read the law, the Mishna, and the 
 Gemara, as well as the prayer-book. To these are 
 sometimes added the commentary of R. Salomon 
 Jarchi, and the Yad Hachazakah, or an abridgment 
 of the Talmud by Maimonides : but their principal 
 attention is devoted ' to the Talmud, which they 
 * reckon the foundation of all, and the best study.' ^ 
 Very few of them learn the language grammatically, 
 but they are instructed in the sense of what they 
 read, according as it is understood by their teachers ; 
 who take every opportunity of establishing them 
 in the tenets of Judaism, and especially of inspiring 
 them with ^ prejudice and hatred against Chris- 
 tianity.^ 
 
 1 Frey's Narrative, p. 3, 4. 
 
 2 The rule prescribed in the Pirke Avotfi, or Chapters of the Fathers, 
 one of the treatises of the Mishna, is, ' that at five years of age a child 
 ' ought to study the Bible; at ten, the Mishna : at thirteen, to observe 
 
 * the precepts; at fifteen, to study the Gemara; at eighteen, to enter 
 
 * into wedlock.' — German and Polish Jews^ Prayer Book, p. 178. 
 This order, however, is not always observed. One, who appears to 
 have had what the Jews account a most religious education, says, 
 
 * When I was nine years old> the holy book of God was shut up and 
 
 * laid aside; and in its stead the productions of men, as the Mishna, 
 
 * Gemara, &c. were brought forth and eagerly studied in succession.' 
 Treys Narrative, p. 12. 
 
 » See p. 243—246. 
 
 * Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. vii. p. 135—141. Leo Modena's Rites and 
 Customs, P. iv. c. 10. s. 1, '2. Addison's State of the .lews, p. 83, 84. 
 
MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 je of thirteen years and one day, a Jewish 
 Jailed, for the first time, Bar Mitsvah,^ 
 a son of the commandment. He is then required 
 to observe the six hundred and thirteen precepts, ^ 
 which, according to the rabbies, comprehend the 
 whole of their law and religion. From that time, 
 he is deemed guilty and liable to punishment, both 
 divine and human, if he transgress them : whereas 
 the sins which are committed before this age are 
 imputed to the father, and he is liable to the 
 punishment denounced against them. When a boy, 
 therefore, attains this age, the father calls together 
 ten Jews, and informs them, or he declares before 
 the congregation in the synagogue, that his son is 
 of age ; that he has been instructed in the command- 
 ments, has learned to read the Taljnud, is fully 
 acquainted with the decisions and customs respecting 
 the tsitsith and tephillin,^ and is able to recite cor- 
 rectly the benedictions and daily prayers ; that there- 
 fore he is desirous of being no longer chargeable 
 with the sins of his son, who, being now a son 
 of the commandment, ought to bear his own sins 
 from this time forward. The father then gives God 
 special thanks that he is now relieved and freed from 
 the punishment incurred by his son, and repeats 
 prayers on his behalf, that he may live many years 
 and be eminent for good works. From this time 
 the youth is considered as of fiill age, is exempt 
 from the authority of parents and tutors, is his own 
 
 2 See page 103, &c. 3 See the next Chapter. 
 
AGE OF MAJORITY. 313 
 
 master in all things both civil and religious, is deemed 
 competent to manage business, and his contracts 
 are esteemed valid. ^ 
 
 Jewish girls are accounted of full age at twelve 
 years and a day old, or it should seem, in some 
 countries, at twelve years and a half.^ 
 
 If any Jew who has embraced or professed Chris- 
 tianity wishes to return to the profession of Judaism, 
 and to be again acknowledged by his brethren ; he 
 must lie down with his face to the earth on the 
 threshold of the synagogue during a considerable 
 space of time, in order that his brethren, as they 
 enter and leave it, may wipe their feet in his clothes, 
 and spit, and trample on his body.^ 
 
 » Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. vii. p. 141 — 143. Addison's State of the 
 Jews, p. 85. Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, P. iv. c. 10. s. 3. 
 Frey's Narrative, p. 13. 
 
 2 Leo Modena, ibid. P. iv. c. 10. s. 3. 
 
 ^ Quarterly Review, No. 75, p. 122. 
 
CHAPTER XVIJ. 
 
 Dresses worn by Jews, — Talleth or Tsitslth, a square 
 Garment with Fringes or Tassels : — Small one worn 
 constantly : — Large one for daily Prayers and other 
 Occasions. — Great Virtues of these Vestments. — 
 Tephillin or Phylacteries,— for the Head, — ayid for 
 the Arm : — made ivith minute Care and possessed 
 of wonderful Virtues. — Mezuzoth, or Schedules for 
 Door-posts. 
 
 The rabbles have given many directions about 
 the materials, form, and colour of the garments to 
 be worn by their brethren. Few of their rules, 
 however, are much practised in the present day ; 
 as, in order to avoid the odium and ridicule likely 
 to be incurred by singularity, they generally adopt, 
 in external appearance at least, the dresses com- 
 monly worn by the people among whom they live. 
 But they still consider it unlawful for them ^ to 
 wear any garment composed of linen and woollen 
 woven together, or made of either of these materials 
 and sewed with the other .^ 
 
 Every male is required to have a quadrangular 
 vestment, which they call Talleth,^ and which is 
 
 ' Levit. xix. 19. Deut. xxii. 11. 
 
 2 Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xxxii. p. 587 — 592. Leo Modena's Rites and 
 Customs, P. i. c. 5. s. 1 — 4. Addison's Slate of the Jews, c. i. p. 10, 11. 
 
TSITSITH, OR FRINGES. 315 
 
 worn constantly as an inner garment. It consists 
 of two quadrangular pieces, generally of woollen, 
 sometimes of silk, joined together at the upper 
 edge by two fillets, or broad straps, with a space 
 left sufficient for the head to pass between them. 
 These fillets rest on the shoulders, and the two 
 square pieces hang down, one over the back, and 
 the other over the breast. From each of the 
 corners hangs a fringe or tassel ^ consisting of eight 
 threads and tied with five knots. From its having 
 four corners this vestment is called arha canphoth ; ^ 
 but its principal denomination, Tsitsith,^ it receives 
 from the fringes upon which all its sanctity is sup- 
 posed to depend. They have likewise a larger Talleth, 
 which they are required to put on during the daily 
 morning prayers, and on some other occasions. This 
 is a square piece of cloth, like a napkin, or ratlier 
 resembling a shawl, made of white sheep or lamb 
 wool, sometimes of camel hair, and bordered with 
 stripes of blue, with a fringe or tassel at each 
 corner.^ 
 
 The threads composing the fringes attached to 
 both the small and large Talleth, are of wool that 
 has been shorn, not pulled or plucked ; and spun 
 by the hand of a Jewess for the express purpose 
 of being used in these fringes. Four threads, of 
 which one must be blue if it can be obtained, are 
 
 3 Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. ix. p. 160, 161. Leo Modena's Riles and 
 Customs, P. i. c. 6. s. 9. David Levi, p. 184, 185. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 Dresses worn by Jews. — Talleth or Tsitsith, a square 
 Garment with Fringes or Tassels : — Small one worn 
 constantly : — Large one for daily Prayers and other 
 Occasions. — Great Virtues of these Vestments. — 
 Tephillin or Phylacteries,— for the Head, — and for 
 the Arm : — made with minute Care and possessed 
 of wonderful Virtues, — Mezuzoth, or Schedules for 
 Door-posts. 
 
 The rabbles have given many directions about 
 the materials, form, and colour of the garments to 
 be worn by their brethren. Fev^ of their rules, 
 however, are much practised in the present day ; 
 as, in order to avoid the odium and ridicule likely 
 to be incurred by singularity, they generally adopt, 
 in external appearance at least, the dresses com- 
 monly worn by the people among whom they live. 
 But they still consider it unlawful for them ^ to 
 wear any garment composed of linen and woollen 
 woven together, or made of either of these materials 
 and sewed with the other. ^ 
 
 Every male is required to have a quadrangular 
 vestment, which they call Talleth,^ and which is 
 
 ' Levit. xix. 19. Deut. xxii. 11. 
 
 2 Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xxxii. p. 587 — 592. Leo Modena's Rites and 
 Customs, P. i. c. 5. s. 1 — 4. Addison's State of the Jews, c, i. p. 10, 11. 
 
TSITSITH, OR FRINGES. 315 
 
 worn constantly as an inner garment. It consists 
 of two quadrangular pieces, generally of woollen, 
 sometimes of silk, joined together at the upper 
 edge by two fillets, or broad straps, with a space 
 left sufficient for the head to pass between them. 
 These fillets rest on the shoulders, and the two 
 square pieces hang down, one over the back, and 
 the other over the breast. From each of the 
 corners hangs a fringe or tassel ^ consisting of eight 
 threads and tied with five knots. From its having 
 four corners this vestment is called arha canphoth ; ^ 
 but its principal denomination, Tsitsith,^ it receives 
 from the fringes upon which all its sanctity is sup- 
 posed to depend. They have likewise a larger Talleth, 
 which they are required to put on during the daily 
 morning prayers, and on some other occasions. This 
 is a square piece of cloth, like a napkin, or rather 
 resembling a shawl, made of white sheep or lamb 
 wool, sometimes of camel hair, and bordered with 
 stripes of blue, with a fringe or tassel at each 
 corner.^ 
 
 The threads composing the fringes attached to 
 both the small and large Talleth, are of wool that 
 has been shorn, not pulled or plucked ; and spun 
 by the hand of a Jewess for the express purpose 
 of being used in these fringes. Four threads, of 
 which one must be blue if it can be obtained, are 
 
 3 Baxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. ix. p. 160, 161. Leo Modena's Riles and 
 Customs, P. i. c, 5. s. 9. David Levi, p. 184, 183. 
 
316 MODERN JUDAISM: 
 
 passed through an eyelet hole made about the 
 breadth of three fingers from each edge forming 
 the angle : — these threads are to be doubled, to 
 make eight : — seven are to be of equal length, and 
 the eighth must be long enough to twist five times 
 round the rest, for the purpose of tying five tight 
 knots, and afterwards to have an end of the same 
 length as the other seven. ^ 
 
 The large Talleth, at the appointed seasons, is 
 thrown loosely over all the other garments ; some- 
 times passing across the top of the head and flowing 
 down over the upper part of each arm and over the 
 back, sometimes wrapped round the neck ; but more 
 generally drawn together, and passing across the 
 top of the head and down over the forepart of each 
 shoulder, like a scarf. ^ 
 
 The obligation to wear such garments they rest 
 on the following injunction of the law : ^ " Speak 
 ** unto the children of Israel, and bid them that 
 *' they make them fringes in the borders of their 
 " garments throughout their generations, and that 
 ** they put upon the fringe of their borders a 
 ** ribband " (or, as the rabbles say it should be 
 rendered, a thread) ** of blue : and it shall be 
 " unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, 
 '' and remember all the commandments of the 
 ** Lord, and do them." This command the rabbles 
 
 » Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. ix, p. 161, 162. Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn, 
 i. p. 577 — 579. Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, s. 7. 
 
 2 Leo Modena, ihid. P. i. c. 11. p. 38. 
 
 3 Numb. XV. 38, 39. 
 
TSITSITH, OR FRINGES. 317 
 
 have represented as equal to all the others. * The 
 
 * precept concerning the fringes/ they say, is so great, 
 
 * that he who diligently observes it, is regarded in 
 
 * the same light as if he had kept the whole law : ' 
 for that the knots of each fringe answering to the 
 books of the law, being five in number, and the 
 threads of which it is composed being eight, and the 
 letters of the Hebrew word Tsitsith, as numerals, 
 being six hundred, the total amount is six hundred 
 and thirteen ; the exact number of all the precepts 
 in the law.^ 
 
 The virtue of these fringes in recalling the atten- 
 tion of their wearers to the divine commands, and 
 preserving them from sins which they have been on 
 the point of committing, is said to be very great ; 
 and the rabbinical writings contain some marvellous 
 stories, of things alleged to have happened before as 
 well as since the giving of the law, related in con- 
 firmation of it. They are also considered as preser- 
 vatives from the injuries of evil spirits. — To him who 
 altogether neglects this precept, or treats it with 
 contempt, by wearing a quadrangular garment without 
 the fringes, the rabbies apply this passage : *' That 
 '* it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that 
 '^ the wicked might be shaken out of it : " ^ that is, 
 according to their exposition, — The blessed God will 
 punish those transgressors who violate the precept 
 
 » Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. ix. p. 163, 164. Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. 
 i. p. 576, 577, 584, 585. David Levi, p. 184. 
 2 Job xxxviii. 13. 
 
318 MODERN JUDAISM: 
 
 of the fringes, and will shake them out of the 
 earth. ^ 
 
 These quadrangular garments with fringes are 
 not required to be worn by night ; nor is the precept 
 which enjoins them considered as obligatory on 
 women, servants, or young children. Such a gar- 
 ment is never to be sold or pledged to a Christian, 
 lest he should wear it, and, taking advantage of the 
 deception it might enable him to practise, should 
 murder any Jew who might believe him to be one 
 of his brethren. 2 
 
 Other appendages of Jewish devotions are the 
 Tephillin,^ or phylacteries.^ Of these there are two 
 sorts, one for the head, and one for the arm. 
 The obligation to wear them is derived from the 
 following passages in the law: *' And it shall be 
 ** for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets 
 *' between thine eyes : for by strength of hand the 
 *' Lord brought us forth out of Egypt." Exodus 
 xiii. 16. *' And these words which I command 
 " thee this day shall be in thine heart. — And thou 
 
 » Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. ix. p. 163—167, 169. Talmud. Cod. Sabbat, 
 c, xvi. f. 118. Jalkut, f. 229. c. 3. apud Buxtorf. ibid. 
 
 ' Buxtorf. ibid. p. 169, 170. Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. p. 583,584. 
 
 ' This is the Hebrew term ^'tbDD signifying 'prayers, or appendages 
 of prayer ; from ^^JQ to pray, rh^r\ prayer. 
 
 ■* This term is derived from the Greek <pvXa,KT^§ia, preservatives, 
 from (pvKda-a-u, to preserve. In the Targum on SolomorCs Song viii. 3. 
 the tephillin are represented as preservatives from the machinations 
 of evil spirits. Walton. Polyglott. torn. iii. 
 
 I 
 
TEPHILLIN, OR PHYLACTERIES. 319 
 
 '' shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and 
 *' they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 
 *' And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thine 
 " house, and on thy gates," Deut. vi. 6 — 9. 
 
 By the generality of Christian interpreters these 
 precepts have been understood in a figurative sense ; 
 merely as enjoining on the Israelites a grateful 
 remembrance of the deliverances which they had 
 experienced, and a faithful obedience of the laws and 
 institutions which they had received. The rabbies 
 maintain that they should be literally explained, as 
 requiring schedules with some portions of scripture 
 to be affixed to the door-posts, and certain signs, 
 tokens, and frontlets, to be fastened to the hand or 
 arm, and between the eyes.^ 
 
 The Tephiilin for the head are made of a piece 
 of skin, or leather manufactured from the skin, 
 of some clean animal, well soaked and stretched on 
 a block cut for the purpose, sewed together while 
 wet, and left on the block till it is dried and stiffened 
 into the requisite form. When taken off, it forms 
 a leathern box of equal length and breadth, and 
 nearly equal depth ; divided by partitions into four 
 compartments ; and having impressed, on one side 
 of it, the letter Shin, and on the other side a cha- 
 racter resembling that letter, only having four points 
 or heads, as the letter shin has three. This box is 
 
 1 Some learned Christians have contended for a literal interpretation 
 of these commands : their arguments may be seen in Dr. WoUovls 
 Miscellaneous Discourses, p. 194 — 204. Respecting the phylacteries 
 the same opinion is maintained by Beza : Aiinot. in Matth. xxiii, 5, 
 
320 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 sewed to a thick skin, broader than the square of the 
 box : of this skin is formed a loop, through which 
 passes a thong, with which the tephiUin are fastened 
 to the head. 
 
 In the four compartments are enclosed four pas- 
 sages of the law, "written on parchment, and carefully 
 folded. These parchments are commonly bound 
 with some pure and well-washed hairs of a calf or 
 cow, generally pulled from the tail ; and the ends 
 come out beyond the outer skin, to indicate that the 
 schedules within are rightly made. But that skin is 
 sewed and fastened together with very fine and clean 
 strings or cords, made from the sinews of a calf, cow, 
 or bull ; or, if none of these are at hand, with soft 
 and thin thongs or ligaments, cut out of a calf skin. 
 . Through the loop of the box passes a long leather 
 strap ; which ought to be black on the outside, 
 and on the inside of any colour except red. With 
 this strap the tephiUin are bound to the head, so that 
 the little box, including the parchments, rests on the 
 forehead, below the hair, between the eyes, against 
 the pericranium ; that the divine precepts may be 
 fixed in the brain, which is supposed to contain the 
 organs of thought and to be the seat of the soul ; 
 that there may be more sanctity in prayer ; and that 
 the commandments of God may at the same time, 
 be confirmed and better observed. The strap is 
 fastened, on the back part of the head, with a knot 
 tied in such a manner as is said to resemble the letter 
 Daleth : the ends of the strap pass over the shoulders, 
 and hang down over each breast. 
 
TEPHILLIN, OR PHYLACTERIES. 321 
 
 The Tephillin for the arm, or, as they are fre- 
 quently denominated, the Tephillin for the hand, 
 are made of a piece of skin or leather, similar to 
 that used in the tephillin for the head, and fastened 
 together in the same manner ; except that, being 
 without any partitions, it has only one cavity ; nor 
 is the letter Shin impressed upon it. The same 
 four passages of scripture are written on parch- 
 ment, and enclosed in a hollow piece of skin 
 like the finger of a glove, which is put into the 
 box and sewed to the thick leather of which it 
 consists. 
 
 This little box is placed on the left arm, just above 
 the elbow, and fastened by a leather strap, with a 
 noose, to the naked skin, on the inner part of the 
 arm ; so that when the arm is bent, the tephillin 
 may touch the flesh of it, and may also stand near 
 the heart, for the fulfilment of the precept. " Ye 
 '^ shall lay up these words in your heart;" and 
 that the heart, looking upon them, may be abstracted 
 from all corrupt affections and desires, and drawn 
 out into greater fervency of prayer. The strap is 
 twisted several times about the arm, and then three 
 times round the middle finger ; by some, three times 
 round* three of the fingers : and on the end of it is 
 made the letter Jod. 
 
 The letter Shin impressed on the right side of the 
 tephillin for the head, the letter Daleth formed 
 by the knot on the back of the head, and the letter 
 Jod on the end of the strap depending from the 
 
322 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 hand, compose the word Bhaddai} or Ahnighty. 
 This the rabbles consider as an accomplishment 
 of the declaration of Moses, which om* common 
 version translates, *' And all people of the earth 
 *' shall see that thou art called by the name of the 
 ** Lord ; "^ but which they render, '' And all people 
 ** of the earth shall see that the name of the Lord 
 " is called (or read) upon thee, and they shall be 
 *' afraid of thee." — The character resembling a 
 Bhin, with four heads or points, is also affirmed 
 to contain recondite mysteries. I shall not stay to 
 specify them, but shall proceed to mention a few 
 of the minute and multifarious directions which have 
 been given to regulate the fabrication and use of this 
 devotional attire. 
 
 The four paragraphs of the Law to be written 
 on the Tephillin, are, Exodus xiii. 1 — 10. Exodus 
 xiii. 11 — 16. Deuteronomy vi. 4 — 9. Deuteronomy 
 xi. 13 — 21. all inclusive. For the head, they are 
 to be written on four separate pieces of parchment ; 
 for the arm, all on one piece, in four distinct 
 columns. They are all to be written with ink made 
 of galls. If a single letter be of a different colour 
 from the rest, or from what is required, the whole 
 is profaned. The letters must be distinct and 
 separate. If one rise above or touch another, the 
 whole is rendered useless. They are to be written 
 with the right hand. It is common to rule only 
 
 ' >1W ' Deut. xxviii. 10. 
 
TEPHILLIN, OR PHYLACTERIES. 323 
 
 the first line : a person unable to write in strait or 
 even lines may mark with a bodkin or pin ; but 
 not with a pencil or plummet of lead, by which the 
 parchment would be discoloured. The parchment 
 is to be manufactured from the skin of some clean 
 animal, which is required to be selected, and to be 
 declared at the time to be selected, for this express 
 purpose. The skin should be dressed by a Jew. 
 If no Jew can be procured to do this, it may be 
 done by a Christian under the superintendence of a 
 Jew. The parchment must be perfect, very smooth, 
 without holes, not porous, lest the ink should pass 
 through, or the letters be visible on the other side. 
 A hole in the middle of the letter He or Mem is 
 tolerated. The pieces of parchment for the head are 
 to be of three different degrees of thickness : a very 
 substantial one, for the section Deuteronomy vi. 4 — 9. 
 which is shorter than either of the others ; a thinner 
 one, for the section Deuteronomy xi. 13 — 21. which 
 is longer ; and for the other two sections which are 
 longer still, the thinnest that can be obtained. The 
 design of this variety is that all the compartments, 
 which are of equal capacity, may be equally filled. 
 The name Jehovah in particular, and all the sections 
 in general, are to be written with great care, that 
 there may be no superfluity or defect ; either 
 of which would render the whole useless. Each 
 section is to be written in four lines, and the rabbies 
 have prescribed with what words the respective 
 lines are to begin. Before the schedules are put 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 into the box, they are to be attentively read three 
 times over. 
 
 The Tephillin for the arm are put on first, and 
 afterwards the Tephillin for the head : to reverse 
 this order would be inconsistent with the comparative 
 sanctity which they are supposed respectively to 
 possess. The straps, when broken, are not to be 
 tied or sewed together ; but new ones are to be 
 procured. To fasten either of the tephillin in any 
 other than the prescribed place, is deemed heretical. 
 A man who has lost his right hand, or is left-handed, 
 is allowed to place the tephillin on his right arm. 
 The putting on of the tephillin is always to be 
 preceded by a grace ; and a person who has put them 
 on is not permitted to speak to any one, or to 
 return a salutation even of a rabbi, unless he pre- 
 viously take oif the tephillin from the head. The 
 tephillin for the head is taken off first, and then the 
 tephillin for the arm : both are to be put into a bag, 
 and that bag is to be included in another, that the 
 tephillin may be preserved with the greater reverence. 
 The bag in which the tephillin are kept, it is un- 
 lawful to apply to any common use. The tephillin 
 are not to be suspended by either of the straps, or 
 by the loop ; but the bag in which they are kept may 
 be hung up. The season for putting on the tephil- 
 lin is not the night but the day, and particularly 
 the time of prayers and the reading of the Shema.* 
 
 ' This will be explained in Chapter xix. 
 
TEPHILLIN, OR PHYLACTERIES. 325 
 
 They are not to be worn on the sabbath or festival 
 days, because it is said : " And it shall be for a 
 sign : " Exod. xiii. 9. whereas the sabbaths and 
 festivals are signs of themselves, so that no other 
 signs are wanted. It is to be considered as day, 
 when one person can distinguish another at the 
 distance of four arms' length. A person who puts 
 them on by day, if overtaken by the night, may 
 either take them off, or wear them all night : the 
 prohibition is only against putting them on by night. 
 A youth is bound to observe this precept when 
 thirteen years and one day old. Persons labouring 
 under diarrhoea, or tenesmus, are exempted from 
 this obligation. Those who put on the tephillin 
 are required to be perfectly clean, and very careful 
 of purity. They are not to sleep with the tephillin, 
 unless they be overtaken with sudden sliunber ; and 
 then they may take a little rest, sitting on a stool 
 or chair, and reclining the head. It is allowable to 
 sleep or eat, with the tephillin folded in the hand : 
 but a person who has them on and is about to sit 
 down to dinner, is required to lay them on a table, 
 and after his hands have been washed and grace has 
 been said, he may put them on again. On certain 
 occasions not very decent to be specified, they are 
 also to be taken off and wrapped in a cloth. In a 
 bath, if the persons present are dressed, the tephil- 
 lin may be worn ; but they must neither be put on 
 nor worn in the presence of persons undressed ; in 
 the presence of persons partly dressed, they must 
 not be put on, but if previously put on, are not 
 
326 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 required to be taken off. No person is to put them 
 on, till he has put on all his ordinary clothes. They 
 are never to be worn in the cemeteries of the dead. 
 No burden must be carried upon a head adorned 
 with the tephillin ; but a hat or cap may be worn 
 at the same time. They must not be kept on in 
 a bed-room, but are to be deposited in the double 
 bag, and may be placed in a chest, or under the 
 pillow. It is deemed unbecoming for any one to 
 take off the tephillin in the presence of his rabbi. 
 Women and servants are exempted from wearing the 
 tephillin ; because their time not being at their 
 own disposal, they may be suddenly required to do 
 things not lawful to be done while those ornaments 
 are worn. 
 
 The high estimation in which these tephillin are 
 held among the rabbies may be inferred from their 
 representations of them as actually worn by God 
 himself ; ^ and from their maxim, * that the single 
 ' precept of the tephillin is equivalent to all the com- 
 
 * mandmentSj because it is said : '* And it shall be 
 
 * for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for ^ a 
 
 * memorial between thine eyes ; that the Lord's law 
 
 * may he in thy mouth/' Exod. xiii. 9.' 
 
 Leo Modena says : ' The men ought continually 
 ' to wear their frontlets, or tephillin for the head ; 
 ' which is commanded in Deuteronomy vi. 6 — 8, 
 ' xi. 18, 19. — Notwithstanding at present, partly 
 ^ to avoid the scoffs of the nations among whom 
 
 ' Se? page 144. 
 
MEZUZOTH FOR DOOR-POSTS. 327 
 
 ' they live, and also because they account these 
 
 * holy thing Sy and such as ought to be used with 
 
 * great discretion, and not upon every trivieil occa- 
 ' sion, they put them on only in the time of prayer.' 
 How they have acquired a power of dispensing with 
 what they affirm to be a divine command, and 
 limiting to the time of prayer what was enjoined for 
 continual observance, he has not stated. The general 
 practice, however, appears to have carried the limi- 
 tation still further, and restricted the use of these 
 implements of devotion to the season of morning 
 prayer. * The frontlets,' says Leo, * they put on 
 
 * commonly in the morning : there are some more 
 ' devout than the rest, that put them on at the 
 ' afternoon prayers too ; but they are but few.^ 
 
 The use of Mezuzoth, or schedules for door-posts, 
 is founded on a literal interpretation of the same 
 sections of the law which are considered as enjoining 
 the Tephillin.2 
 
 A Mezuza is a piece of parchment, on which are 
 written two portions of scripture : Deuteronomy 
 vi. 4 — 9. xi. 13 — 20. The parchment is rolled 
 up with the ends of the lines inward, the Hebrew 
 word Shaddai is inscribed on the outside, and the 
 roll is put into a cane, or a cylindrical tube of lead, 
 
 * Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, P. i. c. 5. s. 10. c. 11. s. 4. 
 Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. ix. p. 170 — 185. Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. torn. i. 
 p. 556—566. Wagenseil. Sota, p. 397 — 416. Hoornbeck contra Jud. 
 L. vii. c. 3. p. 493—497. Suicer. Thesaur. torn. ii. col. 1465, 1466. 
 Addison's State of the Jews, p. 100 — 104. David Levi, p. 185—191. 
 
 2 Deut. vi. 6—9. xi. 18—20. 
 
328 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 in which a hole is cut that the word Shaddai 
 may appear. This tube is fastened to the door-post 
 by a nail at each end. The fixing of it is preceded 
 by the following grace : ' Blessed art thou, O Lord 
 * our God, King of the universe 1 who hast sanctified 
 ' us with thy precepts, and commanded us to fix the 
 ' Mezuza.' 
 
 In giving directions concerning the skins to be 
 chosen for this purpose, the ink to be used, the 
 form of the writing, the manner of inserting the 
 parchment in the case, the houses and rooms to 
 the doors of which Mezuzoth are to be affixed, 
 the rabbies have displayed the same care and particu- 
 larity, as respecting the fabrication and use of the 
 TephiUin. 
 
 The injunction of the law being in the plural 
 number, " upon the posts of thine house, and on 
 '^ thy gates," it is concluded that Mezuzoth should 
 be fixed on all the doors of dwelling houses, whether 
 parlours, bed-rooms, kitchens or cellars, on the 
 doors of barns or storehouses, and on the gates 
 of cities and towns. The Mezuza is generally placed 
 on the right hand of the entrance, and those who 
 are deemed the most devout Israelites, often touch 
 and kiss it as they pass. The synagogue being a 
 house of prayer and not of residence, requires no 
 Mezuza : nor is any to be introduced into a privy or 
 bath. 
 
 The virtues of these appendages of devotions and 
 dwelling houses, which have been the subjects of this 
 chapter, are described in the Talmud as transcend- 
 
MEZUZOTH FOR DOOR-POSTS. 329 
 
 ently great. * Whoever has the Tephillin bound to 
 
 * his head and arm, and the Tsitsith thrown over 
 
 * his garments, and the Mezuza fixed on his door- 
 ' post, is protected from sin : for these are excellent 
 ' memorials, and the angels rescue him from sin ; 
 
 * as it is written : ** The angel of the Lord encamp- 
 ' eth round about them that fear him, and delivereth 
 ' them." Psalm xxxiv. 7.' ^ 
 
 » Talmud. Cod. Sabbat, c. xi. apud Hoornbeck contra Jud. L. vii. 
 c. 3. p. 495. Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xxxi. p. 582 — 487. Leo 
 Modena's Rites and Customs, P. i. c. 3. s. 2. David Levi, p. 213. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Number required for a Congregation. — Synagogues : — 
 hiredy or built, — General Description of them, — Copies 
 of the Law used in them, — Separate Part for Women, 
 — Officers, — -Privilege of performing certain Functions 
 sold by Auction, — Rabbies, — Chief Rabbi, — fVant of 
 Reverence in Jewish Worship, 
 
 To constitute a congregation for the performance 
 of public worship, requires, according to the decisions 
 of the rabbies, at least ten men who have passed the 
 thirteenth year of their age. In all places in which 
 this or a larger number of Jews can be statedly 
 assembled, they procure a synagogue. For a small 
 congregation they content themselves with a hired 
 room, but where they are numerous they often erect 
 a large and respectable building for the purpose. 
 
 They prefer the highest ground that can be 
 obtained in a convenient situation, and suffer no 
 Jew to build a dwelling house in the neighbour- 
 hood, of superior, or even of equal height. The 
 accommodations are not always equally handsome 
 or plain ; but every synagogue is furnished with a 
 suitable number of long forms or benches, generally 
 with backs. Closets and presses are also provided 
 for keeping books and cloaks. Lamps and chan- 
 deliers are affixed and suspended in different parts, 
 
SYNAGOGUES. 331 
 
 to give light to the whole. Near the door or 
 doors are placed little boxes, to receive voluntary- 
 contributions for the poor. 
 
 Wherever the Jews live, they turn their faces, 
 in prayer towards the land of Canaan. The door, 
 or if there be more than one, the principal door 
 of a synagogue is therefore placed at or near the 
 opposite point of the compass. In this and the 
 neighbouring countries, all structures erected for 
 that purpose are built as nearly east and west as 
 the situation will admit. 
 
 At the end opposite to the entrance is a closet 
 or chest, which they call the ark, in allusion to the 
 ark of the covenant in the ancient temple ; and in 
 which they deposit the book of the law, used in 
 reading the lessons in the public service. Every 
 copy of the Pentateuch for the use of a synagogue 
 is required to be in manuscript. The rabbies 
 have furnished their disciples with numerous rules 
 of transcription, which are required to be most 
 accurately observed, and a failure in any of which 
 frustrates all the labour. It is to be written with 
 ink made of certain prescribed ingredients, in the 
 square character,^ without points. It is not to be 
 
 * That is, the present Hebrew character, which some learned men 
 believe to be the same that was used by the Israelites from the earliest 
 times. Others of equal reputation, on the contrary, are of opinion, 
 that the character employed by Moses, and continued till the captivity, 
 was what is now called the Samaritan ; and that the Chaldee character, 
 having become familiar to the people during their residence in Babylon, 
 was adopted by Ezra on their return to Jerusalem, and has in con- 
 sequence been retained ever since. Walton. Proleg. iii. s. 29 — 33. 
 
332 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 in the form of modern books, but in a volume or 
 roll, according to the custom of ancient times. The 
 roll consists of long pieces of parchment, sewed 
 together with thongs cut out of the skin of some 
 clean animal ; and is rolled up from both ends, on 
 two wooden staves. For its preservation it is cased 
 with linen or silk ; another silk covering is added 
 as an ornament. The ends of the staves are more 
 or less ornamented, according to the ability of the 
 owner : some are covered with silver in the shape 
 of pomegranates ; some have at the top a coronet 
 of silver, to which little bells are appended. To 
 make such a transcript of the law and present it to a 
 synagogue, is deemed a very meritorious service ; and 
 the number of them varies, in different congregations, 
 according to the number, wealth, generosity, and 
 reputed sanctity of their members. 
 
 Near the middle is a desk or altar, formed by a 
 raised platform surrounded by a wooden rail, and 
 generally large enough to receive several persons, 
 either standing or sitting. From this place, the 
 law is regularly read, and lectures or sermons are 
 sometimes delivered. No benches or seats are 
 admitted between the altar and the ark. 
 
 The women are not allowed to mix with the men, 
 but a separate part is allotted to them on the same 
 floor ; or, where there is a gallery, it is exclusively 
 appropriated to their use; but, whatever be their 
 
 Prideaux's Connection, P. i. B. 5. Gill's Dissertation on the Antiquity 
 of the Hebrew Language, Letters, ^c, Owen. Theologoum. Lib. iv. 
 Digress. 2. 
 
OFFICERS. 333 
 
 station, they are screened from the observation of the 
 men by a wooden lattice. 
 
 Every synagogue has a Chassan, or reader and 
 chanter ; one or more clerks for the management 
 of pecuniary and other matters ; and one or more 
 persons whose duty it is to keep the place clean 
 and in good order, to trim the lamps, light the 
 candles, open and shut the doors, keep the keys, 
 and attend at all times of prayer. These persons 
 receive salaries out of the public stock of the 
 synagogue to which they belong. There are also 
 wardens appointed, who form a kind of committee 
 of elders, to superintend and direct the financial, 
 eleemosynary, and other general business of the 
 congregation. 
 
 Folding and unfolding the Law, bearing it in 
 procession through the synagogue, elevating it on 
 the altar to be seen by all the people present, 
 reading certain lessons on particular days, and other 
 public services, are performed by various Israelites 
 at different times. But each of these functions are 
 accounted a high honour, and whenever it occurs, 
 the privilege of discharging it is put up to public 
 auction, and assigned to the best bidder. One of the 
 clerks of the synagogue acts the part of auctioneer, 
 and the monies arising from these sales are paid into 
 the general stock. ^ 
 
 * In congregations where any of the members are wealthy, five, ten, 
 Jifteen, twenty pounds, are common prices on these occasions. I have 
 been informed, that, a few years ago, the privilege of reading the book 
 of Jonah on the day of Atonement, in the principal German Synagogue 
 in London, was once purchased for two hundred pounds. 
 
334 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 Individuals who are well versed in the Talmud 
 easily obtain the title of rabhi ; which is little more 
 than an honorary distinction among their brethren. 
 The rabbies are pi*^ssedly religious teachers, and are 
 believed by their ignorant brethren to have great 
 power over spirits.^ In every country, or large 
 district, the Jews have an officer denominated, in 
 some places, a chief or presiding rabhi, and in others, 
 a chacam. He bears a spiritual authority, and, as 
 far as is compatible with the laws of the country, 
 exercises also a civil jurisdiction. The principal 
 engine to enforce compliance with his decisions is 
 the terror inspired by the ecclesiastical censures, 
 excommunications, and anathemas which he has 
 power to denounce, and the direful effects of which 
 are supposed to extend beyond the present life. He 
 takes cognizance of all cases of adultery, incest, 
 violation of the sabbath, or of any of the fasts or 
 festivals, and apostacy ; of marriages, divorces, and 
 commercial contracts : he hears and determines ap- 
 peals against decisions of inferior rabbies within his 
 district ; decides all difficult questions of the law, and 
 preaches three or four sermons in a year.^ To some 
 
 ' A curious anecdote, illustrative of this strange notion, may be found 
 in the Quarterly Review, July 1828. * It is not long since (we state 
 
 * the fact on the best authority) that a Polish Jew hired his rabbi to send 
 
 * the angel of death to destroy a Polish nobleman, as his only means 
 
 * of escaping the detection of a heinous fraud. Soon after this the 
 
 * countess died, but the husband lived. The Jew went to upbraid his 
 
 * rabbi, who replied, that he sent the angel on his errand, who, not 
 
 * finding the count at home, did his best by slaying the lady : and this 
 
 * satisfied the complainant.' Quarterly/ RevieWf No. 75. p. 124. 
 
 * The learned reader who is desirous of seeing specimens of rabbinical 
 
CHIEF RABBI. 335 
 
 of these cases fees are attached, and the office is 
 accompanied with a respectable salary. In this 
 country there are two of these officers ; the Chief 
 Rahbi of the German and Polish Jews, and the 
 Chacam of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews. 
 
 The rabbies have delivered many particular direc- 
 tions which are deemed necessary to be followed, in 
 attending the synagogue, by all who have a due 
 reverence for what they call their little sanctuary. ^ 
 
 preaching and exposition, in the seventeenth century, is referred to 
 Wagenseil. Tela Ignea SatanoZy p. 245 — 263, where he may find enough 
 to satiate his curiosity. The confidence in the polemical talents of these 
 rabbies is, in soma cases, however, not very great. The Spanish and 
 Portuguese Jews appear to have such a dread of theological controversy, 
 that it is positively interdicted, even to the rabbies themselves, without 
 the express permission of the synagogue. The present rabbi assigned 
 the following among other reasons for declining to read some publica- 
 tions in favour of Christianily, about seven years ago. ' I beg leave to 
 
 * state, that the bye laws of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish nation 
 
 * contain an injunction to all the members of their congregation, not 
 
 * to engage in any matter of religious disquisition or controversy, without 
 ' the express leave of the elders being first obtained : consequently, I 
 
 * might feel mortified in investigating your productions, deprived of the 
 ' power of wielding a weapon of defence.' See in Third 'Report of the 
 London Society, Appendix, No. ix. a letter to Joseph Fox, Esq. dated 
 June 19, 1809, and signed R. De M. Meldola, Chief Minister of the 
 Synagogue of Spanish and Portuguese Jews in the City of London. This 
 gentleman is generally styled Dr. R. Meldola : see page 74. 
 
 It does not appear whether the author of the letters published in the 
 Jewish Repository, vol. ii. and referred to in several parts of this work, 
 had obtained a previous licence from his superiors to take up his pen 
 
 * to defend their faith ;' whether it was in consequence of admonition 
 from the elders that he declared himself determined to avoid all dispute 
 respecting the Trinity, (see p. 92 ) or whether his zeal outran his duty, 
 and made him forget the injunction of the bye laws, oi which Dr. Meldola 
 thought it prudent to take advantage, as a convenient excuse for 
 declining all inquiry. 
 
 » In allusion to Ezek. xi. 16. There, however, God himself says, 
 
336 MODERN JUDAISM: 
 
 But however exact or scrupulous may be their observ- 
 ance of some insignificant punctiHos, an extreme 
 want of reverence has long been the chief charac- 
 teristic of what is called their public worship. A 
 century and half ago, one who had often witnessed 
 the services in the synagogues of Germany, has 
 recorded that they were seldom conducted with any 
 order or common decency, but generally betrayed the 
 most detestable confusion. The Italian and Portu- 
 guese Jews he has represented as maintaining greater 
 decorum, i The same remarks are applicable in the 
 present day. In the Portuguese Synagogue there is, 
 sometimes at least, an appearance of sober attention 
 to the service in which they are professedly engaged. 
 The deplorable scene exhibited in the German Syna- 
 gogues cannot be more correctly described than in 
 the following language of a recent publication. ^ — 
 
 * The fathers and princes of Israel, on their return 
 ' from their captivity in Babylon '' wept with a loud 
 ' voice," when they compared the dwindled beauty 
 ' of the second temple, with the glory and splendour 
 ' of the first, which they had once seen in all its 
 ' magnificence. What then would have been the 
 ' grief and dismay of these holy men, had they lived 
 
 * to enter a modern synagogue ! where, instead of 
 
 " I will be a little sanctuary." It is easy to conceive how God may 
 sustain this character to his true worshippers in many or all parts of the 
 world at once : but how numerous synagogues in various countries can 
 be a little sanctuaryy will be rather difficult even for rabbinical logic 
 to explain. 
 
 ' Wagenseil. Sola, p. 616. 
 
 = Obligations of Christians, &c. Fourth Edit. p. 8, 9. 
 
JEWISH WORSHIP DESCRIBED. 337 
 
 * the beauty of holiness, a magnificent service, and 
 
 * a temple filled with the immediate presence of Je- 
 
 * hovah, they should see a rabble transacting business, 
 ' making engagements, and walking to and fro in the 
 ^ midst of public prayers ; children at their sports ; 
 ' every countenance, with very few exceptions, indi- 
 ' eating the utmost irreverence and unconcern ; and 
 
 * their chief rabbi sitting by, and seeming to care for 
 
 * none of these things : indeed, to speak without 
 
 * any intentional exaggeration, the modern synagogue 
 ' exhibits an appearance of veiy little more devotion 
 ' than the Stock Exchange, or the public streets 
 
 * of the metropolis at noon day.' ^ 
 
 > Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. x. p. 185—190. c. xlvi. p. 666—674. 
 Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, P. i. c. 10. P. ii. c. 3. Addison's 
 State of the Jews, p. 88—92. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Forms of Prayer : — All in Hebrmv, — Daily Prayers. — 
 Recital of the Shema, — Daily Services in Synagogue, 
 — Services on Mondays and Thursdays, — Celebration 
 of the Sabbath. 
 
 It would cause disgust rather than gratification, to 
 introduce the reader into the Jewish bed- rooms and 
 other places of retirement, and to detail the rules by 
 which the rabbles have enjoined all their disciples to 
 regulate the minutest circumstances of dressing and 
 undressing, washing and wiping the face and hands, 
 and other necessary actions of common and daily 
 life. If some of their directions are allowed to be 
 judicious, others may be pronounced frivolous, and 
 not a few must be condemned as execrable.^ 
 
 Numerous forms of prayer are prescribed for the 
 
 ^ Take one specimen of the frivolous. * A Jew ought to put on the 
 
 < right shoe first, and then the left : but the left shoe is to be tied first, 
 
 * and the right afterwards. If the shoes have no latchets or strings, the 
 
 < left shoe must be put on first. In undressing, the left shoe, whether 
 
 * with or without latchets or strings, is in all cases to be taken off first.* 
 Biutorf. Synag. Jjid. c. viii. p. 152. One of their eminent rabbies says : 
 
 * Some of them observe, in their dressing in the morning, to put on the 
 
 * right stocking and right shoe first, without tying it ; then afterward to 
 
 * put on the left, and so to return to the right ; that they may begin and 
 
 * end with the right side.' Leo Modena's Eites and CuitomSj P. i. c. 5. 
 s. 11. 
 
FORMS OF PRAYER. 339 
 
 worship of the synagogue, and for domestic and 
 private use. They are all appointed to be said in 
 Hebrew, which is far from being generally understood 
 by modern Jews ; and multitudes jabber the words, 
 who annex no ideas to the sounds they have been 
 taught to utter, yet are deluded with a persuasion 
 that their unmeaning jargon is an acceptable service 
 to Jehovah. Of late years, attempts have been made 
 to remedy this evil, in some small degree, by printing 
 the prayers in Hebrew on one page, and a translation 
 on the opposite page. Would it not be more con- 
 sistent with common sense for the prayers themselves 
 to be said, and all the services performed, in a 
 language familiar to the people ? 
 
 Most of the Prayers are affirmed by the rabbies to 
 be of high antiquity, but those which they esteem 
 the most solemn and important, are called Shemoneh 
 Esreh} or the eighteen prayers. They tell us that 
 these were composed and instituted by Ezra and the 
 men of the great synagogue, and that a little before 
 the destruction of the second temple, Rabbi Gamaliel, 
 or according to others. Rabbi Samuel, one of his 
 scholars, added another prayer against heretics and 
 apostates ; appellations which they liberally employ 
 to designate Christians, not only of Jewish, but also 
 of Gentile race. This additional prayer is now 
 inserted as the twelfth, and the number is nineteen ; 
 but they still retain the name of Shemoneh Esreh. 
 As some readers may be curious to see them, they 
 
 * n^WV mi^a; Eighteen, 
 Z 2 
 
340 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 are inserted in a note below. ^ These nineteen prayers 
 are required to be said by all Israelites that are of age, 
 
 * The following version of the Shemoneh Esreh is from the Spanish 
 and Portuguese Jews* Frayer Book, p. 34 — 41. and the German and 
 Polish Jews' Prayer Book, p. 34 — 41. in which I have only taken the 
 liberty to alter a few grammatical inaccuracies. The two Prayer Books 
 exhibit several verbal variations of no importance : the principal di^ 
 ference is in the twelfth prayer, which I have transcribed from both. 
 
 1. * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, and the God of our fathers ; 
 
 * the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ; the 
 
 * great God, mighty and tremendous, the most high God, who bestowest 
 
 * gracious favours : possessor of all things ; who rememberest the piety 
 
 * of the patriarchs, and wilt in love send a redeemer to their children 
 
 * for thy name's sake. O King, our supporter, saviour, and shield. 
 
 * Blessed art thou, O Lord, the shield of Abraham. 
 
 2. * Thou, O Lord, art mighty for ever : it is thou who revivest the 
 
 * dead, and art mighty to save; causing the dew to descend, the wind 
 
 * to blow, and the rain to descend ; who sustainest the living with 
 
 * beneficence, and with thy great mercy quickenest the dead, helpest 
 
 * up the fallen, and healest the sick : thou loosest those who are bound, 
 
 * and wilt accomplish thy faith unto those who sleep in the dust. Who 
 
 * is like unto thee, O Lord of mighty acts ? or who can be compared 
 
 * unto thee, O King, who killest and restorest to life, and causest 
 
 * salvation to spring forth ? Thou art also faithful to revive the dead. 
 
 * Blessed art thou, O Lord, who revivest the dead. 
 
 3. * Thou art holy, and holy is thy name, and the saints praise thee 
 
 * daily. Selah. Blessed art thou, O Lord, the Holy God. 
 
 4. * Thou graciously endowest mankind with knowledge, and teachest 
 
 * prudence unto mortal man : be graciously pleased, therefore, to grant 
 
 * us knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. Blessed art thou, O Lord, 
 
 * who graciously bestowest knowledge. 
 
 5. ' O our Father, we beseech thee, cause us to return to the observance 
 
 * of thy law, and draw us near, O our King, unto thy service, and cause 
 
 * us to return to thy presence by a perfect repentance. Blessed art thou, 
 
 * O Lord, who delightest in penitence. 
 
 6. * Forgive us, we beseech thee, O our Father, for we have sinned ; 
 
 * pardon us, O our King, for we have transgressed : for thou, O God, 
 
 * art good and ready to forgive. Blessed art thou, O most gracious 
 < Lord, who dost abundantly pardon. 
 
 7. * O look upon our afflictions, we beseech thee, and plead our cause : 
 
FORMS OF PRAYER. 341 
 
 without any exception, either in public at the syna- 
 gogue, or at their own houses, or wherever they 
 
 * hasten also to redeem us with a perfect redemption for the sake of thy 
 
 * name; for thou, O God, art a mighty Redeemer. Blessed art thou, O 
 
 * Lord, the Redeemer of Israel. 
 
 8. ' Heal us, O Lord, and we shall be healed : save us, and we shall 
 
 * be saved ; for thou art our praise. Restore our health, and grant a 
 
 * perfect cure unto all our diseases, pains, and wounds ; for thou, O 
 ' God, art a merciful and faithful physician. Blessed art thou, O Lord, 
 ' who healest the diseases of thy people Israel. 
 
 9. ' O Lord our God, bless all we put our hands to : and bless this 
 
 * year for us, as also every species of its fruits for our benefit; and 
 
 * bestow (in winter sai/ — dew and rain for) a blessing upon the face 
 ' of the earth. O satisfy us with thy goodness, and bless this year 
 
 * as other good years. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who blessest the years. 
 
 10. * O sound the great trumpet as a signal for our freedom, and 
 
 * lift up thine ensign to collect our captives, so that we may all be 
 
 * speedily gathered together from the four corners of the earth unto our 
 
 * land. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who gatherest together the outcasts 
 
 * of thy people Israel. 
 
 11. ' O restore our judges as aforetime, and our counsellors as at the 
 
 * beginning ; remove from us sorrow and sighing ; and, O Lord, reigH 
 
 * thou alone over us in mercy, righteousness, and justice. Blessed art 
 < thou, O Lord the King, who lovest righteousness and justice. 
 
 12. (In the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Prayer Book.) * Let 
 
 * slanderers have no hope, and all presumptuous apostates perish as in 
 
 * a moment ; and may thine enemies and those who hate thee be sud- 
 
 * denly cut off, and all those who act wickedly be suddenly broken, 
 
 * consumed, and rooted out; and humble thou them speedily in our 
 
 * days. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who destroyest the enemies and 
 
 * humblest the proud. 
 
 12. (In the German and Polish Jews' Prayer Book.) 'O let the 
 
 * slanderers have no hope, all the wicked be annihilated speedily, and 
 
 * all the tyrants be cut off quickly : humble thou them quickly in our 
 
 * days. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who destroyest enemies and humblest 
 
 * tyrants. 
 
 13. 'Upon the just, the pious, and the residue of thy people, the 
 
 * remnant of their scribes, the proselytes of justice, and upon us, let 
 
 * thy mercy be moved, we beseech thee, O Lord our God ; and bestow a 
 
 * good reward upon all those who faithfully put their trust in thy name. 
 
342 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 happen to be, three times every day. In this they 
 consider themselves as conforming to the declaration 
 
 * and grant that our portion may be with them, and that we may never 
 
 * be put to shame ; for we trust in thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who 
 
 * art the support and confidence of the just. 
 
 14. * O dwell in the midst of thy city of Jerusalem, as thou hast 
 
 * promised, and speedily establish the throne of David therein. O build 
 
 * it speedily in our days, a structure of everlasting frame. Blessed art 
 
 * thou, O Lord, who buildest Jerusalem. 
 
 15. * O cause the offspring of thy servant David speedily to flourish, 
 ' and let his horn be exalted in thy salvation ; for we daily hope for thy 
 ' sstlvation. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who causest the horn of salvation 
 ' to bud. 
 
 16. * Hear our voice, O Lord our God, most merciful Father; have 
 ' compassion and mercy upon us, and accept our prayers with mercy 
 
 * and favour ; for thou art God who hearkenest to prayers and suppli- 
 
 * cations. Dismiss us not empty from thy presence, O our King ; for 
 ' thou hearest the prayer of thy people Israel in mercy. Blessed art 
 
 * thou, O Lord, who hearkenest to prayer. 
 
 17. ' O Lord our God, let thy people Israel be acceptable to thee, 
 
 * and do thou have regard unto their prayers. Restore the service to 
 
 * the oracle of thine house ; (the inner part of the temphy or holy of holies) 
 ' so that the burnt offerings of Israel and their prayers may be speedily 
 
 * accepted by thee with love and favour, and the worship of thy people 
 
 * Israel be ever pleasing unto thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who 
 ' restorest thy divine presence unto Zion. 
 
 18. * We gratefully acknowledge that thou art the Lord our God, 
 ' and the God of our fathers, for evermore. Thou art our rock, the 
 
 * rock of our life, and shield of our salvation. To all generations will 
 
 * we render thanks unto thee, and declare thy praise, for our life which 
 
 * is delivered into thine hand, and for our souls which are ever deposited 
 ' with thee, and for thy miracles which we daily experience, and for 
 ' thy wonders and thy kindness which are at all times exercised towards 
 
 * us, at morn, noon, and even. Thou art good, for thy compassions 
 ' never fail ; thou alone art merciful, for thy kindness never ceases ; we 
 
 * for evermore put our trust in thee. And for all these mercies may thy 
 
 * name, O our King, be continually praised and highly exalted for ever 
 
 * and ever; and all the living shall give thanks unto thee. Selah. And 
 ' may they ever in truth praise and adore thy name, O Omnipotent, 
 ' our salvation and our help. Blessed art thou, O Lord ; for 
 
DAILY SERVICES. 343 
 
 of David, " Evening and morning and at noon will 
 '' I pray;"^ and imitating the custom of Daniel, 
 who " kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and 
 " prayed, and gave thanks before his God."^ 
 
 Another essential part of the daily service, and 
 scarcely deemed inferior to these nineteen prayers 
 in solemnity and importance, is the reading of three 
 portions of scripture. The first of these portions 
 beginning with the word Shema,^ this term is applied 
 to all the portions taken together, and the recital 
 of them is called Kiriath Shemay the Reading of the 
 Shema^ To recite these passages ^ twice every day 
 
 * goodness is thy name, and unto thee it is proper continually to 
 
 * give thanks. 
 
 19. * O grant peace, happiness, and blessing, grace, favour, and 
 
 * mercy, unto us and all thy people Israel. Bless us, even all of us 
 
 * together, O our Father, with the light of thy countenance ; for by 
 
 * the light of thy countenance, O Lord our God, hast thou given us the 
 
 * \aw of life and love, benevolence and righteousness, mercy, blessing 
 
 * and peace ; and may it please thee to bless thy people Israel at all 
 
 * times with thy peace. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who blessest thy 
 
 * people Israel with peace. Amen.' 
 
 The twelfth prayer seems to have received some alterations from its 
 original form. Vid. Buxtorf. Synag. Jud, c. x. p; 209 — 213. The 
 following is the version of it given by Dr. Prideaux, Connect. P. i. B. 6. 
 
 12. 'Let there be no hope to them who apostatize from the true 
 
 * religion ; and let heretics, how many soever they be, all perish as in a 
 
 * moment ; and let the kingdom of pride be speedily rooted out and 
 
 * broken in our days. Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, who destroyest 
 
 * the wicked and bringest down the proud.' 
 
 » Psalm Iv. 17. " Daniel vi. 10. 
 
 3 3^52t£? Hear thou. " V12W HH^'^p 
 
 5 "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord. And thou 
 " shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, 
 " and with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this 
 ** day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently 
 " unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine 
 
344 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 they maintain to be expressly enjoined in the words 
 of the law — *' Thou shalt talk of them — when thou 
 
 '* house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, 
 *' and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon 
 " thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And 
 " thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on ihy gates." 
 " Deut vi. 4—9. 
 
 " And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently unto my 
 ** commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord 
 " your God, and to serve him with all your heart, and with all your 
 " soul ; that I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the 
 " first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy com, and 
 " thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy 
 " cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves, 
 " that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other 
 " gods, and worship them ; and then the Lord's wrath be kindled 
 " against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and 
 " that the land yield not her fruit ; and lest ye perish quickly from 
 " off the good land which the Lord giveth you. Therefore shall ye 
 " lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind 
 " them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets 
 *' between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speak- 
 " ing of them when thou sittest in thine -house, and when thou 
 *' walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest 
 " up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, 
 " and upon thy gates : that your days may be multiplied, and the 
 " days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto 
 "your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth." 
 Deut. xi. 13—21. 
 
 *' And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children 
 " of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders 
 " of their garments, throughout their generations, and that they put 
 " upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue : and it shall be 
 " unto you for a fringe, that you may look upon it, and remember all 
 " the commandments of the Lord, and do them ; and that ye seek not 
 " after your own heart, and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a 
 " whoring : that ye may remember, and do all my commandments, 
 " and be holy unto your God. I am the Lord your God, which 
 *' brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God : I am the 
 " Lord your God." Numb. xv. 37 — 41. 
 
DAILY SERVICES. 345 
 
 '' liest down, and when thou risest up ; '' * — which they 
 understand to signify the usual season of lying down, 
 that is, at night, and the usual season of rising up, that 
 is, in the morning. Women and servants, and little 
 children, or those under twelve years of age, the 
 Mishna says, are exempted from this obligation. ^ 
 
 Beside these prayers and portions of scripture, there 
 are several other prayers and recitals, some preceding 
 them, some interspersed among them, and others fol- 
 lowing them. The quotations already given in this 
 work will have enabled the reader to form a general 
 idea of these formularies, and render many more 
 extracts unnecessary. The Daily Morning Service 
 for the synagogue, including some variations for the 
 different days of the week, but not extending to the 
 additions for the sabbath, occupies sixty octavo pages .^ 
 
 These are not all enjoined to be read in private 
 devotions, but the shema and the nineteen prayers 
 are never to be omitted at the stated seasons. There 
 are also numerous short prayers and benedictions 
 which every man is expected to repeat daily. The 
 rabbies have appointed particular ascriptions of praise 
 to the Divine Being, not only in their stated ser\dces 
 and for every benefit received, but also upon every 
 event that occurs and every action that is performed ; 
 
 1 Christian writers in general have considered these injunctions as 
 figurative, and the daily recital of the above passages as a superstitious 
 innovation of later times. One of the most strenuous advocates for 
 the literal sense is Dr. Wotton. Miscellaneous Discourses, p. 171 — 193. 
 
 2 Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. x. p. 205—213. Prid. Connect. P. i. B. 6. 
 DavidLevi, p. 178—181. Ger. and Polish Jews' Prayer Book, p. 31,32. 
 
 ' See both Jewish Prayer Books, Spanish and Port. Ger. and Polish. 
 
346 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 for every thing tasted, smelt, or seen. The members 
 of the synagogue are required to repeat at least a 
 hundred benedictions every day.^ 
 
 > Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. x. p. 196. 227, 228. Leo Modena's Rites 
 and Customs, P. i. c. 9. s. 1. 3. David Levi, p. 200. As specimens 
 of these benedictions I transcribe the following. 
 
 ' Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe ! who 
 ' givest to the cock knowledge to distinguish between day and 
 
 * night. 
 
 * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe ! who 
 *■ openest the eyes of the blind. 
 
 * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe ! who 
 
 * settest at liberty those who are bound. 
 
 * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe ! who 
 
 * raisest those who are bowed down. 
 
 * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe ! who 
 
 * clothest the naked. 
 
 * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe ! who 
 
 * expandest the earth above the waters. 
 
 ' Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe ! who 
 
 * ordainest the steps of man. 
 
 * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe ! who 
 ' providest for all my wants. 
 
 ' Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe ! who 
 ' girdest Israel with might. 
 
 * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe ! who 
 
 * crownest Israel with glory. 
 
 * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe ! who 
 ' hast not made me a heathen. 
 
 * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe ! who 
 hast not made me a slave. 
 
 Yor a man. * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the 
 
 * universe ! who hast not made me a woman. 
 
 For a woman. * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the 
 
 * universe ! who hast made me according to thy will. 
 
 * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe ! who 
 
 * removest sleep from mine eyes and slumber from mine eye-lids. 
 
 * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe ! who 
 
 * hast sanctified us with thy commandments, and commanded us to 
 < wash our hands. 
 
 J 
 
DAIL\ SERVICES. 34? 
 
 Wherever there is a Jewish congregation and ten 
 men can be constantly assembled, three services are 
 
 Before putting on the Talleth. * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, 
 
 * King of the universe ! who hast sanctified us with thy precepts and 
 
 * commanded us to be enveloped with Tsitsith. 
 
 On covering the head with the Talleth. * How excellent is thy loving 
 
 * kindness, O God ! therefore the children of men put their trust under 
 
 * the shadow of thy wings. 
 
 On putting the Tephillin on the arm. ' Blessed art thou, O Lord, our 
 
 * God, King of the universe ! who hast sanctified us with thy com- 
 
 * mandments, and didst command us to wear tephillin. 
 
 On putting the Tephillin on the head. ' Blessed art thou, O Lord, 
 
 ' our God, King of the universe I who hast sanctified us with thy 
 
 ' commandments, and didst command us respecting the precept 
 
 * of tephillin. 
 
 While the strap is winding round the middle finger. * And I will 
 ' betroth thee unto me for ever : yea, I will betroth thee unto me in 
 
 * righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in 
 
 * mercy. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness, and thou 
 
 * shalt know the Lord. 
 
 Before drinking wine. ' Blessed art thou, O Lord, our God, King 
 ' of the universe ! who hast created the fruit of the vine. 
 
 Before eating fruit which groivs on a tree. ' Blessed art thou, 
 
 * O Lord our God, King of the universe ! who hast created the fruit 
 
 * of the tree. 
 
 Before eating fruit which grows on the ground. * Blessed art thou, O Lord 
 
 * our God, King of the universe ! who hast created the fruit of the ground. 
 
 On seeing a rainbow. ' Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the 
 ' universe ! who rememberest the covenant, art faithful to thy covenant, 
 
 * and firm in thy promise. 
 
 On seeing lightning. * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the 
 
 * universe ! who madest the work of creation. 
 
 On hearing thunder. * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the 
 
 * universe ! whose power and might filleth the world. 
 
 On hearing bad tidings. ' Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King 
 
 * of the universe ! the true Judge.' 
 
 Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Prayer Book, p. 4, 5. German and 
 Polish Jews' Prayer Book, p. 5, 6. 4. 13, 14. 156, 157. Hebrew and 
 English Prayer Book, London, 1770. p. 8, 9. 6. 201, 202. David 
 Levi, p. 209. 212. Buxtorf Synag. Jud. c. x. p. 196—200. c. xi. 
 p. 254—259. 
 
348 MODERN JUDAISM . 
 
 publicly performed every day in the synagogue. The 
 morning service begins at seven o'clock in the sum- 
 mer and eight in the winter : the evening service at 
 different times, from half after three in the depth 
 of winter to seven in the height of summer. The 
 proper time for nocturnal prayers is said to be about 
 nine o'clock ; but to avoid the inconvenience of as- 
 sembling again in the synagogue at that hour, the 
 rabbies have allowed those prayers to be said im- 
 mediately after the evening prayers, with a short 
 pause between the two services. The length of both 
 services together is little more than a fifth of that 
 appointed for the morning. The two former services 
 are regarded as corresponding to the morning and 
 evening sacrifices in the ancient temple, and the noc- 
 turnal prayers to the burning of the sacrifices upon 
 the altar all night. In the morning and afternoon 
 service they read certain passages of the law con- 
 taining particular injunctions and descriptions of the 
 daily sacrifices ; and these recitals, as we have 
 already seen,^ they persuade themselves are acceptable 
 substitutes for the ancient oblations.^ 
 
 A son who survives his father is enjoined by the 
 rabbies to attend the nocturnal service in the syna- 
 gogue every day for a year after, and there to repeat 
 the Kodesh,^ which he is assured will deliver his 
 father from hell. Sometimes the interval between 
 the evening and nocturnal prayers has been much 
 
 » See pages 121 — 124. 
 = Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Prayer Book, p. 63 — 75. Buxtorf. 
 Synag. Jud. c. xiii. p. 267 — 273. David Levi, p. 192—194. 
 3 See this Prayer, page 188, 189. 
 
DAILY SERVICES. 349 
 
 extended, and sometimes the nocturnal service has 
 been altogether superseded, by a quarrel between two 
 individuals. The party thinking himself injured and 
 unable to obtain redress, goes up to the desk, closes 
 the book which lies before the Chassan, lays his hand 
 upon it, and says, I shut it up : — thereby interdicting 
 the prayers till his adversary be reconciled to him. 
 In cases of difficulty or obstinacy, the nocturnal 
 service has sometimes been suspended by this curious 
 custom for several days successively.^ 
 
 Beside these three services there is another, ap- 
 pointed to be said immediately before retiring to rest 
 at night. The recital of the Shema is then to be 
 accompanied by several prayers and rehearsals of other 
 passages of scripture, including the whole of the 
 ninety-first and hundred and twenty-eighth psalms.^ 
 
 The liturgies adopted by Jews in different countries 
 exhibit many inconsiderable varieties ; but * in the 
 * main body of their principal prayers they all agree.' 
 The services are long and tedious, and the rubric by 
 which they regulate them is encumbered and per- 
 plexed with many ceremonious observances and 
 superstitions. The manner in which the services 
 are recited is also various. It may be described, 
 generally, as rather chaunting than reading : but the 
 tones of the German and Polish Jews are higher and 
 louder, and of the Italian Jews lower and softer, than 
 those of the Spanish and Portuguese.^ 
 
 * Moses and the other prophets who succeeded 
 
 > Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xiii. p. 272. ^ David Levi, p. 195—200. 
 ^ Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, P. i. c. 11. s. 6, 7. Prid. 
 Connect. P. i. B. 6. Jewish Prayer Books, passi?n. 
 
350 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * him' are said to have * ordained that the children 
 
 * of Israel should not be three days without medi- 
 
 * tating in the law/ The Talmud asserts it to have 
 been one of the things appointed by Ezra, that three 
 days should never be suffered to pass without some 
 portion of the law being publicly read in the syna- 
 gogue. The rabbies affirm that * Thursday was the 
 
 * day when Moses went up into the mount the second 
 
 * time, to pacify God's anger for the golden calf, 
 
 * and Monday was the day when he returned : there- 
 ' fore Mondays and Thursdays were the days ap- 
 
 * pointed.' On these days, to the usual forms they 
 add several penitential prayers, and one in particular 
 which they hold in the highest reverence, and which 
 is said to have wrought a miraculous deliverance for 
 three pious Jews who composed it about sixteen 
 hundred years ago ; and who by the virtue of it were 
 preserved, like Shadrach and his companions at 
 Babylon, unhurt amidst a great fire till all the fuel 
 was consumed. It is scarcely necessary to add that 
 this legendary tale wants every characteristic of au- 
 thenticity. — On these days in the morning they also 
 take the law out of the ark with great ceremony, and 
 read the first part of the section appointed for the 
 succeeding sabbath. By some of the more sancti- 
 monious Israelites these days have been observed as 
 fasts : 1 but at present they are generally regarded 
 rather as minor festivals, and for secular business they 
 are esteemed the most fortunate in the week.^ 
 
 * There seems to be a reference to this custom, in the parable of the 
 pharisee and publican, Luke xviii. 12. 
 
 ' German and Polish Jews' Prayer Book, p. 188. Buxtorf. Synag. 
 Jud. c. xiv. p. 277 — 283. 
 
THE SABBATH. 351 
 
 The ancient mode of computing the day, from 
 sun-set on one evening to sun-set the next evening, 
 is still retained. The sabbath therefore commences 
 at sun-set on Friday, and terminates at sun-set on 
 Saturday. In their ' extreme piety ' ^ it would seem, 
 they lengthen the duration of the sabbath by adding 
 a small portion of the days which precede and follow 
 it; for all business is discontinued an hour before 
 sun-set on Friday, and not resumed till an hour after 
 sun-set on Saturday.^ 
 
 Nothing is to be undertaken on a Friday, which 
 cannot be finished before the evening.^ In the after- 
 noon they wash and clean themselves,^ trim their 
 hair, and pare their nails. They begin with the left 
 hand, but deem it improper to cut the nails on two 
 adjoining fingers in succession. The approved order 
 is, — for the left hand, first the fourth, next the fore 
 finger, then the little, then the middle finger, and 
 lastly the thumb ; — for the right, first the fore finger, 
 next the fourth, then the thumb, then the middle, and 
 lastly the little finger. What becomes of the parings 
 may be disregarded by Gentiles as a matter of in- 
 difference ; but the Talmud pronounces : * He that 
 
 * throws them on the ground, is an impious man ; 
 ' he that buries them, is a just man ; he that throws 
 
 * them into the fire, is a pious and perfect man.' ^ 
 
 No Jew, however wise, rich, or honourable, is 
 
 ' Note, page 179. 
 2 Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xiv. p. 300. David Levi, p. 8. 
 3 Buxtorf. ibid. p. 296. " David Levi, p. 8. 
 
 5 Talmud. Cod. Nidda, f. 17. c. 1. Moed Katon, f. 18. c. 1, apud 
 Buxtorf. ibid. p. 297, 298. Jewish Repository, vol. iii.'p. 380. 
 
352 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 exempted from assisting in the preparations for the 
 sabbath. Even those who have numerous servants, 
 male and female, are required to do something with 
 their own hands. The Talmud enforces this by the 
 examples of rabbinical worthies of former days : 
 
 * The pious Rabbi Chasdam chopped the herbs ; the 
 
 * very learned Rabbam and Rabbi Joseph clove the 
 ' wood ; Rabbi Siram lighted the fire ; Rabbi Nach- 
 ' man swept the house and prepared the table.' ^ 
 
 They spread on the table a clean cloth, and set on 
 two loaves which have been baked on the Friday ; 
 and the loaves are covered over with a clean napkin. 
 This is done, they say, in memory of the manna in 
 the wilderness, which descended upon the earth, the 
 dew falling beneath it and also covering it ; and 
 of which a double quantity fell on the sixth day 
 of the week, and none on the sabbath : therefore 
 they set on the table two loaves. The table remains 
 spread all through the sabbath, both day and night. -^ 
 
 All the victuals necessary for the sabbath are to 
 be prepared and dressed before its commencement ; 
 and in proportion to the delicacy and cost of the 
 entertainments which are provided, is the honour 
 supposed to be paid to this consecrated day. In the 
 direction of Moses to their fathers, " Eat this to-day ; 
 '* for to-day is a sabbath unto the Lord: to-day ye 
 " shall not find it in the field," '^ — the rabbies have 
 observed that to-day occurs three times ; and thence 
 
 ' Talmud. Cod. Sabbat, f. 119. Kiddushim, c. ii. apud Buxtorf. 
 Synag. Jud. c. xiv. p. 296. 
 
 » Buxtorf. ibid. p. 299. David Levi, p. 9. ^ Exod. xvi. 25. 
 
THE SABBATH. 353 
 
 they have drawn this sapient conclusion, that the 
 sahbath ought to be honoured by three substantial 
 meals. ^ 
 
 Before the sun is set the lamps or candles are to 
 be lighted : one, at least, with seven cotton wicks 
 in allusion to the number of days in a week, is to be 
 lighted in each house. This task is assigned to the 
 women ; partly, because they are always at home, 
 whereas men are frequently absent ; but principally, 
 to ' atone for the crime committed by their mother 
 
 * Eve,' 2 who by eating of the forbidden fruit ^ first 
 extinguished the light of the world. As soon as a 
 Jewess has lighted one of these lamps or candles, 
 she spreads both her hands towards it and says : 
 ' Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the 
 
 * universe ! who hast sanctified us with thy precepts, 
 ' and commanded us to light the sabbath lamps.' ^ 
 The same ceremony is to be performed on the eve 
 of every other festival. Respecting the making 
 
 ^ Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xiv. p, 295. ^ David Levi, p. 8, 9. 
 
 3 That all knowledge of this event may not be confined to the cir- 
 cumstances recorded by Moses, the rabbies have obliged the world with 
 the following additional information : — that when Eve perceived by 
 certain indications that in consequence of eating the forbidden fruit 
 she must certainly die, she determined that her husband should partake 
 of the same ; — that she said to him, if I am to die, thou must die with 
 me; that she entreated and urged him to eal ; that her solicitations being 
 answered by repeated refusals, she tore off a branch from the tree, and 
 belaboured him without mercy till he complied with her wish; — and that 
 this was referred to by Adam, when he said, " The woman whom thou 
 " gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree," (that is, according to 
 rabbinical interpretation. She cudgelled me with a bough of (he Uee) 
 " and I did eat." Buxtorf. ibid. p. 301, 302. 
 
 * Buxtorf. ibid. p. 300—305. 
 
 2 A 
 
354 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 of these wicks and the oil required for them, the 
 Talmud furnishes the most particular directions.^ 
 
 * These Talmudical directions are inserted in the Prayer Books, and 
 form part of the service read in the synagogues every sabbath evening. 
 
 * With what species of wick may the lamps be lighted on the sabbath ? 
 
 * and with which they may not be lighted ? They may not be lighted 
 ' with the moss which grows on cedars ; nor with undressed flax ; nor 
 
 * with pieces of silk ; nor with a wick made of osier ; nor with thread 
 
 * of the wilderness ; nor with the scurf which gathers on the surface 
 < of the water. They may not be lighted with pitch, nor with wax ; nor 
 
 * with oil made from the pelican ; nor with oil set apart to be burnt ; 
 
 * nor with oil produced from the tails of sheep, nor the fat of beasts. 
 
 * Nachum the Mede says, they may be lighted with boiled tallow ; but 
 
 * the wise men say, whether it be boiled or not boiled, they may not be 
 *■ lighted therewith. They may not be lighted on the festivals with oil 
 
 * set apart to be burnt. Rabbi Ishmael saith, they may not be lighted 
 
 * with the dregs of pitch, because of the honour due to the sabbath. 
 ' But the wise men allow of all oils; with oil made of sesame seed; 
 
 * with oil of nuts ; with oil of radishes ; with oil of fish ; with oil 
 ' of gourds ; with oil of the dregs of pitch, and of pitch. Rabbi 
 
 * Tarphon saith, they must not be lighted, but with oil of olives only. 
 
 * Nothing which grows on a stalk is proper to light with, but flax ; neither 
 
 * is any thing which grows on a stalk liable to the pollution of a tent, but 
 
 * flax. A slip of cloth which hath been folded for a wick, and not 
 
 * singed. Rabbi Eleazar saith, is unclean, and must therefore not be 
 ' used to light with : but Rabbi Ekeevah saith, it is clean, and may be 
 
 * used to light with. A person may not bore an egg-shell, and fill it 
 
 * with oil, and place it over the lamp, that it may drop therein ; and 
 
 * although it be of earthen ware, it is not permitted : but Rabbi 
 
 * Jehudah allows it. However, if the potter had originally formed 
 
 * it thus, it is allowable, because it is then but one vessel. A person 
 
 * may not fill a dish with oil, and place it beside the lamp, and put the 
 
 * end of the wick into it, so that it may attract the oil : but Rabbi 
 
 * Jehudah permits it. He who extinguisheth the lamp, because he is 
 
 * afraid of Gentiles, of robbers, of an evil spirit, or that the sick may 
 ' sleep, is free : but if his intention is to save the lamp, oil or wick, he 
 
 * is guilty. Rabbi Josea allows it in either case, except the wick, 
 ' because he thereby forms a coal.' — Spanish and Portuguese Jews' 
 Prayer Book, p. 92, 93. German and Polish Jews' Prayer Book, p. 74, 
 75. Hebrew and English Prayer Book, London, 1770. p. 98, 99. 
 
THE SABBATH. 355 
 
 To receive the sabbath, which they compare to 
 a royal bride, ^ they put on their best and gayest 
 apparel, and hasten to the synagogue ; where they 
 commence their service a little before night. This 
 
 * The following hymn is part of the evening service for the sabbath. 
 
 * Come, my beloved, to meet the bride ; the presence of the sabbath 
 
 * let us receive. Come, my beloved, &c. 
 
 * Keep and remember it; both words did the one peculiar God cause 
 
 * us to hear, with one expression : the Eternal is an Unity, and his 
 
 * name is Unity : to him appertaineth renown, glory, and praise. Come, 
 
 * my beloved, &c. 
 
 * Come, let us go to meet the sabbath ; for it is the fountain of bless- 
 
 * ing : in the beginning of old was it appointed ; for though last in 
 *■ creation, yet it was first in the design of God. Come, my beloved, &c. 
 
 * O thou sanctuary of the King ! O royal city ! arise, and come 
 
 * forth from thy subversion ; thou hast dwelt long enough in the abode 
 
 * of calamity, for he will now pity thee with kindness. Come, my 
 ' beloved, &c. 
 
 * Shake off the dust ; arise, O my people ! and adorn thyself with 
 
 * thy beautiful attire ; for by the hand of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, 
 *■ redemption draweth nigh to my soul. Come, my beloved, &c. 
 
 * Rouse thyself, rouse thyself: arise, shine, for thy light is come. 
 ' Awake, awake, utter a song ; for the glory of the Lord is revealed upon 
 
 * thee. Come, my beloved, &c. 
 
 * O be not ashamed, neither be thou confounded. Why art thou 
 "= cast down ? why art thou disquieted ? In thee the poor of my people 
 
 * shall take refuge, and the city shall be built on her own heap. Come, 
 
 * my beloved, &c. 
 
 ' They who spoil thee, shall become a spoil ; and they that swallow 
 
 * thee up, shall be removed far away : thy God will rejoice in thee, as 
 *■ the bridegroom rejoiceth in his bride. Come, my beloved, &c. 
 
 '■ On the right hand and on the left shalt thou be extended, and the 
 ' Lord shalt thou fear ; through the means of a man, the descendant 
 ' of Pharez, will we rejoice and be glad. Come, my beloved, &c. 
 
 * O come in peace, thou crown of thy husband ; also with joy and 
 
 * mirth in the midst of the faithful of the beloved people. Enter, O 
 
 * bride ! Enter, O bride ! Come, my beloved, &c.' 
 
 German and Polish Jews' Prayer Book, p. 66. Spanish and Portuguese 
 Jews' Prayer Book, p. 93, 94. 
 
 2 A 2 
 
356 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 anticipation of the prescribed hour is professedly 
 dictated by the benevolent hope of enlarging the 
 respite enjoyed on the sabbath by the wicked in 
 hell ; ^ whose punishments the rabbies have declared 
 to be suspended immediately on the chaunting of a 
 certain prayer in the service of that evening.^ 
 
 When they come from the synagogue in the evening, 
 and also in the morning of the sabbath, parents bless 
 their children, saying to each of their sons, * God 
 
 * make thee as Ephraim and Manasseh ; ' and to each 
 daughter, * God make thee as Sarah and Rebekah, 
 
 * Rachel and Leah.' ^ 
 
 Immediately on their return from the evening 
 semce they seat themselves at table. The master 
 of the house takes in his hand a glass of wine or 
 other liquor, recites what is called ^ the sanc- 
 ' tifieation for the eve of the sabbath,' which 
 consists of the first three verses of the second 
 chapter of Genesis ; adds the prescribed grace over 
 
 ' See page 190. 
 ^ Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xiv. p. 305, 306. This potent prayer is 
 as follows . — ' Bless ye the Lord, who is ever blessed. Blessed be the 
 
 * Lord, who is blessed for evermore. Blessed art thou, O Lord our 
 
 * God, King of the universe ! Who with his word causeth the evening 
 ' to advance gradually ; openeth the gates with wisdom ; with under- 
 ' standing changeth times and varieth seasons; and disposeth the stars 
 *■ in their stations in the heavens according to his will. He createth 
 ' day and night, causing the light to recede from before darkness, and 
 
 * darkness before light : who causeth the day to pass away, and bringeth 
 
 * on night ; and maketh a division between day and night : the Lord 
 
 * of hosts is his name. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who causeth the 
 ' evening to advance gradually.' Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Prayer 
 Book, p. 96. Hebrew and English Prayer Book, London, 1770. 
 p. 87, 88. 3 David Levi, p. 9, 10. 
 
THE SABBATH. 35? 
 
 the liquor ; ^ and concludes with another bene- 
 diction. ^ Then he drinks some of the liquor and 
 presents some to the rest of the family ; after 
 which he repeats the grace appointed to be said at all 
 meals before eating bread. The supper is followed 
 by tlie usual grace after meals; only to the form 
 appointed for other days some clauses are now added 
 in which particular mention is made of the sabbath.^ 
 
 On the morning of the sabbath they indulge them- 
 selves longer in bed than on any other morning in 
 the week. The services in the synagogue begin later, 
 and the offices are more numerous than on other 
 days. The book of the law is taken out of the ark, 
 and carried with great ceremony up to the altar or 
 desk. There it is elevated in such a manner that 
 the writing may be seen by the congregation ; ^ who 
 shout — ' And this is the law which Moses set before 
 
 * the children of Israel. The law which Moses 
 
 * For the grace to be said over wine, see page 347. Over any other 
 liquor the grace is : * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the 
 
 * universe ! who causest all things to exist according to thy word.' 
 German and Polish Jews' Prayer Booky p. 156. 
 
 ' * Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe ! who 
 
 * hast sanctified us with thy commandments, and delightest in us ; and 
 
 * with love and favour hast made us inherit the holy sabbath, for a 
 ' memorial of the work of the creation ; for that day was the first 
 
 * of those called holy ; a remembrance of the going forth from Egypt ; 
 
 * for thou hast chosen us, and sanctified us above all people ; and 
 
 * with love and favour hast made us inherit thy holy sabbath. Blessed 
 
 * art thou, O Lord, who sactifiest the sabbath.' Spanish and Portuguese 
 Jewi Prayer Book, p. 105. Ger. and Polish Jews Prayer Book, p. 77. 
 
 3 Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xiv. p. 307, 310. David Levi, p. 10, ll* 
 Spanish and Portuguese Jews* Prayer Book, p. 142 — 149. German 
 and Polish Jews' Prayer Book, p. 153 — 156. Hebrew and English 
 Prayer Book, London, 1770. p. 192—195. * See page 333. 
 
358 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ' commanded us, is the inheritance of the con- 
 
 * gregation of Jacob. The way of God is perfect : 
 
 * the word of the Lord is tried : he is a buckler to 
 
 * all those who trust in him.' 
 
 The Jewish years are of very unequal lengths, as will 
 be explained in the next chapter. The whole law being 
 divided into fifty-four sections ; ^ when there are not 
 so many sabbaths in a year, the portion allotted for a 
 sabbath sometimes includes two of these sections, and 
 this occurs as often as the case may require.^ 
 
 The lesson appointed for the sabbath is divided 
 into seven parts, and read to seven persons who are 
 called up to the altar for that purpose. The first is 
 a Cohen, or one who is said to be a descendant 
 of Aaron. The second is one who is supposed to be 
 of the tribe of Levi. The third an Israelite of some 
 other tribe. The same order is then repeated. The 
 seventh may be of any tribe. Certain graces and 
 responses are appointed to be said on this occasion by 
 every person called to this honour, by the reader, and 
 by the whole congregation. ^ 
 
 The portion read from the law is followed by a 
 portion from the prophets. The rabbies tell us 
 that their forefathers read only the law till the time 
 of Antiochus Epiphanes ; but that being prohibited 
 
 * See pages 10 — 12. 
 
 * The sections joined together in these cases are xxii. and xxiii. — xxvii. 
 and xxviii. — xxix.andxxx. — xxxii.andxxxiii. — xlii. and xliii. — li.and lii. 
 
 Sometimes also, when a particular festival falls on a sabbath, the 
 section in regular course is postponed to the next week, and its place i» 
 supplied by the portion appointed for that festival. 
 
 3 Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xiv. p. 327, 328. David Levi, p. 11—13- 
 Spauish and Portuguese Jews' Prayer Book, p. 132. 
 
THE SABBATH. 359 
 
 by that tyrant from reading the law, they substituted 
 a series of selections from the prophets ; and that 
 when the reading of the law was restored in the time 
 of the Maccabees, the reading of the prophets was 
 retained, and has continued ever since. But the 
 improbability that the reading of the prophets would 
 be permitted while the reading of the law was for- 
 bidden, renders this account of the origin of the 
 practice very doubtful. The custom of reading the 
 law and the prophets in the synagogues every sabbath 
 day is very ancient. It was certainly practised before 
 the destruction of the second temple ; ^ but there is 
 no evidence to prove that the lessons from the 
 prophets were the same as are read now.^ The omis- 
 sion in the present Haphtoroth, of almost all the 
 principal prophecies respecting the Messiah, strongly 
 resembles a studious avoidance of obnoxious passages ; 
 and is difficult, if not impossible, to be accounted 
 for on any other supposition.^ 
 
 At dinner the same ceremonies are observed as 
 at supper on the preceding evening. After dinner 
 they go to the synagogue to perform the sabbath 
 afternoon service. Then they take out the law again, 
 in the same manner as in the morning, and read 
 part of the portion apointed for the next sabbath. 
 
 » Acts xiii. 15, 27. xv. 21. 
 
 - See pages 10 — 12. — In the days of our Lord, it is evident, that either 
 the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah was one of the regular lessons, or the 
 prophetical books were laid before the person called to read, and he 
 made his own selection. Luke iv. 16 — 21 . 
 
 3 Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xiv. p. 329, 330. David Levi, p. 13, 14. 
 Prid. Connect. P. i. B. 5. Vitringa De Synagoga Veteri, L. iii. p. 2. 
 c. 11. p. 1006—1008. 
 
360 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ' After the service, they make another meal in honour 
 
 * of the sabbath.' » 
 
 On the sabbath day they go to the synagogue a 
 third time, to say the concluding service ; ^ in which 
 some of the prayers are considerably protracted, 
 being chanted in very long notes, to diminish the 
 miseries of hell, which are supposed not to recom- 
 mence till these prayers are finished.^ 
 
 On their return from this service they light a 
 wax candle, or a lamp with two wicks, which is 
 usually held by a child ; and the master of the family 
 taking a glass of wine in his right hand, and a box 
 containing some spices in his left, recites several pas- 
 sages of scripture : ' ** Behold, God is my salvation : 
 
 * I will trust, and not be afraid ; for the Lord 
 
 * Jehovah is my strength and song ; he also is become 
 
 * my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw 
 
 * water out of the wells of salvation. — Salvation 
 ' belongeth unto the Lord : thy blessing is upon 
 ' thy people. Selah. — The Lord of hosts is with us ; 
 
 * the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. — The Jews 
 
 * had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour." 
 
 * Thus may it also be unto us. — ** I will take the 
 
 * cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the 
 
 * Lord.'' 4 — Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, 
 ^ King of the universe ! who hast created the fruit 
 
 * of the vine.' At these words a little of the wine 
 is to be poured upon the floor. Then taking the 
 
 • David Levi, p. 15, 16. » Ibid. p. 19. 
 
 3 Buxiorf. Synag Jud. c. xiv. p. 335, 336. Leo Modena's Rites and 
 Customs, P. iii. c. 2. s. 25. 
 ^ Isaiah xii. 2, 3. Psal. iii, 8. xlvi. 7. Esliier viii. IG. Tsal, cxvi. 13- 
 
THE SABBATH. 361 
 
 glass of wine in his left hand, and the hox of spices 
 in his right, he says : * Blessed art thou, O Lord 
 ' our God, King of the universe ! who hast created 
 ^ divers spices,' Here he smells to the spices, and 
 presents them to his family that they may have the 
 same gratification. Then standing near the candle 
 or lamp, he looks at it with great attention, and also 
 at his finger nails, and says : * Blessed art thou, O 
 ' Lord our God, King of the universe ! who hast 
 
 * created the light of the fire.' Then taking the wine 
 again in his right hand, he says : * Blessed art thou, 
 
 * O Lord our God, King of the universe ! who hast 
 ' made a distinction between things sacred and pro- 
 
 * fane ; between light and darkness ; between Israel 
 ' and other nations ; between the seventh day and 
 
 * the six days of labour. Blessed art thou, O Lord 
 
 * our God, who hast made a distinction between 
 
 * things sacred and profane.' As soon as this bene- 
 diction is finished, he tastes the wine himself, and 
 then hands it round to all the company. — This cere- 
 mony is called Habdala} that is distinction, division, 
 or separation ; because it divides or separates the 
 sabbath from the other days of the week. In some 
 places, for the benefit of those who cannot bear the 
 expense of performing it at home, it is performed in 
 the synagogue by the Chassan, after the conclusion 
 service for the sabbath. Those whose business will 
 not allow them time to perform or attend this office, 
 either in the synagogue or at home, are permitted to 
 supply its place, by privately ejaculating, at the close 
 
362 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 of the conclusion service, a short benediction, not 
 mentioning the name of God : ' Blessed be he 
 ' who hath made a distinction between things sacred 
 ' and profane.' — The sabbath is now ended, and they 
 are at liberty to resume their usual occupations.^ 
 
 The directions of the rabbies for a due observance 
 of the sabbath, exhibit an egregious compound 
 of scrupulosity and licentiousness. An appearance 
 of rigid attention to the letter of divine precepts for 
 regulating the external conduct, is combined with a 
 general neglect of their spirit ; and the influence they 
 ought to exercise over the dispositions of the heart, 
 is seldom if ever included within the sphere of con- 
 templation. Questions have been raised and cases 
 proposed, which have afforded ample occasion for 
 the display of ingenuity and subtilty : the solutions 
 of rabbinical casuists on this subject would fill 
 volumes. 2 The modest reader will excuse me from 
 detailing the lessons of sensuality, which the doctors 
 of the synagogue have extorted from the language 
 of the prophet who '* calls the sabbath a delight." ^ 
 The clauses immediately following this appellation, 
 and describing sabbatical delight as *' not doing thine 
 " own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor 
 " speaking thine own words," these voluptuous 
 commentators seem to have overlooked. 
 
 ' Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xiv. p. 333 — 341. Leo Modena's Rites 
 and Customs, P. iii. c. 2. s. 26. German and Polish Jews' Prayer 
 Book, p. 164, 165. Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Prayer Book, p. 
 173. For the mystical significations which the rabbies attach to the 
 different parts of this- ceremonial, Vid. Buxtorf. ibid. p. 342 — 348. 
 
 2 Buxtorf. ibid p. 350, 351. 3 is^jah Iviii. 13. 
 
THE SABBATH. 363 
 
 The works forbidden on the sabbath have been 
 reduced by the rabbles to thirty-nine general heads : 
 — ploughing, — sowing, — reaping, — bundling, — 
 binding, — threshing, — winnowing, — sifting, — grind- 
 ing, — boulting, — kneading, — cooking, — clipping, — 
 washing, — combing, — spinning, — winding, — warp- 
 ing or weaving, — dyeing, — tying, — untying, — sewing, 
 — breaking in pieces, — fastening with wedges or pins, 
 — building, — demolishing, — striking with a hammer, 
 — hunting, — fishing, — killing, — flaying, — taking the 
 hair off from hides, — cutting in pieces, — writing, — 
 blotting out, — ruling paper, — kindling fire, — quench- 
 ing it, — carrying any thing out of doors into a street 
 or other public place. ^ 
 
 All other works unlawful to be done on the 
 sabbath are classed as species under these general 
 heads. Thus^Zm^ is accounted a species of grinding, 
 because one mass is divided into many parts ; and 
 curdling milk is considered as a sort of building , 
 which forms a whole by the composition of different 
 bodies. — Ploughing includes digging, filling ditches 
 or pits, delving in a garden, transplanting herbs, 
 planting trees, cutting slips from vines, pruning, 
 lopping off leaves, watering plants or trees, and 
 other similar things. Water may be sprinkled in a 
 house, to prevent the dust from rising ; but because 
 filling ditches is deemed unlawful, somxC rabbles have 
 forbidden the sweeping of a room on the sabbath, 
 lest any furrow or chink in the floor should be filled 
 by that operation. Walking over ground newly 
 
 ' Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, P. iii. c. 1. s. 2. 
 
364 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 digged or ploughed is also prohibited, lest a pit or 
 hole should be filled by treading on it.^ A few 
 more specimens of their sabbatical regulations and 
 prohibitions will conclude the present chapter. 
 
 The divine injunction, " Let no man go out of his 
 *' place on the seventh day," ^ is by a very curious 
 process discovered to be a prohibition of walking 
 more than two thousand yards from the place of his 
 habitation : but this place is affirmed to comprehend 
 the whole of the town or city where he lives, together 
 with the suburbs, however extensive. On this day 
 all running is interdicted, except for the sake of 
 pleasure and recreation, or in order to fulfil some 
 divine precept. Leaping over a ditch is allowed ; 
 but not wading through water, lest occasion should 
 be given for drying stockings. No sword is to be 
 worn, nor any other weapon or warlike accoutrement. 
 A tailor must not go out of doors with a needle 
 stuck in any of his clothes. A person lame, maimed, 
 or paralytic, who is unable to walk without a stick, 
 may take one to support him ; but the blind are not 
 allowed this indulgence. The use of stilts for passing 
 over deep water or mire, is prohibited ; because, 
 though the stilts seem to carry the man, yet in 
 reality the man carries the stilts, and to bear any 
 burden on the sabbath is contrary to the law. A 
 plaster or bandage over a wound may be continued ; 
 but if it happen to fall oif, it must not be replaced, 
 nor must a fresh bandage be applied till the sabbath 
 
 > Leo Modeiia's Rites and Customs, P. iii. c. 1. s. 2. Buxtorf. Synag. 
 Jud. c. XIV. p. 362, 363. ^ Exod. xvi. 20= 
 
THE SABBATH. 365 
 
 is ended. No money^ either gold or silver, is then 
 to be carried in the pockets, or in a purse, unless it 
 be sewed into the clothes. Dirt on the shoes may be 
 scraped off against a wall, but not on the ground, 
 lest it seem to fill any ditch or hole. Dirt on a coat, 
 cloak, or stockings, may be scraped off with the nails 
 while it is recent and moist ; but if it is dry, it must 
 remain till the sabbath is over, because scraping it 
 off when dry would raise some dust, and would 
 resemple grinding or breaking in pieces. Any one 
 whose hands are bedaubed with dirt, may wipe them 
 with the tail of a cow, or the tail or mane of a horse, 
 but not with a towel, napkin, or other clean linen 
 cloth, lest occasion be given for washing it on the 
 sabbath. If any one finds a flea either on the 
 ground or running over his garments, on the sab- 
 bath, he is not allowed to catch it : if it bites, he 
 may catch and throw it from him, but is forbidden 
 to kill it. Whether lice are entitled to this privilege, 
 has been a subject of sharp disputation. A few 
 eminent rabbies have asserted their right to the same 
 immunities as fleas : but most of the doctors have j 
 represented them as not one of the original species j 
 of creatures, but a nondescript spawn of equivocal j 
 generation, and therefore liable to be killed on the ' 
 sabbath as at any other time.^ 
 
 » Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xiv. p. 368—370, 356—359. Vide etiam 
 Buxtorf. ibid. cap. xvi. passim. Hoornbeck contra Jud. L. vii. c. 5. 
 Jluls. de Theol. Jud. p. 242—248. David Levi, p. 17—19. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Traditions respecting the Age of the World and the ancient 
 Hebrew Months and Years, — Present Jewish Calendar 
 described, and illustrated by various Tables. 
 
 Before we proceed to the moveable festivals and 
 fasts, it seems proper to give some account of the 
 Calendar which regulates the days of their observance. 
 The modern Jews compute their time' by the number 
 of years which they suppose to have passed from 
 the creation of the world. The various opinions 
 maintained among them on this subject, in different 
 ages and countries, will appear from the following 
 statement. 
 
 BEFORE 
 CHRIST. 
 
 The Seder 01am Sutha, or Small Chronicle 
 of the World, published about A. D. 1121, 
 
 (see Ganz's Chronology,) dates the Creation 4359 
 
 The Eastern Jews, according to Abulfaragi - 4220 
 
 The Western Jews, according to Riccioli - - 4184 
 
 The Chinese Jews, according to Brotier - - 4079 
 
 Maimonides {Universal History) - - - - 4058 
 
 David Ganz (Chronology) 3761 
 
 Rabbi Gersom {Play fair) 3754 
 
 Seder 01am Rabba, or Great Chronicle of the 
 
 World, published about A. D, 130 {Ganz) 3751 
 
CHRONOLOGY. 367 
 
 BEFORB 
 CHRIST. 
 
 Rabbi Habsom (Universal History) - - - 3740 
 
 Rabbi Nosen (Universal History) - - - 3734 
 
 Rabbi Hillel, who lived about A. D. 358 - 3700 
 
 Rahhi Zeichuth (Universal History) ^ - - 3671 
 
 Rabbi Lipman (Universal History)^ - - - 3616 
 
 The computation generally followed by the Syna- 
 gogue differs from all these, and fixing the Creation 
 B. C. 3760, reckons the present the year (A. D. 1830) 
 5590 from that epoch. When this era of the Creation 
 was first adopted, is not certain : one Jewish writer 
 states its introduction to have been subsequent to 
 the completion of the Talmud ; ^ meaning, I suppose, 
 the Babylonian Talmud ; and another represents it 
 to have been *' agreed upon" about the end of the 
 tenth or beginning of the eleventh century."^ 
 
 What was the precise epoch of the creation is 
 acknowledged to be one of the most difficult ques- 
 tions connected with sacred history. Not to mention 
 other difficulties, the greatest diversity in the systems 
 of chronologers has arisen from the discrepancies 
 between the received Hebrew Text, the Samaritan 
 Text, and the Greek Version of the Septuagint, in 
 recording the genealogies of the patriarchs both 
 
 ' This is the date assumed by the writer of the Toldoth Jeshu 
 published by Wagenseil. See p. 246. 
 
 ' Dr. Hales's New Analysis of Chronology, p. 5 — 7, 13. 
 
 3 Rabbi Azarias in Meor Enajim, apud Observ. Jos. de Voisin, in 
 Prooem. Pug. Fid, p. 75. Vide etiam Surenhus. in Mishnam, torn. ii. 
 p. 307. 
 
 * Isaac Abendana's Polity of the Jews, p. 177, 178. 
 
368 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 antediluvian and postdiluvian. The discrepancies 
 principally consist in the lengths assigned to the 
 successive generations by these documents ; which 
 differ from each other, in describing several of the 
 patriarchs as a hundred years older or younger at 
 the births of those sons by whom the genealogies 
 are reckoned, and contracting or extending the 
 residues of their lives a century each, so as to 
 agree, for the most part, in assigning them respect- 
 ively the same total length of life.^ The years from 
 
 *■ The fpllowing Table will exhibit a detail of these variations. 
 
 Age at the birth of 
 
 the son next named. Lived after. Lived in all. 
 
 HEB. SAM. SEPT. HEB. SAM. SEPT. HEB. SAM. SEPT. 
 
 Adam 130 1.30 230 800 800 700 930 930 930 
 
 Seth 105 105 205 807 807 707 912 912 912 
 
 Enos 90 90 190 815 815 715 905 905 905 
 
 Cainan 70 70 170 840 840 740 910 910 910 
 
 Mahalaleel .... 65 65 165 830 830 730 895 895 895 
 
 Jared 162 62 162 800 785 800 962 847 962 
 
 Enoch 65 65 165 300 300 200 365 365 365 
 
 Methuselah.... 187 67 187 782 653 782 969 720 969 
 
 Lamech 182 53 188 595 600 565 777 653 753 
 
 Noah 502 502 502 448 448 448 950 950 950 
 
 Shem 100 100 100 500 500 500 600 
 
 Arphaxad .... 35 135 135 403 303 430 438 
 
 Cainan 130 330 
 
 Salah 30 130 130 403 303 330 433 
 
 Eber 34 134 134 430 270 270 404 
 
 Peleg 30 130 130 209 109 209 239 
 
 Reu 32 132 132 207 107 207 239 
 
 Serug 30 130 130 200 100 200 230 
 
 Nahor.. 29 79 79 119 69 129 148 
 
 Terah 130 70 130 75 75 75 ' 205 145 205 
 
 Abraham 
 
 Both the Hebrew Text and Septuagint Version, omit mentioning the 
 total lengths of the lives between Noah and Terah : which are specified 
 
COMMENCEMENT OF THE YEAR. 369 
 
 the creation to the deluge, and thence to the birth 
 of Abraham, according to these authorities may be 
 variously stated as follows. 
 
 To the deluge 
 
 To the birth of Abraham 
 
 HEBREW. 
 
 SAMARITAN. 
 
 SEPTUAGINT. 
 
 1656 
 
 1307 
 
 2262 
 
 352 
 
 942 
 
 1132 
 
 2008 2249 3394 
 
 The celebrated Chronology of Archbishop Usher 
 is founded on the Hebrew Text, and places the 
 Creation B. C. 4004. The system of this profound 
 scholar has been generally followed in the British 
 empire, has been publicly sanctioned by the insertion 
 of his dates in the margin of the authorised version 
 of the Bible, and has also prevailed among most 
 of the Protestant divines in other countries. This 
 system has of late been ably controverted in the 
 learned and elaborate Analysis of Chronology, by 
 Dr. Hales ; who agrees, in the main, with the 
 Septuagint,^ and supports his opinion by arguments 
 
 in the Samaritan Text, as here stated. The second Cainan, inserted in 
 the Septuagint between Arphaxad and Salah, occupies the same place 
 in the genealogy of Christ given by Luke ; but is not found in the 
 'Hebrew or Samaritan Text, or in any other ancient version. Different 
 copies of the Septuagint vary from eack other in the residues of the lives 
 of some of the postdiluvians ; but these variations are of no importance 
 in chronology. I have not hesitated to represent both the Hebrew and 
 Septuagint as assigning 130 years for the age of Terah at the birth 
 of Abraham ; which a comparison of Gen. xi. 32. and xii. 4. appears to 
 me to place beyond all doubt. Vide Hebraic, et Samaritan. Pentateuch, 
 et Vers. Septuag. in Walton. Bib. Polyglot. ^-Septuagint. a Grabe. — 
 Capelli Chronologiam, proefix. Walt. Polyglot, p. 2—76. 
 Ilales's Analysis, p. 73 — 89. 
 
 2 B 
 
370 MODERN JUDAISM I 
 
 entitled to the fullest consideration of every inquirer 
 into this abstruse subject.^ 
 
 The Vulgar Jewish Chronology reckons only 1948 
 years to the birth of Abraham, and in several par- 
 ticulars in subsequent ages is completely at variance 
 with the dates in the Hebrew Bible. According to 
 the shortest computation which persons of any learn- 
 ing or judgment can now be found to admit, the 
 period from the Creation to the birth of Christ has 
 been curtailed by the Synagogue at least 240 years. 
 
 The ancient Hebrews, during their residence in 
 Egypt, began their year at or near the autumnal 
 equinox : but on their departure from that country, 
 which took place about the vernal equinox, they 
 were divinely commanded to reckon the month of 
 their deliverance as '* the first month of the year."^ 
 This enumeration of the months, beginning with 
 that which was then called Abib, appears to have 
 been followed during all the succeeding times 
 of which any records are contained in the books 
 of the Old Testament.^ The modern Jews follow 
 
 ' The chronology of Josephus differs but little from that of the Sept- 
 uagint. And in a recent work of high authority, it is observed that 
 
 * the Annals of China, taken in their utmost extent, synchronize with 
 
 * the chronology of Josephus, the Samaritan Pentateuch, and the 
 
 * Septuagint, lather than with that contained in our present copies 
 
 * of the Hebrew Text.' Elements of Chinese Grammar, with a Pre- 
 liminary/ Dissertation, Sfc. By J. Marshman, D. D. Preface, page 16. 
 The reference here is clearly to the postdiluvian chronology. 
 
 • Exodus xii. 1,2. 
 
 ' It is confidently affirmed by the rabbies, that the divine command 
 to their forefathers, to number the months of their year from the month 
 in which they went out of Egypt, referred only to ecclesiastical matters ; 
 and that for all civil purposes the year was still considered as beginning 
 
COMMENCEMENT OF THE YEAR. 37 1 
 
 the former custom of commencing their year in the 
 autumn. 
 
 with the month Tisri. This account is as ancient as Josephus : — ' The 
 
 * second month called by the Hebrews Marchesvan ; for so did they 
 
 * order their year in Egypt. But Moses appointed that Nisan should 
 
 * be the first month for their festivals, because he brought them out 
 
 * of Egypt in that month ; so that this month began the year, as to all 
 ' the solemnities which they observed to the honour of God ; although 
 
 * he preserved the original order of the months, as to selling and buying, 
 ' and other ordinary affairs.' Joseph. Antiq. lib. i. c. 2. s. 3. To this 
 statement it may be objected, that a double computation by two distinct 
 series of months, in use for different purposes at the same time, is no 
 where mentioned in the sacred history ;• nor does Moses give the least 
 intimation that the new commencement of the year was to be restricted 
 to religious solemnities. 
 
 An attempt has been made to prove, that after the new regulation 
 of the year for some purposes, the year for other purposes was still 
 considered as beginning from the month Tisri, by alleging, that ' Moses 
 
 * expressly calls the feast of Tabernacles, or the gathering-in of the fruits 
 
 * of the earth, which was to be kept in this month, " the end of the 
 'year;" (Exod. xxiii. 16. xxxiv. 22.) and where the year ends it is 
 
 * evident another must certainly begin.' Abendana's Polity oj the Jews, 
 p. 172. Levies Rites and Ceremonies, p. 22. If this interpretation and 
 reasoning were correct, the new year must be postponed till after the 
 feast of Tabernacles, and, instead of beginning on the frst of Tisri, 
 could not commence before the twenty-first of that month. But waving 
 this particular objection, it is by no means clear that the original texts 
 afford sufficient ground for the conclusion which the rabbles have drawn 
 from them. The word rendered end, in the first passage, is nS^ — in 
 the second, HSIpn. The latter word clearly means revolution, and 
 the former may be translated return. The feast of Tabernacles was to 
 be kept at the return or revolution of the year ; that is, when the season 
 for gathering in the fruits of the vineyards and oliveyards should return 
 or come round. 
 
 This notion of a double commencement of the ancient Jewish year 
 has been adopted by many Christian writers, and is thus stated by the 
 karned Dean Prideaux : * The Hebrews, from their coming up out 
 ' of the land of Egypt began their year from the beginning of Nisan. 
 
 * And this form they ever after made use of in calculating the times 
 
 * of their fasts and festivals, and all other ecclesiastical times and con- 
 
 2 B 2 
 
372 MODERN JUDAISM. 
 
 What was the exact form of the ancient Jewish 
 Calendar, it is difficult, and perhaps impossible, now 
 
 * cerns. But in all civil matters they still made use of the old form, and 
 
 * began their year as formerly from the first of Tisri.' Connection, 
 Part I. Preface. The only passage of scripture cited in support of this 
 assertion is the command respecting the Jubilee : — " Then shalt thou 
 " cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound, on the tenth day of the 
 " seventh month ; and ye shall hallow the fiftieth year : a Jubilee shall 
 " that fiftieth year be unto you." Lev. xxvi. 9 — 11. But it does not 
 comport with the usual accuracy of this respectable writer, to argue, 
 from a passage in which a certain month is expressly and only designated 
 as the seventh month of the year, that in all civil matters the year began 
 with that month. 
 
 Nor are the rabbinical writers altogether consistent with themselves 
 in their representations of this double year; for they admit that the 
 reigns of their kings were computed by years beginning with the month 
 Nisan, while they consider the feast of Tabernacles as connected with 
 the year commencing with the month Tisri. Abendana's Polity of the 
 Jews, p. 172. David Levi^ p. 22. From this month it would seem, 
 that Nisan should be the, first month of the political, and Tisri of the 
 ecclesiastical year; and so indeed the matter appears to have been 
 understood by the learned Surenhusius ; — (hie autem Judaeorum 
 duplicem computum, unum vulgarem et politicum quem a Nisan, 
 alterum ecclesiasticum quem a Tisri instituunt ; prajteream) — (' but 
 
 * here let me pass over the twofold computation of the Jews, one 
 
 * common and political which they begin from Nisan, the other 
 
 * ecclesiastical which they reckon from Tisri.') — Surenhus. Mishna, 
 tom. ii. p. 306. Nota. 
 
 To corroborate the notion of two sorts of yeirs as maintained by 
 modern rabbles, a passage has been cited from the Mishna; which, 
 if it proves any thing of the kind, proves too much for this purpose. 
 It mentions indeed four beginnings of years, but describes the political 
 and ecclesiastical as one and the same. — * There are four beginnings 
 
 * of years. The beginning of the year for kings and festivals is the 
 ' first day of the month Nisan. The new year for tithing cattle is on 
 
 * the first day of the month Elul. R. Eliezer and R. Simeon assert, 
 
 * that it falls on the first of Tisri. The beginning of the year for fixing 
 ' or computing the years of intermissions and Jubilees, and also the new 
 ' year for the plantation of all trees and herbs, is on the first day of the 
 
 * month Tisri. Lastly, the fourth beginning of the year, which is the 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING NEW MOONS. 373 
 
 to ascertain. The connection of several of their 
 festivals with certain productions of the earth, would 
 
 ' new year for titliing the fruit of trees, falls on the first day of the month 
 
 * Shevat, according to the school of Shammai ; but the school of Ilillel 
 
 * places it on the fifteenth day of that month.' Rosh Has/ianah, Mishna 
 Surenhus. torn. ii. p. 300. But this passage, the phraseology of which 
 must appear to us very strange and uncouth, by no means authorizes the 
 notion that the ancient Israelites had two or more kinds of years, in the 
 common acceptation of that term, and in the way in which the matter 
 has been stated by the rabbies. What would be tiiought of the accuracy 
 or judgment of an historian or traveller, who, from our appointment 
 of parish officers, and settlement of parochial accounts at Easter, and 
 from our assessment of the public taxes bearing date from the sixth 
 of April, should undertake gravely to assert, that the people of England 
 have two kinds of years commencing respectively at those periods, beside 
 the common year beginning on the first of January ? 
 
 Of more than one commencement of the year among the Israelites 
 after their departure from Egypt, it appears to me that no traces are 
 to be found in any of the books of the Old Testament. The names 
 of the months used by modern Jews were not used by their fathers 
 before the Babylonian captivity. After that time several of them are 
 mentioned in the inspired writings. We read of Nisan the Jlrst month ; 
 Sivan, the third month ; Chisleu, the ninth month ; Teveth, the tenth 
 month ; Shevat, the eleventh month ; and Adar, the twelfth month. 
 Esther iii. 7. viii. 9. Zech. vii. 1. Esther ii. 16. Zech. i. 7. Esther 
 viii. 12. All these passages clearly fix the beginnmg of the year to the 
 month Nisan, the same that Moses calls Abib. The only passage which 
 can be supposed to indicate any other enumeration of the months, is in 
 Joel ii. 23, " The latter rain in the first month," — which some commen- 
 tators understand of the month Tisri. JBut the original text has no term 
 answering to the word month; and the word ^Itt^S^H may be interpreted 
 in a manner equally consistent with its radical meaning, and more 
 agreeable to its connexion in this passage. The Septuagint translates it 
 Ka^w<; efATi^ocr^ev, as before. The Syriac and Arabic versions render it 
 precisely the same as the Septuagint. The Vulgate Latin expresses it by 
 a phrase of equivalent meaning ; sicut in principio, as in the beginning. 
 The authors of these ancient versions appear to have considered the 
 term as applicable to both the former and the latter rain : " He will 
 " cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter 
 " rain, as before,'' or " as at thejirstf' or " as in the begimiing :" — an 
 
374 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 render it necessary that the months in which such 
 festivals were to be celebrated should be confined 
 to the seasons when those productions were matured. 
 But by what principles or rules this regularity was 
 preserved, is a question upon which learned men 
 are not agreed. 
 
 Kepler thought that the ancient Jewish year was 
 solar, consisting of twelve months of thirty days 
 each, and an addition of five days after the last 
 of them. This opinion was also maintained by 
 Usher and Lydiat. The inconsistency of such 
 months with various appointments of the Mosaic 
 law, induced Dean Prideaux and others to favour 
 the hypothesis of the rabbies ; who pretend that 
 the commencement and length of the month were 
 determined from time to time by the decision of 
 the Sanhedrim ; and who have favoured us with 
 a particular account of the manner in which they 
 say the business was managed. ^ Our nation here- 
 
 * tofore, not only observing the rules of any fixed 
 
 * calculation, celebrated the feast of the New Moon 
 ' according to the phasis or first appearance of the 
 ' moon, which was done in compliance with God's 
 
 * command, as our received traditions inform us. 
 
 * Hence it came to pass that the first appearance 
 
 interpretation which appears to me very preferable to an exclusive 
 restriction of it to the latter rain. The only ancient version which 
 explains the word as indicating a particular month, id the Targum 
 of Jonathan; who renders it, ^D'^S m^'D, in the month Nimn. 
 Whatever may be objected as to the season of what was called the lattet 
 rain, this explanation clearly proves, that, with Jonathan, Nisati was the 
 jfirst month of the year. 
 
TRADITIONS CONCERNING NEW MOONS. 3)5 
 
 was not to be determined only by rules of art, but 
 also by the testimony of such persons as deposed 
 before a select number of the Sanhedrim or Great 
 Senate, that they had seen the moon. For a 
 Committee of three being appointed by the said 
 Sanhedrim to receive the depositions of the persons 
 aforesaid, after having calculated what time the 
 moon might possibly appear, despatched some 
 persons into high and mountainous places to 
 observe, and accordingly to give in their evidence 
 concerning the first appearance of the moon. If 
 these persons returned on the thirtieth, and testified 
 that they had seen the moon, and if after a strict 
 examination of their reports the committee found 
 that they agreed in their evidence, then they con- 
 secrated the thirtieth day, and that was observed 
 as the day of new moon : but if they did not return 
 till the thirty-first, and then gave their evidence, 
 that day was consecrated and observed as the day 
 of new moon. And notwithstanding, if no evidence 
 was given on the thirty-first day, yet was it ap- 
 pointed by the senate, and observed as the first 
 day of the moon, though not consecrated ; for 
 the consecration so entirely depended upon the 
 phasis of the moon, that it could not be performed 
 without it. 
 
 ' As soon as the new moon was either consecrated, 
 or appointed to be observed, notice was given by 
 the Sanhedrim to the rest of the nation, what day 
 had been fixed for the new moon, or first day of the 
 month ; because that was to be the rule and measure 
 
376 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * according to which they were obliged to keep their 
 
 * feasts and fasts in every month respectively. This 
 
 * notice was given in time of peace, by firing beacons 
 
 * set up for that purpose, which was looked upon as 
 
 * the readiest way of communication ; but in time 
 ' of war, when all. places were fall of enemies who 
 
 * made use of beacons to amuse our nation with, it 
 ' was thought fit to discontinue it, and to delegate 
 
 * some men on purpose to go and signify it to as 
 ' many as they could possibly reach, before the 
 
 * time commanded for the observation of the feast 
 
 * was expired. 
 
 * But then they that lived in places far distant 
 
 * from Jerusalem, whither timely notice could not 
 
 * be conveyed, were obliged to keep the feasts a day 
 
 * more than otherwise was to be kept ; on account 
 
 * of not being certain whether the new moon was 
 
 * consecrated on the thirtieth, or not observed till the 
 
 * thirty-first : which was the reason of their keeping 
 
 * the Passover eight days, the feast of Pentecost two 
 
 * days, and that of Tabernacles nine days ; whereas 
 
 * in Scripture we are commanded to keep the Passover 
 
 * seven, the feast of Pentecost one, and that of Taber- 
 
 * nacles eight days. And notwithstanding there is 
 
 * at present a certain calculation, yet we that live out 
 ' of Jerusalem still retain the former practice.' ^ 
 
 ' Abendana's Polity of the Jews, p. 173—176. The same account 
 is given by David Levi, who has copied the above-cited and other para- 
 graphs from Abendana, with little alteration and no acknowledgment. 
 Rites and Ceremonies, p. 23 — 30. — The same account may be found, 
 more at large, in Maimon. de Comecrat. Calend. a de Veil. cap. i. ii. iii. 
 See also Leo Modena, Rites and Customs, V. iii. c. 2. s, 2. 
 
PRESENT CALENDAR. 377 
 
 This account is liable to many objections, but it 
 may suffice to mention the most obvious. — The con- 
 secration of the new moon is a rabbinical invention, 
 not authorized by the law of Moses.— If the com- 
 mencement and length of the months were determined 
 in the manner here described, it might happen that 
 in consequence of cloudy weather on the twenty-ninth 
 day for several successive months, those months 
 would include thirty days each, and thus the first 
 day of the month would sometimes, perhaps often, 
 be a week after the actual new moon. All irregu- 
 larities, indeed, might be adjusted by an earlier or 
 later intercalation of a thirteenth month ; which, we 
 are told, while the ' temple flourished lay altogether 
 
 * in the breast of the Sanhedrim, and they inserted 
 
 * a month when they thought it necessary.' ^ But it 
 is highly improbable, and should not be believed 
 without proof, that the people were left in such 
 uncertainty as to the due observance of many parts 
 of the divine law, as is assumed in this hypothesis. — 
 Whatever may have been the functions of the San- 
 hedrim in the two or three last ages of the Jewish 
 state, or whatever period may have witnessed the 
 original formation of that body, no evidence has been 
 adduced of its existence for a thousand years after 
 the time of Moses ; and the rabbinical account of its 
 constitution and powers has been shewn to be irre- 
 concilable with the events and circumstances recorded 
 in the sacred history. ^ 
 
 * Abendana's Polity of the Jews, p. 176. David Levi, p. 27. Maimon. 
 c. iv. » See p. 51, 52. 
 
378 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 The necessity of the case has appeared to some 
 learned men to justify a strong presumption, that 
 Moses must have constructed lunar and solar tables, 
 for the direction of his successors in the regular 
 solemnization of their passover and other feasts ; a 
 presumption which, in the absence of all direct evi- 
 dence on the subject, seems very preferable to the 
 ludicrous tradition of the rabbles.^ 
 
 The present Jewish Calendar was settled by Rabbi 
 Hillel about the middle of the fourth century of the 
 christian era. It is constructed with great ingenuity ; 
 and, in the commencement of its successive periods 
 of cycles, the progression beyond the precise point 
 of the tropical year from which the series begins, is 
 not half of the advance gained by the Julian calendar 
 in the same time. 
 
 The Calendar is founded on a combination of lunar 
 and solar periods. That the festival of the new moon 
 might be celebrated as nearly as possible on the day 
 of the moon's conjunction with the sun, the months 
 contain alternately, for the most part, twenty-nine 
 and thirty days. But each lunation containing more 
 than twenty-nine days and a half, the excess renders 
 it necessary to allot, in some years, thirty days to 
 two successive months. The year is never begun on 
 the first, fourth y or sixth day of the week. This 
 
 * Hales's Analysis, p. 172, 173. It has been suspected, and (Dr. 
 Hales thinks) not without foundation, that the celebrated lunar cycle 
 of nmeteen years, which Meton the astronomer, 430 years before Christ, 
 introduced into Greece for the adjustment of their lunar year with the 
 solar, was borrowed from the ancient Jewish tables. This was the 
 opinion of the learned Anatolius, bishop of Laodicea, about A. D. 270. 
 
PRESENT CALENDAR. 379 
 
 circumstance causes further variations in the lengths 
 of some of the months. The months in which these 
 variations take place are the second and third, 
 Marchesvan and Chisleu ; which contain, sometimes 
 twenty-nine days each, sometimes thirty days each ; 
 and sometimes there are twenty-nine days in the 
 former and thirty in the latter. 
 
 Twelve revolutions of the moon being nearly eleven 
 days short of one revolution of the sun, if the years 
 were wholly lunar, each year would begin so much 
 earlier than the former, and the months would travel 
 back through all the seasons in regular and rapid 
 precession. To guard against this inconvenience, 
 every second or third is made an embolismic year, 
 consisting of thirteen months. In these years the 
 twelfth month Adar, is followed by another, named 
 Veadar, or second Adar. In common years Adar 
 contains twenty-nine days : in embolismic years Adar 
 has thirty days and Veadar twenty-nine. 
 
 The variations in the months Marchesvan and 
 Chisleu, occurring both in common and in embolismic 
 years, cause the year to be of six different lengths. 
 A common year may have 353, 354, or 355 ; an 
 embolismic year 383, 384, or 385 days. This 
 difference in the number of days, and the difference 
 in the day of the week on which the year begins, 
 produce fourteen variations in the form of the year 
 and the days of the week assigned to the festivals 
 and fasts. 
 
 Two hundred and thirty-five revolutions of the 
 moon being about equal to nineteen revolutions of the 
 
B60 MODERN JUDAISM 1 
 
 sun, a cycle is formed of nineteen years, of which 
 twelve are common and seven embolismic : and as a 
 repetition of the same series of years through suc- 
 cessive cycles would produce a material error in the 
 course of a few centuries, recourse is had to a period 
 of thirteen cycles, of which some are made a day 
 longer or shorter than others.^ By this contrivance, 
 notwithstanding the peculiar difficulties arising from 
 the rules and limitations of the synagogue, Rabbi 
 Hillel, in the fourth century, secured an approxima- 
 tion to astronomical exactness, never equalled among 
 Christians till the sixteenth century ; when it was at 
 length exceeded by the correction and improvement 
 of the Julian calendar by Pope Gregory. ^ 
 
 » A perspicuous and minute description of Rabbi Hillel's Calendar 
 is contained in Maimon. Tractat. de Consecrat. Calend. et Ratione 
 Intercal. a de Veil. — A series of curious and elaborate Dissertations, 
 illustrating the principles of this Calendar and comparing it with other 
 Calendars and modes of computation, may be found in Bartoloc. 
 Bihlioth Rabbin, torn. ii. p. 392 — 593. From this work the fourth 
 and Jifth of the following Tables are transcribed, with the requisite 
 alterations in the fourth Table to adapt it to another period of years, 
 and the correction of a few errors which had escaped the notice of that 
 very learned and accurate writer. — Copious information on the subject 
 of the Jewish Calendar has also been given by Dr. Adam Clarke, at the 
 end of his Commentary on Deuteronomy. 
 
 2 It may not be uninteresting to some readers, to see the slight 
 variation of the Jewish from the Gregorian Calendar, for many centuries 
 to come. 
 
 A. M. A. D. 
 
 1 Tisri, 5568, synchronizes with 3 October, 1807. 
 
 I Tisri, 5815, 3 October, 2054. 
 
 1 Tisri, 6062, 5 October, 2301 . 
 
 1 Tisri, 6309, 5 October, 2548. 
 
 1 Tisri, 6556, 7 October, 2795. 
 
 1 Tisri, 6803, 8 October, 3042. 
 
 1 Tisri, 7050, 8 October, 3289. 
 
PRESENT CALENDAR. 381 
 
 The annexed Tables will give the reader clearer 
 ideas of the construction and variations of the Jewish 
 calendar, than could easily be conveyed by mere 
 verbal description. 
 
 Table I. shews the names of the months and the 
 number of days in each month, in years of every 
 different length, common and embolismic. 
 
 Table II. shews all the variations in the length and 
 form of the year, — the day of the week on which 
 each kind of year commences, the number of days it 
 contains, and the number of sabbaths. For the 
 purpose of reference to or from the next two tables, 
 the first column supplies an index, in which each 
 kind of year is designated by a particular letter. 
 
 Table III. points out the days of the week on 
 which the festival of the new moon and the other 
 principal festival and fasts are celebrated, in each 
 of the fourteen kinds of years already described. 
 Thus in a year designated by the letter A, the First 
 of Tisri, the commencement of the year, falls on 
 the fifth day of the week ; the Fast of Gedaliah on 
 the first ; the Fast of Atonement on the seventh, or 
 sabbath ; and so of the rest. 
 
 Table IV. shews how to apply the preceding Tables 
 to each year, throughout thirteen lunar cycles. Thus, 
 for example, the index-letter of the present year, 
 5576,^ is M. A reference to the numbers set against 
 this letter in Table II. will shew that it commenced 
 on the fifth day of the week, has 354 days, and 51 
 
 * A.D, 1816 — when this work was first published. 
 
382 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 sabbaths. Table I. shews the length of each month 
 in a year containing 354 days, and the column under 
 the letter M. in Table III. indicates the days of the 
 week on which the new moons and other festivals 
 and fasts are held. To make Table IV. perpetual, 
 nothing more is necessary than, in the place of the 
 year 5568, to substitute 5815, and so on through 
 all the cycles ; and to repeat the same for each period 
 in perpetual succession. 
 
 Table V. exhibits the number of days in each year 
 throughout thirteen lunar cycles, and the whole 
 number in each cycle. 
 
 Table VI. shews the days of the Gregorian Calen- 
 dar on which the Jewish years commence, through 
 four lunar cycles. From these tables the reader will 
 find it easy to compute the commencement of any 
 fiiture Jewish year he may wish to ascertain. 
 
CALENDAR EXPLAINED, 
 
 383 
 
 TABLE I. 
 
 Skewing the number of Days in each Month, and in different 
 Years, both Common and Embolismic. 
 
 Months. 
 
 COMMON YBAR3. 
 
 Days in eacli Month. 
 
 EMDOLISMIC VKARS. 
 
 Days in each Month. 
 
 Tisri 
 
 30 
 29 
 29 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 
 30 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 
 30 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 
 30 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 
 30 
 30 
 30 
 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 
 30 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 
 30 
 
 29 
 29 
 29 
 30 
 30 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 
 30 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 30 
 30 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 SO 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 
 30 
 30 
 30 
 29 
 30 
 30 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 30 
 29 
 
 Marchesvan 
 
 Chisleu 
 
 Teveth 
 
 Shevat 
 
 Adar 
 
 Veadar 
 
 Nisan 
 
 liar .... ........ 
 
 Sivan 
 
 Tamuz 
 
 Ab 
 
 Elui 
 
 Days in each Year . . 
 
 3o3 
 
 354 
 
 355 
 
 383 
 
 384 
 
 385 
 
 TABLE IL 
 
 Shewing all the Variations in the Commencement and Length 
 of the Year. 
 
 Index 
 Letters. 
 
 Day of 
 the Week on 
 which each 
 Vear begins. 
 
 Days 
 
 in each 
 
 Year. 
 
 Sabbaths 
 in each 
 Year. 
 
 Index 
 Letters. 
 
 Day of 
 the Week on 
 which each 
 Year begins. 
 
 Days 
 in each 
 Year. 
 
 Sabbaths 
 in each 
 Year. 
 
 A 
 
 5 
 
 385 
 
 55 
 
 u 
 
 7 
 
 353 
 
 50 
 
 B 
 
 7 
 
 383 
 
 55 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 354 
 
 50 
 
 C 
 
 2 
 
 383 
 
 54 
 
 K 
 
 2 
 
 355 
 
 50 
 
 D 
 
 5 
 
 383 
 
 55 
 
 L 
 
 7 
 
 355 
 
 51 
 
 E 
 
 3 
 
 384 
 
 55 
 
 M 
 
 5 
 
 354 
 
 51 
 
 F 
 
 7 
 
 385 
 
 55 
 
 N 
 
 5 
 
 355 
 
 51 
 
 G 
 
 2 
 
 385 
 
 55 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 353 
 
 50 
 
384 
 
 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 '* 
 
 "^ 
 
 fM 
 
 - 
 
 CO 
 
 co" 
 
 »o 
 
 - 
 
 o 
 
 - 
 
 o 
 
 <M 
 
 i 
 
 «»5 
 
 ^ 
 
 o 
 
 - 
 
 Jr~ 
 
 O 
 
 'I* 
 
 «o 
 
 
 (M 
 
 o 
 
 co" 
 
 o 
 
 in 
 
 
 s 
 
 
 - 
 
 t- 
 
 o 
 
 rft 
 
 <o 
 
 
 - 
 
 ^ 
 
 CO 
 
 in 
 
 ■^ 
 
 «3 
 
 in" 
 
 1 
 
 J 
 
 t-^ 
 
 (M 
 
 <N 
 
 t^ 
 
 f£> 
 
 - 
 
 <N 
 
 co" 
 
 t^ 
 
 in" 
 
 - 
 
 t^ 
 
 =<i 
 
 ^ 
 
 CO 
 
 ■^ 
 
 Tf 
 
 (M 
 
 ^ 
 
 CO 
 
 co" 
 
 
 IM 
 
 i:^ 
 
 CO 
 
 (N 
 
 co" 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 
 ifi 
 
 O 
 
 CO 
 
 CI 
 
 ■^ 
 
 
 <XI 
 
 (M 
 
 JT-^ 
 
 CO 
 
 (M 
 
 CO 
 
 .1 . 
 
 ffi 
 
 c^ 
 
 a 
 
 (M 
 
 t^ 
 
 o 
 
 - 
 
 <N 
 
 CO 
 
 «o 
 
 Tt 
 
 o 
 
 in 
 
 t- 
 
 o 
 
 TABLE III. 
 
 k the Months begin, and the Pr 
 different kinds of Years. 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
 •^ 
 
 '^ 
 
 (N 
 
 - 
 
 CO 
 
 co" 
 
 o" 
 
 C 
 
 r^ 
 
 CO 
 
 (N 
 
 eo" 
 
 Ph 
 
 t-^ 
 
 Oi 
 
 C^ 
 
 ir- 
 
 o 
 
 - 
 
 (N 
 
 co" 
 
 r^ 
 
 in 
 
 - 
 
 t-- 
 
 (N 
 
 w 
 
 co" 
 
 o 
 
 lO 
 
 co 
 
 (M 
 
 Tf 
 
 in 
 
 ?r> 
 
 (M 
 
 xr~" 
 
 CO 
 
 (M 
 
 co" 
 
 Q 
 
 to 
 
 - 
 
 t^ 
 
 lO 
 
 ^ 
 
 o 
 
 
 - 
 
 ■^ 
 
 (N 
 
 Tf 
 
 CO 
 
 in 
 '*" 
 
 O 
 
 CO 
 
 ■^ 
 
 Tf 
 
 !N 
 
 - 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 lO 
 
 - 
 
 O 
 
 - 
 
 t- 
 
 (N 
 
 
 M 
 
 t^ 
 
 C<1 
 
 M 
 
 t^ 
 
 »o 
 
 - 
 
 <N 
 
 CO 
 
 O 
 
 rt 
 
 «o 
 
 o 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 << 
 
 
 - 
 
 t^ 
 
 m 
 
 ■^ 
 
 to 
 
 
 <M 
 
 in 
 
 co" 
 
 to 
 
 in 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 •^1 
 
 O 
 o 
 
 i! 
 
 1 
 
 a 
 .A 
 
 •II 
 o 
 
 II 
 
 CI 
 
 i 
 
 1? 
 
 o 
 
 1 
 
 1o 
 
 =1 
 II 
 
 o 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 1 
 
 II 
 
 o 
 
 1 
 
 5^ 
 
 1 
 
 >- 
 < 
 
 
CALENDAR EXPLAINED. 
 
 385 
 
 o 
 
 
 ko 
 
 - 
 
 to 
 
 CO 
 
 in 
 
 - 
 
 «r! 
 
 -* 
 
 t~^ 
 
 CO 
 
 <N 
 
 CO 
 
 co" 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 o 
 
 <£l 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 CO 
 
 «£> 
 
 'I* 
 
 (N 
 
 
 - 
 
 t~ 
 
 - 
 
 <N 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 "^ 
 
 in 
 
 t^ 
 
 t^ 
 
 
 m 
 
 CO 
 
 - 
 
 in 
 
 - 
 
 to 
 
 - 
 
 r^ 
 
 hJ 
 
 
 in 
 
 - 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 in 
 
 - 
 
 <o 
 
 "^ 
 
 t~^ 
 
 CO 
 
 01 
 
 CO 
 
 co" 
 
 tii 
 
 
 c^i 
 
 fO 
 
 in 
 
 in 
 
 IT- 
 
 <0 
 
 CO 
 
 - 
 
 ^D 
 
 CO 
 
 tn 
 
 T 
 
 in 
 
 <o 
 in 
 
 - 
 
 
 (N 
 
 CO 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 t^ 
 
 O 
 
 CO 
 
 - 
 
 «n 
 
 CO 
 
 in 
 
 Tf 
 
 in 
 
 to 
 in 
 
 ffi 
 
 
 lO 
 
 to 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 CO 
 
 «o 
 
 ■^ 
 
 (M 
 
 in 
 
 - 
 
 t^ 
 
 - 
 
 <N 
 
 o 
 
 
 •^ 
 
 o 
 
 r- 
 
 r- 
 
 (M 
 
 in 
 
 CO 
 
 - 
 
 in 
 
 - 
 
 to 
 
 - 
 
 t^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 in 
 
 (M 
 
 CO 
 
 in 
 
 in 
 
 
 CO 
 
 - 
 
 ^ 
 
 CO 
 =4" 
 
 in 
 
 ■^ 
 
 in 
 
 to 
 
 irT 
 
 w 
 
 
 •^ 
 
 in 
 
 r» 
 
 t^ 
 
 (M 
 
 in 
 
 CO 
 
 - 
 
 in 
 
 - 
 
 to 
 
 - 
 
 r-^ 
 
 Q 
 
 
 iC 
 
 «r> 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 CO 
 
 vo 
 
 rl- 
 
 <N 
 
 <x> 
 in 
 
 - 
 
 t^ 
 
 - 
 
 <M 
 
 o 
 
 
 (M 
 
 CO 
 
 »o 
 
 o 
 
 
 CO 
 
 - 
 
 O 
 
 CO 
 
 in 
 
 •^ 
 
 in 
 
 to 
 
 in" 
 
 w 
 
 (M 
 
 in 
 
 - 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 in 
 
 - 
 
 %o 
 
 rt 
 
 t-^ 
 
 CO 
 
 <N 
 
 CO 
 
 co" 
 
 <: 
 
 <N 
 
 lO 
 
 - 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 
 - 
 
 «5 
 
 "'1' 
 
 i> 
 
 CO 
 
 (N 
 
 CO 
 
 eo" 
 
 
 'A 
 > 
 
 1^ 
 
 -n 
 
 fa 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 2 
 
 fa 
 
 < 
 
 1 
 ? 
 
 00-2 
 
 t 
 
 > 
 
 o3 
 
 "S 
 
 1 
 
 
 \ 
 
 3 ■; 
 
 < 
 
 X 
 
 
 i: 
 
 1 
 
 < 
 
 
 
 2 C 
 
386 
 
 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 ->< 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 Si. 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 
 
 ■a 
 
 '%^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ?5s 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 •4^ 
 
 o 
 
 SSs 
 
 
 fi 
 
 ^■> 
 
 
 s 
 
 -^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 <4> 
 
 ^ 
 
 r 
 
 1 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 Sin 
 
 1 
 
 "f^ 
 
 i-c; 
 
 
 o 
 
 -^ 
 
 :< 
 
 
 ss 
 
 §" 
 
 «o 
 
 p 
 
 -:i^ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 § 
 
 i5> 
 
 <i 
 
 !>. 
 
 1^ 
 
 
 "5> 
 
 4 
 
 M 
 
 ^ 
 
 H 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 "e 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 g 
 
 ^ 
 
 "S^ 
 
 5»^ 
 
 
 xCt 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 bf) 
 
 
 s 
 
 Q 
 
 
 O 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 *<^ 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 05 
 
 i 
 
 ^ 1-1 
 
 
 coO 
 
 CO 
 
 CM 
 
 io 
 
 CO 
 
 i 
 
 CO 
 
 CO**' 
 
 CO 
 0§ 
 
 
 
 UO 
 
 b- 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 CO 
 
 CM 
 
 i" 
 
 <0 (VI 
 CO W 
 
 CD 
 
 o 
 
 5 
 
 CO 
 CO k> 
 
 
 So 
 
 o 
 
 
 00 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 CO ^ 
 
 
 o 
 
 CO ^ 
 
 CD 
 CO J 
 
 oo 
 
 «3 
 
 
 ■* 
 
 1 
 
 
 i- 
 
 
 00 
 
 
 CO 
 
 «o < 
 
 CO 
 
 1 
 
 o 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 CO 
 co^ 
 
 So 
 
 ■(-1 
 
 5 
 
 a. 
 
 CO 
 
 
 CO 
 
 So 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 00 
 
 
 
 
 So 
 
 CO 
 
 co<5 
 
 «o 
 
 o 
 
 1 
 
 
 CO 
 
 CD !=-< 
 
 
 
 CO 
 V5 
 
 b- i_3 
 
 a> 
 
 1 
 
 
 1^ 
 
 
 CO 
 CD f^ 
 
 
 CO 
 
 00 
 
 1 
 
 »r5 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 »0 r~, 
 CO ^ 
 
 »o 
 
 t- 
 
 1 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 coS 
 
 CD 
 
 o 
 
 1 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 So 
 
 CD 
 
 CO 
 CO r~> 
 
 to'-' 
 
 XO 
 
 ^ 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 CD 
 CM ^ 
 
 CO r=^ 
 
 CO 
 
 So 
 
 •o 
 
 ■^ 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 CD 
 
 CO 
 
 So 
 
 
 CO 
 CO "—I 
 
 CO 
 
 i 
 
 o 
 
 
 00 
 
 c?M 
 
 go 
 
 CO 
 
 S<i 
 
 in 
 
 <N 
 
 1 
 
 
 CD 
 
 00^_i 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 *o 
 
 7-1 
 
 1 
 
 00 
 
 CO ^ 
 
 
 
 »0 
 
 CO 
 
 COhH 
 
 lO 
 
THE CALENDAR EXPLAINED, 
 
 ;87 
 
 •I 
 
 o 
 
 pq 
 
 a. 
 
 1 
 
 
 CT> 
 
 00 
 
 
 1 ^ 
 
 lft^-= 
 
 1 "^ 
 
 1 lO 
 
 
 00 
 
 1 
 
 So 
 
 00 
 
 
 UO 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 t> 
 
 X5 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 LO 
 
 CO 
 
 go 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 a 
 
 1^ 
 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 i^ 
 
 o 
 
 1 
 
 
 ft" 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 i° 
 
 CO 
 
 
 i^ 
 
 o 
 
 
 CO 
 
 a 
 5 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 g , 
 
 s^^ 
 
 00 >^ 
 
 00 
 
 <N 
 
 1 
 
 00 
 
 
 co5J 
 
 o 
 
 UO 
 
 
 00 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ,6 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 to 
 
 00 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 T-' 
 
 a 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 00 
 
 
 
 
 Ci 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 CO 
 
 ft"' 
 
 
 §o 
 
 00 
 
 1 
 
 
 00 
 
 
 «o 
 
 go 
 
 
 
 J> 
 
 i 
 
 00 
 00 t_i 
 
 
 <o 
 
 
 CO , 
 
 CO 
 00 i> 
 
 
 <o 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 So 
 
 2 
 
 CO 
 
 <>< 
 
 ft« 
 
 
 o 
 
 i 
 
 to 
 
 CO , 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 OD Hri 
 
 00 1—1 
 
 - 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 CM 
 
 
 O 
 CO ,^ 
 
 V5 
 
 CO 
 
 .o 
 
 
 CO 
 
 gco 
 
 go 
 
 
 o 
 
 "0 
 
 C7> 
 
 ft^ 
 
 ft^ 
 
 CJ 
 
 a 
 5 
 
 CO 
 
 o ^ 
 
 
 o 
 
 a. 
 
 CO 
 
 ft° 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 rN 
 
 
 '1 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 to 
 
 2 C 2 
 
388 
 
 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 PQ 
 
 V| 
 
 feoF 
 
 v. 
 
 ■fc» 
 • «>» 
 
 
 Days in 
 each Year 
 from 5796 
 
 to 5814. 
 
 »0*OCO»0»COOiOCO'0»COO»0«5COiO'OCO>000 
 
 0^ 
 
 CO 
 
 
 Days in 
 each Year 
 from 5777 
 
 to 5795. 
 
 »oooo^>oco»ooo»o>oco»o»cooio»oco»oco 
 cococscocococococccocococococoooroccco 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Days in 
 each Year 
 from 5758 
 
 to 5776. 
 
 iO>OC040»OCOOOOtO»OC0^4000iOiOOOW5CO 
 
 coeococococnjcocorocococofococococococo 
 
 
 
 
 Days in 
 each Year 
 from 5739 
 
 to 5757. 
 
 to»ooo»o»ooow:)OOiokocotoinoo>ciooo»oco 
 joeococococococcoooococooococococococo 
 
 
 a. 
 
 
 Days in 
 
 each Year 
 
 from 5720 
 
 to 5738, 
 
 xO»OC0w:(»O00>OCO»OiO00»O»OC0iOiOC0»O00 
 
 cococococococococotocococococococvjccco 
 
 
 
 CO 
 CO 
 
 
 Days in 
 each Year 
 from 5701 
 
 to 5719. 
 
 u:iiooo»o»ooojooo«:)«:»oo^i0ooicvocoioco 
 cocoeoccfocococooocooococococococococo 
 
 CO 
 
 
 Days in 
 
 each Year 
 
 from 5682 
 
 to 5700. 
 
 M:»»oco»ow5co»ooo40«^coio>ocoviiOoo»ooo 
 
 COCCCOCOCOCOCOCJOOCOCJCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCO 
 
 
 
 01 
 
 
 
 Days in 
 each Year 
 from 5663 
 
 to 5681. 
 
 lOiOCOiOOOOiOOOOUtjOOkOiOCOWliOOOlOCO 
 COCOOOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCCCOCOCOCCCOCOCOCO 
 
 CO 
 CO 
 
 
 Days in 
 
 each Year 
 
 from 5644 
 
 to 5662. 
 
 Ti* xo ^ -^ n ^ -rfi CO ^ ~f iTi n ifi -rt* ^ en -rf ^ ir:, 
 «OiO00»O4O00^00V5iOa3iOiOCO»O»OCOiOCO 
 
 cococccocococoMcococococacocococococo 
 
 
 
 Days m 
 each Year 
 from 56?5 
 
 to 5643. 
 
 »ow:>co»ovico>oco»o»oco>o»ooo'ow^co»ooo 
 coeocoeococoeococococococococococoooco 
 
 
 <o 
 
 
 Days m 
 each Year 
 from 5606 
 
 to 5624. 
 
 io>ooo«:>w^cotooo»o^coto»ooo»o«ooo»oco 
 corococooococooocoeoeocooocoeococopooo 
 
 CO 
 
 «o 
 
 
 Days m 
 each Year 
 from 5587 
 
 to 5605. 
 
 iOiOCCiO*000»OCO»OkOOO»0>OCO»0»OCO»OCO 
 COCOCOOOCOCCCOCOCOCOCOCOCOOOCOCOCOCOCO 
 
 
 
 
 iJays m 
 each Year 
 from 5568 
 
 to 5586. 
 
 CQCOCOCCCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCO 
 
 
 
 
 Year 
 of the 
 Lunar 
 Cycle. 
 
 T-'<NC0^»OtOtvC0O)OTH<NC0Tt<»O<Ot*00Oi 
 
 m 
 
CALENDAR EXPLAINED. 
 
 389 
 
 TABLE VI. 
 
 Shelving the Days on which the Jewish Years commence, 
 according to the Gregorian Calendar, through the course 
 of Four Lunar Cycles, 
 
 Years 
 
 Jewish 
 
 Commencement 
 
 Years 
 
 Jewish 
 
 Commencement 
 
 of the 
 
 Years 
 
 according to 
 
 of the 
 
 Years 
 
 according to 
 
 Lunar 
 
 of the 
 
 the Gregorian 
 
 Lunar 
 
 of the 
 
 the Gregorian 
 
 Cycle. 
 
 World. 
 
 Calendar. 
 
 Cycle. 
 
 World. 
 
 Calendar. 
 
 1 
 
 5568 
 
 Oct. 3. 1807 
 
 1 
 
 5606 
 
 Oct. 2. 1845 
 
 2 
 
 5569 
 
 Sep. 23. 1808 
 
 2 
 
 5607 
 
 Sep. 21. 1846 
 
 3 
 
 5570 
 
 12. 1809 
 
 3 
 
 5608 
 
 11. 1847 
 
 4 
 
 5571 
 
 30. 1810 
 
 4 
 
 5609 
 
 28. 1848 
 
 5 
 
 5572 
 
 19. 1811 
 
 5 
 
 5610 
 
 17. 1849 
 
 6 
 
 5573 
 
 7. 1812 
 
 6 
 
 5611 
 
 7. 1850 
 
 7 
 
 5574 
 
 25. 1813 
 
 7 
 
 5612 
 
 27. 1851 
 
 8 
 
 5575 
 
 15. 1814 
 
 8 
 
 5613 
 
 14. 1852 
 
 9 
 
 5576 
 
 Oct. 5. 1815 
 
 9 
 
 5614 
 
 Oct. 3. 1853 
 
 10 
 
 5577 
 
 Sep. 23. 1816 
 
 10 
 
 5615 
 
 Sep. 23. 1854 
 
 11 
 
 5578 
 
 11. 1817 
 
 11 
 
 5616 
 
 13. 1855 
 
 12 
 
 5579 
 
 Oct. 1. 1818 
 
 12 
 
 5617 
 
 30. 1856 
 
 13 
 
 5580 
 
 Sep. 20. 1819 
 
 13 
 
 5618 
 
 19. 1857 
 
 14 
 
 5581 
 
 9. 1820 
 
 14 
 
 5619 
 
 9. 1858 
 
 15 
 
 5582 
 
 27. 1821 
 
 15 
 
 5620 
 
 29. 1859 
 
 16 
 
 5583 
 
 16. 1822 
 
 16 
 
 5621 
 
 17. 1860 
 
 17 
 
 5584 
 
 6. 1823 
 
 17 
 
 5622 
 
 5. 1861 
 
 18 
 
 5585 
 
 23. 1824 
 
 18 
 
 5623 
 
 25. 1862 
 
 19 
 
 5586 
 
 13. 1825 
 
 19 
 
 5624 
 
 14. 1863 
 
 1 
 
 5587 
 
 Oct. 2. 1826 
 
 1 
 
 5625 
 
 Oct. 1. 1864 
 
 2 
 
 5588 
 
 Sep. 22. 1827 
 
 2 
 
 5626 
 
 Sep. 21. 1865 
 
 3 
 
 5589 
 
 9. 1828 
 
 3 
 
 5627 
 
 10. 1866 
 
 4 
 
 5590 
 
 28. 1829 
 
 4 
 
 5628 
 
 30. 1867 
 
 5 
 
 559 J 
 
 18, 1830 
 
 5 
 
 5629 
 
 17. 1868 
 
 6 
 
 5592 
 
 8. 1831 
 
 6 
 
 5630 
 
 6. 1869 
 
 7 
 
 5593 
 
 25. 1832 
 
 7 
 
 5631 
 
 26. 1870 
 
 8 
 
 5594 
 
 14. 1833 
 
 8 
 
 5632 
 
 16. 1871 
 
 9 
 
 5595 
 
 Oct. 4. 1834 
 
 9 
 
 5633 
 
 Oct. 3. 1872 
 
 10 
 
 5596 
 
 Sep. 24. 1835 
 
 10 
 
 5634 
 
 Sep. 22. 1873 
 
 11 
 
 5597 
 
 12. 1836 
 
 11 
 
 5635 
 
 12. 1874 
 
 12 
 
 5598 
 
 30. 1837 
 
 12 
 
 5636 
 
 30. 1875 
 
 13 
 
 5599 
 
 20. 1838 
 
 13 
 
 5637 
 
 19. 1876 
 
 14 
 
 5600 
 
 9. 1839 
 
 14 
 
 5638 
 
 8. 1877 
 
 15 
 
 5601 
 
 28. 1840 
 
 15 
 
 5639 
 
 28. 1878 
 
 16 
 
 5602 
 
 16. 1841 
 
 16 
 
 5640 
 
 18. 1879 
 
 17 
 
 5603 
 
 5. 1842 
 
 17 
 
 5641 
 
 6. 1880 
 
 18 
 
 5604 
 
 25. 1843 
 
 18 
 
 5642 
 
 21. 1881 
 
 19 
 
 5605 
 
 14. 1844 
 
 19 
 
 5643 
 
 14. 1882 
 
CHAPTER XXI, 
 
 Festivals and Fasts, — Feast of New- Moon.— -Feast of 
 Passover. — Thirty-third of Omer, — Feast of Pentecost. 
 — Fast 17 Tamuz.—Fast 9 Ab.— Feast of Netv- Year. 
 — Fast of Gedaliah. — Fast of Atonement. — Feast of 
 Tabernacles. — Hosanna Rabba. — Feast of Joy of the 
 Law. — Feast of Dedication. — Fast of the Tenth 
 Month. — Fast of Esther. — Fea^t of Purim. 
 
 Several of the Festivals and one of the Fasts 
 enumerated in the contents of this chapter, were 
 commanded by the law of Moses, and others are 
 of later institution. In the celebration of those of 
 divine appointment, modern Jews will be found to 
 have departed considerably from the ancient ritual. 
 It is not my design to specify their omissions, 
 alterations, and additions, but to confine myself 
 to a general and brief account of their present 
 observances. 
 
 The Feast of the New-Moon is held every 
 month, on the first day, or on the first and second 
 days^ of the month. The women are obliged to 
 suspend all servile work, but the men are not 
 
 ' See the reason assigned for this, p. 375, 376. 
 
THE FEAST OF NEW-MOON. 391 
 
 required to interrupt their secular employments. 
 The celebration of this festival consists chiefly in good 
 eating and drinking, the rehearsal of some psalms 
 and other portions of scripture, and the repetition 
 of some additional prayers.^ ' At present/ says a 
 Jewish writer, ' not having the advantage of our 
 ' temple service, instead of offering up the sacrifices 
 ' proper to this solemnity, we read those sections 
 ' of scripture which enjoin the observation of this 
 
 * feast ; which practice obtains in relation to all the 
 ' rest of our Feasts and Fasts that were commanded 
 
 * to be solemnized by the ofl'ering of special sacri- 
 ' fiees.'^ These recitals they persuade themselves 
 will be as acceptable to Jehovah as the sacrifices 
 themselves could be if duly ofi^ered according to the 
 divine command. ^ 
 
 On the first Saturday evening in the month, if the 
 moon is then visible, or on the first evening after, 
 when the sky is bright enough to have a clear view 
 of her, the Jews assemble in the open air, for what 
 is called '* the consecration of the new-moon : " 
 when some grave rabbi pronounces the following 
 benediction, in which he is joined by all the company. 
 — * Blessed art thou, O Lord, our God, king of the 
 ' universe ! who with his word created the heavens, 
 
 * and all their host with the breath of his mouth. 
 ' A decree and appointed time he gave them, that 
 
 * they should not deviate from their charge : they 
 
 » Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, p. iii. c. 1. s. 3, 4. 
 ' ' Abendana's Polity of the Jews, p. 183. 
 ' See quotations in p. 118 — 120. 
 
392 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * rejoice and are glad when performing the will of 
 
 * their Creator. Their Maker is true and his works 
 ' are true. He also ordained that the moon should 
 
 * monthly renew her crown of glory ; for those who 
 
 * have been tenderly carried from the womb ^ are also 
 
 * hereafter to be renewed like her, to glorify their 
 
 * Creator for the glorious name of his kingdom. 
 
 * Blessed art thou, O Lord, who renswest the 
 
 * months.'^ T%en, addressing the moon, they say 
 three times — * Blessed be thy Former ! Blessed be 
 
 * thy Maker ! Blessed be thy Possessor ! Blessed 
 
 * be thy Creator ! ' Then they raise themselves 
 up, or jump three times, and say — ' As I attempt 
 
 * to leap towards thee, but cannot touch thee, so 
 ' may those who attempt to injure me be unable to 
 
 * reach me.' Then they say three times — '^ May 
 
 * fear and dread fall upon them ; by the greatness 
 
 * of thine arm may they be still as a stone. Still 
 
 * as a stone may they be, by the greatness of thine 
 
 * arm ; may fear and dread fall on them.^ David 
 ' king of Israel liveth and existeth,' Then each 
 says to the company — * Peace be to you.' They 
 mutually answer — * Unto you be peace.' ^ 
 
 * This is intended to describe the Israelites. The expression is 
 borrowed from Isaiah xlvi. 3. 
 
 * Abendana's Polity of the Jews, p. 174. David Levi, p. 24, 
 98 — 100. Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, P. iii. c. 1. s. 6. 
 
 3 Buxtorf says that these petitions are directed against the Christians. 
 Synag. Jud. c. xxii. p. 476. 
 
 * This is entitled a < Blessing, said at the sight of the New-MoonJ 
 German and Polish Jews' Prayer Book, p. 109, 110. Spanish and 
 Portuguese Jews' Prayer Book, p. 176, 177. David Levi calls it, 
 ' The Vruyer for the New- Moon. Ibid. p. 98. 
 
FEAST OF PASSOVER. 393 
 
 The Feast of the Passover commences on the 
 fifteenth day of the month Nisan, and continues, 
 with Jews who live in or near Jerusalem, seven days ; 
 and with those in all other places, eight days. 
 
 The sabbath preceding the Passover is called the 
 great sabbath. On that day the rabbi of each 
 synagogue delivers a lecture, explaining the various 
 regulations necessary to be observed on the approach- 
 ing festival. — During the whole time, they are 
 required to abstain from leavened bread, and to 
 suffer no leaven in their habitations. — On the 
 thirteenth day of the month, in the evening, the 
 most careful and minute inquisition is made by the 
 master of each family through every part of his 
 house, in order to clear it of leavened bread and 
 every other particle of leaven. All that can be 
 found is collected together in a vessel, carefully 
 preserved during the night, and, together with the 
 vessel in which it is deposited, is solemnly burnt 
 a little before noon the next day. — No vessels are to 
 be used that have had any leaven in them, and 
 therefore the kitchen utensils used at other times 
 are to be put away, and their places supplied by 
 new ones, or by some that are kept from one Pass- 
 over to another, and never used but on that occasion. 
 For the same reason the kitchen tables and chairs, 
 shelves and cupboards, undergo a thorough purgation, 
 first with hot water, and then with cold. 
 
 After the burning of the leaven, they make un- 
 leavened cakes, as many as will be wanted during 
 the festival, to supply the place of common bread. 
 
394 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 Among other directions which regulate the prepara- 
 tion of the grain from which they are made, the 
 meal is to be boulted in the presence of a Jew ; 
 and the dough is not to be left a moment without 
 working or kneading, lest any fermentation should 
 take place. The cakes are commonly round, thin, 
 and full of little holes ; and in general they consist 
 of flour and water only ; but the more wealthy and 
 dainty Jews enrich them with eggs and sugar: 
 cakes so made, however, are not to be eaten on the 
 first day of the festival. — They are forbidden to 
 drink any liquor made from grain, or that has 
 passed through the process of fermentation. Their 
 drink is either pure water, or raisin wine prepared 
 by themselves. 
 
 On the fourteenth day of the month, the first- 
 born son of each family is required to fast, in 
 remembrance of the protection enjoyed by the 
 first-born of Israel, when God smote all the 
 first-born of the Egyptians. 
 
 In the evening of the fourteenth day of the 
 month, the men assemble in the synagogue, to 
 usher in the festival by prayers and other offices 
 prescribed in their ritual ; during which, the women 
 are occupied at home in laying and decorating the 
 tables against their return. It is customary for 
 every Jew to honour this festivd by an exhibition 
 of the most sumptuous furniture he can afford. 
 
 The table is- covered with a clean linen cloth, on 
 whicih are placed several plates or dishes. On one 
 is laid the shank bone of a shoulder of lamb, or 
 
FEAST OF PASSOVER. 395 
 
 kid, but generally lamb, and an egg ; on another 
 three cakes, carefully wrapped in two napkins ; on 
 a third, some lettuce, chervil, parsley, and celery, 
 wild succory or horseradish. These are their bitter 
 herbs. Near the sallad is placed a cruet of vinegar, 
 and some salt and water. They have also a dish 
 representing the bricks required to be made by their 
 forefathers in Egypt. This is a thick paste composed 
 of apples, almonds, nuts, and figs, dressed in wine 
 and seasoned with cinnamon. — Every Jew who can 
 afford wine, also provides some for this occasion. 
 
 The family being seated, the master of the house 
 pronounces a grace over the table in general, and the 
 wine in particular. Then leaning in a stately manner 
 on his left arm, as an indication of the liberty which 
 the Israelites regained when they departed from Egypt, 
 he drinks a glass of wine : in which he is followed 
 by all the company. Having emptied their glasses, 
 they dip some of the herbs in vinegar, and eat them, 
 while the master repeats another benediction. The 
 master next unfolds the napkins, and taking the 
 middle cake, breaks it in two, replaces one of the 
 pieces between the two whol? cakes, and conceals the 
 other piece under his plate, or under the cushion on 
 which he leans ; in professed allusion to the circum- 
 stance recorded by Moses that " the people took 
 " their dough before it was leavened, their kneading 
 " troughs being bound up in their clothes.'' ^ He 
 removes the lamb and egg from the table. Then 
 
 ' Exod. xii. 34. 
 
396 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 the plate containing the cakes being lifted up by the 
 hands of the whole company, they unite in rehears- 
 ing : * This is the bread of poverty and affliction 
 
 * which our fathers did eat in Egypt. Whosoever 
 
 * hungers, let him come and eat. Whosoever needs, 
 ' let him come and eat of the paschal lamb. This 
 
 * year we are here : the next, God willing, we shall 
 ' be in the land of Canaan. This year we are ser- 
 
 * vants : the next, if God will, we shall be free, 
 ' children of the family and lords.' 
 
 The lamb and egg are again placed on the table, 
 and another glass of wine is taken. The plate con- 
 taining the cakes is removed, in order that the children 
 may be excited to inquire into the meaning of the 
 festival. If no children are present, some adult pro- 
 poses a question according to a prescribed form ; 
 which is answered by an account of the captivity and 
 slavery of the nation in Egypt, their deliverance by 
 Moses, and the institution of the Passover on that 
 occasion. This recital is followed by some psalms 
 and hymns. After which — (not to proceed with a 
 detail of every particular movement) — the cakes are 
 replaced on the table, and pieces of them are distri- 
 buted among the company, who * instead of the 
 
 * paschal lamb,' the oblation of which is wholly dis- 
 continued, ^ * eat this unleavened bread,' with some 
 
 * The reason assigned by the rabbles for discontinuing the oblation 
 of the paschal lamb and the rites with which it was to be accompanied, 
 is, that those ceremonies can be lawfully performed only in the land 
 of Canaan, all other countries being unholy and polluted. But do 
 the Jews now resident in Palestine perform those services? If not, 
 
FEAST OF PASSOVER. 397 
 
 of the bitter herbs and part of the pudding made in 
 memory of the bricks. 
 
 After this succeeds a plentiful supper, which is 
 followed by some more pieces of the cakes, and two 
 more glasses of wine : for they are required on this 
 occasion to drink four glasses each ; and every glass, 
 according to the rabbies, commemorates a special 
 blessing vouchsafed to their forefathers. The fourth 
 and last cup is accompanied with some passages 
 borrowed from the scripture, imprecating the divine 
 vengeance on the Heathens and on all the enemies 
 of Israel, — The same course of ceremonies is repeated 
 on the second night. — This ceremonial, the modern 
 Jews profess to believe, * will be as acceptable in the 
 * presence of the Lord as the actual offering of the 
 ' Passover.' 
 
 The first two days, and the last two, are kept as 
 days of high solemnity, being celebrated with great 
 pomp, by extraordinary services in the synagogue, 
 and by an abstinence from all labour, nearly as strict 
 as on the sabbath ; except that they are allowed to 
 make a fire, dress their meat, and carry any things 
 they want from one place to another. The four 
 intermediate days are a kind of half-holydays, distin- 
 guished from common days only by the interdiction 
 of servile work, and a long list of particular restric- 
 tions, which it would be tedious, and, after the 
 specimens of rabbinical subtilty and casuistry already 
 
 ■what is the reason of their omission of so important a part of the law ? 
 and can the reason assigned by the rabbies for the omission in other 
 countries be the true one ? 
 
398 MODERN JUDAISM . 
 
 exhibited, unnecessary to recite. The last day of the 
 festival is concluded with the ceremony called Habdala, 
 which, with the omission of the spice, is performed 
 in the same manner as at the close of the sabbath.^ 
 After this they are at liberty to return to the use 
 of leavened bread. — Contracts of marriage may be 
 made, but no marriage is to be solemnized, during 
 this festival. 2 
 
 The thirty-third of the Omer. — ^The sixteenth 
 of the month Nisan was the day for offering an omer 
 or sheaf, the first fruits of the barley harvest.^ That 
 and the next forty-nine days are called days of the 
 omer ; of which the first thirty-two are considered as 
 a season of sadness. The thirty -third of the omer, 
 or the eighteenth of the month Ijar^ is celebrated as 
 a kind of festival ; * the occasion of which is tradi- 
 
 * tionally believed to have been a great mortality that 
 
 * raged among the disciples of rabbi Akiba, and 
 
 * ceased as on this day.'^ 
 
 The Feast of Pentecost is on the sixth day 
 of the month Sivan, the fiftieth of the Omer. From 
 this circumstance it obtains the name of Pentecost , 
 which is derived from a Greek word signifying the 
 
 • See this described, p. 361 — 365. 
 
 ' Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xvii, xviii. p. 383 — 434. Leo Modena's 
 Rites and Customs, P. iii. c. 3. s. 1—10. Abendana's Polity of the 
 Jews, p. 189—192. David Levi, p. 37—61. 
 
 =» Levit. xxiii. 10. Vide Poli Synops. in loc. 
 
 * Abendana, P. 194. David Levi, p. 62. Leo Modena, P. iii. c. 3. 
 s. 11,12. 
 
FEAST OF PENTECOST. 399 
 
 fiftieth. Moses calls it the Feast of Weeks, because it 
 was fixed at the end of seven weeks from the offering 
 of the sheaf ; and the Feast of First Fruits , because 
 an offering was then to be made of two loaves the 
 produce of the corn just reaped.^ This festival, which, 
 it has already been stated,^ now includes two days, 
 is kept with the same strictness as the first two days 
 of the Passover and is celebrated with peculiar services 
 in the synagogues. In some countries it is customary 
 to adorn the synagogues and houses with flowers and 
 odoriferous herbs.^ The book of Ruth is read, be- 
 cause the circumstances it relates took place at the 
 time of harvest. * At this time too, the Jews tell us, 
 ' the law was delivered on Mount Sinai, and there- 
 ' fore that portion of scripture which declares the 
 
 * delivery of the decalogue is solemnly read.'^ The 
 siw hundred and thirteen precepts said to comprehend 
 the whole law, are also formally recited. ^ The 
 morning service of the second day is concluded with 
 prayers for the dead.^ On the evening of the second 
 
 ' Levit. xxiii. 15—21. Numb, xxviii. 26—31. ^ page 375. 
 
 3 Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, P. iii. c. 4. s. 3. 
 
 ■* Abeudana's Polity of the Jews, p. 194. David Levi, p. 63. 
 
 5 Prayers for the Feast of Pentecost, p. 119 — 131. 
 
 The ritual for this feast contains also some curious compositions in 
 iionour of the Law, which several rabbinical writers represent as having 
 been created before the formation of the universe, and which the com- 
 pilers of these offices affirm to have existed * two thousand years before 
 ' the creation of the xvorld.^ p. 70. * two thousand t/ears before God 
 ' began his work.* p. 153. 
 
 ^ This office is entitled ' the memorial or departed souls. It 
 
 * is customary to make mention of the souls of departed parents and others j 
 
 * on the day of Atonement, and the ultimate days of the three festivals,' 
 
400 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 day the festival is terminated by the ceremony of 
 Habdala performed in the same manner as on the 
 eighth day of the Passover.^ 
 
 The se;venteenth of Tamuz is a solemn Fast; 
 which according to the rabbles, is called by Zechariah 
 *' the fast of the fourth month ; " and is now kept 
 on account of several mournful events, — the breaking 
 of the tables of the law by Moses, the cessation 
 of the daily sacrifice in the first temple, and the 
 entrance of the Romans into the city of Jerusalem 
 through a breach in the walls when it was besieged 
 by Titus ; — all which they tell us happened on this 
 day.2 
 
 The ninth of Ab is a very strict Fast, supposed 
 to be the same that Zechariah calls *' the fast of the 
 
 Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, ' and to offer for the repose 
 ' of their souls.' 
 
 * May God remember the soul of my honoured father, A. B. who is 
 
 * gone to his repose ; for that I now solemnly offer charity for his sake ; 
 < in reward of this, may his soul enjoy eternal life, with the souls of 
 ' Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah; and 
 
 * the rest of the righteous males and females that are in Paradise ; and 
 
 * let us say. Amen. 
 
 ' May God remember the soul of my honoured mother, C. D; who 
 
 * is gone,' &c. 
 
 * May God remember the souls of my father and mother, my grand- 
 
 * fathers and grandmothers, my uncles and aunts, my brothers and 
 
 * sisters, whether paternal or maternal, wlio are gone, &c.' Prayers 
 for the feast of Pentecost, p. 181. 
 
 » Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, P. iii. c. 4. s. 5. Vide Buxtorf, 
 Synag. Jud. c. 20. 
 
 » Zech. viii. 19. Abendana's Polity of the Jews, p. 195. David 
 Levi, p. 70, 71. Buxtorf. ihid, p. 564. 
 
FESTIVAL OF THE NEW YEAR. 401 
 
 *' fifth month." It was first occasioned, according 
 to the rabbies, by the burning of Jerusalem by Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, which they tell us began on this day and 
 continued till the next : and it is now further kept on 
 account of the destruction of the second temple, 
 which is said to have happened on the same day. 
 The services of the synagogue are long ; the morning 
 service occupies six hours, from six o'clock till twelve. 
 The book of the Lamentations is read, with other 
 lessons appropriate to the occasion. All labour is 
 suspended, as on the sabbath, and every Jew who is 
 in health is required to observe a rigid abstinence 
 from all meat and drink, from before sun-set when 
 the fast commences, till after sun-set the next evening 
 when it ends.^ 
 
 The Festival of the New Year, which includes 
 the first and second days of Tisri, is celebrated by 
 a discontinuance of all labour except what may be 
 necessary for the preparation for their food, and by 
 long and repeated services in the synagogue. 
 
 It is a received opinion of the Jews that the world 
 was created on this day : and on this day they are 
 taught to believe that God sits in judgment on man- 
 kind. The prayers appointed for this festival contain 
 the following account of the divine procedure. * This 
 ' day three books are opened ; of the righteous, who 
 * observe the precepts ; of the middling ; and of the 
 ' presumptuously wicked. The righteous are in- 
 
 i Zech. viii. 19. Jer. lii. 12. Abendana's Polity of the Jews, p. 195. 
 David Levi, p. 71 — 73. Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xxx. p. 566 — 572. 
 
 2 D 
 
402 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * stantly written to everlasting life, and the wicked 
 ' to the burning fire ; but those whose works are 
 
 * equal, remain in suspense till the day of Atonement. 
 ' If they return from their evil works, are careful to 
 
 * repent, and reform their actions, then will their 
 
 * portion be in life with the righteous ; but, if they 
 
 * do not repent, death is their destination.' ^ In 
 reference to the judgments supposed to be recorded 
 in these books, — * when they come out of the syna- 
 
 * gogue on the first night of the festival they salute 
 
 * each other thus. To a good year shall ye he inscribed : 
 
 * to which they answer. Thou also.'^ To this object 
 also many of their prayers are directed : and the 
 Chassan or reader is considered as the deputy or 
 substitute of those who are * sick or totally ignorant,* 
 and incapable of offering prayers for s themselves. 
 The reader in his prayers describes himself as praying 
 for himself, and for his household and others who 
 have ' deputed ' him ; ^ as sent on a mission by att 
 inestimable congregation.* But it is stated ' that 
 
 * those who wish to be exempted by the reader, must 
 
 * take particular care to attend to him, and not miss 
 
 * one word of what he says ; but this is almost im- 
 
 * possible : because some of the poems are sung 
 
 * aloud in an audible voice by the reader, and others 
 
 * said in a low voice, so as not to be heard by 
 
 * the congregation.^ This defect is proposed to be 
 remedied in some measure, by furnishing the illiterate 
 
 ' Prayers for the New Year, p. 197. 
 » Ihid. p. 49. «* Ibid, p. 49. 
 
 * Ibid. p. 181. ' Ibid. p. 48. 
 
FESTIVAL OP THE NEW YEAR. 403 
 
 with translations of the prayers in the vernacular 
 tongue.^ 
 
 This festival is also called the feast of truw/pets? 
 In the morning service, after the lessons from the 
 Law and the Prophets, they blow a trumpet or cornet, 
 which is required to be made of ram's horn, in 
 memory of the ram which was substituted for Isaac 
 on Mount Moriah. The prayers make frequent 
 allusions to that transaction, which the rabbles affirm 
 to have happened on this day. The blowing of the 
 cornet is preceded by a grace ; and as soon as it has 
 been sounded the reader proclaims, * Happy is the 
 ' people who know the joyful sound : O Lord ! in 
 
 * the light of thy countenance they shall walk.' ^ 
 The shouphar or cornet is sounded many times in 
 the course of this festival. Among other reasons 
 for it, the following is assigned in one of the prayers : 
 ■ thy people are assembled to supplicate thee : they 
 ' blow and sound the shouphar, as it is said in thy 
 
 * law, to confound the accuser, Satan, that he may 
 
 * not be able to accuse them before thee.'^ 
 
 Between the morning and afternoon services, on 
 the second day, it is their custom to go to some river, 
 or to the sea side, and shake their garments over the 
 water. By some, this ceremony is represented as a 
 casting away of their sins and an accomplishment 
 of the prophetical declaration : *' Thou wilt cast all 
 *' their sins into the depths of the sea." ^ And others 
 
 • See p. 339. ' Numb. xxix. 1. 
 
 ' Prayers for the New Year^ p. 100. * Ibid. p. 196. 
 
 • Micah vii. 19. 
 
 2 D « 
 
404 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 say, ' It is customary to go to a river where there are 
 ' fish, to put us in mind that we are taken away 
 ' suddenly, as a fish caught in a net ; we therefore 
 
 * ought to repent while it is in our power, and not 
 
 * leave that for to-morrow which may as well be done 
 
 * to-day.' ' 
 
 The Fast of Gedaliah is kept on the third day 
 of Tisri, and is said to be the same that Zechariah 
 calls '* the fast of the seventh month." ^ It is 
 observed in remembrance of the murder^ of Gedaliah, 
 the son of Ahikam.^ 
 
 The Fast of Atonement is on the tenth day 
 of Tisri. The first ten days of this month are called 
 days of penitence, in which various confessions and 
 supplications are added to the daily prayers. The 
 sabbath preceding the day of Atonement is called the 
 sabhath of penitence, when it is customary for the 
 chief rabbi of each synagogue to deliver a discourse 
 on the subject of repentance. The Jews believe that 
 during all these days God continues his examination 
 of human actions, but defers passing sentence till the 
 tenth ; and that by the repentance and good works 
 even of persons who on the first day are registered in 
 
 ' Prayers for llie New Year, p. 158. Jewish Repository, vol. iii. 
 p. 380. David Levi, p. 75—85. Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, 
 P. iii. c. V. Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xxiv. p. 493—506. 
 
 2 Zech. viii. 19. 3 j^^^ ^li. 2. 
 
 * Abendana's Polity of the Jews, p. 197. David Levi, p. 85. 
 Buxtorf. ibid. c. xxx. p. 572, 573. 
 
FAST OF ATONEMENT. 405 
 
 the book of death, God may be induced on the day 
 of Atonement to transfer their names to the book 
 of life. In one of their prayers they say, ' On the 
 
 * first day of the year it is inscribed, and on the 
 
 * Fast day of Atonement it is sealed and determined, 
 
 * how many shall pass by,^ and how many be born ; 
 
 * who shall live, and who die ; who shall finish his 
 ' allotted time, and who not ; who is to perish by 
 ' fire, who by water, who by the sword, and who 
 
 * by wild beasts ; who by hunger, or who by thirst ; 
 ' who by an earthquake, or who by the plague ; 
 
 * who by strangling, or who by lapidation ; who 
 ' shall be at rest, and who shall be wandering ; who 
 
 * shall remain tranquil, and who be disturbed ; who 
 
 * shall reap enjoyment, and who be painfully afflicted ; 
 ' who shall grow rich, and who become poor ; who 
 ^ shall be cast down, and who exalted. But penitence, 
 
 * prayer, and charity, can avert the evil decree,' ^ 
 
 Among the Jews in many countries it has been 
 customary on the ninth day, or vigil of the Fast, 
 after they return from the morning service of the 
 synagogue to their respective habitations, to perform 
 a ceremony which is evidently designed as a sub- 
 stitute for their ancient sacrifices.^ The master 
 of each house, with a cock in his hands, stands up 
 in the midst of his family, and recites the tenth, 
 fourteenth, seventeenth, and five following verses 
 
 » < This denotes abortions, which may be said to pass by the world 
 ' without entering it.' 
 
 2 Prayers for the Day of Atonement, p. 35. . ^ Levit. xvi. 
 
406 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 of the hundredth and seventh psalm ; to which he 
 adds part of the speech of Elihu in the thirty-third 
 chapter of Job : *' If there be a messenger with him, 
 ** an interpreter, one among a thousand to shew 
 " unto man his uprightness : then he is gracious 
 ** unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down 
 '* to the pit ; I have found a ransom." Then he 
 strikes his head with the cock three times ; saying at 
 each stroke: ^Let this cock be a commutation for 
 
 * me ; let him be substituted in my place ; let him 
 
 * be an atonement for me ; let this cock be put to 
 
 * death ; but let a fortunate life be vouchsafed to me 
 
 * and to all Israel.' Having repeated this three times, 
 for himself, for his family, and for the strangers who 
 are with him, he proceeds to kill the cock ; which he 
 strangles by compressing the neck with his hand ; at 
 the same time reflecting that he himself deserves to 
 be strangled. Then he cuts the cock's throat with a 
 knife ; reflecting, during this operation, that he him- 
 self deserves to fall by the sword. In the next place, 
 he dashes the cock on the ground, to signify that he 
 himself deserves to be stoned. Lastly, he roasts the 
 cock, as an acknowledgment of his own deserving to 
 die by fire. The entrails are generally thrown upon 
 the roof of the house. The cocks used on this 
 occasion are, if possible, to be white ; but a red one 
 is deemed altogether unfit for the purpose. After 
 this ceremony, they repair to the burial ground, 
 where they recite confessions and prayers, and dis- 
 tribute the value of the expiatory cocks in alms to 
 
FAST OF ATONEMENT. 407 
 
 the poor. The cocks are dressed in the afternoon, 
 and eaten before sun-set.^ 
 
 This ceremony is said to have been long disused in 
 Italy and the East, as a groundless superstition.^ 
 Whether the practice generally prevails in the present 
 day, I have not been a'ble to ascertain ; but it has 
 certainly been continued among the Jews in Germany 
 down to a very recent date. 
 
 Before the commencement of the Fast, they en- 
 deavour to settle all their disputes, and terminate 
 their quarrels with each other ; mutually tendering 
 concessions and restitutions to all whom they have 
 affronted or injured, and expressing forgiveness 
 towards their offending brethren .^ Some purify 
 themselves by ablutions, and a few of the more 
 sanctimonious members of the synagogue have been 
 known to undergo the penance of voluntary flagel- 
 lation. This is performed by two persons successively 
 inflicting upon each other thirty-nine stripes, or 
 thirteen lashes with a triple scourge.^ 
 
 In the afternoon they make a hearty meal, to 
 prepare themselves for the approaching Fast which 
 is of the most rigid kind. From before sun-set on 
 the ninth day till after sun-set the next evening, they 
 are forbidden to ' take any manner of sustenance, 
 ' even so much as a drop of fair water.' ^ 
 
 ' Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xxv. p. 508—516. Addison's State of the 
 Jews, p. 186, 187. 
 
 2 Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, P. iii. c. 6. s. 2. 
 
 3 David Levi, p. 89. Buxtorf. ibid. p. 517—519. 
 
 ♦ Leo Modena, ibid. P. iii. c. 6. s. 3. Buxtorf. ibid. p. 521 — 523. 
 
 * David Levi, p. 88. Leo Modena, ibid. P. iii. c. 6. s. 3. 
 
408 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 The synagogue is crowded on this occasion by 
 many IsraeHtes, both male and female, who never 
 visit it on any other day throughout the year. It 
 is also splendidly illuminated with wax candles, 
 which remain burning night and day till the Fast 
 is concluded. 
 
 * On the ninth day at even, at nearly the same 
 
 * hour as the sabbath begins, after having cleaned 
 
 * themselves and dressed in their best apparel in 
 
 * honour of the day, they go to the synagogue to 
 
 * the evening prayers of the Fast ; where they 
 ' remain, saying prayers and supplications, upwards 
 
 * of three hours.' Some devotees remain in the 
 synagogue all night. Those who returned home 
 after the evening service, assemble again at six 
 o'clock the next morning, and continue in the 
 synagogue the whole of the day. The lessons, 
 confessions, and supplications, employ more than 
 twelve hours without intermission. ^ 
 
 It would be tedious to enter into a minute account 
 of the various offices included in these devotions. 
 A general idea of their nature may be formed from 
 the specimens of Jewish prayers already given ; and 
 particularly, the grounds upon which forgiveness 
 of sins is implored and expected, are plainly stated 
 in the passages extracted from the particular services 
 of this Fast. ^ But the special confession and sup- 
 pHcation prescribed for this occasion, and repeated 
 several times in the course of the day, is too remark- 
 
 • David Levi, p. 90-— 98. Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, P. iii. 
 c. 6. s. 4, 5. a Pages 120—125. 
 
FAST OF ATONEMENT. 409 
 
 able to be passed over, and is therefore inserted in a 
 note below. ^ 
 
 * * Our God, and the God of our ancestors, may our prayers come 
 
 * before thee, and withdraw not thyself from our supplications ; for 
 
 * we are not so shameless of face, or hardened, as to declare in thy 
 
 * presence, O Eternal, our God ! and the God of our fathers, that we 
 
 * are righteous, and have not sinned ; verily, (we confess) we have 
 
 * sinned. 
 
 * We have trespassed ; we have dealt treacherously ; we have stolen ; 
 
 * we have spoken slander ; we have committed iniquity, and have 
 
 * done wickedly ; we have acted presumptuously; we have committed 
 
 * violence; we have framed falsehood; we have counselled evil; we 
 
 * have uttered lies ; we have scorned ; we have rebelled ; we have 
 
 * blasphemed ; we have revolted ; we have acted perversely ; we have 
 
 * transgressed; we have oppressed ; we have been stiff-necked ; we have 
 
 * acted wickedly; we have corrupted; we have done abominably; we 
 
 * have gone astray, and have caused others to err ; we have turned 
 ' aside from thy excellent precepts and institutions, and which hath not 
 ' profited us ; but thou art just concerning all that is come upon us ; for 
 
 * thou hast dealt most truly, but we have done wickedly. 
 
 * O may it then be acceptable in thy presence, O Eternal, our God ! 
 
 * and the God of our fathers, to pardon all our sins, and forgive all our 
 
 * iniquities, and grant us remission for all our transgressions. 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee, either by com- 
 ' pulsion, or voluntarily. And for the sin which we have committed 
 
 * against thee with a stubborn heart. 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee out of ignorance. 
 
 * And for the sin which we have committed against thee with the 
 
 < utterance of our lips. 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee with incestuous 
 
 * lewdness. And for the sin wl)ich we have committed against thee 
 
 * either publicly or secretly. 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee with deliberate 
 
 * deceit. And for the sin which we have committed against thee with 
 
 < the speech of the mouth. 
 
 ' For the sin which we have committed against thee by oppressing our 
 
 * neighbour. And for the sin which we have committed against thee by 
 
 * the evil cogitation of the heart. 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee by assembling 
 
 * to commit fornication. And for the sin which we have committed 
 
410 MODERN JUDAISM: 
 
 When the prayers are finished, and night is come, 
 they sound the cornet to announce that the Fast is 
 
 ' against thee by acknowledging our sins with our mouth, but do not 
 ' repent in our heart. 
 
 * For the sins which we have committed against thee by despising our 
 'parents and teachers. And for the sin which we have committed 
 
 * against thee either presumptuously or ignoranlly. 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee with violence, 
 
 * And for the sin which we have committed against thee by the pro- 
 
 * fanation of thy name. 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee with defiled lips. 
 
 * And for the sin which we have committed against thee with foolish 
 
 * expressions. 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee with the evil 
 
 * imagination. And for the sin which we have committed against thee 
 
 * either knowingly or without deliberation. 
 
 * Yet, for all of them, O God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, 
 
 * and grant us remission. 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee by denying and 
 
 * lyings And for the sin which we have committed against thee by 
 
 * taking or giving a bribe. 
 
 * For tlie sin which we have committed against thee by scoffing. And 
 
 * for the sin which we have committed against thee by calumny. 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee in traffic. 
 
 * And for the sin which we have committed against thee in meat 
 
 * and drink. 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee by extortion and 
 
 * usury. And for the sin which we have committed against thee by 
 
 * immodest discourse. 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee by chattering. 
 
 * And for the sin which we have committed against thee with the 
 
 * twinkling of our eyes. 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee with haughty 
 
 * looks. And for the sin which we have committed against thee with 
 
 * shamelessness. 
 
 * Yet for all of them, O God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, 
 
 * and grant us remission. 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee by shaking 
 
 * off the yoke of tliy law. And for the sin which we have committed 
 
 * against thee by liligiousuess. 
 
 1 
 
FAST OF ATONEMENT. 4H 
 
 ended. ^ Then, according to some of their rabbies, 
 they may congratulate themselves on having per- 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee by treachery 
 
 * to our neighbour. And for the sin which we have committed against 
 
 * thee by envy. 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee by levity. And 
 
 * for the sin which we have committed against thee by our stubbornness. 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee by running 
 
 * swiftly to do evil. And for the sin which we have committed against 
 
 * thee by tale-bearing. 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee by false-swearing. 
 
 * And for the sin which we have committed against thee by causeless 
 
 * enmity. 
 
 * For the sin which we have committed against thee by embezzlement. 
 
 * And for the sin which we have committed against thee by ecstacy. 
 
 * Yet for all of them, O God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, and 
 
 * grant us remission. 
 
 * Also for the sins for which we were obliged to bring a burnt-offering. 
 
 * And for the sins for which we were obliged to bring a sin-offering. 
 
 * And for the sins for which we were obliged to bring an offering 
 
 * according to our ability. 
 
 * And for the sins for which we were obliged to bring a trespass- 
 ' offering, for either a certain or a doubtful sin. 
 
 * And for the sins for which we were obliged to suffer the stripes 
 
 * of contumacy. 
 
 * And for the sins for which we were obliged to suffer flagellation. 
 
 * And for the sins for which we have incurred the penalty of death by 
 
 * the hand of God. 
 
 * And for the sins for which wc have incurred the penalty of extir- 
 
 * pation and being childless. 
 
 * And for the sins for which we have incurred the penalty of the four 
 
 * kinds of death formerly inflicted by our tribunal of justice, viz. stoning, 
 
 * burning, beheading, and strangling : for transgressing affirmative pre- 
 
 * cepts, or negative precepts ; whether an action be appropriated thereto 
 
 * or not, as well those which are known to us, as those which are 
 
 * unknown unto us, we have already made confession of them before 
 
 * thee, O Lord, our God ! and the God of our fathers.' 
 
 German and Polish Jews' Prayer Book, p. 145 — 148. Hebrew and 
 English Prayer Book, London, 1770. p. 182 — 186. Prayers for 
 Day of Atonemenlj p. 11—14. et alibi. 
 
 » Prayers for the Day of Atonement, p. 212. 
 
412 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 formed the services of this solemnity with such 
 precision and fervour, that even Satan himself is 
 constrained to applaud their piety. ^ Presuming that 
 all their sins are pardoned, ^ they now depart from 
 the synagogue, wishing each other a good year. 
 After that they bless the New Moon ; and then go 
 home to enjoy a plentiful meal.^ 
 
 The Feast of Tabernacles, or Tents, was 
 divinely instituted, to be an annual commemoration 
 of the manner in which the children of Israel lived in 
 the wilderness, from the time of their departure out 
 of Egypt till their entrance into the land of Canaan.'* 
 It commences on the fifteenth of Tisri ; and as we 
 have already seen,^ is now kept nine days ; being, 
 like the feasts of Passover and Pentecost, extended 
 one day beyond the original appointment. 
 
 * Rabbi Eliezer, apud Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xxvi. p. 537. 
 ^ * Antonio Margarita, a converted Jew of the sixteenth century, 
 ' reproached them with the Col Nidre, an absolution, pronounced at the 
 
 * yearly Fast of Atonement, to all present, for all perjuries and breaches 
 
 * of vows and engagements committed by them in the preceding year. 
 
 * It is so called from the two words with which a prayer used at the Fast 
 
 * begins. But Eisenmenger, in his Entdeckies Judenthum, (Judaism 
 ' unveiled) published in the seventeenth century, upbraids them with 
 
 * pronouncing this absolution prospectively in his day ; that is, for the 
 
 * coming year. A German government, aware of this fact, not long 
 
 * since caused the Jews, when sworn in cases in which Christians were 
 
 * concerned, to make oath that they were not present at the last yearly 
 
 * promulgation of this absolution ; forgetting that, if they were present, 
 
 * this last perjury was also comprised in this precautionary white- 
 
 * washing.' Quarterly Review j No. 75. p. 124. 
 
 ^ Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, P. iii. c. 6. s. 7. David Levi, 
 p. 98. 
 
 ^ Lev. xxiii. 33, 34. » Page 376. 
 
FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 413 
 
 Every Jew who has a court or garden, is required 
 to erect a tabernacle on this occasion. * The inter- 
 ' mediate days, between the day of atonement and 
 
 * the feast of tabernacles, are employed in preparing 
 
 * the tabernacles, and ornamenting them in the most 
 
 * sumptuous manner that each individual can pos-- 
 
 * sibly afford.' To every tabernacle, it is said, ' that 
 
 * there ought to be three good sides of wood, besides 
 
 * the side on which the door- way is. It must be 
 
 * erected in the open air ; not within doors, or 
 
 * under the shelter of a tree. They must not be 
 
 * covered with hides, cloths, or vessels ; but must 
 
 * be covered with boughs, but so loose that the stars 
 ' may be seen, and the rain descend, through them. 
 
 * — The tabernacles, during the festival, are to be 
 
 * accounted as their proper dwellings, and they are 
 
 * obliged to eat, drink, and sleep in them. But sick 
 
 * persons, or such whose health may be endangered 
 
 * by the cold, are exempted from the observance 
 
 * of this precept. Thus also if the rain proves so 
 
 * great, that they cannot live dry in them, or the 
 ' cold is so intense as to endanger their health, 
 
 * they may all return to their houses. Women and 
 
 * little children are also exempted from abiding in the 
 ' tabernacles.'^ In the same Prayer Book from which 
 this account is quoted, it is added, in reference to 
 sleeping in the tabernacles : ^ This is not commonly 
 ' done in northern countries ; although it is allowed 
 
 ' Rules appended to Prayers for the Feast of Tabernacles, p. 237. 240. 
 
414 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * to be extremely meritorious, if it can possibly be 
 ' done without danger to health.' ^ 
 
 The first two days of this festival, and the last 
 two, are celebrated with active and pompous services 
 in the synagogue, and the same strict abstinence from 
 all servile labour as the first and last two of the feast 
 of Passover. Particular prayers and lessons are ap- 
 pointed for the whole of the festival ; but the five 
 intermediate days are kept with less strictness, and 
 the services performed on them differ less from the 
 services on common working days. Against this 
 feast they provide themselves with branches or twigs 
 of citron, palm, myrtle, and willows of the brook ; 
 some of which they take to the synagogue on each 
 of the first seven days, except that which happens to 
 be the sabbath, and hold in their hands during the 
 recital of certain psalms ; the citron in the left hand, 
 the other twigs in the right. With their hands thus 
 adorned they march in procession round the altar, 
 once on the first day, and once on the second. On 
 each of the four succeeding days, they perform two 
 of these circuitions. The seventh day, which is 
 honoured with rather more solemnity than the four 
 preceding ones, is called Hosanna Rahha, that is, 
 
 * assist with great succour : ' * being a solemn accla- 
 ' mation used in the prayers of this day. They also 
 
 * on this day take forth seven of the laws,' or rather 
 copies of the law, * from out of the ark, and carry 
 
 » See also Buxtorf's Synag Jud. c. xxi. p. 446 — 458: 
 
FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 415 
 
 * them to the altar.' To their bundles of boughs 
 they add other branches of willow ; * and with the 
 
 * reader at their head, go seven times round the altar 
 
 * in remembrance of the sabbatical years,' according 
 to some ; or, according to others, in memory of the 
 circumambulation of the walls of Jericho. ^ 
 
 The eighth and ninth are high days, especially the 
 last ; which is accounted a particular festival, and is 
 
 called * THE DAY OF THE REJOICING OF THE LAW.'^ 
 
 On this day three manuscripts of the Pentateuch are 
 taken out of the ark, and carried by the Chassan 
 and two other persons round the altar. Then they 
 are laid upon the desk, and three portions are read 
 by three different persons, one portion from each 
 manuscript. The first of these portions is the last 
 section, or thirty- third and thirty-fourth chapters 
 of Deuteronomy ; for this is the day on which 
 the annual reading of the law is concluded. But 
 as soon as this course is finished, it is immedi- 
 ately recommenced. The second portion now read 
 consists of the first chapter, and first three verses 
 of the second chapter, of Genesis. * The reason 
 of which,' it is said, ' is to shew that man should 
 
 * be continually employed in reading and studying 
 ' the word of God.'^ 
 
 On this day those offices of the synagogue which 
 are annual, are put up to public auction for the year 
 
 » David Levi, p. 101 — 108. Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, P. iii. 
 c. 7. s. 3 — 5. Buxtorf's Synag. Jud. c. xxi. p. 459 — 465. 
 2 Prayers for the Feast of Tabernacles, p. 235. 
 ' David Levi, p. 112—114. Buxtorf, ibid. c. xxvii. p. 540—546. 
 
416 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ensuing, and assigned to the best bidder.^ The whole 
 of these nine days, is a season of great joy and 
 festivity, and the last is the most joyful and festive 
 of all. 
 
 The high estimation in which the members of the 
 synagogue are taught to hold the celebration of this 
 festival, will appear by the following passage from 
 their prayers. * Let not the precept of tabernacles 
 
 * appear frivolous in thy sight ; for its statutes are 
 ' equal to all the precepts of the law : it must be 
 
 * fenced and cleared of stones : it is a beautiful path 
 
 * to everlasting life, with its constitutions -and accu- 
 
 * racies ; for all those that observe it, will never 
 ' stumble ; and all those that slight it, will here- 
 
 * after become a curse ; and in the flame of the day 
 
 * that cometh, their shame will be visible : but they 
 ' who take refuge in it, will incline to righteousness ; 
 
 * they will receive their recompense.' ^ 
 
 The Feast of Dedication commences on the 
 twenty-fifth of the month Chisleu, and continues 
 eight days. It was instituted by Judas Maccabeus 
 and his brethren, in memory of the purification 
 of the temple, and the dedication of the new altar 
 of burnt-offering after the deliverance of Jerusalem 
 from the oppressions of Antiochus Epiphanes.^ 
 The rabbies tell us that when the sanctuary had 
 been * cleansed and dedicated, and the priests came 
 
 * to light the lamp which was to burn continually 
 
 » See page 333. » Prayers for the Feast of Tabernacles, p. 132. 
 
 « 1 Maccab. iv. 43—59. 
 
FAST OF TEVETH. 41'7 
 
 * before the Lord, there was no more oil found 
 ' than what would burn for one night, all the rest 
 
 * being polluted ; and it would take eight days 
 ' time before they could get and prepare' a fresh 
 supply ; because being defiled by the dead bodies 
 of their enemies, they would require seven days 
 of purification, and one day more would be em- 
 ployed in gathering olives and expressing the oil : but 
 that ' the Almighty wrought so great a miracle 
 
 * that that small portion of oil did burn eight days 
 ' and nights till they had got a fresh supply. 
 
 * Wherefore on the first night they light one light ' 
 in the synagogue ; on the second night, two ; on 
 the third night, three ; * adding one every night 
 
 * till the last night, when they light up eight. 
 ' These lamps are to be lighted with oil of olive, 
 ' in commemoration of the miracle ; but where oil 
 
 * of olive cannot be procured, they light with 
 
 * wax.' ^ Hence this feast is also called the feast 
 of lights. It requires no suspension of any business 
 or labour, and beside the lighting of the lamps 
 and a few additions to their ordinary prayers and 
 daily lessons, is chiefly distinguished by feasting and 
 jollity.2 
 
 The tenth of Teveth is kept as a fast, sup- 
 posed to be mentioned by Zechariah as '' the fast 
 " of the tenth month," and said to be occasioned by 
 
 » David Levi, p. 116—120. 
 
 2 Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xxviii. p. 546—562. Leo Modena's Rites 
 and Customs, P. iii. c. 9. 
 
 2 E 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Meats, — Drinks, — Culinary and Table Utensils, 
 
 The writings of the rabbies contaia numerous 
 directions and prohibitions respecting meats and 
 drinks : many of them in conformity with the pro- 
 visions of the law of Moses, and many more 
 without any other foundation than the traditions 
 of the fathers. Some of their regulations and in- 
 junctions have fallen into general disuse, and a 
 minute detail even of those which continue to be 
 regarded would be rather tedious than entertaining 
 or instructive. I shall therefore confine myself to 
 a brief sketch of the principal customs which the 
 members of the synagogue are now required to 
 observe relative to those matters. 
 
 They are not permitted to taste the flesh of any 
 four-footed animals, but those which both chew 
 the cud and part the hoof; as sheep, oxen, and 
 goats : they must not eat rabbits, hares, or swine. 
 They are to eat no fish, but such as have both 
 scales and fins, no birds of prey, nor any reptile. 
 They are required to abstain from all the species 
 of birds or fowls prohibited in the law; but are 
 at liberty to make use of any others. 
 
MEATS AND DRINKS. 421 
 
 They are not to eat the blood of any beast or 
 bird ; nor to partake of the flesh of any beast or 
 bird, whose throat has not been cut in order to 
 drain off its blood. They are not to eat of any 
 creature that dies of itself. 
 
 Cattle, for their use, are required to be slaugh- 
 tered by a Jew, duly qualified and specially appointed 
 for that purpose. After an animal is killed, he 
 examines whether the inward parts are perfectly 
 sound. If he finds the least blemish of any kind, 
 the whole carcase is rejected as unfit for Jewish tables. 
 If it is found in the state required, he affixes to it a 
 leaden seal, on one side of which is the word ("iti^D) 
 Cashe?^ which signifies right, and on the other the 
 day of the week in Hebrew characters. At every 
 Christian butcher's, who sells meat to the Jews, there 
 is a Jew stationed, who is appointed by the rulers 
 of the synagogue to superintend it. When the 
 carcase is cut up he is also to seal the respective 
 pieces. 
 
 Of those beasts which are allowed they are not to 
 eat the hind quarters unless the sinew of the thigh 
 is taken out, which is a troublesome and expensive 
 operation, requiring a person duly qualified and 
 specially appointed for that particular purpose ; and 
 therefore it is rarely done. 
 
 Previously to boiling any meat they are required 
 to let it lie half an hour in water and an hour in salt, 
 and then to rinse off the salt with clean water. This 
 is designed to draw out any remaining blood. 
 
 They must not kill a cow and her calf, an ewe 
 
422 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 and her lamb, or a she-goat and her kid on the 
 same day. 
 
 Equal nicety is required in the slaughter and 
 subsequent examination of birds, or fowls, as of 
 beasts. The knife used on all these occasions is to 
 be very sharp and free from notches. 
 
 From the prohibition in the law, not to *' seethe 
 *' a kid in his mother's milk," it is inferred, that 
 they must not eat meat and butter together. For 
 this reason also they hold it unlawful to eat 
 cheese made by Christians ; tlieirs being made 
 under the superintendence of a Jew, and the milk 
 from which it is made being turned in a different 
 manner. 
 
 For this reason the vessels used for meat are 
 not to be employed for things consisting either 
 wholly or partly of milk : and therefore, both for 
 dressing and eating their different victuals, they 
 are obliged to have different utensils, even to the 
 minutest articles, such as knives, forks, spoons, &c. 
 If by accident either of these kinds of food are put 
 into a vessel appropriated to the other kind, the 
 food is accounted unfit to be eaten ; and if the 
 vessel is of earthenware it is broken in pieces, or 
 thrown aside as useless : if it is of metal or stone, 
 a purgation by passing through fire, or by ablution 
 in boiling water, is sufficient to render it fit for use 
 as before. 
 
 For the same reason, they deem it necessary to 
 
 .purchase their kitchen utensils perfectly new : lest, 
 
 if they were not new, and had been in the possession 
 
MEATS AND DRINKS. 423 
 
 of Gentiles, they should have been polluted by being 
 used for any forbidden meats. ^ 
 
 The prohibitions of the rabbies in former ages, 
 against drinking wine which had been made or 
 tasted by any but Jews, seem to be wholly obsolete ; 
 and with reference to drink, the Jews at present 
 differ little, if at all, from the people among whom 
 they live, except at time of the passover, which has 
 been already mentioned. 
 
 ' David Levi, p. 214 — 216. Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, P. ii. 
 c. 7. P. i. c. 3. s. 1. Vide etiam Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. 33 — 36. 
 p. 593— 619. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII, 
 
 Marriage. — Divorce, — Customs relating to Widows and 
 the Brothers of their deceased Husbands, 
 
 Marriage is accounted the indispensable duty 
 of every Jew. The time which the rabbies have 
 assigned as the most proper for discharging this 
 obhgation, is the age of eighteen ; and men who 
 remain in celibacy long after, are considered as living 
 in sin. Polygamy is sanctioned by the Talmud, and 
 is sometimes practised by the Jews in the East ; but 
 has long been discontinued among their brethren in 
 Europe.^ 
 
 When a marriage is agreed upon, the promise is 
 made before witnesses ; w^hich is called betrothing or 
 espousing. The parties continue betrothed sometimes 
 six months, sometimes a year, or more, before the 
 union is consummated.^ 
 
 Their marriage ceremonies, in different times and 
 places, have exhibited some unimportant varieties ; 
 but the latest of their own writers have given the 
 
 » Leo Modena's liites and Customs, P. iv. c. 2. s. 1, 2. David 
 Levi, p. 131. Addison's Ceremonies of the Jews, c. iv. p. 41. c. viii. 
 p. 71,72. 
 
 ' Leo Modena, ibid. P. iv. c. 3. s. 1. David Levi, p. 132. 
 
MARRIAGE. 425 
 
 following general account of them, as performed in 
 this and other countries in the present age. 
 
 On the day fixed for the solemnization of the 
 nuptials, the bride and bridegroom are conducted 
 to the place appointed for the celebration of the 
 ceremony. The bride is escorted by women, and 
 the bridegroom by men. The company is generally 
 large, including most or all of their friends and 
 acquaintance. Ten men, at least, must be present; 
 or the marriage is null and void. The chief rabbi 
 and chassan of the synagogue form part of the 
 company. 
 
 A velvet canopy is brought into the room, and 
 extended on four long poles. The bride and bride- 
 groom are led to their station under this canopy ; 
 the bridegroom by two men, and the bride by two 
 women, her face being covered with a veil. These 
 two men and two women are always the parents 
 of the bride and bridegroom, if they happen to be 
 living ; otherwise this office is performed by their 
 nearest kindred ; a man and his wife for the bride, 
 and another man and his wife for the bridegroom ; 
 though the bridegroom is led by the men, and 
 the bride by the women. The parties are placed 
 opposite to each other, and then ' the person who 
 
 * performs the ceremony takes a glass of w^ine in his 
 ' hand, and says : ' Blessed art thou, O Lord our 
 
 * God, King of the universe ! who createst the fruit 
 
 * of the vine. Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, 
 
 * King of the universe ! who hast sanctified us with 
 ' thy commandments, and hast forbidden us fornica- 
 
426 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ' tion, and hast restrained us from the bretrothed, 
 
 * but hast permitted us those who are married to us, 
 
 * by means of the canopy and wedlock. Blessed 
 
 * art thou, O Lord! who sanctifiest Israel.' The 
 ' bridegroom and bride then drink of the wine ; after 
 
 * which the bridegroom takes the ring, and puts it 
 
 * on the bride's finger ; saying, *" Behold thou art 
 
 * wedded to me with this ring, according to the law 
 
 * of Moses and Israel.' 
 
 Then the marriage contract is read, which specifies 
 that the bridegroom A. B. agrees to take the bride 
 CD. as his lawful wife, according to the law of 
 Moses and Israel ; and that he will keep, maintain, 
 honour, and cherish her, according to the manner 
 of all the Jews, who honour, keep, maintain, and 
 cherish their wives ; and that he will keep her in 
 clothing decently, according to the custom of the 
 world. This instrument also specifies what sum he 
 settles upon her in case of his death ; and he obliges 
 his heirs, executors, and administrators, to pay the 
 same to her out of the first produce of his effects. 
 
 After the reading of this instrument, the person 
 performing the ceremony takes another glass of wine, 
 and repeats seven benedictions. Then the bridegroom 
 and bride drink the wine ; after which the empty 
 glass is laid on the floor, and the bridegroom, stamp- 
 ing on it, breaks it to pieces. This part of the 
 ceremony is said to be intended as an indication of the 
 fatality of life. Then all the company shout. Good 
 luck to you. The ceremony is followed by a con- 
 tribution for the poor of the land of Canaan. The 
 
 i 
 
DIVORCE. 427 
 
 nuptial feast is as sumptuous as the parties can afford, 
 and continues for seven days.^ 
 
 A Jew is at liberty to divorce his wife at any time, 
 for any cause, or for no substantial cause at all : he 
 himself being the sole judge of its sufficiency. To 
 prevent divorces from taking place on sudden sallies 
 of passion which might afterwards be regretted, the 
 synagogue has ordained several formalities to be 
 observed on such occasions; the execution of which, 
 causes considerable delay, and so allows opportunity 
 for a reconsideration of the matter before the separa- 
 tion actually takes place. There must be a regular 
 Bill of Divorce, written by one of their notaries, 
 with the concurrence of three rabbies, on ruled 
 vellum, and containing neither more nor fewer than 
 twelve lines. Many other punctilios are prescribed, 
 as to the manner of writing, and the form in which 
 it is to be expressed. The following is a translation 
 of one, regularly filled up and executed. 
 
 ' On the fourth day of the week, on the eleventh 
 
 * day of the month Chisleu, in the year five thousand 
 
 * four hundred and fifty four from the creation of the 
 ' world ; according to the computation which we 
 
 * follow here in the city of Amsterdam, which is 
 
 * called Amstelredam ; situated by the side of the sea 
 
 * called Taya, and by the river Amstel. I, Abraham, 
 
 * the son of Benjamin, surnamed Wolff, the priest ; 
 
 * and at this time dwelling in the city of Amsterdam, 
 
 ' David Levi, p. 132 — 136. Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Prayer 
 Book, p, 220, 221. 
 
428 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ' which is called Amstelredam, which is situated by 
 ' the sea-side called Taya, and by the river Amstel ; 
 
 * or if I have any other name, or surname, or my 
 
 * parents, or my place, or the place of my parents ; 
 
 * by my own free-will, without any compulsion, do 
 
 * put away, dismiss, and divorce thee, my wife 
 ' Rebekah, the daughter of Jonah the Levite ; who 
 
 * at this time resides in the city of Amsterdam, called 
 ' Amstelredam, situated by the sea-side called Taya, 
 ' and by the river Amstel ; or if thou hast any other 
 
 * name, or surname, or thy parents, or thy place, or 
 ' the place of thy parents : Who wast heretofore my 
 
 * wife ; but now I put thee away, dismiss and divorce 
 
 * thee ; so that from this time thou art in thine own 
 ' power, and art at thine own disposal, and mayest 
 
 * be married to any other man, whom thou pleasest : 
 
 * and let no man hinder thee in my name, from this 
 ' day forward, and for ever ; and lo, thou art free to 
 
 * any man. Let this be to thee, from me, a bill 
 
 * of divorce, an instrument of dismission, and a 
 
 * letter of separation, according to the law of Moses 
 
 * and Israel. 
 
 * Sealtiel, the son of Paltiel, witness. 
 
 * Calonymus, the son of Gabriel, witness.' 
 
 At the reading and signing of the instrument there 
 must be ten witnesses present, beside the two who 
 subscribe it. On that occasion both parties generally 
 appear before the rabbi, who examines the husband 
 whether this act is the result of his own free choice. 
 Having obtained satisfaction on this point, and seen 
 the instrument duly executed and witnessed, he directs 
 
DIVORCE. 429 
 
 the man to deliver it to the woman. He drops it 
 into her hand with the following declaration : ' Be- 
 ' hold this is thy Bill of Divorce, and thou art here- 
 
 * with divorced from me, and art free to any other 
 ' man.' The rabbi then lays an injunction on the 
 woman not to marry again within ninety days, lest 
 she should happen to be pregnant. 
 
 The man and woman are not allowed to be married 
 to each other again, nor to be together alone. If the 
 woman has been divorced for adultery, she is pro- 
 hibited from marrying the object of that criminal 
 connection. With these exceptions, the parties are 
 both at liberty to marry whomsoever they please. 
 
 A man who is at a distance from his wife, in 
 another country, or beyond the sea, may send her a 
 bill of divorce by a messenger ; but this messenger 
 must be specially appointed, must hear the husband's 
 order to ,the notary to write the bill, must see the 
 writing and signing of it, and must receive the bill 
 from the husband in the presence of the two sub- 
 scribing witnesses, with the following commission : 
 
 * Take this Bill of Divorcement, and deliver it to 
 ' my wife, in any place wheresoever thou canst find 
 ' her; and thy hand shall be as mine, thy mouth as 
 
 * mine, thy act as my act, and thy delivery as my 
 ' delivery ; and I authorize and empower thee, even 
 
 * to appoint another messenger, if needful, in order 
 
 * that the Divorcement may reach her hands : and 
 ' instantly that the Divorcement does reach her hands, 
 
 * either from thy hands or from the hands of thy 
 ' messenger : she is divorced from me, and is free 
 
430 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * to any other man.' When the messenger delivers 
 the instrument, he must do it in the presence of two 
 witnesses, with the following declaration : ' Behold 
 
 * this is thy Bill of Divorcement which thy husband 
 ' hath sent unto thee ; and thou art herewith divorced 
 ' from him, and art free to any other man ; and this 
 ' Bill of Divorcement was written and signed in my 
 
 * presence.' 
 
 Jews sometimes betroth their children when very 
 young. A girl betrothed under ten years of age, 
 to a man she dislikes, is entitled to a divorce at 
 any time before she is twelve years and a day 
 old. She is only required to declare that she will 
 not be married to such a man, before two witnesses 
 who commit her declaration to writing and deliver 
 to her what is called a Divorcement of Dislike. 
 She is then at liberty to marry whomsoever she 
 pleases.^ 
 
 By the law of Moses,^ the brother of any man 
 who had died without issue, and whose wife sur- 
 vived him, was required to marry the widow and 
 raise up seed in his name ; and the first-born son 
 produced by such union was considered as the son 
 of the deceased brother, and succeeded to his 
 inheritance.^ If the surviving brother refused to 
 
 * David Levi, p. 141 — 149. Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, P. 
 iv. c. 6. Surenhus. Mishna, Praefat. in torn. iii. p. 324, 325. Bartoloc. 
 Bib. Rab. torn. iv. p. 550—552. Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xl. 
 
 2 Deut. XXV. 5— 10. 
 
 3 The scripture assigns no other reason or design of this institution, 
 than " that the name " of the deceased ** be not put out of Israel," — 
 
DECEASED HUSBANDS' BROTHERS. 431 
 
 perform this duty, the woman was to complain to 
 the elders of the place where she lived, who were 
 commanded to summon him before them: and on 
 his persisting in a refusal, the woman was, in their 
 presence, to take off his shoe from his foot and spit 
 in his face ; ^ after which she was at liberty to be 
 married to another man. 
 
 " to raise up unto " him " a name in Israel," — " to build up his house." 
 It may gratify the curiosity of the reader, to state some of the 
 discoveries of the rabbies on this subject. One of these oracles of the 
 synagogue informs us, ' that the design of the precept of leviration 
 
 * was for the benefit of the soul of the deceased. For as to the man, 
 
 * who leaves behind him a son ; seeing that there is a concatenation 
 
 * and emanation from the soul of the father unto the son, that son, by 
 
 * choosing what is good, may perfect the soul of his father with the 
 
 * utmost degree of perfection ; according to the saying of our doctors 
 ' of blessed memory, that the son will justify the father; and so by 
 
 * his means, the father may be released from transmigration, or the 
 
 * returning of his soul into a different body. But of his soul who 
 
 * lives and dies childless, having no son ; seeing that it must of necessity 
 
 * be convolved, and return to the earth, the law takes special care that 
 
 * it shall not be circumvolved, except in that bodily and elementary 
 
 * substance which makes the nearest approximation to the one from 
 ' which it has been separated. For this reason it commands, that the 
 
 * brother of the deceased shall marry his wife ; as there can be no doubt, 
 
 * that, if they have a son at all, the matter of which his body shall be 
 
 * constituted, will resemble that of the deceased more than any other 
 
 * substance, whatever, that exists in the world. But unto the first son, 
 ' whom the brother of tlie deceased shall beget of his wife, there will 
 
 * proceed no concatenation or emanation, whatever, from the soul of that 
 
 * father who marries the wife, and performs the part of a brother-in-law 
 
 * to her : on the contrary, such father raises up seed, that is to say, he 
 
 * raises up the body of the son from the seed which he disseminates : 
 
 * but this raising up of the body he does not effect, except for his 
 ' brother ; in order that the soul of his deceased brother may return into 
 
 * it, for the attainment of its perfection.' R. Arjeleh Ben Chajim, Pent 
 Arje. f. 73, cited in Jewish Repository, vol. iii. p. 228, 229, where 
 passages are produced from other rabbies to the same purpose. 
 
 ' Most of the modem Jewish commentators contend that the original 
 
432 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 When there were several brothers, the Mishna 
 states that upon the refusal of the eldest, application 
 is made to the rest : and that if none of them 
 would comply, the first was obliged, either to marry 
 the widow, or to submit to the prescribed indignity.^ 
 By the Gemara, both the obligation and the liberty 
 of marrying the wife of a deceased brother, are 
 restricted to the eldest of the surviving brothers. 
 And by the practice of the modern synagogue, this 
 part of the law is, in fact, entirely abolished : the 
 rabbies oblige their disciples invariably to refuse 
 compliance with the precept; and nothing remains 
 of the original institution, except the ceremony 
 of releasing both parties from a connection which is 
 never permitted to be formed. ^ 
 
 When this affair is to be transacted, three rabbies 
 and two witnesses, immediately after the morning 
 prayers in the synagogue are ended, proceed to some 
 place which they had appointed the evening before : 
 where they are also attended by others of the congre- 
 gation as auditors and spectators. The widow and 
 
 phrase signifies to spit before him : but I have ventured to state the 
 matter according to the interpretation adopted in our English ^version ; 
 which, in this case, is supported by the Targum of Onkelos, and by 
 the Samaritan, Syriac, Persic, Septuagint, and vulgate Versions. 
 The Arabic Version, and the Targum of Jonathan, do indeed render it, 
 spit before him. But in the only parallel passage which occurs, Num- 
 bers xii. 14, a// these authorities agree in rendering, spit in her face ; 
 except the Targum of Jonathan, which has, rebuke her to her face : 
 an expression so evidently intended as a paraphrase rather than a 
 version, that it hardly deserves to be reckoned as an exception. 
 
 » Mishn. Yebamot, c. iv. s. 5. &c. cit. by Dr. Gill; on Mark xii. 21 . 
 
 ^ Jewish Repository, vol. iii. p. 259. 
 
DECEASED HUSBANDS' BROTHERS. 433 
 
 brother-in-law, being called forward, declare that 
 they are come to be released from each other. The 
 chief rabbi questions the man, who avows his 
 determination not to marry the woman. The man 
 then puts on a shoe, used for that purpose, and the 
 woman repeats ; ^ '* My husband's brother refuseth 
 *' to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel ; he 
 '* will not perform the duty of my husband's brother." 
 Then the brother says: " I like not to take her." 
 The woman next, with her right hand, unties the 
 shoe, takes it off, throws it upon the ground, and 
 spits before him, saying, " So shall it be done 
 ** unto that man that will not build up his brother's 
 ** house : and his name shall be called in Israel, 
 ** The house of him that hath his shoe loosed." 
 The persons present then exclaim three times : 
 " His shoe is loosed." The business is concluded 
 by the chief rabbi declaring the woman at liberty to 
 marry any other man, and giving her a certificate 
 to that efi'ect.2 
 
 * It can hardly be necessary to remind the reader, that this and all 
 similar recitals are made in Hebrew. If the woman is unable to go 
 through her recitals alone, she is assisted by the rabbi. 
 
 2 David Levi, p. J 38, 139. Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, P. 
 iv. c. 7. s. 4. 
 
 2 F 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Sickness, — Death, — Burial, — Mourning, 
 
 The Jewish liturgies include prayers for the sick. 
 One circumstance of this ceremonial is too curious 
 to be overlooked. When a person is believed to be 
 dangerously ill it is customary to change his name, 
 with the professed hope of evading or averting the 
 sentence of death which it is apprehended may have 
 been issued against him in the court of heaven. One 
 of their prayer books contains the following 
 
 ' Form of Change of Name. 
 
 * After mentioning the name of the sick person, say : 
 
 ' By permission of the Supreme King of kings ; 
 ' with the knowledge of the blessed God ; with 
 ' the approbation of the celestial tribunal ; we 
 
 * change, alter, overturn, and supersede, the name 
 
 * of this sick person, whose name heretofore was 
 ' A — . And from this day forward, his name shall 
 ' no more be A — : but B — his name shall be 
 ' called. And by the name of B — shall he be 
 ' known, mentioned, called, spoken of, and named. 
 
 Then say : 
 
 ^ May the Supreme King of kings, through his 
 ' infinite mercy, compassionate him, &c.' ^ 
 
 * Spanish and Portaguese Jews' Prayer Book, p. 229. 
 
DEATH. 435 
 
 In a note at the end of this prayer book, the 
 members of the synagogue are taught by their 
 rabbies, that * four things annul an evil sentence 
 ' against a man : charity, prayer, change of name, 
 ' and change of actions, all of which are founded 
 ' on scripture.' The passage of scripture alleged 
 as attributing this efficacy to change of name, is 
 Genesis xvii. 15. ** And God said unto Abraham, 
 *' As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her 
 " name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And 
 ** I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her."^ 
 
 Another of their prayer books has the following 
 Form. * God be merciful unto A — , and restore 
 
 * him to life and wonted health. Let his name 
 
 * henceforth be called B — : let him rejoice in this 
 
 * his name, and let it be confirmed upon him. Let 
 ' it please thee, O God, that this change of his 
 ^ name may annul all hard and evil decrees, and 
 
 * reverse the sentence which has been passed against 
 ^ him. If death has been decreed upon A — , yet it 
 
 * is not decreed upon B — . If an evil decree has 
 
 * been issued against A — , it is not issued against 
 
 * B — . Behold, he is at this hour as it were another 
 
 * man, as a new creature, as an infant just born, to 
 
 * a good life and length of days.' ^ 
 
 When a Jew dies, all the water in the same and 
 adjoining houses is instantly thrown away, and no 
 priest must, upon any account, remain in either 
 
 * Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Prayer Book, p. 19. 
 
 * Italian Jews' Prayer Book, cited by Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xlix. 
 p. 696, 697. 
 
 2 F 2 
 
436 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 of those houses till the corpse is removed. Imme- 
 diately on his decease,! the body is stripped and laid 
 upon the floor, with clean straw under it ; and it 
 remains in that state, watched by a Jew, until the 
 ceremony of cleansing with warm water is performed : 
 part of which ceremony is, to hold up the body 
 erect, and pour over it three successive ablutions, 
 accompanied by a recital of the following passage 
 of scripture, in Hebrew: ** Then will I sprinkle 
 ** clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean from 
 'Vail your filthiness." During this operation some 
 one is to place his hand on the mouth of the corpse, 
 that no water may enter it. ^ 
 
 Near the body are placed a lighted taper, a bason 
 of water, and a clean towel ; that the soul of the 
 deceased may have an opportunity of cleansing itself 
 from the defilements it had contracted during life : 
 for which purpose it is supposed to return to the 
 place every night for a month. These things are 
 kept in the room for thirty days and nights, and the 
 water is changed every morning.^ — ^This ordinance is 
 esteemed peculiarly sacred ; and some members 
 of the synagogue being too poor to purchase these 
 trifling articles, a society was established a few years 
 
 * * In Russian Poland, the Jews bury their dead hastily, believing 
 
 * them to be so when no steam appears on a glass applied to the mouth. 
 
 * If the jolting of the cart recals life and action, they believe that it is 
 
 * a devil who occupies the body, and deal with it accordingly. Thus 
 
 * says a very respectable Jew, an eye witness born and bred there.' 
 Quarterly Review, No. 75, pp. 119, 120. 
 
 * Obligations of Christians, &c. p. 33. David Levi, p. 163, 164. 
 f Obligations Sf.c. p. 34, 35. 
 
DEATH. 437 
 
 ago,* among the Jews in London, to defray these 
 expenses and perform other services, in cases of 
 sickness and death, for their indigent brethren. 
 A copy of a paper pubHshed by this society soon 
 after its formation will be found in the note below.^ 
 * The Jews do not use close coffins, but usually 
 four plain boards, loosely joined together; and 
 the rabbies say, the bottom should only consist 
 
 • In or about the year 1810, A. D. 
 
 2 ' With the sanction of the chief Rabbi — * God has left us a remnant 
 
 * in the superb city of London ; may he thus continue to add to us, until 
 
 * Shiloh come. Amen. 
 
 * We hereby make known, that we, being seventy in number, have 
 
 * undertaken to establish an important matter for the sake of heaven, 
 
 * and for the benefit of that class of poor, who often die in the streets, 
 
 * through some illness, or infirmities of age, having no friend, much 
 
 * less family, to take care of them at such a time. An instance of 
 
 * this happened on Wednesday, Parshath Vayearah. One of the above 
 
 * mentioned class had been ill for many days, unknown to any body ; 
 
 * but it came at last miraculously to the knowledge of some of our 
 (■ brethren, the seed of Abraham, and we immediately adopted that 
 
 * measure, whereby we are distinguished from other nations, viz. 
 
 * bestowing charity. We maintained him to the day of his death, 
 
 * which happened a few days after our discovery ; and after his death 
 ' we went to his funeral ; said prayers for his soul for the first seven 
 
 * days, and had likewise a light burning for him. From that period, we 
 
 * joined in forming a society for the relief of such. It happened, 
 
 * moreover, on Friday the 11th of Adar the first, that we were 
 ' informed of a pious man, called Rabbi Jacob, who had lain many 
 
 * nights in the street, before the door of Mr. Cox, Petticoat Lane. 
 
 * We ordered him to be taken into a room, which he had hired for 
 
 * that purpose, where he had all due attendance till his death, which 
 
 * happened on Wednesday, the 15th of Adar the second, when he was 
 
 * buried in due form. Therefore, we hope that this will be taken into 
 
 * consideration, and will tend to strengthen our Institution. Surely 
 ' by doing so we shall keep the following command — " After the Lord 
 
 * your God shall yc xvalkT Then will the Lord comfort Zion, and send 
 
 * the true Redeemer. Amen.' 
 
438 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 of laths, in order that the worms may destroy the 
 body so much the sooner.^ When the corpse is laid 
 in the coffin, over the other sepulchral garments is 
 put the Tallethy or the square garment with fringes, 
 which the deceased had been accustomed to wear in 
 the synagogue.2 
 
 ' When the body is carried to the place of inter- 
 
 * ment, the coffin is opened ; and some earth, supposed 
 ' to have been brought from Jerusalem, is placed under 
 
 * the head in a small bag, or strewed about the body, 
 
 * as a preservative. The relations and friends of the 
 ' deceased then approach the corpse, one after another, 
 
 * holding one of his great toes in each hand, and 
 
 * imploring him to pardon all the offences they had 
 
 * committed against him in his life-time, and not to 
 ' report evil against them in the other world ; and 
 ' the nearest relations have their garments rent.' ^ 
 
 Among the Jews in some countries, it is customary, 
 after the coffin has been nailed up, for ten men to 
 walk in solemn procession round it seven times ; 
 repeating at the same time, prayers for the soul of the 
 deceased : but this custom is not universal.^ 
 
 * When the coffin is placed in the ground, each 
 ^ of the relations throws some earth upon it ; and 
 ' as soon as the grave is filled, the persons who have 
 
 * conducted the interment, all run away as fast as 
 
 ' For an account of transactions said to take place after death, and 
 the pain which a dead body is supposed to suffer from worms, — see 
 pages 131—133. 
 
 2 David Levi, p. 164. Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. xlix. p. 700. 
 
 ' Obligations of Christians, &c. p. 33, 34. 
 
 * Leo Modena's Rites and Customs, P. v. c. 8. s. 4. 
 
BURIAL. % 439 
 
 ' possible, lest they should hear the knock of the 
 
 * angel, who is supposed to come and knock upon 
 
 * the coffin, saying in Hebrew : Wicked ! wicked ! 
 
 * what is thy Pasuk ? To explain this it is necessary 
 
 * to state, that every Jew is named after a fanciful 
 
 * allusion to some passage of scripture : such as, if a 
 
 * child is named Abraham, his Pasuk is — " Thou art 
 
 * the Lord the God, who didst choose Abram, and 
 
 * broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, 
 
 * and gavest him the name of Abraham." Nehemiah 
 
 * ix. 7. This Pa^uk, in Hebrew, is taught him as 
 
 * soon as he can speak, and he is to repeat it every 
 
 * day, morning and evening, in order that he may be 
 
 * able to answer the angel when he comes to the 
 ' grave. If he is not able to repeat his Pasuk, the 
 
 * angel, it is said, beats him with a hot iron, till he 
 ' breaks his bones.' ^ 
 
 * When the relations return from the funeral, they 
 
 * all sit down upon the floor, and a chair is placed 
 
 * before them, with eggs boiled hard, a little salt, and 
 
 * a small loaf; a small portion of which is eaten 
 
 * by each of them, in order to break the fast which 
 
 * they profess to have kept from the moment of the 
 
 * decease : and ten Jews who have passed the age 
 
 * of thirteen, repeat prayers for the dead morning 
 ' and evening ; and at the close of these prayers, the 
 ' sons of the deceased, or his nearest male relatives 
 ' repeat the Kodesh,^ 2 — ^ prayer which is considered 
 
 » Obligations of Christians, &c. p. 33, 34. 
 » Ibid. p. 35, 36. 
 
440 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 as having sufficient; efficacy to deliver the deceased 
 from hell.^ 
 
 The Jews bury their dead in the profesed belief of 
 their resurrection : but the rabbies say that it will 
 take place in the land of Canaan, and that Israelites 
 buried in other countries will be rolled through sub- 
 terranean caverns till they reach that favoured spot. 
 Hence it is accounted particularly desirable to be 
 buried in Palestine ; and it is not uncommon for 
 Jews in the neighbouring countries when they thinly 
 themselves near their latter end, to remove thither 
 in order to obtain that privilege, and escape the 
 posthumous inconvenience to which they apprehend 
 they would otherwise be subject. * Upon this ac- 
 
 * count,' it is said, * the Jews in Barbary imagine 
 ' their condition to be much happier than those in 
 
 * Northern countries, because they are nearer to 
 ' Canaan, and therefore have a less way to tumble 
 
 * under ground for the resurrection.' ^ 
 
 One of the tokens of sorrow among the Jews for 
 the death of their relatives, is rending their garments. 
 On the decease of a brother, or sister, wife, daughter, 
 or son, they take a knife, and holding the blade 
 downwards, give the coat or other upper garment a 
 cut on the right side, and then rend it about a hand- 
 breadth in length. On the decease of a father, or 
 mother, the rent is made in the same manner on the 
 left side, in all the garments.^ 
 
 ' For this prayer, see p. 188. Note. 
 ' Addison's State of the Jews, c. iii. p. 39. Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. 
 c. iii. p. 35—38. a David Levi, p. 174. 
 
MOURNING. 441 
 
 The interment is succeeded by the mourning, which 
 continues for seven days ; during which they are not 
 to go out of doors or transact any business ; but to 
 sit upon the ground without shoes, receiving the 
 condolences of their brethren, which are generally 
 numerous ; for during these seven days there is free 
 access to every visitant, whether friend or stranger. 
 They are not allowed to shave their beards, cut their 
 nails, or wash themselves, for thirty days.^ 
 
 » David Levi, p. 175, 176. 
 
CHAFfER XXV. 
 
 Brief Notice of the Caraites: — their Situations, — Numher, 
 — Origin^ — and distinguishing Principles, 
 
 The people of whose opinions and ceremonies some 
 account has been given in the preceding chapters, 
 may justly be regarded, and indeed they consider 
 themselves as the successors of the ancient Pharisees. 
 The chief difference between them and their predeces- 
 sors who lived a little before the destruction of the 
 second temple, seems to be, that the traditions, in- 
 creased perhaps in number, and trusted no longer to 
 the uncertainty of oral communication, have for many 
 ages been committed to writing by the Cabbalistic 
 and Talmudic doctors. These votaries of the Talmud 
 and Cabbala form the great body of the Jewish 
 nation throughout the world. 
 
 Beside these there is a small sect of Jews, de- 
 nominated Caraites (D''Knp) that is Textualists or 
 Scripturists, persons attached to the text of the 
 scriptures ; a brief notice of whom will conclude the 
 present work. 
 
 The Caraites are chiefly found in the Crimea,^ 
 Lithuania, and Persia ; at Damascus, Constantinople, 
 
 • Dr. Edward Clarke gives some account of a settlement of Caraites, 
 wliich he visited in his Travels in the Crimea, p. 485. 
 
 1 
 
THE CARAITES. 443 
 
 and Cairo : there are some also at Jerusalem.* Their 
 whole number is very inconsiderable, and at this time 
 perhaps scarcely equals the number of Talmudic Jews 
 in London only. 
 
 They were very little known to the learned in 
 Europe till the close of the seventeenth century. 
 
 » Mr. Wolff, the Jewish missionary, has given, in one of his journals, 
 the following translation of a hymn which forms part of the liturgy now 
 in use among the Caraites in Jerusalem. It is composed in the manner 
 of the Hebrew poetry, in a kind of responsive couplet ; the former clause 
 of each couplet being chanted by the leader, the latter by all the 
 congregation. 
 
 * On account of the palace which is laid waste : — We sit down alone 
 
 * and weep. 
 
 * On account of the temple which is destroyed : — We sit down alone 
 
 * and weep. 
 
 * On account of the walls which are pulled down : — We sit down 
 
 * alone and weep. 
 
 * On account of our majesty which is gone : — We sit down alone 
 
 * and weep. 
 
 * On account of our great men who have been cast down : — We sit 
 
 * down alone and weep. 
 
 * On account of the precious stones which are burned : — We sit down 
 
 * alone and weep. 
 
 * On account of the priests who have stumbled : — We sit down alone 
 
 * and weep. 
 
 * On account of our kings who have despised him : — We sit down 
 
 * alone and weep. 
 
 * We beseech thee : have mercy upon Sion. — Gather the children 
 
 * of Jerusalem. 
 
 * Make haste. Redeemer of Sion. — Speak to the heart of Jerusalem. 
 
 * May beauty and majesty surround Sion. — And turn with thy mercy 
 
 * to Jerusalem. 
 
 * Remember the shame of Sion. — Make new again the ruins of 
 
 * Jerusalem. 
 
 * May the royal government shine again over Sion. — Comfort those 
 ^ who mourn at Jerusalem. 
 
 ' May joy and gladness be found upon Sion. — A branch shall 
 
 * spring forth at Jerusalem / 
 
444 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 Some of the rabbinij^al writers represented them as 
 Sadducees : others asserted them to be successors 
 of the Sadducees, though, unable to contradict their 
 belief of some doctrines which those ancient unbe- 
 lievres denied, they admitted them to be Sadducees 
 somewhat reformed. This representation was generally 
 credited. Of their own books Buxtorf had seen 
 none, Morin only one, and Selden but two. Since 
 that time, a larger acquaintance with Caraite w^rit- 
 ings has enabled Schupart, Trigland, and Wolff, to 
 favour the world with a more accurate account of the 
 principles of this sect than could be obtained from 
 its rabbinical adversaries. 
 
 Some obscurity still hangs over its origin. The 
 Caraites themselves assert that the genuine succession 
 of the Jewish church has been preserved only among 
 them ; and they have produced a catalogue of their 
 doctors whom they affirm to have flourished in an 
 uninterupted series from Ezra the inspired scribe. — 
 Rejecting these pretensions, some learned men have 
 referred their origin to the time when the traditional 
 or oral law was first introduced, together with 
 cabbalistic interpretations of the written law, about 
 a hundred years before the Christian era. They 
 think there is reason to believe that these traditions 
 and interpretations were opposed by a numerous body 
 who maintained the sufficiency of the scripture alone 
 in its literal sense, and became a distinct sect under 
 the name of Caraites. — Others think it more probable 
 that this sect was not formed before the completion 
 of the Talmud by the compilation of the Gemara, 
 
THE eARAITES. 445 
 
 or, at the earliest, not till after the publication of the 
 Mishna. 
 
 But whatever may have been the true period of 
 their origin, it cannot be denied that they have 
 subsisted for many centuries. Two of their doctors 
 who lived in the eighth century seem to have been 
 regarded by the rabbies as formidable opponents ; 
 they have transmitted their names to posterity as 
 
 * Anan the wicked, and his son Saul ; ' not forget- 
 ing to add execrations of their memory. ^ 
 
 ' All the Caraites w*ith one consent receive and 
 ' acknowledge these ten fundamental articles. 
 
 ' 1. That all material existences, the worlds and 
 ' all that are in them, are created. 
 
 * 2. That the creator of these things is himself 
 ' uncreated. 
 
 * 3. That there is no similitude of him, but that 
 
 * he is in every respect one alone. 
 
 ' 4. That Moses our master (peace to his memory) 
 was sent by him. 
 
 * 5. That with and by Moses he sent us his perfect 
 
 * law. 
 
 ' 6. That the faithful are bound to know the 
 ' language of our law and its exposition, that is, the 
 
 * scripture and its interpretation. 
 
 ' 7. That the blessed God guided the other pro- 
 
 * phets by the prophetic spirit. 
 
 ^ 8. That the blessed God will restore the children 
 ^ of men to life at the day of judgment. 
 
 ' See page 139, 140. Note. 
 
444 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 Some of the rabbinii:al writers represented them as 
 Sadducees : others asserted them to be successors 
 of the Sadducees, though, unable to contradict their 
 behef of some doctrines which those ancient unbe- 
 lievres denied, they admitted them to be Sadducees 
 somewhat reformed. This representation was generally 
 credited. Of their own books Buxjorf had seen 
 none, Morin only one, and Selden but two. Since 
 that time, a larger acquaintance with Caraite writ- 
 ings has enabled Schupart, Trigland, and Wolff, to 
 favour the world with a more accurate account of the 
 principles of this sect than could be obtained from 
 its rabbinical adversaries. 
 
 Some obscurity still hangs over its origin. The 
 Caraites themselves assert that the genuine succession 
 of the Jewish church has been preserved only among 
 them ; and they have produced a catalogue of their 
 doctors whom they affirm to have flourished in an 
 unin tempted series from Ezra the inspired scribe. — 
 Rejecting these pretensions, some learned men have 
 referred their origin to the time when the traditional 
 or oral law was first introduced, together with 
 cabbalistic interpretations of the written law, about 
 a hundred years before the Christian era. They 
 think there is reason to believe that these traditions 
 and interpretations were opposed by a numerous body 
 who maintained the sufficiency of the scripture alone 
 in its literal sense, and became a distinct sect under 
 the name of Caraites. — Others think it more probable 
 that this sect was not formed before the completion 
 of the Talmud by the compilation of the Gemara, 
 
THE KARAITES. 445 
 
 or, at the earliest, not till after the publication of the 
 Mishna. 
 
 But whatever may have been the true period of 
 their origin, it cannot be denied that they have 
 subsisted for many centuries. Two of their doctors 
 who lived in the eighth century seem to have been 
 regarded by the rabbies as formidable opponents ; 
 they have transmitted their names to posterity as 
 ' Anan the wicked, and his son Saul ; ' not forget- 
 ing to add execrations of their memory. ^ 
 
 ' All the Caraites with one consent receive and 
 ' acknowledge these ten fundamental articles. 
 
 * 1. That all material existences, the worlds and 
 
 * all that are in them, are created. 
 
 * 2. That the creator of these things is himself 
 ' uncreated. 
 
 * 3. That there is no similitude of him, but that 
 
 * he is in every respect one alone. 
 
 * 4. That Moses our master (peace to his memory) 
 was sent by him. 
 
 ' 5. That with and by Moses he sent us his perfect 
 
 * law. 
 
 * 6. That the faithful are bound to know the 
 ' language of our law and its exposition, that is, the 
 ' scripture and its interpretation. 
 
 * 7. That the blessed God guided the other pro- 
 
 * phets by the prophetic spirit. 
 
 * 8. That the blessed God will restore the children 
 ^ of men to life at the day of judgment. 
 
 ' See page 139, 140. Note. 
 
446 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ' 9. That the blessed God will render to every man 
 ' according to his ways and the fruit of his deeds. 
 
 * 10. That the blessed God has not rejected his 
 
 * people in captivity, even while under his chastise- 
 ' ments ; but it is proper that even every day they 
 ' should receive their salvation by Messiah the son 
 
 * of David.' 
 
 They agree with other Jews in denying the Messiah 
 to be come ; and professing to believe that his advent 
 has been delayed, they discourage all calculations 
 respecting the time of his appearance. The principal 
 difference between them and their brethren consists 
 in their adherence to the letter of the scripture, 
 and rejection of all the interpretations, paraphrases, 
 additions, and constitutions of the rabbles. The 
 following exposition of the causes and reasons of their 
 dissent from the great body of their nation, whom 
 they call rahbinists, is from Caleb Aba, one of their 
 most eminent doctors, who flourished about the end 
 of the fifteenth century. 
 
 * The causes of the schism in the house of Israel, 
 
 * between the Caraites and Rahbinists, are principally 
 
 * three. 
 
 ' First. — ^The Rahbinists think that many things 
 ' were delivered orally to Moses on mount Sinai, 
 ' which are not comprehended in the written law ; 
 
 * that these things were delivered by Moses to Joshua 
 ' his disciple, by Joshua to the elders, and by them 
 
 * to their successors from generation to generation : 
 ' so that all these things were never written by the 
 
 * hand of Moses, but were transmitted by oral tradi- 
 
 « 
 
THE CARAITES. 447 
 
 tion only, till a period arrived in which, when the 
 oral law was in danger of being wholly forgotten, 
 it was thought expedient by the men of that age to 
 commit to writing whatever each individual had 
 received from his predecessor. — But we Caraites 
 believe none of these things ; but only those which 
 the blessed God commanded to him who was 
 faithful in his house, even all things that are found 
 written in the law: of which it is said, '* Thou 
 shalt keep his commandments and his statutes 
 which are written in this book of the law : " ^ And 
 the command to Joshua was : ** This book of the 
 law shall not depart out of thy mouth — that thou 
 mayest observe to do according to all that is 
 vnritten therein." ^ Concerning the king moreover 
 we read, *' that he shall write him a copy of this 
 law — to keep all the words of this law."^ And 
 beside these passages there are others, which shew 
 that there was no precept delivered orally, which 
 was not likewise committed to writing ; and con- 
 sequently that w^e have no other law, beside that 
 which the blessed God hath given to us in writing. 
 ' Secondly. — The rabbinists maintain, that those 
 things which are written in the law require ex- 
 positions to be derived from the Cabbala, which 
 they fabricate according to their own fancy. But 
 we, on the contrary, believe that all scripture brings 
 with it its own interpretation : and that if in some 
 places it is very concise, there are others in which 
 
 ' Deut. XXX. 10. 2 Joshua i. 8. ' Deut. xvii. 18. 
 
448 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 * its sense is more fiiUy stated, and that the scripture 
 
 * is to be considered as addressed to beings endued 
 ' with understanding. Now every one knows that 
 
 * the object of speech is admitted to be, to declare 
 ' the meaning or intention of the speaker. If it were 
 
 * not so ordered, there would be no advantage in 
 
 * language ; it would be altogether useless. And I 
 ' would wish any one to inform me what should 
 ' compel the blessed God to write his law in such 
 
 * a language and style as no one can understand, 
 ' even by applying legitimate methods of interpre- 
 ' tation by which the meaning and scope of an author 
 
 * are generally elicited ; so that the blessed God after 
 
 * having delivered a written law should be under 
 ' the necessity of elucidating and explaining it by 
 
 * an oral law. Is it not written, ** Moses began 
 ' to declare or explain this law, saying ? " ^ It is 
 
 * also written, " The law of the Lord is perfect : " ^ 
 
 * but if it required an oral explication, nothing 
 ' can be more imperfect. Besides, if the language 
 
 * employed does not clearly explain the meaning 
 
 * of him who commands or advises, what it is that 
 ' he does command or advise ; the person com- 
 ' manded or advised may easily plead, I have done 
 
 * all that I have been directed ; understanding the 
 
 * language in a sense different from the secret 
 ' meaning. This observation is clearly applicable 
 ' to the sense of precepts, exhortations, and other 
 
 * laws and statutes which are supported by penal 
 
 ' Deut. i. 5. » Psalm xix. 7. 
 
THE CARAITES. 449 
 
 ' sanctions : the blessed God cannot justly punish 
 ^ a transgressor, on account of any thing respecting 
 ' which he has not sufficiently declared his mind 
 
 * and will to the person required to observe it. 
 
 * " Far from God be wickedness, and iniquity from 
 ' the Almighty/' 1 '' Shall not the Judge of all 
 'the earth do right? "2 cc ^ q^^ ^f truth." 3 
 
 ' '' Who teacheth like him? "^ If they allege that 
 
 * tradition furnishes an explication of those passages 
 
 * which are deficient in precision, or equally sus- 
 
 * ceptible of contrary interpretations, this seeming 
 
 * obscurity wholly arises from the ignorance of those 
 ' who study the law. It may also be affirmed with 
 ' the greatest truth, that their tradition delivers a 
 
 * comment which is evidently foreign from the sense 
 
 * and meaning of the written law : and as I have 
 
 * said before, is very often contrary to it, and alto- 
 ' gether subversive of it. Behold, this is not the 
 
 * true exposition, nor is such the ordinance of the 
 
 * blessed God, but consists wholly of constitutions 
 
 * and fancies of their own. 
 
 ' Thirdly. — ^They assert that the law has given 
 
 * them the power of adding or diminishing, in those 
 
 * things which pertain to the precepts and exhort- 
 
 * ations of the law, according as shall appear right 
 
 * to the wise men of each generation ; even, they 
 ' say, if those wise men should decree the right 
 ' hand to be the left, or the left hand to be the 
 
 * right. But this we altogether deny, because it is 
 
 » Job xxxiv. 10, ^ Genesis xviii. 5. 
 
 3 Deut. xxxii. 4. " Job xxxvi. 22. 
 
 2 G 
 
450 MODERN JUDAISM : 
 
 ' written : " Ye shall not add unto the word which 
 
 * I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought 
 
 * from it." And again : '* Thou shalt not add 
 ' thereto, nor diminish from it." ^ And if there 
 
 * happen any things requisite to be observed and 
 ' performed which are not plainly and explicitly 
 
 * stated in the law; or any things written, which 
 ' we think are not to be taken in their literal or 
 
 * most obvious sense : if the scripture does not at 
 ' the same time intimate this, we are led to inquire 
 ' and investigate what consequences may be deduced 
 ' and collected from the law according to the design 
 
 * of the scripture. For the law is given to intelligent 
 ' beings, who know how to infer one thing from 
 ' another. Nor should you conclude that the law 
 
 * is defective, or that this makes any addition to it ; 
 ' it is rather a fence or barrier that we may not fall 
 
 * into such snares. And God intended these things 
 
 * in the divine law, and has apprized us respecting 
 ' them.' 
 
 These three principal differences involve some 
 others. They differ from the rabbles also in various 
 particulars respecting the Feasts of Passover, Pen- 
 tecost, and Tabernacles. They reject the rabbinical 
 Calendar, and celebrate the Feast of New-Moon only 
 when they can see it. They observe the sabbath 
 with far greater strictness. They make use of 
 Talleth; but they have no Mezuzoth, or Tephillin, 
 contending that the passages of scripture in which 
 
 * Deut. iv. 2. xii. 32. 
 
THE CARAITES. 451 
 
 the rabbies suppose these things to be enjoined, 
 require a figurative interpretation. They considerably 
 extend the degrees of affinity in which marriage is 
 prohibited. They admit of divorce, but not on 
 the shght and frivolous grounds allowed by their 
 Talmudical brethren, nor for any other cause except 
 adultery.* 
 
 * Schuparti Secta Karseorum Dissertationibus aliquot Historico- 
 Philologicis adumbrata. Jenae, 1701. Triglandii Diatribe de Secta 
 Karaeorum. Delphis, 1703. Wolfii Notitia Karaeoram. Hamburgi, 
 1714. Wolfii Bibliotheca Hebrsea, torn. iii. p. 1081 — 1094. torn. iv. 
 p. 1059 — 1115. Bruckeri Historia Critica Philosophise, torn. ii. 
 p. 706 — 743. Basnage's History of the Jews, B. ii. c. 8, 9. Beausobre 
 et L'Enfant, sur le Nouv. Test. torn. i. Pref. Gen. p. 82—84. 
 
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