Sabbath Through all their Offices there is still something peculiarly relating to the hastening of Elias to the end that he may not only loose their knots or resolve their scruples but give them timely notice of the advent of the Messias But notwithstanding that their Offices for the Sabbath contain excellent things according to their way of Worship yet they have therein many things apparently trivial and ridiculous Of which we may give example in their praying over the Lamps Wine and Spices which are brought unto the Synagogue Where the Wine being consecrated it is carried home that therewith they may sprinkle their houses to preserve them from Witchcraft and Sorcerous Incantations Some likewise wash therewith the parts of the Body that are infirm and conceive that the consecrate Wine yields present cure The Spices also being hallowed are made use of to refresh the Soul that is left alone in the Body when the Sabbath is ended for on that day only they hold that every Male Jew has two Souls But the consecrate Wine and Spices have yet an higher purpose and vertue For with the Spices they refresh the Souls below on the week-dayes because the fire of Purgatory thereon is believed to send forth a very grievous stench And by pouring some of the consecrate Wine upon the ground they imagine Corah and his fellow-Mutineers to be assisted For they are of Opinion that that factious crew are still living in flames under ground It cannot be denyed that albeit the Sabbath Offices of the Jews are taken for the greater part out of Scripture but that they entertain a very Carnal sense thereof and that the whole Rest tends more to gratifie the Body than to serve God And to engross this Ease unto themselves and to show that the Sabbath was purposely appointed for their sakes and that none other have thereunto any right or title as also to declare their just Dominion over all other people in the world the Jews in Barbary imploy their Slaves in all manner of servile Offices upon this day And on it too give solemn thanks unto God That he has put no less difference between Israel and the Gentiles than between light and darkness the six days and the seventh Mr. Selden observes out of their Rabbins that there were three things peculiarly commanded the Israelites namely Circumcision the Tephillim and the Sabbath The first was expresly commanded Gen. 17. the second in Exod. 13. and the third Exod. 31. Now this last was so particularly commanded to the Israelites that the Jews think no Gentile has any share therein that they are not bound to its observation and therefore cannot be punished for the breach thereof And upon this account as we but now intimated they imploy their servants and slaves who are not of their Religion in every sort of drudgery upon the Sabbath that their Doctrine may be illustrated by their Practice And for a further Argument of the appropriation of the Sabbath to the Jews they wear thereon no Phylacteries because without those the Celebration of the Sabbath is thought sufficient to distinguish them from all other Religions in the World The Jewish Masters have raised no few disputes concerning the cause and reason of the Institution of the Sabbath with the persons to whom it belongs the time when its observation began together with its obligation both upon the Originarie and Proselyte Jews All which are industriously collected and learnedly discoursed by Mr. Selden lib. 3. cap. 10 11 12 13 c. de jure Nat. Gentium juxta Disciplinam Hebraeorum What we have already set down concerning these Sabbatine Rites hath respect unto the Jews in Barbary whom I find to harmonize herein with the Jews of other Countries Now because the Sabbath and its Rites make up a great part of their present Religion I thought it not improper to insert the Rules of the Sabbath which are practised by the European Hebrews as they are set down by Mr. Buxtorf in the tenth and eleventh Chapters of his Synagogue I have been enforced to make use of a young Pen in the Translation thereof and to deliver them to the Press without either Perusal or Transcribing and therefore desire the Reader to correct and pardon what faults may therein occur CHAP. XVI How the Jews Prepare themselves for the Sabbath and how they begin it WE read how the Jews prepared themselves on the sixth day according to that of Exodus 16.5 23. To morrow is the rest of the Holy Sabbath unto the Lord bake that which ye will bake to day and seeth that which ye will seeth Which they interpret of providing all necessary things against the Sabbath that they may the better honour it but especially all Dyet is to be prepared and dress'd that they may have the better leasure to hallow the Day And to this end whatsoever they intend to eat on the Sabbath they make ready on Friday before night the women chiefly are employed in making sweet-meats of divers sorts and when they make ready their dough they make it in a great lump undivided but if the lump be so great as it is in large families that it must be divided the remaining part is kept covered lest a neighbour seeing it may be ashamed that others have provided for the next Sabbath and he not for the present Every one according to his Ability hallows the Day with three splendid Banquets They begin the first on Friday-night before the Sabbath the second on Saturday at noon the last in the evening of the Sabbath And they justifie the performance of this Ceremony from Moses his writings where concerning Manna it is thus expressed Exod. 16.25 Eat that to day for to day is a Sabbath unto the Lord to day ye shall not find it in the fields Here the Rabbies say that Moses meant by repeating the word Day three times that they should in their Banquets on the Sabbath thrice eat of the Manna But the repetition of those Banquets hath some other meaning as is evident by their Book of Ceremonies written in the German Dialect For unless they had been commanded to eat at three set-times they would have so indulged themselves that the whole Sabbath would have been a time only to eat and drink but because all knew when they were present at one Banquet that they must attend on two more every one observed that moderation agreeable to their particular appetites and befitting such a Solemnity thinking on the dainties which they should again shortly taste What is moreover meant by this Banquet and how much they reckon of it shall a little after be declared Moreover none whether noble rich or wise ought to think it beneath him to do something in the honour of the Day For though a man have an hundred maids yea though he have the command of a thousand servants yet he himself ought with his own hands to do something in the honour of the Sabbath And so we read
dinner and supper Which if they reckon right make up the sum At the saying of the Benediction for Gods giving them the Law they stand up with their heels joyn'd together and their toes opened bowing their heads toward Hierusalem They have also a Prayer which is said by the Priest alone wherein he desires God that he would be pleased to pardon all those who have been negligent and unattentive at the time of Prayer But I could not finde this Prayer in their Breviary though with some curiosity I perused it to that purpose Besides the Sabbath they keep Monday and Thursday as weekly Holy days On each of which they read three Sections of the Law the first by a Koên whom they suppose to be descended of Aaron the second by a Reputed Levite and the third Section by a Common Jew As concerning the keeping of Monday and Thursday Holy and reading the Law thereon as well as on the Sabbath after a more Solemn manner the Vulgar Jews give no other account thereof but Custom and the Pleasure of the Masters But those who pretend to give a Rationale of their Rites refer it to an Institution of Ezdras grounded upon the peoples wandring three dayes without water in the Desart of Sur in memory whereof he appointed the Law to be thrice solemnly read every week Now to be without water say they is to be without the Law for which interpretation they bring Esay 55.1 Others think that Thursday and Monday are set apart for the solemn Lesson of the Law in memory of Moses's going the second time into the Mountain to renew the Tables of the Law which hapned say the favourers of this Opinion upon a Thursday and to have returned thence upon a Monday Upon which dayes some of the preciser sort keep a strict Fast like those in St. Luke 18. and in all probability for the same end On these two dayes they have besides the usual Office a proper Prayer which from the first words thereof bears the title of Vehu-rachum which is said with singular attention Of old this Prayer used to work Miracles but by reason of some great delinquency in the present Jews it has lost this Efficacy CHAP. XV. Their Ceremonies about the Book of the Law Their Manner of Celebrating the Sabbath The Offices which thereon are Solemniz'd c. IT is a Canon strictly observed by the Jews That a Book of the Law is necessary to the Constitution of a Synagogue And therefore the first thing they provide in order to set up a Synagogue is a Copy of the Law and a Chest or Ark wherein to lay it up Now that which is called the Book of the Law is The Pentateuch written in a large Character on Parchment which is dressed according to the manner of the Phylacteries The Parchment is rolled up upon two staves to make it the more convenient to be carried in Procession It is also usually wrapt up in a covering of Linnen Silk Tissue c. As for the piece of Tapistry pictured with divers Birds which was the old-fashion'd Covering of the Ark the Jews in Barbary use no such thing for they abhor all manner of Imagery in their Service as minding them of the Idolatry of their Fathers for which they conceive themselves to be still punished and also out of an averseness to be thought to imitate those Christians who have offensively introduced Pictures into their Oratories not only for Ornament but Veneration But to return to the Law The Jews pay the five Books of Moses so great a Reverence that they never suffer them to be taken out of the Chest or looked upon but on three dayes namely Monday Thursday and Sunday when they are read and this too in the Morning because it is esteemed the purest part of the day 'T is true they use also to show the Law to the people on the Sabbath-night but it is because the whole day is hallowed The taking out of the Law belongs to a Noted Rabbi or in his absence to one of the more ancient and Devouter Jews But to carry it in Procession within the Synagogue is sold to him who is able to give most for the Place As we have observed in the Officers of the Synagogue At the taking out of the Law the Officer turns himself to the people and repeats this Versicle Come and extol God with me and let us praise his Name together And at the Elevation of the Law the people bow their Faces toward it and make a long Respond wherein they declare their own vileness and magnifie the Majesty of God And when the Rabbi holds up the Law and opens it he speaks these words This is the Law which Moses laid before the Children of Israel and which proceeded from God whose ways are all just The word of the Lord is pure and a defence to all those who believe it When the Law is carried from the Ark to the place where it is appointed to be read all the people there present sing the Hymn of Moses Numb 10.35 Rise up Lord and let thine Enemies be scatter'd and let them that hate thee flee before thee By which they wish and pray for the Destruction of all those who are not of their Religion When they carry the Law either to the Reading-place or in Procession there is always one who steps up to him that carries it and kisseth the Covering thereof for it were to defile the Law to kiss either the Letters thereof or the Parchment whereon they are written And he who doth this with a Voice moderately elevated blesseth God for having made the Jews his peculiar people and that he hath given them his Law When the Book returns from Procession and has put on its Coverings all the Males in the Synagogue kiss it in Order as the Papists do their Pax and when they have done the Officer gives the Book an Elevation and so lays it up in the Chest And as it returns thither they say the words of Moses at the resting of the Ark Numb 10.36 Return O Lord unto the ten thousand thousands of Israel The Pentateuch is divided into fifty two Sections to the end that it may be read over upon the fifty two Sundaies in the Year And in reading it they are bound to be very plain audible and articulate Because every tittle thereof is of singular weight and moment The last Lesson constantly falls upon September the twenty fifth which immediately follows the Feast of Tabernacles And when this Section is read over the Chasans or those who read the Law declare a great joy and satisfaction that they lived to make an end of the Annual Lesson They also praise God that notwithstanding the many Miserie 's befaln them they are still in possession of the Law in which all other Blessings are abridg'd On the day when this last Section is read all the Copies of the Law are brought forth of the Ark about which the people dance in
us to carry a bundle of Palm At this time also the Law is brought to the Reading-place about which they walk with great state and nothing but threatning and victory appear in their looks This they do seven times in memory of their Fathers compassing the walls of Hiericho But others say That this compassing of the Reading-place seven times is in prediction of the certain ruine of their Enemies And this notice of the Ceremonie is very agreeable to the Execratory which is now used by them Wherein they profoundly curse the Christians desiring that God would smite them as he did the First-born of Egypt And though this Direful Prayer is not found in that Liturgie printed at Venice as I above-mentioned yet I am assured by a good Author that it is extant in the Machsor of the Cracovian Impression Upon the last day of this Festival the last Section of the Law is constantly read and the first Section begun For they begin and end the Lesson of the Law on the same day to declare their joy therein This last day of the Feast of Tents is called the Great day of the Feast S. John 7.37 where Tremelius observes that on the last of Tabernacles the antient Jews used to incompass the Altar as the modern Jews now the Reading-place with Palms in their hands crying Hosanna that is Preserve us we beseech thee Whence it was called Hasanna Rabba or the Great Hosanna or the Chief of the Feast And that on the same day they drew water from the Well of Shiloah at the foot of Mount Sion and brought it to the Temple where the Priests mingled it with the best Wine and poured it on the Altar and that the people sang these words of Esay With joy shall they draw water out of the Wells of Salvation To which our Saviour is thought to have alluded in that speech which on this day he made use of S. John 7.38 Every one that believeth in me out of his belly shall flow living waters When they have built their Tabernacles they may not use them till the Father of the Family hath consecrated both them and all the Utensils of the Feast wherein he gives God thanks that he hath chosen and sanctified the Jews above all other Nations and that to them only belongs the habitation in Tents At the expiration of the Feast when they come out of their Tabernacles the Chief of the Family saith these words God grant that the following year we may dwell in the Tent of the Leviathan The mystery of which Prayer depends upon the Opinion that the Jews have of eating with their Messias of the great Fish called a Leviathan which they imagine to be of a Poetical Magnitude and preserved on purpose for that great Entertainment to which they shall all be invited by Messias at his coming And the Prayer above-named has respect to this Opinion and designes no more than their desires that their King may have a speedy advent And having now taken this short view of the present Rites wherewith the Jews celebrate their three Cardinal Feasts their Minor Festivals come next to be considered Among which their Purim or Feast of Lots merits the first remembrance For to it is allotted a proper Office which honour is not granted to any of the rest CHAP. XXI Of the Jews Purim or Feast of Lots THe word Purim is Persick and signifies Lots and the Feast bears this name from the occasion of its Institution which without the trouble of transcribing is to be seen at large in the Book of Esther The Mischiefs plotted against the Jews falling upon their Enemies and those being killed by them who designed their destruction and all this happening upon the 13 of the Month Adar answering to our February and ending upon the 14 of the same Month in memory of their own deliverance and the destruction of their Enemies the Jews keep those two daies Festival whereon they both happened In the Celebration of this Feast they at present use these Ceremonies First they light up great store of Lamps that thereby they may testifie their joy and read over the Book of Esther At which both the women and children are bound to be present Who at the naming of Haman make an hideous noise beating with their hands and stamping with their feet and at the same time pronounce these words Let his name be blotted out Let the name of the ungodly come to naught Cursed be Haman blessed be Mordachee Cursed be Zeresch but blessed be Esther Cursed be all Idolaters and blessed be all Israelites Which Maledictions are now applied to the Christians And when they come to that passage concerning the death of Haman's Sons they huddle it over without pause or distinction intimating that they were all killed in a moment and that they hate to be long mentioning them When they come out of the Synagogue they fall to eating and drinking and are therein much more liberal at this than any other time And they have a Rule that at the Feast of Purim they should drink till they cannot distinguish between Cursed be Haman and blessed be Mordachee At this Feast the Rich supply the Poor with Wine and Viands and for two daies none undertake any Servile work The women especially are to keep Holy-day in honour of her who was the occasion of their Deliverance At this Feast also they salute one another with presents and bestow large Alms upon the Needy in compliance with what their Great Patriot commanded Esther 9 20 21 22. Where he established the Institution of the Feast of Lots The Mattins of this Feast begin with extolling Gods mercie and power in their Deliverance After which follow the Proper Lessons out of Esther When those are finished the Chasan leaves the Pulpit and saith part of the Dayly Service Their Vespers they begin with this Psalm My God my God why hast thou forsaken me c. and then again a Lesson is read out of Esther and after that the ordinary Evening-Service Then follow four Benedictions and all is concluded with select Psalms Purim is the last of their Anniversary Festivals for happening in Adar there is none between it and Easter which alwaies falls in Nisan the Month that began the Year when the Hebrews came out of Egypt and which still keeps that place in the Computation of their Greater Feasts Besides their Purim and the three Capital Feasts which we have already considered the Jews have other Minor Festivals as that of Reconciliation Dedication Church-Officers New year and Lunar Mutations of which take this short account in their Order And beginning with their Feast of Reconcilement or Expiation we finde the ground thereof in Lev. 16. and an express Statute for its Celebration v. 29. In the seventh month on the tenth day of the month ye shall afflict your souls and do no work at all whether he be one of your own Country or a stranger ihat sojourneth among you v. 30.
old their Fathers appointed them in the Holy Land 16. He that putteth a Stumbling-block before the Blinde or causeth him to slip 17. He that hindereth the Common people in keeping any Commandment 18. The Priest that suffereth a torn Beast to be Sacrificed 19. He that killeth a Beast for the Sacrifice and doth not first try his Knife before a Master Rabbi or Wise man 20. He that is morose and backward to Learn 21. He that keeps company with the Wife whom he has Divorced 22. The Wise man that is ill-reported or of a bad fame 23. He that doth undeservedly Excommunicate another 24. He that profaneth the Festivals These were the old primarie Causes of Excommunication most of which are now in present use with the Jews Those indeed relating to the Sacrifices because they now have none are quite out of use As also that which respects their selling of Land or House for in Barbary they have none but what they hire The kindes or rather the Degrees of Excommunication in antient use with the Jews were the three above-named whereof the Niddui is by some Christian Authors reckoned the lowest sort and by which they understand a Separation from or a casting out of the Synagogue which usually lasted 30 days but might be of a shorter or longer continuance as the Offended gave signes of Repentance During the time of this Excommunication the party was not to come within four Cubits either of a man or Woman nor to dress or trim himself as at other times yet they say he was admitted to Instruction to hear Divine Service to hire others to let out himself to work on condition of observing the four Cubits distance but now mentioned But if the Consistory pleased upon the contumacie of the Excommunicate they might retrench these Priviledges and aggravate the Penance even to the denial of his Son Circumcision and the Burial of his Dead Also if himself died he was denied all usual Rites of Burial and a great Stone laid upon his Grave in token that he deserved to have been Stoned to death The denouncing of this Excommunication was not always confined to the Court or Consistory which at this day cannot consist of fewer than three Masters for it was in the power of any private person to Excommunicate those whom they found guilty of the thirteenth cause of Excommunication and he that was herein negligent incurr'd the like penalty But they were presently absolved lest it should become a Snare and an offence unto others And to restrain them to Sobriety herein the Court had power to punish him that did it rashly From these private Excommunications their Superiours Rabbins and chief Lawyers were Exempt for these had a priviledge to Excommunicate and Absolve themselves The form both of Extrajudicial and legal Excommunication was one and the same which is this N. Let him be Excommunicate And the Excommunicate upon Repentance was absolved in this form N. Thou hast Absolution or thy offence is forgiven thee But at the time of Absolution the Court had power to correct the Trespasser with Stripes The second kinde of Excommunication was called Shammatha the same with the Maran-Atha think the most And it sounds saith Mr. Selden according to the opinion of some The Lord cometh He would not have his Shammatha at all to differ from Niddui which opinion he grounds upon some sayings in the Talmudick Commentaries But J. Drusius intimates otherwise when he saith the Jews were wont to Excommunicate per maledictionem that was their Cherem or Anathema per Separationem that was their Niddui and by Maranatha the same with Shammatha and by others of that kinde By this last intimation I conceive may be meant the Anathema Maranatha Their Shammatha was a total Exclusion from the Church a blotting them out of the Book of Life and not permitting them the least communion in things of publick Religion And by the word Shammatha they signifie the coming of the Lord to take Vengeance upon those who are thus Excommunicate And it was never pronounced upon the offender till he became desperately irreclaimable A third kind of Excommunication was the Cherem which enforced the Niddui when the offender within 30 daies gave no signes of Amendment nor sought to be reconciled A new form of Excommunication was now used containing dreadful Execrations Imprecations and Cursings of it As to the Maranatha an old Spanish Author tells us it got the signification of Anathema upon this occasion The Jews glorying of their Messias to come commonly used the word Maran Our Lord in opposition whereunto the Christians used to say Maran Atha Our Lord or Messias is come already Whereupon no small strife arose betwixt them The Jews frequently out of contempt saying Maran and contumeliously called the Christians Maranites On the contrary the Christians replied Maran Atha affirming that their Lord was come already And hence it grew that the Spaniards call those Maranos who being discended of Jewish Parents and being Christians turn Apostates and yet expect the coming of Messias But the Maranatha is certainly of far greater antiquity than in this story it can pretend to For it was used in S. Paul's time as 1 Cor. 16.22 doth cleerly testifie Where an old English Translation cited by Mr. Selden of an hundred twenty and five years standing renders Anathema Maranatha Let him be had in Execration to death Meaning perhaps that the Excommunicate should die under this severe Censure For Anathema being added to Maranatha by a general agreement was the highest degree of Excommunication There were indeed two sorts of Cherem in the Old Testament the one a Consecration of things to Gods Service by separating them from Common and Ordinary use Of which we read Lev. 27.28 And as in the case of Hierioâ—â— where pilfering or stealth of such things as were devoted was punishable by death Jos 7. The other sort of Cherem was a devoting of persons unto death But the Cherem we now speak of was in our Saviours time a very fearful kinde of Excommunication among the Jews In which with Solemnity and Authority and a heap of direful Execrations and Cursings a man was turned out of the Synagogue And this sort of Excommunication was so dreadful that for fear of it many principal Jews who believed on Christ durst not confess him S. John 9.22 12.42 and 16.2 Of the manifold use of this Cherem among the antient Jews Mr. Selden has made so plentiful a Collection that the Reader may there best be satisfied De jure naturali gentium c. lib. 4. c. 7 c. That which upon this subject I have here to take further notice of is the Antient Form of their General Cherem or Anathema as it denotes the severest Censure of the Jewish Church The Form I shall here insert is taken out of that Ritual which they call Sepher Colbo or Pandects and which was used against all those Israelites who wilfully and knowingly transgressed any chapter of
There are some Jews who to be esteemed Devout rise very early every morning to lament the ruines of Hierusalem and the Temple and they hope by the merit of so doing to move God to hasten their reparation and the restoring of the Kingdom to Israel And there are those who believe that the Planets and Stars weep with those who in the night shed tears for the City and that when they run down their cheeks God puts the tears in a bottle and keeps them to blot out all the Edicts which at any time shall be made by their Enemies for their Destruction But to return to their Mattens There is a general Tradition among the Jews That at night the Gates of Heaven are shut up and that the good Angels sit silent by them and that the Evil Spirits are then at liberty to wander up and down to effect their projects And that a little after Midnight the Gates of Heaven are opened with so great a noise that the Cocks here below are therewith awaken'd and Crow to awaken them to their Prayers And that this might not be thought to be the melancholy of some few imagining Jews they have put it into their general Lyturgie wherein for this good Office of the Cock they thus give thanks Bendito tu Adonai nuestro Dio Rey del Mundo dâ—n al Gallo distinto para entender entre dia y noche Blessed be thou Adonai our God King of the World who hast given understanding to the Cock to distinguish the night from the day But the Oraisons we have now been speaking of relate to their private Devotions which are preparative to the publick To which later they are not suffer'd to repair till they have dressed their bodies according to prescription And to a stranger they seem herein very antick and humoursom For beginning with their Shirt that must not be put on but after such a secret manner that the very beams of the house must not be privy to their Nakedness and therefore they creep under the Counterpane or Coverlet while they put on their Mutands And for this they cite and praise the Example of one Master Jose who upon his Death-bed gave God thanks that through the whole course of his life the timber of his Bed never discovered his Natural retirements Much of this stuff might be set down relating to their present manner of dressing themselves as how that the left-foot-shooe must be put on before the right c. But the love of brevity has prevailed with me to omit them When they have accoutred themselves for the Synagogue at the leaving of their Apartments they are commanded moderately to bow down their Heads to express thereby their great sadness for the desolation of the Temple Before they go to publick Prayers they use all manner of needful Evacuations of the Body and when for this purpose they enter their Retraits the Devouter beseech the Angels to stay at door till they come out whom they thus accost Most Holy and most Glorious Ministers of the most High I beseech you keep preserve and help me wait till I go in and come out for this is the custom and way of all men They account it a hainous Sin to retard the Natural Purgations of the Body because thereby they may incur Distempers And to this unsavoury purpose they alledge Levit. 20.25 but for what reason is not so easily to be comprehended But their chiefest bodily preparation consists in washing which is a Ceremony bestowed on all those parts of the body that are more notoriously liable to be unclean And the hands which according to their Masters after sleep are venemous and impure by reason of the noxious spirits lodged as they opine in the palms thereof when they are asleep are first of all to be punctually washt For they hold that if a Jew should touch his eyes nose ears or mouth with unwasht hands he should be troubled with dimness of Sight Catarrhs Deafness and a stinking Breath In washing their hands they hold them up that the water may run down to their Elbows Which elevation of their hands Ceremony of washings help to explain the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 St. Mark 7.3 which has made so much stir among Criticks At the time of this preparative washing the Jews say this Hymn Bendito tu Adonai Nuestro Dio Rey del Mundo que nos Santificò en sus en comendancas y en comendò sobre limpieza de Manos Blessed be thou O Lord our God King of the World who hast sanctified us with thy Commandments and enjoyned us cleanness of hands Where by Commandments must not be understood any strict Law of Moses in this particular but of the Tradition of their Elders or injunctions of their Antient Sanhedrim by which they are bound to wash not only when they go to the Synagogue but also whensoever they eat To which Custom that passage of Saint John 11.6 has an unquestionable reference For the water-pots which were set ready at the Feast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were for the Jews to wash in before they did eat But we speak not here of their every-dayes washing but of that which they now use in order of preparation to their publick Devotion which is the last thing they do before they go to the Synagogue And if any occasional defilement happen as they go as the touching of a dead Carkass the killing of a Flea for a small thing will defile a Jew they presently wash their hands before they appear in the solemn Worship There were other sorts of washing of old among the Jews as that of the Priests when they went to the Temple to officiate in imitation whereof arose the washings and lustrations among the Gentiles There was also another sort of washing belonged to their Proselytes at their reception into the Church of the Jews of which we have already spoken something in their Proselytism CHAP. XIII Of the Jews Zizith and Tephillim or Phylactery or Prayer-Ornaments WHen the Jews prepare for Morning-Service they with singular circumspection put on their Zizith and Tephillim which are properly their Prayer-Ornaments and so necessary an accoutrement for the Synagogue that they are the chief Cognizances and badges of Religion without which they cannot hope that their Church-Services should be accepted The wearing of the Zizith or Fringe they collect from Exodus 15.37 And they very confidently assert that a careful observation of the Commandment concerning the Zizith is a fulfilling of the whole Law And they ground this peremptory position upon a Mystery which their Gemalria has found in the word and manner of its making For say they the Zizith hath five knots representing the five Books of Moses and the eight threds added thereunto make thirteen which together with the Numeral Letters in the word it self amount to six hundred and thirteen which is the number of all the Commandments contained in the Law And therefore they conclude that the right wearing of the
of the deceased hasten from Purgatory and rush into the water they first meet with to wash off the stink of the smoak and cool their flames and therefore the Rabbies have strictly charged that no water should be drawn at that time lest those sad Souls should be disturbed as we read in Ritualibus eorum Whilst they are intent on their Devotion two Angels approach one good another evil and place themselves one against another in the Synagogue if they hear any one praying or repeating his Lecture with a godly intention him the two Angels lead forth with their hands on his head saying Thy iniquity is taken away and thy sin is purged And if at their entrance into the Synagogue they find the Candles well kindled the Table well furnished the Bed covered with clean Linnen then the good Angel saith I wish I may see all things in this posture the next Sabbath and the bad Angel is forced to say Amen But if things are not well order'd then the bad Angel sayes as the good before I wish I may find all things thus the next Sabbath to which the good Spirit though unwilling sayes Amen When they come home they sit down at the chief place of the Table where the Salt is placed with a Cup of Wine and two Loaves covered with a Napkin Then the Master of the Family taking the Cup of Wine consecrates the Sabbath saying The sixth day the Heavens and the Earth were finished and all the host of them and on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made and rested the seventh day from all his work which he had made and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his work which God had created and made Gen. 2.1 c. Then adds Blessed art thou O Lord our God Creator of the Vniverse who hast created the fruit of the Vine Blessed art thou O Lord God Creator of the Vniverse who hast devoted us to thy Praecepts and hast given us a holy Sabbath and in thy good pleasure hast left us an heritage as a remembrance of the Creation it is a token of the Communion of Saints and a remembrance of the departure out of Egypt for thou hast chosen and sanctified us among all Nations thou out of thine abundant goodness hast left to us thy holy Sabbath Blessed art thou O Lord who hast hallowed the Sabbath When he hath said this he tasts the Wine and delivers it to all present to taste then he removes the Napkin and takes the two Loaves but cuts them not before Prayers as they do on week-dayes but forthwith sayes Blessed art thou O Lord our God Lord of the World who hast caused the Earth to bring forth bread After this he cuts and eats a piece of bread and gives to all that are present in larger shares than on week-dayes and all to honour the Sabbath wherein all niggardliness is contemned Whil'st the Wine is consecrating every one looks diligently on the Candle because the wise Rabbies write that if they travel hard on week-dayes they loose much of the strength of their eyes and looking on the Candles at the Consecration of the Wine is an effectual remedy The Bread is covered on the Table that its vileness in respect of the Wine may not be seen for in the Law it is mentioned before the Wine though consecrated after it as it is written Deut. 8.8 A Land of Wheat and Barley and Vines Where the Wheat and Barley of which the Bread is made are first named yet consecrated last on the Sabbath and if it were not covered it would be much despised The Rabbies say that it is covered in remembrance of the Manna For in the Wilderness the Dew fell then the Manna after that the Dew so that the Manna lay betwixt the Dew after the same manner as the Bread is laid on a Table-cloth and covered with a Napkin and for this reason the holy women bake a sort of Wafers which they eat instead of Manna Their Flesh-pyes are made like ours the Meat is laid on a thin cake and covered with another of the same sort so that it lyes as the Manna did betwixt the Dew And they take two loaves because on Fridays in the Wilderness they gathered a double quantity of Manna as it is written Exod. 16.22 But on the sixth day they gathered twice as much Bread What we shall chiefly Note is that on the Sabbath they much indulge their Genius as is observable in the Law Esay 58.13 where the Sabbath is called a delight that is that we may enjoy all delights that day and so ought all our Feasts to be according to that Thou shalt rejoyce in thy Feasts that all may be done to the honour of God wherefore thou may'st eat and drink and cloath thee decently that so thou may'st truly honour the Sabbath but don 't be excessive in thy charge All this is contained in Libello Timoris where the Reader may see with what Charms they excite their Devotion by repeating such short Sentences as these following Prepare to keep the Sabbath and Rest from all thy work If all things necessary are provided thou art praise-worthy Yea if thou have a great retinue of Servants and Maids The Day requireth strict observance Be content and thou hast plenty enough Wear good Habit for the Sabbath is called a Bride Provide the choicest diet for the Day And observe all Ceremonies carefully Come with a good Appetite Prepare good Wine Flesh and Fish Cover the Bed decently Let the Table be furnished splendidly Anoint thy Head but be not proud Sharpen thy Knife and cut thy Meat modestly Cast the parings of thy Nails into the fire Do not grudge Wine at the Consecration Wash thy hands and feet for this is no trivial Injunction Have a good courage Wash all thy Cups Be not mindful of any injuries Rejoyce with thy Wife and Children Banquet thrice in the day Speak nothing but what may cause mirth Besides these they have a Book of all the Blessings for the Feasts of the whole year amongst other these are observable Wear such Habit as may donote mirth Consecrate the Candle that it may burn well Finish all thy work on Friday and rest Eat all dainties Fish Capons and Quails Walk softly for the Law commands meekness and morning-rest Silk Garments are of much account and they who wear them also The Sabbath is holy and he who rightly observes it Let no care trouble you though Spiders be in your houses Be merry and jolly though at other mens charge Get the best Wine Fish and Flesh and Banquet thrice that day If thou observe all this thy reward is great And Ye women see that the Candles be lighted and be attentive Your convenience will be much when you are with Child And if you provide plenty of Wafers you shall easier conceive and bring forth with joy But lest the curious Reader may think
therefore better keep on our Journy and save our lives than with certain danger both of body and life hallow the Sabbath But the third repli'd Truly we ought not to stir hence but here to keep the Sabbath God who hath commanded us so to do is able to preserve 〈◊〉 safe The other two persisted and broke the Sabbath but the third pitched his Tent and there abode he covered the Ground instead of a Table with a Cloth and on it laid the Provision he had with him and so betook himself to Prayers that being ended he satâ— down to eat of the first Banquet of the Sabbath the Attendance he had was a terrible Bear almost pin'd with hunger the good Jew was almost afraid and gave the Guest a piecâ— of Bread and had faith that God would preserve him the Bear took the Bread and attended on him The Jew after supper betook himself again to prayer and so to sleep and the Bear lay down by him in the morn hâ— was very glad that the hungrie Bear was sâ— kinde as to spare his flesh and for it gave God â—hanks and so provided for his Morning-prayers he then dined and after sup't and did all his duty When the Sabbath was ended he went on his Journey the Bear still following him The same night it fortuned that his Companions fell among Thieves who stripped them of all they had At length this devout Jew and the Bear overtook them and though the Beast was so kinde to him it was not for want of natural fietceness for he soon tore the other two in pieces Then the Godly Jew began to be afraid but whilst he mused with himself the Thieves beset him and asked who he was whence he came and whither he was going he told them he was a Jew and that he came from the Kings Palace they asked whence he had that Bear he answered The King gave it as a Companion One of the Thieves told the other that surely this Person was beloved of the King that he had given him such a guard The other said Let us give him all our money and follow him through this Wood that the Bear hurt us not So they gave him all their money to conceal them and going far with him at length departed the Bear also returned to the Wood. And from this storie the Jews conclude that they ought to observe the Sabbath in whatsoever place they are and commit themselves wholly to the protection of God Almighty CHAP. XVII How the Jews hallow the Sabbath and how they end it IN the morning they rise not up so early as on other days but for the greater pleasure in honouring the day they sleep a good part of the morning And for this custom the Rabbies have consulted the Writings of Moses and finde in Numb 28. where it is spoken of daily Offerings that it is expressed by the word Babboker mane that is the morning but when it is spoken of the Offering of the Seventh day it is expressed by the words Die Sabbathi that is the Sabbath day intending this meaning that the daily Offerings were to be performed Antelucano tempore that is at break of day and instead of this on the Sabbath they had Morning-prayers and referred their Offering till later in the morn therefore the Jews sleep longer than on other daies to prepare them for Prayers When they repair to the Synagogue they pray as on other but longer and sing more Hymns to honour the day they put not on their Phylacteries as on other daies because they think the Sabbath it self is a sufficient signe of the Jewish Faith and ordained only for them to hallow and have therefore no need of Circumcision and Phylacteries though both are signes by which Jews are distinguished and known They bring the Book of the Law out of the Ark after the same manner as is declared in the ninth Chapter They read a Section out of the Law and divide each Section into seven Lessons to be read by seven choice men After the reading of the Law they read Lessons out of the Prophets which are agreeable to the Writings of Moses of which custom this is the Original When in old time they were forbidden to read Moses they chose a Section out of the Prophets which agreed with the Writings of Moses of this there is mention in the Acts of the Apostles Act. 13.27 They which dwell at Jerusalem and their Rulers knew him not nor the Voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath day And again Act. 15.21 Moses of old time hath in every City them that Preach him being read in the Synagogue every Sabbath But though they are not forbidden the reading of Moses yet they keep the Old custom and read the Prophets after Moses They pray also for the Souls of the dead who have not kept the Sabbath aright For the Rabbies suppose that they both before and after the Sabbath are tortured in Hell-fire and therefore they pray for them on the Sabbath that thereon they may have rest They continue in prayer not after the sixth hour of the day being forbidden to fast or pray longer as they plead from the place so often recited Thou shalt call the Sabbath a Delight Here they say that the word signifying in Hebrew Delight is written without the Letter ד which signifies six by which the Prophet meant implicitly that they should pray but till the sixth hour When Morning-prayer is ended they provide for the second Banquet and to honour the day they generally indulge their Appetites but if it happen that any one have a strange Dream as if he should see the Book of the Law or his house burn or his teeth strook out or suchlike portending evil he has liberty to abstain from meat till the evening He who in a dream is offended with meat and delights in fasting may do as he himself pleaseth and he that is so grieved that he cannot refrain from tears he may weep for by it grief is eased and such pleasant weeping honours the day but he that fasts on purpose on the Sabbath is bound to fast the next day after that thereby he may do Penance for detracting from the honour of the day After Dinner the Rabbies have thought fit to studie or read in Sacred Writ for one of the chief Rabbies relates that the Sabbath made complaint that God had given to every thing a companion and equal except to it and God answered Israel shall be thy companion for on the Sabbath they shall learn the Law whereas others are idle The Law also came and complained saying When Isarel returns into his own Land one possesseth his Vine another his Field Who then shall regard me To which God said Israel shall respect thee for on the Sabbath they shall not labour And considering this they have thought it fit to spend some time after dinner in studying the word of God that the Sabbath or the Law might have no
it to Embrace and Kiss it to Weep over it and after all perhaps to cast it to the Ground to let the people see they meant not there to terminate their Worship the very sight hereof doth as much induce the Jews to hate Christianity as any reason can be alledged to perswade them to love and Embrace it These are the Terms in which the Jews with whom I have conversed do stand who above all that has been said derive the greatest obstruction of their Conversion from their own obstinacy being not more scandalized than stifneckt nor less untractable within than offended without And as proud of their opinions as they are despised for them Glorying in their Ancestors and Founders in Gods Temple and Oracles peculiar promises and Prerogatives long continuance in Honour and Prosperity and indefatigable in their Expectation of being Triumphantly recollected and Victoriously to Reign over the Edomites when the promise of their Messias shall be perform'd which has as they say so long beyond the appointed time been protracted by reason of their own Vnworthiness A SUMMARY DISCOURSE Concerning the Jewish TALMUD MISNA GEMARA HAving in the former part of the Antecedent Discourse observed That there are no Jews to be met with who adhere to the Old Bible without Talmud-Traditions I thought it would be disagreeable neither to the Reader nor the Subject to give a succinct account of the Talmud Misna and Gemara in order to facilitate the meaning of the Traditions above-mentioned And waving all Critical reserches into the word Talmud which makes so great a Noise in the World it may suffice to observe that by a sort of Metonymy it signifies the Book containing the main Doctrines of the Jews which by way of Eminence is called the Talmud or Doctrinal So that the word Talmud may as well be used for a System of Christian as Jewish Doctrines for any thing therein to the contrary The two Talmuds of which hereafter are according to Mr. Selden the Pandects of the Jews Sacred and Civil Laws and they are generally received of the present Hebrews for the Great Body of their Learning and Standard by which the whole Israelitick Nation is to regulate both their Conversation and Doctrine And there needs no other Testimonie of their great esteem hereof than the RR's frequent using it in the proof and Confirmation of their Tenets For it is very observable that the Talmud is oftener brought in Vindication of their Religion than Moses the Prophets and Holy Writings Insomuch that they make it and not the Old Bible the Touchstone of their Doctrine and that into which they resolve the Decision of all their Cases Nor are they herein greatly blameable seeing they esteem the Talmud of equal Authority with the Canonical Scriptures and no more inferiour thereunto than a Law given by word of mouth is to one in Writing For the Jews hold there is a twofold Law which they are bound to observe the one written which is contained in the five Books of Moses the other Oral which they call the Misna or Traditional Law which God gave to Moses at the same time he did the other but did not commit it to Writing but left it to be preserved and propagated Orally Some of the Masters gifted with a wonderful Sagacity with great assurance maintain that Moses during his abode in the Mount could not discern the time of Night from the Day but by the delivery of these two Laws That when God gave the Written Law he knew it was Day and that it was Night when he gave the Oral And R. Eliesar as a late Author writes affirms that Moses read the Scripture by Day and the Misna by Night But this will scarce sound congruously if it be considered that the Misna was not written and therefore could not be Read till some thousand years after Moses received it in the Mount And as to the reason why God would not suffer it to be written it was the profound Mysteriousness of its Nature say the Masters which to have communicated by writing to the Vulgar People would have been no better than to give Holy things unto Dogs and to cast Pearls before Swine Others are of opinion that God foreseeing how the Nations would Transcribe the Books of the Law Prophets and Holy Writings and pervert them to Heretical and Impious Doctrines lest they should to the like to the Misna or the Second Law for so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies he would not suffer it to be committed to Letters And here it may be pardonable to take notice of two things first that by the Holy Writings which the Jews call Cetaphim they understand the Books of Daniel Psalms Proverbs Job Canticles Ruth Lamentations Ecclesiastes Ezra Nehemiah Chronicles and that they were Compiled or Collected by Esdras and the Seniors of the Synagogue after the Jews returned from Babylon Next that the Jews were of old so cautious of preserving their Law secret to themselves that they would not suffer it to be Translated into any other Language out of their own Insomuch that in the daies of Ptolemy when the Penteteuch was put in Greek by the Jews of Alexandria they say that as if God had been therewith displeased there happened three daies of darkness over the whole Earth And to testifie their own abhorrence of so execrable a fact the Jews appointed a solemn Fast to be kept upon the eighth of Tebeth as the immortal Joseph Scaliger hath observed But to return That Moses in the Mount did receive from God not onely the Written Law but also a secret Explanation thereof seems to have been the opinion of Origen of the third and Hillary of the fourth Age. And this Explanation is supposed to have been none other but the Misna or the Oral and Second Law we now speak of which was preserved as the Cabala of the Creation and of the things happening before the Flood by Tradition from minde to minde to use Mirandula without Letters by word of mouth For Moses thus delivered it to Aaron and he to his Sons they to Joshua Joshua to the Elders the Elders to the Prophets the Prophets to the Great Synagogue and so it was drawn down by the Rabbins of successive Ages of whom the Famous Ramban has given an account And in this state the Misna continued till many years after the Nativity of our Blessed Saviour even till Rabbi Jehuda who for his Piety was called the Saint and for his singular love to his Nation and knowledge in their Law the Prince perceiving that this Oral Tradition grew difficult and that thereby the Misna was in no small hazard to be utterly lost or grievously corrupted by reason of the extreme dispersion of his Nation collected all the Notes taken by the Jews to assist their Memories which contain'd any thing of the Misna and digested them into one Volume which he called the Sepher Misnaioth or the Book of Traditions And this was no sooner compiled than