Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	day_n	labour_n	sabbath_n	1,437	5	9.7656	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30785	The Jewish synagogue, or, An historical narration of the state of the Jewes at this day dispersed over the face of the whole earth ... / translated out of the learned Buxtorfius ... by A.B., Mr. A. of Q. Col. in Oxford.	Buxtorf, Johann, 1599-1664.; A. B., Mr. A. of Q. Col. in Oxford.	1657 (1657)	Wing B6347; ESTC R23867	293,718	328

of doores either to take a journey or to doe any other businesse CHAP. X. The preparation of the Jewes to the Sabbath and how they begin the same IT is written in the second booke of Moses That upon the sixt day they gathered twice as much bread and a little after this is that which the Lord hath said To morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord bake that which you will bake to day and seeth that yee will seeth and that which remaineth over lay up for you to bee kept untill the morning These words force the Jewes to this conclusion that it is their duty and Gods command too that they should provide all things necessary pertaining to the honourable celebration of the Sabbath especially dainty and delicate meates which they ought to boile or bake betimes upon the Friday morning whereon they may feed upon the Sabbath and with more facility rest from their labours The women are in a more particular manner enjoined to prepare great store of palate pleasing wafers who while they are kneading and making ready the dough they are very ceremoniall therein leaving the lump whole If the bignesel cause a necessity of division which is often seen in great families then the one part thereof is covered with a cloth that it may not be ashamed and put an open scandall by the other part in that it is provided in the last place for the Sabbaths repast They honour the Sabbath with three banquets all served in much pompe The first whereof they celebrate upon Friday at night when the Sabbath begins The second upon the day it selse about twelve of the clock The third and last upon the evening of the same These to be the due times they prove out of those words of Moses Eat that to day for to day it is a Sabbath unto the Lord to day yee shall not find it in the field From the word to day thrice repeated the Rabbines conclude that Moses in this place doth signif●e that manna ought to be eaten at three severall times upon the Sabbath orderly succeeding one another This institution according to the same Doctors in their Dutch Minhagin is profitable in another respect That is if only one banquet should be provided every one would with such gredinesse feed thereupon that his guts should be sufficiently stuft for the rest of the ensuing time even untill the end of the Sabbath But now seeing that every man knowes that one banquet being ended two more are to succeed his stomack hath no such edge to the first as otherwise it had but living in a very temperate manner he eats his meat with pleasure conscious of a second and third returne to the table What other Rites they practise shall hereafter be manifested In the time of preparation no man must thinke it a thing unseemly or derogating from his birth or riches to worke with his owne hands that the preparation to the Sabbath may be compleat And although some one man there were who had an hundred thousand men and maides yet ought not to be a meere overseer of their labours but a partaker and that in honour of the Sabbath According to that which is recorded in the Talmud that the good and honest man Rabbe Chasda would fall a chopping pot-herbes Those learned men Rabba and Rabbi Joseph would cleave wood Rabbi Ezra would make the fire Rabbi Nachman would sweep the house and would moreover provide all manner of instruments necessary for the table Meates either boiled or roasted are kept hot in an oven because they are better hot then cold The tablestands covered all the day and night long which hath a mysticall signification as hereafter shall bee declared Furthermore they wash their heads and use the help of a barber if need require The women ought to attire their heads and plate their haire to goe into some hot bath or else to wash their hands in hot water Upon every Friday they pare their nailes and in a very superstitious fashion beginning at the fourth finger of the left hand and so holding on to the second then to the fift then to the third and last of all to the thumbe whence it comes to passe that they cut not their nailes in order but still over-skip some finger or other In cutting those of the right hand they begin with the second finger and so hold on to the fourth He that throwes his nailes being cut off upon the ground that they may bee trodden under foot of men is a wicked man and a great sinner For Satan hath power over the nailes and wizards by the help of them exercise their inchantments and if any chance to tread upon them some great danger or other hangs over his head On the contrary whosoever digs and buries them in the earth he is accounted for an honest righteous man If he cast them into the fire then is hee a holy and honourable man in esteeme And the truth of every particular they evidently demonstrate in their owne opinion out of the words formerly alledged the summe of which were that upon the sixt day they should prepare themselves Moreover it is necessarily required that every one should sharp his knife use the whetstone and edge him acutely which they prove by those words Thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace thou shalt visit thy habitation and shalt not sinne Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great and thy off-spring as the grasse of the earth Out of which saying the Jewish Doctors have drawne this conclusion that wheresoever is a blunt knife and nothing cunning in cutting there is no peace at the table and the whole house is out of square In the next place they put on their holiday clothes every one dressing himselfe in the most minicall fashion his plodding curiosity can invent They of the richer sort have garments onely appropriated to the day not kissing their corpes upon any other and their reason for the same is very plausible for the Rabbines call the Sabbath a Queen Now if any being to make his appearance before this Queene should not put on some princely garments such as in other place they use to weare in the presence of a King then this Queen should bee much scandalized thereby They cover the table with fine and cleane linnen not neglecting the provision of napkins trenchers cups cushions stooles and other appurtenances that all things may bee in a readinesse to entertaine this renowned Queen the Sabbath in a fit and decent manner In the daies of old warning to a due preparation was wont to be given by the sound of an horne or trumpet But at this day the Sexton or keeper of the Synagogue goes about to every house making proclamation that every man should cease from labour and prepare himselfe to a comely and honourable welcomming of the holy Sabbath which comes to his house much like to

determined of in the Talmud 1. No beast must be suffered to go out of doores upon the Sabbath carrying more upon them then that wherewith hee may be led curbed and kept under So a horse or an asse going out of his Masters stable must have nothing upon him but a bridle or halter 2. An ape monkey beagle hunting‐dog must not go out of doores without a coller to which a leash must be tyed that they may not slie away and escape Yet also they use these creatures thus upon other dayes then the Sabbath It is also prohibited to saddle an horse much more that any man should ride or lay any burden upon him lest hee should bee over‐loaden to his hurt If any upon the Sabbath day returne home or goe to some Inne upon the backe of an horse or asse it is lawfull for him to loose his saddle but not to take it off but if the horse or asse chance to shake it off then is the horse‐man faultlesse and to bee excused If any lead his horse by the bridle he must have a serious care that he suffer not the bridle to hang an hands breadth from his off his hand and thus he must doe lest some should thinke that he carries it in that fashion for his owne pleasure Hee must furthermore take heed that the bridle hang not too loosely betwixt him and the horse for in so doing hee shal seeme not to lead the horse but to carry the rainges for the nonce and it is not lawfull to carry the least thing upon the Sabbath It is contrary to their religion to suffer a hen to have a clout or rag about her foot or wing as a marke whereby shee may be known of the owner upon the Sabbath day Wherefore the clout ought to bee taken away upon the Friday that shee may rest upon the seventh day without molestation If any beast chance to fall into a ditch and cannot recover it selfe then they give it meate untill the Sabbath bee fully ended at what time they draw it out If the ditch be full of water so that the beast cannot conveniently eat its fodder then they cast in lopps of straw to underprop it that it may not bee drowned in the water if it can by this meanes escape it If by its own help it can lift it selfe out of the ditch then the Jew is blamelesse and not guilty of the profanation of the Sabbath Note that that seemes contrary to this which Christ objected to the Jewes for accusing him for healing upon the Sabbath saying who is there amongst you who having a sheep fallen into a pit upon the Sabbath day will not straight goe and draw him out As though he had said If you think it lawfull for you upon the Sabbath day to draw a beast out of a pit that the life thereof may be preserved how much more is a man to be helped upon that day who is of farre more worth then a beast Out of these words I say it seemes to follow that in Christs time it was permitted unto the Jewes to draw a beast out of a pit upon the Sabbath day Whereas the canon Law of the Jewes which is their spirituall and Talmudicall Law is diametrically opposite hereunto And hen●e truly it was that that wicked Jew Rabbi Lipman in his booke called The triumph over the foure Evangelists written in the yeare of Christ 1459 accuseth our Saviour to have taught falsely and against their statutes and ordinances that the Jewes were then w●nt immediately to draw out an oxe or any other beast fallen into a pit upon the Sabbath day as Sebasti●n Mu●ster hath registred the inditement in his Commentary upon St Matthews Gospell in Hebrew To which I answer that Christ the truth it selfe never could speak any thing but truth for there was never any falshood or guile found in his mouth yea sooner then the Jewes together with their father the father of lies the devill can evidence the contrary these superstitious brats shall suffer eternall shame It is true indeed that the law contained at this present in the Talmud is of that stampe that out of it Christ may be proved a lyar as amongst others an instance urged by Munster out of a Saxon History concerning a certaine Jew who upon the Sabbath day sir reverence fell into a Jakes makes manifest For he being left there was sustained with food and not presently drawne out The Bishop of the place also strictly charging and commanding the Jewes that they should not draw him out upon the Lords day holy in the sacred solemnization thereof to the Christians Whereupon it came to passe that for two daies space he was forced to remaine in this house of office that he might the better learn his duty I confesse therefore that their Talmudicall decrees which are in force with them at this day are contrary to Christs sayings but that it was so from the beginning it is a manifest untruth For 1. The traditions and constitutions of the Jewes themselves according to which they lived in Christs time brand it with no lesse And againe how came it to passe that if Christ had lied or spoken false the Pharisees did not presently hit him in the teeth there with Certainly the Pharisees would have contradicted the words of our Savior if he had spoken any thing oppugning their common traditions and ordinances Now if any ask how it came to pass that this was inserted into the Law which they at this day embrace I answer that it is a new constitution foisted by the Rabbines and Writers of the Talmud into their Gemara or their Appendix of ancient traditions in hatred to the New Testament and Christian Religion some hundred of yeares after Christs nativity as appeares most manifestly out of the Talmud For into this they thrust in such a tradition that they might perswade the ignorant that Christ spoke false But to returne to the matter in hand It is permitted unto a Jew to speake unto a Christian to milke his cow or goate lest the milke through its abundance straining the beast should put it to miserable torture not that the Jew hath any desire to bee fed with the milke for so it were all one as if he should have milked her himselfe This being granted that whatsoever aman doth by another it is all one as if he did it himselfe Whereupon it hath seemed good to some of their Doctors that a Jew may buy milke for his money of the Christians that hee may lawfully upon the Sabbath day feed thereupon seeing the Christian milkes the cow for his owne gaine and not in any love to the Jew But seeing these things are to full of quirkes and cannot bee sufficiently described wee will let them passe and descend to others Something therefore is now to bee spoken of the rest and sanctifying of the Sabbath concerning every one In the first place it is prohibited both to men and women

hair of their head be seen without the water and in the mean time it is not permitted that they should altogether close either their eyes or their mouth that the water may enter into both They ought also to stretch out their fingers bend their body that their Paps do not touch it to ●ishevel their hair by combing of it to have no rings upon their fingers lest there should be any place in the body which might not be drencht in the water Some of them upon the washing day eat not until they have bathed themselves others will not eat any flesh lest any thing should stick within their teeth and hinder the water to come in betwixt them If any of them have a playster upon a wound they ought to remove it as also to cut their nailes None must pre●ume to touch the woman while she is in the water yea though she fall into a swoon un●esse with hands first washed If after her washing any thing stick between her teeth she must into the water again Many things more might be spoken concerning this matter if it were lawful to discover the secrets of women The Jews themselves have written a certain little book in the German tongue and Hebrew character touching the manners of women and they call it the book of women He that can get it let him read it without all doubt it may be had among the Jews dwelling at Frankford upon the Maene CHAP. XXXII Of the poverty of the Jews and their manner of begging IT is a common report that the Jews will not suffer that any of their nation should beg their bread which experience proclaims fabulous for the poor are often times relieved by the rich Upon the Friday at Eve as also upon the Eves of every Festival the poor go unto the houses of the richer sort to beg an almes that upon the Sabbath or Festival which by an especial command they are duly to sanctifie they may cease from begging If there be any one among them who in particular is vexed with some extream want the Rabbines having knowledge of it grant him a license for begging In which they declare his necessity his honesty and witnesse him to be a stout professor of the Jewish faith and other such circumstances This Letter or testimonial they call Ribbutz an Epistle or Letter of collection and the begger himself they call Rabzan which signifies a gatherer This Letter being granted and given unto him he travels through the whole Region visiting all the Jews he can light upon and requesting some gift of them If he come into any place where there are many Jews inhabiting he delivers this his Petition to the chief Rabbine or to him who beates the posts of the houses with an hammer and warns them to the Synagogue or to the Senators or the chief among them or to the Ruler of the SynaSynagogue not unlike a Consul or to the overseers of the poor or to the distributers of alms or to the Collectors for the poor mans Box such are they who gather money among the Christians going hither and thither through the Temple having a certain bag with a Cymbal hanging at the end of a staff he delivering it unto them he intreats them that by their leave it may be lawful for him to beg in their quarters This being granted he together with two more stands at the gate of the Synagogue and desires that some money may be given him or otherwise the fore‐mentioned couple take his Letter and gather for him from house to house so much as they can get When one of the poorer sort hath a daughter mariageable and cannot give her any dowry then the Father thus miserable wanders up and down with a Letter of the same sort until he gather so much as will be the means to bestow her otherwise he shall hardly procure her a husband When the poor Jewes go thus on pilgrimage and turn aside unto other Jewes they aae by them for a day or two so freely made welcome that they pay nothing for their entertainment But the second day being past they begin to be weary of their presence Hereupon this sentence is proposed to the publick view of travellers in some place of their house The first day he is a guest the second day a burden the third day a Fugitive and stinketh CHAP. XXXIII Of the diseases incident to the Jews MAny are of opinion that the Jews are more lively then the Christians and not obnoxious to so many diseases But experience speaks the contrary and their often funerals even incident unto them in their younger years confirmes it for a tale Yea every man daily sees how they are lyable to the Mezels Botches to the frail disease Plague and other Maladies no less then other people The frail disease they name Choli nophel which disease as it is very common among them so are they wont to wish it to another saying God give thee Choli nophel or Tippul They call the Plague Hilluch hence in their execrations they say Corripiat te hilluch the Plague take thee In the time of any spreading Pestilence they writing certain unusual Characters and wonderful names upon the doors of their Houses Chambers Bed‐chambers Stoves affirm them to be the names of those holy Angels which are set over the Pestilence I have seen written upon their doors Adiridon Bediridon and so forth annexing diridon to every Letter in the Alphabet which they think to be a present remedy against the Plague The Leprosie is not so frequent among them as among the Christians both because they are fewer in number then the Christians and also because they are more temperate in meats and drinks and other kinde of things which cause this disease For in their meats as much as in them lies they endeavour to fulfil the law of Moses They are not so obstinately abstinent from any kinde of meat as Swines flesh they cannot endure to hear of it Yea they will rather suffer death then eat it Yet some of them have been troubled with this disease as Antonius Margarita witnesseth who in his time saw some leprous Jews at Prague The Old Testament also hath recorded this malady to have been very frequent among them They call it Nega and in their cursings say I wish Nega may fall upon thee CHAP. XXXIV Of the punishments for offences among the Jews SEeing the Jews have for a long time been without a King and Scepter and have lost all power and authority of passing sentence of life and death they enjoyn at this day a certain kinde of penance to him that offendeth which he must of duty undergo and perform The adulterer is bound to divers sorts of penance according to the nature of the fact committed In the Winter time he is compelled to stand for certain dayes in the water of some River or running Brook If there be Ice upon the water then they cut and hew