fear of transgressing the Sabbath And they have an usual saying Paligro del alma quaebra el Sabbato That the hazard of loosing a mans life dispenseth with the Sabbath They have a Custom in some places on the Friday to put water into little pits and to draw no place dry to the end that the Souls in Purgatory may therein cool and refresh them For on the time that is over and above added to the Sabbath they suppose the Souls in Purgatory have liberty to recreate There are many other Rites belonging hereunto the most whereof will fall in with the Offices which are now to be accounted for Upon the Arvit or Eve of the Sabbath they have a peculiar Office which begins with the twenty ninth Psalm Give unto the Lord ye sons of the mighty give unto the Lord honour and strength Give unto the Lord the honour of his Name and bow your selves to the Lord with the beauty of Holiness The voice of the Lord is upon the waters The God of honour hath made it thunder The Lord is upon much waters The voice of the Lord is with strength the voice of the Lord is with beauty The voice of the Lord breaketh the Cedars and hath broken the Cedars of Libanus And he hath made them leap as a Calf Libanus and Sirion like the sons of Elephants The voice of the Lord cutteth the flames of fire the voice of the Lord vexeth the Wilderness he vexeth the Wilderness of Cades The voice of the Lord maketh the Hinds to be in pain and discovereth the Forests and in his Palace every thing speaketh honour The Lord hath been upon the water and the Lord hath sate King for ever The Lord will give strength unto his people the Lord will bless his people with peace The Translation I have here given of this Psalm which begins the Office of the Sabbaths Arvit is Verbatim out of the old Spanish wherein the Jewish Liturgy is extant And it is here inserted for no other purpose but to show how it differs from our present Translation Where the Reader may observe that the word Adonai is here and through all their Liturgy used for Lord it being altogether unlawful for them to mention even in their Devotions the word Jehovah After this Psalm immediately follows in their Liturgy a very large Expostulation concerning the oyl and weke and whole confection of the Sabbath-Lamps Where the Opinions of several antient Masters are recited concerning this matter as the Opinions of Rabbi Ismael Rabbi Tarphon Rabbi Elihezer Rabbi Aquiba Rabbi Jehudah Which 〈◊〉 Master gives them leave to put out their Lamps on the Sabbath-night for fear the Nations those that are not Jews and evil Spirits should do hurt therewith On the Arvit they make confession of the three sins for which as hath been said women die in Child-bed And among these three deadly sins the want of due lighting the Sabbath-Lamps is none of the least On the Arvit likewise when it grows dark they are bound to propound and answer these three Questions Hast thou paid Tythes Hast thou made the Hirub Hast thou lighted a Candle After this they repeat such Hymns and Psalms out of Holy Writ as commemorate Gods gracious Promises to Israel of which they make a comfortable application to themselves There are likewise repeated some short periods of Scripture relating to the Season of the year as in the Spring He shall make his dew to fall and in Autumn Thou makest the winde to blow and the rain to descend c. Having done this they use a Thanksgiving unto God for that he refresheth the dead with his mercies and confirms his Truth to those that sleep in the dust that he punisheth Apostates looseth the imprison'd redeemeth the captive provideth Medicines for and healeth the sick And at the end of this long Thanksgiving follows this Benediction for the Institution of the Sabbath Blessed be the Lord our God the Holy Thou hast Sanctified the seventh day for thy Glory having first finished the Heavens and the Earth and hast blessed it above all dayes and sanctified it above all times as it is written in the Law And here the Institution of the Sabbath out of Genesis is distinctly repeated These things with the rest of the Office of the Sabbath Arvit which is very long is concluded with a thankful recapitulation of Gods favours toward them especially in that he has made them his peculiar people given them his Law and promised that it shall never be changed nor they deprived of it Then they most humbly implore the Almighty that at last he would fulfil his promise retarded so long by reason of their sins and send them their desired Messias The next Office is that of the Sabbath-Morning where the Rubrick directs them to rise before the Sun and to read the ordinary course of Psalms till they come to the nineteenth And then to begin their Mattins Which for the most part are collected out of the Scriptures some portions wherof are said by the Cazan alone and others by the Kahal and Kohen as the Rubrick all along directs them This day the Law has always a solemn Procession and is openly shown to the people When it is brought to be laid up in the Hehal or Chest he that bears it saith these words Turn again to thy resting place and to the house of thy desire that every Mouth and Tongue may give praise and glory to thy Kingdom And turn unto the million of the thousands of Israel and O Lord turn us unto thee and we shall be turned renew our dayes as in former time And with this Prayer they conclude the Morning-Office for the Sabbath The third Office is the Musaf or Afternoon-Service which begins thus O Lord thou shalt open our lips and our mouth shall shew forth thy praise After they have said this they bless and laud God for the continuance of his favours both to quick and dead Next they recount how God gave their Great Master Moses the Commandment for the Sabbath After this they make a gratulatory Oration unto God for that he has been pleased to assist and accept their Services And the whole Office is shut up with a distinct enumeration of the Divine attributes and recommending themselves unto the Divine Protection beseeching God to take the safeguard of them both when they sleep and watch Their fourth Office is that of the Minha or Sabbath-night which being of the same tenor with the last we but now mention'd there needs no more but to name it At the determination of the Sabbath they have an additional Service at which though none are bound to be yet all are present to show their Devotion to the Sabbath and how loath they are to part therewith But others hold that they ought to protract this Rest as long as they can possible for the sake of the Souls in Purgatory especially for such as were condemn'd thither for the violation of the
imitation and remembrance of David 2 Sam. 6.16 During the time that the Law is out of the Ark they place burning Torches therein in token that the Law performs all the duties of a light to those that obey it On this day also the Elder Jews make themselves merry in seeing the Youth scramble for the fruits they cast among them On this day also are sold the Offices of the Synagogue to them that will give most And all being orderly consummate every one leaves the Synagogue with this Prayer The Lord preserve my going out and my coming in from henceforth and for ever The next thing that we are to account for in this Chapter is the Manner of their keeping the Sabbath and the Offices thereon celebrated A Theme large enough for a whole Volume if we were to give an exact description of all Rites and Cases thereunto belonging But I shall confine the discourse at present to the Customs of the Jews in Barbary among whom and the rest of the Jewish Nation there is but small disagreement in the Sabbatarian Ritual Though it must be confessed that the Barbary-Jews are neither so strict nor Ceremonious in this matter as the Jews of other Countries if we may believe the account which good Authours have given of the later The whole Nation of the Jews sufficiently accord in the notice of the word Sabbath and grant that it barely signifies no more than Rest and that sometimes too it is used both for working-dayes and Festivals and that it puts on a more peculiar and restrained sense when it is concisely taken for that seventh day which God set apart for his Worship And in the Observation of this Sabbath or Rest the Jews practice numerous Ceremonies some antecedent and relating to their preparation and others concomitant or waiting upon the day Their antecedent Ceremonies are seen in dressing and preparing on the Eve of the Sabbath the Victuals that are thereon to be eaten According to the Commandment Exod. 16.23 To Morrow is the rest of the Holy Sabbath unto the Lord bake that which ye will bake to day and seeth that ye will seeth c. From which they conclude That all things necessary to the Sabbath and for the Honor thereof ought to be provided over night that there may be nothing to interrupt this Rest If it falls out that the Servants are not able to make all things ready the Masters assist them to the end that the Sabbath by no bodily labour may be transgressed And they are able to cite many great Rabbins who have help'd their Servants in preparing for this Rest But this strict Custom of dressing no Victuals upon the Sabbath is not universal with the Jews we now speak off With whom I have been entertain'd with good cheer on the Sabbath that was thereon prepared And asking them how they durst or would act so contrary to their own pretences the Reply was That they thought the Crime of a low nature if it was done without giving scandal to others that is secretly Which was then the Case Every Sabbath is observed with three Feasts and four Offices The first Feast is upon the Friday-night or rather at the very entrance and begining of the Sabbath The second is their Sabbath-dinner and the third Feast concludes the Sabbath Now the Custom of this triple Feast they deduce from the triple repetition which Moses used of the word To day when he gave out Orders concerning gathering of the Manna Exod. 16.25 Some of the more hospitable and wealthier Jews keep their Tables spread during the whole time of the Sabbath And in this as other things they generally tread in their Fore-fathers steps who were excellent at turning the power and intention of the Law into Carnal Form and Superstition But besides their greater apparatus in Diet for the Sabbath they use other preparative Rites in order to the Solemnity of This Great Day All which are bodily and external and not worth our recital if it were not to let us see into what follies a people may fall in Religion when they have once renounced the Truth All the Friday-afternoon is usually taken up in Sabbatical preparations as washing of the head and hands the trimming of their beards whose corners the Graver sort suffer not to be cut according to Law and in a peculiar Superstition of paring their nails on which parings they are forbid to tread in prevention whereof they usually burn or bury them In like manner they spend no small time in whetting the Knives and preparing other Utensils of the Table The women on the Friday comb and dress their heads and make ready all accoutrements of the body For they esteem a neglect in any of these particulars a down-right violation of the Rest And because their Masters use a word for Sabbath signifying Queen they think it reasonable that they as duly prepare themselves thereunto as they would for the reception of so great a Personage And he saith the Jewish Canon is greatly to be praised who honoureth the Sabbath with his Body Clothes and Dyet with his body by duely dressing it with his clothes by having a sabbath-Sabbath-days Suit and with his dyet which on the Sabbath should be both more and better than on other dayes In Barbary they have their Sabbath-Lamps which are lighted by the women to which being lighted they hold up their hands and say this Benediction Blessed be thou O Lord our God King of the World who hast sanctified us with thy Precepts and commanded us to light the Sabbatine-Lamps If any mans curiosity lead him to enquire into the reason why the Office of lighting these Lamps belongs to the women I shall only tell him that among many other reasons pretended to be given hereof the chief is the keeping the women in minde of the transgression of Eve who seducing Adam to disobedience thereby put out say they and extinguished his Light and Glory But the women do it upon the account of a received Opinion among them that thereby they facilitate their Child-birth There being these three Precepts recommended to them for that end viz. To keep the Sabbath-bread light the Lamps and carefully to attend their Months The Sabbath-lights we now speak of are so contrived that they may last the whole Sabbath on which they are not allowed so much as to snuff them for fear of transgressing the fourth Precept But notwithstanding that the Jews in this part of the World are sufficiently rigorous in the observation of the Sabbath yet I neither could finde nor hear of any of them who would if surprised with the Sabbath expose themselves to the danger of abiding in Woods and Desarts rather than on the Sabbath to travel a few furlongs to gain a safer residence For they are willing to let things necessary to save mans life thereon to be provided for And some will not doubt to say that if ever they be Masters again of Hierusalem they will not loose it for
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
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
these to be meer fictions I shall instance some pleasant passages out of the Talmud relating to the same purpose Where we read that one Rabbi Chaja fortuned to lodge one Sabbath with a Butcher and there was set before him a Golden Table burthen enough for sixteen men on which there hung sixteen silver Chains and on it many vessels of the like Metal were set as Spoons Plates and Cups furnished with plenty of dainties When all things were set in order he praised God thus The Earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof and when the Banquet was ended he gave thanks after this manner The Heavens are the Lords but the Earth hath he given to the sons of men And then the Rabbi began to enquire of the Butcher how he had gotten such riches and what good works he had done the Butcher replyed Hitherto have I been a Butcher and when ever I lighted on a Beast fatter than usual I reserved it for the Sabbath that I might do as I am commanded and therefore God has given me much riches for the honour I do to his day And when the Rabbi heard this he gave God thanks that he had bestowed on him such abundance And here we leave the Butcher Moreover we read in the same Page of a man truly Charitable named Joseph if any thing extraordinary came to the Market especially Fish he spared no charge to buy it and he had a rich neighbour who would often mock him asking him what good this strict observing Sabbath-duties did him thou gettest nought by it saith he I am much richer than thou yet do not observe it so punctually but Joseph took of his words but little notice and answered That God was able to recompence him And at the same time there came Astrologers to the rich man saying What good hast thou of thy riches thou darest not buy a good Fish with it we finde that the Fates have given all thy store to Joseph the Sabbath-observer he spares no charge to honour the day The rich man took some notice of what they said and went and sold all his possessions and with it bought Jewels and hung them in his hat and resolved to travel to secure his riches from Joseph and taking ship he was so toss'd with a Tempest that he lost his Hat and Jewels in the Sea there came a great Fish and swallowed them up and a little after the same Fish was brought into the Market to be sold many cheapened it but thought it too dear at length came this Joseph and soon bought it and dressing it found the Hat and Jewels which the rich Traveller had lost So the Astrologers Predictions were verified and Joseph grew Rich on a sudden Then there came a Wise Old man to Joseph and said He who bestows much on the Sabbath him the day recompenseth but he that of a little bestows a little to him God gives fourfold We read of another Passage in the Talmud concerning Feasts how a certain Rabbi every Friday sent his Servants into the Market to buy off all the Herbs which the Sellers could not vent and then he cast them into the River and the Rabbies inquiring the cause why he had not distributed them to the poor Israelites the Answer was this That if he had given them to the Poor then they in expectation of having them given still would not have provided for the Sabbath and therefore if it should happen that the Sellers had sold all and the Poor not provided for themselves then the Sabbath would not have had its due honour But why then did he not cause them to be given to the Cattel it had been better to do so than to cast them carelesly away The Answer was That he would not give those things to Cattel which men might eat and from which they might have profit for they might perchance take them out of the water But why did he command them to be bought the Reason is That those who sold such Commodities might willinglier come to the Market for suppose them to come often and sell nought they would soon be weary and not frequent the Market and then the Poor would have had nothing to eat on the Sabbath and thereby would have deprived it of its due honour Moreover we read in a Treatise of the Sabbath that if any one on the Sabbath let loose the Reins to pleasure and so pass the day that God giveth him an Heritage for ever as it is written When thou shalt call the Sabbath a Delight then shalt thou delight thy self in the Lord and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the Earth and feed thee with the Heritage of thy Father Jacob of which Heritage it is largely spoken For thou shalt be spread abroad to the East and to the West and to the North and to the South Rabbi Mackman saith He that feeds high on the Sabbath and is joyful shall be free from the Servitude of Kings as it is I will lift thee above the high places of the Earth and thy Enemies shall be found Lyars Another Rabbi saith That he who merrily passeth the Sabbath hath whatsoever he will ask of God as 't is written Delight thou in the Lord and he will give thee thy hearts desire Seeing therefore that the Jews have not conquered their Enemies nor obtained their desire that they have not yet subdued the Christians nor are Lords of the whole Earth according to their prayers on the Sabbath and Feast-days may be imputed to their want of a right Hallowing the Sabbath or at least that they have not thereon been sufficiently merry When they have thus joyfully finished the first Banquet they again go to Prayers but the Table is kept covered and the Candles burn till the evening of the Sabbath And they dispute much what is to be done with those Candles whether it be lawful to catch Fleas or Lice with them but reading by them is forbidden lest when the light is dim he that reads should snuff the Candle and so violate the Sabbath And because the Sabbath is called a Delight they often marrie on it and enjoy the society of their Wives they say those who are conceived on the Sabbath live to a good age if their Parents don't respect the pleasure as the honour of the day Finally when a Jew travelleth on Friday and hath a greater Journey than the Sabbath alloweth of he ought to take up his Lodgings in the Fields or Woods at the approaching of the Sabbath and there to continue till it be ended exposing himself to the danger of Thieves and want of sustenance There is a memorable Story in their Histories to this purpose Three Jews on a time took a Journey on Friday when the Evening drew nigh and the Sabbath approached two of them spake thus to each other What shall we do we are in certain danger the way is beset with Thieves and the wood barbours wild Beasts we had
For on that day shall the Priest make an Atonement for you to cleanse you that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. In obedience unto which Law the Jews upon the 10 of Tizri repair to their Synagogues and in places of open Toleration carry wax-lights in their hands which when they have lighted they begin in a very dismal note to lament their sins and continue fasting and praying for ten daies which are called the daies of Contrition for which their Liturgy has a proper Office Every morning during this Feast of Expiation they thrice repeat this Confession O Lord thy people the house of Israel they have sin'd they have done wickedly they have transgressed before thee I beseech thee now O Lord pardon the sins iniquities and transgressions with which the people the house of Israel have sin'd done wickedly and transgressed before thee as it is written in the Law of thy Servant Moses That in that day he shall make an Atonement for you that he might cleanse you and that you might be clean from all your iniquities before the Lord. This Confession saith P. Fagius is of very great Antiquity and was made by the High-Priest when he disburden'd the sins of the whole Congregation upon the Head of the Scape-goat Since the destruction of their City the Jews have no place for a proper Sacrifice and therefore instead thereof when they come from the Synagogue every Father of a Family takes a Cock a white one if possible upon the 9th day of the Feast and calling his Household about him repeats several Sentences of Scripture among which the principal are the 17 vers of Psalm 107. Fools because of their transgression and because of their iniquities are afflicted And 23 vers of Job 13. How many are mine iniquities and sins Make me to know my transgression and my sin After the repetition of these Scriptures he waves the Cock three times about his head at each of which he useth these or the like words Let this Cock be a Commutation for me Let it be my substitute Let it be an Expiation for me Let the Bird die but let life and happiness be to me and to all Israel Amen Then he again swings the Cock thrice about his head once for himself once for his Sons and once for the Strangers that are with him Then he kills the Cock and saith I have deserved thus to die The Woman takes a Hen and doth the like for those of her Sex In Barbary where the Houses are flat-roofed they cast the Garbage thereon to be devoured by some ravenous Birds in token that their sins are removed as the Entrails they cast out Now the reason why they chuse a Cock for the Expiatory is drawn from the ambiguous word in the Talmud which may signifie either Man or Cock So that they repute the death of a Cock as much as that of a Man and to this Domestick bird the 53 of Esay with many other Passages of Holy Writ are prophanely and ridiculously applied But however they may at this Feast greatly extol the Merits of the Cock and imagine all their sins to be atoned by his death yet when themselves come to die they acknowledge no Commutation but skin for skin according to this saying of one of their Masters when he was a dying Let my own death be the Expiation and Satisfaction for all my sins When they have done with the Cock they repair to the Sepulchres where they repeat enlarge and enforce their Prayers and Confessions They bestow the value of their Cocks upon the Poor to whom formerly they gave their Carkasses which they now keep to furnish out their own Tables Besides that form of publick Confession which we mentioned before they use private Confession one to another which they thus perform About the middle of the Service they make an interruption and two by two step aside in the Synagogue and confess their sins to each other During the time of Confession he that confesseth turns his face Northward and with great seeming Contrition bows his body beats his brest and readily submits his back to such stripes as his friend will inflict who yet never exceeds the number of 39. And the first having thus made Confession the second goes upon the same duty This Feast as it has the name of Expiation because according to its first Institution the High-Priest did then confess his own sins and the sins of the people and by certain Rites did expiate and make atonement to God for them so is it likewise called the Feast of Reconciliation because at this time they endeavour a general Amnesty and Pardon For they labour that no quarrel among them remain unreconciled He that seeks to be at peace with his Neighbour though he be refused is looked upon as innocent They hold this Reconciliation so necessary that if the offended die without it the offender must go to his Grâ—â—e and in the presence and hearing of ten Witnesses confess his trespass Upon the Even of the 9th of this Feast they repair to the Synagogue where they trim and encrease the number of their Lamps The women do the like at home If the Lamps burn cleer it is a good signe that their sins are pardoned and that they shall live chearful and happy But if the Lamps burn dim it is a sad abodement their trespasses are not expiated Whereupon some of them renew their penances and use several abstinences and remain restless till the Omen alter Some are reported at this time to bribe the Devil that he may not accuse them and some again are so confident of their Expiation that they bid the Devil do his worst That the Expiation Reconcilement might be extended unto all upon the Eve of the 9th of this Feast they absolve all Offenders restore the Excommunicate and admit to the Prayers and Communion of the Synagogue even the stubborn and refractary At last the Chasan blesseth the people stretching out his hands toward them which hands the people dare not stedfastly look upon while they are elevate because they suppose them for that time to be full of the Holy Ghost After the Expiation is thus ended they continue a space fasting at the Synagogue and then return home to feast and to testifie their mutual Peace and Reconcilement Their next Feast is that of Dedication whose Institution we meet with in 1 Maccab. 4.59 Moreover Judas and his brethren c. And this our Saviour honour'd with his presence S. John 10.22 not to countenance the abuses but to own its appointment and to approve the Consecration and Dedication of times and places to Gods service This Feast in the N. T. is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Renovations or a Feast wherein something is renewed and is in memory of second Dedications It continues 8 daies during which time the Synagogues are full of Candles which may be the reason that the Spanish Jews call it Fiesta de
they understand Esay 50.10 11. At the Entrance of the Synagogue they either make clean or put off their shooes in obedience to Eccles 4.17 and Exod. 3.5 Put off thy shooes c. And this saves them the uncovering of their Heads for their little black brimless Caps are never moved all the time they stay in the Synagogue At their stepping into the Synagogue they first spend a few minutes in the meditation of his Attributes whom they come to invoke which is to beget in them a Deportment humble and reverend And when they have duly possessed their minds with an awful reverence of Gods Majesty they repeat to themselves Numb 24.5 How goodly are thy Tents O Jacob and thy Tabernacles O Israel And Psalm 26.8 O Lord I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth And the 6 th Verse of Psalm 95. O come let us worship and bow down let us kneel before the Lord our Maker This Meditation being ended they lay the right hand upon the heart and bowing their bodies toward the Chest where the Law is laid up they begin the publick Service with the 7 th of the fifth Psalm I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercies and humble my self with fear in the Temple of thy Holiness So it is Verbatim in an old Spanish Translation of the Jewish Lyturgie They Pray standing girt with their faces toward Canaan their heads moderately bowed down and hands upon their heart They utter their Prayers in a sort of Plain-Song sometimes straining their Voices to a very harsh and unpleasant Note and then on a sudden letting it fall into a kind of whisper Their bodies are always in a wagging unsteddy posture which they say expresses joy and satisfaction in Devotion But to him that knows not the intent hereof this wavering and sometime exulting of the body will seem very careless and negligent and that they Pray with none or very little intention and devotion of mind Those which cannot read the Service in Hebrew who are but few are bound to learn when to say Amen A thing the more easily attain'd unto because they have a prescript Form And how heedless soever they may appear in other parts of Prayer yet they use a signal diligence in the right timing and pronouncing of the Amen Because whosoever saith it with all his might the Gate of the Garden of Eden is open'd to him In time of Prayers none are permitted openly to spit belch yawn or blow the Nose All which they do with great Secrecy in the Synagogue when they have occasion Neither may they spit or any such thing to the right hand or before them because of the Angels which have made those places their Situation in the Synagogue And from this short Account of the Jews entering and behaviour in the Synagogue we come to take a general view of the Prayers made therein And here we shall follow the Breviary in present use with the Jews in Barbary which was Printed at Venice in the 1622 Year of Grace And first of all they begin the Morning-Service with the eighteen Benedictions of which saith Moses Maimon Ezra was the Author For when the Israelites returned from the Captivity their Native Language was so corrupted with that of their Bondage that they were not able to praise or serve God in a continued Speech And upon this occasion Ezra is thought to have composed eighteen short Benedictions wherein they might praise God and beg at his hands the supply of his dayly blessings But others are of opinion that these eighteen Benedictions were composed as a Directory whereby they might guide themselves both in the private and publick Service of God to which purpose they are imployed at this day After the Benedictions follows a large Office for Sacrifice and Oblations which begins with the History of Abraham's going to Offer up his Son To this succeeds a long course of Psalms then a tedious Thanksgiving Then a Confession of Sins at the saying whereof they throw themselves prostrate and express a great sense of their own vileness and misery and that they have no strength but in the Almighty Then all on the sudden they start up and comfort themselves with the Oath God made unto Ahraham when he went to Sacrifice his only Son And now with great chearfulness they bless their Lot that God has chosen them for his Heritage and the people of his Covenant But besides all this they have in this Office a peculiar Thanksgiving for the Delivery of the Law and a Prayer which they say with a low voice for the restauration of the Temple That in their dayes God would rebuild the House of his Sanctuary which they hourly hope for And they shut all with praying that God would lead them in his righteousness and make plain his way before them And this is the sum of their dayly Morning-Service for whose more regular Celebration there are Rubricks intermingled with it directing them to the Responses Praises and how every part must come in course This Morning-Office as was said is very long for which they make sufficient amends in the brevity of the other two In some places they have a Custom for those to shut the Prayer-Book who are at Variance with their Neighbours thereby signifying that they will not Pray at all because they cannot pray aright till the difference be reconciled At the saying of Give Ear O Israel the Lord our God is one God they turn themselves East and North at the pronouncing of Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbath they jump up three times They dare not turn their Backs on the Chest where the Law is deposit and lest they should do otherwise they go backward out of the Synagogue having their eyes always fixed thereon They are very careful that nothing may interrupt them in their Devotions at which if they sneeze they account it a lucky token of being therein accepted but to break wind preposterously is a very unhappy abodement I have omitted in the former Paragraph to observe that after the appointed course of Psalms they have two Lessons the first out of the Law which is always read by the Chasán or some eminent Jew The second Lesson is taken out of the Prophets and is read by any ordinary Jew who is able to read distinctly And in the difference of the persons imployed in these Lessons they show the great value and esteem which they have for the Law above the Prophets There is an universal Agreement among the Jews of all Countries that they ought every day to repeat a hundred Benedictions which they thus compute At wâ—shing in the Morning twenty three At their Entrance into the Synagogue six At putting on of the Zizith or Fringes one At putting on the Tephillim one At every one of the three Offices in the Synagogue eighteen Three after dinner and two before night At going to sleep two and as many at
in the Talmud that Rabbi Chasdam cut the Pot-herbs Rabbi Joseph clave the Wood Rabbi Sira kindled the Fire Rabbi Nachman swept the House and covered the Table Their Meat whether roast or boyled is kept hot in a Cauldron as being then most delightful The Table is night and day whilest the Sabbath lasts kept covered for which they have a particular reason as shall be afterwards shewed They wash their heads the men if it be the Custom are shaved the women comb their hair plaiting it decently and binding it with Fillets they either wash their hands and feet or else bathe themselves in hot Baths They every Fryday superstitiously pare their nails beginning with the left hand they first pare the nail of the fourth finger then of the second then of the fifth then of the third and end with the thumb so doing they never cut the nails of two fingers together but still leave one betwixt When they pare the nails of the right hand they begin with the second finger and so pass to the fourth and so on to the rest 'T is impious to cast the excrescencies under foot for so the Devil gets power over them but he who burieth them is reputed just and he who burns them is righteous and obtains a full pardon And all this is grounded upon the place before mentioned Exod. 16. And the sixth day they made ready c. Furthermore every one pollisheth and whets his Knife and that is justified from Job And thou shalt visit thy Habitation and know that thy Tabernacle shall be in peace c. Hence the Jewish Doctors observe that if the Knife be dull that it will not cut there is no peace to the House or Table They have Garments designed only for the honour of the day and every one is according to his ability decently clad because Esaiah sayes Esay 58.13 Thou shalt honour him And how canst thou do it in thy everyâ—ays vile habit as the Talmud has it and â—herefore the Jews have costly Garments pecuâ—iar for those days The Rabbies call the Sabbath Malkah i. e. Queen and therefore the Royal Apparel must be put on or otherwise the Queen is disgraced They cover the Table with clean white â—innen provide Cups Napkins Seats and other things convenient that the Queen viz. the Sabbath coming may find all things decently placed and he that honours the day with his Body his Rayment Meat and Drink is very commendable 'T was antiently a Custom to winde a Horn or sound a Trumpet six times that every one might prepare for the Sabbath but now in well-order'd Assemblies 't is proclaimed by a Cryer That they may cease from work and provide honourably to entertain the Bride viz. the Sabbath And therefore when the Evening draws nigh they do no business abroad but early begin the Sabbath solemnizing some part of the remaining week they repair to the Synagogue and hallow the time with Hymns and Prayer Now when the Sun begins to leave their Hemisphere the Candles appointed only for the Sabbath are set up as soon as they are kindled a Jewish woman lifts up both hands towards them and sayes Blessed art thou O Lord God King of the World that thou hast devoted us to thy Service and hast commanded us to light Candles on the Sabbath And the like Custom is observed by them on Holy-day-Eves If it be troublesome weather so that the skie be cloudy the hens teach them their duty for when they see them going to roost then the time of providing Candles is approaching but if any live without the City where they want such information they are instructed by Ravens and Daws for those Birds provide themselves a Lodging in the evening But the reasons that women light up the Candles and not men are by tradition chiefly two The first is when Eve after eating the forbidden fruit perceived by certain tokens that she should dye she perswaded her husband to taste it too and told him If I must die thou shalt die with me but when her perswasions prevailed not over his constancie she brake off a branch from the tree and beat him till he did eat as it is expressed in Genesis 3.2 The Woman which thou gavest to be with me she gave me of the Tree that is she pluck't off a bough from the Tree and with it beat me and I did eat so it is expounded in the Book Chajim that is the way of Life And by this means poor Adam was subject to his wife brake the command of God and brought death upon himself and bequeathed it to all his posterity But before Eve had sinned the Sun shined bright as it will in the World to come on the just then they wanted not the instruction of Hens and Daws to teach them their duty but as soon as she had transgressed the Sun was clouded and the Light of Heaven was soon darkned The second reason why the women light the Candles is because they are alwayes at home but the men often abroad Moreover we read Exod. 27.20 Thou shalt command the Children of Israel that they bring thee pure oil-olive beaten for the light to cause the lamp to burn alwayes in the Tabernacle before the testimony The Rabbies moreover count that if a godly woman attend on the lighting of the Candles she doth as holy a deed as if she had kindled Candles for the Golden Candlesticks in the Holy Temple at Hierusalem Moreover we have it in the Talmud that a woman guilty of these sins shall die in Childbed first if she have not provided a Cake secondly if she have not lighted up the Candles thirdly if she have not taken great care of her menstruous cloaths But if the women diligently observe these Precepts they sooner conceive and are easier delivered Of these Candles they have commonly two some times more according to the capacity of the house or dining-bed And in those Candles all the members of man and womans bodies are secretly contained according to Jewish Anatomizing men have 248 members women 252 which being added together make 500 which number the Hebrew word Ner signifying a Candle doth signifie They use Candles of two sorts because the light of life lost in Eden may be restored again both to man and woman The reason that they lift up both hands towards the light is to guard their faces from the rayes of the Candle whilest they repeat a short Prayer which is not to be said till the Candles are lighted up The matter whereof the wekes of these Candles is made and what oyl they make the Candles with may be seen at large in the Talmud to which I refer the Reader That they set apart some time of the week-dayes in which they early begin the Sabbath is in love to the dead whose Souls they say come from Hell or Purgatory to keep the Sabbath for as soon as they enter the Synagogue they sing a short Hymn at the hearing of which the Souls
the Souls of the wicked may again enter in it sends forth an ill sent and these Spices are preservatives against it as they say They spill a little of the Wine in the consecration as a signe of plenty and abundance in their houses for they say where the Wine is not spilt there is no blessing some think it is done to refresh Core and his company whom the Earth swallowed up as if they were yet alive and could perceive refreshment from this waste They take strict notice of their nails because of their soon growing for though they pare them every Friday they grow up again by the next Some say it is by reason of the great difference betwixt the nails and the flesh which made Adam so much to wonder when he saw the world dark and cried out Ah me miserable creature for my fault was the world darkned and hereupon God was so merciful to him that he gave him discretion to knock two Flints together from which there came fire with which he lighted a Candle and when he saw himself all naked save only the tops of his fingers he burst out into admiration and praised God To prove their Opinion of the stench of Hell they produce this story out of the Talmud One Turnus Ruphus a wicked fellow asked one of the Rabbies what the Sabbath was better than other week-daies whom the Rabbi asked again Why art thou more honourable than other men he answered Because it was the good pleasure of his Lord and King So saith the Rabbi it was the good pleasure of the Lord of Hosts to command us to prefer the Sabbath before other days But saith Turnus How knowest thou that the seventh day is your true Sabbath it may be some other day perhaps the first second third c. The Rabbi told him that this was first revealed to them by a certain River which flows so strong six days that it hurls with it great stones and is not navigable all the week but on the Sabbath it moveth not at all A second Proof of it saith the Rabbi is from thy own Fathers Sepulchre which all the week is infected with a loathsome vapor caused by the stench of Hell-fire in which he is tormented but on the seventh day it hath no ill smell because on the Sabbath thy Father cometh from Hell and the evil Spirits have no power over him and therefore also Hell-fire has no ill smell on the Sabbath When Turnus heard this Perhaps saith he his punishment is ended The Rabbi bid him go to the Sepulchre after the Sabbath and he should smell a stench When Turnus had made trial and found it so he by the help of Magick raised his Father's Ghost and spake thus to him Whilst thou livedst thou did'st not regard the Sabbath but now thou art dead thou hallowest it How long hast thou been a Jew His Father answered Dear Son he who living observeth not the Sabbath willingly in Hell shall be forced to do it His Son proceeds What is your imployment in Hell on week days His Father answered We are tortured in the fire but on the Sabbath we enjoy our ease for Friday in the evening which is the preparation for the Sabbath Proclamation is made in Hell 'T is a time of rest therefore rest ye wicked so are we eased and do hallow the Sabbath but at the end of the Sabbath when the Jews have ended their customary Prayers an evil Spirit called Dumah who is our Ruler calleth us back again to Hell because the people of Israel have ended the Sabbath where we renew our torments and endure them till the next Sabbath And this is our Employment He who desireth to know more of this let him consult Rabbi Bochai in his Exposition of the eighteenth Chapter of Exodus where he writes much concerning the Sabbath And because God hath commanded in the Law that not only Man but Beast also should rest on the Sabbath they make great inquiry how far a Horse or an Ass may travel on the Sabbath and whether it may carry any thing on it And here they say that no beast ought to carry any thing on the Sabbath but that with which it is led as a Horse or Ass may carry a Bridle or Halter and these too must be put on on Friday before the Sabbath begins They ought not to let a Horse go abroad with a Saddle on much less must one ride upon it If any one come home on the Sabbath with a Saddle on they may loose the Girts but not take off the Saddle if the Horse shake it off then the Jew is free The Cock is not to be let loose with a piece of cloth tied to his leg or wing but is to be loosed on Friday that it may rest on the Sabbath If a Beast fall into a Pit on the Sabbath and cannot get forth of it self it is to be fed in the place till the Sabbath is ended and then to be holpen out If the place be so deep that the beast is in danger of being drowned then they are to put straw and such-like stuff under it to preserve it and if it get out of it self then the Jew is free But this seems to contradict that answer Christ made to the Jews when they blamed him for healing on the Sabbath-day Mat. 12.11 Which of you saith he having an Ox or an Ass fallen into a pit will not straightway help him out on the Sabbath-day But this is the injunction of the Talmud On the Sabbath a Christian may milk the Jews Cows or Goats but the Jews must not eat the milk unless they buy it of the Christians as they usually do The men or women must not run on the Sabbath unless they be commanded of God neither must they step more than the length of a Cubit at once lest they hurt the eye-sight No man ought to carry any sort of weapon neither must a Taylor carry needles on his sleeve If any one be lame or sick so that he cannot walk without a staff he may use it but he who is blinde may not They must not use Stilts to help them over the water for though they seem to carry a man yet are they born of him and any burthen is forbidden on the Sabbath They must carry no moneys with them on the Sabbath They may shake off the dirt from their shoos against a wall but not on the ground lest they may seem to fill the ditch If any one have dirt on his hands he may wipe them on his horse-mane but washing is forbidden They are forbidden to catch Flies or Gnats which stick on their Garments or creep on the ground but if they offend them they may catch them not hurting them and throw them away A Louse may be killed but one of the Rabbies saith He who kills a Louse on the Sabbath breaks it as much as he who kills a Camel and this raiseth a dispute what was to be done
with such offensive creatures and it was agreed that those creatures which were generated by natural coition should not be hurt and therefore Flies were free but those which were bred of corrupt putrified matter were to be killed and therefore Lice They are forbidden to climb trees lest they should break the boughs He who feeds his Hen and Chickens in any open place where the rain may fall with any Corn must not give them more than they can eat lest when it rains it should grow and so he might be said to sow on the Sabbath which is a sin unpardonable They must not knock at the dore with the iron hammer lest they may seem to drive a nail and therefore Chassan the Sexton doth knock with his fist They may not knock with the fingers on the table nor write on sand or ashes but they may in the Air. No Picture either in paper or wax is to be defaced The sum of all that they are forbidden is contained in 39 Articles to which all lesser matters are reducible The First Article concerns Plowing under which is comprehended dressing of Gardens removing Herbs setting Trees planting Vines digging pruning c. whereby the growth of any thing may be improved and because it is not lawful to fill Ditches the Rabbies have thought fit that the Chambers should be sprinkled with water that the dust might not arise but sweeping is forbidden lest thereby any little chink in the Chamber should be filled and for this reason they would not throw nutshels towards the Ditch lest peradventure they might fall into it The Second Article concerns Reaping under which is contained gathering any kinde of Fruit which they are forbidden as also to take honey from the Bees and such-like They may on the Sabbath eat any Fruit as it hangs on the stalk but not break the stalk they may not go over a Corn-field newly sown lest the Corn should stick to their shoos which is as if they had purposed to take it And it seems that the Jews were offended with our Saviour for the breach of this Article when his Disciples pluckt off the ears of Corn on the Sabbath Mat. 12. The Third Article respects Thrashing to which pertaineth beating of Hemp or Flax to press any moist Fruits as Grapes and such-like Milking is also contained under this Article but the Rabbies don't as yet agree about it You may judge of the other Articles accordingly The difference betwixt the general ones and those contained under them is not great He who beareth false witness against another is to be stoned and he who willingly sins him God shall judge and root out of the Land of the Living These are explained in the Talmud in Tractatu de Sabbatho Chapter 7. with many more but they are too tedious to be named And though the Jews think that they rightly observe the Sabbath yet they may be convinced of the contrary from their own Conscience For we read in the Talmud that he who observeth all the Ceremonies of the Sabbath to do them shall have free pardon of all sins yea though he be an Idolater as Enoch in whose time they say this sin had its Original According to Gen. 4.26 Then began men to call upon the Name of the Lord And Esay the 56.2 Blessed is the man that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it Rabbi Juda said If the Israelites had kept the first Sabbath aright immediately after the Law was given no Nation would ever have overcome them And another Rabbi said If they had kept the two first Sabbaths aright they had soon been set at liberty according to Esay 56.4 They that keep my Sabbaths aright them will I bring back into my holy Mountain that is Jerusalem But seeing they are not neither are like to be set at liberty it must needs be because they have not kept the Sabbath aright as they confessed while the Temple stood at Jerusalem As the Talmud expresly speaketh For no other reason was the Temple at Jerusalem destroyed but because the Jews observed not the Sabbath aright As it is written Ezek. 22.27 They have hid their eyes from my Sabbath and I am polluted among them The Jews celebrate the Sabbath with Wine Fish and Flesh and all kinde of Delights they abstain from work and are not at any time desirous to do any thing but only command the poor Christians and therefore boast that they are Lords over them I shall conclude this Chapt. with the complaint which God made to Israel by the Prophet Esay Esay 1.13 Incense is an abomination unto me the new Moons and Sabbaths the calling of Assemblies I cannot away with it is iniquity even the solemn meetings Your new Moons and your appointed Seasons my Soul hateth they are a trouble unto me I am weary to bear them CHAP. XVIII Of the Jews Feasts The manner of their Celebration IN the Order of Prayers according to the Hebrew Use the Offices for the Festivals immediately follow those of the Sabbath though the Service-book doth not yield Offices for every Feast which are in present observation with them For besides a peculiar Order for the Purim there is but one general Office for all the rest Now besides what occurs in Holy Writ concerning the institution and reason of the Jewish Festivals there are some modern Customs chiefly therein to be considered which we shall refer to the several Feasts and only give them a naked enumeration The chief both of the Antient and Modern Jewish Festivals are the Passover the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles The Passover is the first both in time and dignity and the Divine Scriptures exhibit enough in testimony both of its Institution and Designe So that we shall only succinctly set down the usual Rites of its present observation And in the first place the Jews esteem the Passover of so great moment that their preparation for its solemnity is much more great than to all the other Festivals For the Wealthier and Devouter sort spend above a Lunar Month in preparing for its coming But their preparations consist not in any Spiritual exercise but in a carnal providing for the body Where they use no small curiosity and diligence in getting the finest Wheat for the unleavened bread which by Divine appointment is thereon to be eaten And what is very commendable the Richer are careful to provide the Poorer with fine Wheat for the same purpose gratis out of their own Store For they account it a great Scandal to their Religion that any Jew should be unprovided of things requisite to so sacred a celebration The two or three daies before the Passover are spent in cleansing their houses and washing their Furniture of brass pewter and iron On the Eve of the Feast the First-born of the Family always fasts and the rest of the houshold are imployed in searching every corner that not a crum of leaven'd bread may remain till the Passover And because
Munday and Thursday one for the death of Miriam and Eli and another for the turning of the Bible out of holy Hebrew into profane Greek by the Seventy Translators But these Fasts being the private Exercises but of some Jews their Rites fall under no certain annotation The general Rule in all their Fasting is to abstain from all manner of Meat and Drink till the Stars appear and if the Jews were Orthodox in the circumstances of this Afflictive no people would therein exceed them But in this as all other things they are palpably Carnal relying upon the very doing of the work and esteeming a meer Corporal abstinence highly Meritorious Besides there are not a few Miracles ascribed to the bare act of Fasting The Prayer used upon fasting-Fasting-daies translated out of the Jews Liturgy HEar our voice O Lord our God and have Compassion upon us and with Mercie hear our Prayers and impart thy pity and subdue us to thy Holiness Deliver us from death and the sword and hunger and captivity from the prey and an evil desire and bad infirmities and hard chances Pronounce a good sentence upon me and all the males of my house And let thy Compassions return with thy Conditions and O Lord our God deal with us in mercie and favour and enter with us before the Rule of Justice and harken unto our Prayer our Supplication and Cry for thou hearest the Prayer of every mouth Answer me O my Father answer me in this day of Fasting and Affliction Because I am in a great strait by reason I have offended and rebelled against thee since the day that I was upon the Earth until this hour I blush and am ashamed of my Rebellion I repent me of my sins and transgressions Notwithstanding I have put thy Mercies before mine eyes with which thou art wont to keep off thy fury and to be appeased with thy Creatures Thou art good to pardon and hast great pity upon all that call upon thee For thy manifold Mercies now answer me and let a little of my Fat and Bloud be mingled with my fasting and be received of thee as the fat put upon the top of thy Altar to pardon every one that hath sin'd and that hath striven and rebelled against thee I beseech thee for the sake of thy Power Soveraignty and Knowledge bear good will unto me for thy Great Mercies and look not upon my wickedness nor stop thine ears at my prayers be nigh unto my calling and to the calling of the men of my house It is said Before we cry unto thee thou wilt answer before we speak thou wilt hear It shall be that before they cry I will answer and before they speak I will hear That thou O Lord wilt deliver and answer and be appeased in the hour of adversity and hear the Petition of every mouth Blessed be thou Adonai Lord hear our Prayer The Prayer used by the Jews after they have done fasting translated out of their Liturgy O Lord of the Worlds I have afflicted my self this day with fasting before thee I have made known and manifest before the Seat of thy Honour that in the time that the house of thy Sanctuary stood the man that sin'd brought before thee an Offering and offer'd nothing but the fat and bloud and was forgiven And at present we have neither Sanctuary that is Temple nor Altar for our many sins nor Priest to pardon Let it be thy will Lord our God and the God of our Fathers that the little of my fat and bloud which is this day spent before thee may be reckon'd with my fast and accepted before the Seat of thy Honour even as if I had done it upon the sides of thy Altar and receive me of thy great mercies CHAP. XXIII Of the Jewish Excommunication THe Mahumedans as I have observed in another Discourse are not acquainted with Church-censures the contriver of that Religion having left all sorts of Delinquents to the Civil Sword And though for greater Decorum and Solemnity the Grand Segnor keeps his Musti whom he makes his Pope and pretended Oracle in Religion yet he has no power to chastize any by Spiritual Censures be their Enormities never so hainous And upon this account the Jews upbraid Mahumedism with great deficiency because it has no power to terrifie Evil doers to preserve the broken from the whole and to prevent and divert Gods Judgements to bring Offenders to amendment and to maintain the credit and power of their Religion To all which ends the Jews manage and hold Excommunication necessary Concerning which this ensuing Chapter shall give the Reader a short account of the causes of Excommunication its kindes and form Some have thought that the Jews of old used Excommunications onely in case of Pollutions of which they held chiefly these three sorts viz. by Leprosie touching of the Dead and an Issue And that to these three sorts of Pollutions were adapted as many kindes of Excommunication namely the Niddui Herem and Shammatha But besides these three causes of Excommunication among the Primitive Jews the Modern assigne twenty four more for all or any of which they at present Excommunicate that is forbid those of their Religion the free enjoyment of all Civil and Religious Society The causes of Excommunication among the Jews are chiefly these 1. He that doth Scandalize a Master though he be dead 2. He that doth revile a publique Minister of Justice 3. He that calls a Free-man a Slave or Servant 4. He that doth not appear at the Consistory upon the day prefixt 5. He that doth undervalue a single Precept or one head of Doctrine which is contained in the Prescripts of the Scribes or the Law 6. He that doth not what he is appointed stands Excommunicated till he doth it 7. He that keeps in his House what may do mischief to another as a biting Dog or broken Scales is Excommunicated until the fault be corrected that is till the Dog be Hanged and the Scales be mended 8. He that sells his Land to a Gentile is Excommunicate till the Damage be repaired that thereby shall accrew unto an Israelite 9. He that in the Courts of the Gentiles shall be a Witness against an Hebrew so that he shall be forced to pay Money contrary to the custom of his Nation shall be Excommunicate until he refund it 10. The Priest that Sacrificing doth not give the Dues to the rest of the Priests is to stand Excommunicate until he doth 11. He that shall do any Work in the forenoon of the day before the Passover 12. He that shall carelessly or with an Oath or in lofty and Hyperbolical terms pronounce the Name of God 13. They that shall cause the Vulgar to profane the Name of God 14. He that shall cause the Vulgar to eat holy things out of holy places 15. He that doth reckon the Years and prefix the Months out of the Holy Land That is shall otherwise observe the Months and Years than of