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
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
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
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
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
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