our bounden duty to believe what ever is extant in their name for it is the truth neither let any deride them not in his heart for so doing he shall not escape unpunished let every one then take warning that he speak not any thing scandalous either to the person or attempts of these men but rather to endeavour to learn so much as he can possible out of their writings To the same purpose it is recorded in a book printed in the Germane tongue and Hebrew Letter at Cracovia in Poland Anno Dom. 1597. called Brand spiegelium in the hinder end of the 48. Chapter that the Jews are bound to say Amen not only at the end of their prayers but to every Sermon and Exposition upon the word of God in which lie hidden and profound mysteries shaped to the vulgar apprehension that by this they might signifie and acknowledge that they believe whatsoever their Rabbines or wise men have spoken as it is written in the Prophet Isa Open your selves O ye gates for the people cometh who keepeth Justice that is a people who saying Amen believes all things that the wise men and Rabbines have written but if any mans understanding be encompassed with such Egyptian darknesse that he cannot comprehend the aggados or expositions yet he ought to believe them for the words of our Doctours are not wind but truth it self Aggadah is a mysticall or hidden speech by which hidden matters and things of great moment are signified the word it self by a certain Metathesis is the same with Deagah which signifies poverty and grief because a man macerates and tortures himself after an uncouth manner before he can rightly understand the forementioned Aggadah Hitherto pertains that which is every where extant in the Talmnd to wit that when two Rabbines are at contention the one affirming the other denying none ought to contradict them because both their Positious are grounded upon the Kabala which Moses brought with him from Mount Sinai and although the one could not rightly understandd it yet it is not to be imputed unto him for both of them know the reason why they thus speak seeing the words of the one as well as the other are the words of the living God It is also a Catholick rule in the book of the Rabbines Rather keep in mind the sayings of the Scribes than them of the Law of Moses concluding from hence that the writings and instructions of the Rabbines are of greater authority than Moses and the Prophets Luther in his book which he writ upon Shem hamphorasch comments in this manner concerning the authority and credit given to the Rabbines and their writings The Jews say that they ought to believe that Rabbines though they should affirm thè left hand to be the right and the light hand to be the left as Purchetus testifies After the same manner three Jews who kept me company dealt with me when I urged any thing out of the Bible then would they object that they were bound to believe their Rabbines and were not tied to the Scripture whence I perswade my self Purchetus said nothing but truth seeing mine own experience taught me the same Luther was not too blame being guided by his own experience to believe Purchetus to make it more manifest I will produce their own words Raschi or Rabbi Salomon Jarchi upon those words Deut 17. and 11 According to the Sentence of the Law which they shall teach thee and according to the Iudgements which they shall tell thee thou shalt do thou shalt not decline from the Sentence which they shall shew thee to the right hand nor nor to the left hath this glosse when he saith unto thee of thy right hand that it is the left and of the left hand that it is the right thou must believe it as a truth how much more if he say thy right hand is thy right and thy left hand thy left The like we find in Rabbi Bechai his Commentary upon the foresaid words who brings in Ramban or R. Mosche Ben Nachman telling his tale in these terms Upon a time there came a certain Gentile unto that mirrour of Learning Don Shammai and asked him how many Laws or Commandements have you â—ews among you to whom Shammai made answer our Laws are onely two the one written the other delivered by mouth Then the Gentile replyed I believe as fully as thou dost that written Law to be true and whatsoever is contained therein to be nothing but the truth but as for thy Law of Tradition I cannot embrace it neither account it for a Law but go to make me a Jew be my Shoolmaster teach me in this Law which words possessed Schammai with such a fury that he thrust him from him and commanded him to depart the place then the Gentile came to Hillel the elder Schammai's copartner in office for they two were joynt Rectors and lived but a small time before Christs incarnation whom he questions in the same manner entreating him withall that he would vouchsafe to make him a Jew which Hillel did and instructed him in the Jewish Religion The day following Hillel saith unto him pronounce Aleph Beth Gimel Daleth which he did according as Hillel mouthed them unto him the day following Hillel inverting the Alphabet saith unto him pronounce Daleth Gimel Beth Aleph then the Gentile replyed Rabbi this is not the Lesson thou taughtst me yesterday then answered Hillel thou dost not onely reject me thy instructor but also fearest not to yield no credit unto my words therefore thou oughtest to rest thy self contented in the unwritten word and to believe all those things which are taught therein This Story is registred in the Talmud Tract de Sabbatho Hence may we conclude that every one simply without consideration or contradiction should believe not onely the Jewish Law of Tradition but whatsoever the RabbiNes according to the prescript of the same Law write and teach and that whosoever doth this is to be esteemed a Jew indeed whosoever is refractory and disobedient the most grievous torments in hell shall be his portion concerning which thing we read this Decree and Sentence of the Senate in the Tract entituled de libello repudii or Letter of Divorce in these words Mar. saith Whosoever shall deride or contemne what our wismen and Rabbines have spoken he shall be punished in hot boyling pitch and that in hell as they blasphemously affirm Christ our Saviour and Redeemer to be tormented because he walked not according to the traditions ordinances and Doctrines of their ancestours but rejected them as a thing despifed This punishment is also registred in another Tract of the Talmud and more at large expounded in a book called Menneras Hammaor and expresly set down in the book Beth Iaacob but in the Talmud printed at Basile it is left out and not without good reason as also many other blasphemous passages written against Christ and Christian
for the Rabbines in their Masseches Berachos upon those words When all the people saw the thunders and the lightnings and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain burning the people saw and were afraid and stood afar off dispute and say that the people through great fear and amazement was in a moment of time three miles backward from the mountain Sinai The chief Glosse-monger Rabbi Salomon Jarchi writes in his glosse upon this Text that the people kept back twelve miLes of which David spoke saying The Kings of the Armies did flie and sheâ— that tarried at home divided the spoil and then came the good Angels and ministring Spirits and brought the people back unto the Mountain When they are about to depart the Temple or Synagogue then they speaking within themselves quietly and without the least noise they say a certain Prayer beginning Alenulesh abeach It is meet that we should praise the Lord who is above all and in an excellent degree to celebrate him because he hath created all things and not made us like unto the rest of the Nations likewise that he hath not made us as other generations of the World and hath not appointed us an inheritance like unto theirs neither is our lot as their lot neither as the lot of their whole multititude Here are some words omitted in their Books of Common-prayer and that by the Commandement of the Magistrates of Italy where their Books are wont to be and for the most part are at this day imprinted The things omitted were some blasphemous sayings against our Saviour which are found expressed in the ancient copies of which I have one which was imprinted at Augusta by a Jewish Printer called Chajim in the year of Christ 1534. In other copies instead of the words omitted there is left an empty space about the length of one line to this end that the children of the Jews and others who are ignorant may be warned to enquire what saying it is that is there omitted which when they do some relate the words unto them or otherwise write them in the margent of the Book as I have observed them to have practised in many of their Prayer books the words left out are these Who bend their knee and crouch to that which is vanity and foolishness and adore another God who cannot help these words they utter against Christ wherefore they spit upon the earth in the mouthing of them But we bend and bow our knees yea our whole man to that King who is King of Kings to God holy and blessed for ever who stretcheth out the heavens establisheth the earth whose glory and chair of estate is in heaven and the seat of whose power is in the highest heavens he only is our God and there is no other besides him These things thus finished the Jew now going out Of the Synagogue saith O Lord God lead me by thy justice by reason of those that lay wait for me in secret make plain thy way before my face Preserve me in my going out and my comming in from this time forth for evermore They must go out of the Synagogue in the posture of a Crab sish creeping backward through the Gate thereof and that their back part should not be towards the holy Ark in which the book of the Law is laid up to which they ought to exhibit a certain kind of reverence by turning their face thereunto The Rabbines upon those words of the Prophet Ezekiel Who have turned their back unto the Temple of the Lord have delivered thus much in the Talmud that a grievous and heavy punishment was inflcted upon the Priests because in going out of the Temple of the Lord they turned their back parts towards the ark of the Covenant wherefore the case standing thus we ought to depart out of the Temple with all fear and reverence even as a servant being about to take his leave of his Maister doth it with a retrograde crowching submission and submiss lowliness They must not run out of the Synagogue lest some might think him that runneth to be weary with praying and to rejoyce that it is now lawfull for him to depart They must go out with decurtate steps for if any one doth this God numbreth his steps and gives him a great reward as it is written Thou hast numbred my steps c. If any in his going forth chance to meet a woman or a damsel whether she be one of the Jews or Christians he ought to shut his eyeâ— and turn away his face from beholding her he must not afford her the common curtesie of a Complement lest thereby taking occasion of longer discourse he should be woed to the entertainment of lustfull notions and evil cogitations Concerning the serious manner of praying they write that whosoever wil pray attentively ought to have his head and heart covered to incompass his body with a girdle in the middle lest his heart by the sight of the secret part should be inveigled with wicked thoughts He must turn his face towards Canaan and the City Jerusalem his feet equally placed upon the Earth as abovesaid He ought to put his hand upon his heart in that manner that his right hand may rest upon his left withall bowing his head with great humility as it is written Let us lift up our hearts with our hands unto the Lord in the heavens and again My life is alwayes in my hand yet do I not forget thy Law In time of prayer none must yawn belch or spit yet if he must spit on necessity then ought he privately to receive it in his Handkerchiff and modestly to cast it behind him or upon his left hand but not before him or upon his right for there stand the Angels invisible whom if any should beray with this excrement he should be guilty of an heynous offence It is not lawfull for any to let a scape in time of Prayer if he do it against his will then ought he to suspend the act of praying until the ill savour thereof be gone If the wind urge him so much and so vehemently that he must of necessity let fly then shall he go some four paces aside set a packing and instantly thereupon saying O Lord of all the earth thou hast created me full of holes Whiâ—h I cannot shut up all our modesty is open and known unto thee our life is full of shame we are nothing but worms and Maggots Sneesing in time of Prayer if it come from the parts below is an ill sign if from above a good one He that beginneth once to pray must not break off in the middle of his Prayer yea although the King of Israel should come and salute him yet he may not answer him though a Serpent took him by the heel and bit him yet ought he to continue in his devotions yet there is a certain dispensation which licenseth a man to give way unto a
putting it into the salt or into some sort of sauce if there bee any upon the table presently eates it speaking not a word for if he doe he is bound to say grace the second time The piece which he breaks off is of a good quantity lest he should be accounted for a miserable niggard who desires to be sparing where spending is ranked in the place of a good worke and laudable It is also required that two or three should sit together at the same table for otherwise every one must say grace for himselfe This finished he takes the bread into his hands the second time and cuts every one there present a shive of the same laying it on their trencher that every one may feed thereupon In the same manner also he blesseth the wine especially in those regions where they commonly use to drinke it and were not only the whole number of ten` but three or foure are in company It is performed in this manner A cup brim full of wine being presented he takes it first into both his hands then holds it in the right hand alone yet if it bee big and weighty hee may also imploy his left so that hee place it below the right This done he lists it up above the table a hands breadth and fastning his eyes upon it raising himselfe a little in way of honour saith Blessed bee thou O Lordour God King of the world who hast created the fruit of the vine Here it is also provided that when many sit not at the same table every one in particular ought to blesse his owne cup where Ale or water and honey mixed together are wont to be drunk they use the same kind of grace The richest sort of the Jewes drinkes up the sanctifyed cup of wine though they carouse their cups of Ale after it They use not at any time to give ablessing being about to drinke water Grace being ended the Master of the family useth to repeat the twenty third Psalme after which they fall to lustily and feed deliciously if they have wherewithall He that gives not thankes himselfe must say Amen to him that supplies the place Hereupon it is read in the Talmud that whosoever saith Amen with an attentive and zealous minde he is farre more worthy and of greater esteem then hee that saith grace before or after meat The Rabbines illustrate this by a simile taken from one that writes a letter in another mans name For as the letter is then confirmed and ratified when it is sealed and signed by the hand of another so they make good and establish the blessing given upon the meate who say Amen at the ending thereof Salt is set upon the table in remembrance of their sacrifices which were wont to be offered in the daies of old for the table represents the Altar and the meat thereon is compared to the sacrifice yea it is also written And every oblation of thy meate-offering shalt thou season with salt neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the Covenant of thy GOD to be lacking from thy meate-offering with all thine offerings thoushalt offer salt and therefore it is lawfull to want salt at the table The reason why they doe not cut and divide their bread into parcels before they blesse it is because it is the position of their Doctors that hereby they should offend God seeing it is written Ubozeah berech nietz adonai which the Jews very handsomely translate whosoever cuts and gives a blessing offends the Lord. The Hebrew word Bozeah never signifying to cut neither admits it of any such signification in this place neither is it so translated in the Germane Psalter but only is so rendered at the pleasure of the Rabbines as wee may read in Orach chajim a little booke translated into the Germane tongue for the use of women and children in which is briefly set down the plat-forme after which their life ought to bee framed untill the end of their daies They lay both their hands upon the bread their fingers being stretched out in remembrance of the ten commandements which God gave concerning the graine whereof the bread is made These commandements cannot bee conveniently inserted into this place being set downe in a place a little before cited Secondly they do it moved thereunto by some sayings of holy writ one whereof is this He bringeth forth grasse for the cattell and green herbes for the service of men that he may bring bread out of the earth Another is this The eies of all wait upon the Lord and thou gavest them their meat in due season the third The Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land a land of brookes and waters of fount aines and deeps that spring out of the vallies and hils A land of wheat and harly of vines aâ—d fig-trees and pomegranates a land of oile olive and honey And many other sayings of the same sort which in the originall consist onely of ten words and so the usuallgrace also consists of ten words onely In blessing the wine foure things are especially to be taken notice of and had respect unto all which are briefly comprehended in the word Chamischah which is as a note of remembrance for the more easie retaining of them The first of the word is Cheth which notes unto us Chai signifying new intimating that the wine ought both to be new and also to be poured out into the bowle from a full tankard The second letter Mem signifies Male which is as much as full for the cup ought to be full of wine as it is written O Naphtali satisfied with favour and full with the blessing of the Lord possesse thou the west and the south Hence concluding that their cup which they blesse in this manner ought to bee full of wine If any drinke out of the foresaid cup before grace be said it is to be filled againe out of a fresh and full tankard if there remaine no wine at all in the tankard then must that which is in the cup bee poured out into a cleane tankard and from thence into the cup againe and so it passeth for currant The third letter Schin notes the word Schetiphah which is ablution intimating that the out-side of the cup ought to bee washed with cold water The last letter He notes out the word Haddacha which signifies a washing intimating that the inside of the cup ought also to bee washed with cold water That they ought to lift up the cup with both hands from the table they prove from the words of David Lift up your hands unto the Sanctuary and bless the Lord a very doctor-like proofe indeed While they are at their repast every one using a modest carriage must think with himselfe that he is in the presence of the Lord. As it is said conâ—erning the tithes of the field that thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God Againe This is the table that is before the Lord.
sloth and idlenesse they use not to practise the foresaid things before they arise from the table When the Jewes have eaten their fils then the good man of the house some one of the Rabbines or some guest or stranger if any such bee present saies grace after meat Their thanksgiving is very prolixe and tedious in which praising God they thank him that he gives meate and drinke to them and all other his creatures that hee sustaines them through his goodnesse that he brought their fathers out of the land of of Egypt and gave them the land of Canaan for and inheritanâ—e made a covenant with them and in giving them the law made a promise unto them that he would for ever keep and defend them They pray and beseech him that he would have mercy upon Sion build againe their holy Temple and restore the Kingdome of David in these their daies send them the Messias and Eliah the Prophet to deliver them out of the house of bondage to preserve them against poverty that they may not bee forced to beg or borrow of the Christians who in their repute are men meerely flesh and blood poore miserable mortals and cast-awaies who entertaine no commerce with their Maker who are subject to the curse and utterly rejected who shall dye and perish like unto beasts when on the contrary they are a holy nation the â—lock and inheritance of God himselfe They further pray that God would vouchsafe to fill their hands with all good things and noâ— suffer them to bee ashamed but to breake the yoake of the Christians from off their necks and to bring them backe into their own land to bestow a blessing upon the house where in they have feasted and to enrich the master and mistrisse thereof with their children and all their posterity c. To which things every one saying Amen with attentive mindes repeating the words of David O feare the Lord all yee his saints for they that feare him lacke nothing The lyons do lack and suffer hunger but they that secke the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good This they say with their mouthes so empty of meate that not one crum of bread or piece of flesh stickes between their teeth and those words bind them thereunto Let my mouth bee filled with thy praise and glory all the day long Prayers are alwaies to bee said in that place where dinner or supper is eaten Hence the Cabbalists write that whosoever praies not in that place where any banquet is celebrated shall never come unto the grave because they shall dye such a death which is never accompanied with any buriall as hanging drowning or such like There was once a time when a certaine godly and religious Jew being in the field refreshed and filled with wholsome meates forgot to give thankes When hee had been long absent from the foresaid place and at length remembring he had offended in not saying grace having another in his company he said unto him that hee must of necessity returne to that place where hee had formerly taken meate because hee had left a precious toole there Which when he had done and praied and given thanks God shewed this miracle He created a golden dove which the Jew had bestowed on him as a reward of his honesty and piety in observing the precepts of the Talmud with so great diligence This was a miracle indeed in that place but it had been none at all in Paphlagonia although the dove being throughly rosted had sâ—own into his mouth Without all doubt this miracle was done neare unto the Indian mines For who will be so stupid as not to believe that this dove flying from thence and being wearied in slight alighted here to rest her selfe The Chachamim and Doctors command that a man should not make many banquets in one week lest he should so carry himselfe that every day thereof might bee accounted for an holy day as some doe who mutually inviting one another say to day you shall feast with me so will I to morrow with you c. for the whole weeke Of such men the Cabbalists writing say that at such banquets an evill spirit called Samaâ—l feasts himselfe together with others of his society inciting the guests to many grand offences Rabbi Levi in the behalfe of Rabbi Abhen in the name of Rabbi Joshua saith that the bellies of all those that keep such revellings eating and drinking sporting and feasting every week do burst asunder the third after they are dead and laid in their graves and the dung of their intrals is poured upon their faces as it is written I will sprinkle the dung of your feasts upon your faces Which once come to passe the Devils come and jeare them saying now devour that which even now thou gormandisedst And here I will leave them and proceed to a further declaration of their carriage after they rise from the table CHAP. VIII Of their evening prayer and their manner of going to bed IN great Cities where the Jewes have Schools or Synagogues the beater of the Schoole who is the same with a Sexton in other places going about unto their houses about five a clock in the afternoon knocks at their doores with an hammer thereby giving them notice that they ought to make hast to evening prayer So soon as they come into the Synagogue they set them down and huddle up a certaine praier by reason of the first word therein called Aschre which in English signifies Blessednesse which is taken out of the eighty fourth Psalme and the first verse which begins with this fore-mentioned word The prayer runs thus Blessed are they that dwell in thine house for they will alwaies be praising thee Selah In these words boasting of their diligence in frequenting the house of the Lord Happy are the people that be in such a case yea blessed are the people that have the Lord for their God I will magnifie thee O Lord my King I wil praise thy name for ever and ever c. unto the end of the Psalme This prayer is in so great esteem among them that they write that whosoever saith it three times a day shall have his portion in eternall life Then the Chanter rising up sings halfe of that holy prayer which they call Kaddisch after that the whole Synagogue joines in the repetition of the eighteen laudatory petitions of which we made mention in their morning prayer Which done and finished the Chanter comming for his chaire or pulpit so called by the Christians fals downe upon his knees before the Arke and leanes his head upon his left hand which all the people doe likewise and bowing their head towards the left side and covering theirface with their whole heart for the heart lies upon the left side and so the head and heart are joined in such a position they in a most devout manner pronounce the words following O mercifull and
gracious GOD I have sinned in thy sight but thou art full of mercy Have mercy therefore upon mee and receive my prayer which proceedeth out of unfained lips Rebuke mee not O Lord in thy fury neither chasten mee in thy heavy displeasure They moreover repeate the sixt Psalme from the beginning to the end with their heads covered and bended towards the earth The Chanter fals downe upon his knees before the Arke in imitation of Joshua of whom it is written That hee rent his clothes and fell to the earth upon his face before the Arke of the Lord untill the eventide he and the elders of Israel and put dust upon their heads The reason why they cover their faces is this In ancient times when they had a large and spacious Temple they came thither to confesse their sins every one stood from another by the space of four els lest his neighbour should heare his confession In these daies therefore they cover their faces for the same end and purpose They leane their head upon their left hand moved hereunto by that which is written His left hand is under my head and his right hand doth embrace me And moreover because Isaac being about to bee sacrificed lay upon his left side But to returne to the point in hand They suddenly rise up againe and their Chanter saies Wee are ignorant O Lord what other thing to put in practise but only to lift up our eyes unto thee as though they would say Wee have worshipped thee O God sitting and standing being humble and lifted up kneeling and with anerected posture not knowing what more is reâ—â—iâ—ed of us yet wee will once againe lift up our eies unto thee Hitherto they only have sung their prayer called Kaddisch which finished their evening prayer is ended Now indeed it were very laudable if after this evening sacrifice of prayer and thanksgiving returning to their owne houses they did immediately fall to supper and that ended againe to assemble themselves into the Synagogue for the performance of their nocturnall devotions But this practise is disapproved by the Rabbines as a thing very inconvenient seeing many may be drunke and so forget their duty of prayer therefore they have decreed that presently after the evening prayer be ended that accustomed to be said in the beginning of the night should also be finished Yet not withstanding they make some small stay between Minhah and Maâ—rib that is to say between their evening and nightly prayers to the end the one may be differenced from the other They have one quaint custome concerning the reconcilement of them that are at strife one with another and that in time of prayers For if two be at ods and the one cannot bring the other with him into the Synagogue That a reconcilemet may be made he steps unto the book out of which the Chanter sings or saies their common prayers shuts it and giving it a clap with his hand saith I conclude and put a period to this exercise which is all one as if he should say I locke and seale up this order of praying interdicting the same untill an agreement be made between me and mine adversary And from that time forward untill his desire bee accomplished it is not lawfull for them to say any more prayers in the Synagogue Thence it often fals out that they retune home without any praying yet if the one party bee wayward and refractory there happens many times a surcease and intermission of this duty of prayer for some whole dayes together Among many others they have a prayer that God would vouchsafe to deliver them from the Christians and bring them back againe to their owne land This prayer begins Baruch Jehovah O blessed God our Lord help us gather together and deliver us from the Gentiles that we professing thy holy Name may make our boast of thy praise All the people which thou hast created shall come and worship thee fall down before thee and sing praises unto thy name Our eyes shall see it our heart shall rejoice our soul shall be joyfull in thy strength when it shall be said in Sion The Lord doth reign God is King he doth rule and shall beare rule for evermore for thine is thy Kingdome c. But alas poore silly Jew in vaine thou gapest after with a greedy expectation this thy rejoicing seeing he is come some sixteen hundred years agoe whom thou as yet waites for and expects to bring thee joy and consolation Furthermore they say one petition more formerly mentioned in their morning prayer in which they entreat God to revenge their cause against all the Christians in generall but in a more especiall manner against their Magistrates If any lost a father in that yeare he is tied all the yeare long to say that praier called Kaddisch the lesse by the mediation of which his father shall be delivered out of purgatory of which God willing more hereafter When they go out of the Synagogue then must they repeat those sentences formerly mentioned in the fifth Chapter And in this place againe they exercise many prolix disputes about that prayer beginning Schema Israel Heare O Israel the Lord thy God is one God questioning the manner how the time when the place where this prayer should bee said and repeated All which to avoid prolixity I willingly omit At dinner and supper their carriage is the same When they goe to bed they must first draw off the left foot shooe then the right They put off their shirts lying in bed and covered with clothes lest the beams and wals of the house should behold their unseemly nakednesse And this is the cause that they never use to empty their bladder in their bed-chamber their clothes being off the very act becomming a shamefull disgrace unto them and the consequent of such impudence being a fearfullapse into an extream poverty a consideration also had that it is one of those things God hateth Whosoever saies that prayer Schema Israel Heare O Israel c. must endeavour instantly upon the finishing of the same to fal asleep and take an especiall care that he speake nothing after it as it is written Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still Selah If sleepe will not presently attempt to close up his eyes he must not cease to repeate the said prayer untill the approach thereof tongue-tye his devotions for inâ—o doing his rest shall bee sweet and delightfull unto his wearied body his sleep comfortable and restorative The bed wherein the man and wife are to make their repose is to bee furnished with cleane sheets without spot or blemish for it may come to passe that the man may meditate upon some thing which he hath learned and also committed to memory by reading the Scriptures whilst it was yet day yea both man and woman may joyne in prayer to the Almighty that they may beget children which will bee obedient to
sanctifie it whether it be Oxe or Sheep it is the Lords Lastly Exod. 19. it is written The third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the People upon Mount Sinai But Exod. 20. 22. it is said You have seen that I have talked with you from Heaven These and such like contradictions are every where obvious in the Law of Moses and cannot out of it be reconciled In the second place we may with great facility prove the imperfection of this Law for who shall teach unto us the Notes of birds and other creatures who shall instruct us what fat is permitted unto us what prohibited to what height the Tabernacle is to be reared up after what figure to be built whether circumcision is barely to be administred or priah some other thing to be added or how the writing called Mezuzah which is to be fastened to the door posts and of which mention is made Deut. 6. is to be indited as also whether it should be placed upon the right hand or the left upon the top or Threshould of the Gate Furthermore who can reckon up all the kindes of licensed and prohihited meats who can shew unto us the difference to be had in boyling milk and flesh how the dead and Leapers are to be handled as also dead Beasts that we may not be polluted by touching of them who can teach us the nature and property of the Masorah of Points or Accents as also of the Letters of which some are lifted up above the words some inverted who can give us a true exposition of all these things It must then irrefragably follow that a Commentary on the written word is necessary out of which we may learn and be instructed in all these points So much the fore-named Rabbine This is the very means and plot wherby the Divel first of all seduced the Jews to forsake the Word of God and after his magisteriall manner compelled them to imbrace the Traditions of men and that with such a tenacious grasp that neither Esay Christ nor any other to this very day could by any means unclasp their arms Go to then my prudent and skilfull Rabbine where shall we find a true Exposition of the written Word In Weckers Books of Secrets no verily In Reuchlines Caballistical Art no such matter or lastly in Marcolfus much less but read the holy Talmud and there you may find it But from whence I pray thee was this Talmud sent unto us that I should give so much credit unto it as to make it the Interpreter and Expounder of Moses his Law Thou wilt answer that Moses our Master and Prophet brought it together with the written Word from mount Sinai for thinkest thou thou doting Gentile that when Moses stayd forty days forty nights upon Mount Sinai he was set to keep Geese Could not God in the space of one houre have given him the two Tables in which he had written his Law and so sent him a Packing to have prevented the Israelites in making of their Golden Calfe There was some thing more in the wind for God brought Moses into his own School and there first gave him the written Law then expounded the same unto him in that time which he spent in the mountain expressing to the life the cause measure foundation and meaning of every Commandement which Declaration finished he bids him depart the Mountain and relate all that he had heard to the children of Israel as it is written At the same time the Lord commanded me that I should teach you Statutes and Judgements These Statutes and Judgements were that Thorah begnal peh that Law delivered by Mouth to Moses which he taught Joshuah and Joshuah the seventy two Elders and by them was derived to Zachary and Malachy the last of the Prophets from whom that great Councel the Sanhedrim received it and from that time forward it was deliver'd from one unto another in the same manner that every one had learned it from his Grandfather or Grandmother But how could Moses know when either it was day or night Rabbi Bechai Exod 34. makes answer that upon the day time Moses received the written Law upon the night that which was delivered by mouth unto him a Doctourlike answer for if it had been night he could not have writ and because there was never a Chandler in the Mountain Sinai to furnish him with Candles he could not have had the use of them if he had desired it But what should be the cause that this Exposition was onely delivered by mouth and not in writing Rabbi Mosche Mikkotzi makes answer that God did it to this end that the Gentiles should not corrupt this Exposition as they had corrupted the written word therefore in the day of Judgement when both Jews and Gentiles shall stand before Gods Tribunall they shall both bring with them and present the written Law hence calling themselves the Sons of God then shall the Lord make a further enquiry and say which of you hath the Declaration of the Law given by mouth in Mount Sinai which none but the Israelites shall know of or can produce To the purpose then when there was no more any vision and prophecies had ceased in Israel God stirred up the wisest among the people who had been the Schollers of the Prophets for this end that they might institute good Ordinances among the Israelites rightly teach and propagate the Law which they did as also their successours to this very day These men made it a Statute in Israel that the name of God most worthy of praise should be blessed every day at the rising and setting of the Sunne They ordained also eighteen laudatory petitions in which every Morning and Evening we praise God and beg of him that he would bestow upon us all things necessary for us that we might rightly fear him as grace wisdome and understanding that he would vouchsafe to heal all our infirmities gather us together again thus dispersed to punish the wicked to break their horn and power in pieces but to exalt the horns of the godly and righteous to buâ—ld up Jerusalem and to restore again the Kingdome and house of David Moreover they ordained Grace before and after meat to welcome the New Moon with joy and gladnesse to pray at the sight of the Rainbow and noise of Thunder Again that in every City some certain Schools should be opened and furnished with sufficient and able men for Masters and instructors who might bring up the children of the Jews 〈◊〉 the Law of Moses That the Law of Moses should be weekly read in these their Schools lest the children of Israel should forget it That the Israelites should not eat nor drink with any people of the earth except the Christians but to flie their meat as a dog or a snake in imitation of Daniel the Prophet of whom it is recorded that he pur posed in his heart
may see and witnesse that she washeth her self according as she ought It is dangerous in their account to send for a Christian woman for in such an one they dare not put confidence Though it be winter time yet ought these washings to be performed in cold water yea though it be hard frost yet if in any place they can claim custome it may be lawfull for them to intermingle cold water and hot or if there be any hot baths as there is in many Countries into these the women may lawfully enter and wash themselves Who desires to know any more concerning this matter let him peruse a certain little book written in the Germane tongue and Hebrew Character called Franwen Buchlein or the book of women which because it contains a brief description of their conditions his palate may there find wished content and a plenary satisfaction In the next place we are opportunely invited to look into the manner how the first born is redeemed out of the hand of the Priest That son which the mother in time past brought forth according to Moses Law was holy unto the Lord and ought to be redeemed from the hand of the Priest as it is written Whatsoever openeth the Matrix is mine all the first born of thy sons thou shalt redeem and in imitation of their ancestors the Jews do redeem their first born the manner of the redemption followeth The one and thirtieth day following the Nativity of the child his father sends for the Cohen or Priest as also many other good friends to accompany him before whom he sets the Infant upon a Table and layes down beside him a certain sum of mony or so much goods as can equalise it in value which is the quantity of two Florens of Gold then he saith unto the Priest my wife hath brought forth her first begotten son and the Law requires that I should present him unto thee then the Cohen or Priest answering saith Dost thou give this thy son and leave him unto me To whom the Father shall reply yes upon this the Priest asks his Mother whether she ever had a child before that time or if at any time she proved abortive if the mother say no then the Priest questions the Father which of the two be dearer unto him his first born or his mony then the Father answers that he esteems his first-born babe above all riches in the world then the Priest taking the money and laying it upon the Infants head saith this is thy first begotten son whom the Lord would have redeemed as it is written And those that are to be redeemed from a moneth old thou shalt redeem according to thy estimation for the money of five shekels after the shekel of the Sanctuary which is twenty gerahs Then turning himself unto the child he saith when thou wast in the womb of thy mother thou wast then in the power of thy heavenly Father and they earthly Parents but now thou art in my hand and power who am the Priest thy father and mother desire to redeem thee because thou art the first begotten and holy unto the Lord as it is written Sanctifie unto me all the first-born among the children of Israel that first openeth the womb as well of man as of beast for it is mine Now this mony shall serve in thy stead and be thy redemption seeing thou art the first-born and this shall be given unto the Priest If I have redeemed thee as I ought then shalt thou ' be redeemed if I have failed in the peâ—formance of my office notwithstanding thou being redeemed according to the Law and after the manner of the Jews shalt grow up in the fear of God to Matrimony and the practise of good works Amen If the father chance to die before the one and thirtieth day after the childs Nativity be fully come then the mother is not bound to redeem her child and therefore she puts a scroll or plaâ—e of gold about his neck in which it is written This is the first-born son but not redeemed the son himself being bound to redeem himself out of the hands of the Priest when he shall come to full age Before I conclude this Chapter I will relate a certain History which is recorded in the Gemurah or Talmud concerning a certain stranger or proselyte who by a miraculous kind of Circumcision obtained an inheritance in the other World and departed this a good Jew A certain King of Rome as we read in tract de idolatria c. 1. was sometimes an heavy friend unto the Jews and desiring utterly to put out their name from under heaven and to banish them his Kingdome he calls his counsell and thus bespeaks them suppose a man â—aith he hath an old ulcer in his body in which the â—lesh doth putriâ—ie whether will he chuse to cut away the rotten flesh to regain his health or suffer it to remain there still to his perpetuall grief and torment These thingâ— spoke the King against the jews who had for long time sojouâ—ned in his Kingdome and grievously molested his Subjects One of the Councel by name Ketijah hearing the Kings words and perceiving whether they tended made answer Adoni which is to say my Lord thou art not able to destroy or banish the Jews for of them it is written Ho ho come forth and flie from the Land of the North saith the Lord for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven saith the Lord that is the world may even as possibly subsist and be without winds as without the Jews wherefore thou canst not banish the Jews out of thy Realm and if thou couldest prevail so much as to bring it to passe the common voice of the whole world would proclaim thee being brought to extreme poverty for a tyrannicall King Upon these words the King answered thou hast said that which is right and now seeing it is enacted that whosoever overcomes the King in his answer shall be buried quick in a heap of sand that there he may be choakeda and perish thou who hast put me to a non plus which is a scandall to my person and set at naught and vilified my Kingdome shall taste of the appointed punishment When he was carried away to the place of execution there was a certain Matron seen in Rome of an excellent portraiture crying out Wo unto that ship which is about to strike sail the Custome unpayed by which words the Matron intimated thus much that Ketijah who was ready to suffer death in the Jews cause and so consequently to obtain eternall life in another world had not as yet payed his toll money that is was not made a Jew by Circumcision Upon the instant of this vociferation some say that he snatched a knife and cut off his own foreskin others that he burning with too ardent zeal catched hold of his foreskin bit it off with his teeth and then with
his glory as saith the Prophet Esay A singular care is also to be had that no man put on his shirt or any other of his garments out of order he must put on his right foot shooe first but in tying of them begin with the left But if any man have a pair of shooes which are destitute of shooe-ties then must he first fit the left foot then the right at night the left foot shooe ought first to be put off as that worthy man Rabbi Jochanan hath taught and commanded When any one is altogether ready and invested from top to toe then must he leave his bed-chamber his head being bowed toward the ground and his mind full of devotion in remembrance of the Temple of Jerusalem now waste and desolate always provided his head be covered and his feet shod yea the-whole body cloathed seeing the Majesty of the Almighty always hovereth over his head and because it is scandalous and an enemy to good manners to come naked into the sight of any one After this every one drawing aside unto some secret place shall endevour to purge his belly so far as is needfull and to take all pains possible that he may come pure and cleanly to morning prayer as it is written Prepare thy self to meet thy God O Israel and David saith Praise the Lord O my soul and all that is within me praise his holy name in which place according to the Exposition of the Rabbines thus much is intimated that the very intrails ought to be clean and empty It is not lawfull to name the holy name of God unlesse it be done with all cleanlinesse which is the reason that every one must carefully endeavour that his garments be not pollutedâ— in his devotions he ought to be very bashfull and modest yea though he be alone in some dark and private place as it is written humble thy self to walk before thy God that is the Rabbines being Commentators in a secret place No man must be conscious of so small providence as too long to defer the works of nature for it is not a sin onely so to do but also may greatly endanger his belly and make it liable to rupture I do not here mention that the soul by these means procures a stinking breath and other consequent discommodities It is written in Parscha Kedoschim You shall not make your souls abominable but ye shall be holy unto me which the Rabbines interpret of them who against nature stop the work of nature saying that whosoever makes a delay to salute the lakes when the excrement is ripe for an egresse he is unclean and a transgressour of this Commandement in cleansing of himself he must use the left hand not the right for with this he judiciously handles the holy Scripture with this he writes the holy names of God and Angels When any one is in a private place he must be carefull with an exact diligence that the suffer not the word of God and his Commandements to come into his remembrance and much lesse to account it as a thing dispenced withall to name any name expressing a Deity the reason according to the wisest of the Rabbinicall Rable being this because God will shorten his dayes who repeats his name in secret The Schollers of Rabbi Sira upon a time demanded of him how it came to passe that he lived so long to whom he answered I had never since I was born the least meditation of any thing contained in the Word of God neither did his name ever proceed out of my mouth in an impure place When any one is to ease himself he may turn his face either towards the North or South but by no means toward the East or West because a due reverence ought to be had of and tendred unto the holy Temple at Jerusalem to which we ought alwayes to turn the face not out back parts Enough of this I omitting also their morals and such like trash I will show unto you how the Iews prepare themselves to morning prayer by the washing of their hands The Chachamim and skilfull Rabbines write that no man ought to touch his own body untill his handâ— be washed and that in respect of the great danger that may ensue thereupon for the hand in the morning is a thing most impure and venomous by reason of the unclean evil spirits which rest upon the hands untill they be drenched in water If any one touch his eyes with such hands they shall become blind if his ears they shall be stopped with deafnesse if his nostrils they become obnoxious to a continuall distillation if his mouth it shall be vexed with stinking if his hands they shall be clothed with scabs When any one washeth himself he holds the right hand under the Ure and pours the water thrice upon it and after that the leâ—t in the like manner for without this Ceremony it is not allowable that the one hand should touch the other No man in washing ought to be sparing of water for Rabbi Chasda saith that whosoever useth plenty of water in the washing of his hands shall be a man of great riches They must lift their hands on high in time of washing lest the unclean water resulting out of the Bason should repollute them In the next place they ought to wash their mouth and face because this was created according to Gods own image as it is written God created man in his own likenesse according to the image of God created he him The Rabbines illustrate the whole matter by this similitude An Artificer one who is Master of his trade makes some goodly vessel and therewith gratifies one of his dearest friends This his friend knowing of his approach and seeing the Crafts man coming to his house takes the vessel scours and makes it as clean as he can possible left the workman should be wroth and angry that he kept not this his handy work from filth and pollution In like manner any Jew who every day in the morning frequents the Synagogue appears in the presence of God his Creator and is bound to worship and honour him ought also accurately to wash his face lest the chief workman should be angry to behold his creature disfigured with uncleannesse In Bereschith Rabba which is an Exposition upon Genesis the Rabbines winnowing that Sentence of Salomon A mercifull man doth good to his own soul affirm it also to be behoveâ—ull for him to keep himself cleanly for the good of his body How can any call upon God with his mouth when as yet it is filled with spittle and other filthy matter A Jew being about to wash must do it over a bason or some other vessel not over the earth which done it is not lawfull for him to pour out his water where any one treadeth yet are there found men who practise the contrary for the promotion of their art in poysoning and skill in Magick The
in remembrance of the same and deterred me from committing the offence Hereupon she asked him his name and whence he was which when he had told she seemed to rest contented and suffered him to depart but many dayes past not untill she sold all that she had and followed after him unto his dwelling place and entering the Synagogue the place of his study inquired of the Master thereof where he was to whom demanding her business she declared the whole matter and withall desiring to become a Convert unto the Jewish Religion and Wiâ—e to the aforesaid yong Student saying I have here brought with me that bed in which he and I should have contrary to Gods Commandements committed fornication which now that we may use chastly honestly and piously is the top of my desires The Master of the place moved with her words acknowledged her for a Proselite and joyned her in marriage to the yong man whom she loved by whom she had many comly children which in after times came to be great Doctors and learned Rabbines she until the moment of her death continuing constant in the Profession of the Jewish Religion In like manner it is recorded that these Fringes and Ribbands upon the shirts of their garments put Boaz in remembrance of his duty and hindred him from committing folly with Ruth when she lay at his feet in the threshing floor as also Joseph from harkening unto the bewitching of Potiphars Wife This story so famous among the Jews that even Infants and women who never read the Talmud have it at their fingers ends I could by no means here omit being also recorded in their Germain Minhagim or Books of Common prayer In the Trict of the Talmud called Masseches bava basra it is written that upon a time Rabbi Jochanan saw a casket full of pretious jewels which one of his Schollers called Bar Emorai seeking to take away by stealth a violent commotion shattered all his members and a voice was heard saying Let the casket alone thou son of Emorai for it is not thine but belongs to the wife of Rabbi Chanina the son of Dusa who shall treasure up therein store of blew wooll of which the just and righteous shall cause to be made for them fringed garments in the world to come By the example of this good woman all others may learn thus much that in the sedulous imitation of her in this world they shall find a large reward in another The Women are not tied to put on or wear this cloak or coat of remembrance yet if they do it is no scandal to them for it is said that Michall the daughter of Saul did the like yet according to Rabbi Jehuda in the book Siphra the Doctors and learned crew free women from the performance of this Commandement about the Fringes and esteem her for a proud novice and worthy to be laught at who will undertake it seeing it is proper to men alone To conclude all whosoever shall every day without intermission put on this shirt coat or cloak is sufficiently armed against the Divel and all evil spirits Proved So much concerning the first thing formerly proposed now follows the second for as the Jews have their fringes forâ—a signe to put them in remembrance to do well so have they also a knot upon the forehead near unto their nose to put them in mind to pray seriously this knot they weave and knit out of the words of Moses saying And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart and thou shalt rehearse them continually unto thy children and shalt talk of them when thou tarriest in thine house and as thou walkest by the way and when thou liest down and when thou risest up and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes which binding the Jews at this day perform in this manner In the first place they choose out a four square piece of black leather in quantity but small of an Oxe or Cows hide which they fold eight times so making four distinct houses or receptacles unto which they do put four distinct pieces of parchment in which are written the ten Commandements and other parcels of Scripture which are thought to be the four Sections of the Law The first beginning Sanctifie unto me all the first born Exod 13. 2. to the end of the 10. verse The second at the 11. verse continuing unto the end of the 16. The third beginning at the 4. verse of the 6. chapter of Deuteronomy and ending at the tenth verse The fourth Deut. 11. 13. ending at the 22. verse Then they take some few hairs pulled out of the taile of an Oxe or Cow which they wash very clean and therewithall binde together the foresaid parchments yet in such a manner that the ends thereof may appeare out of the skin to this end that every man may take notice that they are good and not sophisticate The skin into whose folds they put these parchment writings they sow together with small strings taken out of the bodies of Oxen or Kine or made of Buls sinnews which if they cannot have then instead thereof they use small thongs cut out of the skin it selfe Finally to the foresaid foursquare piece of leather or skin thus folded and sowed they fasten another long black thong which they knot about it the whole piece thus framed and fashioned they call their Tephillin or prayer ornaments serving to put them in remembrance of the serious and often execution of such an exercise these they bind about their head in that manner that the great knot in which are contained the parcells of holy Writ may be fastened directly upon the forehead between the eyes over against the brain that hereby the memory of Gods Commandements may be therein imprinted their prayers sanctified and lastly the Precept of Moses put in execution who saith It shall be for a memoriall between thine eyes The second sort of Philacteries which are for the hands are made in this manner they take a foursquare piece of leather and fold it as the former then they take a piece of parchment in which they write some certain Sentences out of Exodus putting them into a little hollow skin having but one receptacle the hollownesse thereof being such that ones finger may go into it this little skin they sow unto the foresaid piece of leather so often folded unto which they likewise fasten a long thong and this they call their Tephillin Schel iadon their Philacteries for the hands which they fasten upon the left arm above the elbow on the inside over against the heart that the heart may behold them and hereby become more zealous and â—â—â—ent in its devotion the long thong they lâ—p about their left arm in that manner that the end tâ—â—reof may reach to the palms of the hand and so the Commandement may be fulfilled saying These words
help them to judge deStroy and utterly to extirpate from the face of the earth the Mountain of Esau that is to say the Christians together with their Kingdome they stiling the Christians Edomites and the Roman Monarchy the Kingdome of Edom and so shall bring them back into their own Land flowing with milk and honey what the reason is that they call uâ— Christians Esauites or Edomites I will at large inform the Reader in another place I will only insert thus much in this present Chipter which they write and teach in their secret and hidden books which they will not suffer to come into the hands of Christians that the soul of Esau passed from his body into that of Christs and that Christ was no lesse wicked then Esau was and that we are no better whence ever we are not without great cause called Edomites who put our trust and confidence in him Then they begin to sing God shall be King over the whole earth In that day there shall be one God and his Name shall be one as it is written in thy Law O God Hear O Israel the Lord our God is one God This they â—abble out as a thing clear contrary to our Christian profession as though we worshipped more Gods then one and were wont to give him more names then one as the namâ— of Christ Next in order follows a short Prayer calâ—ed Krias schmah taken out of the fift Book of Moses and when they read that verse in the Hebrew language Hear O Israol the Lord our God is one God and come unto the last word thereof which is Echad signifying One they toss up and down and bandied from mouth to mouth with eyes cast up to Heaven for the space of halfe an hour yea sometimes for an whole hour together and comming to the last letter thereof which is Daleth the whole Congregation doth bend and turn their heads successively towards the four corners and winds of the earth hereby signifying that God is King in every place yea throughout the whole world for the letter Daleth by reason of its place in the Hebrew Alphabet stands for the number of four Furthermore the word Ecthad comprehends in it two hundred forty five other words to which they superadding these three Hael elohechem Emeth your God is truth the number amounts to two hundred forty eight the very number of the members in mans body so that if these several Prayers be said for every member in particular then the whole man is strongly guarded against all manner of evil Whosoever repeats the foresaid verse three times shall be safe from the Divel for that verse begins with the Letter Schin and ends in Daleth in this manner Schema Israel Adonai Eloheim Adonai Echad which two letters conjoyned make up the word Sched which signifies a Divel They repute also this Prayer as a Prayer of singular worth and sanctity by which may be wrought many miracles whence it comes to pass that they are extreamly superstitious in a repetition of the same every morning and evening It is registred in the Talmud that upon a certain time when it was commanded by open Proclamation that the Jews any where having a Synagogue should not publickly teach and make profession of their faith Rabbi Akibha not regarding the command ceased not to read and preach it openly in the Synagogue upon which he was apprehended and for the fact cast into Prison When the Tormentors were about to bring him to the stake to be burnt they first of all curried his corps with an iron horsecombe wounding and tormenting him after a lamentable manner Yet notwithstanding Rabbi Akibha remained constant praying without intermission And when the time of the day came wherein he was to say that Prayer Krias Schema he begun it with great boldness At the last his Scholers bespoke him and said Most dearly beloved Master thou hast prayed sufficiently now yield thy selfe and take thy death patiently To whom he made this answer I have had this saying in great esteem all my life long Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy body and thus I have understood it that though any one should pluck out my heart and rent my body in pieces yet I ought ever to determine this with my selfe never to cease to love him Therefore when God hath confirmed this in me should I cease to worship him and to bring this Prayer to an end which is directed unto him Therefore holding on in this his prayer he never left repeating the word Echad until his soul forsook his body Then was there a voice heard in the air saying Blessed art thou O Rabbi Akibhah because thy soul departed breathing the word Echad now shalt thou have an entrance into life eternal and shalt come into that light of the Garden of Paradise Amen Selah They have also another prayer like unto the former which they call Schemon Esre i. e. eighteen because it contains so many particular thanksgivings and prayers of praise therein Concerning the sanctity and holinesse of this and the former prayer the Jews have written many a large Tract which I leaving to bespeak their own worth will neither praise nor any ways disgrace The last of these every one repeats twice a day and he that is their Chaplain or Reader in the Synogogue doth publickly sing it by himselfe two or three several times The Jews esteem highly of it hoping that hereby they shall obtain remission of all their sins When it is their will and pleasure to poure out unto God they are bound to do it standing and with such a posture that one foot may not insist more upon the ground then the other in imitation of the Angels of whom it is written And their feet were streight feet This is handled more at large in Rabbi Alphes in his first Chapter and in their Minhagim and in many other books When they say those words holy holy holy Lord God of hosts the earth is full of his glory being a parcel of the Prayer Schemon Esre by them named Keduscha a then they caper three times together leaping up as though by this their gesture they did indeavour to become like unto the Angels who were the first Choristers that sung this Song of praise Others say that because these words in the Prophecy of Esay immediatly follow And the posts of the doors were shaken at the voice of him that spake it is both meet and convenient that a man should touching move himself in the quavering of such an Angelical Anthem The Hebrew Doctors write that whosoever dare to mutter the least syllable while the Prayer Schemon Esre is a saying shall after his death have coals of fire given him to eat as it is written in the fourth verse of the thirtieth chapteâ— of Job for so Rabbi Salomon expounds the words Rabbi Tanchum saith in the name of Rabbi
of doores either to take a journey or to doe any other businesse CHAP. X. The preparation of the Jewes to the Sabbath and how they begin the same IT is written in the second booke of Moses That upon the sixt day they gathered twice as much bread and a little after this is that which the Lord hath said To morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord bake that which you will bake to day and seeth that yee will seeth and that which remaineth over lay up for you to bee kept untill the morning These words force the Jewes to this conclusion that it is their duty and Gods command too that they should provide all things necessary pertaining to the honourable celebration of the Sabbath especially dainty and delicate meates which they ought to boile or bake betimes upon the Friday morning whereon they may feed upon the Sabbath and with more facility rest from their labours The women are in a more particular manner enjoined to prepare great store of palate pleasing wafers who while they are kneading and making ready the dough they are very ceremoniall therein leaving the lump whole If the bignesel cause a necessity of division which is often seen in great families then the one part thereof is covered with a cloth that it may not be ashamed and put an open scandall by the other part in that it is provided in the last place for the Sabbaths repast They honour the Sabbath with three banquets all served in much pompe The first whereof they celebrate upon Friday at night when the Sabbath begins The second upon the day it selse about twelve of the clock The third and last upon the evening of the same These to be the due times they prove out of those words of Moses Eat that to day for to day it is a Sabbath unto the Lord to day yee shall not find it in the field From the word to day thrice repeated the Rabbines conclude that Moses in this place doth signifâ—e that manna ought to be eaten at three severall times upon the Sabbath orderly succeeding one another This institution according to the same Doctors in their Dutch Minhagin is profitable in another respect That is if only one banquet should be provided every one would with such gredinesse feed thereupon that his guts should be sufficiently stuft for the rest of the ensuing time even untill the end of the Sabbath But now seeing that every man knowes that one banquet being ended two more are to succeed his stomack hath no such edge to the first as otherwise it had but living in a very temperate manner he eats his meat with pleasure conscious of a second and third returne to the table What other Rites they practise shall hereafter be manifested In the time of preparation no man must thinke it a thing unseemly or derogating from his birth or riches to worke with his owne hands that the preparation to the Sabbath may be compleat And although some one man there were who had an hundred thousand men and maides yet ought not to be a meere overseer of their labours but a partaker and that in honour of the Sabbath According to that which is recorded in the Talmud that the good and honest man Rabbe Chasda would fall a chopping pot-herbes Those learned men Rabba and Rabbi Joseph would cleave wood Rabbi Ezra would make the fire Rabbi Nachman would sweep the house and would moreover provide all manner of instruments necessary for the table Meates either boiled or roasted are kept hot in an oven because they are better hot then cold The tablestands covered all the day and night long which hath a mysticall signification as hereafter shall bee declared Furthermore they wash their heads and use the help of a barber if need require The women ought to attire their heads and plate their haire to goe into some hot bath or else to wash their hands in hot water Upon every Friday they pare their nailes and in a very superstitious fashion beginning at the fourth finger of the left hand and so holding on to the second then to the fift then to the third and last of all to the thumbe whence it comes to passe that they cut not their nailes in order but still over-skip some finger or other In cutting those of the right hand they begin with the second finger and so hold on to the fourth He that throwes his nailes being cut off upon the ground that they may bee trodden under foot of men is a wicked man and a great sinner For Satan hath power over the nailes and wizards by the help of them exercise their inchantments and if any chance to tread upon them some great danger or other hangs over his head On the contrary whosoever digs and buries them in the earth he is accounted for an honest righteous man If he cast them into the fire then is hee a holy and honourable man in esteeme And the truth of every particular they evidently demonstrate in their owne opinion out of the words formerly alledged the summe of which were that upon the sixt day they should prepare themselves Moreover it is necessarily required that every one should sharp his knife use the whetstone and edge him acutely which they prove by those words Thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace thou shalt visit thy habitation and shalt not sinne Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great and thy off-spring as the grasse of the earth Out of which saying the Jewish Doctors have drawne this conclusion that wheresoever is a blunt knife and nothing cunning in cutting there is no peace at the table and the whole house is out of square In the next place they put on their holiday clothes every one dressing himselfe in the most minicall fashion his plodding curiosity can invent They of the richer sort have garments onely appropriated to the day not kissing their corpes upon any other and their reason for the same is very plausible for the Rabbines call the Sabbath a Queen Now if any being to make his appearance before this Queene should not put on some princely garments such as in other place they use to weare in the presence of a King then this Queen should bee much scandalized thereby They cover the table with fine and cleane linnen not neglecting the provision of napkins trenchers cups cushions stooles and other appurtenances that all things may bee in a readinesse to entertaine this renowned Queen the Sabbath in a fit and decent manner In the daies of old warning to a due preparation was wont to be given by the sound of an horne or trumpet But at this day the Sexton or keeper of the Synagogue goes about to every house making proclamation that every man should cease from labour and prepare himselfe to a comely and honourable welcomming of the holy Sabbath which comes to his house much like to
a certaine shadow upon the palme after this he stretcheth forth his hand the second time so that he may know by the candle light that his nailes are whiter then his fingers which he perceiving saith Blessed be thou O God our God King of the world who hast created such a resplendent candle Then he takes the cup againe into his left hand looking in the like manner upon the nailes thereof Then by and by he transfers the cup into the right hand and saith Blessed be thou O Lord our God King of the world who hast put a difference between the holy and unholy between light and darknesse between Israel and the Gentiles between the seventh day and the other six dayes of the weeke destinated for labour While hee is a repeating this prayer he poures a little of the wine out of the cup upon the earth Then he drinks a little of it himselfe reaching it unto others that they may sup of the same Amongst these nocturnall petitions there is one which begins Vaiehi Noam in which the letter zaijn is not found which signifies weapons whosoever therefore shall say this prayer with a devoâ—t minde hee shall bee safe and secure that whole night following from any kinde of weapon so that he shall neither be killed nor have the least scratch given him In the the like manner he shall besafe from the devill when he devoutly faith that prayer beginning Schema Israel Heare O Israel c. For the first verse begins with the letter Schin and ends with the letter Daleth which two joined together make Scheds which word signifies a Devill This distinction of the Sabbath they prove from those words that you may discern between the holy and profane and those Godseparated the light from the darknesse Some take of the consecrated wine and anoint their eies therewithall others wash their face in it thinking it a wholsome medicine against the fluxes of the eye others bath their arteries therewith because it is a meanes to length 〈◊〉 their dayes others sprinkle it in every corner of the hoâ—â—ri about the beds and cradles of infants dreaming that it is soveraign against enchantments and witchcraft The truth is this wine is of so high esteeme amongst them as that other also wherewith they initiate the Sabbath They smell the perfumes lest they should fall into a swoon while one of their soules departs out of the body For upon the Sabbathday they have another soule besides that which they live by at other times Concerning this matter Antonius Margarita in his booke of the faith of the Jewes writes in this manner It is written in the Jewish Talmud saith he that every man hath three soules and it is proved out of these following words of the Prophet Isaiah Thus saith the Lord who created the heaven and stretched it out who made the earth and whatsoever groweth thereon who giveth life and breath unto the inhabitants of it According to the letter of this text they find two soules in man to which if we add the naturall soule there ariseth three Whereupon they also write that two soules depart out of a man sleeping the one of which goes upward unto God to learne things to come the other goes downward into the earth and running to and fro contemplates nothing else but injustice sinne foolishnesse or vanity The third they call Ruach Behemoth the irreasonable soule which being the first of all received by man is seated neare unto his heart and sees all things whatsoever the other two soules in their absence from the body have heard seen or done and hence proceed and issue all our dreames which therefore are not alwaies to be contemned They say moreover that upon the Sabbath a man hath another soule besides these which enlarges his heart that he may keep the Sabbath more honourably and exhilarate himselfe in a higher straine of mirth then it were possible for him to doe if hee were destitute of the same But the Sabbath once being ended this soule departs and the man becomes weake thereupon against which his faintnesse hee may prosperously use these sweet smelling odours that the body may have wherewith to recover its former strength Hitherto Margarita but whence he had these words I cannot as yet finde Concerning this superfluous soule 〈◊〉 remember I have read this in the Talmud Rabbi Jose said 〈◊〉 the name of Rabbi Simeon who was the sonne of Jochai that all the commandements that God gave unto the Israelites he gave them in publike except the Sabbath which he gave in private as it is recorded The Sabbath shall be an everlasting signe between me and the children of Israel Where the Jewes by an everlasting signe would understand a secret token willing that the Sabbath should be hid from all other nations and onely manifested to the Jewes Therefore marke diligently Christian Reader how the Hebrew word leolam signifying everlasting any reasonable soule being judge must according to the Jewish interpretation signifie hidden and concealed Hence the Rabbines in their Gemarah ask the question that if the Christians and other people do not know that we have a Sabbath how comes it to passe that they in time to come shall be punished for the contempt of the Sabbath and for the not keeping thereof They make answer to themselves saying they know well enough that wee keep the Sabbath this is not hidden from their eyes and therefore they are to be punished because they will not keepe it But the reward due unto the observance thereof is hidden from them and this they know not yet if they would rightlly celebrate the Sabbath they should also know thereward But this is a thing impossible for them to put in execution seeing they are destitute of the superfluous soule because it being given to men rather upon that day then others and that more abundantly doth enlarge their hearts that in the time of the Sabbath they may take their rest with ease eat and drinke well and merrily and set all care and sorrow a packing from their breasts Hereupon Rabbi Simeon the sonne of Lakis affirmed that God gave this soule to man upon the Sabbath about eventide and tooke it from him again at the end of the Sabbath as it is written When he had taken rest evâ—n to satiety the Sabâ—ath remaining then was he deprived of his soule to wit the superfluous one Where againe note how neatly the Jewes interpret the holy Scriptures for the verbe jinnâ—phsch in that place is rendred by the Rabbines to want or bee deprived of a soule whereas it hath a clean contrary signification to cherish recollect recreate stirre up the spirits and most properly to breath which after the manner of men we ascribe unto God concerning whom it cannot be said nor understood that he hath lost a soule In this their blindnesse the Jewes blush not to place their chiefe wisdome and knowledge Concerning this superfluous soule Rabbi Abraham also
ought to drinke off in lieu of a thanksgiving as Rabbi Bechai writes for the foure great deliverances mentioned by Moses in those words I will bring you forth from under the burdens of the Egyptians and I will rid you out of their bondage and I will redeem you with a stretched out arme and with great judgement And I will take you to me for a people and I will be your God which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians I will bring you out from under the hands of the Egyptians there is the first I will redeem you with a stretched outarme that 's the second I will take you to me for a people there 's the third I will be your God c. there 's the fourth In remembrance of which foure deliverances they take off foure whole cups of wine in the time of the celebration of the passeover lest they should seem forgetfull of Gods benefits The reason why after these their cups they curse the Christians in a praier called Schepoch is according to Rabbi Bechai in the foresaid place because God shall poure upon the enemies of the Jewes the Christians and all others foure cups of his wrath and vengeance and make them drinke the dregs thereof as it is written Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drinke it And againe Babylon hath beene a golden cup in the Lords hand that hath made all the earth drunken The nations have drunke of her wine therefore the nations are mad Againe He shall raine upon the wicked snares fire and brimstone and vapours of smoake this shall be their portion to drinke Againe There is a cup in the hand of the Lord and the wine thereof is red as for the dregs thereof all the wicked of the earth shall drinke them and suck them out If the Jewes could rightly weigh and ponder the scope of these words and parallell them with other places of holy writ they might easily finde that this cup is in the first place filled for them according to that which is written by the Prophet saying I took the cup at the Lords hand and made all the nations to drinke to whom the Lord had sent me To wit Jerusalem and the Cities of Judah and the Kings thereof to make them a desolation and an astonishment an hissing and a curse as it is this day Pharaoh King of Egypt and his servants his Princes and his people When therefore the Jewes have drunk off and digested this fearfull cup they will have but a slender stomack to reach it out unto the Christians From all that hath been said we may conclude that the Jewes keep not the passeover according to Moses his institution and Gods command but according to the traditions of the Rabbines which with them are in farre greater account then the commanements of God as is apparent in the Talmud Wherein is extant a huge tract concerning the celebration of this Feast upon which the Rabbines have written whole Books and Commentaries To leave them to their vanities let it bee our consolation That Christ our passeover is sacrificed for us and therefore let us keep the feast not with old leaven neither with the leaven of malicioâ— snesse but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth saying with John Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and with St Peter knowing that we were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from our vaine conversation received by tradition of the fathers but with the precious blood of Christ as a lambe undefiled and without spot which was ordained bâ—fore the foundation of the world but declared in the last times for our sakes let us learn not to be ashamed CHAP. XIV Of the manner how the Jewes celebrate the seven daies of the passover and put a conclusion to the Festivall VVHile the Feast of the Passover lasts every morning betimes they repaire to the Synagogue they sing Psalms as they are wont to doe upon the Sabbath say many prayers make sale diversly of the book of the law they take two several bookes of the Law out of the Arke calling forth five men to reade some sections out of the same If the passeover fall upon the Sabbath then they call out seven men When the Priest blesseth the people the prayers being ended then he spreads abroad his hand because it is the assertion of their Doctors that the majesty of the Lord rests upon them who hereupon have given a strict inhibition that none in the meane while should presume to looke upon his own hands unlesse he will incurre the danger of blindnesse Praiers being ended every man returns unto his own house where he fals to his dinner with a merry heaâ—t When a speciall caution is to be had that he eate no more then necessity requires that they may the night following with greater alacrity satiate their stomacks with those three cakes mentioned in the former Chapter Great diâ—putes arise what labors it is lawfull to undertake what meats may be boiled and eaten upon this day for it is not lawfull to boile more then they can eate yet notwithstanding it is allowed to set on the great pot and to fill it with flesh For by this action no danger can accrew unto them though the whole be not that day consumed Much flesh is the cause of much good and the more is put in the pot it will tast the better in it selfe and make the fatter pottage yet though this be tollerated yet it is not permitted to roste more then they may with ease devoure for one joint upon the spit is never the better tasted for the neighbourhood of his fellow And againe meate is farre more delightsome to the palate when it is piping hot then when it is cold That which may be boiled upon the eve of the Sabbath or any Festivall and not lose its taste before the nextday they may then boile it if not it is lawfull sor them to boil it upon the Sabbath day or Festival the great Sabbath only accepted as also the beating of pepper and other spiâ—es which once beaten do quickly lose their proper reâ—ish yet a ceremony is to be used for they must bray with the smal end of the pestle and also make the mortar to leane more to the one side then the other that a certain differeâ—e may be observed between the labors of the week and those of the holy day It is no offence for the mother to wash her infant with hot water in the time of this Festivall although a Christian did make it hot It is not lawfull to take the match out of one lampe and put it unto her If any desire that a wax light should not be altogether consumed he may set it in the water that when the flame comes to the water it may be
fills their hearts with sorrow being a very probable token of an unfruitful and dangerous season When the trumpeter hath done his office the whole Synagogue trumptes out those words of David Blessed is the people O Lord that can rejoyce in thee they shall walk in the light of thy countenance Morning prayer ended they return again to their houses where they eat and drink and sound upon their Rams-horns For it is a position of the Rabbines that at this time every one ought to be merry and jocund being assured that God hath been gracious unto him in pardoning his sins and offences and not because he hath fill'd his panch and liquored his throat for this would God rather impute unto them as a sin then recompense as a good work After this their repast every one man woman and child hasten to the water or to some Bridge thereupon to make Taschlich that is to say to cast their sins into the water and the ground of the practise is that of the Prophet He will turn again and have mercy upon us be will subdue our iniquities and cast all our sins into the bottom of the sea The Jews thus gathered together upon the Bridge so soon as they behold the fishes accounting the sight as a prosperous signe and token they caper alost and shake their garments over the â—ishes dreaming and vainly conceiting that by this their foolery they have shaked off all their sinnes upon the fishes backs which swim away with them even as the scape-Goat which carried away the sinnes of their ancestors into the wilderness Others write that they do it in remembrance of Abraham who travelling to sacrifice his son Isaac upon Mount Meriah which was upon the first day of September Satan met him and turned himself into a great River which at the first took him only to the knees but by and by it reacht his neck Abraham perceiving himself to be in such a distresse and that he was in danger of drowning cried mightily unto God who heard his prayer and turned the water into dry ground as it is recorded in the tract Medrasch rotosoha Evening being come they fall again to eat and drink and make merry as they were wont and in this manner they celebrate the feast of the New-year in great security with much mirth and jollity for the space of two dayes together I conclude with that of the Prophet If a man walk in the spirit and would lie falsly saying I will prophesie unto thee of wine and of strong drink he shall even be the prophet of this people To which alludes that of Sophonie Her Prophets are light and wicked persons her Priests have polluted the Sanctuary they have polluted the Law CHAP. XX. How they prepare themselves to the Feast of Reconciliation and the celebration thereof THe time between New-years-day and the tenth of the same moneth upon which they keep the feast of Reconciliation is called by Jews the ten penitential dayes for which space they fast and pray very much and are wonderful desirous to become holy and religious that if God should have written any of their names in the book of death and determined to afflict their souls with an unfortunate year he might at the contemplation and sight of their penitent life and practise of good works repent him of the evil and have mercy upon them transcribing their names in the book of life and sealing the judgement Every morning so long as these dayes endure while it is as yet very early they confesse their sins three several times do not proceed to the excommunication of any one neither do they call any man into judgement or force any one to take an Oath Upon the ninth day they forsake their beds betimes in the morning frequent the Synagogue sing and pray So soon as they return home every male old and young takes a Cock and every woman a Hen into their hands the master of the family doing likewise and saying these words Foolish men are plagued for their offence and because of theâ—r wickednesse Their soul abhorred all manner of meat and they were even at deaths door So when they cried unto the Lord in their trouble he delivered them out of their distresse He sent forth his word and healed them and they were saved from their destruction O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodnesse and declare the wonders that he doth for the children of men that they would offer unto him the sacrifice of thanksgiving and tell out his works with gladnesse And again If there be a messenger with him or an interpreter one of a thousand to declare unto man his righteousnesse then will he have mercy upon him and will say Deliver him that he go not down into the pit for I have received a reconciliation that is a Cock which shall be a reconciliation unto me When he hath ended this his repetition he finisheth the reconciliation waving the Cock three times about his head and saying at every time This Cock shall serve instead of me he shall succeed in my stead who deserve death he shall be my reconciliation he shall die for me but I shall enter into life and blisse with them that are righteous in Israel Amen This he doth three times as was said before once for himself once for his children and once for strangers which sojourn with him according to the custome of the high Priest in ancient dayes as it is recorded in the third book of Moses In the next place he takes the Cock and kills him and drawing and gathering the skin together about his neck first meditates with himself that he is worthy to have his own throat cut for his sinnes and offences and then cutting the Cocks throat thinks himself worthy to be punished with the sword After this he takes the cock and with all his might throws him upon the ground thereby signifying that he deserves to be stoned to death for his sins and wickedness lastly he puts him upon the spit and roasts him thereby giving others to understand that to be burnt in a fiery furnace doth not equalize his desert These four kindes of death the poor Cock undergoes for his Master The intrals out of commiseration they commonly cast upon the house top that it may also be partaker of such a sacrifice Others say that they do it because sin is rather an internal then an external thing and that it cleaves fast to the bowels of the Cock some Crows coming by may claw them up and flee away with them into the wildernesse even as the scape-Goat in the Old Testament ran away with the sins of the people into the Desert They take all possible pains and care to procure a white Cock for the sacrifice They will by no means admit of a red one because such an one is full of sins seeing sin it self is red also as it is written Come now
the eighth day they feed only upon lentiles in signe of sorrow and heaviness but they will neither eat beans nor pease because they have a certain black stroke in their upper parts much like unto a mouth but they eat lentiles and egges also such have no such linâ— upon them neither any representation of a mouth and therefore do best decipher and figure out a man ful of grief and sorrow who sits still and sayes nothing as though he had no mouth at all A most Rabbinical allusion At night they eat but little continually sitting upon the ground if any thing then it must be an egge rosted which they do likewise in signe of sorrow for as an egge is round and in figure circular so is sorrow also running after the manner of a round body now to this man now to that Bed-time being come they lay themselves to rest upon a harder couch then at other times He that formerly used two pillows is now content with one He that formerly used one only casts it away and will not admit of any for soft feather and down-bed they embrace some bone pinching mattress and for sheets of the choisest lawne those which are hurden The fourth fast which is the fast of the seventh moneth is kept upon the third day of September because that good and excellent man Gedaliah which was by Nebuchadnezar set over the remnant of the Jews that were left of the captivity of Babylon was in a miserable and fraudulent manner slain as upon this day as Jeremy the Prophet beareth witness These are the foure general feasts usually kept by the Jews in the dayes of Zachary and also by the dispâ—rsed remnant yearly in these our times Besides these general fasts they have some more particular not kept by the whole Congregation of Israel in general but by every one apart at certain times according as they desire to become holy and religious Thus some of them fast every munday and thursday through the year as that proud Pharisee whereof our Saviour makes mention in the new Testament who bragged and boasted that he fasted twice every week Secondly some use to fast upon the tenth of March for Miriam the Prophetess who died upon this day upon whose departure the fountains in the wilderness did dry up so that the children of Israel wanted water and sinned in murmuring against the Lord yet many of the Rabbines are against this fast that every one ought to abstain from fasting in the moneth of March because therein God wrought their deliverance out of Egypt the remembrance whereof ought to cheer them up to joy and gladness Thirdly they fast for the most part upon the tenth of April because Eli and his sons died upon this day the Arke of the Covenant was taken by the hands of the Philistines and the glory departed from Israel Fourthly many of them fast upon the twenty eighth day of April because Samuel died thereupon They have also diverse other fasts which they keep by reason such wise men and Prophets changed this life for a better upon those dayes whereon they observe and keep them Some fast also upon every evening of the new moone Others so often as they have any fearful and unfortunate dreams He whose father is dead fasts yearly upon the day whereon he departed this life And many such like causes there are for which they abstain from meat at several times When they fast they abstain from all kinds of meat and drink from morning untill the stâ—s appear which were a true and laudable fast indeed if it were performed with a devout heat and minde in the fear of God and refeâ—red to that end which the Scripture prescribes But this kinde of fasting noâ— of the Prophets could never by the hammer of perswasion beat into their hearts and heads It is written in Medrasch rabba in the Chapter vezos habbetachah that ever and anon so soon as Moses saw that God would inflict some punishment upon him he appointed himself a fast making himself a cheese-cake as big as his own body put on sackloth sprinkled ashes on his head and going into the foresaid pie or cheese-cake fasting and praying without intermission did determine not to depart thence untill God had reversed and made void the sentence pronounced against him This fable smels of the Talmud in which it is written that a certain godly and religious Jew called Chon Hammagal did fast after the manner of Moses so often as he desired some great and weighty matter at the hands of God When upon a certain time it had not rained at any time throughout the whole moneth of February and rain was necessary that men might receive the fruits of the earth in due season the foresaid Chon fasted and prayed shutting himself up in such a pie or cake as in close prison and saying O Lord of the world thy childrens eyes are all upon me knowing that I am as dear unto thee as any son can be to a father I swear therefore by thy holy name that I will not goe out hence untill thou have mercy upon thy people Then the Lord sent a gracious rain upon his inheritance Habbacuck the Prophet also practised the like and hereupon he saith I will stand upon my watch tower and set me upon the tower and will look and see what he will say unto me and what I shall answer to him that rebuketh me that is to say I stand in my pie or chees-cake expecting untill thou make me answer how it comes to pass that the wicked do so prolong their life as Rabbi Kimchi comments upon the place So miserable are these poor seduced Jews in this manner deluded and given over to a reprobate sence so that they cannot blush at any thing neither are sensible of any gripes of conscience while they speak so grosly and vainly of God and his word interpret the Scripture according to the fancies of their brain and their own good pleasure This superstition and abuse in fasting had a strong head even in the dayes of the Prophets Whereupon Zachary reproves their false fast and prescribes the true for to the priests and people asking him Shall I weep in the fift moneth and separate my self as I have done these many years He answers in Gods name and saith when you fasted and mourned in the seventh moneth and in the fift even these seventy years did ye fast unto me and do I approve it And when you did eat and when you did drink did you not eat for your selves and drink for your selves should ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the ministry of the former Prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity and the cities thereof round about her when the south and the plain was inhabited Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts saying execute true judgment and shew mercy and compassion every man upon his brother and oppress not
end that if any blood remain in them it being sucked out by the salt may distil and finde passage through the holes and crevices If they are not desirous to have their meat throughly salted they put it in the pickle only for an hour and then boyl it They eat not any thing which hath the least drop of blood in it for it hath been alwayes their use and custom and is at this day in a wonderful manner to abstain from it They likewise do not eat the hinder parts of any beast unto this day because the Angel touched the sinew that shrank in the hollow of Jacobs thigh Yet the Jews of Italy by the rules of their Anatomy have found out and concluded that if the veins sinews and arteries be artificially taken out the hinder parts may also be eaten without making any scruple for conscience sake Surely if the Jews who lived in the time of Moses had been cunning skilful and expert in this art then had he spent his breath in vain in forbidding them to eat so many several sorts of Beasts Fowls and Fishes And I am verily perswaded that if a Sow should be brought at this day to some of these profound Anatomists they by cutting her up and taking out the veines nerves and sinews would make her a dainty dish for a Jews dinner They sell the hinder parts of the beast to the Christians yet I would wish all Christians that do buy any such provision at the hands of a Jew to consider and know that the Jews are wont before they bring them to the Shambles to spit upon and defile them causing their children to pisse upon them they themselves pronouncing a curse upon them that the Gentile that buyes them may eat up their silthiness even death it self I would not have the Reader to think this a Fable for it is confirmed by the joynt testimony of so many Jews as have been converted to the Christian faith Perhaps the Iews are not in every place so evil minded so ungodly and wicked yet in general they bear a tyrannous hate and malice against us Christians To conclude by this their great skil in Anatomy and cutting up of beasts and taking out the nerves and sinews it comes to passe that they are such excellent Physitians judging of mans body by insight into that of the beast and of all the diseases incident thereunto yet many a Christian is forced to pay for his physick with the losse of his life Concerning which matter if any one desire to read more I refer him to Antonius Margarita in his book of the falth of the Iews CHAP. XXVIII Of their Marriages COncerning these marriages it is to be noted that at the handfasting or celebration of the espousals or immediately upon the finishing thereof many lews both young and old are called together into some spacious Arbour every one of the younger sort carrying a pot in his hand Afterward comes one and reads openly the Letter or Bill of contract the Contents whereof are That N. the son of N and N. the daughter of N. have promised to marry and be married one to another That the one will give unto the other such and such a dowry That the nuptials are to be celebrated upon such and such a day and that the party which doth not perform every condition and covenant according to every part and parcel contained in the Letters of espousal is bound to pay unto the other fifty Florens The Bill being ended the parties to be married say one unto the other Mâ—zal â—ob which is as much as God send you good fortune which the young men hearing throw their earthen pots upon the ground and break them saying that it is a token of good luck plenty and abundance The espousals thus ended every one departs the place and is presented at the door with a cup of the sweetest wine which also hath some confection annexed unto it For eight dayes after neither the Bride nor Bridegroom are seen without doors Many youngsters and scriplings repair unto the Bridegroom to keep him company where they passe away the time by the invention of many toyes and trifles to recreate him and make themselves merry quaffing and carousing healths to his good fortune The lawfulnesse of the act they prove out of the History of Samâ—son who being about to be married had brought unto him thirty companious to be with him The dame Bride upon the day before the marriage must wash her self in cold water from top to toe so that her whole body be hid in the water She is led to the Bath and likewise back again by an attendance of gagling women making a certain confused noise as they go and return to the end that every one may see and know that she is a Bride The Girdle which the Bride sends to the Bridegroom ought to have silver studs but that which he sends unto her ought to have those which are of gold A Iew upon a certain time to satisfie me in my request gave me the reason hereof to wit that the silver represented the seed of the man which is white the gold the seed of the woman which is red a frivolous and foolish reason as the most of their others are Upon the day whereon the Bride is to be led into the Synagogue to receive a blessing she puts on her wedding garments decking trimming and dressing her self in the Iewish fashion as finely as she can possibly she being ready dressed she is led along by her Maids and Damosels who sing Marriage Songs and Bridal-Ballads bringing her into a certain chamber or closet and placing her in a rich and costly Chair where they comb her head truss up her locks deck her with Fillets adorn her with Ribbands beautifie her with Garlands put a vail over her face and that for modesties sake as Rebeckah did when she was to meet her husband Isaac While the women are combing her head they expresse a great deal of mirth and jollity skipping singing laughing dancing and all to keep the spleen of Dame Bride from overflowing with melancholy which they are conceited to be a work most grateful and acceptable in the eyes of the Lord. And that the women may more easily believe it the impudent Rabbines in their Talmud do affirm that God did the like to Eve when she was to be given to Adam plaiting her hair dressing her head and locks and also did sing foot it and dance with her in Paradise which they strive to prove out of the words of Moses And he brought her unto Adam as though he had brought her skipping and leading the dance as a Bride is now wont to be brought to her husband trimmed and compleatly dressed with her hair tyred and locks trussed up It is recorded also in Pirk Eliezer that God attended upon Adam and Eve like a Serving-man while the marriage was in finishing and that he made the Canopie with his own
hands under which they were to receive the blessing that the Angels became the Minstrels playing divers tunes upon Trumpets Pipes and other instruments that Adam Eve and God himself might dance In this balsphemous manner writes he that is the Author of that book called Bricum Spigelium printed some few years ago at Cracovia in Poland the German tongue and Hebrew letter which book contains many reprehensoâ—y and moral precepts and is of great esteem among the Iews at this day I finde it registred in the Talmud that God only made tresses for Eve which they prove out of those words and God built which the Rabbines read plaited and hence the Iews at this day call the plaits of a womans hair Biniasâ— which in English signifies a building from the Hebrew word Banah which signifies to build which signification Moses also gives unto it when he saith The Rib which the Lord God had taken from man thereof he built a womâ—n and brought her to Adam Which the Rabbines being Commentators must carry this sense that God plaâ—ted Eves hair and brought her unto Adam leaping and dancing as he came along Surely if there were but the least sparke of true knowledge they would blush and be ashamed to utter these blasphemous sayings before the world but God in his just judgment hath smitten them with blindness that seeing they will not see and hearing they will not understand We leave them therefore an return to our matter The time being come when the blessing due unto the married couple is to be given unto them foure boyes take the Canopie which is fastened to foure posts and wooden pillars and carry it into the street or garden where the solemnity is to be kept whither the bridegroom comes being attended with many men following him at his heels After him followes the bride and her damsels with sackbuts timbrels and other musical instruments seating her self by her spouse under the Canopie This Canopie they call by the name of Chuppah which signifies a cover or shelter When every man and woman there present have taken their places then every one begins to cry out Baruch habba Blessed is he that cometh Which said the Bride being led by others is to compass and circle about her bridegroom three several times as a Cock doth when he is about to tread a hen because it is said A woman shall compass a man Then the bridegroom takes his bride and leads her once about the floore in a circle the people in the mean time casting wheat or other grain upon the bride and saying encrease and multiply hereby signifying that peace and abundance of riches in housekeeping shall befall them according to that of the Psalmist He maketh peace in thy borders an filleth thee with the flower of wheat In some places they mingle mony among their wheat which the poorer sort gather for their own relief The Bride is to stand upon the right hand of the Bridegroom because it is written Kings daughters were among thy honourable women at thy right hand did stand the Bride in a vâ—sture of golde She must turn her face towards the South because it is a tradition of the Rabbines that whosoever placeth his bed in that manner that he lying there in his face shall be towards the South not towards the North shall be the father of many children The Rabbine who marries and joynes them together in the bond of matrimony takes the skirt of the hair-cloth or garment by them called Tallith a which the Bridegroom wears about his neck and puts it upon the head of the Bride which is occasioned by that saying of Ruth to Boaz Spread the wing of thy garment over thy â—andmaid for thou art the kinsman and that of Ezekiel I passed by thee and looked upon thee behold thy time was as the time of love and I spread my skirts over thee and covered thy filthiness yea I sware unto thee and entred into a Covenant with thee and thou becamest mine In the next place he takes a glass of wine which they call the bride-boule blesseth it giving thanks unto God that the Bride and the Bridegroom by his instinct have given their consent to be joyned together in the bond of matrimony and reaching out the cup unto them commands them to drink thereof If the Bride be a virgin then the cup must have a narrow mouth if a widow a large one at Wormes they use an earthen cup as also at other places After that they have both tasted of the cup The Rabbine takes the wedding-ring from the Bridegroom which is made of pure gold yet having no jewel in it and calling some witnesses shews them the ring and asketh whether it be a good one and worth the mony that was given for it and then puts it upon the Brides finger repeating the letters of contract with a loud voice Which being ended he takes another glass of wine blessing and praying over it giving thanks unto God that the Bride and Bridgroom had mutually accepted one of another Then reaching them the Cup and bidding them drink thereof which when they have done accordingly the Bridegroom takes the Cup and throws it against the wall in remembrance of the ruinated temple of Jerusalem In some places they are wont to throw ashes upon the Bridegrooms head for the same end and purpose And hence also it comes to pass that the Bridegroom wears upon his head a hood of a black colour such an one as mourners use and the Bride a cloak all rough and hairy able to fright a childe out of its wits to shew unto us that in their greatest jollity they ought to afflict and humble themselves for the desâ—lations of their City and Temple Thus they walk in garments which may shaddow out much sadness but in their hearts they have not sance not feeling thereof Proving the necessity of this trifling outside sorrow from the words of the Psalmist Serve the Lord in fear and rejoyce unto him with reverence That this their marriage or coupling together is celebrated abroad in open aire without covert the reason is because they ought to multiply even as the stars of heaven for multitude When the marriage is ended they sit down to dinner the Bridgroom must say grace and is bound to sing a long prayer and thanksgiving and the sweeter he sings the better he pleaseth his bride and indeed he doth it rather out of pride and to please her then for any glory to God While he is singing others are calling for the hens to be brought and set upon the table The Brides mess consists of an henn and egge served in together in one dish the Bridegroom carves a little of the hen and gives it to his bride which so soon as he hath laid upon her trencher the rest of the guests behaving themselves more like hungry dogs then men catching at and with both hands pulling in pieces the
hens before them devour them in a moment He that can get most being accounted the worthiest man at the table Every one eats what he catches without help of either knife or trencher he that hath first done begins to snatch what he can from his fellow yea somtimes out of his very mouth causing thereby a great deal of foolish stirr and much laughter and all this they doe to make the new-married couple marry and jocund The egge which we said is used to be served in together with the hen is alwayes raw which they are wont to cast one at anothers face not sparing a stranger of Christian if he be invited and there present The foresaid egge is set before the Bride to comfort her and let her know that she shall bring forth her children easily without pain and grief even as a hen bringeth forth an egge with that ease that she expresseth it by her cockling voice of joy and gladneffe After these sports and childish fooleries they fall to feast their bellies in good earnest after dinner they dance many Giggs and Capering Currantos an when they are about to depart and to put a period to these nuptial sports dance a dance called Mitzuah The commandment or marriage pavin because it was commanded by God himself This they dance in this manner the chief man at the table takes the Bridegroom by the hand he another and so every one his fellow even so many as have any skill in dancing takes one another by the hand So likewise the chief mation and most honourable woman in the company joynes hands with the Bride and all the rest one with another Dancing hand in hand and making a great noise with their feet and in this manner put an end to their marriage rites and sports which commonly endure for the space of eight dayes together If the marriage day chance upon the Sabbath then their dancing measures are quite out of measure thinking that thereby they honour the Sabbath in an extraordinary kinde because the Sabbath is called a spouse as we formerly declared A great care must be had that no uncircumcised Christian be invited to the marriage for Solomon saith The heart knowes the bitterness of his soule and a stranger that is a Christian shall not be made partaker of his joy thus wresting the Scripture to a sense clean contrary Moreover they write that the Angels seeing the Christians at their marriages do presently depart and devils enter the place doing much dammage in stirring up strife brawlings jarrings slips and falls breaking armes and shins murther and what not Hence we may see how willingly they suffer Christians to be present at their marriages When they pledge a health they say Lochajim tobhim God grant it may be for your health but if they like not the man who drinks to them as a Christian by the foresaid words they understand an imprecation or curse Relalah for this one word in their Cabbalistical computation comprehends the two former willing hereby to shew that they wish he may drink his last many such machinations and imprecations they plot and powre out against the Christians of which in another place I will only here adde a Copy of the marriage bill or letter of contract which I finde drawen in manner and form following Upon the sixth day of the week the fourth of the moneth Sivan in the year five thousand two hundred fifty and fourth year of the Creation of the world according to the computation which we use here at Massilia a city which is situate near the sea shore the Bridegroom Rabbi Moses the son of Rabbi Jehudah said unto the Bride Clavona the daughter of Rabbi david the son of Rabbi Moses and citizen of Lizbon Be unto me a wife according to the law of Moses and Israell and I according to the word of God will worship honour maintain and govern thee according to the manner of the husbands among the Jews which do worship honour maintain and govern their wives faithfully I also do bestow upon thee the dowry of thy virginity two hundred deniers in silver which belong unto thee by the Law and morâ—over thy food thy apparrel and sufficient necessaries as likewise the knowledg of thee according to the custome of all the earth CHAP. XXIX Touching the bill of divorce used among the Jews Iâ— is an established truth that the Jews had a certain indulgence granted by Moses for their divorcements for from the begining it was not so neither was it Gods ordinance but Moses did it foâ— the hardness of their heart and to avoid some greater inconvenience as Christ hath clearly shewed unto uâ— in the new testament There is extant in the Talmud a voluminous tract concerning the divorce now in use among them upon which many other of the Rabbines have written many subtle and divers Commentaries and in them have laid down many causes for which the strongest bond of Matrimony may be broke in pieces The causes pretended by the Jews at this time were the same that were urged when our Saviour Christ was here on earth so that the husband can quickly take occasion of seperation from his wife and easily finde a stafâ—e to beat the dog withall The bill of divorce ought to be written in a peculiar forme the lines whereof must not exceed or be fewer then the number of twelve This ought also to be delivered unto the woman in the presence of three faithful witnesses being signed and sealed in the presence of them When the husband gives this letter unto his wife he must say in express terms behold O woman the bill of divorce for by this thou being divorced from me art permitted to marry to any other man the form of this bill followeth Vpon such a day of the week and such and such of the moneth N. Such or such a year of the creation of the world according to the computation which we use here in this City N. Situate neer the River N. I of the Country N. the son of Rabbi N. now dwelling in such or such a place neer such or such a river have desired of miâ—e free will without any coaction and have divorced dismissed and cast out thee my wife N. of the Country N. the daughter of Rabbi N. dwelling in such or such a Country and dwelling now in such or such a place situate neer such or such a River which hast been my wife heretofore but now I doe divorce thee dismiss thee and cast thee out that thou mayest be free and have the rule of thy self to depart and to marry with any other man whom thou wilt and let no man be refused by thee for me from this forward for ever Thus be thou lawful for any man and this shall be to thee from me a bill of separation a bill of divorce and a letter of dismission According to the law of Moses And Israel N. the son of N. witness N. the son of
N. witness N. the son of N. witness This kinde of divorce is not in every place put in execution they chuse a place of some fame and note neer adjoyning some notable River whither fome of the chief Rabbines are cited by a writ if some others be not there resident The Jews are very much for this carnal divorce writing vast volumes in way of Commentary upon it but by reason of the hardness of their heart not once dreaming of the spiritual whereby they are severed from the Lord of hosts Hence remaining aliens from God and according to their desert vagabonds over the face of the whole earth CHAP. XXX Touching the manner how a Jewish woman divorceth her self from the brother of her deceased husband IT is recorded in the fifth book of Moses that the husband of a woman dying his brother being unmarried shall go in unto her take her to wife and raise up seed unto his brother that his name be not put out of Israel And if the man like not to take his brothers wife then shall she go up to the gate and accuse him before the Elders and lose his shooe from off his foot and spit in his face and answer and say so shall it be done unto the man that will not build up his brothers house But in process of time this custome was disanulled and it was ordained by the Rabbines that none should take to wife the widow of his deceased brother but rather for to free himself from her for his greater honour should suffer her to draw â—ff his shooe which kinde of divorce iâ— called by the Rabbines Câ—â—litra which is performed in this manner The widow calls unto her five witnesses who must be men of another family with whom she being about to appear before the chief Rabbine summoâ—s her husbands brother â—lso to the same place When they are come the Rabbine asks the woman whether three moneths are gone and pâ—st since the death of her husband Whether her husband dying left behinde him a brother unmarried Whether he that is there present be the natural brother of her husband begot by the same man Whether they think themselves fit to beget children to raise up seed or an heir unto the dead as also to themselves now superviving What age they are of and lastly he asketh the widow whether she be fasting or not For if she have formerly taken any meat she may not lawfully spit in the face of her husbands brother Then he asketh the dead mans brother whether the woman there present was wife unto his deceased brother when he was alive Whether he will take her to wiâ—e or else be divorced from her by the Chalitza or drawing the shooe from off the heele If he answers that he is not willing to marry her then a shooe is brought unto him made after a singular fashion with latchets and other necessaries this he takes and leaning himself against aâ— wall puts it on upon hâ—s right foot naked Then comes the woman unto him and â—aith this my husbands brother would not raise up seed unto him and for this cause from henceforth he shall not be called my husbands brother Hereupon stooping towards the earth she unlooseth his shoe with her right hand and drawing it off his foot spits in his face and that with such force that the five witnesses may see the spittle and saith Thus shall it be done unto him that will not build up his brothers house Then the witnesses and all the whole company cry Chalutz hannahal that is the shoe is drawn off Thus are these two separated each from another that they may severally attend their own employments Here ariseth a great question among the Rabbines how a woman suppose that she wanted the right hand could draw off the shoe Some of them have permitted that in such a case she may â—se her teeth to the unloosing of it Others solve it in another manner If the brother to the man deceased will not suffer the ignominie of this discalceation and the woman be about to marry unto another then is he bound to pay a great sum of mony unto her that he may be freed from her If her husbands brother dwell in another City then is she her self compelled to follow him and to indent with him about marriage Concerning this custom of raising up seed unto the Brother was that Question proposed by the Sadduces to our Saviour that seeing seven brethren had one after another married the same woman whose wife she should be in the Resurrection out of which we may conclude thus much that it was in use among the Jews even in Christs time for the brother of the man deceased to go in unto and marry his brothers wife CHAP. XXXI Of the uncleanness of the women and how they carry themselves in the time thereof IT is not lawful for a woman in the time of her uncleannesse to enter into the Synagogue to pray to name the name God or to handle any holy book as it is written Let her touch no holy thing nor come into my Sanctuary untill the dayes of her purification be finished yet some of the Rabbines have licensed it They of the most holy sort write that what woman soever being admonished of these things abstains from them shall lengthen her own dayes So soon as she hath the least knowledge of her own uncleannesse she separates her self from her husband for the space of seven dayes in which time she dare not touch him sit upon one stool with him eat at the same table drink out of the same cup sit opposite unto him nor speak unto him face to face When the one would give any thing unto the other they are not wont to do it by throwing but they lay it down upon some table or stool that the one being for a good space removed the other may take it up When the man lieth with his wife in her uncleannesse then the children which they beget prove Lepers and they affirm that this is one of the chief reasons why there are so many Lepers among the Christians to wit carnal copulation in the time of the womans uncleannesse hence scattering abroad venemous and bitter words against us in writing among the vulgar which I will not now relate When any woman of the Jews hath reckoned up the seven dayes of her uncleannesse she holds on and addes seven dayes more of her purification unto them after which time she finding her self throughly purified she clothes her self in white robes takes another woman with her and goes to wash her self in cold water and that so nakedly that she must not have her smock to cover her In the Winter time in some places they are wont to powre hot water into the Cistern in which she bathes her self But in other places they are wont to wash themselves in cold water as well in Winter as in Summer They are bound to dive so deep that not an