can fasten upon nothing else but ignorance and grosse simplicity especially in the knowledge of God and in the interpretation of his Word In the whole Nation of the Jews nothing worth thy observation except a horrid hardnesse of heart and perversnesse in their conversation and every particular action neverthelesse they blush not a jot to grace themselves with the title of Gods chosen people Such also they are who would seem to burn with zeal that the Word of God might be purely propagated because they believe in God with an accomplished faith and cleave unto him with a sincere and righty settled confidence above all the Nations of the earth as Paul bears witnesse That they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge Hence is it that the Jews even unto this day firmly contend for their superstitious Worship professing themselves to have a well grounded and assured faith towards God who created heaven and earth who is one in essence and will not suffer any other gods before him The Jews Creed contains in it thirteen Articles which as they are briefly delivered in their Tephillos or books of Common Prayer we have here set down 1. I believe with a true and perfect faith that God is the Creatour Governour and preserver of all Creatures that he did work all things works as yet and shall work for ever 2. I believe with a perfect saith that God the Creatour is one and that the unity which is in him is such as can be found in no other who onely was is and shall be our God for everlasting 3. I believe with a perfect faith that God the Creatour is incorporeall not endowed with any bodily properties finally that no corporeal essence can be compared unto him 4. I believe with a perfect faith that God the Creatour is the first and the last that there was nothing before him that he shall remain for everlasting 5. I believe with a perfect faith that he alone is to be worshipped and that Worship is due to none besides him 6. I believe with a perfect faith that whatsoever the Prophets have spoke and taught is the sincere truth 7. I believe with a perfect faith that the Doctrine and Prophesie of Moses is orthodox that he was the Father and chief of the learned that either were of the same standing with him lived before him or shall be extant in future ages 8. I believe with a perfect faith that the whole Law was so delivered by God himself to Moses as it is now extant with us 9. I believe with a perfect faith that this Law shall never admit of a change and that God shall give unto us no other 10. I believe with a perfect faith that God knows and understands all the works and thoughts of men as it is written by the Prophet He fashioneth all the hearts of them and understandeth all their works 11. I believe with a perfect faith that God will reward every mans works that keeps his Commandements and on the contrary will punish all those that have transgressed his Statutes 12. I believe with a perfect faith that the Messias is yet to come and that though he daily defers his coming neverthelesse I will hope for his coming every day till he come waiting for him 13. I believe with a perfect faith that there shall be a Resurrection of the dead even in that time when it shall seem correspondent to the will of the Creator whose name be blessed and celebrated both now and for ever in the highest strains of humane expression Amen This is Summe of the thirteen Articles of the Jewish Creed as they are summarily and briefly comprehended and set down in their Books of Common Prayer in which belief the poore blinded souls of the Jews after a lamentable manner with incessant groans much anxiety inexpressible doubting and outcries sighing out their last farewell to the beloved prison of their bodies are utterly lost and undone Now that every one may with greater facility comprehend the very glosse and meaning which the Jews themselves annex to this their Creed I have thought it meet to illustrate the Articles thereof by the lamp of a small Comment And first of all we are to know that the faith of the Jews and Mosaicall Religion according to their own writings was built upon these Articles as upon the foundation and first of all delivered to the publike view and reduced into this order by that Casket of Learning Rabbi Mosche Bar Maimon who in the year of the World 4964 according to the vulgar account now used among the Jews but in the year of our Redemption 1104. changed this life for a better and that then it was strictly commanded that from thenceforth throughout all succeeding ages that every Jew confessing this faith should resolve to live and die in the profession of it Hereupon it came to passe that these Articles were graced with large Expositions and thence a great Volume was written out of which the forementioned Articles were more fully drawn than formerly set down and annexed to the end of that Voluminous Book Esrim vearba or the Hebrew Bible printed at Venice by Daniel Bombergus by the study of Foelix Pratensis in the year of Christ 1517. where they are found expressed in the same manner in which they are subsequently delivered The first Article is concerning God who is the Creatour of all Creatures illah haillos the cause of causes entity of entities that every thing whether extant in heaven above or earth below was created of and hath its subsistence in him that he made every thing according to his absolute will and that every thing shall again be reduced into its prime nothing according to his good will and pleasure and although that every thing made by him shall again be annihilated yet his essence is immortall not subject to the least shadow of change or diminution because his essence Mezius Gemurah is perfect and of it self subsistent not needing the prop or help of any other to sustain it That the same God is that everlasting light strength and life that his is the Kingdome Dominion over all creatures That he is truly one and the most renowned Monarch This Article is grounded upon those words Exod. 20. 2. I am the Lord thy God c. The second Article is concerning the individuall unity of the Essence and Nature of God to wit that he is echad umeinchad of one Essence and that there is nothing either within or without the World that can any way enter the lists of a comparison in respect of this unity and identity he is not in the same series or order with any thing universall or singular which comprehends more of the same stamp under it neither is he Keechad Hammurcabh any compounded thing which for this reason admits of a Division into parts neither Guph Paschut d a simple body which is one
a loud voice said I have now at last payed my Custome when they would not give him any respite but burn him in all haste he cryed the second time saying that he bequeathed all his goods and possessions to that most learned man Rabbi Akibah as to his lawfull heir whereupon this voice was heard from heaven Ketijah thou son of Schalom eternal life is provided for thee From hence every one may learn what a precious thing Circumcision is and what a good deed it is for any one to legasie all his goods unto a Jew truly there is nothing lost where a man for an hundred crowns may gain a thousand In the same Chapter of the Talmud the same men boast how Caesar Antoninus caused himself to be circumcised how he departed this life a Jew indeed and how that happened unto him which is here related Not far from the Emperours Palace dwelt a certain famous and most expert Rabbine from whose houses to the Emperours porch came a certain hidden passage under the earth by the benefit of which they oftentimes had private conference Upon this occasion a great desire to be instructed in the Law and Religion of the â—ews invaded the mind of the Emperour and for this cause every day once he repaired to the Rabbine and heard the Law at his mouth and because he would not go unto the Iew without attendance yet also would not in the mean time be disclosed he alwayes chose two for his companions whereof one he stabbed with his dagger at the the entrance into the Rabbines house the other he made to drink of the same cup at his return to his own palace giving also in charge to the Rabbine that he should have no man in his company when he the Emperour came to visit him When therefore Caesar on a certain time had found together with the Jew a stranger whose name was Rabbi Chanina Bar Chamma which Rabbine was an holy man and one of their prime ones he was so enraged that he burst out into this interrogation Did not I say unto thee look that thou have none in thy company when I shall come unto thee To whom the Rabbine replyed My Lord and Emperour this is not a man but a good spirit if he be a spirit saith Caesar let him go and signifie so much to my servant who lies and takes his rest without before the gate speaking of the servant which he had killed with his owâ— hands that he make hast to come unto me when Rabbi Chanina perceived the Emperours servant to be dead then he began to fear be afraid not knowing how to shape an answer aâ— also thinking it very behovefull that Caesar should not be found guilty of the murder in these melancholy dumps he fell upon his knees and with the importunity of prayer becomes so wearisome unto God that the Emperours servant was restored to life which thing the Emperour having taken notice of such an excessive admiration at the Religious piety of the Jewish Nation pâ—ssessed his soul that from thenceforth he became a Serving man at his Pedagogues Table Yea moreover when the Rabbine at night would please to visite his Couch the Emperour bowing himselfe at his bed side became his Footstool that his Master the Rabbine might with more facility stretch his limbs upon his bed of Down the Rabbine indeed in many kinds strived to repel the tendered service but all in vain for the Emperor did not only perform these earth kissing Congees with an humility of mind floating in the lowest ebb but also wished it might be his happiness to be his footstool in another world At length the Jews had an ocular demonstration that this Emperor before he entred the tyring room of the grave did receive the sign of circumcision professed himselfe a Jew and died in this profession Many examples of the same sort are every where obvious in the writings of the Jews declaring that many Christians both of high and low degree turning Apostates to Christianity have imbraced Judaism and so have obtained the salvation of their souls if we may believe it But in the last place what was the Prophets censure of these circumcised Saints and in what esteem had they their persons Jerem. All the Gentiles are circumcised and all the house of Israel circumcised in heart Moses Circumcise the fore-skin of your heart and be no more stisf necked Jerem. To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear behold their ear is uncircumcised and they cannot hearken behold the Word of the Lord is unto them a reproach they have no delight in it Stephen a Christian Ye stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears ye do alwayes resist the holy Ghost as your Fathers did so do ye Paul the Apostle He is not a Jew that is one outwardly neither is that circumoision which is outward in the flesh but he is a Jew that is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit not in the letter whose praise is not of men but of God How then are all the first born of Christians yea all faithsull Christians redeemed S. Peter answers Ye were not redeemed with silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your Fathers but with the precious bleud of Christ as a Lamb without blemish and Without spot S. Paul teacheth us by whom we have redemption Even by hiâ— bloud that is the remission of our sins But what doth circumcision hurt the Christians S. Paul answers If the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the Law shall not his his uncircumcision be accounted for circumcision and shall not uncircumcision which is by nature if it fulfill the Law judge thee who by the Letter and circumcision art a transgressor of the Law CHAP. III. shewing how the Jews instruct their children in the fear of God WHen any one of the Jewish women giveth suck then she ought to eat good and wholsome meats and such as are easie of digestion to this end that the Infant may find and suck from the teats good milk by which his heart and stomack may not be troubled with obstructions but sustained and nourished whereby he may sooner come to maturity and may more easily obtain vertue manners wisdome and understanding The Chachamim a which are the most profound Wâ—â—ters among the Jews have with great diligence reiterated their commands that the Mother should have a special care that the Infants be not at any time destitute of good meat and drink thinking and not without reason this to be a matter of the greatest moment thence foreseeing that they quickly comming to their growth may prove men of courage and such as are able to do God good service as it is written The Lord shall establish thee an holy People unto himself as he hath sworn unto thee if thou wilt keep the Commandements of the Lord thy God and walk in
they did acknowledge even then when the whole World drencht in the Sea of Idolatry was ignorant of the true God the Creator of Heaven and Earth then began they to wax proud haughty and puâ—t up counting the Nations as dung and with a supercilious sore-front boasting themselves to be the hâ—â—ly and elect people of God the Law of God and Circumcision being the main pillars of this their ostentation And seeing they at that time actually possessed the Land of Promise offered their Sacrifices the sum of their wants must be a glorying in their City Temple Sacrifice and other kinds of worshâ—p for which if any one dare manage a reproof objecting that they are not the children of Abraham because God shall prosligate and destroy them because their hearts and ears are uncircumcised and God shall again scatter them among the Gentiles he shall upon the very instant be cauterized for a false Prohet and a Liar and destinated to the stake for bearing witnesse unto the truth Neither did they here put a period to their madness they stand firm in their foolish opinions imbracing the Covenant according to its outside the Law according to the letter the ceremonies oblations and sacrifices in their naked representation provoking not only the Prophets but God himself never regarding whether or no any true knowledge fear or reverence of his Majesty was implanted in their hearts For the attempting of these enormities the Lord conceives heavy displeasure against Israel terms them a sinfull Nation laden with iniquity a seed of evil doers children that are corrupters which had forsaken the Lord and provoked the holy one in Israel and gone away backward whose hearts were obstinate their neck an iron sinew and their brow brasse Transgressors from their Mothers womb whose birth and nativity is the Land of Canaan their Father an Amorite and their Mother a Hittite a people rejected and accursed as Moses witnesseth He threatens them to baniâ—h them out of their own Land and to carry them into a Land which neither they nor their Fathers had known there also that they shall tast of his fury be slaves to their enemies and to make their City and Temple in which they so much rejoyced like unto Shiloe Lastly speaking to Esay the Prophet he saith Make the heart of this peole fat and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyespuch and heare with their ears and understand with their heart and convert and be healed After the same manner God denounceth against them by Moses saying it shall come to passe that if thou wilt not hearken unto the voyce of the lord thy God to observe to do all his Commandements and his Statutes which l command thee this day that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee The Lord shall sinite thee with madness and blindnesse of heart Thou shalt grope at noon day as the blind gropeth in darkness and thou shalt not prosPer in thy wayes thou shalt be only oppressed and spoyled evermore and none shall save thee The fundamental then and prime cause of the blindness and obstinacy of the Jews is the just judgement of God upon them for their sins and the punishment due unto the same which came upon them because they heaRkened not unto his voice worshipping him with their mouth and with their lips drawing near unto him but in their hearts being far from him their service towards him consisting only in the commandements of of men as the Prophet Esay complains By which we may perceive that they soon left off to trace the way of Gods Commandements setling themselves upon their own carnal wisdome upon the sublime perspicuity of their Doctors who after Ezra were called Scribes as upon a new foundation accounting Their Expositions Ordinances Laws and Institutions to be of far more worth then the Doctrine of the Prophets against which the Prophets oftentimes declaimed but to little purpose What these Commandements are which they esteem more then the word of God our Saviour Christ teacheth us in the new Testament when the Jewes reprehend him that his Disciples walked not according to the tradition of the Elders which were of washing hands cups pots brazen vessels and tables and innumerable fopperies of the same sort by which they make the word of God of none effect but only strive to fulfill the inventions of their Ancestors Now in the last place seeing these their Traditions which Christ pointed out unto us are at this day accurately kept and observed of the Jews seriously also described in their Cannon La. and celesiastical and moral constitutions part of which I have decreed to lay open in the following discourse I think it here convenient to search out the grounds and reasons which might thâ—n and at this day doth induce them to prefer the Ordinances of men before Gods Commondements casting them headlong into the darkness of Superstitlon so blinding their understanding that they cannot possibly find out the trUe meaning of the holy Scripture We read in the Preface of that learned man Rabbi Mosche Mikkotzi called Hakdamah who writ a Book and Exposition upon three hundred and thirteen of Gods Commandements which he entituled Sepher mitzuos gadol that is the great Book of the Commandements in the year of Christ 1236. and published it at Toledo in Spain where the Jewes then had a most flourishing Schoole the Students therein being in number twelve thousands as he witnesseth in his hundred and twelfth Prohibitory precept that the written Law which God delivered unto Moses in Mount Sinai is obscure and difficult first because it contradicts is selfe Secondly because it is imperfect and therefore all things necessary to be known are not there set down wherupon it is needful some certain Exposition should be framed by whose pluÌ„met every one might dive into the genuine sence of the written Law grouÌ„ d theron as a firm foundation That the Law of Moses contradicts it selfe there are many instances We read Exod. 12. 15. For sevean dayes thou shalt eat unleavened bread but Deut. 16. 8. Six dayes thou shalt eat unleavened bread againe vers 9. Seven weeks thou shalt number unto thee which make only forty nine days but in the 23. of Leviticus and the 16. it is read Vnto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall you number fifty dayes In the 16. of Deuteronomy vers 2. it is said Thou shalt sacrifice the Passover unto the Lord of the Flock and of the Heard contrary to this â—xod 12. 5. Your Lamb shall be without blemish a male of the first year you shall take out from the sheep or from the Goats Again Deut. 15. 19. All the firstling males that come of thy Heard and of thy Flock thou shalt sanctifie unto the Lord thy God but in the 27. of Leviticus vers 26. The firstling of the Beasts which should be the Lords firstling no man shall
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
Religion That Canon of the Rabbins appertains also unto the same thing Whosoever transgresseth any thing that our Wisemen have spoken he is liable to death as it is written who so breaketh an hedge a Serpent shall bite him Thou must here understand thou Christian that this is as the hedge of Traditions and Ordinances wherewith the Jewish Rabbines have encompassed the Law of God That we may avoid the above mentioned punishment these Doctors give us this admonition My Son remember that a far greater care is to be had of the sayings of the Scribes then of the words of the Law it selfe Thus hath it pleased me by way of a Preface and for the better understanding of the things following briefly to declare and expound the Atticles of the Jewish Creed to shew how they fell from the Word of the Lord became Apostates and renegadoes casting themselves headlong into that labyrinth of Errors the Talmud how they were miserably misled thereby so that the Doctrine of Salvation was not at all found among them but on the contrary gross heresie perversion falsification of the Word of God superstition outward pride eye-service the great disquietness of conscience and horribie desperation of heart I will shut up all with the words of Esay and Jeremy Esay saith Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth and with their lips do honour me but have removed their hearts far from me and their fear towards me is taught by the Precepts of men therefore I will proceed to a marvellous work among this people for the wisedome of their wise men shall perish and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid Jeremy saith Why is this people of Jerusalem slidden back with a perpetuall back-sliding they hold fast deceit they refuse to return I harkened and heard but they spake not aright no man repented him of his wickedness saying what have I done every one turned to his course as the horse rusheth into the battell a How say ye we are wise and the Law of the Lord is with us certainly in vain made he it the pen of Scribes is in vain The wise men are ashamed they are dismayed and taken lo they have rejected the Word of the Lord and what wisdome is in them CHAP. II. Touching the Nativity Circumcision and Education of the Jewes THat brief ingress which I made for a manuduction to the Jewish Religion and exercise of their Faith in the former Chapter wherein I fully manifested the foundation of their Beliefe may serve as a light to direct the judgement and inform the understanding of any one but the image of stupidity in an easie apprehension how strong goodly and beautiful that edifice can represent it selfe which is to be reared upon such a ground-work how able to keep footing against the fury of insulting Tempests Thunders and Lightnings and the Prophecies of them who were inriched with the true knowledge of God and illuminated to conceive aright of his holy Word My desire is that none should be offended with this my Anatomy of the Jewish Doctrine in that without doubt it contains many things subject to wonder and derision and ranked in the Catalogue of meer fables My perswasion rather inclines to this mark that every one read and ponder the same with fear and trembling because that this Doctrine had its original from those people whom God in former times did choose unto himselfe before all the Nations of the Earth adopted for his own children endowed them with the knowledge of himselfe and had an especial care that there never should want a Prophet incessantlyto teach and instruct them who after that by their ingratitude they had brought Gods anger and curse upon them were punished with madness as Moses foretold Deut. 28. and with blindness Esay chap. 42. whose heart was hardened and whose ears were dull of hearing so that hearing they did not hear and understanding they did not understand and therefore changed Gods Judgements into wickedness more then the nations as Ezekiel complains who neverthelesse fear not to say We are wise and the Law of the Lord is with us and we live according to the strict rule thereof as they boasted in the days of Jeremy the Prophet who not withstanding making answer unto them feared not to affirm that whatsoever their Scribes had in their Doctrine imparted unto them to be no less then a lie no more then meer and foolish trifles How truly was this objected by the Prophet shall in the ensuing pages more plainly appear Certainly their boasting of Moses and the rest of the Prophets is vain and frivolous their Doctrine also of their Belife is altogether forged a manifest perversion and falsifying of the Word of God by such Expositions which relish more harsh then old Wives Tales and Novelties which are like roasted flesh stuft with the Lard of Ignorance That therefore we may orderly consider and make known the Jewish Beliefe so firmly grounded we will begin with the Nativity of a Jew then we will explain the manner how he is received into the number and communion of the Jews Our next step shall be his Education and by what hand he is directed even unto the evening of his dayes how at last comming to his long home he is carried through the hidden and profound Chambers of the terrestrial Globe into the Land that floweth with Milk and Honey the Land of promise and there is royally feasted and sits at the Table with his Messias at which he is invited to fill his paunch with the most delicate bits of a roasted Oxe exceeding in greatness the size of nature fish and fowle are but his common fare and drinking no other wine then that whose Grape had its growth and perfection in Paradise and there finally left by them who were his Harbingers to the grave shall take his rest with joy inexpressible Nunc lectum admissi risum teneatis amici Friendly Readers can now your modesty Set free your spleen from laughters extasie When any of the Jewish Women is with child and the time of their delivery approacheth then the place appointed for the childâ—birth is furnished with all manner of necessaries Which done the good man of the house or some 〈…〉 and devout Father for of such they have great 〈…〉 piece of Chalk and makes a circular line round about the Chamber writing upon the doors and walls without and within and about the bed in Hebrew Letters Adam Chava Chuts Lilis that is to say Adam Eve begonn Lilis whereby the Jewes would signifie this much that herby they intreat God that if the woman bring forth a Son he would give him a Wife like unto Eve not Lilis might be a Helper the last being refractory and disobedient The name Lilis is found in the 34. Chapter of Esay and is by some interpreted a Scriech-Owl a night bird commonly accounted ominous by others a Witch that changeth the
of all their wants and necessities Now if God who early vouchsafeth his more especial presence in their Synagogue find not any man preventing his expectation then is he angry with his children saying Wherefore when I came was there no man when I called was there none to answer Blessed is he who comming early in the morning entertains discourse with his God How greatly will the Lord love that Servant who imploys all his care that by his negligence his Lord should not abide solitary and destitute of a companion In Masseches Berachos Rabbi Abhiu the son of Rabbi Ada in the name of Rabbi Isaac saith that if he who useth to frequent the Synagogue be but once absent then God instantly upon it proposeth the question Who is among you that feareth the Lord and obeyeth the voyce of his Servant that walketh in darknesse and hath no light and trusteth upon the name of his God Esay 50. 10. The meaning is this that whosoever keeps his bed and comes not into the Synagogue abideth still in darkness In the Porch of their Schoole or Synagogue they have a certaine piece of Iron fastened into the wall against which every one is bound to wipe his shooes if they be unclean and dirty and they urge the authority of Salomon for it saying Keep thy foot when thou goest into the hâ—use of God whosoever useth to wear any pantoffles he ought to put them off at the door of the Synagogue lsst he pollute the same as it is written Loose thy shoes from osf thy foot for the place whereon thon standest is holy ground They ought to enter into the Synagogue with great fear and trembling even as he who is ready to approach the presence of some great King is accustomed to unbare his head and enter the Palace in a bashfull fearfulnesse according to that of the Prophet David Give the Lord the honour due unto his name worship the Lord with holy worship thou dost not read here Behadrath but Bechardath say the Rabbines that signifying comlinesse and ornament this fear and astonishment They being about to enter the Synagogue by the poreh thereof use to repeat some certain sayings hudled up together out of Davids Psalms the custome in it self being very good and laudable if it were seasoned with a judicious attention and servent devotion They may not begin their prayers instantly upon their entrance into the Synagogue but for a space ought to suspend the action in a pious meditation of him with whom they are to converse as also who he is that can see the very secrets of their hearts and hear their prayers for by this means they are possessed with the spirit of reverence and are pricked forward to a serious observation of what is spoken It is written in Masseches Berachos and that upon the Rabbines record that Rabbi Eliezer lying in his bed his Schollers visited him desiring him to show them the way to Eternall Life he willing to satisfie them in their request said unto them whensoever you make your prayers consider before whom you stand for by so doing you shall become heirs of life everlasting Every one of the Jews is bound to casâ—â—omething into the treasury though it be but a mite as it is written I will see thy face sin â—ustice where by Justice is understood Alms deeds which beareth witnesse thereunto In this theâ— fixt devotion of mind they are wont to bow themselves towards the 〈◊〉 in which the boâ—k of the Law is keâ—t saying How goodly are thy 〈◊〉 O Jacâ—b and thy Tabernacle O Israel In the multitude of thy 〈◊〉 I will enter into thine holy Temple Lord 〈◊〉 have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth and many moe such like sayings out of the Psalms of David These things premised in way of a proeme at last they begin their devotions accordingly as they are appointed in their book of Common-prayer and because the Petitions are very many they run them over by a cursory reading of them in their books although some be ignorant of Letters and cannot read at all yet it is his duty to be frequent in the Synagogue without any intermission diligently attending what is said by others and saying Amen at the closure of every prayer That we may the better understand what manner of prayers they use I will translate some of their prayers out of the Hebrew into Latine and withall explain them The first prayer they use begins thus Adon Olam ascher melech c. running all in rythme as all others of theirs do and is sung or read by them in a bouncing tone the form of which prayer followeth O Lord of the world who had rule and dominion before any thing now created was created who was called a King at the instant of their Creation according to his good pleasure and shall so remain after their return into their prime nothing to whom be given all honour and fear He was from everlasting and shall alwayes abide in his glory he is one alone and besides him there is no other who may be compared or be likened unto him by this reason they deny the Deity of the Son and repute him as a common simple man He as he is without beginning so he is without end In his hand is strength and power he is my God my protectour and redeemer by this saying they deride the belief of us Christians who do place our Confidence in a Mediatour who himself was subject to the stroke of death He is a stony rock unto me in my necessity and in the time of my sorrow he is my banner and my refuge he is the portion of mine inhâ—ritance even in that day wberein I implore his aid and assistance into his hands I commend my spirit whether I sleep or wake he is present with me so that I need not be afraid of any thing This prayer being ended then follow in their order an hundred more which are commonly short and pithy and are therefore twice repeated every day the reason whereof shall be given hereafter The first blessing prayer or thanksgiving is about the washing of their hands as was formerly declared and that because if any forget to say it in the morning when he is washing his hands he is injoyned to say it before the whole Congregation In the next place they have a thanksgiving though shore and succinct for the wonderfull Creation of man and especially that God created him full of holes and pores one whereof being stopped sudden death necessarily follows thereupon Then they make their Confession concerning the Resurrection of the dead giving thanks for the gracious supply of all their wants saying Blessed be thou O Lord King of the World who hast given understanding to the Cock so that he knows how to distinguish day from night and night from day so that he never fails to rouse up the Jew before day at what time
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
the Chasan or the Minister expounding the book of Esther reads it from end to end whereat the women and children ought to be present and give diligent attention and they have a custome that the little ones so often as Haman is named keep a vile stir and a tumultuous noise in the terrible and forcible explosion thereof In former times they were wont to provide themselves two stones upon one of which the name of Hamâ—â— was written These they did beat one against the other until the name was quite demolished and worn out which when they perceved they presently cried aloud Let his name be blotted out The name of the wicked shall rot Accursed be Haman Blessed be M â—rdecai Cursed be Zeresh the wife of Haman Blessed be Esther the wife Ahâ—suerus Cursed be all they that worship idols or the host of heaven Blessed be all the people of Isnael When the Lecturer comes to that place where mention is made of the ten sons of Hamau he is bound to read it with one breath for they write that all these sons of Haman perished in the twinkling of an eye and their souls in a very moment took their farewel of their beloved lodging the body They celebrate this Feast in a very voluptuous manner sousing their guts in wine and beer because Esther the Queen found favour and grace in the eyes of King Abasuerus when he sate at her banquet and obtained pardon for the Jews and a grant that they might stand for their lives And hence it comes to pass that for the space of these two dayes they busie themselves with no other things then eating and drinking smelling and bibbing dancing and piping singing and roaring ieasting and sporting riming and scoffing the women putting on mens apparrell and the men clothing themselves in womens attire which although it be expresly forbid in the law of Moses yet they make there one exception saying that it is lawful and no offence to practise it upon this day and this occasion seeing it is done by them only for worldly joy and recreation Rabbi Isaac â—irna in this Minhagim hath left in record to posterity that it is commanded as a work of great excellency to make merry as upon these dayes to goe a whoring to drink and be drunke yea in that measure that he cannot make any difference between Mordecai the blessed and Haman the accursed that is to say untill he be so besotted with the ale tappe that he cannot for his heart declare how many letters be contained in any of these words yea moreover any one is permitted at this time to poure in strong drink until he knowes not how many fingers he hath on either hand Which precept indeed is most diligently observed and kept according to the very rigour thereof by the Jews at this day and that chiefly by the beggerly crew to whom the richer sort send gifts and presents in a far greater measure then they do at other times to the end that one may not mock another for being drunk bein commanded and strictly prohibited to send away their meat and drink to any other end and purpose With these Bacchanal rites drunken fits and besotting beastliness they put an end to their annual feasts For this of Purim is the last festival in the year having no more until the feast of the passover If the Prophet Isaiah were alive at this day or should rise from the dead truly and really might he take occasion and that both forcible and urgent to cry out Woe and class unto them that rise up early to follow drunkenness and to them that continue until the night till the wine do inflame them CHAP. XXV Of the feasting dayes in use among the Jews HItherto we have treated of feasting fasting succeeds In the law of Moses there is only one fast commanded to be kept by the Jews which is upon the tenth of September upon which the feast of reconciliation is annually kept and celebrated as was formerly declared Besides this it is registred in ancient records that many other fasting dayes were instituted and ordained by the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets according as the time required And Zachary the Prophet who lived after the building of the second Temple makes mention of foure general fasts in these words Thus saith the Lord of hosts the fast of the fourth moneth the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall â—e to the house of Judah joy and gladness The fast of the tenth moneth was usually and is to this day kept by the Jews upon the tenth day of the same to wit December because upon this Neâ—uchaddnezar began to besiege Jerusalem with armies and to afflict the Jews with great trouble and calamities The fast of the fourth moneth was and is kept to this day upon the seventeenth day thereof because upon this they endured many great afflictions which are not yet disgested For as upon this day the tables of the law were broken the daily sacrifice ceased the book of the law was burnt an Idol the abomination of desolation was set up in the holy place the temple of Jerusalem The city it self besieged the second time overthrown and taken For these causes the Jews in these our dayes fast very devoutly begin seriously and earnestly to repent them of their former life if a man may believe the external gesture from which it is no doubt but their heart is too too much a roving The dayes following this fast even unto the ninth day of the next moneth are accounted ominous and unfortunate upon these no school-master must dare to whip his boyes If any Jew also have a case to be tried by the law between him and a Christian at this time he seeks all manner of evasion and excuse that he may not appear before the Judg untill these dayes be expired fearing lest his cause should fail and not prove good and he be overthrown therein The fast of the fift moneth is kept upon the ninth day of July because upon this very day the temple was burnt and turned into ashes In the time here of they goe barefoot sitting upon the earth reading doleful stories and the lamentations of Jeremy They goe into the place of burial where they sob out their doleful accents of grief and sorrow amidst the sorrowful consort of departed souls bewailing the desolations of their beautiful temple with sighs and grones for a moneth together From the first day until the tenth they neither eat flesh nor drink wine they enter not the bath wash their face or hands or suffer any rasor to come upon their head They do not make any marriages appear not in judgment but sore against their wills complaining and crying out that they had never any good hap or fortune in this moneth which they prove out of the Prophet Hosea saying A moneth shall devoure them with their portions Upon
the widow or the fatherless the stranger nor the poor and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in his heart But they refused to harken and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their ears that they should not hear Yea they made their hearts as an adamant stone lest they should hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts sent in his spirit by the ministry of the former Prophets therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts Therefore it came to pass that as he cried and they would no heare so they cried and I would not hear saith the Lord of hosts So much shall suffice to be spoken concerning the Ceremonies used by the Jews upon their holidayes and festivals for hereby may any man easily pereive that their faith and belief is not grounded upon Moses and the Prophets but upon the traditions of tht Scribes and Rabbines which I have desired to shew from the very beginning of this treatise It followeth that we should now treat of other matters belonging to their private and domestical life CHAP. XXVI Of their difference of meats and the boyling of them and of their new kitchin veslels THe Jews living in divers parts of the world at this day observe a main difference in the boyling and eating of fish flesh and milk-meats Which practise of theirs they ground upon those words of Moses Thou shalt not boile a kidd in his mothers milke Hence it is that they have written divers commentaries and expositions upon this text concerning the using of flesh hony and other viands Their kitchin boyling vessels are of two sorts the one whereof is appointed for the secthing of flesh the other for milke Their milke vessels have three peculiar marks upon them if they be of wood then they give them three several cuts whereby they may be distinguished from others and this they do because the forecited verse is found three times in the law of Moses Hereupon it also comes to pass that a Jew continually carries about him two knives one for flesh and another for cheese and fish which have also three several markes or stamps upon them If through negligence one vessel should be taken for another and the contrary thing boiled therein then it is not lawful for any Jew to eat thereof breaking the vessels if they be of earth but washing them with water if they be of wood and that in a most exact manner If they be of iron they cast them into the fire suffering them there to abide until they be fully purified It is enacted that flesh and milke must not be boiled together at the same time over the same fire neither are they to be set on the table one opposite or over against another but ought to be separated by something put between them and to this end they spread one cloth for the dishes furnished with flesh another for those wherein cheese and milke are served in He that eates either pottage or flesh he may not be allowed for a whole houres space to eat butter or cheese or any milke-meats Yea moreover they who would be accounted precise indeed make six whole hours distances It is lawful for any one to eat a hen with almond milke If any one love milke so well that he cannot abstain from it an especial dispensation is granted him to taste thereof sooner then ordinary so that he pick his teeth accurately and Spaniard like wash his mouth and eat a crust of bread to take away the tast of the flesh If the fat of any thing fall into any dish of meat boiled in milke that meat is prohibited to be eaten Yet if the meat be sixty times more in quantity then the fat then may it lawfully serve for the sufficing of any mans appetite An egge must not be boiled in a pan or pot in which flesh is sod If they desire to have their egges poched they first break them into a platter or poure them out of one shell into another having a diligent care and provident espial that no drop of blood be in them And this is the reason why the Jews alwayes open their egges at the top because in that place there is often found a veine of a bloody colour If in carving up a hen they finde any egges within her they use them not until they be mollified in water and salt It is a hainous offence to set fish and flesh at the same time upon one table as also to boile them in the same pan much more to eat them together for the leprosie follows as a reward of the fact Therefore they either wash their mouth or hands between the eating of flesh and fish or else they eat an apple or piece of bread between the eating of the one and handling of the other Briefly it is accounted as a great point of wisdom among the Jews rightly to distinguish the kindes of meat hence when some difficulties object themselves unto their view they goe for a solution to the learned Rabbines All their kitchin vessels whether of gold silver tin or lead brass or copper if they can endure the fire they are to be purged by fire if not by water according to the command of Moses Whatsoever will abide the fire you shall make it go through the fire and it shall be cleansed and whatsoever will not pass through the fire you shall make it to pass through the water The Talmudists upon these words infer that such vessels ought to be cast into a cesterne or pit where a menstrous woman hath washed her self in the time of her uncleanness because such women in the Hebrew tongue are called Niddoth and the water of separation Me niddoth Here the Jews give an evident demonstration that an Asse may be known by his eares from any other creature for the forecited words of Moses make not mention of vessels in general but of that particular houshold-stuffe which the children of Israel took in way of prey form their enemies the Midianites which at that time were a prophane ungodly and reprobate people And therefore when Moses made the people to purge and purifie every thing they had taken in battle partly by fire partly by water according as the condition of the thing it selfe would suffer his desire was to signifie unto them that they onght by no means to make any use of the Midianites goods unless they were first of all cleansed and sanctified Finally because at this day the Jews will not use any vessel belonging to a Christian unless it be first purged in the foresaid manner they hereby clearly shew unto the world the opinion they have of us to wit that in their judgment we are not a jot more pure or holy then those people which the Lord banished the land of Canaan for their sins and wickedness in in the â—ost of their writings calling us impure and proâ—ane Gentiles CHAP. XXVII Of the manner how they kill their Beasts