the Law Sacred or Introduced The Form of Cherem or Anathema BY the Decree of Cities Command of the Holy we Anathematize Adjure Exterminate Excommunicate Curse and Execrate God being willing his Church by the Book of this Law by the 600 Precepts therein written by the Anathema with which Josua Anathematized Hiericho by the Curse wherewith Elisha cursed the young men by the Curse wherewith Gehezi cursed his Boy and by the Excommunication with which Barach Excommunicated Meroz and by the Excommunication which Rab. Jehuda Son of Rabbi Jehezkiel used in this matter and by all the Anathemata Imprecations Curses Excommunications and Exterminations which have been made from the time of our Master Moses and since by the name of Acetheriel Jah the Lord of Hosts by the name of Michael the Great Prince by the name of Mittatron whose name is as the name of his Master by the name of Sandalipon who tieth the hands of his Lord by the name of forty two Letters by his name who appeared to Moses in the Bush by the name with which Moses divided the Sea by the name I am what I am by the Mystery of the name Tetragrammaton by the Scripture that was written upon the Tables by the name of the Lord of Armies the God of Israel sitting upon the Cherubin by the name of the Sphears and Circles and living Creatures Saints and ministring Angels by the name of all the Angels which wait upon the most High God every Israelite and every Israelitess who willingly and knowingly violates any of those which are now denounced to be observed let him be Cursed of the God of Israel who sitteth upon the Cherubin Let him be cursed by the bright and glorious name which the High-Priest in the day of Expiations expresseth with his mouth Let him be cursed by Heaven and Earth Let him be cursed from God Almighty Let him be cursed of Michael that Great Prince Let him be cursed of Mittatron whose name is as the name of his Master Let him be cursed of Acetheriel Jah the Lord of Hosts Cursed be he of the Seraphin and the Orbs of the holy Animals and Angels who wait before the most High God of Israel in holiness and purity If he was born in the month Nisan which the Angel Vriel as the Prince of the Classes under which it is governeth Let him be cursed of him and of all his Order And if he was born in the month Ijar which the Angel Tzephaniel governeth Let him be cursed of him and his whole Order And if he was born in the month Sivan c. The like imprecation is made in the same words by the Angel of this month and so forward by the Angel of every month Let him be cursed of the seven Angels set over the seven Weeks and of all their Order and helping Power Let him be cursed of the four Angels which govern the four Seasons of the Year and of their Order and helping Power Let him be cursed of the seven Palaces Let him be cursed of the Princes of the Law by the Name of the Crown and the Name of the Seal Let him be cursed of the Great God Strong and Bright Let him receive confusion from his Embraces Let him fall with swift Ruine Let the God the God of Spirits destroy him to all Flesh Let the God the God of Spirits put him under all Flesh Let God the God of Spirits lay him prostrate to all Flesh Let God the God of Spirits cut him off from all Flesh Let the Wrath of the Lord and violent Whirlwinde fall upon the Head of the Wicked Let the destroying Angels run upon him Let him be cursed in every thing he puts his Hand unto Let his Soul depart in terrour Let him die of the Quinsie Let not his Breath come or go Let him be smitten with a Feaver Driness the Sword Rottenness the Jaundise Neither let him be delivered from them before Destruction Let his Sword enter his own heart and let his Bows be broken Let him be as the dust before the wind and let the Angel of the Lord drive him away Let his ways be darknesses and slipperiness and let the Angel of the Lord persecute him Let sudden desolation come upon him and his net which he hath laid let it catch himself They shall drive him from light to darkness and exterminate him from the habitable World Tribulation and anguish shall make him afraid and his eyes shall see his destruction and he shall drink the fury of the Lord. He shall cloth himself with cursing as with a garment Let him eat the strength of his skin God shall scatter him for ever and pull him out of his Tabernacle The Lord will not rest that he may be propitious to him but the Wrath of the Lord and his Zeal shall smoak against him and upon him shall rest all the Maledictions written in the Book of this Law and the Lord shall blot out his name from under Heaven Also the Lord shall separate him to mischief out of all the tribes of Israel according to all the Curses of the Covenant which are written in the Book of this Law But you who adhere to the Lord your God are all alive this day He that blessed Abraham Isaac Jacob and Moses and Aaron David and Solomon and the Prophets of Israel and those who were pious among the Nations let him bless all this Holy Congregation with all Holy Congregations except the man onely who hath violated this Anathema God of his mercie keep them make them safe and deliver them from all evil misery and affliction and prolong their daies and years and send his blessing and happie success to every work of their hands and avenge them quickly with all other Israelites And so let it be his will and decree Amen CHAP. XXIV Concerning the present Judicature among the Jews COncerning the Ecclesiastical and Civil Consistories among the present Jews little of moment is now observable And though the Synedrion of old related to Civil Matters as the Synagogue to Ecclesiastical Yet the affairs of Religion and the World now do both fall under the cognizance of one and the same Court But that which is the subject of the present remark is the manner of legal proceeding in the case of Meum and Tuum which is plainly and compendiously thus When any contest ariseth among them concerning Debts Bargains Contracts c. a Juncto of Sabios Chachams or Masters are appointed to hear and determine in the Cause This Court of Chachams consists of 11 9 7 5. and can never be of fewer than three To these the party promovent makes his address in a short and plain Allegation of the Case which the Judges examine by Witnesses who must be persons well reported of and very sober For so much is required by their 212 Precept In case of want of Witnesses the bare Oath of the party producent is sufficient if he be a man of
and sing an Hymn wherein they commemorate their deliverance And having past the afternoon and part of the night in liberal refreshment they eat the third Cake and drink a glass of Wine Then the Father of the Family saith Grace and with the fourth cup of Wine in his hand repeats the 6 verse of the 79 Psalm and the last verse of Lamentations the 3. and utters most direful Execrations against all that are not of their Religion And immediately upon this they go to sleep On the night of the Passover they think themselves so safe from danger that they let the doors stand open which at other times are bolted and locked with all imaginable security But some tell us that they leave their doors open upon the night of the Passover that there may be nothing to hinder the entrance of Elias whose coming on that night is expected As for the rationale of the four Cups of Wine the number of the Cakes time of Execration and other mysterious Rites of this Festival it is to be learned out of their Masters whither the Curious are remitted All that I have here to take notice of is their Custom of showing the Paschal Cakes to their Children and instructing them in the Institution and Ceremonies of the Passover Wherein they pretend to be very faithful observers of Exod. 12.26 27. As for the other daies of this Feast there is little to be observed concerning them except that thereon the Jews eat better and go finer than at other times CHAP. XIX Of their Pentecost or Feast of weeks THe meaning and institution of this Festival may partly be learned from its name For Pentecost denotes the time of its observation which was the fiftieth day reckoning from the second of the Passover It was also called the Feast of Harvest and of First-fruits because the Jews then began their Harvest and offered the first Fruits of the Earth Exod. 23.16 And seeing they cannot keep this Feast according to its first Institution they spend the time allotted thereunto in praying for their Restauration that God would hasten their return to Canaan and the rebuilding of the Temple For which they use this form Let it be thy good pleasure O Lord our God and the God of our Fathers that the house of thy Sanctuary may speedily be rebuilt in our daies and give us our portion in thy Law And indeed this Feast may well bear the Title of the Feast of Harvest because it contain'd the weeks usual for that season which were bounded with two remarkable daies whereof the one began and the other ended the Harvest The former was called the second of the Passover and the later the Pentecost And from this second day of the Passover they number their Sabbaths which Custom explains the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Sabbatum used in the Gospel At this Festival the present Ceremonies are but few only they carry the Law twice in Procession and read out of it such portions as concern the Oblations which were of old accustomed to be offered And these parcels of the Law are after a most solemn manner read by five select Jews Their entertainments likewise are at this time very plain and frugal using little flesh-diet though they are bound to use some that they may not contradict their own rule A Feast without flesh is without joy But still white meats and confection of milks are their prime Delicacies And this sort of Viand is at this time made use of out of no less mystery than that by its colour and dulcour they might be remember'd of the purity and delightfulness of the Law To which they allude the 10 verse of the 19 Psalm They have a Custom at this Feast to strow the Synagogues their dwelling Houses and the Streets if they have leave with Greens and to wear some upon their heads out of no deeper mystery than to commemorate that pleasant Verdure which was upon Mount Sinai when the Law was there given unto their great Master Moses A Custom they have likewise to bake a Cake of seven folds to signifie say they the seven Heavens into which God ascended when he went up from the Mount At the beginning of this Feast the Jews with great Devotion make this Prayer Blessed art thou O Lord our God the King of the World who hast sanctified us with thy Precepts and hast inabled us rightly to number the days as thou hast commanded us this being the first day Thus they proceed to number until the whole fifty daies be expired every day using the same Benediction CHAP. XX. Of the Feast of Tabernacles THis is the third Capital Feast of Divine appointment among the Jews which those of Barbary keep at present as their Fathers did antiently in Booths which being made of green Canes it is now generally known among them by the Spanish name of Fiesta de las writing as it is pronounced Caunias or the Feast of Reeds And the end of this Feast is to preserve the memory of their Ancestors long Pilgrimage in the Wilderness and it lasts eight daies The Institution hereof is to be met with Deut. 16. and Exod. 23 and 34. Now as of old the chief Solemnity and observation of this Festival is confined to the first and second day thereof In that Liturgie of the Jews which I have so often named there is no proper Office for this Feast so that thereon they do no more but go to the Synagogue and there solemnize the Vsual Service and thence hasten home to their Booths Bowers Tents or Tabernacles which they finde furnished as richly as their Estate and Fortunes will make them During the whole eight daies of this Festival they live in their Booths and adorn them with the Furniture of their houses and constantly lodge therein unless it fall out that the rains which in Barbary often begin in September the time of this Feast force them into more comfortable lodgings Paulus Fagius on Levit. 23. reports out of the Rabbins that every man was bound every morning to bring a burden of Cittern Palm Mirtle or Willow-boughs toward the making of these Booths And this burden was called Hosanna And the cutting down of the Boughs and strowing them in the way and crying Hosanna to Christ as he rode to Hierusalem is thought to have been in allusion to this Custom And the Jews in Barbary are wont at this Festival to take any sort of boughs in their hands and to shake them toward the four Cardinal Points of Heaven beginning at the East And by this action they foretel and threaten destruction to all the ends of the Earth that oppose them With these Boughs also they make a great noise in allusion to the 12 verse of the 69 Psalm and also to terrifie the Devil and triumph over sin At the shaking of these Boughs they use these words Blessed art thou O Lord our God King of the World who hast sanctified us with thy Precepts and commanded
THE Present State OF THE JEWS More particularly relating to those in BARBARY Wherein is contained an exact Account of their CUSTOMS Secular and Religious To which is annexed a Summary Discourse of the Misna Talmud and Gemara By L. Addison one of his Majesties Chaplains in Ordinary and the Author of the late Revolutions and present Customs of the Kingdoms of Fez and Morocco Alius alio plura invenire potest nemo Omnia LONDON Printed by J.C. for William Crooke at the Green Dragon without Temple-Bar and to be sold by John Courtney Bookseller in Sarum 1675. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR JOSEPH WILLIAMSON Principal Secretary of STATE and one of his Majesties most Honourable Privy Council Right Honourable THat Generousness which pardoned my first Address of this Nature to your Honour has onely served to Embolden a Second It faring with Scriblers as with those Votaries who never forsake the Saint they once finde Propitious If the ensuing Discourse treated of Maxims of Rule there would need no Apology for its Dedication to a Person whose Prudence and Vertue have given Him the blessing of his Prince's Favour and the Reputation as well in Forrain Countries as his own of an excellent and profound States-man But what is here devoted to your Honour is of a different and perhaps of a much inferiour Character The following Papers containing only a plain Account of the present Customs and Religion of the Hebrew People Collected in some of those Hours the Employment would spare me which for several years I underwent abroad in the publick Service of our Religion and in a Latitude that yielded no few opportunities of making these Observations That I have hereunto prefixed your Name it was not for Shelter against the Common Enemy Rudeness and Censure nor onely to take this occasion of telling the World how much I am obliged by your Favours For though I am thereof truly sensible yet this way of acknowledgement was never greatly welcome to those Generous Persons who are no less obliged by the benefits they bestow than by those they receive But besides all this pardon me Sir that I take this opportunity to make Publick Recognizance of your Honours Eminent Bounty to our Common Mother Queens Colledge in Oxon. To which Antient Nursery of Loyalty and Good Letters though your pious Liberality be already magnificent yet they who know your Temper believe that what you there have done is but an Earnest of what you intend to do For which a Thankful Posterity will for ever Celebrate and Bless your Name But I dare not give my self the Liberty of expressing so much as a short Elogie upon a Subject that is able to justify the largest Panegyrick For when I consider that you are one of those Publique Spirits who under our Gratious Soveraign assert the Individual Interest of Church and State I cannot hope the Grand Affairs of your Eminent Place should spare Minutes enough to peruse a longer Dedication That your Honour may long Live Exalted in your Prince's Favour and Prosperous in your Negotiations to the Encouragement and Promotion of true Learning Piety and Vertue shall be his incessant Requests to Heaven and at all those Devotions cannot forget to be Your Honours most humble and most obliged Servant LANCELOT ADDISON From Milston neer Ambrosbury in Wilts Jan. 28. 1674 5. TO THE READER I Shall not offer at any thing of Apologetick in behalf of the ensuing Discourse but freely leave it to the Tribunal of the Reader whom I acknowledge to have an unquestionable Authority to Acquit or Condemn it As to the Account it gives of the Jews I conceive there is not any so modern nor in many things so particular and true this being the Result of Conversation and not of Report And as to its Composure it is neither so exact as to deserve Commendation nor yet so faulty as to need much excuse If it may do good to some and no hurt to any the Author has got his ends of its Publication BOOKS Newly Printed by W. Crooke THe Primitive Institution or a seasonable Discourse of Catechizing wherein is shewn the Antiquity Benefits and Necessity thereof together with its suitableness to heal the present Distempers of the Church of England By L. Addison one of his Majesties Chaplains in Ordinary and the Author of this Book Homer's Odysses translated into English by Tho. Hobbes of Malmsbury with a large Preface concerning the Vertues of an Heroique Poem By the Translator A Discourse of the Dukedom of Modena shewing the Manner and Qualities of that People Brevis Demonstratio The truth of Christian Religion Demonstrated by Reasons the best that have yet been out in English The Court Leet and Court Baron By Kitchin The 5th Impression The Flower-Garden Being an exact way to Plant Set and Sow all sorts of Flowers By W. Hughes THE INTRODUCTION THough the Jews inveterate obstinacy against the Truth hath justly render'd them the object of the Divine Displeasure yet their Primitive Ancestry Religion and Privileges ought still to secure them a great measure of Regard For this people if any under heaven may boldly glory of the Antiquity and Nobless of their Descent There being no Nation can prove its Pedegree by such clear and Authentique Heraldry as the Jews For though a ridiculous Vanity hath tempted some to date their Original before that of the world and others with great assurance have made themselves sprung from their own Soil yet the Jews by an unquestionable Display through all periods since the Creation can prove their Descent from the first man So that all other Nations must have recourse to the Jewish Records to clear their Genealogies and attest their Linage And indeed their Progeny would be sufficiently renowned if it were derived no higher than whither their present Appellation doth entitle them For the Jews have their Name from Judah Jacob's fourth son by his wife Leah who notwithstanding the degeneracy of his Descendents was a Prince of a brave Nature and great Eloquence An Essay of the former we finde in his endeavour to have saved his brother Joseph and it was a fair intimation of the later that he was chosen Orator to his Brethren Over whom he obtain'd a Soveraignty and from whose Loins many Princes Generals States-men and Prophets have descended And what is yet more remarkable to Judah was made the famous Promise That the Scepter should not depart from his Tribe nor a Law-giver from between his feet until Shiloh came Though I am not ignorant how it is the Opinion of some learned men that the continuance of the Scepter or Soveraign Power was not so fixed in Judah's family as to exclude all the rest For at least after the Captivity there were several of the other Tribes who attain'd to Kingly Honour among the Jews And therefore they understand Jacob's prediction of the whole Hebrew Nation which he foresaw in process of time would derive their Name from Judah and that they should never
There are some Jews who to be esteemed Devout rise very early every morning to lament the ruines of Hierusalem and the Temple and they hope by the merit of so doing to move God to hasten their reparation and the restoring of the Kingdom to Israel And there are those who believe that the Planets and Stars weep with those who in the night shed tears for the City and that when they run down their cheeks God puts the tears in a bottle and keeps them to blot out all the Edicts which at any time shall be made by their Enemies for their Destruction But to return to their Mattens There is a general Tradition among the Jews That at night the Gates of Heaven are shut up and that the good Angels sit silent by them and that the Evil Spirits are then at liberty to wander up and down to effect their projects And that a little after Midnight the Gates of Heaven are opened with so great a noise that the Cocks here below are therewith awaken'd and Crow to awaken them to their Prayers And that this might not be thought to be the melancholy of some few imagining Jews they have put it into their general Lyturgie wherein for this good Office of the Cock they thus give thanks Bendito tu Adonai nuestro Dio Rey del Mundo dâ—n al Gallo distinto para entender entre dia y noche Blessed be thou Adonai our God King of the World who hast given understanding to the Cock to distinguish the night from the day But the Oraisons we have now been speaking of relate to their private Devotions which are preparative to the publick To which later they are not suffer'd to repair till they have dressed their bodies according to prescription And to a stranger they seem herein very antick and humoursom For beginning with their Shirt that must not be put on but after such a secret manner that the very beams of the house must not be privy to their Nakedness and therefore they creep under the Counterpane or Coverlet while they put on their Mutands And for this they cite and praise the Example of one Master Jose who upon his Death-bed gave God thanks that through the whole course of his life the timber of his Bed never discovered his Natural retirements Much of this stuff might be set down relating to their present manner of dressing themselves as how that the left-foot-shooe must be put on before the right c. But the love of brevity has prevailed with me to omit them When they have accoutred themselves for the Synagogue at the leaving of their Apartments they are commanded moderately to bow down their Heads to express thereby their great sadness for the desolation of the Temple Before they go to publick Prayers they use all manner of needful Evacuations of the Body and when for this purpose they enter their Retraits the Devouter beseech the Angels to stay at door till they come out whom they thus accost Most Holy and most Glorious Ministers of the most High I beseech you keep preserve and help me wait till I go in and come out for this is the custom and way of all men They account it a hainous Sin to retard the Natural Purgations of the Body because thereby they may incur Distempers And to this unsavoury purpose they alledge Levit. 20.25 but for what reason is not so easily to be comprehended But their chiefest bodily preparation consists in washing which is a Ceremony bestowed on all those parts of the body that are more notoriously liable to be unclean And the hands which according to their Masters after sleep are venemous and impure by reason of the noxious spirits lodged as they opine in the palms thereof when they are asleep are first of all to be punctually washt For they hold that if a Jew should touch his eyes nose ears or mouth with unwasht hands he should be troubled with dimness of Sight Catarrhs Deafness and a stinking Breath In washing their hands they hold them up that the water may run down to their Elbows Which elevation of their hands Ceremony of washings help to explain the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 St. Mark 7.3 which has made so much stir among Criticks At the time of this preparative washing the Jews say this Hymn Bendito tu Adonai Nuestro Dio Rey del Mundo que nos Santificò en sus en comendancas y en comendò sobre limpieza de Manos Blessed be thou O Lord our God King of the World who hast sanctified us with thy Commandments and enjoyned us cleanness of hands Where by Commandments must not be understood any strict Law of Moses in this particular but of the Tradition of their Elders or injunctions of their Antient Sanhedrim by which they are bound to wash not only when they go to the Synagogue but also whensoever they eat To which Custom that passage of Saint John 11.6 has an unquestionable reference For the water-pots which were set ready at the Feast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were for the Jews to wash in before they did eat But we speak not here of their every-dayes washing but of that which they now use in order of preparation to their publick Devotion which is the last thing they do before they go to the Synagogue And if any occasional defilement happen as they go as the touching of a dead Carkass the killing of a Flea for a small thing will defile a Jew they presently wash their hands before they appear in the solemn Worship There were other sorts of washing of old among the Jews as that of the Priests when they went to the Temple to officiate in imitation whereof arose the washings and lustrations among the Gentiles There was also another sort of washing belonged to their Proselytes at their reception into the Church of the Jews of which we have already spoken something in their Proselytism CHAP. XIII Of the Jews Zizith and Tephillim or Phylactery or Prayer-Ornaments WHen the Jews prepare for Morning-Service they with singular circumspection put on their Zizith and Tephillim which are properly their Prayer-Ornaments and so necessary an accoutrement for the Synagogue that they are the chief Cognizances and badges of Religion without which they cannot hope that their Church-Services should be accepted The wearing of the Zizith or Fringe they collect from Exodus 15.37 And they very confidently assert that a careful observation of the Commandment concerning the Zizith is a fulfilling of the whole Law And they ground this peremptory position upon a Mystery which their Gemalria has found in the word and manner of its making For say they the Zizith hath five knots representing the five Books of Moses and the eight threds added thereunto make thirteen which together with the Numeral Letters in the word it self amount to six hundred and thirteen which is the number of all the Commandments contained in the Law And therefore they conclude that the right wearing of the
fear of transgressing the Sabbath And they have an usual saying Paligro del alma quaebra el Sabbato That the hazard of loosing a mans life dispenseth with the Sabbath They have a Custom in some places on the Friday to put water into little pits and to draw no place dry to the end that the Souls in Purgatory may therein cool and refresh them For on the time that is over and above added to the Sabbath they suppose the Souls in Purgatory have liberty to recreate There are many other Rites belonging hereunto the most whereof will fall in with the Offices which are now to be accounted for Upon the Arvit or Eve of the Sabbath they have a peculiar Office which begins with the twenty ninth Psalm Give unto the Lord ye sons of the mighty give unto the Lord honour and strength Give unto the Lord the honour of his Name and bow your selves to the Lord with the beauty of Holiness The voice of the Lord is upon the waters The God of honour hath made it thunder The Lord is upon much waters The voice of the Lord is with strength the voice of the Lord is with beauty The voice of the Lord breaketh the Cedars and hath broken the Cedars of Libanus And he hath made them leap as a Calf Libanus and Sirion like the sons of Elephants The voice of the Lord cutteth the flames of fire the voice of the Lord vexeth the Wilderness he vexeth the Wilderness of Cades The voice of the Lord maketh the Hinds to be in pain and discovereth the Forests and in his Palace every thing speaketh honour The Lord hath been upon the water and the Lord hath sate King for ever The Lord will give strength unto his people the Lord will bless his people with peace The Translation I have here given of this Psalm which begins the Office of the Sabbaths Arvit is Verbatim out of the old Spanish wherein the Jewish Liturgy is extant And it is here inserted for no other purpose but to show how it differs from our present Translation Where the Reader may observe that the word Adonai is here and through all their Liturgy used for Lord it being altogether unlawful for them to mention even in their Devotions the word Jehovah After this Psalm immediately follows in their Liturgy a very large Expostulation concerning the oyl and weke and whole confection of the Sabbath-Lamps Where the Opinions of several antient Masters are recited concerning this matter as the Opinions of Rabbi Ismael Rabbi Tarphon Rabbi Elihezer Rabbi Aquiba Rabbi Jehudah Which 〈◊〉 Master gives them leave to put out their Lamps on the Sabbath-night for fear the Nations those that are not Jews and evil Spirits should do hurt therewith On the Arvit they make confession of the three sins for which as hath been said women die in Child-bed And among these three deadly sins the want of due lighting the Sabbath-Lamps is none of the least On the Arvit likewise when it grows dark they are bound to propound and answer these three Questions Hast thou paid Tythes Hast thou made the Hirub Hast thou lighted a Candle After this they repeat such Hymns and Psalms out of Holy Writ as commemorate Gods gracious Promises to Israel of which they make a comfortable application to themselves There are likewise repeated some short periods of Scripture relating to the Season of the year as in the Spring He shall make his dew to fall and in Autumn Thou makest the winde to blow and the rain to descend c. Having done this they use a Thanksgiving unto God for that he refresheth the dead with his mercies and confirms his Truth to those that sleep in the dust that he punisheth Apostates looseth the imprison'd redeemeth the captive provideth Medicines for and healeth the sick And at the end of this long Thanksgiving follows this Benediction for the Institution of the Sabbath Blessed be the Lord our God the Holy Thou hast Sanctified the seventh day for thy Glory having first finished the Heavens and the Earth and hast blessed it above all dayes and sanctified it above all times as it is written in the Law And here the Institution of the Sabbath out of Genesis is distinctly repeated These things with the rest of the Office of the Sabbath Arvit which is very long is concluded with a thankful recapitulation of Gods favours toward them especially in that he has made them his peculiar people given them his Law and promised that it shall never be changed nor they deprived of it Then they most humbly implore the Almighty that at last he would fulfil his promise retarded so long by reason of their sins and send them their desired Messias The next Office is that of the Sabbath-Morning where the Rubrick directs them to rise before the Sun and to read the ordinary course of Psalms till they come to the nineteenth And then to begin their Mattins Which for the most part are collected out of the Scriptures some portions wherof are said by the Cazan alone and others by the Kahal and Kohen as the Rubrick all along directs them This day the Law has always a solemn Procession and is openly shown to the people When it is brought to be laid up in the Hehal or Chest he that bears it saith these words Turn again to thy resting place and to the house of thy desire that every Mouth and Tongue may give praise and glory to thy Kingdom And turn unto the million of the thousands of Israel and O Lord turn us unto thee and we shall be turned renew our dayes as in former time And with this Prayer they conclude the Morning-Office for the Sabbath The third Office is the Musaf or Afternoon-Service which begins thus O Lord thou shalt open our lips and our mouth shall shew forth thy praise After they have said this they bless and laud God for the continuance of his favours both to quick and dead Next they recount how God gave their Great Master Moses the Commandment for the Sabbath After this they make a gratulatory Oration unto God for that he has been pleased to assist and accept their Services And the whole Office is shut up with a distinct enumeration of the Divine attributes and recommending themselves unto the Divine Protection beseeching God to take the safeguard of them both when they sleep and watch Their fourth Office is that of the Minha or Sabbath-night which being of the same tenor with the last we but now mention'd there needs no more but to name it At the determination of the Sabbath they have an additional Service at which though none are bound to be yet all are present to show their Devotion to the Sabbath and how loath they are to part therewith But others hold that they ought to protract this Rest as long as they can possible for the sake of the Souls in Purgatory especially for such as were condemn'd thither for the violation of the
of the deceased hasten from Purgatory and rush into the water they first meet with to wash off the stink of the smoak and cool their flames and therefore the Rabbies have strictly charged that no water should be drawn at that time lest those sad Souls should be disturbed as we read in Ritualibus eorum Whilst they are intent on their Devotion two Angels approach one good another evil and place themselves one against another in the Synagogue if they hear any one praying or repeating his Lecture with a godly intention him the two Angels lead forth with their hands on his head saying Thy iniquity is taken away and thy sin is purged And if at their entrance into the Synagogue they find the Candles well kindled the Table well furnished the Bed covered with clean Linnen then the good Angel saith I wish I may see all things in this posture the next Sabbath and the bad Angel is forced to say Amen But if things are not well order'd then the bad Angel sayes as the good before I wish I may find all things thus the next Sabbath to which the good Spirit though unwilling sayes Amen When they come home they sit down at the chief place of the Table where the Salt is placed with a Cup of Wine and two Loaves covered with a Napkin Then the Master of the Family taking the Cup of Wine consecrates the Sabbath saying The sixth day the Heavens and the Earth were finished and all the host of them and on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made and rested the seventh day from all his work which he had made and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his work which God had created and made Gen. 2.1 c. Then adds Blessed art thou O Lord our God Creator of the Vniverse who hast created the fruit of the Vine Blessed art thou O Lord God Creator of the Vniverse who hast devoted us to thy Praecepts and hast given us a holy Sabbath and in thy good pleasure hast left us an heritage as a remembrance of the Creation it is a token of the Communion of Saints and a remembrance of the departure out of Egypt for thou hast chosen and sanctified us among all Nations thou out of thine abundant goodness hast left to us thy holy Sabbath Blessed art thou O Lord who hast hallowed the Sabbath When he hath said this he tasts the Wine and delivers it to all present to taste then he removes the Napkin and takes the two Loaves but cuts them not before Prayers as they do on week-dayes but forthwith sayes Blessed art thou O Lord our God Lord of the World who hast caused the Earth to bring forth bread After this he cuts and eats a piece of bread and gives to all that are present in larger shares than on week-dayes and all to honour the Sabbath wherein all niggardliness is contemned Whil'st the Wine is consecrating every one looks diligently on the Candle because the wise Rabbies write that if they travel hard on week-dayes they loose much of the strength of their eyes and looking on the Candles at the Consecration of the Wine is an effectual remedy The Bread is covered on the Table that its vileness in respect of the Wine may not be seen for in the Law it is mentioned before the Wine though consecrated after it as it is written Deut. 8.8 A Land of Wheat and Barley and Vines Where the Wheat and Barley of which the Bread is made are first named yet consecrated last on the Sabbath and if it were not covered it would be much despised The Rabbies say that it is covered in remembrance of the Manna For in the Wilderness the Dew fell then the Manna after that the Dew so that the Manna lay betwixt the Dew after the same manner as the Bread is laid on a Table-cloth and covered with a Napkin and for this reason the holy women bake a sort of Wafers which they eat instead of Manna Their Flesh-pyes are made like ours the Meat is laid on a thin cake and covered with another of the same sort so that it lyes as the Manna did betwixt the Dew And they take two loaves because on Fridays in the Wilderness they gathered a double quantity of Manna as it is written Exod. 16.22 But on the sixth day they gathered twice as much Bread What we shall chiefly Note is that on the Sabbath they much indulge their Genius as is observable in the Law Esay 58.13 where the Sabbath is called a delight that is that we may enjoy all delights that day and so ought all our Feasts to be according to that Thou shalt rejoyce in thy Feasts that all may be done to the honour of God wherefore thou may'st eat and drink and cloath thee decently that so thou may'st truly honour the Sabbath but don 't be excessive in thy charge All this is contained in Libello Timoris where the Reader may see with what Charms they excite their Devotion by repeating such short Sentences as these following Prepare to keep the Sabbath and Rest from all thy work If all things necessary are provided thou art praise-worthy Yea if thou have a great retinue of Servants and Maids The Day requireth strict observance Be content and thou hast plenty enough Wear good Habit for the Sabbath is called a Bride Provide the choicest diet for the Day And observe all Ceremonies carefully Come with a good Appetite Prepare good Wine Flesh and Fish Cover the Bed decently Let the Table be furnished splendidly Anoint thy Head but be not proud Sharpen thy Knife and cut thy Meat modestly Cast the parings of thy Nails into the fire Do not grudge Wine at the Consecration Wash thy hands and feet for this is no trivial Injunction Have a good courage Wash all thy Cups Be not mindful of any injuries Rejoyce with thy Wife and Children Banquet thrice in the day Speak nothing but what may cause mirth Besides these they have a Book of all the Blessings for the Feasts of the whole year amongst other these are observable Wear such Habit as may donote mirth Consecrate the Candle that it may burn well Finish all thy work on Friday and rest Eat all dainties Fish Capons and Quails Walk softly for the Law commands meekness and morning-rest Silk Garments are of much account and they who wear them also The Sabbath is holy and he who rightly observes it Let no care trouble you though Spiders be in your houses Be merry and jolly though at other mens charge Get the best Wine Fish and Flesh and Banquet thrice that day If thou observe all this thy reward is great And Ye women see that the Candles be lighted and be attentive Your convenience will be much when you are with Child And if you provide plenty of Wafers you shall easier conceive and bring forth with joy But lest the curious Reader may think
las Candelas and some call it the Feast of Oyl and both give this reason of the name In the Dedication of the Temple and Restauration of the Divine Worship there wanted Oyl for the Holy Lamps whereupon Judas Maccabaeus diligently seeking every corner of the Temple for Oyl at length found a Jar full which was sealed with the High-Priests Seal and had never fallen into the desecrating hands of the Enemy But the Oyl was of so small a quantity that it was but enough for one night Whereupon he and the people became very sorrowful not being able to procure Oyl for the present necessity For the place where it was to be bought stood three daies journey from Hierusalem But God saith the story by a bountiful Miracle made the small Jar of Oyl to last the whole eight daies of the Feast In memory of which miraculous supply some as I said have called it the Feast of Candles and others the Feast of Oyl They spend the eight daies in junketing and Games little of Religion appearing through the whole Solemnity They have another Feast in remembrance of giving the Law at which time they sell those Ecclesiastick Offices we spoke of before and which always falls out upon the same day that the last Section of the Law is finished and the first begun And they begin the Law the same day they end it that the Devil may not tell God that Israel is weary of his Law On this Feast all the Copies of Law are taken out of the Ark and in very solemn Procession is carri'd through the Synagogue with all manner of Exultation and rejoycing And after this they make the best provision they can possible which they call the Supper upon the finishing the Law And it is founded upon the Act of Solomon who coming to Hierusalem and there offering Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings before the Ark of the Covenant of the Law made a Feast to all his Servants 1 Kings 3.15 The next Feast is that of the New year which is kept in Tizri for that is the first Month according to their Secular though but the seventh according to their Ecclesiastical Computation On the day of this Festival they repair to the Synagogue and the Usual Service being ended with a short Prayer they consecrate the Feast and drink if they can possible procure it some Mustum because it is Wine of a good abodement of an happy Year which they then wish one to another The Younger sort do now receive the Chief Priests Benediction which he gives them by laying his hands upon their heads and praying they may have a Good Year In some places Rams horns are sounded at this Feast in memory think some of the Ram which was sacrificed in stead of Isaac some in memory of the giving of the Law with sound of Cornets and some to minde them of the day of Judgement to which they shall be summoned by the sound of Trumpets Now the deliverance of Isaac and the giving of the Law did and the last Judgement say they shall happen upon the first day of Tizri answering to our September The Jews have had a Custome on this day to run into the Rivers and there to shake off their Sins that according to Micah 7.19 they may be carried into the depths of the Sea If at this Lustration they have the good Fortune to see a Fish they shake themselves lustily on purpose to load it with their Sins that it may swim away with them and be as the Scape-goat of old which carried the peoples Sins into the Desart Some among them would have this repairing to the running-Water to be in memory of Abraham's being led by an Evil Spirit into a River when he went to Sacrifice his Son where being in great danger of Drowning he prai'd unto God and the River upon the sudden became dry Land But he that shall converse with the Jews shall be furnished with plenty of Stories of this nature and if upon every occasion I should have set down the Miracles wherewith their most ridiculous and improbable Rites are attested I might have made this Discourse Voluminous to no purpose Their last Feast I shall take notice of is that of their New-Moons which are a sort of Half Holy-days the Morning as on other daies being spent in the Synagogues and the Afternoon in Good Company At the first sight of the New-moon they have a Benediction wherein they bless God that with the breath of his Mouth he hath created the Heavens and all the Host thereof and appointed them Laws which they observe That he reneweth the Moon and makes it assist the pregnant Hebrews And then they leap as 't were to catch her and wish their Enemies may come no nearer them than they to the Moon Then they extol her good qualities for which they have but little reason seeing that they are told how in the beginning God deprived the Moon of Light for Murmuring against Him to expiate which Crime of the Moon the Jews were appointed to keep this Feast At the Feast of Tabernacles they Divine from the rays of the Moon of the accidents of the whole Year If the Shadows of their Bodies appear defective they accordingly foretel their own or Friends Deaths As if a man see his Shadow without a Head then he is to fall into danger of Death or die the following year If it wants a Finger he shall loose a good Friend If the Right hand a Son If the Left a Daughter If no Shadow at all appear then the man's death is unavoidable CHAP. XXII Of the Jewish Fasts THe Jewish Fasts except that upon the Expiation are esteem'd to be all of Humane Institution Their first Fast is in memory of Nebuchadnezzar's Siege of Hierusalem which happened upon the tenth of Tebeth answering to our December for which their Liturgy hath a small Office Their second is in memory of Moses's breaking the two Tables of the Law for the loss of their daily Sacrifice for setting Idolatry in the Temple for the second Siege of the City and breaking down the Walls thereof And this constantly falls upon the 17th of Thamuz corresponding to our June and lasts till the ninth of Ab. All the daies of this Fast are accounted ominous and unlucky so that thereon they avoid all business of moment and if possible to begin Journeys or attempt ought that is considerable And so careful are they hereon to be idle that School-boys are not thereon to be Corrected Upon the fifth of Ab or July they sit on the Ground read Jeremiah's Lamentations bewail the Dead and the loss of Hierusalem and for ten daies live so severely that they abstain from every thing wherein is supposed to be delight Their third Fast is for the death of Gedaliah whom we read was Treacherously Murthered Jer. 41.2 and it falls out in Tizri or September Besides these Fasts which are of publick Institution they have several that are private as those of