they ought to leave their beds and go to prayers Blessed â—e God c. That he created me an Israelite or a Jew or as others render it that he did not make me one of the Gentiles By Gentile they understand Christian which they esteem as Infidels Idolaters and a cursed Nation The woman saith blessed be God c. that he created me a Jewess Blessed be God c. that he hath not created me a servant this also thwarts the profession of Christians whom they account their vassalls who shall sow and plow their ground and shall do all manner of servile imployments for them while in the mean time they shall sit behind a hot fornace rosting apples tossing up whole bowls of wine What kind of Captivity is this They answer if any man rest himself in any place having a huge Bowl of rich wine in his hand then he is free from bondage when on the contrary the Christians are forced to labour and till the Earth in the sweat of their browes and nostrils Blessed c. That he hath not made me a woman the women instead thereof say Blessed c. that he hath created me according to his own good will and pleasure This is done in contempt of the womans sex because they are not comprehended in the Covenant of Circumcision by which God â—eals unto himself his own peculiar people and therefore this Scripture must perforce be hatched in the womans brains that is to say whether they be in the Catalogue of Israelites as their husbands are Blessed c. who exaltest the humble Blessed c. who gives sight unto the blind This Thanksgiving is usuall when they first wake out of their sleep and unshut their eye-lids Blessed c. who makes the crooked straight this they say when lifting themselves up in their bed they go about to attire themselves Blessed c. who clothes the naked this they say when they put on their cloaths Blessed c. who raiseth them that fall Blessed c. who bringeth the prisoners out of Captivity These two severall Thanksgivings are assigned for this reason because God in the time of sleep doth in that manner sustaine and multiply mans spirits that they may again exercise their proper functions the time of their being asleep being like unto prisoners in the pit Blessed c. who stretcheth out the earth above the waters this they say when rising out of their beds they begin to tread upon the ground Blessed c. who directs prepares and governs the wayes of man this he saith so soon as he comes out of his bed-chamber Blessed c. who hath created all things necessary for this life this he utters when he ties his shooes Blessed c. who girdest Israel with the girdle of strength this he saith when he puts on his girdle which every Jew is bound to do as hath been formerly declared Blessed c. who crowns Israel with comelinesse this he saith when he puts his hat upon his head for it is an hainous offence to go out of his Chamber uncovered Blessed c. who refresheth the weary Blessed be thou O God our Lord King of the whole world who removest sleep from mine eyes and slumber from mine eye-lids These prayers ended being so many in number they adde two more wherein they petition God that he would vouchsafe to keep and defend them against sin reprobate angels wicked men and all kind of evil Then humbling themselves before God they confess themselves guilty and relying only upon the mercy of God they comfort themselves again with a certain Prayer beginning Ribbon Col haolamim and with much boasting and many brags in that oath which the Lord sware unto Abraham being about to sacrifice his Son Isaac say yet we are thy people and the children of thy Covenant and O blessed men that we are how goodly is our portion how pleasant our lot how beautifull our Inheritance O blessed men that we are who every morning pronounce this sentence Heare O Israel the Lord our God is one God! Gather us that trust in thee from the four corners of the earth by which action all the Inhabitants of the world shal know that thou art God alone O our Father which art in heaven run after us with thy mercy even for thy names sake because thy name is named upon us and confirm and establish in us that which is written At that time will I bring you back at that time will I gather you and give you a name and renown amongst all the people of the earth when I have turned againyour captivity saith the Lord God After these be ended there follow 2 other short Prayers in which they give thanks for the Law delivered to them from heaven From the Law they proceed to their sacrifices which because they may not offer in these dayes they are banisht out of their own Land their Temple is laid desolate as their Ancestors were accustomed the sacrifice of the lip succeeds in the place thereof and reading only the precepts coÌ„cerning sacrifices as they ought in their appointed times to have been offered they solace themselvs with that saying of the Prophet though in a sense perverted We will sacrifice the calves of our lips After this they ruminate the historical narration about sacrifices as also a certain prayer beginning Rabbi Ismahel concerning the use of the Law and the manifold exposition thereof which being grounded upon the Talmud is so barbarous and difficult that not one Jew amongst an hundred is able to understand it This they read in such a manner as the Vestal Virgins do the Psalter This done they say a Prayer in which they Petition for the re-edification of Jerusalem and the Temple which they daily even unto this day expect and hope for yet this they say with such a fainting voice that none can hear it The words are these Let it be thy good pleasure before thy face O Lord and God the God of our Fathers that the holy house thy Temple may be built again in these our dayes and give unto us a will to abide in thy Law Hereupon rising up with great joy and shouting they chant out another laudatory Prayer or thanksgiving hoping that God will shortly begin to lay the foundation of their new Temple and bring them back again into their own Land Then sitting down they repeat a long Prayer collected out of the Psalms of David reading withall some whole Psalmes and a part of the thirtieth Chapter of the first book of Chronicles and lastly singing the last words of the Prophet Obadiah which are these Saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau and the Kingdome shall be the Lords With attent minds and much rejoycing their hope is that these Saviours of whom the Prophet makes mention shall come quickly and shall go up to Mount Sion that is they shall undertake the quarrel for the Jews and
for the Rabbines in their Masseches Berachos upon those words When all the people saw the thunders and the lightnings and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain burning the people saw and were afraid and stood afar off dispute and say that the people through great fear and amazement was in a moment of time three miles backward from the mountain Sinai The chief Glosse-monger Rabbi Salomon Jarchi writes in his glosse upon this Text that the people kept back twelve miLes of which David spoke saying The Kings of the Armies did flie and sheâ— that tarried at home divided the spoil and then came the good Angels and ministring Spirits and brought the people back unto the Mountain When they are about to depart the Temple or Synagogue then they speaking within themselves quietly and without the least noise they say a certain Prayer beginning Alenulesh abeach It is meet that we should praise the Lord who is above all and in an excellent degree to celebrate him because he hath created all things and not made us like unto the rest of the Nations likewise that he hath not made us as other generations of the World and hath not appointed us an inheritance like unto theirs neither is our lot as their lot neither as the lot of their whole multititude Here are some words omitted in their Books of Common-prayer and that by the Commandement of the Magistrates of Italy where their Books are wont to be and for the most part are at this day imprinted The things omitted were some blasphemous sayings against our Saviour which are found expressed in the ancient copies of which I have one which was imprinted at Augusta by a Jewish Printer called Chajim in the year of Christ 1534. In other copies instead of the words omitted there is left an empty space about the length of one line to this end that the children of the Jews and others who are ignorant may be warned to enquire what saying it is that is there omitted which when they do some relate the words unto them or otherwise write them in the margent of the Book as I have observed them to have practised in many of their Prayer books the words left out are these Who bend their knee and crouch to that which is vanity and foolishness and adore another God who cannot help these words they utter against Christ wherefore they spit upon the earth in the mouthing of them But we bend and bow our knees yea our whole man to that King who is King of Kings to God holy and blessed for ever who stretcheth out the heavens establisheth the earth whose glory and chair of estate is in heaven and the seat of whose power is in the highest heavens he only is our God and there is no other besides him These things thus finished the Jew now going out Of the Synagogue saith O Lord God lead me by thy justice by reason of those that lay wait for me in secret make plain thy way before my face Preserve me in my going out and my comming in from this time forth for evermore They must go out of the Synagogue in the posture of a Crab sish creeping backward through the Gate thereof and that their back part should not be towards the holy Ark in which the book of the Law is laid up to which they ought to exhibit a certain kind of reverence by turning their face thereunto The Rabbines upon those words of the Prophet Ezekiel Who have turned their back unto the Temple of the Lord have delivered thus much in the Talmud that a grievous and heavy punishment was inflcted upon the Priests because in going out of the Temple of the Lord they turned their back parts towards the ark of the Covenant wherefore the case standing thus we ought to depart out of the Temple with all fear and reverence even as a servant being about to take his leave of his Maister doth it with a retrograde crowching submission and submiss lowliness They must not run out of the Synagogue lest some might think him that runneth to be weary with praying and to rejoyce that it is now lawfull for him to depart They must go out with decurtate steps for if any one doth this God numbreth his steps and gives him a great reward as it is written Thou hast numbred my steps c. If any in his going forth chance to meet a woman or a damsel whether she be one of the Jews or Christians he ought to shut his eyeâ— and turn away his face from beholding her he must not afford her the common curtesie of a Complement lest thereby taking occasion of longer discourse he should be woed to the entertainment of lustfull notions and evil cogitations Concerning the serious manner of praying they write that whosoever wil pray attentively ought to have his head and heart covered to incompass his body with a girdle in the middle lest his heart by the sight of the secret part should be inveigled with wicked thoughts He must turn his face towards Canaan and the City Jerusalem his feet equally placed upon the Earth as abovesaid He ought to put his hand upon his heart in that manner that his right hand may rest upon his left withall bowing his head with great humility as it is written Let us lift up our hearts with our hands unto the Lord in the heavens and again My life is alwayes in my hand yet do I not forget thy Law In time of prayer none must yawn belch or spit yet if he must spit on necessity then ought he privately to receive it in his Handkerchiff and modestly to cast it behind him or upon his left hand but not before him or upon his right for there stand the Angels invisible whom if any should beray with this excrement he should be guilty of an heynous offence It is not lawfull for any to let a scape in time of Prayer if he do it against his will then ought he to suspend the act of praying until the ill savour thereof be gone If the wind urge him so much and so vehemently that he must of necessity let fly then shall he go some four paces aside set a packing and instantly thereupon saying O Lord of all the earth thou hast created me full of holes Whiâ—h I cannot shut up all our modesty is open and known unto thee our life is full of shame we are nothing but worms and Maggots Sneesing in time of Prayer if it come from the parts below is an ill sign if from above a good one He that beginneth once to pray must not break off in the middle of his Prayer yea although the King of Israel should come and salute him yet he may not answer him though a Serpent took him by the heel and bit him yet ought he to continue in his devotions yet there is a certain dispensation which licenseth a man to give way unto a
the bread to be covered in remembrance of the Manna For first of all a certaine dew fell in the desart after that the Manna and then another dew between which two it lay hid as between two napkins And so the bread upon the Jewes table lyes between two linnen clothes Hence it is that the women make minced pies or boile some other thing like unto it which they eat instead of Manna for their minced pye hath a certaine lumpe for its bottom and in the middle it is stuft with flesh above also it hath a certain cover made like unto Manna The reason why they take two loaves is in remembrance of the Manna whereof they gathered in times past two measures full upon every Friday according to that which is written And it came to passe that on the sixt day they gathered twice as much bread Briefly of all things to be done by us in this world an especiall care is to bee had of our bodies upon the Sabbath day which thing the holy Scripture so often commands us saying Thou shalt call the Sabbath Oneg a delight because wee ought to restrhaine our selves from no sort of pleasure upon the Sabbath day In the same manner speaks the holy Scrpture concerning festivals Thou shalt rejoice in thy feasts thou and thy sonne c. that all our actions may tend to Gods glory Eat and drinke therefore and be good unto thy selfe and remember to doe it in honour to the Sabbath Yet not thinking that hee may eat many delicates upon the Friday for the filling of his paunch especially if he be poor and cannot away with the cost for this should rather have a place in the Catalogue of sinnes then good workes seeing he should also thinke upon the Sabbath day that he should have no such cheare upon Sunday and so become sorrowfull at that time when he ought the most of all to be merry Al this also is summarily comprehended in a little book called Sepher hajirah teaching us how a Jew ought to lead his life in the feare of the Lord and is delivered by the Jewes themselves in the following verses Against the Sabbath ready thou shalt be To leave all worke that doth belong to thee Thy selfe for Sabbath do prepare its gaine Though many maids and servants thou maintaine The Sabbath equally in all precepts availeth Be of good cheare thinke as thee nought aileth Use neat apparell costly raiments weare For Sabbath of a bride the name doth beare Buy that is daintiest ' gainst the Sabbath's day Strictly observe its precepts every way Keep in good appetite the stomack thine Feed upon fish and flesh and healthy wine Dresse up thy bed in handsome fashion good Order thy table well set on thy food Bath wash and cleanse thy head trim up thy haire About thee never any thing do beare Sharpen thy knife fall stoutly to thy meate Cut off thy nailes fling them in fiery heate Speake blessing to thy wine cleanse hand and foot By this precept thou shalt doe good I wot Be of good mood of comfortable ease Refraine not from thy selfe wherein canst please Merry and withall joyfull shalt thou be As if thy workes all finish'd were by thee Remove thee fro all dumpes and pensivenesse Table and stools have in a readinesse Lay on cleane table cloth and napkins as 't is fit Hasten away your rost-meat from the spit Swill handsomely your cups and drinking glasses Put out of mind your once endured losses Buy the best bit thou find'st upon the Mart With wife and children make a merry heart One table once thus dressed gives thee three meales Talke nothing but of merry making tales c. There is also extant a certaine booke of theirs wherein are contained many graces used by them before and after meat as also upon the chiefe festivals throughout the whole yeare written in Hebrew and Teutonicke verse Amongst others there is one prayer which begins How lovely is thy rest O Lord c. Where it followeth In gallant suit thyselfe aray Blesse candle light so 't will in burning mend From all manner of working flye away On Fryday all thy works bring to an end Eat savoury fâ—shes goodly capons quailes Live delicately see that nothing failes Then against Even thy selfe thus recreate All manner of good things for thee provide Well-fatted beeves and such as likes thy pate From a good cup of spice'd wine doe not slide c. Item In all meeknesse thou shalt walke For of that the Law doth talke With meeknesse all thy lifetime shall be led When Sunne doth rise at leisure keep thy bed c. Item Linnen and silken rayment much is made of Honour'd they be that doe make their clothes thereof An holy day the Sabbath is Happy that keeps it not amisse Bring not your hearts to heavy mournfull courses Although much leannesse lodge within your purses Cheerfull you ought to be and without sorrow Although elsewhere your mony you do borrow Furnish your selves with wine with flesh and fishes Upon your table set three sorts of dishes A good reward for thee will then be hasting Here and in time to come for everlasting c Item Women your candles remember for to light With carefull heed observe this time aright Here of great profit you will make full quickly When great with child you shall come to be fickly If then fine cakes to bake you shall be skilfull At child birth you may play and laugh your wil-full And now lest any should account of these as poeticall figments and fables I will relate some pleasant histories out of the Talmud whereby you may have a plaine evident yea even miraculous demonstration that the pleasure and jocund life upon the Sabbath day is the chiefest honour In that tract of the Talmud entituled de Sabbatho These e words are registred as they came from the mouth of Rabbi Chaia I saith he was upon a time in Cyprus others say in Ladkia where I lodged with a certaine Katzubh or Butcher At the time of supper a table all of gold was brought in which sixteen men were scarce able to carry all the furniture and other necessaries upon the table were of gold the platters candlestickes salts cups and trenchers all of gold with a snmptuous variety of delicates an most excellent apples When the table was set before him he beginning to praise God said The earth is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof When the table was removed he againe singing praises unto God said The heaven is the Lords and the earth hath he given unto the children of men Then I spoke unto him and said Good Sir how came you to be so rich and what good thing have you done in all your life The Master of the houshold the Butcher I meane replyed I have been a Butcher all my life long and whensoever it was my chance to happen upon some choise fatling I alwaies reserved it for the celebration of
to return to the place where he gave up the ghost and dolefully to lament over his dear consort the body So soon as the man is dead they cast all the water in the house out of doors that they who pass by may be warned of the decease of some person there Others have recorded that they do this thing in memory of the Prophetess Miriam of whom it is written All the Congregation of Israel came into the wilderness of Sin in the first moneth and the people remainâ—d in Cades where Miriam died and was buried there And when there was no water for the Congregation they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron The Talmudists say that the occasion hereof is this the Angel of death who hath deprived the man of life washing his knife or sword in the water poisons it for they write that Satan or the messenger of death standing at the beds-head with a drawen sword in his hand upon which sword hang three drops of gall which as soon as the sick man beholds being terrified at the sight he opens his mouth whereupon these three drops fall into it By reason of the first he gives up the ghost the second makes him become yellow and pale the last causeth him to putrifie So soon as the sick man dieth the Angel runs to the waters washeth his sword in them by which means they being infected with poison are to be powred out Again this is one of the best grounds of the Jewish faith Antonius Margarita in his tract of Tabernacles or Booths writes that the Jews in ancient times were accustomed to pray unto God that he would not suffer the Angel of death any longer to appear in such a fearful shape at their bedsheads and that also they had their request granted and that they their ancestors put out his left eye conjuring and binding him by the holy names of God It is also recorded in the Talmud that great honour ought to be given unto them who have departed this life because they in the other world have perfect knowledge of all occurrences in this They write also that the soule doth not presently upon the dissolution return into heaven from whence it came but that for twelve moneths space it becomes a vagabond through the earth returns into the Sepulchre suffers many torments in purgatory and then twelve moneths fully expired it ascends up into heaven there taking its rest The question being proposed in the book called Schebhet Jehudah in a certain disputation betwixt a Jew and a Christian How it came to pass that the dead should know all things that are done here upon earth It is answered that the soule doth not gain an entrance into heaven untill the body that was buried be turned into dust and therefore it remaining so long a time upon the earth may without contradiction know the things which are done here below That the soule doth not presently goe into heaven is manifest out of the words of Solomon The dust shall return unto the earth from whence it was and the spirit to God that gave it In this place they say that by the dust is meant our bodie which of necessity returns unto the earth out of which it was taken and by the Spirit our soule which returns to God that gave it now then to conclude the body must first be made dust and ashes and then the Spirit shall return unto the Creator which if it were otherwise certainly Solomon had inverted his words and propounded them thus The Spirit shall return unto God that gave it and the body to the earth Elias the famous Grammarian in his dictionary called Tisbi expounding the word Chabat hath left it in record that it was the opinion of their Rabbines that so soon as any of the Jews do take their farewell of this tâ—r restrial paradise and the chamberlain death hath furnished him with a lodging in the lower parts of the earth that the Angel of death comes and sits upon his sepulchre and that at the same time the soule returns into the body reanimates and erects it Whereupon the Angel takes an iron chain the one part of which is hot the other cold with which he smites the dead corpes two times or more At the first stroke all the members of the body are torn one from another At the second all the bones are dispersed abroad at the third flesh and bones yea the whole carcass is turned into dust and ashes Then come the good Angels and gather the bones together honouring them with a second burial This punishment the Rabbines call Chibbut hakkeber which they do not only write of but also most absurdly believe in their common prayer petitioning that God would preserve them against this punishment and divert it from them as we may see in that petition which they call Benschen being in the number of those which they use upon the day of reconciliation It is written in the book Chasidim that who is much given to almsdeeds is a lover of reproof and honesty who entertains strangers willingly and from his very heart who prayes with an attent minde although he die without the land of Canaan he shall neither tast nor trie the violence of the grave but shall be certainly preserved against the Chibbut hackkeber Hence it is most evident that they who die in the land of Canaan are free from this torture but they who die in a strange land are subject thereunto Hither it is also to be referred that they who die in other lands are wont to wander through secret caves and holes of the earth untill they come to the land of promise otherwise they are not made partakers of the general resurrection which thing we have formerly made mention of in the first Chapter and other places of this book CHAP. XXXVI Touching the Jews Messias who is yet for to come THat a Messias was promised unto the Jews they all with one mouth acknowledge hereupon petitioning in their daily prayers that he would come quickly before the houreglass of their life be run out The only scruple is of the time when and the state in which he shall appear They generally beleeve that this their future Messias shall be a simple man yet nevertheless far exceeding the whole generation of mortals in all kinde of vertues who shall marry a wife and beget children to sit upon the throne of his kingdom after him When therefore the Scripture mentioneth a twofold Messias the one plain poor and meek subject to the stroke of death the other illustrious powerful highly advanced and exalted the Jews forge unto themselves two of the same sort one which they call by the name of Messias the son of Joseph that poor and simple one yet an experienced and valiant leader for the warrs Another whom they entitle Messias the son of David that true Messias who is to be king of Israel and to rule over them in
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
which they attribute great vertue and strange operations hidden ones surely for they have not made their appearance for one thousand six hundred and odd yeares This they use to say standing and that with great devotion There is a certaine story very pat to this purpose When the Jewes were banished out of Jerusalem by Titus Vespasian the Roman Emperour The Emperour commanded that three ships filled with Jewes should be set to float upon the sea having neither mast nor sailes This his command being put in execution the ships being tost with a most violent tempest were parted asunder and cast upon the shore of three divers countries the names whereof were Lovanda Arlado and Burdeli which are now worne out of remembrance All the Jewes in one of those ships were very courteously entertained by the Lord of that country in which they landed who in a most bountifull manner gave them land to till and Vineyards After his death there arose another King who handled and vexed the Jewes most inhumanely even as Pharaoh did their Ancestours saying unto them that he would try whether they were true Jewes or not after the same manner that Nebuchadnezzar tryed Hananias Misael and Azarias and if you can walke without hurt in the middle of the fiery furnace as they did then will I confesse that you are true Jewes indeed To whom the Jewes made answer entreating him that he would doe unto them as Nebuchadnezzar did to the three former which was to grant them three dayes respite that they might pray unto God to deliver them Which when he had granted two brothers called Joseph and Benjamin and their Couzen Samuel came together to consult what was best to be done who determined neither to eat or drinke for three dayes together Which while they put in practise every one having a severall prayer which they joined in one and repeated it without intermission night and day untill their allotted time was ended In the morning of the third day one of them said he had dreamed that he heard one read a verse out of the Bible in which Kt was twice and Lo three times reiterated but what it meant or where it was he was altogether ignorant Then answered one of the other two and said this verse will be a helpe and comfort unto thee for hereby is signified that God will send thee help from heaven and it is written in the forty third chapter of Isaiah and the second verse the words wherof are these Kâ— when thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the rivers they shall Lo not overflow thee Ki when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt Lo not bee burnt Lo neither shall the flame kindle upon thee Upon the third day a huge fire was provided earely in the morning an immense number of people flocking to the execution who were very desirous to be present at the burning The congregation being compleate these three men did commend their bodies to the mercy of the fire singing and praying untill all the wood being consumed they came out of the fire without the least touch thereof This miracle the foresaid men divulged in what place soever they came whereupon it was ordained and commanded that this prayer should bee said every Munday and Thursday morning in every Synagogue and place of publike prayer which the Jewes observe and keepe unto this very day hoping that by the power of this prayer they shall be delivered from their long continued captivity and tedious exile But alas their hopes will be frustrate so long as they despise and set at nought the Saviour of their soules Christ Jesus and persevere in their horrible superstition This Fable is here related more at large then it is by Antonius Margarita out of the booke Colbo The prayer beginning Vehu racham so much esteemed of them is written in the forme following He is mercifull forgiving iniquity and not destroying the sinner He oftentimes turns his anger from us and suffers not his fury to arise O God I beseech thee take not thy mercy from me let thy meeknesse and truth alwaies preserve me Help us O God our God and gather us from among the Gentiles c. In briefe the sum of this prayer is this They beg of God that hee would vouchsafe to pardon their sinnes take pity upon the desolations of their City and Temple to gather them from the foure corners of the earth and never suffer his inheritance to bee ashamed In this prayer they are also mindefull of us Christians against whom they thus petition O God how long shall thy strength remaine in captivity and thy beauty in thy enemies hand O Lord God stirre up thy strength and revenge us upon all our enemies so shall their might be turned into weaknesse and they shall be ashamed and perish These last words are in many Copies left out by reason of an injunction laide upon the Printers by the Christian Magistrate an empty space being left that they may either write them or eâ—se inquire what is wanting These things thus finished they fall the second time upon their faces and saying many other prayers as was declared in the former Chapter they beseech God that hee would remove his anger farre from them and not deliver them into the hands of their enemies but being mindefull of the Covenant that hee made with their fathers would make their seed like unto the starres of Heaven for multitude After that they have for such a space either kneeling or standing poured out their souls in prayer unto God then followes the narration of that pompe and state which they exhibite to the booke of the Law they reade weekly Lectures out of it according as they were enjoyned by Ezra the scribe The manner followeth In every Synagogue they have the booke of the Law to wit the Pentateuch written in long schroles of parchment sewed together at the ends thereof are fastned certaine pieces of wood for the safer keeping and more easie carriage of the booke of the Law This book is kept in a certaine Arke or Chest standing continually against some wall of the Synagogue Before the Ark is a little doore and before it a hanging made by the Art of the embroiderer This is of divers sorts and the more solemnn the festivall is the richer are the hangings Those are had in greatest esteeme with them whose outside is adorned and wrought with the shapes of divers birds for such were alwaies an ornament upon the old Arke of the Covenant The booke is alwaies wrapt up in a linnen cloth in which are characterised some Hebrew words and divers names That which is the most outward of all is oftentimes a linnen cloth much like unto a little coat or cloake made of silke but sometimes of puregold upon which they hang some silver plates fastned to a golden chaine in which is written Kether thorah that is to say the crowne of the Law or Kodesch adonai
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
That by this mean Covenant-breakers may as well as the keepers the bad and the villanous as well as the good and just may sing praise and pray unto God Whence every Christian may see how little they esteem of an oath especially made unto one of us Then they hold on to sing and pray untill the night be far spent Some all the night over others returning to their houses betake them to their rest other sleep in some corner of the Synagogue or other or in the Synagogue of the women in some place farthest remote from the Arke They among the Jews who have an earnest desire truly to repent them of their sins and to lead a holy life stand all the time that the feast endures singing and praying without intermission as I have seen some who have stood immoveable in the same place for twenty seven hours together When the morning begins to approach they all repair to the Synagogue before the dawning of the day making there their agode untill night boasting very much of the book of the Law reading many Sections therein Falling often to the earth with their face uncovered and then chiefly when they make confession of their sins smiting their brests at every word to shew the devout attention of their mindes and the lifting up of their hearts unto their God and maker When it begins again to be night then the Priest wrapping a great hair-cloth ahout his neck and drawing it over his head so far untill it come to the threshold of his eyes he blesseth the people according to the ordinary forme prescribed by Moses Numbers the 6. the 24 25 26 and 27. verses When he pronounceth the blessing he stretcheth out his hands towards the people they covering their faces with their own for it is lawful for no man to look upon the hands of the Priests because the spirit of the Lord rests upon them while he blesseth the Congregation As it is written He standeth behinde our wall looking forth at the windows shewing himself through the grates that is to say God stands at the Priests back and looks through the windows and grates that is to say through his hands being being stretched out and his fingers being spread abroad severed one from another Then he siâ—gs another prayer repeating it seven times sometimes with a submisse and low sometimes with a loâ—d voice and the reason of this reiteration is because God at this time departs from them and goes into heaven not coming again untill the priest be the seventh time in repeating of this prayer The seventh time therefore they sing it in a melodious tune with a sense bereaving harmony having very good skill and sweet voices as they can witness who have heard them Before they depart the Synagogue they blow upon the Rams horne before mentioned a sound both long and loud in remembrance of the year of Jubile which in ancient times was wont to begin as upon this day Others write that they do it in memory of the seven heavens which the Lord opened when he descended upon Mount Sinai and gave the law to the people of Israel and declare unto them that in heaven there was no other God besides him When they have put an end to this their festival and a period to these their trifles then as they blush not to affirm there comes a voice from heaven saying goe and eat thy bread with joy and gladness of heart for God accepts all thy good works at the best Instantly upon the hearing of the voice they return to their own houses some carrying the reliques of their wax lights along with them because they commonly use them in making the separation between the festival and other dayes of the week But others on the contrary leave them in the Synagogue in the Candlesticks for a year together lighting them at some certain times They who are very holy and religious among them have a wax light burning in the Synagogue night and day never going out throughought the whole year this they call Ner Tamid an everlasting light When they are returning home one sayes unto another God the Creator seal unto a happy year for the three books of which we formerly made mention are now sealed up and Gods sentence pronounced upon every one is ratified and stands immutable Being come home they finde their guts to make a grievous complaint and themselves exceeding hungry having eaten nothing for twenty eight hours together they make haste therefore to satisfie their greedy appetite and to replenish their belly with store of victuals The next morning after they rise betimes out of their beds and return to the Synagogue lest Satan should take an occasion to complain of them saying unto God yesterday they rose early because it was the day of reconciliation but this day their devotion grows cold loving their pillow better then the Synagogue What should I say more this day they are so holy and religious so honest and devout that even the Devil is forced whether he will or not to commend their carriage concerning which we have his following conference in Pirk Rabbi Eleazar Upon that day in which God gave the Law to the Children of Israel the evil spirit Samael came unto him and said O Lord of the whole world thou hast given unto me power and dominion over all the people of the earth only the children of Israel excepted To whom the Lord made answer On the day of reconciliation and thence-forward thou shalt have power over them if thou canst finde any sin fault or offence in them of which if they be found in no manner guilty then shalt thou not approach so much as to touch them Which when Samael understood he said unto God thou hast a people upon earth like unto the Angels in heaven For as the Angels in heaven standing immoveable neither eat nor drink and being free from all sin live in peace among themselves even so do thy people Israel upon the day of Reconciliation which God hearing out of the mouth of the Devil presently without delay forgives them all their sins and opens his ear unto their prayers It is read in another place that they give gifts unto Satan that they may blinde and shut up his eyes lest he should see their doings and accuse them unto the Lord of hosts as it is written A gift blindeth the eyes of the wise and perverteth the words of the righteous I conclude with the words of God to Esay Cry aloud and spare not lift up thy voice like a trumpet and shew my people their transgressions and to the house of Jacob their sins Yet they seek me daily and will know my wayes even as a nation that did righteously and had not forsaken the statutes of their God They will ask of me the ordinances of justice they will draw neer unto God saying Wherefore have we fasted and thou seest it not We have punished our selves and thou regardest
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