THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE OR AN HISTORICALL NARRATION OF THE STATE OF THE JEWES At this day dispersed over the face of the whole Earth In which their Religion Education Manners Sects Death and Buriall are fully delivered and that out of their own Writers Translated out of the Learned BVXTORFIVS Professor of the Hebrew in Basil and diligently compared with the Talmud and other Writers out of which it had its Originall Also furnished with divers Marginal Notes very profitable and necessary By A B Mr. A. of Q. Col in Oxford LONDON Printed by T. Roycroft for H. R. and Thomas Young at the three Pidgeons in Pauls Church-Yard 1657. THE AUTHORS PREFACE To the Christian Reader Christian Reader WHen once we exactly ponder in the Scales of our understanding that thrice pressing load of Jewish ingratitude disobedience and obstinacy for which they were dayly branded by Moses and the rest of the Prophets with a foul guilt to which was annexed a vehement reprehension When we seriously consider those horrid threats and execrations wherewith God in his justice would depress them unless they framed their lives according to the strict rule of his Commandements this ought to be a warning-piece unto us to entertain such blessings with a more gratefull acceptance and hitherto to bend all our studies that by our unthankfulness we should not make our selves unworthy of them and so be dis-inherited of such a possession Moses in this manner prophecies of the Jews ingratitude Jesurun maxed fat and kicked thou art waxen fat thou art grown thick thou art covered with fatness then he forsook God which made him and lightly esteemed the worke of his salvation This issued from a prophetical spirit declaring that as already present which after the revolution of many a year was to be fulfilled and accomplished This ingratitude was in its swadling clouts when Joshua led Israel into the land of promise which is ratified by the unanimous suffrage of the whole Colledge of Prophets and almost in the very same terms by Hosea in chap. 13. Jeremy arraigns them as guilty of the same crime the bill of inditement runs thus They are turned back to the iniquities of their fore-fathers which refused to hear mywords and they went after other gods to serve them the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the Covenant which I made with their Fathers And God himselfe by the mouth of his Prophet thus proclaims their obstinacy Since the day that your Fathers came out of the Land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the Prophets dayly rising up early and sending them yet they hearkened not unto me nor inclined their eare but heardened their neck they did worse then their Fathers The obstinacy of this People at last grew to so high a pitch that they stopt their ears at the admonition of the Prophets who cried aloud unto them to amend their waies and curbed their offences with tart reprehensions killing stoning rewarding every one with some bitter death which act of theirs is faithfully registred by the holy Spirit Ezra â— They tooke strong Cities and a fat Land and possessed houses full of all goods wels digged Vineyards and Oliveyards and fruit trees in abundance so they did eat and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in thygreat goodness nevertheless they mere disobedient and rebelled against thee and cast thy Law behind their backs and slew thy Prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee and wrought great provocations And Jeremy also may be cited for a witness for his words are these Wherefore will ye plead with me ye all have transgressed against me saith the Lord. In vain have I smitten your children they have received no corrections your own sword hath devoured your Prophets like a destroying Lion When the Lord sees this his people thus altogether incapable of corection he afflicts them with all the punishments which Moses by the spirit of God had denounced against them neither their bodies nor goods can now escape the lash of his fury he sends among them the sword famine and pestilence tempests diseases imbred dissention and discord and to make their misery compleat casts them out of that Land flowing with milk and hony and causes them to trace the captives steps into another which they knew not The ten tribes together with their King Hoshea is carried by Salmanasser into Assyria Kin. and when the two remaining Tribes Juda and Benjamin were not hurried to repentance by the present view of their brethrens afflictions God sends Nebuchadnezzer King of Babel against them who leads them captive into the Land of Chaldea makes Jerusalem a desolate heap and turns their Temple their chief beauty into ashes Nevertheless the space of 70 years fully expired these 2 tribes were again brought out of the house of bondage because it was the Almighties pleasure to preserve the tribe of Judah even unto that time when according to his promise out of that tribe and in the promised land the Messias should be incarnate But for all this these 2 tribes did not much outstrip the other 10 in the practise of holiness for they always following their own devices seriously traced the forbidden by-paths of their forfathers for which the later Prophets Haggai Zachary and Malachi were earnest declamitants against them the last of which being a Priest proclaiming them guilty of a wicked life threatens them with a final rejection out in obscurity that so we might again be cast headlong into that darknesse in which we sate before it was the Lords pleasure by his mercy to impart unto us the saving knowledge of his heavenly word My second Motive was this that the hardened in heart and blindfolded Jews at last descending into the Chambers of their strict cogitations might have some glimpse of the greatness of their infidelity and so convicted before the face of the whole world of that more than brutish folly in the expounding of the holy Scriptures and of their old wives tales whereby God for the most part is blasphemed and his saving word against all humane reason after an execrable manner perverted they might begin to be ashamed who with such a whorish forehead and want of wit did not fear to speak or write in this manner of God Almighty and his holy word and that at length they might think that they had stumbled at that stone of stumbling and rock of offence laid in Sion and thereupon that they shall fall prostrate upon the ground be broken to Gods Law ensnared and captivated and finally that God poured upon them the spirit of deep sleep and so closed their eyes that every prophesie and the whole Scripture was to them as the words of a book that is sealed that the wisdome of their wise men is now altogether perished and the understanding of their prudent men hid as the Prophet Isaiah foretold them The
booke directing aright our life and conversation to the end that thence he may learn the feare of God and civility of behaviour and therefore he reads in the same an houre at least before he goes out of doors to performe any other businesse This the Cachamim and wise men among the Jewes conclude from the words of Solomon in his Proverbs saying The feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisdome Hence teaching us that in all our actions we undertake we ought to feare God and learn his word After the same manner might the Rabbines have expounded those words Vehaiah Gnekebh Tismegnun That the Jewes being interpreters they must be rendred thus There shall be a heale or foot you shall beare it and that which followes is this Before you set your heele or foot out of doors you shall learn the law by reading something therein and hearing what God wils and commands to be done It is a good work indeed to learn the law and on the contrary a great sinne for any to be negligent in the reading of the same In the time of the first Temple the peopl of Jerusalem committed many hainous offences as Incest and Idolatry yet the Lord did only in a manner know these and took notice of them untill they despised the law and would take no more paines to learn it Then the Lord banished them out of his sight destroied a great number of them and utterly laid waste their holy Temple Hereupon the Lord cried out by Jeremie the Prophet Who is wise to understand this and to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken he shall declare it Why doth the Land perish and is burnt up like a wildernesse and none passeth thorow And the Lord saith because they have for saken the law which I set before them and have not obeied my word neither walked there after Againe it is written in the first booke of Moses Then shall all nations say wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land how fierce is his great wrath And they shall answer because they have for saken the Covenant of the Lord God of their fathers which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt Wherefore a religious Jew must not presently after his comming from morning praier fall to his daily labour and servile emploiments but either retire himselfe to his owne house or in Beth Hammedrasch or the Schoole dedicated to study and there to read and learne somewhat out of the Law which may presse him forward to the feare of God and an honest life and godly conversation with men that by this meanes that may come to passe which the Prophet David makes mention of saying They will goe from strength to strength and unto the God of Gods appeareth every one of them in Sion Which is also very well expounded according to the sagacity of the Jewes in a little book written concerning the feare of God in these words They did goe from one study to another that they might by learning understand the Law When they are returned unto their owne house then laying aside their phylacteries and precatory fardles they put them into a chest First unloosing them of the head then those of the hand to the end they may at any time first take and bind on these of the hand Some also are accustomed to put off their garment of remembrance or their fringed Coat to which the Ribbands are annexed yet in my judgement it were more fitting they should weare it continually that they might not forget the commandements of the Lord but alwaies fulfill his Law They who are godly carry it all the day long under a corselet or cloake but so that the ribbonds may be seen of them that they may bee terrified from committing sin I once saw a crabbed Rabbine of a waiward holinesse who was Master of the Synagogue whose ribbands hanging at his fringes hung so low downe that they did even touch his feet For as some desiring not to be forgetfull of any thing committed to his memory knits a knot in his girdle to the end that he looking thereupon may call to his remembrance what he ought to put in execution So these five knotted fringes in use with the Jewes are as so many memorandums to warne them to avoid the by-paths of sin and iniquity And hence it comes to passe that all the Jewes are of such a sanctified conversation that they fulfill keep and observe every one of Gods commandements They also accounted it very good for the wholsome to eate something before a man in the morning undertake any businesse For there are sixty three diseases of the Gall which may all be cured by the eating of crust and a mornings draught of the blood of the grape Who wants wine he may drink Ale or a cup of cold water as Raschi is of an opinion and so shall he be fitted to undergo any labour They which are honest wives indeed will in the meane time make ready for dinner some boiled meate that their husbands bellies at their return home finding such cleanly provision may not by a long tarrying be occasioned to a thought that their throats are cut In that tract of the Talmud about the Sabbath it is ordained that the Jewes should goe to dinner some five houres after day-break which is about eleven a clock if any over-stay any longer hee may fall into some disease by the vehemence where of he may bee brought upon his knees for at that time the body expects and requires its naturall nourishment which if it have not then it seeds upon its owne members As a Bore in the time of winter is wont to doe for then if it be not possible for him to come by any sustenance hee by sucking his owne feete relieves himselfe The wives also must have an especiall care that they serve in the meate thus cleanly drest in a cleanly manner as it is written You shall not make your soules abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth neither shall you make your selves unclean with them that you should be defiled thereby for I am the Lord your God you shall therefore sanctifie your selves and you shall be holy for I am holy neither shall you defile your selves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth This place the profound Rabbines construe in this manner unto us That they being commanded by God ought to eate meates artificially cooked as men not beasts are accustomed to doe and that if any one do not eate such viandes he polluting himselfe without fall becomes unsanctified in the eies of the Lord. The table is to be spread with clean linnen bread in whole loaves pure well baked and not burn'd is to be set thereupon then Grate must be said and â—a blessing conserred upon the meat to be received If the good wives of the house have any pullen or other cattell which are to be fed
ever compared unto him The eighth Article is concerning the Law that it was so delivered to Moses by Gods owne mouth as it is now extant amongst them The manner how it was given whether by writing or dictated of God to Moses by word of mouth it is not needful to inquire If it proceeded from the mouth of God then is it necessary that every parcel thereof should be truth and in this respect no difference to be made amongst the particular clauses of holy Writ as these I am the Lord thy God c. and Thumia was the Concubine of Eliphaz who came of Esau as also The Sons of Ham were Cush and Mizraim phut and Canaan and this Heare O Israel the Lord thy God is one God and others of the same sort seeing they are all Gods true and holy Word After the like manner the Exposition of the divine Law Mippi haggeburah came from Gods owne mouth as also all the things observable in the celebration of their bulabh or feast of Tabernacles as the blowing of Trumpets Zizim Tephillim concerning which things notwithstanding there is not one expresse word found in the Law of Moses yet are they kept no otherwise then God hath with open mouth delivered them to Moses and Moses unto us and Moses God himselfe bearing him witnesse Numb 12. 7. was faithfull in all his house And they are his own words Numb 16. 28. Hereby you shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these Works for I have not done them of mine own mind The ninth Article concerning the change of the Law that the Law of Moses shall never be abrogated or any other succeed in the place thereof and that nothing need to be added unto it or taken away from it that not one jot or title shall be annexed or perish from the holy Scripture neither that any Exposition shall make it subject to augmentation or diminution whereupon it shal come to passe that Gods holy Temple and the City Jerusalem shall again be re-edified the sacrifices and Mosaical ceremonies restored and the Jewes themselves at length to be brought back again into their own Land that they may for ever observe and keep the Law of Moses The tenth Article needs no other explication then the Scripture comments The eleventh Article is concerning the reward due to good and evil works the reward of good deeds is the world to come and life eternal the punishment of evil the souls eternal destruction and damnation whereupon it is written Exod. 32. 32 33. Yet now if thou wilt for give their sin and if not blot me I pray thee out of the booke which thou hast written And the Lord said unto Moses he who hath sinned against me him will I blot out of my booke The twelfth Article is concerning the comming of the Messias whose comming is to be expected as certaine though he long delay it yea none ought or dare to prescribe unto him certain time any determinate time for his advent neither wil they suffer the holy Scriptures to be searched into that this sulness of time in which he should come may be made manifest Hereupon their Chachamim and Rabbins deeply grounded in the Jewes Religion were wont to say tippach ruchan schel mechaschebbe Kitzim I wish they may breath out their own souls who go about to set down the time of his approach They teach that our trust and confidence is to be settled on the Messias that he is to be loved praised and petitioned that he will come quickly even as all the Prophets from Moses to Malachi were wont to do when on the contrary whosoever doubts of his comming gives the whole Law the lie yea but the whole Law doth make the miserable poor and blinde Jew a Liar who doubting that he is not come believes he shall come when he is already come in which a plain and clear promise concerning this matter is enrolled especially in parascha The 13. Article is concerning the Resurrection of the dead of which there is nothing now to be spoken whosoever therefore faithfully believes these 13. Articles is accounted one of the number of the Israelites yea such an one who is to be loved whom every one ought to commiserate and unto whom he ought to perform whâ—â—soever God the Creator hath commanded to be done to a neighbour or brother out of Sincere love unfeigned affection and brotherly kindness yea they esteem him a man of that constitution that though he commit all the offences which in the world become the fewell to set a fire the whole course of Nature with burning lusts and consume it with inbred malice and therefore suffer punishment in this World according to the nature and measure of his sin yet shall he inherit eternal life being placed in the Kalender of the sinners of Israel Whosoever destroyes the foundation on which these Articles are built or commits a trespass against any one of them by his infidelity they affirm that he hath neither part nor portion in Israel that he hath denied his God is to be abhorred like a swinish Epicure because he hath rooted up that which was once implanted in him according to the most exquisite skill of the Artificer and therefore he deserves no other then to be rejected abandoned and perish utterly of such an one speaks the Prophet Psal 139. 21. Do I not hate them O Lord that hate thee and am I not grieved with those that rise up against thee Thus hitherto I have more at large expounded the genuine sense of the Jewish Creed out of Rabbi Moses the Son of Maimon more birefly written and nominated by the Jewish Synagogue Rambam with this intent that every one might more clearly perceive and know to what end this beliefe of the Jews was directed whose Articles if any with a more serious scrutiny into their own writings search and examine he may with great facility conclude that when Rambam had brought these Articles into order and with severe threanings of extirpation of the Jewish name and the losse of their souls enjoyning every one unto the confession of them to have had no other aimâ— then the overthrow of Christian Religion among the Jewes intending to put upon it the badge of falshood for making it hatefull unto them he might for ever terrifie them from the imbracing of it Hence the Articles concerning God the Creator that he is one alone incorporeal and eternal hitherto muster up their forces that they condemning the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and Christs person might make it liable to contempt as though that we Christians by maintaining a Trinity did also infer a plurality of Gods or that Christ should not be God nor partake in his Fathers essence because it was his pleasure to assume our flesh in time not from eternity whereupon when hence it follows that he is no God it may serve for a necessary
consequence that he is not to be worshipped for this is due to God alone as the fifth Article affirmeth and God is only a Searcher of the hearts and so was not Christ as in the 11. Article In the same manner the 6 7 8 9. Articles are placed in a diametrical opposition to the Doctrine of Christ and the whole Gospel intimating that Christ was no true Prophet nor Teacher sent from Heaven because his Doctrine was not delivered unto him out of Gods own mouth as it was to Moses and that therefore our Saviour spake many things against the Law in his sayings to the People yea was not afraid to alter many parcels thereof which ought to have remained unchangeable Furthermore if it be true that man for the integrity of his life and tracing the way of Gods Commandements as also for his owne good deeds can merit life eternal and on the contrary for his evil works and ungodliness becOms the Heir of everlasting torments in what respect I pray thee doth the passion and death of Christ any whit availe us The wheele of time hath not travised many minutes since a certaine Jew did not blush to affirm to my face that he needed not any to satisfie for his sin that it is meet every Fox should give his own skin to the Currier to be pulled off and to suffer his own hairs to be plucked out at his pleasure The tenth Article therefore whereby we professe Christ to be our Redeemer is contrary to this assertion Besides this Rambam the rest of the Jewish Nation who had any knowledge of letters in all their Books and Writings have no other scope but to make the faith of a Christian the object of suspicion and contempt Amongst whom Rabbi Joseph Alba a Spaniard challengeth the first place who writ a little Book in the yeare of Christ 1425. entituled Sepher ikkarim in which he stoutly maintains the Jewish Creed for Orthodox and sends out at randome the fiery darts of a fiery disputation against that of the Christians His Arguments are grounded upon the main Principles of the Jewish belief First upon the unity of God Essence and hence he denies the Trinity as also the Godhead of Christ Secondly upon the Law of Moses which was delivered from heaven unto him by God himself with his own mouth whence he rejects the Doctrine of Christ and the New Testament consequently intimating that Christ was a false Prophet and not the Messias hence the main of the strife and Controversies between us and the lews lieth in these two points to wit that of the Trinity and this concerning Christs person Thirdly he establisheth his Positions upon the eternal reward of good works and the endlesse punishment of evil hence despising the death and passion of our Saviour which he underwent for the sins of mankind Of the same grain is that obscene and abominable Book entituled Nitzachon written by Rabbi Sipman whose lines are such that without all doubt he committed this Book to writing in the year of Christ 1459. as it was delivered unto him from the Devils own mouth This piece he composed to falsifie the four Evangelists out of which Sebastian Munster my Predecessour and Professour of the holy tongue in this University transcribed many parcels and confuted them in his Commentary upon Saint Matthews Gospel When therefore the hard hearted and hoodwinckt Jews did with might and main indeavour to denie the faith of Christians and to brand it with falshood they shipwrackt upon the Rocks of Superstition and that in such a measure that they utterly did disanull their faith in God neither have they any knowledge to believe aright although they proudly boast of a firm and perfect faith towards God the Creatour of heaven and earth who is one in Essence from Eternity and without end yet such a faith can never be gâ—aced with the Title of the true belief when as they know not God in whom so audaciously they pretend a confidence after that manner as he hath manifested himself in his word Now the Scriptures of Moses and the Prophets declare unto us the same God that the New Testament propounds though more darkly shewing that there is a Trinity in uniTy And an unity in Trinity to wit God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost yet the Jews hot without great scandal denying this Attribute to the Creatâ—ur of heaven and earth it necessarily follows that they place no belief in the true God but rather by a stupid ignorance of him and his Essence become the very emblemes of Idolatry In that they affirm that whatsoever Moses or any other of the Prophets commit to writing was altogether orthodox and that their Text is neither to be augmented or diminished that Moses was a great and famous Prophet is an established truth yet we doubt not but their understanding was subject to a monstrous depravation in this their assertion For first of all they do not onely not believe what is written in Moses and the Prophets to be true but also do prefer the Expositions of their wise men and Rabbines upon the Law and other parcels of holy Writ before Moses and the Prophets yea they esteem more of the word of a Rabbine than of Moses furthermore they account the Traditions Statues and Ordinances not as additions to the Law but for the very Law it self which Moses received from the mouth of God and taught unto others yet did not put it in writing lest the Gentiles learning it also might put it in execution for without this Declaration Moses his Law can neither be understood nor performed as we shall more at large hereafter manifest That they perswade themselves that the Law was given with this condition that nothing of it should at any time be changed they grossely mistake the Ceremoniall Law signified Christ to come which whenby his incarnation he had fulfilled shortly after the holy Temple must kisse the ground and embrace the dust the City Jerusalem and the holy things are utterly destroyed the Jews banished their own Land and dispersed among the Gentiles that at last they might understand the time already come wherein there should be but one Shepherd and one Sheepfold and that seeing the Gentiles were entered into Communion with them in belief in God the Omnipotent Creatour of heaven and earth that they were also made partakers of the treasures of the Divine word and first delivered to the Jews Likewise their error is inexcusable in making Moses the greatest Prophet thence striving to annihilate the worth of our Saviour as one who is not worthy to loose the latchet of his Shooe but blasphemously terming him a lying Doctor Experience doth convince that in this thing many of the Jewes have the lie cast in their teeth by their own convicting conscience They believe aright that in Moses and other Prophets the Messias was promised but herein their understanding is miserably perverted that they yielding to
credit that he is come so many years agoe are altogether ignorant for what end and purpose and in what degree his â—comming should be beneficial unto them for all that they expect is only this that he like another Moses and Aaron should deliver them from a terrestrial and corporal bondage and again bring them into their own land and to this end only that they might no longer drink the Wine of bitternesse among the Gentiles but be fed with milk and honey in the Land of Canaan They never dream of a deliverance from the spiritual captivity of sin for they perswade themselves that by pennance done in their own flesh they can satisfie for their own sin and by keeping of Gods Comâ—andements and their own good works merit eternal life In the 11. Article of their Belief they believe that whosoever doth many good works shall obtain a great reward in the world to come It is read in their Talmud All Israel shall have part in the world to come as it is written All thy People shall be righteous they shall receive the earth for an inheritance for ever the branch of my planting the work of my hands that I may be glorified Yet neverthelesse they shall not all share a like He that hath done many good deeds shall have a greater portion The wicked which never repented them of their sins shal be tormented in Hell or purgatory for the space of twelve months and after that shall have a portion in life everlasting but not so excellent as that of the just They who utterly deny God and profane his holy Name of which number are all those that turn to Christianity their foreskin shall grow again which done they shall the second time be circumcised as though they never had beene Jewes and shall remaine in Hell for ever The Son superviving his deceased Father is bound for a whole year to say a little Prayer called kaddisch for by the repetition of this Prayer he shall deliver his dead Father out of Purgatory such an one gives up the Ghost with great joy and incouragement knowing that he shall be delivered out of Hell by the Prayers of his Son left behind him After the same manner a honest woman may redeem her Husband But sometimes it so falleth out that the Husband â—and Wife are not equal in honesty and therefore it should seem that in the world to come the one should attain to a greater degree of happiness then the other here the Lord out of his mercy gives them both entrance together Briefly the whole nation of the Jews shal be partakers of life eternal and shal all ascend into Heaven but one shal be more glorious then another Even as a King or Duke coming into some great City he all his followers have entertainmet but in a different fashion so shall it be with the Jews in the world to come In the Article of the Resurrection of the Dead they themselves are dead for first they say it shall come to passe that only the Israelites shal be raised to life but the Christian and all other prople shall perpetually sleep in the dust Hence Rabbi ` Bechai in his Book intituâ—ed Kadhakkemach saith The Jewes have a four-fold honour and priviledge above other Nations which are these the Land of Canaan the Law the Prophets and the resurrection from the dead All these he repeats and proves in particular in hisâ— Exposition of the 18. and 33. chapters of the fiâ—t Book of Moses For the confirmation of the last priviledge he brin'gs amongst other the testimony of Isay prophecying of the Christians and other people They are dead they shall not live They are dead they shall not rise And of the Israelites Thy dead men shall live with my dead body they shall arise awake and sing you that dwell in the dust because your dew is as the dew of herbs and the Earth shal castâ— out her dead The same Rabbine out of the Talmud delivers thus much that at the great day of judgement three kinds of dead men are to arise the first of the most righteous Israelites the second of the most unrighteous and ungodly the third of a middle sort who did as much good as evil The good shall go into life everlasting the wicked into Hell and fire eternal as it is written Many of them that lie and sleep in the Dust shall arise same to everlasting life some to shame and everlasting contempt From hence sAith the Rabbine we may infer that even the wicked ones in Israel shall be co-partners in the resurrection yet shall this redound to their disadvantage seeing both body and soule shall together in Hell suffer never ceasing torments They of the middle sort shall be tortured for theirs in s in purgatory only the space of twelve months which time expired their bodies shall be consumed and a blustering wind shall scatter their ashes under the feet of the just The Talmudist proves this out of the 13. Chapter of Zachary the 8. and 9. verses for there is written It shall come to passethat in all the land saith the Lord two parts therein shal be cut off and die but the third part shall be left therein And I will bring the third part through the fire and refine them as silver is refined and will try them as gold it tried and they shall call upon my Name and I will hear them I will say it is my people and they shall say the Lord is my God And to the same purpose it is spoken 1. Sam. 2. 6. The Lord killeth and maketh alive he bringeth downe to the grave and bringeth up R. David Kimchi upon the first Psalm saith that the wicked shall not rise again but their souls shall perish together with their bodies in the day of death and in the same sence that a Resurrection only belongs to the just and godly in his Commentary upon the 26 chapter of the Prophecy of Esay Rabbi Saadiah upon the former words of the Prophet Daniel saith that the term many designs a certain number and there fore to be restringed to the godly in Israel who alone have a portion in life eternal Them that do not watch he ranks in their number who have forsaken the Lord and tâ—rned Apostates who for this very thing must be thrust into the lowest Chambers of the infernal pit there for ever to be the Emblems of ignominy To him assent Rabbi Higgaon and Aben Ezra in his Book Perusch or Exposition upon the fore-cited place of Daniel commenting that as many are to watch so many shall not watch the watchâ—men shall have life eternal they that do not watch never dying reproach The sense of the words in my judgement saith Aben Ezra is this that so many upright Jewes that pay their debts to nature in the Land of their captivity shall rise again and live when the Messias or Deliverer shall come for of
them speaks the Scriptue As the dayes of a Tree so shall be the dayes of my people that is as the Tree of life as the Chaldee renders it or as a Tree which indures for some hundreds of yeares doth not perish so my people shall remain for they who shall have a part in the resurrection at the comming of the Messias shall be so long lived as the Patriarchs from Adam to Noah So much Aben Ezra upon the place At that time they shall cherish and make themselves merry feasting their carkasses with that great fish Leviathan that huge bird Ziz and that monstrous Oxe Behemoth of which more particularly hereafter After this their jollity death the second time arrests them furnishing them with beds to sleep in till the last resurrection when they shall have an entrance into life eternal where they shall neither hunger nor thirst but be ever satiated with the beatifical vision of Gods glory and brightnesse In the first Book of Moses the 47. Chap. it is recorded of Jacob that when the time of his departure out of this Vale of tears approached he called his Sonne Joseph and entreated him not to bury him in Egypt but with his Fathers in the Land of Canaan Rabbi Salomon Jarchi upon these words saith that Jacob for three reasons would not be buried in the Land of Egypt The first was because he foresaw by the Spirit of Prophesie that in time to come store of lice should molest the Land of Egypt The second because the Israelites who died without the bounds of Canan could not rise again without a great deal of trouble being to be hurried into the â—andâ— of Promise by the hidden and deep vauâ—ts of the earth The third lest the Egyptians very prone unto Idolatry might make him the Idol which they would adore For the better understanding of this I mean here to insert what ever is written concerning it in the book called Tanchum which is an Exposition of the Law of Moles Rabbi Chelbo makes it a main question why the Patriarchs had so great a desire to be buried in the Land of Canan he gives himself a solution saying that they who shall dye in the â—andâ— of Promise shall riâ—s e first at the coming of the Messias Rabbi Hananiah confirms it and saith that whosoever dying is intombed in a strange Land shall dye a twofold death which is manifest out of the 26. chapter of Jeremy and the 6. verse where it is registred Thou Pashur and all thy family shall go into captivity thou shalt go to Babel there shalt thou dye and there be buried Hereupon Rabbi Simeon objects that that granted it must necessarily follow that all the Tzaddikim or just men should perish who were not interred in the Land of Canaan The answer is that God shall make certain caves and profound vaults in the earth by which they shall Be brought into the land of promise at their arâ—â—vall there God shall breath into them the breath of life and give them a share in the Resurrection as it is written I Will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves and bring you into the Land of Israel Rabbi Simeon Ben Levi saith that the Scripture speaketh expresly that God shall restore the Jews to Life upon the very instant of their return into their own Land the place he quoteth is Isa 12. v. 5. Thus saith the Lord God he that created the heavens and stretched them out he that spread forth the earth and that which cometh out of it he that giveth breath unto the people upon it and spirit to them that walk therein This is to be understood of them that shall be carried to Sion through the caves of the earth That also which is read in the Chaldee Targum upon the Canticles ought to be referred to this voâ—ntation the words are these Salomon the Prophet saith that when the dead shall arise the Mount Olivet shall cleave in the middle and all the Israelites who formerly departed this life shall issue out of it the just also who died in banishment prison or a strange Land being conveyed hither by hidden passages in the earth shall also apPear From hence we may easily conclude how beliooveful the Jews think it to return into their own Land and there be buried and so escape the turmoyle and trouble of so long a journey under so many deep rivers and rugged mountains and for this very end as I have heard out of the Jews own mouth many of their rich ones return into the Land of Canaan at this day This is that perfect firm and well grounded faith of the Jews in which they obstinately persevering make it the rock of their salvation though with great anxiety and despair Here we may see what they give to Moses and the rest of the Prophets and also what use these miserable men make of the holy Scriptures Such as their faith is such are also their works which they would seem to shape according to the strict rule of Gods commandements There profound Rabbins perswade this simple people the Jews that they of the Circumcision are Gods own chosen people who may easily fulfill not onely the morall Law comprehended in the Decalogue but the whole Law of Moses They divide the Law of Moses into six hundred and thirteen Precepts and again subdivide these into commanding and prohibiting Precepts the former according to their computation are two hundred to eight which number is according to the Rabbins anatomy equal to that of the members in mans body the prohibiting Precepts are three hundred sixty five just so many as there are dayes in the year or as it is registred in a book entituled Brand spiegel and printed at Cracovia in the Germane tongue and Hebrew character some fifteen years ago as there are veinâ— in mans body hence it shall come to passe that if a man in one of his members every day perform one of the Mandatory Precepts and omit that which the prohibiting Precept enjoyns him to avoid he shall with great facility every year and so to his dying day fulfill not onely the Decalogue but the whole Law of Moses this is that right ordering and keeping of their Laws here I may counsel Isaiah to make his complaint That the earth is defiled under the inhabitants thereof because they have transgressed the Laws changed the Ordinance broken the everlasting covenant for Saint Stephen should be stoned the second time if he were now alive and should reprove the Jews for this their adulterate worship saying You stiffenecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears you do alwayes resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did so do ye who have recived the Law by the disposition of Angels and have not kept it c. The Rabbins hold on and say that men are onely bound to keep those six hundred and thirteen Precepts but the women are freed from the observation
may see and witnesse that she washeth her self according as she ought It is dangerous in their account to send for a Christian woman for in such an one they dare not put confidence Though it be winter time yet ought these washings to be performed in cold water yea though it be hard frost yet if in any place they can claim custome it may be lawfull for them to intermingle cold water and hot or if there be any hot baths as there is in many Countries into these the women may lawfully enter and wash themselves Who desires to know any more concerning this matter let him peruse a certain little book written in the Germane tongue and Hebrew Character called Franwen Buchlein or the book of women which because it contains a brief description of their conditions his palate may there find wished content and a plenary satisfaction In the next place we are opportunely invited to look into the manner how the first born is redeemed out of the hand of the Priest That son which the mother in time past brought forth according to Moses Law was holy unto the Lord and ought to be redeemed from the hand of the Priest as it is written Whatsoever openeth the Matrix is mine all the first born of thy sons thou shalt redeem and in imitation of their ancestors the Jews do redeem their first born the manner of the redemption followeth The one and thirtieth day following the Nativity of the child his father sends for the Cohen or Priest as also many other good friends to accompany him before whom he sets the Infant upon a Table and layes down beside him a certain sum of mony or so much goods as can equalise it in value which is the quantity of two Florens of Gold then he saith unto the Priest my wife hath brought forth her first begotten son and the Law requires that I should present him unto thee then the Cohen or Priest answering saith Dost thou give this thy son and leave him unto me To whom the Father shall reply yes upon this the Priest asks his Mother whether she ever had a child before that time or if at any time she proved abortive if the mother say no then the Priest questions the Father which of the two be dearer unto him his first born or his mony then the Father answers that he esteems his first-born babe above all riches in the world then the Priest taking the money and laying it upon the Infants head saith this is thy first begotten son whom the Lord would have redeemed as it is written And those that are to be redeemed from a moneth old thou shalt redeem according to thy estimation for the money of five shekels after the shekel of the Sanctuary which is twenty gerahs Then turning himself unto the child he saith when thou wast in the womb of thy mother thou wast then in the power of thy heavenly Father and they earthly Parents but now thou art in my hand and power who am the Priest thy father and mother desire to redeem thee because thou art the first begotten and holy unto the Lord as it is written Sanctifie unto me all the first-born among the children of Israel that first openeth the womb as well of man as of beast for it is mine Now this mony shall serve in thy stead and be thy redemption seeing thou art the first-born and this shall be given unto the Priest If I have redeemed thee as I ought then shalt thou ' be redeemed if I have failed in the peâ—formance of my office notwithstanding thou being redeemed according to the Law and after the manner of the Jews shalt grow up in the fear of God to Matrimony and the practise of good works Amen If the father chance to die before the one and thirtieth day after the childs Nativity be fully come then the mother is not bound to redeem her child and therefore she puts a scroll or plaâ—e of gold about his neck in which it is written This is the first-born son but not redeemed the son himself being bound to redeem himself out of the hands of the Priest when he shall come to full age Before I conclude this Chapter I will relate a certain History which is recorded in the Gemurah or Talmud concerning a certain stranger or proselyte who by a miraculous kind of Circumcision obtained an inheritance in the other World and departed this a good Jew A certain King of Rome as we read in tract de idolatria c. 1. was sometimes an heavy friend unto the Jews and desiring utterly to put out their name from under heaven and to banish them his Kingdome he calls his counsell and thus bespeaks them suppose a man â—aith he hath an old ulcer in his body in which the â—lesh doth putriâ—ie whether will he chuse to cut away the rotten flesh to regain his health or suffer it to remain there still to his perpetuall grief and torment These thingâ— spoke the King against the jews who had for long time sojouâ—ned in his Kingdome and grievously molested his Subjects One of the Councel by name Ketijah hearing the Kings words and perceiving whether they tended made answer Adoni which is to say my Lord thou art not able to destroy or banish the Jews for of them it is written Ho ho come forth and flie from the Land of the North saith the Lord for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven saith the Lord that is the world may even as possibly subsist and be without winds as without the Jews wherefore thou canst not banish the Jews out of thy Realm and if thou couldest prevail so much as to bring it to passe the common voice of the whole world would proclaim thee being brought to extreme poverty for a tyrannicall King Upon these words the King answered thou hast said that which is right and now seeing it is enacted that whosoever overcomes the King in his answer shall be buried quick in a heap of sand that there he may be choakeda and perish thou who hast put me to a non plus which is a scandall to my person and set at naught and vilified my Kingdome shall taste of the appointed punishment When he was carried away to the place of execution there was a certain Matron seen in Rome of an excellent portraiture crying out Wo unto that ship which is about to strike sail the Custome unpayed by which words the Matron intimated thus much that Ketijah who was ready to suffer death in the Jews cause and so consequently to obtain eternall life in another world had not as yet payed his toll money that is was not made a Jew by Circumcision Upon the instant of this vociferation some say that he snatched a knife and cut off his own foreskin others that he burning with too ardent zeal catched hold of his foreskin bit it off with his teeth and then with
sloth and idlenesse they use not to practise the foresaid things before they arise from the table When the Jewes have eaten their fils then the good man of the house some one of the Rabbines or some guest or stranger if any such bee present saies grace after meat Their thanksgiving is very prolixe and tedious in which praising God they thank him that he gives meate and drinke to them and all other his creatures that hee sustaines them through his goodnesse that he brought their fathers out of the land of of Egypt and gave them the land of Canaan for and inheritanâ—e made a covenant with them and in giving them the law made a promise unto them that he would for ever keep and defend them They pray and beseech him that he would have mercy upon Sion build againe their holy Temple and restore the Kingdome of David in these their daies send them the Messias and Eliah the Prophet to deliver them out of the house of bondage to preserve them against poverty that they may not bee forced to beg or borrow of the Christians who in their repute are men meerely flesh and blood poore miserable mortals and cast-awaies who entertaine no commerce with their Maker who are subject to the curse and utterly rejected who shall dye and perish like unto beasts when on the contrary they are a holy nation the â—lock and inheritance of God himselfe They further pray that God would vouchsafe to fill their hands with all good things and noâ— suffer them to bee ashamed but to breake the yoake of the Christians from off their necks and to bring them backe into their own land to bestow a blessing upon the house where in they have feasted and to enrich the master and mistrisse thereof with their children and all their posterity c. To which things every one saying Amen with attentive mindes repeating the words of David O feare the Lord all yee his saints for they that feare him lacke nothing The lyons do lack and suffer hunger but they that secke the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good This they say with their mouthes so empty of meate that not one crum of bread or piece of flesh stickes between their teeth and those words bind them thereunto Let my mouth bee filled with thy praise and glory all the day long Prayers are alwaies to bee said in that place where dinner or supper is eaten Hence the Cabbalists write that whosoever praies not in that place where any banquet is celebrated shall never come unto the grave because they shall dye such a death which is never accompanied with any buriall as hanging drowning or such like There was once a time when a certaine godly and religious Jew being in the field refreshed and filled with wholsome meates forgot to give thankes When hee had been long absent from the foresaid place and at length remembring he had offended in not saying grace having another in his company he said unto him that hee must of necessity returne to that place where hee had formerly taken meate because hee had left a precious toole there Which when he had done and praied and given thanks God shewed this miracle He created a golden dove which the Jew had bestowed on him as a reward of his honesty and piety in observing the precepts of the Talmud with so great diligence This was a miracle indeed in that place but it had been none at all in Paphlagonia although the dove being throughly rosted had sâ—own into his mouth Without all doubt this miracle was done neare unto the Indian mines For who will be so stupid as not to believe that this dove flying from thence and being wearied in slight alighted here to rest her selfe The Chachamim and Doctors command that a man should not make many banquets in one week lest he should so carry himselfe that every day thereof might bee accounted for an holy day as some doe who mutually inviting one another say to day you shall feast with me so will I to morrow with you c. for the whole weeke Of such men the Cabbalists writing say that at such banquets an evill spirit called Samaâ—l feasts himselfe together with others of his society inciting the guests to many grand offences Rabbi Levi in the behalfe of Rabbi Abhen in the name of Rabbi Joshua saith that the bellies of all those that keep such revellings eating and drinking sporting and feasting every week do burst asunder the third after they are dead and laid in their graves and the dung of their intrals is poured upon their faces as it is written I will sprinkle the dung of your feasts upon your faces Which once come to passe the Devils come and jeare them saying now devour that which even now thou gormandisedst And here I will leave them and proceed to a further declaration of their carriage after they rise from the table CHAP. VIII Of their evening prayer and their manner of going to bed IN great Cities where the Jewes have Schools or Synagogues the beater of the Schoole who is the same with a Sexton in other places going about unto their houses about five a clock in the afternoon knocks at their doores with an hammer thereby giving them notice that they ought to make hast to evening prayer So soon as they come into the Synagogue they set them down and huddle up a certaine praier by reason of the first word therein called Aschre which in English signifies Blessednesse which is taken out of the eighty fourth Psalme and the first verse which begins with this fore-mentioned word The prayer runs thus Blessed are they that dwell in thine house for they will alwaies be praising thee Selah In these words boasting of their diligence in frequenting the house of the Lord Happy are the people that be in such a case yea blessed are the people that have the Lord for their God I will magnifie thee O Lord my King I wil praise thy name for ever and ever c. unto the end of the Psalme This prayer is in so great esteem among them that they write that whosoever saith it three times a day shall have his portion in eternall life Then the Chanter rising up sings halfe of that holy prayer which they call Kaddisch after that the whole Synagogue joines in the repetition of the eighteen laudatory petitions of which we made mention in their morning prayer Which done and finished the Chanter comming for his chaire or pulpit so called by the Christians fals downe upon his knees before the Arke and leanes his head upon his left hand which all the people doe likewise and bowing their head towards the left side and covering theirface with their whole heart for the heart lies upon the left side and so the head and heart are joined in such a position they in a most devout manner pronounce the words following O mercifull and
gracious GOD I have sinned in thy sight but thou art full of mercy Have mercy therefore upon mee and receive my prayer which proceedeth out of unfained lips Rebuke mee not O Lord in thy fury neither chasten mee in thy heavy displeasure They moreover repeate the sixt Psalme from the beginning to the end with their heads covered and bended towards the earth The Chanter fals downe upon his knees before the Arke in imitation of Joshua of whom it is written That hee rent his clothes and fell to the earth upon his face before the Arke of the Lord untill the eventide he and the elders of Israel and put dust upon their heads The reason why they cover their faces is this In ancient times when they had a large and spacious Temple they came thither to confesse their sins every one stood from another by the space of four els lest his neighbour should heare his confession In these daies therefore they cover their faces for the same end and purpose They leane their head upon their left hand moved hereunto by that which is written His left hand is under my head and his right hand doth embrace me And moreover because Isaac being about to bee sacrificed lay upon his left side But to returne to the point in hand They suddenly rise up againe and their Chanter saies Wee are ignorant O Lord what other thing to put in practise but only to lift up our eyes unto thee as though they would say Wee have worshipped thee O God sitting and standing being humble and lifted up kneeling and with anerected posture not knowing what more is reâ—â—iâ—ed of us yet wee will once againe lift up our eies unto thee Hitherto they only have sung their prayer called Kaddisch which finished their evening prayer is ended Now indeed it were very laudable if after this evening sacrifice of prayer and thanksgiving returning to their owne houses they did immediately fall to supper and that ended againe to assemble themselves into the Synagogue for the performance of their nocturnall devotions But this practise is disapproved by the Rabbines as a thing very inconvenient seeing many may be drunke and so forget their duty of prayer therefore they have decreed that presently after the evening prayer be ended that accustomed to be said in the beginning of the night should also be finished Yet not withstanding they make some small stay between Minhah and Maâ—rib that is to say between their evening and nightly prayers to the end the one may be differenced from the other They have one quaint custome concerning the reconcilement of them that are at strife one with another and that in time of prayers For if two be at ods and the one cannot bring the other with him into the Synagogue That a reconcilemet may be made he steps unto the book out of which the Chanter sings or saies their common prayers shuts it and giving it a clap with his hand saith I conclude and put a period to this exercise which is all one as if he should say I locke and seale up this order of praying interdicting the same untill an agreement be made between me and mine adversary And from that time forward untill his desire bee accomplished it is not lawfull for them to say any more prayers in the Synagogue Thence it often fals out that they retune home without any praying yet if the one party bee wayward and refractory there happens many times a surcease and intermission of this duty of prayer for some whole dayes together Among many others they have a prayer that God would vouchsafe to deliver them from the Christians and bring them back againe to their owne land This prayer begins Baruch Jehovah O blessed God our Lord help us gather together and deliver us from the Gentiles that we professing thy holy Name may make our boast of thy praise All the people which thou hast created shall come and worship thee fall down before thee and sing praises unto thy name Our eyes shall see it our heart shall rejoice our soul shall be joyfull in thy strength when it shall be said in Sion The Lord doth reign God is King he doth rule and shall beare rule for evermore for thine is thy Kingdome c. But alas poore silly Jew in vaine thou gapest after with a greedy expectation this thy rejoicing seeing he is come some sixteen hundred years agoe whom thou as yet waites for and expects to bring thee joy and consolation Furthermore they say one petition more formerly mentioned in their morning prayer in which they entreat God to revenge their cause against all the Christians in generall but in a more especiall manner against their Magistrates If any lost a father in that yeare he is tied all the yeare long to say that praier called Kaddisch the lesse by the mediation of which his father shall be delivered out of purgatory of which God willing more hereafter When they go out of the Synagogue then must they repeat those sentences formerly mentioned in the fifth Chapter And in this place againe they exercise many prolix disputes about that prayer beginning Schema Israel Heare O Israel the Lord thy God is one God questioning the manner how the time when the place where this prayer should bee said and repeated All which to avoid prolixity I willingly omit At dinner and supper their carriage is the same When they goe to bed they must first draw off the left foot shooe then the right They put off their shirts lying in bed and covered with clothes lest the beams and wals of the house should behold their unseemly nakednesse And this is the cause that they never use to empty their bladder in their bed-chamber their clothes being off the very act becomming a shamefull disgrace unto them and the consequent of such impudence being a fearfullapse into an extream poverty a consideration also had that it is one of those things God hateth Whosoever saies that prayer Schema Israel Heare O Israel c. must endeavour instantly upon the finishing of the same to fal asleep and take an especiall care that he speake nothing after it as it is written Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still Selah If sleepe will not presently attempt to close up his eyes he must not cease to repeate the said prayer untill the approach thereof tongue-tye his devotions for inâ—o doing his rest shall bee sweet and delightfull unto his wearied body his sleep comfortable and restorative The bed wherein the man and wife are to make their repose is to bee furnished with cleane sheets without spot or blemish for it may come to passe that the man may meditate upon some thing which he hath learned and also committed to memory by reading the Scriptures whilst it was yet day yea both man and woman may joyne in prayer to the Almighty that they may beget children which will bee obedient to
many touch their naked body with their hands that hereby they may take occasion to wash them They use Claret wine for the most part in this Feast because there is the greatest plenty of it to be had if such cannot be had then they use some other for the initiation hereof alwaies provided it be intermixed with certaine spices Immediately after they have washed their throats they fall sourely upon the sallets every one taking a little thereof and dipping it in vinegar the Master of the house also saying Blessed be thou O Lord our God King of the world who hast created the fâ—uites of the earth They eat these herbes thus drencht in vinegar to make their stomach give a more plausible entertainment to the succeeding dishes it being very soveraign for the invitation of an appetite To proceed The Master of the houshold taking that cake of the three which lyeth in the middle out of the platter breaks it in twaine and putting the greater part there of under his pillow or napkin signifying thereby that their fathers flying out of Egypt took their dough before it was leavened their kneading troughes being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders hee puts the other halfe into its former place between the two whole cakes throwing the lambes legg rosted and the egg out of the other platter Then every one laying hands on the dish wherein is the halfe cake saith with a loud voice such was the bread of affliction wherewith our fathers were fed in the land of Egypt Every one that is hungry let him come and eat his fill whosoever hath need let him come and eat of the paschall lambe This yeare we are in this place the next yeare we shall be in the land of Canaan This yeare we are servants and bond-men the next yeare God saying Amen we shall be redeemed become Lords and Masters In this place the halfe cake is an emblem of poverty and exile The reason is a poor man or a beggar hath not a whole loase in all his house but only scraps and fragments This their practise they ground upon those words of Moses Seven daies thou shalt eate unleavened bread therewith even the bread of affliction This descant ended they set the lambes legg and the rosted egg upon the table againe and the second time present every person in particular with a bowle of wine and take the platter wherein the cakes are from the table that the children may move a question according to the custome of ancient daies which is recorded in these words It shall come to passe that when your children shall say unto you what meane you by this service That yee shall say it is the sacrifice of the Lords passeover who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses So the children of the Jewes at this day ought to aske their fathers why they remove the cakes from the table before they have tasted of them and they are to answer them according to the tenor of these words Instantly upon the solution of the objection the cakes are the second time set upon the table and then the whole company sings a tedious song concerning their deliverance out of the land of Egypt When they come to that division wherein mention is made of the ten plagues of Egypt they slacke their voice and with their fingers cast some drops of wine out of the cup thereby intimating that these ten plagues being banished out of their doors ought to fall upon their enemies the Christians The song being ended every one taking his cup into his hand and in a high note singing or saying It is meet and our bounden duty that we should confesse praise glorify extoll honour and blesse him who hath not done not only for our Ancestors but for us also all these signes and wonders who hath vouchsafed to bring us out of darknesse into light out of bondage into liberty out of the dungeon of sorrow into the faire fields of joy and gladnesse and hath changed our daies of mourning and lamentation into holy Festivals representing a delightfull Jubilee for this cause will we come before him and sing many hallelujahs to his holy name sitting in his chair like a spanish Don newly transformed by a new fashion he carouses the second bowle Then the Master of the house washing his hands takes the uppermost cake out of the dish and saith Blessed be thou O Lord our God King of the world who bringest bread out of the earth yet not eating thereof he takes againe the middle cake and saith Blessed be thou O Lord our God King of the world who hast sanctifyed us by thy commandements and hast enjoined us to eat unleavened bread Immediately upon the pronuntiation of these words he breaks a morsell of both cakes and eates it commanding the rest to doe likewise who all leane upon their left side Then they take one whole cake together with the halfe notwithstanding that upon the Sabbath they are accustomed onely to the use of whole loaves and the reason because Moses cals it the bread of poverty or affliction for a poore man is Lord of no other save some basket-pieces In the next place the Master of the family takes some of the bitter herbes and puts them into the foresaid pottage saying Blessed be thou O Lord God King of the world who hast commanded us to feed upon bitter herbes and then hee invites every one to eat thereof They doe not now as formerly leane upon their pillowes in remembrance that their forefathers were as yet servants compelled by Pharaoh togather straw and labour in the bricke kilne Lastly he takes the third cake out of the platter and breaks a piece out of the same and fals againe to feed upon his bitter sallet but dips not the herbs into the pottage because Rabbi Hillel who liâ—ed before the destruction of the second Temple was accustomed so to do and they prove it also out of the words of Moses who saith you shall eat unleavened cakes with bitter herbes shall you eat them so they read it But the words of Moses are according to the truth of the originall these which follow In that night they shall eate the flesh roste with firâ— and unleavened bread and with bitter herbs shall they eate it So much concerning the prologue or preparatory acts to the Supper of the Paschall lambe now begins the supper it selfe They eate whatsoever God hath provided making very merry quaffing off and carousing whole bowles of wine and beer untill the middle of the night which approaching the Masser of the Feast takes the halfe cake which he had hid under his pillow eates a little thereof and reacheth unto every man present a morsell of the same which done they leane very demurely upon their left sides wash their hands take a cup of wine and drinke it off which is the third cup
by them blessed and consecrated At length thanks being given the cups are filled the fourth time and the good man of the house taking his cup into his hands saith poure out thy wrath upon the Gentiles and upon the Kingdomes that have not knowne thy name poure out thine indignation upon them and let thy wrathfull displeasure take hold on them In the mean time one running to the doore unlocks it and sets it open thereby willing to shew their great security In this saying they curse all people which are not of Israel more especially the Christians hoping that Elias will come that very night and declare unto them the comming of their Saviour and deliverer the Messias as they also brag and boast in that prayer called Azrob nissim their reason is because all those famous deliverances so full of wonder which God wrought for the Patriarches Prophets and people of Israel hapned as upon this night They pray therefore that God would come againe and deliver them out of this their calamity and punish the Christians in the same manner that he did the Egyptians Hence it comes to pâ—sse that so soone as the gates are opened and the execeration is pronounced one of the houshold invested with a white linnen garment runs into the nurâ—ery that the infants may thinke that Elias is come indeed and is about to take vengean e on the Christians For a conclusion of all the Master of the family saies certaine table-prayers at the period of the supper which he closeth up in this manner Almighty God build againe thy Temple and that shortly very quickly in these our daies very quickly now build againe and that shortly thy holy Temple Omercifull God O great God O bountifull God O thou God that art highly exalted O beautifull God O sweet God O vertuous God O God of the Jewes now build up thy Temple very quickly and with great expedition in these our dayes very quickly very quickly now build up now build up now build up now build now build up thy Temple quickly O strong and powerfull God living God mighty God O God worthy of all honour O God of meeknesse O eternall God a God that art to be feared O God of comelinesse God of majesty God of infinite riches God of surpassing beauty O faithfull God now build up thy Temple shortly very quickly very quickly in these our daies shortly very quickly now build up now build up now build up now build up now build up thy Temple speedily The Orizons ended they betake themselves to rest and sleep in great security for they perswade themselves that this night neither man nor devil can approach to doe them any hurt This night is called in the second book of Moses and the 12 Chapter Lel Schemarim the night of observation or preservation Hereup on their minds being fraughted with such a conceit they abandon feare leave open their gates and doors all the night over to give an entrance to Elias the Prophet who as they assure themselves will come and deliver them out of this their misery Thus the poor blirdfolded Jewes trouble and vex themselves with this their vaine pompe and pompous vanity for two nights together instead of that paschall lambe which they ought to have eaten using no other ceremonies then Moses in the institution thereof hath described It being the position of their Rabbines that it was not required at their hands after the destruction of their City and Temple to Kill and eat the paschall lambe according to the ceremonial prescription of Meses and that they are not tyed to observe these or any others by him enjoined unlesse they were in the promised land of Canaan which land alone is to be accounted pure and holy all others defiled and profane Now from these premises every one may infer thus much that seeing the Jewes have not srom that time wherein the true paschall lambe Christ Jesus was offered eaten the posseover in any place according to the right prescription and also seeing the Jewes at this day so journing in Jerusalem and the land of Canaan do not eat the paschall lamb in the manner that they ought neither doe they offer any sacrifice it must necessarily follow that there is some other cause why their sacrifices are ceased and all other their Mosaicall Rites and Ceremonies are abrogated which certainly they might have found out in the space of 1631 yeares had they not been smitten with blindnesse from above So that now we may say with the Prophet David This their may uttereth foolishnesse yet their posterity delight in their talke But my people would not hear my voice and Israel would have none of me so I gave them up to their owne hearts lusts and they have walked in their counsels The Rabbines establish this their opinion out of the words following Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passeover unto the Lord thy God of the flocke and the herd in the place which the Lord shall choose to place his name there Now seeing God enjoins them according to their ordinary glosse that they should not celebrate this Feast in any other place but in the promised land they doe inferre that now being dispersed among the Nations they are not lyable to the observation of the same But the true sence of the words is this That when God had put a period to Israels captivity and brought them into the land of promise the land of Canaan and having given unto them a setled kind of regiment a City and a Temple in which it pleased him to place his name then they should repaire to Jerusalem to eate the pasâ—hall lambe for the better preservation of the unity of faith among them as to the Metropolis and chiefe City of Israel But when the scepter was in a manner taken â—rom them by reason of inâ—essâ—nt wâ—â—rs and tumults so that they could not come unto Jerusalem then did every family kill and eate the passeover in their owne gates as it is recorded in the second book of Kings And so soon as they were delivered out of these their troubles they celebrated the said Feast againe in the place appointed with great solemnity and rejoicing as good Josial is recorded to have done in the sore-cited place Now that for the space of 1631 yeares they could not kill nor eat the paschall lambeâ— right none must seeke for another cause then that of the departure of the Scepter from Juda the desolation of Jerusalem and their long continued exile For why did not Jerusalem remain unto this day why is not the Temple built againe The sacrifices and ceremonies delivered by Moses why are they not re-established The Jewes cannot see the reason hereof because Moses his vaile is as yet before their eies It was formerly mentioned that the Jewes at the supper of the paschall Lambe use to carouse foure cups of wine two before supper two after which foure consecrated cups every one
three times towards the North three times towards the South heaving it also in the last place over his head then suffering it to becke unto the ground In all these severall postures carrying himselfe much like unto a fencer in the tossing advancing and shouldering of his pike Then they pray againe and againe begin to shake their bundle of boughes thereby giving to understand that they are triumphant conquerours of all sinne and inquity having a conceit that by the noise of their branches they have so lashed whipped away and terrifyed the devill that hee dare never any more presume to accuse them before God for their sinnes and offences The next thing they put in practice is concerning the Book of the Law which some or other goes and takes out of the Arke and laies it upona Deske and instantly thereupon every one in the Synagogue circles about the pew or desk with the bundle of branches and orenges in his hand This they dâ—efor seven daies together in remembranâ—e that the wals of Jericho being by their fathers compâ—ssed about sseven daies fell flat unto the ground and the men thereof subdued unto Israel hoping withall that the wals of the Roman Empire shall likewise be demolished and the Jewes become the conquerours Lords and Masters of the Christians which Rabbi Bechai affirms in expresse words saying This our enâ—ircling or compassing used by us at this day upon this Festivall is a certaine sign unto us of the state of the time to come wherein the wall of Edom that of the Romane Monarchy shall be throwne downe and all the Edomites shall bee destroied and rooted out according to that of Daniel which he delivers concerning the fourth beast which shaddowes out unto us the Roman Monarchy in these words I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horne spake I beheld even till the beast was slaine and his body destroied and given to the burning flame In that day shall the mount Sion and Jerusalem rejoice which were formerly called Midbar or a desart as it is written Thy holy Cities are a wildernesse Sion is a wildernesse Jerusalem a desolation The same Prophet saying also in another place That Sion ought to rejoice and Jerusalem to be glad and clap her haâ—ds because the Lord will take vengeance upon Edom that is upon the Roman Empire as it it written The desart and wildernesse shall rejoice So much Rabbi Bechai out of which we may easily gather how much good the Jewes wish unto us Christians in the time of this their Festivall Yet in their books of Common Prayers it appeares that in former times they have been more invective against us then they are at this day for there they pray that God would smite us after the manner that hee smote the first born in the land of Egypt And that in a prayer which begins Ana hoschiana where the expresse words are Smite our enemies as thou smotest the first born in Egypt and make them subject unto us c. Where by their enemies they understand us Christians to whom they are now in bondage The first shaking of these Festivall branches being ended they shake them very often in the processe of their prayers taking two bookes of the Law out of the Arke out of which they read certaine sections with a bawâ—ing ostentation but very little attention and lesse devotion The second day they hallow equally as the first not that they are enjoined thereunto by the command and law of God but by reason they are not assured what day of September may precisely be accounted for the fifteenth and hence it is that they make two holidaies when one onely is required Eâ—ery evening so long as the Feast endures the Master of the family repeats a certaine prayer whereby hee makes the daies of the Feast to be discerned and differenced from those which are appointed for labour and travell in our ordinary vocation giving thanks unto God that the Feast hath been celebrated in such a good manner The foure daies following are onely esteemed holy in part but upon these also they sing and pray very much shaking their palm branches If any one of these foure daies chance to be the day of the Sabbath then among other things they read a certaine Chapter out of the Prophesie of Ezekiel concerning the dreadfull war of Gog and Magog beleeving and writing that Gog shall be slaine in this month and they delivered out of bondage shall be brought back into their owne land there for ever to have a peaceable habitation The seventh day is likewise by them kept holy whereon they say the prayer called Hosanna Rabba Helpe O Lord our strength because therein they intreat the Lord for to help them against all their enemies and to send them a good and fruitfull yeare For the first day of this month is the first day of the new yeare of yeares properly so called according to which they frame the computation of their yeares In the morning of every one of these daies they early wash themselves in hot or cold water goe into the School or Synagogue light many candles sing and pray â—ervently and with a great deale of ostentation take seven books of the Law out of the Arke and lay them upon the pew or deske which as was formerly related they compasse about seven times having their bundles of palme branches in their hands which are knit together with willow After every severall encompassing putting one of the seven books of the Law into the Arke againe Rambam Rakanat and Bechai with many other of the Rabbines Commenting upon the 14 Chapter of the 4 book of Moses blush not to affirm that God upon the seventh day at night reveales unto them by the moone what thing soever shall befall them the yeare following and that in this manner Upon this night they goe out into the fields by moone-shine some with their heads uncovered other having onely a linnen cloth tied about them or a vaile upon them which they suffering to fall upon the earth stretch out their armes and hands If any mans shadow in the moon-shine seem to want an head it is a certaine signe and token that such a one shall that yeare either lose his head or dye some other death If any seem to want a singer it presages the death of some of his friends if his right hand of his son if his left of his daughter But if no shadow at all appeare then that man shall undoubtedly dye and therefore if he have appointed a journey hee should hereby bee warned to let it alone lest he should not returne in safety This the Rabbines prove from those words of Moses Their shadow is departed from them Num. 14. 9. The Rabbines interpreting that a shadow which properly signifies a defence Yet they say that though a man cannot behold his shadow as upon this night that for this reason he should not
the king of Edom or the Pope of Rome and being conqueror shall kill a great part of his army and also cut the throat of the king of Edom make desolate the Roman Monarchie bring back some of the holy vessels to Jerusalem which are treasured up in the house of Aelianus Moreover the king of Egypt shall enter into league with Israel and shall kill all the men inhabiting about Jerusalem Damascus and Ascalon which thing once noised over the whole earth a horrid dread and astonishment shall overwhelm the inhabitants thereof The seventh miracle They say that at Rome there is a certain piece of marble in shape resembling a Virgin so framed and fashioned not by mans workmanship but by the Lords hand To this Image shall all the wicked livers in the world gather themselves and burning in lust towards it shall commit incest with it Hereupon in the same marble will the Lord forme an Infant which by a certain rupture shall issue out of it This infant shall be called Armillus Harascha Armillus the wicked and shall be the same which the Christians call Antichrist His length and bredth shall be tennâ—els the space betwixt his eyes and the palm cross wise His hollow eyes red his hair yellow like gold the soles of his feet green and to make his deformity compleat he shall have two heads He coming to the wicked king of Rome shall affirm himself to be the Messias and god of the Romans to whom they easily give credit and make him king over them All the sons of Esau shall love and stick fast unto him He shall bring under his yoak the whole Roman Monarchie and to all Esaus ofspring glorying in the name of Christian he shall say bring me the law which I gave unto you Which they shall presently deliver together with their book of Common-prayer which he shall receive as true and legitimate acknowledging that he gave that law and book unto them desiring that they will beleeve in him These things once finished he shall send his Embassadors to Jerusalem to Nehemiah the son of Husiel and to all the Congregation of Israel with this mandate to bring their law unto him and confess him to be God At the report of this fear and wonder assault their souls and Nehemias accompanied with three hundred thousand voluntiers of the tube of Ephraim carrying also the book of the law with him shall come unto Armillus and out of it read him this sentence I am the Lord thy God thou shall have none other Gods before me To whom Armillus making answer shall deny any such sentence to be extant in their law and that therefore they ought to acknowledge him for a God following the example of the Christians and other people of the earth Then shall Nehemiah the son of Husiel in that instant command his followers to binde Armillus and entering the field with thirty thousand armed Nobles shall put to the sword two hundred thousand of his assistants For this cause Armillus greatly enraged shall gather together all his forces in a deep valley to fight against Israel and to destroy no small number of Jacobs posterity There shall Messias the son of Joseph breath his last whom the holy Angels shall take hide and casket up with other Patriarks of the world The Israelites shall be struck with such astonishment their hearts shall fleet like water but Armillus himself shall not know of the death of their Messias who otherwise would not leave one of them alive Then shall all the Nations of the earth banish the Jews out of their dominions no way permitting them any longer to be their coinhabitants Moreover such trouble and distresse shall at that time perplex the Jews as hath not been from the beginning to the world Then shall Michael come and fan away the wicked in Israel as it is written At that time shall Michael stand up the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time Then the remnant shall flee into the wildernesse where God shall try and purge them after the same manner that silver and gold is tried in the Furnace For the Lord saith I will purge out from among you the Rebels and them that transgresse against me And again Many shall be purified made white and tryed but the wicked shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand but the wise shall understand Then shall the whole remainder of Israel be in the wildernesse for forty five dayes the chief of their fare being grasse leaves and herbs and that Scripture shall be fulfilled in their ears I will allure her and bring her into the wildernesse aud speak comfortably unto her The truth of this appears out of that of the Prophet From the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that maketh desolate set up there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety dayes Blessed is he that cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty dayes But goe thou thy way till the end be for thou shalt rest and stand in the lot at the end of the dayes Conceive that forty five being added to the precedent number of ninty the last number of 1335 daies doth arise In that time all the wicked in Israel shall perish who are unworthy to be copartners in such a deliverance Finally Armillus invading Egypt with great power shall subdue it as it is written The land of Egypt shall not escape From Egypt he shall muster his forces for Jerusalem striving with might and main once more to make it a desolate heap And he shall plant the tabernacle of his palace between the Seas in the glorious holy mountain yet he shall come to his end and none shall help him The eighth miracle The Archangel Michael shall arise and shall thrice winde a mighty trumpet as it is written It shall come to pass in that day that the great trumpets shall be blowen and they shall come that were ready to perish in the land of Assyria and the outcasts in the land of Egypt and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem Again The Lord God shall blow the trumpet and shall goe with the whirlewinds of the South At the sound of this trumpet the true Messias the son of David and the Prophet Elias shall appear and manifest themselves to the devout Israelites inhabiting the wilderness of Judea Then shall they receive incouragement the weary hands shall be lifted up and strength shall visit the feeble knees All the Jews also wheresoever dispersed over the whole earth shall hear the sound of the trumpet and at last confess that God in mercy hath visited his people and by a plenary deliverance hath been gracious to his inheritance and all the captives of Ashur shall be gathered together But