750 



JEWS. 



Jew?. 



Cabala. 



Articles of 

 faith. 



Customs 



respeting 



child-birth. 



I'ircumci- 



One of the principal branches of modern Judaism, is 

 the Cabala, the study of which is regarded as the subli- 

 mest of all sciences. By the Cabala, the Jews mean 

 those mystical interpretations of the scripture, and me- 

 taphysical speculations concerning the Deity, angels, &c. 

 which they regard as having been handed down by a se- 

 cret tradition from the earliest ages. The Cabala is of 

 .two kinds, theoretical and practical ; the former relates 

 to subjects only adapted to speculation ; the latter is, in 

 fact, a system of magic drawn from a mystical interpre- 

 tation of the Scriptures. The Jews believe that Abra- 

 ham, Moses, Solomon, &c. were adepts in this kind of 

 magic. It was much cultivated in the middle ages ; 

 but now the Jews have in a great measure discarded 

 faith in the practical Cabala. 



In the llth century, the famous Rabbi Mairnonides 

 drew up a summary of the doctrines of Judaism, which 

 every Jew is required to believe, on pain of excommu- 

 nication in this world, and condemnation in the next. 

 This summary consists of 13 articles, which he calls 

 foundations or roots of the faith. The articles are as 

 follow: 1. That God is the creator and active sup- 

 porter of all things. 2. That God is one, and eternally 

 unchangeable. 3. That God is incorporeal, and cannot 

 have any material properties. 4. That God must eter- 

 nally exist. 5. That God alone is to be worshipped. 

 6. That whatever has been taught by the prophets is 

 true. 7. That Moses is the head and father of all con- 

 temporary doctors, and of all those who lived before 

 or shall live after him. 8. That the law was given by 

 Moses. 9. That the law shall always exist, and never 

 be altered. 10. That God knows all the thoughts and 

 actions of men. 1 1 . That God will reward the obser- 

 vance, and punish the breach of the laws. 12. That 

 the Messiah is to come, though he tarry a long time. 

 13. That there shall be a resurrection of the dead when 

 God shall think fit. 



Before the delivery of a Jewess, her husband, or 

 some friend, describes with chalk a circle on each of 

 the walls round the bed, and on the outside and inside 

 of the door ; he also inscribes on these, in Hebrew cha- 

 racters, the words, Adam, Chara, Chuts, Lilith; i. e. 

 Adam, Eve, rejoice; Lilith signifying a wish, that if 

 the child be a boy he may be like Adam, and blessed 

 with a wife like Eve ; but if a girl, that she may not, like 

 Lilith, who, according to Jewish tradition, having been 

 formed before Eve out of the ground, on that account 

 deemed herself equal to Adam, and refused to be obe- 

 dient to him. Lilith, also, is supposed to have the 

 power of weakening and destroying young infants, and 

 therefore the names of three angels are written on the 

 inside of the chamber in which the pregnant woman 

 lies. A Christian midwife must not be employed ex- 

 cept in cases of most clear and urgent necessity, and 

 then she must be surrounded and watched by several 

 Jewesses. In order to accelerate the birth, a rabbi re- 

 cites the 20th, 38th, 92d, and 102d psalms. On the 

 evening of the Sabbath after delivery, if a boy is born, 

 a. feast is held called Jeshua Haben, or the safety of the 

 son. Preparations are next made for circumcision. The 

 guests must be at least ten in number, and must all 

 have passed their 13th year. No woman or Christian 

 is allowed to circumcise, except in cases of necessity. 

 Where the latter performs the operation, some of the 

 blood must be drawn afresh from the part by an Israel- 

 ite. The regular circumcisers are distinguished by 

 their very long and sharp nails ; they are taught their 

 business by operating on the sons of poor Jews, whose 

 consent is obtained for money. Besides the circumciser, 



Circumci- 

 sion. 



tion of a 

 5on> 



a person named Baal Berith, or the master of the cove- 

 nant, must assist. The operation ought not to take 

 place before the eighth, or later than the twelfth day 

 after the birth. Two chairs are provided, one for the 

 circumciser and the other for Elijah, who is supposed 

 to be present. As soon as the circumciser and his at- 

 tendant have entered the room, some boys make their 

 appearance bearing twelve wax tapers, bowls of wine, 

 a knife, a plate of sand, and a platter with olive oil, in 

 which the linen to be applied to the wound is steeped. 

 The infant must be bathed before the ceremony. He 

 is brought to the door by a woman, who is not allowed 

 to enter the room. If a child die uncircumcised, he is 

 circumcised in the burial ground, that the reproach of 

 uncircumcision may be taken away. No prayers are 

 said on this occasion, but a name is given him, that, at 

 the resurrection, when every one will be called by his 

 name, his parents may recognise him. The birth of a 

 girl is attended with little feasting. The rabbis have 

 abolished the distinction made by the Mosaic law be- 

 tween the period of the purification of- a woman after 

 the birth of a son and a daughter. They have also al- 

 tered the law respecting the mode of redemption of the 

 first born, if a son. According to them, the child can- Redemp- 

 not be redeemed before the thirtieth day, nor after the 

 thirty-first. On that day the priest asks the father, 

 whether he would prefer his child, or the five shekels 

 required for his redemption > to which the father re- 

 plies, that he prefers his son, and that he wishes the 

 priest to accept the money. The priest cannot accept 

 less ; but he may return what he accepts. If the fa- 

 ther dies before the thirty-first day, the mother is not 

 bound to redeem the child ; but a piece of parchment 

 is suspended on the child's neck, with an inscription, 

 that he is a son not redeemed, to teach him, that he 

 must redeem himself. 



The education of the female children of the Jews is 

 very much neglected. They are seldom taught more 

 than to pronounce the words of a Hebrew prayer-book, 

 without understanding the meaning of a single sen- 

 tence. The sons are taught to read the law, the mish- Of males. 

 na, the gemara, and the prayer-book. Very few of 

 them learn the Hebrew grammatically. At the age of 

 13 years and one day, a Jewish youth receives the ap- 

 pellation of Bar Mitsrah, a son of the commandment, 

 and is required to observe the 613 precepts, which, ac- 

 cording to the rabbis, comprehend the whole of the 

 law. From this time he is deemed liable to punish- 

 ment if he transgresses them ; whereas the sins he 

 commits before this age are ascribed to his father, who 

 is liable to the punishment denounced against them. 

 At this age the father, in the presence of several Jews, 

 declares, that he is no longer chargeable for the sins of 

 his son. Jewish girls are accounted of full age at 12 

 years and a day old. 



Marriage is reckoned the indispensible duty of eve- Marriages. 

 ry Jew. Men who live in celibacy long after eighteen 

 are considered by the rabbis as living in sin. Polyga- 

 my is sanctioned by the Talmud, but is not practised 

 by the European Jews. The betrothing sometimes 

 takes place six months or a year before the marriage. 

 Ten men at least must be present at the marriage, other- 

 wise it is null. A velvet canopy is brought into the 

 room where the ceremony is to take place, and extend- 

 ed on four poles. Under this canopy the bride, having 

 her face covered with a veil, is led by two women, and 

 the bridegroom by two men ; these are always their 

 parents, or near relations. After a short prayer, the 

 bride and bridegroom drink of the wine which is offer- 



Education 

 of females. 



