752 



JEWS. 



Jews. 



Syna- 

 gogues. 



box, divided into four compartments, having impressed 

 on one side of it the letter Shin, and on the other a 

 character resembling that letter, only with four points 

 instead of three. In the compartments are inclosed 

 four passages of the law, written on parchment, which 

 is bound round with hair pulled from the tail of a cow, 

 and well washed. The strap which fastens the phy- 

 lactery to the head ought to be black on the outside, 

 and any colour except red on the inside. It is fasten- 

 ed in such a manner, that the little box including the 

 parchments rests on the forehead below the hair, so that 

 the divine precepts may be fixed in the brain. The 

 phylactery for the arm is nearly similar, except that it 

 has only one cavity, and is without the impression of 

 the letter Shin. It is fastened to the naked skin, on 

 the inner part of the left arm, so as to be near the heart. 

 It would be tiresome to enumerate the directions for 

 tying on these phylacteries, which are excessively mi- 

 nute and multifarious. Besides phylacteries, there are 

 schedules for door-posts, which are generally placed on 

 the right hand of the entrance, and touched or kissed 

 by such of the Jews as wish to be deemed very de- 

 vout. 



No synagogue can be instituted except there be at 

 least ten men who have passed the age of thirteen. The 

 highest ground is chosen, and no Jew is permitted to 

 build a house of superior or even equal height. In pray- 

 er, their faces are always turned towards the land of 

 Canaan ; the door of the synagogue, therefore, is always 

 placed at the opposite point of the compass. A closet 

 or chest called the Ark, in which the book of the law 

 is deposited, is opposite to the entrance into the syna- 

 gogue. Every copy of the pentateuch must be in ma- 

 nuscript. The rabbis have laid down rules for transcri- 

 bing it, which must on no account be omitted or infrin- 

 ged. The ink employed is to be made of prescribed 

 ingredients. The book itself is to be in the form of a 

 roll. Near the middle of the synagogue is a desk or 

 altar where the law is read, and sermons delivered. No 

 seats are admitted between the altar and the ark. The 

 women are not allowed to sit with the men, and they 

 are even screened from their notice by a wooden lat- 

 tice. In each synagogue there is a reader or chanter, 

 clerks for the management of pecuniary matters, be- 

 sides inferior attendants. The general business of the 

 congregation is superintended by wardens or elders. 

 The privilege of folding and unfolding the law, and of 

 performing other public services, is accounted a high 

 honour, and, as such, is put up to public auction. The 

 money arising from these sales is paid into the general 

 itock of the synagogue. 



In every country there is a chief, or presiding rabbi, 

 who exercises not only a spiritual, but also a civil, ju- 

 risdiction : his authority is kept up by ecclesiastical 

 censures, excommunications, &c. The title of rabbi is 

 little more than an honorary distinction, and is easily 

 obtained by any individual well versed in the Tal- 

 mud. 



The Jewish religion is, perhaps, more a religion of 

 ceremonies, minute and trifling rites and ceremonies, than even the 

 > *"' Catholic religion. The minutest circumstances in dress, 

 ing and undressing, washing and wiping the face and 

 hands, and other necessary actions of common and daily 

 life, are enjoined by the rabbis to be performed exactly 

 according to the prescribed regulations. Their prayers 

 also are numerous, and some of them relate to the most 

 trifling circumstances. Those esteemed the most so- 

 lemn and important are called Shemoneh Esreh, or the 

 Eighteen prayers, though they actually consist of nine- 



Religion, 



teen, the last having been added against heretics and Jews, 

 apostates. They are enjoined to be said by all Jews ^"^^Y^* 

 above the age of thirteen, wherever they may be, three 

 times a-day. The members of the synagogue are re- 

 quired to repeat at least a hundred benedictions every 

 day. A son who survives his father is enjoined to at- 

 tend the nocturnal service in the synagogue every even- 

 ing for a year, and to repeat the Kodesh, in order that 

 his father may be delivered from hell. This service 

 may be suspended by any person going up to the desk 

 and closing the book. This is not unfrequently done 

 in case of quarrels ; and the prayers cannot be renewed 

 till a reconciliation takes place. 



Nothing is to be undertaken on a Friday which can. Sabbath, 

 not be finished before the evening. In the afternoon 

 they wash and clean themselves, trim their hair, and 

 pare their nails. They begin with the left hand, but 

 think it wrong to cut the nails on two adjoining fingers 

 in succession. Even the parings are directed by the 

 Talmud to be disposed of in a particular manner ; for it 

 says, " he that throws them on the ground is an im- 

 pious man ; he that buries them is a just man ; he that 

 throws them into the fire is a pious and perfect man." 

 Every Jew, of whatever rank, must assist in the prepa- 

 ration for the Sabbath. Two loaves, baked on the Fri- 

 day, are set on a table. This is done in memory of the 

 manna, of which a double portion fell on the sixth day 

 of the week. The table remains spread all the Sab- 

 bath. Before the sun is set, the candles are to be light- 

 ed ; one at least with seven wicks, in allusion to the 

 number of days in a week, is to be lighted in each 

 house. The Talmudical directions respecting the wicks 

 and oil form part of the Sabbath evening service ; they 

 are most ridiculously and childishly minute. The les- 

 son appointed for the Sabbath is divided into seven 

 parts, and read to seven persons at the altar. The first 

 called up to hear it, is a descendant of Aaron, the se- 

 cond of Levi, the third an Israelite of any tribe ; the 

 same order is then repeated ; the seventh may be of any 

 tribe. The portion read from the law is followed by a 

 portion from the prophets. There are three services, 

 morning, afternoon, and evening. On their return 

 from the last, a wax candle, or a lamp with two wicks, 

 is lighted, and held by a child. The master then takes 

 a glass of wine in his right hand, and a box of spices in 

 his left. After a prayer, a little of the wine is spilled 

 on the floor ; and the wine being taken in the left, 

 and the spices in the right hand, after another prayer, 

 he and all the family smell to the spices, and taste the 

 wine. This ceremony is called Habdala, or the sepa- 

 ration, because it separates the Sabbath from other days. 

 The works forbidden on the Sabbath, according to the 

 rabbis, may be reduced under thirty-nine general heads; 

 of which writing, blotting out, ruling paper, kindling a 

 fire or quenching it, form some. Other forbidden ac- 

 tions are brought under these heads by a very forced ana- 

 logy. Thus, curdling milk is included under the forbid- 

 den head of building, because a whole is formed by the 

 composition of different bodies. Filling ditches is deem- 

 ed unlawful, and therefore some rabbis have forbidden 

 the sweeping of a room on the Sabbath, lest any furrow 

 or chink in the floor should be filled by the operation. 

 Walking over new ploughed ground is also forbidden, 

 lest a hole should thus be filled up. A tailor must not 

 go out of doors with a needle stuck in any of his clothes. 

 The use of stilts is prohibited, because, though the 

 stilts seem to carry the man, yet in fact the man carries 

 the stilts, and to bear a burden on the Sabbath is un- 

 lawful. Dirt on the coat, &c. may be scraped off with 

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