Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Curious Particulars Relative To The Jews.
be signed by both parties , and executed by the priest , in the presence of ten Jew men ; by the conditions of it , the wife is released from all engagements , if the husband does not return in the time limited , or send for her to live with him . The rabbins will not allow it lawful for man and wife to act together by day-light , or candle-light ; but order that it must be done in darknesswith the curtains drawn . They addthat man
making-, , any water , with his nakedness towards the bed , will be reduced to poverty . At meals , they must not mix butter and meat together . They may eat of any thing made with butter first , and meat directly after ; but if they eat meat first , they should not eat of any thing with butter for six hours after . This absurd law has been frequently discussed ; but no satisfactory reason has ever been given for the distinction .
They observe it , from what is commanded in Exod . xxiii . 19 . and in Deut . xiv . 21 . Their tables , whilst at meals , are compared by the rabbins to the altars whereon the offerings were laid in their temples ; and , therefore , they read a part of some of the laws of sacrifices at every meal . The dishes of meat are compared to the offeringsandtherefore
; , , they ' reckon it a great sin to have no salt on the table during their meal , from the command of Levit . ii . 13 . — ' Upon all thy oblations thou shalt offer salt . ' When grace is said after meat , no knives or forks should be on table , because no iron or steel was used about the altar . There is nothing , however ridiculous , but what this persecuted nation will believe from the writings of their rabbins . They believe ,
that the resurrection , which is the basis of their principles , will not be general . - Gentiles and Christians . are to be excluded ; as they are classed with beasts , and not zvith men HI They also except those who perished in the general deluge ; the tyrants of the people ; Israelites , who have lived improperly ; and impious men , whose souls , according to some rabbins , are reduced to nothing . These same rabbins ,
who know what no other class of men can even think of , have given us ' the process of resurrection . They say , it is through the means of a small bone , called luz , and by the Arabians aibi , which is the eighteenth vertebra of the spine , and will resist iron , time , and fire . This bone , however , must be softened by the dew , because it is so written in Isaiahxxvi . 1 9 When mollifiedit fermentsand has the same
, . , , virtue as the earth which God used to form the first man . The bones , nerves , and other parts of the body , assume ' their proper places ; and thus is the resurrection of ourbodies effected . Believe itwho pleases ! The rabbins , however , are not uniformly so extravagant ' - ; they have their lucid intervals ; and , among the traditions contained in the Talmud , we may find , under the title of Pirke Avot , a collection of moral
maxims , that reflect honour both on the writer ' s head and heart . It is almost impossible to give them , in English , with that elegant sublimity that distinguishes the Hebrew . As such , I shall not attempt to give any of them here : but I cannot dismiss this subject , Without no-.ticing , that whenever such a work is undertaken , and only tolerably , executed , its pages may be contemplated with deli g ht and profit , - by persons , of whatever religion , sex , or age
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Curious Particulars Relative To The Jews.
be signed by both parties , and executed by the priest , in the presence of ten Jew men ; by the conditions of it , the wife is released from all engagements , if the husband does not return in the time limited , or send for her to live with him . The rabbins will not allow it lawful for man and wife to act together by day-light , or candle-light ; but order that it must be done in darknesswith the curtains drawn . They addthat man
making-, , any water , with his nakedness towards the bed , will be reduced to poverty . At meals , they must not mix butter and meat together . They may eat of any thing made with butter first , and meat directly after ; but if they eat meat first , they should not eat of any thing with butter for six hours after . This absurd law has been frequently discussed ; but no satisfactory reason has ever been given for the distinction .
They observe it , from what is commanded in Exod . xxiii . 19 . and in Deut . xiv . 21 . Their tables , whilst at meals , are compared by the rabbins to the altars whereon the offerings were laid in their temples ; and , therefore , they read a part of some of the laws of sacrifices at every meal . The dishes of meat are compared to the offeringsandtherefore
; , , they ' reckon it a great sin to have no salt on the table during their meal , from the command of Levit . ii . 13 . — ' Upon all thy oblations thou shalt offer salt . ' When grace is said after meat , no knives or forks should be on table , because no iron or steel was used about the altar . There is nothing , however ridiculous , but what this persecuted nation will believe from the writings of their rabbins . They believe ,
that the resurrection , which is the basis of their principles , will not be general . - Gentiles and Christians . are to be excluded ; as they are classed with beasts , and not zvith men HI They also except those who perished in the general deluge ; the tyrants of the people ; Israelites , who have lived improperly ; and impious men , whose souls , according to some rabbins , are reduced to nothing . These same rabbins ,
who know what no other class of men can even think of , have given us ' the process of resurrection . They say , it is through the means of a small bone , called luz , and by the Arabians aibi , which is the eighteenth vertebra of the spine , and will resist iron , time , and fire . This bone , however , must be softened by the dew , because it is so written in Isaiahxxvi . 1 9 When mollifiedit fermentsand has the same
, . , , virtue as the earth which God used to form the first man . The bones , nerves , and other parts of the body , assume ' their proper places ; and thus is the resurrection of ourbodies effected . Believe itwho pleases ! The rabbins , however , are not uniformly so extravagant ' - ; they have their lucid intervals ; and , among the traditions contained in the Talmud , we may find , under the title of Pirke Avot , a collection of moral
maxims , that reflect honour both on the writer ' s head and heart . It is almost impossible to give them , in English , with that elegant sublimity that distinguishes the Hebrew . As such , I shall not attempt to give any of them here : but I cannot dismiss this subject , Without no-.ticing , that whenever such a work is undertaken , and only tolerably , executed , its pages may be contemplated with deli g ht and profit , - by persons , of whatever religion , sex , or age