The Jewish Synagogue, Title page – Table of contents
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 BƲXTORFIƲS, 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,Deut. 32. 15▪) 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:Jer. 11. 10. 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, Jer. 7. 25. 26.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;Nehem. 9. 25. 26. which act of theirs is faithfully regiſtred by the holy Spirit, Ezra …: 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,Ier. 2▪ 29 30▪ 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, 2 Reg. 17.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.
page missing 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, Iſa. 29▪ 10, 11.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 God of mercies have mercy upon them, and convert them, and keep us firm and immoveable in the knowledge of his truth, that in it we may hope to gain eternall life, as Chriſt himſelf witneſſeth to our comfort, when he ſaith,Iohn 17. 3. This is eternall life, that they might know thee the onelyonly true God, and Jeſus Chriſt whom thou haſt ſent, To him be aſcribed, praiſe, honour and glory for evermore, Amen.
MICAH c. 4. v. 1, 2.
IN the laſt dayes it ſhall come to paſſe, that the mountain of the houſe of the Lord ſhall be eſtabliſhed in the top of the mountains, and it ſhall be exalted above the hills, and people ſhall flow unto it.
And many Nations ſhall come and ſay, come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the houſe of the God of Iacob, and he will teach us of his wayes, and we will walk in his paths; for the Law ſhall go orth from Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jeruſalem.
Luther upon theſe words of Micah, hath left this conſequent paragraph in memory concerning the Iews. So goes the matter, hereupon ariſe theſe mentall diviſions, this is that which makes the Jews mad and fooliſh, that which forceth them to a ſenſe ſo damnable, that they are compelled without the leaſt ſhew of honeſty, to wreſt every parcell of the Scripture, becauſe it contradicts their will, and they cannot endure that we Gentiles ſhould be equal copartners with them in Gods favour, and that the Meſſias ſhould in a like meaſure adminiſter to us and them joy and conſolation. Moreover, rather than they would vouchſafe, that we the offſpring of the Gentiles (who are by them daily contemned, accurſed and devoted to the infernall hagges, torn and cut in pieces by their ſlanderous backbitings) ſhould participate in the Merits of the Meſſias, and enjoy the title of coheirs and brethren, they had rather ten Meſſiahs ſhould ſuffer the ſhamefull death of the croſſe, and afflict God himſelf (if there were any poſſibility in nature) the holy Angels and all other creatures with the ſtroke of death, nay, they would not be afraid of the fact, though a thouſand helliſh torments were to be endured for the effecting of it, ſo incomprehenſible and auſtere is the pride mixed with the honourable blood of theſe Fathers, and circumciſed Saints, who alone would enjoy the promiſed Meſſias, and be capped for the ſole Donns of the world.Chjim. The Nations or Gentiles ought onelyonly to be theſe accurſed vaſſals, and to give up their deſire, that is their ſilver and gold unto the Iews, and that they ſhould be conſtrained to ſubmit themſelves unto them after the manner of beaſts prepared to the ſlaughter, rather then they will relinquiſh one whit of this their aſſertion, they will not refuſe wittingly and willingly to be damned eternally.
THE ARGUMENT OF EVERY CHAPTER.
CHap. 1. Concerning the Articles of the Jewiſh Creed, the execution of Gods commandements, and the cauſes of their ſuperſtition.
Chap. 2. Of their Nativity and Circumciſion: of the occaſion and manner thereof.
Chap. 3. How the Jewes inſtruct their children in the feare of God.
Chap. 4. How they prepare themſelves to morning Prayer.
Chap. 5. Of the form of their morning Prayer, their Fringes and Phylacteries.
Chap. 6. In what order they depart the Synagogue, and their preparation to dinner.
Chap. 7. How the Jews behave themſelves in time of eating.
Chap. 8. Of the form of evening Prayer, and manner of going to bed.
Chap. 9. Of their hollowing of Mondays and Thurſdays.
Chap. 10. Of their preparation to the Sabbath, and how they begin it.
Chap. 11. Of the Celebration of the Sabbath, and how they make an end thereof.
Chap. 12. How the Jews prepare themſelves to the celebration of the Paſſover.
Chap. 13. The manner how the Jewes celebrate their Paſſeover.
Chap▪ 14. How they celebrate the ſeven dnyes of the Paſſeover, and put a concluſion to the Feſtivall.
Chap. 15. Of the feaſt of Pentecoſt.
Chap. 16. Of their feaſt of Tabernacles.
Chap. 17. Of their Feaſt of the new Moon.
Chap. 18. Of the Feaſt of the New year: how the Jewes prepare themſelves to the celebration thereof: how God at the ſame time judgeth the Iſraelites for their ſin and offences.
Chap. 19. Of the feaſt of the New Moon.
Chap. 20. Of their preparation to the feaſt of Reconciliation.
Chap. 21. Of the Feaſt of Reconciliation.
Chap. 22. Of the Feaſt of joy and gladneſſe, for that they have read over the Law, and the manner how they diſtribute their eccleſiaſtical Offices.
Chap. 23. Of their Feaſt of Dedication of the Temple.
Chap. 24. Of the Feaſt of Purim.
Chap. 25. Of their Faſting dayes.
Chap. 26. Of their difference of meats, and of the divers boyling of them, and of their Kitchin Veſſels.
Chap. 27. Of the manner how they kill their beaſts, and of the corporation of Butchers, and how they are licenſed.
Chap. 28. Of their Marriages, and of the Dowry bill.
Chap. 29. Of the divorce uſed among the Jews, and the bill of divorce.
Chap. 30. How a Jewiſh woman divorceth her ſelfe from the brother of her deceaſed Husband
Chap. 31. Of the uncleanneſſe of the Jewiſh women, and the manner of their cleanſing, and of their carriage towards their Husbands in the time of their uncleanneſs.
Chap, 32. Of the Proverb of the Jews, and their manner of begging, and the form of their paſport.
Chap. 33. Of divers ſorts of diſeaſes incident to the Jews, as the plague and falling ſickneſſe.
Chap. 34. How the Jews are wont to inflict puniſhment one upon another for their offences.
Chap. 35. Touching the burial of the Jewes, and how they are bewailed and lamented of their living friends and kinsfolke.
Chap. 36. Of their Messias, which they believe is yet to come: how manifold▪ he is, of the miracles which ſhall foregoe his comming, of the Feaſt hee ſhall make to the Jews, of his Marriage, his Reigne, the ſtate of the Jewes in the time thereof, of his death, as alſo how Antichriſt ſhall war againſt him.