The Jewish Synagogue, Chapter 25
CHAP. XXV.
Of the feaſting dayes in uſe among the Jews.
HItherto we have treated of feaſting, faſting ſucceeds. In the law of Moſes there is only one faſt commanded to be kept by the Jews, which is upon the tenth of September, upon which the feaſt of reconciliation is annually kept and celebrated, as was formerly declared. Beſides this, it is regiſtred in ancient records, that many other faſting dayes were inſtituted and ordained by the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets, according as the time required. And Zachary the Prophet, who lived after the building of the ſecond Temple, makes mention of foure general faſts in theſe words.zach. 8. 19. Thus ſaith the Lord of hoſts, the faſt of the fourth monethmonth, the faſt of the fifth, and the faſt of the ſeventh, and the fast of the tenth, ſhall …e to the houſe of Judah joy and gladneſs.
The faſt of the tenth monethmonth was uſually,The firſt faſt. and is to this day, kept by the Jews upon the tenth day of the ſame, to wit, December: becauſe upon this Ne…uchaddnezar began to beſiege Jeruſalem with armies, and to afflict the Jews with great trouble and calamities.
The faſt of the fourth monethmonth,The ſecond faſt. was and is kept to this day upon the ſeventeenth day thereof: becauſe upon this they endured many great afflictions which are not yet diſgeſted. For as upon this day the tables of the law were broken; the daily ſacrifice ceaſed: the book of the law was burnt, an Idol the abomination of deſolation was ſet up in the holy place, the temple of Jeruſalem. The city it ſelf beſieged the ſecond time, overthrown and taken. For theſe cauſes the Jews in theſe our dayes faſt very devoutly, begin ſeriouſly and earneſtly to repent them of their former life, if a man may believe the external geſture: from which it is no doubt but their heart is too too much a roving. The dayes following this faſt, even unto the ninth day of the next monethmonth, are accounted ominous and unfortunate: upon theſe no ſchool-maſter muſt dare to whip his boyes. If any Jew alſo have a case to be tried by the law, between him and a Chriſtian, at this time he ſeeks all manner of evaſion and excuſe, that he may not appear before the Judg untill theſe dayes be expired, fearing leſt his cauſe ſhould fail and not prove good, and he be overthrown therein.
The faſt of the fift monethmonth,The third faſt. is kept upon the ninth day of July: becauſe upon this very day the temple was burnt, and turned into aſhes: In the time here of they goe barefoot: ſitting upon the earth, reading doleful ſtories, and the lamentations of Jeremy. They goe into the place of burial, where they ſob out their doleful accents of grief and ſorrow, amidſt the ſorrowful conſort of departed ſouls, bewailing the deſolations of their beautiful temple with ſighs and grones for a monethmonth together. From the firſt day until the tenth, they neither eat fleſh nor drink wine, they enter not the bath, waſh their face or hands, or ſuffer any raſor to come upon their head. They do not make any marriages, appear not in judgment but ſore againſt their wills: complaining and crying out, that they had never any good hap or fortune in this monethmonth: which they prove out of the Prophet Hoſea, Hos. 5. 7. Jer. 2. 24.ſaying, A monethmonth ſhall devoure them with their portions.
Upon the eighth day they feed only upon lentiles, in ſigne of ſorrow and heavineſs: but they will neither eat beans nor peaſe, becauſe they have a certain black ſtroke in their upper parts much like unto a mouth: but they eat lentiles and egges, alſo ſuch have no ſuch lin… upon them, neither any repreſentation of a mouth, and therefore do beſt decipher and figure out a man ful of grief and ſorrow, who ſits ſtill and ſayes nothing, as though he had no mouth at all. A moſt Rabbinical alluſion. At night they eat but little, continually ſitting upon the ground; if any thing, then it muſt be an egge roſted: which they do likewiſe in ſigne of ſorrow, for as an egge is round, and in figure circular, so is ſorrow also, running after the manner of a round body, now to this man, now to that▪ Bed-time being come, they lay themſelves to reſt upon a harder couch then at other times. He that formerly uſed two pillows, is now content with one. He that formerly uſed one only, caſts it away and will not admit of any, for ſoft feather and down-bed they embrace ſome bone pinching mattreſs, and for ſheets of the choiſeſt lawne, thoſe which are hurden.
The fourth faſt,The fourth faſt. which is the faſt of the ſeventh monethmonth, is kept upon the third day of September: becauſe that good and excellent man Gedaliah, which was by Nebuchadnezar ſet over the remnant of the Jews that were left of the captivity of Babylon, was in a miſerable and fraudulent manner ſlain as upon this day, as Jeremy the Prophet beareth witneſs. Theſe are the foure general feaſts uſually kept by the Jews in the dayes of Zachary, Ier. 40. 41.and alſo by the diſp…rſed remnant yearly in theſe our times.
Beſides theſe general faſts,Particular faſts. they have ſome more particular, not kept by the whole Congregation of Iſrael in general, but by every one apart at certain times, according as they deſire to become holy and religious. Thus ſome of them faſt every munday and thurſday through the year, as that proud Phariſee, whereof our Saviour makes mention in the new Teſtament, who bragged and boaſted that he faſted twice every week.
Secondly,2. ſome uſe to faſt upon the tenth of March, for Miriam the Propheteſs who died upon this day, upon whoſe departure, the fountains in the wilderneſs did dry up, ſo that the children of Iſrael wanted water, and ſinned in murmuring againſt the Lord: yet many of the Rabbines are againſt this faſt, that every one ought to abſtain from faſting in the monethmonth of March, becauſe therein God wrought their deliverance out of Egypt, the remembrance whereof ought to cheer them up to joy and gladneſs.
Thirdly, they faſt for the moſt part upon the tenth of April,3. becauſe Eli and his ſons died upon this day, the Arke of the Covenant was taken by the hands of the Philiſtines, and the glory departed from Iſrael.
Fourthly,4. many of them faſt upon the twenty eighth day of April, becauſe Samuel died thereupon. They have alſo diverſe other faſts which they keep, by reaſon such wiſe men and Prophets changed this life for a better, upon thoſe dayes whereon they obſerve and keep them. Some faſt also upon every evening of the new moone. Others so often as they have any fearful and unfortunate dreams. He whoſe father is dead, faſts yearly upon the day whereon he departed this life. And many ſuch like cauſes there are for which they abſtain from meat at ſeveral times.
When they faſt, they abſtain from all kinds of meat and drink from morning untill the ſt…s appear; which were a true and laudable faſt indeed, if it were performed with a devout heat and minde, in the fear of God, and refe…red to that end which the Scripture preſcribes. But this kinde of faſting no… of the Prophets could never by the hammer of perſwaſion beat into their hearts and heads.
It is written in Medraſch rabba in the Chapter vezos habbetachah, Reſchis chochma parvum. p. 10.that ever and anon ſo ſoon as Moſes saw that God would inflict ſome puniſhment upon him, he appointed himſelf a faſt, making himſelf a cheeſe-cake as big as his own body, put on ſackloth, ſprinkled aſhes on his head, and going into the foreſaid pie or cheeſe-cake, faſting and praying without intermiſſion, did determine not to depart thence untill God had reverſed and made void the ſentence pronounced againſt him. This fable ſmels of the Talmud,Tanais p. 23. in which it is written, that a certain godly and religious Jew called Chon Hammagal, did faſt after the manner of Moſes, ſo often as he deſired ſome great and weighty matter at the hands of God. When upon a certain time it had not rained at any time throughout the whole monethmonth of February, and rain was neceſſary that men might receive the fruits of the earth in due ſeaſon, the foreſaid Chon, faſted and prayed, ſhutting himſelf up in ſuch a pie or cake as in cloſe priſon, and ſaying, O Lord of the world, thy childrens eyes are all upon me, knowing that I am as dear unto thee as any ſon can be to a father: I ſwear therefore by thy holy name, that I will not goe out hence untill thou have mercy upon thy people. Then the Lord ſent a gracious rain upon his inheritance. Habbacuck the Prophet alſo practiſed the like,Hab. 2. Rabbi Solomon Jarchi, and hereupon he ſaith, I will ſtand upon my watch tower, and ſet me upon the tower, and will look and ſee what he will ſay unto me, and what I shall anſwer to him that rebuketh me, that is to ſay, I ſtand in my pie or cheeſ-cake expecting untill thou make me anſwer, how it comes to paſs that the wicked do ſo prolong their life; as Rabbi Kimchi comments upon the place. So miſerable are theſe poor ſeduced Jews, in this manner deluded and given over to a reprobate ſence, ſo that they cannot bluſh at any thing, neither are ſenſible of any gripes of conſcience, while they speak so groſly and vainly of God and his word, interpret the Scripture according to the fancies of their brain, and their own good pleaſure. This ſuperſtition and abuſe in faſting, had a ſtrong head even in the dayes of the Prophets. Whereupon Zachary reproves their falſe faſt, and preſcribes the true, for to the prieſts and people asking him,Zachi 7. Shall I weep in the fift monethmonth, and ſeparate my ſelf as I have done theſe many years? He anſwers in Gods name and ſaith, when you faſted and mourned in the ſeventh monethmonth, and in the fift, even theſe ſeventy years, did ye faſt unto me? and do I approve it? And when you did eat and when you did drink, did you not eat for your ſelves and drink for your ſelves? ſhould ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the miniſtry of the former Prophets, when Jeruſalem was inhabited and in proſperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when the ſouth and the plain was inhabited. Thus ſpeaketh the Lord of hoſts ſaying, execute true judgment and ſhew mercy and compaſſion every man upon his brother, and oppreſs not the widow or the fatherleſs, the ſtranger nor the poor, and let none of you imagine evil againſt his brother in his heart. But they refuſed to harken, and pulled away the ſhoulder, and ſtopped their ears that they ſhould not hear; Yea they made their hearts as an adamant ſtone, leſt they ſhould hear the law and the words which the Lord of hoſts ſent in his ſpirit by the miniſtry of the former Prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hoſts. Therefore it came to paſs, that as he cried and they would no heare, ſo they cried and I would not hear ſaith the Lord of hoſts.
So much ſhall ſuffice to be ſpoken concerning the Ceremonies uſed by the Jews upon their holidayes and feſtivals: for hereby may any man eaſily pereive that their faith and belief is not grounded upon Moſes and the Prophets, but upon the traditions of tht Scribes and Rabbines, which I have deſired to ſhew from the very beginning of this treatiſe. It followeth that we ſhould now treat of other matters belonging to their private and domeſtical life.