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that it would have been better for me that I had never been born.

Some days before my father left Gibraltar, I made known to my Christian friends my desire, if it were possible, to find a place where I might study for the purpose of becoming, by the grace of God, a missionary among my brethren after the flesh. For my desire is to offer myself a living sacrifice to my Saviour, and to labour for his glory, seeking the salvation of the lost sheep of the house of Israel, particularly those of my country, for whom "I have great heaviness and continual sorrow of heart." My Christian friends at Gibraltar counselled me to come to London, that I might escape the persecution of the Jews, and obtain my desire to study. I came, recommended to the Rev. Elijah Hoole, who introduced me to the “British Society," and on the 10th of August I came hither to receive religious instruction from the Rev. W. C. Yonge.

Since my conversion, I have enjoyed peace with God; and though I have had to endure many trials, yet am I happy, knowing that "all things shall work together for my good." And may God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, enable us to live according to his will, and finally grant that we may be found with the Lamb on Mount Sion, having the name of our Father upon our foreheads, and singing a new song to Him who was slain and has redeemed us to God by his blood, saying, "Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever." Amen and Amen.

A. BEN OLIEL.

RABBINISM.

THE term Rabbi is a name of dignity among the Jews, similar in meaning to our word "master," or teacher." It is doubtful when it was first introduced, though Jewish writers admit that it was not in use before the time of Hillel of Babylon, who lived in the first century before the Christian era. Probably the word "Rab," signifying chief, came originally from the Chaldees, for, before the captivity, we find it used in reference to the officers of the king of Babylon. Rab-saris, “the chief eunuch," and Rab-mag, “chief of the magi,” are numbered among the princes of the king of Babylon, Jer. xxxix. 3.

This title was used in the Jewish schools in a three-fold

form, indicating three degrees of honour. The lowest was Rab, signifying master. Rabbi, my master, was of higher dignity. Raban, great master, or Rabboni, my great master, was highest of the three. It is not certain, however, that this distinction obtained in the time of Christ.

The title has continued in use among the Jews in modern times, and all the Jewish writings composed since the Christian era, have been called Rabbinical.

The Talmud is the chief work of the Rabbis. It contains those rules and regulations, by which, in addition to the Old Testament, the conduct of the Jewish nation is regulated. Whatever is obligatory upon them beside the law, is recorded in this work. Hence the contents of the Talmud are of a diversified character, relating not merely to religion, but to philosophy, medicine, history, jurisprudence, and the various branches of practical duty.

The

The Talmud is composed of the Mishna and Gemara. Mishna is the oral law. According to the Jews, Moses received it upon Mount Sinai, at the same time that he received the written law. “All the precepts of the law were given by God to Moses, our master, together with an interpretation of what the authentic text signified. Moses going into his tent, first related to Aaron the text and the interpretation. He rising, and going to the right hand of Moses, Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron, came and heard the same that had been dictated before to their father; so that he heard it twice. Then came the seventy elders, and at last the whole people heard the same. They all committed to memory the text and the interpretation, which Aaron had heard many times; and hence arose the written law, and the oral law, six hundred and thirteen precepts, together with their interpretations: the precept inscribed in the books, the interpretation handed down by word of mouth." From the seventy elders the oral law was received by the prophets, who transmitted it to the men of the great synagogue, the last of whom was Simon the Just, high priest of the Jews, B.c. 300. From the men of the synagogue it was received by the Rabbins. After the second destruction of Jerusalem under Adrian, and the consequent dispersion of the Jews throughout the world, fears were entertained lest the oral traditions should be lost, especially as their great number rendered it impossible to preserve them in the

memory. Hence arose the necessity of committing them to writing. Rabbi Judah Hakkadosh, (i.e. the holy,) is said to have made the first permanent record of them A.D. 190 or 220. Such was the origin of the Mishna.

After the destruction of Jerusalem, numerous schools were established by the Rabbis, in which the Hebrew language and literature were taught. Of these schools, the most celebrated were those of Babylon and Tiberias. The Rabbis in these two places wrote many commentaries upon the Mishna, which were at length collected into two separate works, called the Jerusalem Gemara, and the Babylonian Gemara. The latter is the work of Rabbi Asche and several other rabbis at Babylon, whose names continue to be venerated by the Jews. It was completed A.D. 500, and, being appended to the Mishna, make up, with it, the Babylonian Talmud.

The Jerusalem Gemara embodied the comments of the Rabbis at Tiberias. Internal evidence shows that it was written towards the end of the fourth century. This Gemara, appended to the Mishna, constitutes what is called the Jerusalem Talmud.

How long the school of Tiberias lasted is uncertain. The Babylonish school was broken up by the Arabs, A.D. 1040, and most of the scholars took refuge in Spain, where they founded schools in the principal cities. These schools produced a

succession of writers, of whom the most celebrated was Maimonides.

But to return to the Talmud. We see from the foregoing statement, that the two Talmuds have the same Mishna, but differ in their Gemaras. The term Mishna signifies repetition, because it is, as it were, a repetition of the written law, a second law. The word Gemara denotes completion, inasmuch as it completes the work. The word Talmud signifies doctrine. The Jews greatly prefer the Babylonian to the Jerusalem Talmud. It is far more copious and abundant in its expositions. Hence, in speaking of it, they call it the Talmud, while the other is never mentioned without prefixing the name Jerusalem.

The Jews set so high a value on the Talmud, that they place it generally above the inspired law. It is one of their rabbinical sayings, that "the Bible is like water, and the Mishna like wine." Again, "He that shall say, There are no phylacteries, transgressing the words of the law, is not guilty; but

he that shall say, There are five totaphoth, adding to the words of the scribes, he is guilty." Again, "If a Jew transgresses the law of the Bible, he may hope for forgiveness; but if he transgresses the law of the Talmud, he must never expect to be forgiven." And yet this book, on which they place so high a value, is, for its greater part, filled with the most irreverent and childish trifles. It gravely discusses whether a man shall lift up his finger, and not his thumb, in the temple, and whether it is right to kill a flea on the Sabbath. The Gemara says, "Every person has six hundred and thirteen limbs, veins, and joints in the body; so, for every one of them, there is a commandment." But to the question, How is it possible for one man to keep six hundred and thirteen precepts? it is replied, “On a fair calculation, there are nearly five millions of Jews in the world; if some, therefore, keep five, others two or three, and thousands should even keep one, God is satisfied: for among these five millions, the six hundred and thirteen are sure to be kept; and God reckons all the Jews as one body, his chosen people."

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“The following," says Dr. Cunningham, a valuable missionary of the Scotch Church, employed in London, are some of the impious representations of the Almighty, to be found in the writings of the Rabbis. 1st. As circumscribed within the space of four cubits since the destruction of Jerusalem. 2nd. As dressed in a snow-white coat, studying the Scriptures by day, and the Mishna by night. 3rd. As, since the destruction of Jerusalem, sitting to give instruction in the law to young Israelites who have died in infancy. 4th. As reading the Talmud and rehearsing the decisions of all the Rabbis, except one. 5. As putting on the Tephillin and Talith, and appearing as a public prayer-reader in a synagogue. 6th. As actually praying. 7th. As groaning, howling, roaring. 8th. As weeping daily. 9th. As shedding two tears into the ocean whenever he remembers the dispersion and distress of his children, which tears produce an earthquake and noise which is heard to the extremities of the world. 10th. As inflamed with a momentary paroxysm of rage every day. 11th. As creating and implanting in man a propensity to sin. 12th. As swearing, and afterwards lamenting the obligation, and desiring to be released from his oath, and at length being released by an angel. 13th. As being deterred from revealing to Jacob the fate of his son Joseph, by the curse which his

other sons had denounced upon any who should make that discovery, expressly including God himself. 14th. As exercising little or no providence over the Gentiles. 15th. As engaging in arguments and disputations with angels, and even with devils, who are supposed to study in the college of heaven; on one of which occasions it is said, a Rabbi was called in to terminate the controversy, which he decided in God's favour; and at another time God is said to have acknowledged himself overpowered."

It is with much pain that we record these blasphemous statements. But such is Rabbinism; and from a system so impious and absurd, we would fain deliver our brethren of the Jews.

A PARABLE AND ITS INTERPRETATION.

A SKETCH FOR THE YOUNG.

LET us imagine a happy scene. Children are gathering round their father's table; every heart seems full of joy. The father's benignant eye responds to each affectionate glance, until the consciousness of a share in his love draws all more closely together. And yet sometimes there seems a trace of more than mere thought on their father's face, and some, more quick-sighted than the rest, perceive that all is not quite as that tender parent would have it to be; and there is a little whisper among them; and after many an affectionate struggle and a shifting of the delicate office from one to the other, the hint finds utterance. The father receives it with a loving smile, and thus he speaks :-You are right, my dear children, and I love you the more that you have been so observant of my countenance. I have a cause of deep concern, and it is never so tenderly felt as when I look around on this cheerful group. I love you dearly. I love you too for every effort you have made to enlarge the circle by gathering some of your brothers and sisters from very distant regions, but (and they drew still closer to each other, and every eye was fixed, and every heart beat high with mingled emotions,) all are not here, the family is not complete; you have an elder brother, and while you meet around me, blessed in each other, and in the warmest love of my heart, he roams the world, a wilful outcast. But I have not disinherited him ; I have not ceased to love him. I cannot tell you all his history, nor do I mention it to sadden this scene, but to awaken your sympathies. You shall read it, as my own hand has penned it. You will then judge of his fault and of his present sufferings; and you will perceive too what are the feelings of my heart, and what are the means which I have devised for his recovery. Here is the book, read it with each other, read it separately, and then come and speak to me about it, and see if you cannot make an effort, to which I may give efficiency, whereby the banished one may be brought back-the elder brother's place at the board filled up, and the joy of the family be so full that all the neighbourhood shall know and share it too." Then the elder

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