Page:Once a Week Volume 7.djvu/202

194 and evening, for eleven months afterwards, and to repeat a song of praise to the Almighty: this is called the Kaddish, and is repeated by the son on the anniversary of his father’s death, all the days of his life, and a lamp is likewise kept burning all day.

Though no express mention is made in this song of praise of the departed soul, it is evident that it is expected it will derive some advantage from its repetition, or parents would not be so anxious to provide for its performance; moreover, the souls of the departed are prayed for on the principal festival days throughout the year, the prayer running as follows:—

May God remember the soul of my honoured father (or mother, as the case may be), who is gone to his repose; for that I now solemnly offer charity for his sake, in reward of this, may his soul enjoy eternal life, with the souls of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, and the rest of the righteous males and females that are in Paradise, and let us say—Amen.

The son alone is capable of offering up these prayers; daughters, though eligible to seats in Paradise, are not admitted to the synagogue as members of the congregation, and their presence in the gallery is, in theory, only tolerated on the hypothesis that it forms no part of the synagogue. But the distinction between the Jew and the Jewess is deserving of more detailed consideration. In everyday life the sexes are as much on an equality as among other civilised peoples, but in religious matters the case is slightly different: it is in acknowledgment of this difference that the Jew is taught to offer up the following short thanksgiving along with his daily prayers:—“Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who hast not made me a woman.” The female infant is named in the synagogue, and that is the only ceremony to which she is subjected.

When she marries, in addition to the superintendence of the household arrangements, she acquires certain responsibilities; for example, it becomes her duty to light the lamp or the gas for the Sabbath, which is a matter attended with some formality. Having lighted the lamp, or gas, or candles, as the case may be, she, with raised hands, repeats: “Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who hast sanctified us with thy commandments, and commanded us to light the lamp of the Sabbath.” It is also her duty to prepare bread in a certain manner for use on Sabbath days and festivals: when she has mixed the dough she breaks a piece off and burns it as an offering, repeating the same form of words as in the case of the lamp lighting, only instead of concluding “and commanded us to light the lamp of the Sabbath,” she says, “and commanded us to separate the dough.” But in this matter, as in some others, duty has been forced to a compromise with convenience: officers have been appointed to see that the dough is prepared by the baker in the orthodox way, and the Jewess cuts off a small bit of the loaf and sacrifices it in lieu of the dough.

According to the Jewish law it is still the duty of the husband’s brother, if he die and leave no issue, to marry his brother’s widow, and if he declines to do this, or if he happens to be disqualified by reason of his having a wife already, he must set her free, a ceremony which is performed in this wise. The Rabbi and witnesses being present, and the man having repeated his refusal to marry his brother’s wife, the Rabbi directs the shoe to be brought, which is kept for the purpose, and after the Jew has placed it on his foot, the Rabbi knots the two long strings attached to it round his leg. He then takes the widow by the hand and leads her to the man, and she makes in Hebrew what is in substance a declaration that he refuses to perform the part of the brother of her husband, and he repeats his refusal; upon which the woman stoops down, and with her right hand unfastens the knots, takes off the shoe and throws it down, and, first spitting on the ground before the offender, repeats after the Rabbi:

“So shall it be done to the man that will not build up his brother’s house; and his name shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him that hath his shoe loosed. ”—Deuteronomy xxv., 9.

The congregation responding, “His shoe is loosed,” the woman is thereupon pronounced by the Rabbi to be free to marry again.

The principal religious dogmas of the Jews are the unity of God, the resurrection of the dead, and immortality of the soul. The coming of the Messiah is an article of their creed, and they as implicitly believe all the statements contained in their book of prayer, this prayer-book being founded on the Bible and the Talmud. Respecting the Talmud much has been written, both for and against it, but it really does not appear to merit either the abuse or the praise it has received. It is a curious compound of wisdom and absurd superstitions. Its wisdom is often conveyed in fables more difficult of comprehension than even the allegories in which the old alchemists enveloped their discoveries; hence some learned men, who have dipped into the Talmud without possessing the imagination which enables some men to see a meaning where it does or does not exist, have pronounced it a tissue of absurdities. Much of it is taken up with the consideration of questions relating to the observance of the Mosaic laws, and of hypothetical cases. It is, with the Mishnah, the authority on which are based the rules for conducting the service of the synagogue, but notwithstanding, it is doubtful whether any human being ever read it through, still less that if he did he would understand it. It in fact contains the opinions, religious and otherwise, of a great number of Jews who lived within a period embracing from ten to twelve hundred years or more.

There are many things connected with the synagogue, with the articles to be worn there, with ablutions, cattle slaughtering, and so forth, which are of considerable interest, but which space will