Page:The old paths, or The Talmud tested by Scripture.djvu/42

 "And thus it appears to me, that the proselytes allowed to sojourn are to be treated with the same courtesy and benevolence as the Israelites; for behold, we are commanded to maintain them, as it is written, 'Thou shalt give it to the stranger (proselyte) that is in thy gates, that he may eat it.' As to that saying of our wise men not to return their salute, it refers to the Gentiles, not to the proselyte allowed to sojourn. But even with regard to the heathen, the wise men have commanded us to visit their sick, and to bury their dead with the dead of Israel, and to feed their poor along with the poor of Israel, : for it is written, 'The Lord is good to all, and his mercies are over all his works; and again, 'Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.'" (Prov. iii. 17.) The reader will observe that there are several striking differences between this translation and that of the Bavarian Catechism; and these differences prove that, by the word "neighbour," the oral law does not understand a fellow-man without any regard to his religious opinions. First, the Bavarian Catechism says, "We are bound in everything to treat the non-Israelite who sojourns with us with justice and with love, and as we would treat an Israelite." The original says, "And thus it appears to me, that the proselytes allowed to sojourn are to be treated with the same courtesy and benevolence as the Israelites." The Bavarian Catechism translates this passage as it if were the undisputed law of Israel thus to act; whereas Maimonides only offers his own opinion. He says, "It appears to me." Here the French deputies represent the matter more accurately, by saying, "We are bound, says a Talmudist." Not the Talmud, but a Talmudist. Then, again, the Bavarian Catechism speaks generally of "non-Israelites." Maimonides speaks of only one particular class, the proselytes who had permission to sojourn in the land of Israel. That we do not misrepresent Maimonides' meaning, is plain from the words of the Jewish deputies, who also restrict the sense to that one particular class. "We are bound, says a Talmudist, to love as brethren all those who observe the Noachides, whatever their religious opinions may otherwise be." Here, then, on the showing of the Jewish deputies themselves, the Talmud does not teach that all men are to be loved as brethren, but only those who keep the seven commandments of Noah. How, then, are we to regard the idolater and the heathen, who have not embraced these seven commandments, and how are we to treat them? This leads us to notice,

2dly, The important omission made by the Bavarian Catechism. In citing the words of Maimonides, the compilers have omitted the whole sentence, "As to the saying of our wise men not to return their salute, it refers to the Gentiles,