The externalism of all these practices [ceremonial practices of the
Hebrews] will best appear from the following account which the Talmud
gives of "a feast." As the guests enter, they sit down on chairs, and
water is brought to them, with which they wash one hand. Into this the
cup is taken, when each speaks the blessing over the wine partaken of
before dinner. Presently they all lie down at table. Water is again
brought them, with which they now wash both hands, preparatory to the
meal, when the blessing is spoken over the bread, and then over the
cup, by the chief person at the feast, or else by one selected by way
of distinction. The company respond by _Amen_, always supposing the
benediction to have been spoken by an Israelite, not a heathen, slave,
nor law-breaker. Nor was it lawful to say it with an unlettered man,
although it might be said with a Cuthaean (heretic, or Samaritan,) who
was learned. After dinner the crumbs, if any, are carefully
gathered--hands are again washed, and he who first had done so leads
in the prayer of thanksgiving. The formula in which he is to call on
the rest to join him by repeating the prayers after him is prescribed,
and differs according to the number of those present. The blessing and
the thanksgiving are allowed to be said not only in Hebrew, but in any
other language.
In regard to the position of the guests, we know that the uppermost
seats were occupied by the Rabbis. The Talmud formulates it in this
manner: That the worthiest lies down first, on his left side, with his
feet hanging down. If there are two "cushions" (divans), the next
worthiest lies at his feet; if there are three cushions, the third
worthiest lies above the first (at his left), so that the chief person
is in the middle. The water before eating is first handed to the
worthiest, and so in regard to the washing after meat. But if a very
large number are present, you begin after dinner with the least worthy
till you come to the last five, when the worthiest in the company
washes his hands, and the other four after him. The guests being thus
arranged, the head of the house, or the chief person at table, speaks
the blessing and then cuts the bread. By some it was not deemed
etiquette to begin till after he who had said the prayer had done so,
but this does not seem to have been the rule among the Palestinian
Jews. Then, generally, the bread was dipped into salt or something
salted, etiquette demanding that where there were two they should wait
one for the other, but not where there were three or more.
This is not the place to furnish what may be termed a list of _menus_
at Jewish tables. In earlier times the meal was no doubt very simple.
It became otherwise when intercourse with Rome, Greece, and the East
made the people familiar with foreign luxury, while commerce supplied
its requirements. Indeed, it would scarcely be possible to enumerate
the various articles which seem to have been imported from different,
and even distant, countries.
To begin with: The wine was mixed with water, and indeed, some thought
that the benediction should not be pronounced till the water had been
added to the wine. According to one statement two parts, according to
another three parts, of water were to be added to the wine. Various
vintages are mentioned: among them a red wine of Saron, and a black
wine. Spiced wine was made with honey and pepper. Another mixture,
chiefly used for invalids, consisted of old wine, water, and balsam;
yet another was "wine of myrrh"; we also read of a wine in which
capers had been soaked. To these we should add wine spiced either with
pepper or with absinthe, and what is described as vinegar, a cooling
drink made either of grapes that had not ripened, or of the lees.
Besides these, palm wine was also in use. Of foreign drinks, we read
of wine from Ammon and from the province Asia, the latter a kind of
"must" boiled down. Wine in ice came from Lebanon; a certain kind of
vinegar from Idumaea; beer from Media and Babylon; barley wine
(_zythos_) from Egypt. Finally, we ought to mention Palestinian apple
cider, and the juice of other fruits. If we adopt the rendering of
some, even liqueurs were known and used.
Long as this catalogue is, that of the various articles of food,
whether native or imported, would occupy a much larger space. Suffice
it that as regarded the various kinds of grain, meat, fish, and
fruits, either in their natural state or preserved, it embraced almost
everything known to the ancient world. At feasts there was an
introductory course, consisting of appetizing salted meat, or of some
light dish. This was followed by the dinner itself, which finished
with dessert (_aphikomon_ or _terugima_), consisting of pickled
olives, radishes and lettuce, and fruits, among which even preserved
ginger from India is mentioned. The most diverse and even strange
statements are made as to the healthiness, or the reverse, of certain
articles of diet, especially vegetables. Fish was a favorite dish, and
never wanting at a Sabbath meal. It was a saying that both salt and
water should be taken at every meal, if health was to be preserved.
Condiments, such as mustard or pepper, were to be sparingly used. Very
different were the meals of the poor. Locusts--fried in flour or
honey, or preserved--required, according to the Talmud, no blessing;
since the animal was really among the curses of the land. Eggs were a
common article of food, and sold in the shops. Then there was a milk
dish, into which people dipped their bread. Others who were better off
had a soup made of vegetables, especially onions, and meat; while the
very poor would satisfy the cravings of hunger with bread and cheese,
or bread and fruit, or some vegetables, such as cucumbers, lentils,
beans, peas, or onions.
At meals the rules of etiquette were strictly observed, especially as
regarded the sages. Indeed, there are added to the Talmud two
tractates, one describing the general etiquette, the other that of
"sages," of which the title may be translated as 'The Way of the
World' (_Derech Erez_), being a sort of code of good manners.
According to some, it was not good breeding to speak while eating. The
learned and most honored occupied not only the chief places, but were
sometimes distinguished by a double portion. According to Jewish
etiquette, a guest should conform in everything to his host, even
though it were unpleasant. Although hospitality was the greatest and
most prized social virtue, which, to use a rabbinic expression, might
make every home a sanctuary and every table an altar, an unbidden
guest, or a guest who brought another guest, was proverbially an
unwelcome apparition. Sometimes, by way of self-righteousness, the
poor were brought in, and the best part of the meal ostentatiously
given to them. At ordinary entertainments, people were to help
themselves. It was not considered good manners to drink as soon as you
were asked, but you ought to hold the cup for a little in your hand.
But it would be the height of rudeness either to wipe the plates, to
scrape together the bread, as though you had not had enough to eat, or
to drop it, to the inconvenience of your neighbor. If a piece were
taken out of a dish, it must of course not be put back; still less
must you offer from your cup or plate to your neighbor. From the
almost religious value attaching to bread, we scarcely wonder that
these rules were laid down: not to steady a cup or plate upon bread,
nor to throw away bread, and that after dinner the bread was to be
carefully swept together. Otherwise, it was thought, demons would sit
upon it. 'The Way of the World' for sages lays down these as the marks
of a rabbi: that he does not eat standing; that he does not lick his
fingers; that he sits down only beside his equals--in fact, many
regarded it as wrong to eat with the unlearned; that he begins cutting
the bread where it is best baked, nor ever breaks off a bit with his
hand; and that when drinking, he turns away his face from the company.
Another saying was, that the sage was known by four things: at his
cups, in money matters, when angry, and in his jokes. After dinner,
the formalities concerning hand-washing and prayer, already described,
were gone through, and then frequently aromatic spices burnt, over
which a special benediction was pronounced. We have only to add that
on Sabbaths it was deemed a religious duty to have three meals, and to
procure the best that money could obtain, even though one were to save
and fast for it all the week. Lastly, it was regarded as a special
obligation and honor to entertain sages.
We have no difficulty now in understanding what passed at the table of
the Pharisee. When the water for purification was presented to him,
Jesus would either refuse it, or if, as seems more likely at a morning
meal, each guest repaired by himself for the prescribed purification,
he would omit to do so, and sit down to meat without this formality.
No one who knows the stress which Pharisaism laid on this rite would
argue that Jesus might have conformed to the practice. Indeed, the
controversy was long and bitter between the Schools of Shammai and
Hillel, on such a point as whether the hands were to be washed
_before_ the cup was filled with wine, or _after_ that, and where the
towel was to be deposited. With such things the most serious ritual
inferences were connected on both sides. A religion which spent its
energy on such trivialities must have lowered the moral tone. All the
more that Jesus insisted so earnestly, as the substance of his
teaching, on that corruption of our nature which Judaism ignored and
on that spiritual purification which was needful for the reception of
his doctrine,--would he publicly and openly set aside ordinances of
man which diverted thoughts of purity into questions of the most
childish character. On the other hand, we can also understand what
bitter thoughts must have filled the mind of the Pharisee whose guest
Jesus was, when he observed his neglect of the cherished rite. It was
an insult to himself, a defiance of Jewish law, a revolt against the
most cherished traditions of the synagogue. Remembering that a
Pharisee ought not to sit down to a meal with such, he might feel that
he should not have asked Jesus to his table.