Nothing can exceed the followers of cabalistical mysteries, in point of
fantastical conceits. The learned Godwin recounts some of them.
“Abraham,” they say, “wept but _little_ for Sarah, probably because she
was old.” They prove this by producing the letter “Caph,” which being a
remarkably _small_ letter, and being made use of in the Hebrew word
which describes Abraham’s tears, evinces, they affirm, that his grief
also was _small_.
The Cabalists discovered likewise, that in the two Hebrew words,
signifying “man” and “woman,” are contained two letters, which,
together, form one of the names of “God;” but if these letters be taken
away, there remain letters which signify “fire.” “Hence,” argue the
Cabalists, “we may find that when man and wife agree together, and live
in union, God is with them, but when they separate themselves from God,
fire attends their footsteps.” Such are the whimsical dogmas of the
Jewish Cabala.
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