not come up. On the first day of the week he brought him up again, and
said to him, Father, hast thou been made a Jew since thy death; why is
it that thou comest up on all the other days of the week, but not on
Sabbath? He replied, Whosoever will not keep the Sabbath voluntarily in
your world, must keep it here in spite of himself. He then said, Father,
have you then got work on the other days of the week, and rest on the
Sabbath? The father replied, On the other days of the week we are
judged, but on the Sabbath we are at rest.” (Bereshith Rabba, fol. 9,
col. 4.) Such are the legends which the Jewish Prayer-book, on the
solemn feast of Pentecost, stamps with all the authority of authentic
history. Is it necessary to prove to the Jews of England that both these
stories are utterly untrue? Is it necessary to say, that there is not,
and never was, such a river as the Sambation? Within a century the world
has been explored in every direction. From Cooke to Kotzebue the globe
has been many times circumnavigated, but none has brought us any tidings
of the Sambation. Since the times of Benjamin of Tudela, and Abraham
Peritsol, there has been a host of adventurous travellers, but none had
the luck to behold the miraculous torrent of the Sambation. In this very
city Jews are occasionally found from every part of the world, but from
the banks of the Sambation no messenger has yet arrived. The whole
account is a fiction, and is unworthy of a place in the prayers of the
Jews of England. The same may be said of the necromancers, who obtain no
answer on the Sabbath-day. It is nothing more than a clever fiction. By
the law of Moses necromancy is forbidden to the Jews, and therefore the
inventor well knew that no pious Jew would ever make the experiment,
either on the Sabbath or the other days. The story of Turnus Rufus, and
his father, as told in the Bereshith Rabba, is plainly contrary, even to
the assertions of the oral law itself. The father is made to say,
“Whosoever will not keep the Sabbath voluntarily in your world, must
keep it here, in spite of himself;” which implies that all, who do not
keep the Jewish Sabbath, must be punished in the flames of hell; whereas
the oral law says that the observance of the Sabbath is not required of
the sons of Noah. When this prayer was introduced into the Liturgy of
the synagogue we know not, but there it now stands, and in one short
paragraph contains three downright falsehoods. David Levi himself points
us to R. Akiva as the author of the last two; and accordingly the Talmud
records the original reference to the business of the necromancers and
the river Sambation, as proceeding from the mouth of that great Rabbi.
This brings us back to the time immediately succeeding the rejection of
Jesus of Nazareth, and shows us the superstition and the falsehood of
those who rejected him. Either R. Akiva invented these things himself,
and then he is guilty of deliberate falsehood, or he received these
accounts from others who went before him, and then he was a
superstitious man, and the guilt of inventing falsehood is thrown back
on the earlier rabbies. What is to be thought then of the wisdom of
those men who were weak enough to believe, or wicked enough to invent,
such absurd fables? Yet these are the men who opposed Christianity, and
this is the system which a large portion of the Jewish nation has
preferred for 1700 years. That the Rabbinical Jews have firmly believed
these legends is plain. They occur in the Talmud, whose authority is
regarded as divine. They are repeated by Rashi, Ramban, Bechai, and a
whole host of the most esteemed Jewish writers. They have formed a part
of the synagogue service for centuries, and are still found in the
Prayer-books of the English Jews, to testify that they are not yet
emancipated from the chains of superstition. If they had been, if any
considerable number of Jews had been convinced of the falsehood of these
stories, they would never have suffered them to remain in the worship of
God. It is utterly impossible to suppose that men would sanction the
solemn propagation of falsehood, and yet whenever the Pentecost prayers
are read or printed, there the fables of Behemoth and Leviathan, Adam
and the Sabbath, Turnus Rufus and the Sambation, are solemnly accredited
to the world as worthy of all belief and honour. The fact that they
constitute a part of a solemn address to Almighty God, and that not from
an individual, but from the congregation of Israel, gives them a
sanction that nothing else could confer. The foreign Jew who comes to
England from some country where there is not so much light, might, if he
found such fables struck out of the English synagogue service, obtain a
little light, and go back to his countrymen with the news, that the
enlightened English Jews have rejected all these absurdities; and thus
the moral emancipation of the nation might be prepared throughout the
world. But no; the superstitious Talmudist from Turkey, or from Barbary,
or the North, arrives in England, goes to the synagogue, and finds the
same fables and the same superstitions that he had learned in his less
favoured native land, and returns as he came. Perhaps he takes with him
a copy of the synagogue prayers, printed in London, and exhibits to his
countrymen Behemoth and Leviathan, the necromancers and the Sambation,
adorned with all the beauty of English printing, paper, and binding.
There is surely a great and solemn responsibility resting on those
Israelites who do not believe these fables, to protest against their
admission into the prayers of the synagogue. The honour of the nation,
the welfare of their brethren, and the glory of God, all call for such a
public protestation. The Jewish nation is a great and intellectual
people, highly gifted by God with those powers that adorn and dignify
humanity. But this is not the estimate formed by the world at large. Why
not? Because the world at large knows only the fables and absurdities of
the Talmud, but is ignorant of the real monuments of Jewish genius. What
can be said, then, by an advocate for the Jews, to one who holds the
Jewish mind cheap? All arguments will prove powerless as long as these
instances of superstition and folly are contained in the Jewish prayers.
The objector will still point to them, and say, If you want to know what
men really believe, do not look at their controversial works, or their
apologetic writings, but examine their Prayer-book. Consider not what
they say to man, but listen to what they say to God. There they are
sincere. What can we answer to this argument? Can we say that all the
follies and intolerance of former generations are expunged? No; whether
from love or from listlessness, there they abide to this day.
But the honour of the nation is but of small weight compared with its
spiritual and temporal prosperity. The English Jews might, by erasing
all such passages, and thoroughly reforming their Prayer-book, prove a
blessing to their brethren scattered through the world. Do the
intelligent and enlightened part of the nation really wish to raise
their brethren in the moral scale? It must be done by purifying their
religious notions. There is an inseparable bond of union between
religion and moral virtue. Superstition degrades and enfeebles the mind;
but zeal for the glory of God calls still more loudly upon every devout
Israelite to vindicate the honour of that revelation which God consigned
to their care, and which is obscured by these fabulous additions.
No. XIX.
LEGENDS IN THE PRAYERS FOR PENTECOST.
One of the most glorious circumstances in the national history of
Israel, as well as one of the most extraordinary facts in the records of
mankind, is the descent of the Lord God upon Mount Sinai to proclaim the
law. Glorious it is for Israel, for never did nation hear the voice of
the Lord, speaking out of the midst of the fire, as Israel heard. The
display of God’s grace and favour is the glory of his people, and here
they were both displayed pre-eminently. The grandeur and awfulness of
the scene we cannot now enter upon, except to remark, that the grandeur
of the reality is equalled by the dignity of the narrative, which Moses
has left us in the 19th and 20th chapters of Exodus. None but an
inspired historian could have treated an event so honourable to his
nation, with such majestic simplicity. The style and tone furnish an
irresistible evidence to the truth of the relation. And perhaps this
evidence is much strengthened by the contrast presented in the writings
of the rabbies. There is no part of the Scripture history which they
have more amplified by additions of their own; as plainly stamped with
falsehood, as the other with truth. We have here a wide field before us,
but shall confine ourselves to those legends which are authenticated in
the synagogue prayers for the anniversary of that great event. In the
morning service for the second day is found an account of the giving of
the law, in which the following wonderful passage occurs:—
צבאות קודש אחזום בעתה , צלע כגיגית עליהם כפפת , צרופה קבלו במנוד ואימתה
׃
“Dread seized the holy hosts, when thou didst turn the mountain over
them as a tub: they received the pure law with fear and tremor.” (D.
Levi’s Pentecost Prayers, fol. 150.) Here is a circumstance in the
giving of the law, which few readers of the Pentateuch will remember.
All will grant that to see Mount Sinai hanging over them, like a tub or
an extinguisher, was a very dreadful sight, if it really happened. But
surely every reasonable Israelite will inquire upon what evidence it
rests? In all the previous history God appears as a merciful Father,
visiting his children in their affliction, redeeming them from bondage,
and exhibiting miracle after miracle as their safety or their necessity
required; how is it, then, that He appears so suddenly in the character
of a tyrant or a destroyer, ready to drop the mighty mountain upon the
heads of his people, and cover them up for ever under the rocky mass?
Moses throws no light upon the subject. The oral law, the Talmud, must
explain the mystery.
ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר אמר ר׳ אבדימי בר חמא בר חסא מלמד שכפה עליהם הקב׳׳ה את
ההר כגיגית ואמר להם אם תקבלו את התורה מוטב ואם לאו שם תהא קבורתכם , אמר
ר׳ אחא בר יעקב מכאן מודעא רבה לאורייתא וכו׳ ׃
“And they stood at the nether part of the mountain (or beneath the
mountain). (Exod. xix. 17.) R. Avdimi, the son of Chama, the son of
Chasa, says, These words teach us that the Holy One, blessed be He,
turned the mountain over them like a tub, and said to them, If ye will
receive the law, well; but if not, there shall be your grave. R. Acha,
the son of R. Jacob, says, This is a great confession for the law.”
(Shabbath, fol. 88, 1.) From this extract it appears that the whole
foundation of the fable is a sort of pun upon the words בתחתית ההר,
“beneath the mountain,” or as the English translators rightly have it,
“at the nether port of the mountain.” R. Avdimi thought that these words
meant, as Rashi says, תחת ההר ממש, “under the mountain in the strictest
sense of the words.” But then the puzzle was, how the Israelites got
into that situation. R. Abdimi’s imagination supplied the rest. But in
the first place, the word תחתית occurs often enough in both the singular
and plural, but never has this signification. In the second place, this
fable directly contradicts the Mosaic account. God had already sent
notice to inform the people of the giving of the law, and they had
replied, “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” (Ver. 8.) In the
third place, if the mountain was turned over them like a tub, how did
Moses get up to the top, and what necessity was there for the command,
“Go down, charge the people, lest they break through?” &c. (Ver. 21.)
And lastly, if the law was forced upon the Israelites contrary to their
wish, cannot they make this an apology for disobedience? Is not this
what R. Acha, the son of Jacob, actually does, when he says, “This is a
great confession for the law?” So at least Rashi explains his words.
מודעא רבה שאם יזמינם לדין למה לא קיימתא מה שקבלתם עליכם יש להם תשובה
שקבלוה באוס ׃
“A great confession, for if he call them to judgment, saying, Why have
ye not kept that which ye took upon yourselves, they have an answer,
that they were forced to receive it.” (Rashi Comment. in loc.) And this
fable, contrary to the narrative of Moses, derogatory to the mercy of
God, and subversive to the principle of human responsibility, the
rabbies have introduced into the prayers of the synagogue, and there it
still stands as an evidence of the absence of God’s Spirit from those
who rejected Jesus of Nazareth, and imposed the oral law upon Israel.
But this want of wisdom appears not only in the nature of the additions
which they have made to the Word of God, but also in the conflicting
statements which these additions contain. In the legend just given
Israel is represented as having been unwilling to receive the law, and
yet in the morning service for the first day of Pentecost, we have an
allusion to another legend, which describes the great reward bestowed
upon them, because they received it with such a ready mind.
הם קבלו עול תורה עלימו , ונעשה לנשמע הקדימו , מרם נשמע נעשה נמו , וצדקה
בה נחשבה למו , ולשני כתרים סוימו , למלוכה וכהונה וללויה אוימו ׃
“They willingly took the yoke of his law upon them, and caused the
expression, ‘We will do,’ to precede, ‘We will hearken;’ before they
heard it they said, ‘We will do,’ and which was accounted for
righteousness to them; and they were dignified with two crowns; and
rendered awful with the sovereignty of the priesthood, and the Levitical
institution.” (Pentecost Prayers, fol. 86.) At first sight it would
appear as if this were a mere figurative expression to denote either the
priesthood and the Levitical institution, or the monarchy and the
priesthood. But then a difficulty occurs, why are only two crowns
mentioned? Every one knows that in a figurative sense the oral law says
that Israel is crowned with three crowns, as it is said,
בשלש כתרים נכתרו ישראל כתר תורה וכתר כהונה וכתר מלכות ׃
“Israel is crowned with three crowns, the crown of the law, and the
crown of the priesthood, and the crown of the kingdom.” (Hilchoth Talmud
Torah, chap. iii. 1.) Why then does this prayer only mention two? It is
because it refers to a totally different circumstance. The number of the
crowns, and the reason assigned for their bestowal, “because they caused
the expression ‘We will do,’ to precede ‘We will hearken,’” both
identify the allusion as being made to the following Talmudic legend:—
בשעה שהקדימו ישראל נעשה לנשמע באו ששים ריבוא של מלאכי השרת לכל אחד ואחד
מישראל קשרו לו שני כתרים אחד כנגד נעשה ואחד כנגד נשמע וכיון שחטאו ישראל
ירדו מאה ועשרים רבוא מלאכי חבלה ופרקום שנאמר ויתנצלו בני ישראל את עדים
מהר חורב ׃
“In the hour when Israel caused, ‘We will do,’ to precede ‘We will
hearken,’ there came six hundred thousand ministering angels, one to
each Israelite, and invested him with two crowns, one answering to ‘We
will do;’ and the second answering to ‘We will hearken.’ But when Israel
sinned, there descended twelve hundred thousand evil angels, and took
them away: as it is said, ‘The children of Israel stripped themselves
(or were stripped) of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.’” (Ex. xxxiii.
6.) (Shabbath, fol. 88, 1.) Here, then, is no allegory, no allusion to
the allegorical crowns of Israel, but a narrative of a supposed fact,
which occurred in the history of each of the six hundred thousand
Israelites who went forth from Egypt. The commentary in the Talmud
evidently treats this as a grave and authentic history, for it tells us
the material of which the crowns were composed.
שני כתרים של הוד היו לפיכך כשנטלם משה קרן עור פניו ׃
“The two crowns were crowns of glory, therefore, when Moses wore them
the skin of his face shone.” From this it is evident that the Rabbinists
considered this legend to be as authentic as the fact recorded in the
Bible (Exod. xxxiv. 30), that the skin of Moses’ face shone. They were
not satisfied with the honour conferred upon Moses, but were led, by a
vainglorious feeling, to extend it to every individual Israelite, and to
add what is not said of Moses, but what increases the marvellousness of
the narrative, that six hundred thousand angels descended for the
purpose of crowning Israel, and that twice that number was necessary for
the removal of the crowns once conferred. But how does this story agree
with the former? If the Israelites were compelled to receive the law
against their will, by the terrors of the mountain hanging over their
heads, what great merit was there to deserve these two crowns? If the
Israelites were so willing, and received such a glorious reward, what
necessity was there for turning the mountain over them like a tub? These
stories are inconsistent in themselves, without foundation in the Word
of God, and are therefore unworthy of a place in the prayers of Israel.
But this prayer has other particulars equally wonderful, to which we
proceed. A sentence or two farther on, this prayer describes the effect
which the delivery of the ten commandments produced upon Israel.
ואחת בדברו החריד עולמו , ועשרים וארבעה מיל מהלך נעו עמו , שתים זו
כהשמיעו נואמו ׃
“When he spoke the first word, his world was terrified, and when they
heard two commandments, they moved backward the space of twenty-four מיל
miles.” (Pentecost Prayers, fol. 87.) To understand this, we must again
refer to the Talmud, which gives us the particulars.
אמר ר׳ יהושע בר לוי כל דבור ודבור שיצא מפי הקב׳׳ה חזרו ישראל לאחוריהן
י׳׳ב מיל והיו מלאכי השרת מדדין אותן שנאמר מלאכי צבאות ידודון ידודון אל
תקרא ידודון אלא ידדון ׃
“Rabbi Joshua, the son of Levi, says, as each commandment proceeded from
the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, Israel retreated twelve miles,
and the ministering angels led them back, as it is said, ‘the angels of
the host did flee apace.’ (Ps. lxviii. 13.) Do not read יְדַֹדּוּן ‘they
fled;’ but יְדַדּוּן, ‘they led.’” (Shabbath, fol. 88, 2.) In this short
passage we have two deliberate alterations of the Word of God, in order
to square it with this absurd tradition. In the first place, מלכי צבאות
“Kings of hosts” is changed into מלאכי צבאות “angels of hosts,” and in
the second place, “They fled,” is changed into “they led.” These
alterations do of themselves throw discredit upon the story which
requires them, and not only upon this story, but upon the whole oral
law, which allows such trifling with the Word of God. But our business
is at present with the legend, and as it is told a little more
circumstantially in the Jalkut, it will be well to give that version of
it also.
ויעמדו מרחוק חוץ לשנים עשר מיל מגיד שהיו ישראל נרתעין לאחוריהן שנים עשר
מיל וחוזרין לפניהם שנים עשר מיל הרי עשרים וארבעה מיל על כל דבור ודבור
נמצאו מהלכין באותו היום מאתים וארבעים מיל באותה שעה אמר הקב׳׳ה למלאכי
השרת רדו וסייעו את אהיכם שנאמר מלכי צבאות ידודון ידודון ידודון בהליכה
ידודון בחזרה ׃
“‘They removed and stood afar off’ (Exod. xx. 18)—a distance of twelve
miles. This shows us that Israel retreated backwards twelve miles, and
then advanced forwards twelve miles, altogether twenty-four miles, as
each commandment was delivered. Thus they travelled in that day two
hundred and forty miles. At that time the Holy One, blessed be He, said
to the ministering angels, Descend and help your brethren, for it is
said, ‘The Kings of hosts did lead, did lead.’ (Ps. lxviii. 13.) That
is, they led when they went, and they led them when they returned.”
(Jalkut Shimoni, part i. fol. 53, 1.) It is hardly needful to point out
the absurdity of this narration. Just think of the Israelites running
away twelve miles, when they heard a commandment, and then brought back
again, and then running away again. How unlike the simple and dignified
narrative which Moses has left! We ask every intelligent Israelite what
he thinks? Is this story a falsehood? If so, why is it left in the
prayers of the synagogue? If it stood alone, we might suppose that by
some oversight or other it had crept in, but we have already noticed
many like it, and the very next sentence of this same prayer contains
another.
ברדתו לדבר לאם עולם , רעשו אומות העולם , פחד קראם ורעד החילם , חיל
כיולדה הבהילם , סערו וחרדו וסר עלם , ואצל קמואל באו כלם , לנחש בקסמי
קלקולם , ושאלו לו מה זה בא לעולם , שמא היום למימיו חוזר העולם ׃
“When he came down to speak to the immortal people, the people of the
world were moved, dread seized them, and trembling laid hold on them;
pain troubled them as a woman in travail: they were shaken and
disturbed, and their shadow departed from them; they all came to Kemuel,
to divine with their erroneous divinations, and asked him, What is this
that hath happened to the world? Perhaps the world is this day to return
to its chaos.” The preceding story told us what happened to Israel, the
allusion in this sentence tells us of the terror which came upon the
Gentiles; but to understand the allusion, we must again refer to the
Talmud.
וישמע יתרו כהן מדין מה שמועה שמע ובא ונתגייר ר׳ יהושוע אומר מלחמה עמלק
שמע שהרי כתוב בצדו ויחלש יהושע את עמלק ואת עמו לפי הרב , ר׳׳א המודעי
אומר מתן תורה שמע שכשנתנה תורה לישראל קולו הולך מסוף עולם ועד סופו וכל
אומות העולם אחזתן רעדה בהיכליהן ואמרו שירה שנאמר ובהיכלו כולו אומר כבוד
נתקבצו כולם אצל בלעם הרשע ואמרו לו מה קול ההמון הזה אשר שמענו שמא מבול
בא לעולם אמר להם ה׳ למבול ישב וישב ה׳ למך לעולם , כבר נשבע הקב׳׳ה שאינו
מביא מבול לעולם אמרו לו מבול של מים אינו מביא אבל מבול של אש מביא שנאמר
כי הנה באש ה׳ נשפט אמר להם כבר נשבע שאינו משחית כל בשר , ומה קול ההמון
הזה אשר שמענו אמר להן חמדה טובה יש לו בבית גנזין שהיתה גנוזה אצלו
תתקע׳׳ד דורות קודם שנברא העולם ובקש ליתנה לבניו שנאמר ה׳ עוז לעמו יתן
פתחו כולם ואמרו ה׳ יברך את עמו בשלום ׃
“‘And Jethro the priest of Midian heard.’ (Exod. xviii. 1.) What was it
that he heard which induced him to come and be a proselyte? R. Joshua
says, he heard of the war with Amalek, for immediately before it is
written, ‘And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of
his sword.’ (Exod. xvii. 13.) R. Eliezer, the Modite, says, he heard the
giving of the law, for when the law was given to Israel, his voice went
from one end of the world to the other, and all the nations of the world
were seized with trembling in their temples, and they repeated a hymn,
as it is said, ‘In his temple doth every one speak of his glory.’ (Psalm
xxix. 9.) They gathered themselves together to Baalam the wicked, and
said to him, What is the voice of the tumult which we have heard?
Perhaps a flood is coming upon the world. He replied, ‘The Lord sitteth
upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever.’ (Verse 10.) The
Holy One, blessed be He, has sworn long since that He will not bring a
flood upon the world. They replied, He will not bring a flood of waters,
but He will bring a flood of fire! for it is said, ‘By fire will the
Lord plead.’ (Isaiah lxvi. 16.) He answered them, He has sworn long
since that he will not destroy all flesh. What, then, is the voice of
the tumult which we have heard? He said to them, God has had a most
desirable good in the house of his treasures, which has been treasured
up with him for nine hundred and seventy-four generations before the
creation of the world, and he now seeks to give it to his children, for
it is said, ‘The Lord will give strength to his people.’ Then they all
began and said, ‘The Lord will bless his people with peace.’” (Ps. xxix.
11.) (Zevachin, fol. 116, 1.) This is the fable to which your prayers
refer, and which all Israel throughout the world is taught to believe,
and to commemorate in the solemn act of public worship. That it is a
mere fable is very easy to prove. First, it contradicts the narrative
given by Moses. This fable says that the tremendous noise made at the
giving of the law, brought Jethro to Moses—that this was what he heard.
But if you will read the whole verse, from which the Talmud quotes a few
words, you will find that there was no occasion for asking what Jethro
heard, for Moses himself expressly tells us what he heard, and why he
came. “When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of
all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the
Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt, then Jethro,” &c. (Exodus xviii.
1-5.) If you will read the whole chapter, you will find that Jethro was
come and gone before the law was given, and consequently before the
tremendous noise was made; so that it is certainly false that this was
the cause of his coming. Secondly, that all the nations heard the voice
of God is false, for it also contradicts the language of Moses, who
makes it the peculiar privilege of Israel, that they alone heard the
voice. “Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst
of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?” (Deut. iv. 33.) Lastly, this
story is palpably absurd. The Talmud represents Balaam and his Gentile
contemporaries quoting Scripture like two rabbies, and that, hundreds of
years before the portions which they quote were written! They both quote
the 29th Psalm, a Psalm of David, about 500 years before he was born,
and the Gentiles quote the 66th of Isaiah above 700 years before it was
written! And your rabbies have not been content to keep this absurd and
foolish story in the Talmud, but have inserted it in the prayers for the
solemn festival of Pentecost. According to these prayers, you are taught
to believe that, at the giving of the law, God turned Mount Sinai over
the people of Israel like a tub, and compelled them to receive the law
against their will; and yet that, for their ready obedience, six hundred
thousand angels were sent down to crown each man with two crowns. You
are taught to believe that when the commandments were given, Israel
walked backwards and forwards two hundred and forty miles. And that the
voice of God was so loud that it was heard by all the nations of the
world, who all went to Balaam, and all knew and quoted the Psalms and
the prophets, centuries before they were written. This is what you have
got by following the oral law. It is in vain for you to say that you do
not believe these things—there they stand in your Prayer-book. If you do
not believe them, why do you leave them there? But whatever individuals
may say, it is evident that the compilers of the Jewish Liturgy heartily
believed every word of them, and therefore introduced them into their
prayers. And it is equally certain that, wherever the Talmud maintains
its authority, these fables form part of the faith of Israel. But some
will say, We do not believe them. Why not; Do you disbelieve them
because they are true? No, but because they are false. Then you confess
that the oral law contains downright palpable falsehoods, and that in
many of its narrations it is not worthy of credence. Of what value,
then, is the oral law, and what credit can we give to the authors of it,
who did not scruple to invent these foolish stories?
No. XX.
LEGENDS IN THE PRAYERS FOR PENTECOST.
Nearly eighteen centuries have now elapsed since a large portion of the
Jewish nation deliberately chose Rabbinism in preference to
Christianity. The great question between Jews and Christians is, whether
those persons made a right choice. The means of answering the question
are within our reach. The oral law exists, diffused through the volumes
of the Talmud, and compressed in the prayers of the synagogue. There we
can look for it, and judge of its spirit and its intrinsic excellence
and evidence. The Rabbinists say, that the oral law was given to Moses
on Mount Sinai, and that the oral law which they now possess, is
identically the same as that then received; and they appeal in proof of
this assertion to the continuity of its transmission from father to son
down to the present day. The Christian objects that this oral law is
full of fables. The Talmudist replies by making a distinction between
the דינים the laws and the Agadah, or legendary part: and the Christian
is satisfied or silenced until he opens the Jewish Prayer-book, and
finds that the most absurd and improbable of all the Talmudic legends
are there recognised as undoubted verities, and integral parts of modern
Judaism. Many of these, and sufficient to annihilate all claims which
the oral law can make to truth, have been examined, but as this part of
the subject is important, two more must be considered before we can at
present take leave of them. In the sentence immediately following our
last extract from the Jewish prayers we read as follows:—
וכל דור ודור ומנהיגיהם , אשר עמדו לפניהם , והעתידים לעמוד אחריהם , כולם
העמידם בסיני עמהם , להודיעם כי דור דע נחשק מכולהם , טוב טעם ודעת
להשכילהם , וכל מום לא היה בהם , כי שלמים ומושלמים היו כולהם ׃
Which D. Levi thus translates, “And every generation, and its governors
that existed before them, and those that rose after them, were all
placed at Mount Sinai with them, to let them know, that the intelligent
generation was more acceptable than them; to make them understand good
judgment and knowledge: there was no blemish in them, for they were
entirely perfect.” (Pentecost Prayers, p. 87.) The assembling of the
living nation of Israel, to hear the voice of the Creator, was not grand
enough for the rabbies, they have therefore added that the souls of all
the unborn generations were present to hear and receive the law. The
comparison of this tradition with some already considered suggests
several interesting topics for inquiry. For instance, whether these
souls were under the mountain or not when it was turned over
them—whether they performed the journey of two hundred and forty miles
backwards and forwards at the giving of the ten commandments, &c.? But
the authority, which this tradition confers on the oral law, demands our
more immediate attention, and is particularly manifest in that version
of the story, which is found in Medrash Rabba.