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 THE 
 
 BY GRACE AGUILAR, 
 
 OP HACKNEY, ENGLAND. 
 
 "Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and 
 derision to them that are round about us, yet have we not for- 
 gotten thee." PSALM xlir. 
 
 " Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I 
 have chosen, that ye may KNOW and BELIEVE me. This people 
 have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise." 
 ISAIAH xliii. 10, 21. 
 
 EDITED BY ISAAC LEESER, 
 
 OP PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 PUBLISHED AT NO. 1 MONROE PLACE. 
 5602.
 
 SHEMANG YISRAEL. 
 
 HEAR, o ISRAEL: THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD is ONE. AND 
 THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, 
 AND WITH ALL THY SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIGHT. AND 
 THESE WORDS, WHICH I COMMAND THEE THIS DAY, SHALL BE UPON 
 THY HEART: AND THOU SHALT TEACH THEM DILIGENTLY UNTO 
 THY CHILDREN, AND SHALT SPEAK OF THEM WHEN THOU SITTEST 
 IN THY HOUSE, AND WHEN THOU WALKEST BY THE WAY, AND 
 WHEN THOU LIEST DOWN, AND WHEN THOU RISEST UP. AND 
 THOU SHALT BIND THEM FOR A SIGN UPON THY HAND, AND THEY 
 SHALL BE AS FRONTLETS BETWEEN THY EYES. AND THOU SHALT 
 WRITE THEM UPON THE DOOR-POSTS OF THY HOUSE, AND ON THY 
 
 GATES. 
 
 DEUTERONOMY vi. 4-9. 
 
 C. Sherman & Co. Printers, 19 St. James Street
 
 TO HER 
 
 WHOSE PRECEPTS AND EXAMPLE 
 ORIGINALLY INSPIRED THE SENTIMENTS CONTAINED 
 
 IN THE FOLLOWING PAGES, 
 THE TENDER GUARDIAN OF MY INFANCY, 
 
 THE SOLE INSTRUCTRESS OF MY YOUTH, 
 
 THE FAITHFUL FRIEND OF RIPER YEARS, 
 
 TO 
 
 MY BELOVED MOTHER, 
 
 <!)fs Volume 
 
 IS MOST GRATEFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED.
 
 EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 IT is with a high degree of gratification that I am enabled to in- 
 troduce to our religious public a new labourer in the elucidation of 
 our time-honoured faith, in the person of Miss Aguilar, the author 
 of the present publication. This, however, is not her first work ; 
 as about four years since she committed to the press a translation 
 of the " Israel Defended," by Don Isaac Orobio, the brave and un- 
 daunted defender of the Mosaic religion. In addition to this Miss 
 A. has written several fugitive poetical and prose pieces, few only 
 of which have reached me. 
 
 My first published sermons having attracted the kind attention 
 of Miss A., she requested me to undertake the editorial supervision 
 of her MS. work on the " Spirit" of our religion. I shall readily 
 be believed when asserting, that I felt truly happy that such a de- 
 mand had been made upon me ; and I accordingly offered my ser- 
 vices to do as I was desired. Somewhat more than two years ago, 
 Miss A. having finished her work sent it out to America through 
 a private channel ; but from some cause unknown it never reached 
 me. She had accordingly to undertake the laborious task of re- 
 writing it from her original sketches, and she completed it anew 
 about this time last year. Last May I at length received this long 
 expected book, and had it not been for many unforeseen interrup- 
 tions, its publication would not have been delayed till this time. 
 The work is now, however, safely afloat on the ocean of public 
 opinion ; and I assure my friends that they cannot afford me a 
 greater pleasure than to receive kindly and favourably the offering 
 on the shrine of our religion so beautifully offered by our distant 
 sister, distant only in body, because, though residing in another 
 hemisphere, her spirit is linked to ours by the ties of national con- 
 sanguinity and the bonds of one belief in the same kind and omni- 
 potent God, whose are the sea and the dry land. 
 
 It would not become rne to speak of the merits of this work, as 
 it might be supposed that I were but offering the usual and fulsome 
 adulation, which it is only too much the fashion to offer to an au- 
 thor. Yet I may say without hesitation, that our females will find 
 in it many passages peculiarly calculated to win and arrest their 
 attention by their elegant imagery and truly delicate portraiture. 
 
 *
 
 vi EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 Few indeed, whether male or female, but must rise refreshed and 
 invigorated by a new feeling- of religious hopefulness called forth 
 by the pious aspirations which are scattered throughout these 
 pages, and be the more strongly impressed with the beatifying 
 principles of our religion ; seeing, as they must do, that the argu- 
 ment so strongly brought home to the judgment of all is not fur- 
 nished by a man PAID to preach our doctrines, but by a woman 
 whose own experience has taught her the blessedness and life 
 springing from the living fountain of the code and law of Moses. 
 This voluntary testimony is worth much more than a highly elabo- 
 rate treatise by one deeply learned in the law ; and despite of oc- 
 casional errors, which are for the most part animadverted upon in 
 the notes appended to the text, I have no doubt but that it will aid 
 greatly in diffusing a true spirit of religion, and assist our fellow- 
 believers to lean in their joys and afflictions with confiding trust 
 upon the Holy One of Jacob their Rock and Redeemer. 
 
 I rejoice greatly, that a gifted daughter of Israel has at length 
 appeared, who does not disdain to stand forth as the champion of 
 her ancient creed, and who, forsaking for awhile the field of secular 
 literature where both fame and profit await the successful aspirant, 
 links her fate with those ardent few who hesitate not to avow their 
 abiding hope in the law of their Hebrew forefathers, and who seek 
 for no better reward, than to see their own religion followed and 
 its adherents honoured, not for the possession of wealth and power, 
 but for the possession of a piety and a devotedness to their God, 
 which can proceed solely from hopes whose birth is in heaven and 
 whose ending is only in eternity. 
 
 My editorial labours were restricted, by the express direction of 
 the author, to correcting the text where I might discover obscuri- 
 ties, and appending notes where they were required. I have ful- 
 filled both parts of the pleasant task assigned me with honest 
 fidelity, and with all the accuracy I could command. Of course 
 perfect freedom from faults I do not claim either for my friend or 
 myself; and any slight inaccuracies which may be discovered here 
 and there will, I trust, be viewed with the usual indulgence which 
 I have hitherto received. For all the notes bearing my initials I 
 am alone responsible ; since, owing to the distance between us, the 
 author had no opportunity of seeing them before they appeared in 
 print. 
 
 The chief points of difference between Miss Aguilar and myself
 
 EDITOR 8 PREFACE. Vil 
 
 are her seeming aversion to the tradition, and her idea that the 
 teaching of mere formal religion opens the door to the admission of 
 Christianity. The reader will easily perceive from my notes to 
 various passages, that I believe the traditions of our fathers of 
 vital importance in elucidating the words of Scripture and regula- 
 ting our course of action. And I insist in concert with all who 
 have duly weighed the subject that, without claiming infallibility 
 for the sayings and decisions of our Rabbins, they are nevertheless 
 entitled to be listened to with profound respect and to be obeyed 
 as holy ancestral customs, unless indeed they flatly contradict the 
 text of Scripture and the legitimate common sense deductions 
 therefrom. It is too evident for denial by the most prejudiced, 
 that a discretionary power was conferred by the law of Moses 
 upon the various chief tribunals for the time being, (see Deut. 
 xvii. 10 ;) and their decisions, together with the oral traditions de- 
 livered by Moses himself to the elders, always constituted our 
 customs, and are what we term the oral law, or tradition. That 
 many things may have crept in in process of time, neither war- 
 ranted by the strict letter of the law nor necessary for any useful 
 purpose, I will neither deny nor affirm, for this is not the place to 
 do so ; but this much may be asserted without fear of contradiction, 
 that without traditional authority there could be no Jewish con- 
 formity; since others use the Bible as well as we do, and still their 
 conduct is so totally different from ours. Now what constitutes 
 this difference, but our mode of interpretation 1 And whence is 
 this derived, but from tradition ? I regret that the small space I 
 am necessarily limited to in this preface prevents me from en- 
 larging on the subject ; but I may say once for all, that Jews are 
 not safe unless they abide by the doctrines whicli have been handed 
 down as derived from and based upon the Bible ; and though all 
 may not be able to get a comprehensive knowledge of the minutiae 
 of the laws, it is scarcely to be doubted, that there will be always 
 educated men whose business it is to devote their whole attention 
 to their religion and to be at all hours ready to show the people 
 the way they should go, and to distinguish between the clean and 
 the unclean no less than between the morally right and wrong. 
 
 In regard to the approach to Christianity by the formalist, I must 
 remark that there seems to be no connexion between the two, any 
 more than the apostacy to paganism or the Islam where either of 
 these prevails. The Jew embraces Christianity, if at all, by his
 
 V1I1 EDITOR S PREFACE. 
 
 desire for some tangible advantages which his change is supposed 
 to bring, or from a mere ignorance of the principles of his own be- 
 lief. It is, therefore, not because a person is a formalist, only be- 
 cause he is ignorant of his duties and their intent; and accordingly 
 those who have received no religious education are more likely to 
 swerve than they who have been instructed though faultily ; for if 
 these last fall it is not from ignorance, but from wickedness. Be- 
 sides, in free countries, such as America and France, Jews do not 
 embrace Christianity so much as become indifferent, and only coa- 
 lesce through marriage or entire neglect of all religion with the 
 multitude around them, simply because they do not care, not be- 
 cause they do not believe. Indifference therefore is a far greater 
 enemy to us than conversion ; and upon the former Miss A. has 
 said but little, whilst she has expressed more fears of the latter 
 than I believe warranted by the facts. 
 
 However my acquaintance with late events in Europe is not 
 sufficiently extensive to hazard an opinion on either side ; and I 
 hope fervently that the Guardian of Israel who has so long pre- 
 served us from annihilation may farther bless and protect us, and 
 give effectiveness to the earnest labours of His servants to spread 
 a knowledge of His law among His chosen people. 
 
 In conclusion I will merely state, that late events, which some 
 weak in faith have thought fraught with danger to our national 
 unity, will surely prove in the end of the utmost benefit. Inquiry 
 will be called forth ; men of godliness will hasten forward to teach 
 and proclaim aloud the word of God ; the spirituality of our faith, as 
 has been done in the present work, will be duly exemplified ; love 
 for our observances will be greatly increased ; and labourers of both 
 sexes will not be wanting to work with undismayed courage for 
 the promotion of the kingdom of Heaven in truth, faithfulness and 
 humility. With these few and brief observations I surrender the 
 work of my friend to the approbation of our religious community ; 
 little doubting but that she may meet with sufficient success to 
 cause her never to regret the hours she has devoted to a task of 
 all others the most pleasing, of having guided many to righteous- 
 ness, and caused the drooping spirit to revive in renewed strength 
 and hope in the Author of all the blessings that are ours here and 
 in the life everlasting. 
 
 ISAAC LEESER. 
 
 PI,-I,^ O I h-, S Tebeth 21, 5f>02. 
 Ihiladelphia, j January 3,' 1842 .
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 EXPOSING a work, which has long been the darling object of 
 an author's cares, the treasured subject of his secret thoughts, 
 the companion of private hours, to the eye of a censorious world, 
 must ever be attended with many varied and conflicting feelings, 
 more particularly if that treasured subject be theology. The 
 scrutiny, the criticism lavished on thoughts of a light and evan- 
 escent nature, may be heard with a smile ; the condemnation or 
 approval of peculiar sentiments and feelings, may be attended 
 with a degree of pain, which, however, can at length become 
 indifference ; but when it is those deepest, dearest, most precious 
 feelings of the heart included in that one word, Religion, indif- 
 ference can never blunt the pain, or ease the trembling doubt 
 which ever attend their exposure to a world. 
 
 The earnest desire to do good can alone nerve the spirit to face 
 pain, scorn, contumely even the charge of hypocrisy : yet even 
 this motive may be turned and twisted by the scorner; and the 
 breathings of a spirit painfully sensible of its own unworthiness, 
 fully conscious how vain are its struggles to walk on steadily in 
 the path it has laid down as that which the word of God points 
 out often sinking in grief and deep despondency, at the immense 
 distance which severs it from the goal it pants and longs to seek 
 these very breathings may be regarded as mere declamatorial 
 eloquence, as doctrines well-fitted for the distant crowd, but 
 unfelt by those who can so glibly and smoothly give them vent 
 in words. 
 
 Even to this wrong the author of a theological work must 
 invariably submit, and nerve his mind to hear his most sacred 
 feelings canvassed alike by the sceptic and the scorner, the 
 bigotted and the irreligious even by those whose approval he 
 may most earnestly desire.
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 To the Hebrew theologist these trials and difficulties are in- 
 creased ; for besides the enemies of his own faith, (which a clear 
 and candid statement of religious facts seldom fails to create,) he 
 has to encounter both open and covered attacks of the religions 
 around him ; he must prepare defence for all that he has promul- 
 gated concerning his peculiar belief; he must not be surprised to 
 find all that he has brought forward simply to demonstrate the 
 difference between his creed and that of others treated as attacks 
 challenging reply ; he must strengthen himself to mark unmoved 
 his most charitable and benevolent feelings trampled upon, or 
 totally disregarded ; he may see all that he fondly hoped would 
 aid the cause of love to God and charity to man turned into 
 weapons of bitterness and strife the good he hoped to see, 
 changed into evil ; and often and often he may long to recall 
 the words that he has written, but in vain. 
 
 The author of the following work is well aware of all this ; 
 and yet so powerful within her is the hope that it may be per- 
 mitted to find some response in the gentle minds of her own sex, 
 to awaken one lethargic spirit to a consciousness of its own 
 powers, its own duties, to lift up one heart in increased devotion 
 to its Creator, and benevolence to its fellow-creatures : that still 
 she sends it forth, trusting it to Him whose blessing can alone 
 render it, in His own good time, of service to His people. 
 
 To the mothers and daughters in Israel its pages are more par- 
 ticularly addressed, for to them is more especially entrusted the 
 regeneration of Israel. A preface is scarcely the place to speak 
 of the important influence of women : yet to them, and them only, 
 are the earliest years of man committed ; from their lips must the 
 first ideas on all subjects be received; and on them yet more 
 particularly devolves the task of infusing that all-important but 
 too often neglected branch of education, religion. By them, per- 
 haps, this endeavour to lighten their labours may be welcomed in 
 the same kindly spirit in which it is written. The religion which 
 it breathes may be deemed too heartspringing, too feminine, too
 
 PREFACE. XI 
 
 clinging', to find its reply amid the sons of her people : yet those 
 very sentiments, if insensibly instilled by the Hebrew mother in 
 her religious exhortations to her children, may fall with greater 
 influence than did they proceed more from the head than from the 
 heart She need not fear that they will degenerate into slavery, 
 that her sons will receive the scornful appellation of saints when 
 they enter the world. The man will retain, revere, and bless the 
 religion of his infancy, and bear it with him as a shield of defence 
 and robe of glory. His bolder heart, his hardier frame, while it 
 strengthens and retains its early impressions, will deprive them 
 of all which might be considered too feminine and dependant 
 While to her daughters the piety of the heart and the affections 
 will at once give strength for the trials of life, hallow domestic 
 and social duty, purify their simplest pleasures, and, fitting them 
 in their turn to lead their offspring in the same blessed path, 
 render them worthy helpmates of regenerated Israel. 
 
 When therefore the author looks to her own sex for the support 
 and countenance of her labours when it is to them that they are 
 principally addressed : she ventures to hope that from all undue 
 presumption her efforts may be absolved. Her aim is to aid, not 
 to dictate ; to point to the Fountain of Life, not presumptuously to 
 lead; to awaken the spirit to its healing influence, to rouse it to a 
 sense of its own deep responsibilities, not to censure and judge. 
 
 The hours of reflection, which attended alike the composition 
 and the writing of this volume, awakened her too strongly and 
 keenly to a sense of her own weakness and utter incapacity of 
 herself to keep the law of her God as her heart desires, ever to 
 permit her pronouncing a harsh judgment on her fellow-creatures ; 
 and if there are passages which seem to belie this assertion, she 
 can only declare they are as completely contrary to her senti- 
 ments as to her intention. 
 
 One other incentive has urged her to the publication of her 
 work the hope that it may assist the followers of other creeds 
 in obtaining a truer and kinder estimate of the Jewish religion
 
 Xll PREFACE. 
 
 than, from the scarcity of theological writings amongst the He- 
 brews, they now possess. It is not from argumentative works 
 that the true spirit of a religion can be discovered ; and yet with 
 the exception of one or two, these are the only kind found in 
 a Jewish library. Could Christians once properly understand 
 the pure spirit of the Mosaic faith, the real intent of all its cere- 
 monies, the immortal hopes, the universal benevolence it breathes, 
 the strength it infuses, the comfort it bestows : they would perhaps 
 see how perfectly unnecessary it is, either for the Hebrew's happi- 
 ness in heaven or his spiritual welfare upon earth, to make him a 
 convert to their faith. And if their desire and efforts towards con- 
 version yet continue unabated, the youthful Hebrew would at least 
 be preserved from the danger arising from the urging of the above 
 mentioned plea. The hopes of heaven and comfort on earth can 
 have no weight with those who discover both in the religion of 
 their fathers ; and converters must adopt some other argument. 
 But it is the author's earnest hope, that a fair and candid perusal 
 of these pages will remove many of the prejudices concerning the 
 Hebrew nation, by drawing aside the blinding veil in which igno- 
 rance had enveloped her, and touch some hearts, which are not 
 entirely closed against conviction and benevolence, with love and 
 veneration for that people so long the standing witness alike of 
 the truth of God and of His word. 
 
 It may be, that her hopes are too presumptuous, her wishes too 
 ambitious ever to be realized; but it is in the power of the 
 universal Father to bless the lowliest efforts of His servants : 
 and if He will, even this unpretending volume may be permitted 
 to bring forth good. Trusting in His blessing, not in the merits 
 of her work, the author sends it forth. 
 
 G. A.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE AVOWAL OP UNITY CONSIDERED AS IT REGARDS THE 
 JEWISH NATION. 
 
 THERE is one portion of the Jewish form of 
 prayer, which every member of that nation is 
 desired to repeat twice, sometimes three times, 
 in every day. It is the first taught to our chil- 
 dren ; either in Hebrew or in English, the words 
 of the SHEMANG are the first ideas of prayer 
 which the infant mind receives, long before any 
 meaning can be attached to them ; and it is 
 right that it should be so ; for so much of vital 
 importance is contained in this brief portion of 
 our ritual, that we cannot impress it too early 
 on the heart of an Israelite. But do we follow 
 up this good beginning? do we seize the first 
 moment of awakening intellect to inculcate the 
 meaning attached to words we have been so 
 eager should be remembered ? Do we of ma- 
 
 1
 
 2 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 turer years reflect sufficiently on the verses we 
 repeat, or do we not all feel conscious, at one 
 period of our lives, that they slip from our lips, 
 so heedlessly, so lifelessly, that we are scarcely 
 conscious, when we begin and when we end 
 them ? The thoughts wander, the heart is dead- 
 ened ; we feel this when our necessities have 
 formed prayers for themselves, when we suppli- 
 cate for things we desire, relief we need ; we 
 know then, the Shemang is the certain part of 
 our devotions, when Fancy, as if in mockery, 
 waves her wand, and we vainly struggle to com- 
 mand our thoughts. And why is this 1 because 
 the words have been impressed, and not the 
 sense ; because there seems no actual prayer 
 contained therein ; nothing to vivify the heart, 
 occupy the mind, or rouse the sluggish affections 
 from their sleep. 
 
 Repeating it, as we have done from childhood, 
 this effect is perhaps natural. It contains no 
 actual prayer ; but prayer is a word which may 
 be taken in a wider sense than its literal mean- 
 ing. For prayer is the language of the heart, 
 needing no measured voice, no spoken tone ; thus 
 Hannah's wish was heard and answered, though 
 not a sound had passed her lips. It is the hour 
 of communion between man and his Maker, 
 the hour granted to fallen man to lift him above 
 this world, to bring his great Creator, his mer-
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 3 
 
 ciful Father, awhile from His lofty throne above 
 the heavens, even to his side, listening in mercy 
 to his anguished cry, healing the open wound, 
 bidding the floods of wo subside, and leaving 
 His blessed Spirit on the soul to encourage and 
 to soothe. 
 
 And this hour of solemn communing, comprised 
 in the word prayer, may be passed either in sup- 
 plication for that which we most need ; in con- 
 fession and repentance for mortal sin ; in praise 
 and thanksgiving for untiring, unchanging mer- 
 cies ; in the study of His Holy Word ; searching 
 for and applying the sacred truths contained 
 therein, till we may know in some degree that 
 which we believe, and the moral, social, and 
 domestic duties stand forth clear and spotless 
 even as they came from Him. 
 
 It is this which is comprised in the Shemang. 
 It is not the creature supplicating the Creator 
 it is a brief emphatic summary of all those 
 laws which God himself inspired Moses to 
 impart ; and if we once consider it thus, our 
 thoughts will have no need to wander in the re- 
 petition of this prayer ; for the affections and 
 the intellect will alike be fully stored. 
 
 Taken as a whole, as the contents of about 
 one quarter of a page in our daily prayer books, 
 we cannot perhaps be so struck with the im- 
 pressive solemnity of these verses, as when wo
 
 4 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 regard them, as in reality they are, six verses in 
 the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy. To feel 
 their full force, we shall do well to turn to the 
 sacred writings and examine each verse alone. 
 
 " Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord 
 is ONE." Such is the literal translation of the 
 Hebrew 
 
 but it is quite impossible to give the full force 
 of the Hebrew by any English words. Yet even 
 the common translation is such, that we cannot 
 peruse it with any degree of attention, without 
 finding its solemnity appeal to our hearts. It 
 is the avowal of belief, belief in the unparalleled, 
 unchanging, incomprehensible unity of God ; 
 the repetition and acknowledgment of which 
 marks us as His chosen people, His redeemed, 
 His beloved, His first born, separates us from 
 every other nation, every other religion of the 
 world. How then, can we utter these sacred 
 words in the light and careless way, we are but 
 too apt to do ? Can the mere avowal of a belief 
 in Unity be acceptable to our God, when we 
 neither know, nor care, what that belief in- 
 cludes? sometimes perhaps mechanically re- 
 peated, even at the very time we are hovering 
 between Judaism and Christianity, knowing little 
 of the one, and tempted by interest to embrace
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 5 
 
 the other ? Oh surely this should not be ; surely 
 a few words attempting to explain the full sense 
 by the analysis of each word, will not be wholly 
 unacceptable to the Jewish nation ; and be the 
 means, perhaps, by giving their thoughts full 
 scope, to prevent that evil which in the repe- 
 tition of this prayer is only too general. 
 
 The Hebrew word rendered LORD in the En- 
 glish of this sentence, is in the original that 
 awful and ineffable NAME, which no true Isra- 
 elite will utter. It is the name peculiar to 
 the Divine Essence, signifying He who WAS, is, 
 and ever WILL BE ni!T comprehending, ac- 
 cording to most commentators, the preter, pre- 
 sent, and future tenses of the verb ITn to exist 
 or be. We are told first, that this Divine Essence 
 this ever existing Being, is our God, and then, 
 that this Divine Essence is One. "THN the ori- 
 ginal word will allow no second meaning, no 
 complicated signification, it is simply and solely 
 ONE from "TIT to unite, to be united, or to 
 make unite. How important then is the truth 
 this verse includes supplying us with a shield 
 of defence, which no open attack, no guarded 
 insinuation can have power to penetrate. 
 
 This word, signifying the ever Existent has 
 very often been turned against us, by those who. 
 from a kindly but mistaken zeal, would con- 
 vince us that our belief is wrong, and that we
 
 5 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 are blindly following the path of error. They 
 assure us, the ineffable Name is typical of the 
 Godhead in which they believe, that its three 1 * 
 syllables denote the Trinity, its plurality in 
 unity, that even as Elohim, it should convince 
 us that their faith, that which the founder of their 
 system taught, was contained as fully in the Old, 
 as in the New Testament. It is this argument 
 which but too often shakes the unenlightened 
 Israelite. Mystified by the types and shadows 
 of which his opponent so eloquently speaks, he 
 feels as if he could bring forward no argument 
 in reply ; and yet that very prayer, which slips 
 from his lips every night and morning, furnishes 
 him with one, so unanswerably strong, that I 
 doubt whether the most enlightened of our ad- 
 versaries could continue the debate. 
 
 It tells us that God however plural the word 
 by which He is called in Hebrew may be in its 
 termination, is One that the Divine Essence, 
 He who was, is, and ever will be, is One solely, 
 simply One, without any division of parts ; for 
 that One is formed from the uniting, the com- 
 
 * If our opponents were truly acquainted with Hebrew punctua- 
 tion, they would hardly have started this argument, which I find 
 stated here for the first time ; since the Sheva on the first letter 
 forms no syllable by itself according to Hebrew analogy ; hence 
 my friend's reply was scarcely necessary, were it not to silence 
 the mystifiers who always seek for some hidden meaning in the 
 words and phrases of Scripture. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 7 
 
 pressing of the Essence, if I may so speak with- 
 out profanation ; and therefore we cannot em- 
 brace the creed of the Nazarene,* which not only 
 inculcates division in the immaterial essence, 
 but that the Father was in heaven and the Son 
 upon earth at one and the same time. 
 
 It signifies little that such unity is inconceiv- 
 able alike in its sublimity, in its power, in its 
 combination of justice and mercy. It is enough 
 for us to know that not alone did our Father so 
 reveal Himself, in the impressive words, with 
 which He answered Moses irntf ")#N IT. 1 "!?* 
 I AM THAT I AM or lit. I will be that I will be ; 
 but that also in the repetition of His laws He 
 inspired that faithful servant with wisdom to pro- 
 claim His unity, in terms so powerful and clear, 
 that it would almost seem as if His all penetrating 
 eye, marking the war of argument which would 
 assail His people, provided them in these simple 
 words with an armour of proof, no weapon can 
 assail. Innumerable proofs might be brought 
 forward in defence of this argument innumer- 
 able texts quoted to give it force and life ; but 
 
 * Let me here remark, that in the above observation, as in any 
 other of a like nature which may occur throughout this little work, 
 no unkind or attacking reflection is intended on any other creed ; 
 writing solely for my own nation and in all charity to every 
 other, when I am compelled to write as above, it is only to 
 elucidate my subject, and pain indeed it would be to me, to find it 
 taken in another light.
 
 8 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 it is not our purpose so to do ; it is simply to 
 impress on the heart of the Israelite the awful 
 responsibility he takes upon himself every time 
 he repeats this first verse of the Shemang. If he 
 know not, if he care not, to mark the distinction 
 between his faith and that of the nations around 
 him let him pause ere he repeat this solemn 
 prayer ; but oh, let him not hurl down the anger 
 of his Maker, by renewing every day his cove- 
 nant with his God, when he neither knows what 
 that covenant is, nor cares what it includes. 
 
 It is right to learn this prayer in our earliest 
 childhood; it would be wrong to wait till we 
 could understand its importance to attain the 
 words ; but if their sense has been neglected, 
 let us seek it ourselves, we must not remain 
 Hebrews, only because our fathers were. The 
 faith we receive merely as an inheritance, will 
 not enable us to defend it from insidious attack 
 or open warfare, will not satisfy the cravings of 
 our nature, will not give us a rock whereon to 
 cling in hope and such deep love, that we could 
 be strengthened even to die for it, if it were need- 
 ed ; nor can it be pleasing unto Him, who de- 
 claring himself a God of Truth and Love, will 
 so be worshipped. Our hearts must breathe 
 from our lips in this avowal of our faith we 
 need not utter it aloud, God alone may hear 
 us ; yet should we so dwell on this important
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 9 
 
 subject, that if called upon, we might proclaim 
 aloud our faith in the presence of angry thou- 
 sands, fearlessly acknowledge our belief in the 
 unity of God ay, dare even scorn, and proudly 
 and steadily tread the sainted paths which our 
 fathers trod. 
 
 Nor is this the mere burst of an enthusiasm, 
 the mere glowing of an imaginative spirit, as 
 some colder souls may believe it. Let us but 
 examine perseveringly and calmly the truths 
 our fathers received as divine ; let us but be 
 convinced at length, that though our search has 
 been often unsatisfactory, often painfully ardu- 
 ous, that as they believed, so too may we : and 
 none will say I have exaggerated the glowing of 
 the heart, the holy comfort, which will pervade 
 the believer in the repetition of this solemn 
 prayer. Nor will it be in our closets only, we 
 shall feel all that we have gained ; we shall go 
 forth, no longer striving to conceal our religion 
 through shame (for it can only be such a base 
 emotion prompting us to conceal it in free and 
 happy England*) ; but strengthened, sancti- 
 fied by its blessed spirit, we shall feel the soul 
 elevated within us ; and cling to our Father 
 and our God in the deep devotedness of true 
 
 * The same may be said with equal force of every country, 
 where, as in the United States, the Israelite may worship his God 
 unawed by the malign influence of persecution. I. L.
 
 10 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 believers, and filled with the warmest love and 
 charity to our fellow creatures. This would be 
 the visible and palpable fruit of an earnest search 
 after truth. And let us now pause a moment to 
 consider the duties towards God and towards 
 man, which this avowal of, and firm belief in, 
 the unity of God devolves upon us. The repe- 
 tition of it is renewing the covenant between 
 our soul and her Creator twice in every day ; 
 it marks us as individually His own separates 
 us from every other nation, every other religion 
 in the world recalls to our own hearts that we 
 are each a member of His chosen people one 
 of that nation, who infinitely more than any 
 other experienced His unbounded love, His in- 
 finite long suffering, never failing, never chang- 
 ing mercy, a love, a mercy, not proclaimed 
 alone, but manifested alike in the history of 
 Abraham, of Jacob, of Joseph, Moses, David ; 
 yet more forcibly to our ancestors in their re- 
 demption from the bitter cruelties of Egypt 
 in the long suffering evinced during the long 
 years of anarchy, rebellion, even idolatry, which 
 marked the age of monarchy in Zion, again in 
 our return from Babylon, in the compassion 
 which sent promises, warnings, threatenings, ere 
 his last awful judgment fell. Ay, from the first 
 hour He promised unto Abraham, that as the 
 stars, so should his seed be, that from the loins
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 1 1 
 
 of that faithful servant should spring a race 
 peculiarly His own, until the present day : the 
 history of Israel proclaims our God as Love ! 
 Justice indeed, awfully retributive justice, yet 
 love so intimately mingled with it, so completely 
 robing justice with its mantle of light, that even 
 now, scattered as we are, emblems of His wrath, 
 of our own sins : we may yet veil our eyes in 
 that blessed mantle of love, and, flinging our- 
 selves on His mercy, cling to, pray to, adore 
 Him still. " For what nation is there so great, 
 who hath God so nigh to them as the Lord our 
 God is in all things that we call upon Him for?" 
 (Deut. iv. 7.) Our greatness is indeed gone from 
 us, if we apply that term to worldly things ; but 
 not the blessed privilege of belonging to the 
 nation who have God so nigh unto them. Of 
 that no man can rob us ; His face is indeed 
 veiled from us awhile, on account of our sins ; 
 but His love enrobes us still He is close beside 
 us, though we have forfeited the glory of His 
 presence. 
 
 But the history of Israel records r*6t our Fa- 
 ther's love alone ; would, would it did. The 
 belief in unity marks us indeed as members of a 
 highly favoured nation;' but alas, it marks not 
 that alone. It tells us we belong to a people 
 more fearfully iniquitous than any other in the 
 history of a world ; even as God's mercy, His
 
 12 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 loving kindness were more closely, more inti- 
 mately woven round us than elsewhere : so if 
 we sinned did we sin more awfully, fall far 
 lower, than nations to whom less privileges had 
 been vouchsafed. In vain we would shake off 
 this stigma we are not indeed " despised and 
 rejected of men," for the reason alleged by our 
 opponents, because we rejected and crucified 
 their messiah ; but for sins, terrific in their mag- 
 nitude, against our ever loving, long suffering 
 Father. Who can read the history of Israel, 
 yet say we have not sinned ? Did we not forget 
 alike the miracles wrought for us in Egypt, the 
 destruction of our foes, ay, and turn and mur- 
 mur against our God at the first trouble that 
 
 O 
 
 assailed us in the wilderness ? Look upon us in 
 the Holy Land, acknowledged, blessed, guarded, 
 as the chosen of the Lord ; yet from the book 
 of Judges to our final dispersion of what do we 
 read, but crime, and misery, and forsaking of the 
 Lord ? Stiff-necked and flinty-hearted, neither 
 promises nor threatenings, neither justice nor 
 mercy had effect. Even when to give time for 
 amendment and repentance, our Father pro- 
 tected us in the land of our first captivity, and 
 permitted us not only to return at the end of 
 three score and ten years, but held forth the 
 promise of a saviour, through whom He would 
 redeem the world, IF we gave up our sinful
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 13 
 
 ways, and sought the law of Moses, to bid it re- 
 sume its pristine holiness amongst us : even 
 these offers were rejected persevering in ini- 
 quity, or rather, sinking deeper, and deeper into 
 sin, the Messiah came not ; we were in no state 
 to receive him : and the measure of God's wrath 
 so long withheld, His justice peremptorily com- 
 manded should be hurled unflinchingly upon us. 
 Why were we exposed to such awful horrors at 
 the siege and destruction of Jerusalem ? Why 
 have we been persecuted, and expelled from al- 
 most every land where our weary feet found 
 rest ? Why are we even now scattered in every 
 corner of the earth, without a temple, or abiding 
 resting place ? Because we have sinned ; ac- 
 cording to the mercy that we scorned, so great 
 hath been, will be, our chastisement. 
 
 There are some, who raise a barrier between 
 the past and present race of Israel ; who feel 
 not how closely we are united to our deluded 
 ancestors, who would smile, perhaps, at the en- 
 thusiasm which compels me to use the first, 
 instead of the third person plural, in speaking 
 of Israel in long, long ages past. They may 
 acknowledge that the Israelites of the Bible were 
 in truth a very stiff-necked, foolish people ; but 
 the incorporating ourselves of the present day 
 with them, and endeavouring by our individual 
 conduct to prove our repentance and amend- 
 
 2
 
 14 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 ment of sins we have never committed, would 
 be the height of folly and romance. 
 
 If the Jews of modern times are indeed thus 
 wholly severed from the Jews of the Bible ; if 
 we have nothing to do with their iniquities, and 
 need not prove that we are anxious to appease 
 the wrath of God ; if indeed we are such a com- 
 pletely severed race what then are we ? Not 
 His beloved, His chosen ; for those terms can 
 only apply to the seed of Abraham, the ancient 
 followers of Moses. If the sins of our ancestors 
 are of no consequence to us, the promises vouch- 
 safed to them, can avail us nothing ; we can 
 have no stay, no rock, no shelter. The holy 
 word of God is not for us, we have cast up a 
 wall before it. But no ! no this awful state of 
 things can never be, for our God hath spoken 
 and His word is truth. There may be some 
 who think thus ; but it is because the Spirit of 
 God hath not yet been granted them they have 
 not reflected on their faith. 
 
 But there are others who may ask : " Allowing 
 we thus feel our nationality, granting that we 
 are fully sensible of the mercies lavished on our 
 ancestors, the awful iniquities they have com- 
 mitted ; in what can this consciousness avail us? 
 what peculiar duties devolve on us, as members 
 of this severed people ? We cannot individually 
 turn aside the phial of God's anger." No, we
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 15 
 
 cannot turn it all aside ; no efforts of our own, 
 however great and magnanimous they may be, 
 can work out our redemption. His mercy, om- 
 nific even as His creating word, is all sufficient ; 
 but the trust in that mercy is not of itself enough 
 to obtain salvation. Our Father rejects those 
 who do good, trusting in their own righteous- 
 ness to save them, looking to their own works 
 to purchase redemption ; but He equally rejects 
 those, who supinely sit, contented to trust in His 
 word, and think nothing depends upon them- 
 selves. As works without faith, are unaccept- 
 able, so equally is faith without works. The 
 man eager and anxious to perform all the cha- 
 rities of life, doing good wherever his path lies, 
 quietly zealous to do honour by his conduct to 
 the religion he professes and believes in, meek 
 in prosperity, as submissive in sorrow, yet feel- 
 ing how trifling, how worthless in the sight of 
 God are his noblest actions, his purest thoughts 
 how little they would avail him, did not infi- 
 nite love and mercy perfect and purify them 
 leaning on that love lowly in his exalted 
 virtue penitent for those secret or presump- 
 tuous sins, from which no mortal is exempt ; 
 that man is a worthy servant of the Lord. 
 
 The duties devolved on us by the acknow- 
 ledgment of unity, though solemnly important, 
 are comparatively few ; and it is to know them,
 
 16 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 which renders the retrospect of our history of so 
 much consequence. 
 
 That history tells us we are a chosen and 
 severed people to be holy unto the Lord to 
 show forth His glory unto the nations ; yes, 
 even now ; for are we not universally allowed 
 to be a standing miracle, a living witness of the 
 Lord, and of His word ? Do not the enlightened 
 and earnest members of the Protestant church 
 all acknowledge, their final redemption will be, 
 in some way, connected with the restoration of 
 Israel ? Do not the truly religious of all sects 
 look upon us with feelings near akin to admira- 
 tion and awe, ay, and even love ?* and shall we, 
 who belong to this holy people, be ashamed of 
 the faith we profess shall we seek to hide, and 
 to deny it ? Will not the love so graciously 
 vouchsafed us, appeal to our inmost hearts, and 
 call upon us in very truth, to love Him, who 
 hath so loved us ? Can we be lukewarm in His 
 cause, careless in prayer, silent in praise ? On 
 
 * I am well aware this assertion will startle those Hebrews who, 
 prejudiced themselves, think others equally prejudiced ; but it is 
 nevertheless perfectly and simply true, as it has been my good 
 fortune to prove in more than one instance. Others will say they 
 do but profess to throw us off our guard, and soften the path for the 
 insertion of their misbelief; but many instances in my life could 
 prove the contrary. The feelings I have had good reason to en- 
 tertain towards the Christian, are amongst the many blessings 
 which I trace from the hand of my God.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 1 7 
 
 us more than other nations, devolves the duty 
 of devotion of prayer for grace to walk in His 
 paths thanksgiving for the privilege of belong- 
 ing to a people so supremely blessed ; of proving 
 by our whole conduct, whether social or do- 
 mestic, moral or religious, that we receive His 
 holy word as true, and believe in His gracious 
 promises and that we deem the promise of a 
 Messiah and redemption so clear and certain, 
 that we would do all in our power, by the cir- 
 cumcision of our hearts and removal of our evil 
 propensities, to draw it nearer. Our scattered 
 and humiliated condition can oppose no barrier 
 to the performance of these sacred duties. We 
 are not rejected, though for awhile suffering His 
 displeasure. His holy Spirit, the sight of His 
 countenance, are indeed for a time withdrawn, 
 but not for ever. Every page almost of the 
 sacred Scriptures teems with the conviction, 
 that it depends on us in a measure to hasten or 
 retard the coming of the Son of David. How 
 dare we look to that glorious day, when our 
 hearts are still of stone, when we make no effort 
 to break from the trammels of sin, of departure 
 from the Law of Life, or show lukewarmness in 
 its reception ? Far more dangerous is the trial 
 of prosperity than that of adversity, the one 
 sends us far from our God, the other binds us 
 closer and closer unto Him. Surely then, there 
 
 2*
 
 18 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 are duties which the acknowledgment of the 
 Hebrew faith renders peculiarly our own ; du- 
 ties between ourselves and our God ; how can 
 we then look upon the repetition of that belief 
 twice every day as a thing of small importance ? 
 Can we do so thoughtlessly, carelessly, when that 
 simple act may come up as a witness against 
 us before the Lord, even as a vow and non-per- 
 formance ? Our duty to our fellow-men, which 
 the retrospect of our history inculcates, is simply 
 charity ; charity in its widest sense, perhaps in 
 its most difficult performance ; charity to the 
 peculiar tenets of others. If in our faith, that, 
 springing from the lips of the Lord, hallowed 
 by His blessing, marked by miracles the most 
 stupendous, like which no others have ever 
 been, or will ever be performed, if in this faith, 
 abuses, iniquities, idle fables, spiritless and un- 
 inspired customs, have been permitted not alone 
 to enter, but to continue and increase ; is it 
 marvel such should be the case with others, 
 which owe not their origin to the sacred Fount 
 that poured forth ours ? It is often with pride, 
 contempt, even hatred, we look down on, or 
 speak of creeds and their followers ; though of 
 the mysteries of the one and the private cha- 
 racter of the others, we are profoundly ignorant. 
 And of what have we to boast ? If our religion 
 be indeed divine, if its simple purity, its exqui-
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 19 
 
 site holiness, its beautiful economy of justice and 
 love, set it at a distance as a thing apart : it 
 should indeed fill our breasts with gratitude to 
 the God who gave it, but not with pride and 
 scorn for our fellows. It may be that a veil is 
 thrown over their belief; nay, we know that it 
 is so, from the blessed words which promised, 
 that when our Messiah cometh, not only " will 
 death be swallowed up for ever," but " then will 
 the covering cast over all people be destroyed, 
 the veil spread over all nations be utterly re- 
 moved ;" (Isaiah xxv. 7, 8,) and till that time 
 should we not do all in our power, to prove in- 
 deed the comfort, the spirituality, the holiness, 
 which our blessed faith includes, by kindly acts 
 of social charity, and faithful friendship towards 
 those believing differently from us, instead of 
 shunning them as a wilfully blinded, determin- 
 edly mistaken race ? It is of God that they are 
 not yet permitted to walk in the path of light 
 vouchsafed to us. It is His will, that it should 
 be now a time " nor day nor night ;" (Zech. xiv. 
 7,) and yet does the presumptuous and haughty 
 Hebrew, imitating the Pharisee* of old, dare to 
 
 * I fear, that my friend has adopted without sufficient care the 
 opinions which our opponents entertain of these people ; they may 
 have been overstrict in their observances ; but honest they were, 
 and I do not think that they ever inculcated illiberality towards 
 others ; on the contrary they taught, that the Lord does not with- 
 hold the reward due to any creature, be it who he may. I. L.
 
 20 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 say, their prayers are less acceptable than his ? 
 The offerings of the meek and lowly, the earnest 
 in the performence of his Maker's will, in his 
 duty to his fellow-men, these are acceptable and 
 of sweet savour unto Him, who judgeth not as 
 man judgeth, whatever may be the creed which 
 dictates them. It is the spirit which He regard- 
 eth, demanding obedience according to the light 
 His wisdom hath bestowed. If more light, more 
 holiness, have been given us, more from us will 
 be required ; and the self-satisfied Hebrew may 
 perhaps have cause to envy the meek and lowly 
 Christian or Moslem, he has in his heart de- 
 spised. 
 
 That in former times the Christian should 
 have been regarded with loathing, and hate, and 
 terror, can astonish none acquainted with the 
 history of persecution ; but now that in all 
 civilized lands we are protected, cherished, nay, 
 often honoured and beloved, why should this 
 feeling continue to rankle in the Israelitish bo- 
 som ? Treated with charity and kindness, why 
 should we not encourage the same soothing 
 emotions ? It is alleged that it is dangerous to 
 associate intimately with those of other creeds, 
 that it is as dangerous to our faith as the open 
 warfare of old. They are mistaken who thus 
 think ; were the Jewish religion studied as it 
 ought to be by its professors of every age and
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 21 
 
 sex ; were the BIBLE, not tradition* its founda- 
 tion and defence ; were its spirit felt, pervading 
 the inmost heart, giving strength and hope, and 
 
 * Again I fear, that Miss Aguilar has imbibed too strong a pre- 
 judice against tradition. It is mainly our general acquiescence in 
 the received mode of interpretation which forms the characteristic 
 distinction between us and others ; for how else can we at all 
 maintain any opposition against the views advanced by the other 
 believers in the Bible 1 It is useless to say, that the Scriptures 
 speak for themselves ; they assuredly do so to the person who has 
 received instruction ; but it requires no argument to prove that 
 difference of education makes people take different views of the 
 sacred Text ; or else all readers of the Bible would entertain the 
 same doctrines and pursue one course of conduct. Is this the 
 case 1 Certainly the Scriptures should constitute the daily exer- 
 cise of every Israelite ; but the interpretations, dogmas and opi- 
 nions of our ancients should not be neglected ; ay, tradition is the 
 firm support of the Unity of God. Say if you will, that Rabbins 
 have occasionally promulgated things of no value ; yet would this 
 constitute no argument against the good they have left us. They 
 teach nothing opposed to the most elevated piety; faith, hope and 
 charity are doctrines of theirs no less than of the Nazarene code, 
 and it remains to be proved, that a strict conformity to form, cere- 
 mony or outward religion in general is in the least injurious to 
 moral perfectibility. I do not believe that my friend meant to cast 
 blame upon our ancient religious teachers ; but that she only used 
 the above expression in a general, indefinite manner, without 
 weighing the whole force her words might receive. I am no ad- 
 vocate for any abuses introduced under Rabbinical rule ; but I am 
 far more opposed to the notion of certain moderns who would re- 
 ject all for a few blemishes incident more to the times in which 
 our teachers lived and taught, than to any absolute defects in their 
 systems. No one would pull down his house, because a few stones 
 were discoloured, when a slight labour might remedy the defect. 
 So let us be cautious, how we reject tradition, because of the few 
 incongruities it may occasionally present I. L.
 
 22 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 faith and comfort : we should stand forth firm as 
 the ocean rock, which neither tempest nor the 
 slow, still, constant dripping of the waters can 
 bend or shake. We should do more ; thus pre- 
 pared, thus convinced of truth, we should find 
 that every argument they might employ, every 
 book we might be persuaded to peruse, would 
 but strengthen conviction in the faith of Israel ; 
 charity to them indeed would increase, for the 
 more we studied of their belief, the more we 
 should feel the veil cast upon them is indeed of 
 God.* Never has the Hebrew, glorying in, and 
 openly professing the belief of his fathers, not 
 merely attending to form but proving the spirit 
 which guides and aids him, failed to gather 
 round him the respect and admiration of every 
 Christian whose respect is something worth. It 
 is those, who by mean and petty manoeuvres, seek 
 to hide their faith, who are ashamed of it them- 
 selves, who draw down the contempt and pity 
 of all they would deceive, and this not on them- 
 selves alone, but unfortunately on the whole 
 nation. 
 
 Why should we so condemn the custom of 
 seeking converts ? If but to too many the Jew- 
 ish religion is allowed to bring no comfort, no 
 
 * This and the succeeding paragraph is not a mere fanciful hy- 
 pothesis of the author alone ; it owes its foundation alike to con- 
 stant observation and personal experience.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 23 
 
 devotion, no spirit, and it is from those mis- 
 guided ones, the whole religion is regarded ; 
 why should we be so angry with the wish to 
 lead us where these blessings are supposed to be 
 found ? If there be aught to condemn, it is the 
 lukewarmness and ignorance of those of our own 
 people, who declare there is no comfort, no spirit 
 in their faith. Oh, "if," as an elegant writer 
 observes, " men of all creeds would seek not 
 points of difference but points of agreement, 
 how much of the strife and bitterness that de- 
 form God's earth would disappear; mutual igno- 
 rance it is, that but too often produces mutual 
 alienation."* And in this case, i. e. by the com- 
 mon fellowship of Jew and Christian, the truth of 
 this observation would indeed be made evident. 
 The points of difference between us, impassable, 
 all important as they are, are yet few, and need 
 never be brought forward ; while the points of 
 agreement are many, so many that our conver- 
 sation might ever be of our mutual Father which 
 is in heaven, of His glorious works, and attri- 
 butes, and love though that in which we differ 
 never mingled with it. And it is this, this uni- 
 versal charity, this self-humiliation, which is the 
 duty, the retrospect of our history commands. 
 
 * Preface to Miss Goldsmid's translation of twelve of Dr. Salo- 
 mon's Sermons.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 DEFINITION OP THE WORD HEART LOVE OF GOD CONSIDERED 
 
 AS IT REGARDS THE AFFECTIONS. 
 
 " AND thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with 
 all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all 
 thy might," are the impressive words which fol- 
 low the proclamation of unity in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, " Blessed be the name of the glory of 
 His kingdom," which we find between these two 
 verses in our prayer books, being the usual 
 ejaculation of thanksgiving used by the ancient 
 fathers of our race, whenever they have had 
 occasion to utter the holy name of God. 
 
 It is Moses who is speaking ; Moses who, ad- 
 dressing his fellow-countrymen, would, in the 
 brief eloquent words above quoted, instruct them 
 in what manner they must love their God ; and 
 it would be well perhaps, ere we endeavour to 
 explain the respective meaning of his thrice 
 emphatic terms, to pause an instant on the cha- 
 racter of that man, greater than any other in the 
 annals of the Bible.* 
 
 * And not the world II. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 25 
 
 In Moses the spirit of God rested, not only 
 inspiring him as a lawgiver, guiding him as a 
 leader, but signalizing him as a prophet, greater 
 than any who came after him, unlike any in- 
 spired spirit that went before him. To the pro- 
 phets who succeeded him God spoke in dreams 
 and visions, to Moses He deigned to commune 
 face to face ; He disclosed His glory, He passed 
 before him, proclaiming those attributes which 
 from age to age have been the support, the stay, 
 the consolation of individuals and of worlds ; 
 He singled him out, not only to prophesy re- 
 garding the future, but to threaten and to do; to 
 hold, as it were in his mortal hand, the judg- 
 ments of the Lord to be to the Egyptians the 
 rod of vengeance to the Israelites the minister 
 of love. 
 
 Through this faithful servant God deigned to 
 give not only religious but moral laws. Each 
 law that he delivered, each command that he 
 enforced, came from the inspiration of the Lord. 
 Moses was, if we may use the expression with- 
 out profanation, the mouth of God. He did but 
 speak words which were put into his mouth, he 
 did but issue laws which God had framed. 
 
 Yet there are some who deny this ; who be- 
 lieve the laws thus given merely the invention 
 of Moses, a man, who presuming on the igno- 
 rance and superstition of the rescued nation, 
 
 3
 
 26 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 framed a number of laws to keep them distinct, 
 and imposed them upon the people as the laws 
 of a Supreme Being. But then it follows, that 
 those who thus believe, if indeed there really be 
 such, must deny all faith in the Bible ; they 
 must refuse all credence in the redemption from 
 Egypt, in the miraculous agency of a superin- 
 tending Power. They must regard the Bible as 
 human, not divine ; and in so doing they know 
 not, they cannot know, the host of evils they 
 congregate around them. They forswear the 
 sanctity of the ten commandments ; they anni- 
 hilate morality ; for if the Bible be the work of 
 finite man, on what do we base our morality ? 
 Not on individual conscience, for conscience is 
 an effect not a cause ; they darken the light 
 gleaming on us from the fount of mercy and 
 deserting the fountain of living waters, call upon 
 themselves the curse denounced against those 
 who hewed them cisterns, broken cisterns that 
 will hold no water. 
 
 Yet some will urge that it does not follow, 
 because they profess to believe that many of the 
 laws of Moses were of man and not of God, they 
 reject the whole of the inspired writings. I 
 know not how they can draw a line ; but grant- 
 ing that they do so, would any man, who from 
 the mouth of God received some laws, dare him- 
 self to frame others in God's name ? Would
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 27 
 
 that man, who by the mere word of his mouth, 
 to all human seeming, sent ten plagues on 
 Egypt, and by these miracles knew himself a 
 chosen instrument of God ; who beheld the burn- 
 ing bush, who received the ten commandments 
 in the midst of thunders and lightnings, which 
 were beheld afar off by the assembled people ; 
 the man before whom the glory of the Lord 
 passed by would he be so presumptuous as at 
 once to disobey the third commandment, and by 
 framing new laws in the name of the Lord, take 
 the sacred name of God in vain ? The character 
 of Moses, as displayed in the sacred writings, is 
 completely contrary to this supposition. If blame 
 could be attached to him, it was more for diffi- 
 dence than presumption. We know that even 
 when in direct communion with his Maker, when 
 assured by the Lord himself of sufficient strength 
 for the accomplishment of his important task, 
 he still hesitated, still painfully felt, how little 
 capable he was of himself for the mission pro- 
 posed. " Oh my Lord, I am not eloquent," was 
 his pleading cry " neither heretofore nor since 
 Thou hast spoken to thy servant, but I am slow 
 of speech and of a slow tongue." Nay, he per- 
 mitted this painful sense of inferiority to obtain 
 too much ascendency ; for even when the word 
 of the Lord had passed, that He would be with 
 the mouth of his servant, and teach him what to
 
 28 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 say, Moses still entreated the Lord to choose 
 some other, to send by some other hand. And 
 was it likely the character of this man would 
 become so changed, that in a few years he 
 would so shake off the guiding yoke of God, as 
 himself to make laws, and in his own strength 
 impose them on his countrymen ? We have 
 proof there was no such miraculous change. 
 
 " Wherefore cryest thou unto me ?" saith the 
 Lord, in Exodus, xiv. 15 ; and what would these 
 words reveal ? That even when in the very act 
 of cheering the people of Israel, by the promise 
 that they should see the salvation of the Lord, 
 that God himself would fight for them, that 
 even comforted as his spirit must have been by 
 the miracles already wrought in their favour ; 
 still, still, his heart must have been wrestling in 
 secret prayer, still that consciousness of his own 
 weakness, his own incapacity, must have been 
 at work within, or the Lord would not thus 
 have addressed him : " Wherefore criest thou 
 unto me?" HE heard that anguished cry for 
 help, for guidance, though by man it was un- 
 heard. 
 
 Again, as a farther proof that the inward 
 character of this great and good man under- 
 went no change, we find him earnestly beseech- 
 ing the Lord : " If thy presence go not with me, 
 carry us not up hence." This is in Exodus,
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 29 
 
 xxxiii. When Moses had experienced innume- 
 rable proofs of God's all-guiding hand ; after he 
 had received from Him the ten commandments, 
 and the minor laws given at the same time ; 
 after manna had fallen, and water gushed from 
 the stony rock at his prayer ; after repeated 
 manifestations, that despite his internal con- 
 sciousness of inferiority and humility, he was 
 still the chosen friend and well beloved servant 
 of his God ; notwithstanding all this, he is yet 
 so fully sensible that of himself he is nothing, 
 that he would forswear the privilege of carrying 
 his people up to the Promised Land, if the pre- 
 sence of the Lord went not with him, to give 
 him strength and aid. Is this then the man 
 whose mind was sufficiently gigantic, not alone 
 to frame the code of laws transmitted to us in 
 the Bible, but whose mental strength and energy 
 enabled him to impose them as divine upon the 
 people ? Even allowing that there was policy 
 in giving to others all the stations of eminence 
 and pomp, and retaining none for himself or 
 his sons : it appears to me quite impossible to 
 read the character of Moses with any degree of 
 attention without feeling convinced that it was 
 infused strength, inspired eloquence, which made 
 him what he was ; that of himself he was timid, 
 yielding, even weak, with every hope and wish 
 centred in the welfare of his persecuted bre- 
 
 3*
 
 30 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 thren, without sufficient strength to benefit them 
 either by his arm or counsels. We hear nothing 
 of Moses before he was called and commissioned 
 by God, except indeed the indignant act which 
 avenged the smiting of an Israelite on the 
 Egyptian, and his endeavour to keep peace be- 
 tween his brethren. And this was not the dawn- 
 ings of a Lycurgus, or a Draco, a Cromwell, or 
 a Napoleon ; it was simply the impulse of an 
 excited youth, whose thoughts were indeed en- 
 gaged on the miseries around him, but who 
 dreamed not of himself as their redeemer and 
 deliverer. We know this from his ingenuous 
 reply when first called : " What am I, that I 
 should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should 
 bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt ?" 
 This was not the reply of one who felt the inci- 
 pient stirrings of ambition, who beheld himself 
 in fancy already a lawgiver and leader.* It 
 was one fully and painfully conscious of his 
 own nothingness, and distrusting his own capa- 
 bilities to serve the Lord as his heart dictated. 
 Self-distrust is not an element of ambition, or 
 of a mind able of itself to do all that Moses did ; 
 yet we see it the strongest ingredient in his 
 
 * It must not be forgotten that Moses was already EIGHTY years 
 old when he received his commission to deliver his fellow Israel- 
 ites from bondage, and that he was at the same time a fugitive 
 from justice by his offence against the laws of Egypt. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 31 
 
 character ; and drawing conclusions from that 
 circumstance alone, we must believe God framed 
 every law mentioned in the Mosaic books, or 
 none. 
 
 We allude not to the Oral Law, nor would 
 we enter into the wild labyrinth of pros and 
 cons, with which this question is now agitating 
 the whole Jewish nation. Our aim is simply 
 to explain the words of the BIBLE, to prove those 
 words are not the words of finite man, but the 
 inspiration of a merciful Father, whose omni- 
 science, aware of the wide barrier which sin 
 would raise between His people and Himself, 
 permitted and inspired His chosen servants to 
 compile a volume which would be the ladder 
 between earth and heaven ; the uniting link be- 
 tween the immortal spirit, and its immortal 
 resting place ; the message of love from a pity- 
 ing Father to His repentant and believing chil- 
 dren. This is the Bible, the whole Bible, not 
 the Mosaic books alone. In them we find our 
 guide to the religion and morality most pleasing 
 unto God. If that religion, that morality were 
 the work of man, why should it have thus out- 
 lasted every other in the world ? Egypt. Greece, 
 Rome, boasted each their lawgivers, their ar- 
 chives, their glories ; yet all have passed away, 
 and not a trace remains, save those stupendous 
 monuments of antiquity which tell us, " such
 
 32 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 things have been." Is it so with the law of 
 Moses, with the people he was the instrument 
 of redeeming? Scattered they are indeed, all 
 over the known world ; but that very dispersion 
 is the unanswerable proof of the truth and in- 
 spiration of the Bible ; for the law, in its essen- 
 tials, is as it was vouchsafed ; and prophecy in 
 this dispersion is strikingly and mournfully ful- 
 filled. 
 
 There is no ground for the assertion that the 
 awful solemnity and holy pomp, which charac- 
 terized the bestowal of the ten commandments, 
 marked the giving of all the other laws. It sig- 
 nifies little whether Moses received them lite- 
 rally from the mouth of the Lord, or felt within 
 his soul the infused eloquence and wisdom, 
 which impelled and enabled him to proclaim 
 them to his countrymen. Every page of the 
 Bible breathes the voice of God ; as His law we 
 may endeavour to explain it, so that, by the aid of 
 lowly prayer, it may fall with weight on the heart 
 of each individual, to strike home to one of the 
 many chords which the human heart contains. 
 The law of a man, a finite mortal, whose every 
 thought is bounded, lost in infinity, can only be 
 looked on word for word as it is written ; it can 
 have no power to soothe or to console. A man 
 may err, God cannot ; a man may change, nay, 
 the wind is not more variable than his capricious
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 33 
 
 spirit ; God, whose name is TRUTH, knows not 
 change, is immutably infallible, and His law is 
 like Himself, changeless and eternal so uniting 
 morality with religion, the one cannot be per- 
 fect in the heart that knows not the other. And 
 yet, only too many raise a rude barrier between 
 them, and say religion is too serious, too holy a 
 thing, to be mixed up with the thoughts, and 
 desires, and pleasures, and occupations of this 
 world ; and so far off do they enshrine her, with 
 so thick a wall do they enclose her, that no 
 glimmering of her golden light can shine upon 
 their daily work, and not one ray will she be- 
 stow on those who seek her but at stated in- 
 tervals, " few and far between." No glowing 
 warmth can attend such devotion ; O when will 
 these errors cease to be? when will men break 
 down this darkened barrier, and so love their 
 God with heart, and soul, and might, that reli- 
 gion shall desert her lofty and inaccessible re- 
 treat and mingle in the world ? When this thing 
 shall be, then indeed may we hope that blessed 
 day is drawing near, when we " shall not say, 
 know ye the Lord, for they shall all know ME, 
 from the least of them unto the greatest of them, 
 saith the Lord, and I will forgive their iniquity, 
 and remember their sin no more." 
 
 Yet, it may be urged, there was no religion 
 that demanded more pomp and ceremonial than
 
 34 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 the Jewish, that the great holiness surrounding 
 it is the reason of its distance from us ; still the 
 same faithful servant, who in the name of the 
 Lord clothed the public ritual with such impos- 
 ing grandeur, also said, " and thou shalt love 
 the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with 
 all thy soul, and with all thy might ;" a command 
 over and over again repeated, and one utterly 
 impossible to be obeyed, if we keep religion at 
 the distance but too many deem necessary. 
 These three terms, heart, and soul, and might, 
 are not repetitions of the same meaning, used 
 to enforce the command. Regarding carefully 
 their respective significations, we shall perceive 
 they are used, more clearly to define the love 
 which God demands, and the proofs which that 
 love includes. 
 
 What does the word heart signify when used 
 in this sense, either towards God or man? "The 
 Scripture," says Cocceius, " attributes to the heart 
 thoughts, reasonings, understanding, will, judg- 
 ment, designs, affections, love, hatred, fear, joy, 
 sorrow, anger ; because when these things are in 
 a man a motion is perceived about the heart."* 
 We are to understand by this quaint yet expres- 
 sive sentence, that the word heart is used in 
 Scripture, when either of the above attributes 
 
 * Hebrew Lexicon, by John Parkhurst, M. A. Article 3 1 ? heart.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 35 
 
 is implied ; and indeed if we carefully consider 
 the sacred writings we shall find that it is so. 
 Moses makes use of it, in the mandate we are 
 regarding, as the seat of the affections, the 
 deepest, strongest, dearest shrine of love, inclu- 
 ding zeal, memory, thought, imagination, reve- 
 rence, all that would exalt, purify, endear the 
 feeling and its object. And who is there that 
 knows not the full meaning of the term, to love 
 with all his heart, when that term is applied to 
 human beings, mortals like himself? Do we not 
 look upon their smallest action with delight, 
 with admiration, believe them gifted with rare 
 excellence, with extraordinary virtue, so dwell 
 upon the perfections of those we thus love, that 
 we feel we ourselves sink into nothing before 
 them ? Would we not do any thing to preserve 
 their affection? Nay, we lose not these ardent 
 feelings, even when for a time the beloved coun- 
 tenance is darkened towards us. Are there in- 
 deed those, who know not what it is, thus to 
 love ? Surely not amongst the young, the warm- 
 hearted, be they the loving bride, the youthful 
 mother, the faithful friend. Nay, even the sterner 
 sex are capable of such emotion ; they love not, 
 indeed, with the deep clinging devotedness of 
 woman, whose very helplessness calls for such 
 strong feeling; but there are some, even amongst 
 them, who might not think we have sketched
 
 36 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 love too strongly. And if such can be excited 
 towards a fellow being, O shall we deny it to 
 our God ? 
 
 Surely we, even more than the Nazarene, have 
 cause to feel, " We love Him because He first 
 loved us." Who loves us, who tends us, who 
 bears with our iniquities, and chides us, in such 
 long suffering compassion as God does? In the 
 words of Moses " what nation hath God so near 
 to us as we have ?" Will not our whole history 
 proclaim His deep, unchanging, and unfailing 
 love ? Will not the written evidence of Moses, 
 nay even of those before him Abraham, Joseph, 
 and of David, Isaiah, Malachi, all unite in 
 proving that God is love? Nay, has He not 
 Himself proclaimed it in those blessed words 
 with which He describes Himself to Moses, when 
 He passed by before him " The Lord, the Lord 
 God, merciful and gracious, long suffering and 
 abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy 
 for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression 
 and sin ?" This is the God the Nazarene em- 
 phatically calleth love ; this is their God and 
 OUR God, for it is from us from us alone from 
 the revelation He vouchsafed to us, that they 
 have learned in part to know Him ; and oh shall 
 we fail in rendering Him that tribute, they are 
 so anxious to bestow ? Shall we by our luke- 
 warmness tacitly allow, there is truth in what
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 37 
 
 they allege, that they have more cause to love 
 Him than we have ? No, oh no ! let us not hesi- 
 tate any more, let us give Him that which He 
 demands, our whole heart enshrine Him there 
 not lavish on mortals, however deserving, all 
 those affections He has granted us. Let us prove 
 by our whole lives, we love Him, because indeed 
 He first loved us, ay, and carried us, and bore 
 with us from the days of old. 
 
 But how can we do this ? Will not this love 
 create familiarity in our intercourse with Him 
 who is indeed holiest amidst the holy ? Surely 
 not ; in seeking to do our respective duties 
 wherever we are placed for love of Him, be- 
 cause we hope it will be pleasing unto Him in 
 using our talents as His gifts, using them in 
 Him, that is employing them for those ends, 
 which will procure us His blessing ; in think- 
 ing of, and blessing Him for the joys and com- 
 forts of mutual affection, loving our fellow- 
 creatures in Him : is this likely to breed undue 
 familiarity ? Will this deprive Him of His 
 holiness? Those who have experienced the 
 unspeakable consolation of this intimate com- 
 munion would tell us, the effect is quite contrary 
 to that, which those who know Him not thus 
 suppose. A precious ray of that unutterable 
 holiness indeed descends on them ; but His holi- 
 
 4
 
 38 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 ness is increased according to the measure of 
 their love. 
 
 Is it not indeed natural to man in his present 
 imperfect state thus to love his God. The most 
 pious, the most ardent followers of His law, find 
 it difficult to give Him their whole heart. It 
 demands long years of watching, of struggling, 
 and of prayer. Disappointment and discourage- 
 ment appal us on every side ; for the more* we 
 strive to know and love the Lord, the more fear- 
 fully our own imperfections, our own secret sins, 
 stand before us the more clearly do we find 
 even of those actions we hoped were good, the 
 motives are but too often impure. Who are they 
 whom we find strong in their own strength, and 
 smiling to scorn those who acknowledge and 
 deplore their liability to temptation and to sin ? 
 Who ? but those who know not, love not, think 
 not of their God. While those who seek Him 
 weak in seeming, shrinking and lowly, fearing 
 temptation, turning in trembling eagerness to 
 
 * " The more exalted," say our wise men, " a man is above his 
 fellow, the greater will be his inclination to sin." Again, " The 
 more man increases in righteousness the stronger becomes his 
 propensity to evil, and unless the Lord gave him His aid, he alone 
 could not escape the power of sin." In this manner did our pre- 
 decessors endeavour to inculcate humility in the pious even, and 
 to check the presumption which we not rarely feel when we at- 
 tain, or fancy we attain any degree of excellence. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 39 
 
 prayer for strength and aid strong only in their 
 trust in Him are in truth the servants whom 
 He loves, and whose hearts are turning towards 
 Him. But shall these difficulties deter us? Shall 
 we turn from the blessed goal, from the gates of 
 heaven, because the path is dark and rugged ? 
 " The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to 
 the strong;" and while the consciousness of 
 difficulty must convince us of innate sin that 
 our natural desires since the fall of man are the 
 evil not the good that our best affections, our 
 most fervent prayers, are imperfect without the 
 purifying grace of God consequently that our 
 salvation cannot be achieved by our own righte- 
 ousness, but through the infinite and redeem- 
 ing compassion* of the Eternal, whose love is 
 
 * Without divine mercy no man could be saved ; because every 
 man is sinful at one period or the other, either by committing the 
 wrong or omitting deeds of righteousness which are in his power 
 to accomplish. Nevertheless no one can be saved, who merely 
 relies upon divine mercy and prayer ; for the faith which should 
 induce us to look to the Supreme for assistance and duly to appre- 
 ciate our own nothingness in his sight, should likewise impel us 
 to obey the precepts of Scripture, these being the emanation of the 
 God of love. And so says the prophet (Eze. xx. 11, 12) : ' And I 
 gave them my statutes, and showed them my judgment, which if 
 a man do, he shall even live in them. Moreover, also, I gave 
 them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they 
 might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." We there- 
 fore say, that without active religion there can be no salvation for 
 Israel ; for the words are " which if a man do, he shall even live 
 in them." I. L.
 
 40 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 our ransom : we must also feel how much de- 
 pends on perseverance, and watching, and 
 prayer, to prove we desire and long for the 
 mercy of our God to be vouchsafed us, to prove 
 we indeed long and try to love Him with a 
 whole and perfect heart. 
 
 But how are we to teach our hearts to love 
 Him ? By dwelling upon His infinite perfec- 
 tions ; by lingering on the pages of His blessed 
 word, till by prayer and faith we can realize the 
 Bible as a message of love and mercy ; not 
 merely addressed to a nation, but to each of us 
 individually and apart. It is impossible to peruse 
 the Psalms and prophets with any degree of 
 trust and attention, without feeling conscious of 
 this truth, without being enabled to apply every 
 prayer and promise to our own individual wants 
 and tempers. There it is we first learn to know 
 Him as love ; and when once we have realized 
 this truth, when once we can feel and believe 
 the love He bears us individually is deeper, 
 dearer, than the dearest borne to us on earth, 
 that no change, no caprice can dim that long 
 suffering love that not even our own trans- 
 gressions can shake it, if we trust in Him; that 
 His eye is ever on us, His arm around us, His 
 ear open to our faintest sigh ; that He feels every 
 pang we feel ; that He knoweth every secret 
 throb and silent tear, which man may never
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 41 
 
 know ; if we dwell on these blessed truths, surely 
 it will be easy to love Him. It is difficult to 
 love Him with all our heart, if we only look 
 upon it as a command laid on us, which we 
 must obey ; but it is easy, if we think how we 
 are loved by Him. 
 
 The human heart is attracted by virtue in 
 man, goodness, charity not the mere charity 
 of relieving the afflicted but charity towards 
 the failings and follies of our neighbours, the 
 charity " that covereth transgression," kindness, 
 holiness, purity, truth, forgiveness of injury, 
 magnanimity ; these are the qualities that call 
 for admiration, and love, and reverence, and sel- 
 dom call for it in vain ; these are the qualities 
 on which the mind so loves to dwell, that the 
 young and enthusiastic but too often frame an 
 imaginary idol, and so weave it in their affec- 
 tions, that their path is lonely through life, for 
 they seek what they find not in man. Seldom* 
 does a mortal unite all these glorious attributes, 
 and it is sad when the dreams of the young en- 
 thusiast are chilled and blunted. But if these 
 qualities attract so much love, even in the small 
 measure in which man possesses them : will they 
 not demand yet stronger feeling towards Him, 
 holiest among the holy, who unites them all, 
 
 * Or never ! 
 
 4*
 
 42 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 whose divine attributes in their infinity are too 
 glorious for human imagination to conceive? 
 Is He not ever merciful and ever loving ? Is He 
 not ever " ready to forgive ?" Ay, day by day, 
 and hour by hour, loving where He is not loved? 
 Showing mercy unto thousands that seek Him 
 not? Holy, pure, and true, till thought is lost in 
 the infinity of His perfections ? Doth not His 
 goodness as far exceed that of man, as the sands 
 on the sea shore, a single grain? as the glo- 
 rious sun excels the feeble light with which the 
 peasant cheers his dwelling? If we love these 
 attributes in man, shall we disregard them in 
 our God ? Shall the soaring mind sink back dis- 
 pirited and chilled, because these glorious quali- 
 ties are found not, as fancy painted them, in 
 man, when He the holiest, the Lord of truth 
 and love, calleth loudly for the heart that longs 
 to rest on virtue? O let not the youthful spirit 
 seek perfection upon earth ; let him indeed love 
 those where holiness and virtue dwell, for there 
 are many such ; but let him turn to his God 
 alone for the perfection of all that is beautiful, 
 all that is glorious, all that is pure, and true, and 
 holy all that can attract the mind and fill it. 
 
 If the simplest action of those we love best on 
 earth calls for our praise and admiration, will 
 not these emotions be yet more warmly excited 
 when we look on the magnificent works of God?
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 43 
 
 Can the created vie with the Creator? Yet the 
 works of man often justly call for reverence and 
 love ; and shall the works of God do less ? True, 
 we cannot see Him and live ; but all around us 
 are traces of His hand ! Who has not felt the 
 warm glow of the wakening heart, kindling into 
 love and rapture, as we gaze on the varied 
 fields of nature? Does He not speak in the 
 roaring cataract, the thundering waves, in the 
 howling tempest, the devastating blast ? Trace 
 we not His hand in the rosy glow, the touching 
 stillness of early dawn, in the brilliant clouds, 
 the refreshing breeze of sunset, the myriads of 
 stars, the silvery moon sailing in the dark blue 
 heavens ? Do we not hear Him in the still, yet 
 emphatic eloquence of night, ay, in the ripple 
 of the brook, in the song of the bird, in the 
 meek beauty of a glistening flower ? Are not 
 these the work of His hands, renewed around us 
 day by day, as emblems of His changeless, His 
 untiring love ? And can we pass them by, with 
 hearts unmoved, affections dormant ? Even to 
 those pent up midst city walls, there are traces 
 of His hand. Can we look on the millions of 
 beings passing to and fro, the form and face of 
 each so wonderfully distinct, so indefinably va- 
 ried, that one can never be taken for another 
 with minds respectively stored, according to the 
 station they hold in life, the duties they must
 
 44 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 fulfil, each possessing one or more talents pecu- 
 liar to himself, characters so varied, that man 
 seeks in vain for perfect similarity in taste, per- 
 fect sympathy on earth ? Can we pause to re- 
 flect on these things, and yet feel no expansion 
 of the heart and its affections, towards Him of 
 whom these are the actions ? Can we not trace 
 Him in the city as in the field ; and shall our 
 whole lives pass by, and find us still unconscious 
 of His love, unanswering to His voice ? O we 
 have enough to call for reverence, to wake us 
 into love, if we would but think awhile on Him, 
 whose meanest attribute, whose simplest work 
 would yet be all sufficient to make us give Him 
 " all our heart." 
 
 But how are we to know we love Him ? Shall 
 we be conscious when our hearts are indeed 
 becoming His? Will obedience to that oft re- 
 peated command to love, and serve, and fear 
 Him, bring with it its own reward? Assuredly 
 it will. We have but to seek to love the Lord, 
 and tenfold will be that love returned to us. It 
 will be less pain to give up our dearest wishes, 
 hopes, even affections, (if called upon to do so, 
 and who in this world is not?) if we have so 
 loved our God in joy, that we can realize, this 
 affliction comes from Him, and must be sent in 
 love ; ay, and will end in love, though our mor- 
 tal eye can trace it not. We love Him not, if
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 45 
 
 we find ourselves in secret questioning the good- 
 ness or the wisdom of His decrees ; murmuring 
 at the conflict ; trembling and doubting ere we 
 obey. We love Him not, if we hesitate between 
 inclination and duty, when our desires clash, as 
 they but too often do, with the obedience His 
 law demands.* We love Him not, if we feel not 
 that love stronger, more consolingly powerful, 
 when afflictions and sorrows darken the lot that 
 has been joyous. The calm and tranquil temper, 
 the grateful consciousness of a happy lot, which 
 characterize some minds in seasons of uninter- 
 rupted prosperity, are too often supposed to be 
 ardent love, and unchanging faith in God; but 
 if when the water-floods swell around us, when 
 the tempest gathers and our lives grow dark 
 if then this calm tranquillity, this grateful con- 
 sciousness depart, we have not loved our God 
 it has been but the peaceful temperament of our 
 hearts, because all around was peace. Affliction 
 is the touchstone by which we can discover if our 
 love be true. If, even while nature is weak and 
 shrinks tearfully and mournfully from her trial, 
 we still cling to our God, still feel He loves even 
 
 * And how is such faithlessness visited even in God's own elect 
 on earth, elect because of their superior righteousness ! For when 
 Moses and Aaron failed in their duty they were told, that they 
 should not reach the promised land, " because ye believed me not 
 (put faith or trust in me) to sanctify me in the eyes of the children 
 of Israel." (Num. xx. 12.) I. L.
 
 46 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 while He chastiseth, nay that that very chas- 
 tisement is a proof of His love for " whom the 
 Lord loveth He correcteth ;" cling to Him as the 
 loving and pitying Friend who alone can aid us ; 
 lift up to Him the sinking heart, even while the 
 lips can form no prayer ; trust in His deep 
 changeless love, to supply that which we may 
 have lost, or to strengthen, bless, console us, on 
 our rugged way ; cling to Him the closer, the 
 more He smiteth : then, then indeed we have 
 loved, we do love our gracious God, and tenfold 
 are we blessed. We feel not the deadly sharp- 
 ness of His arrows, if we run up to Him and 
 clasp His robe. The shaft in its strength can 
 only reach those at a distance who scorn the 
 shadow of His wings. The whirlwind cannot 
 blight us in its fury, if we seek shelter beneath 
 the shadow of the Rock. Not that those who 
 love their God are more exempt than their fel- 
 lows from the trials and sorrows of this life ; 
 nor do they feel them less ; we are not forbid to 
 weep, to feel, to mourn. Those who know not 
 such emotions, who bear the severest shocks un- 
 moved, are not rendered so by religion, they 
 are cold, of a calm and stoic nature, which nor 
 joy nor sorrow moves. Religion is strongest, 
 loveliest, in those hearts ever susceptible to 
 emotion, whether of pleasure or pain ; the love 
 of their God glows warmest in such bosoms ;
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 47 
 
 and it is to them it affords its richest consola- 
 tion ; not lessening the pang of sorrow, but lead- 
 ing them to Him who sympathizes in their every 
 sorrow, who is afflicted in their affliction, who 
 loves them, and chastises but to bless, even 
 their Saviour and their God, the Holy One of 
 Israel. This is the reward of those who seek to 
 love their God with all their heart. In all we 
 do we shall remember Him, without whose aid 
 we can do nothing. In every pleasure we shall 
 remember Him, who gave us health and strength, 
 and the power of enjoying. In joy, in grief, in 
 every change of life, in every little circumstance 
 which may seem the offspring of chance, we 
 shall think of Him in whose government there 
 is no chance. Enshrined in our hearts, the 
 deepest, dearest, strongest seat of love, every 
 reasoning faculty, thought, imagination, zeal, 
 memory, all will find employment in the con- 
 templation of His infinite perfections, His un- 
 tiring, never ending providence. Memory will 
 have full scope ; for where is the life, however 
 brief, or sunny or dark, that on retrospection 
 will not reflect innumerable proofs of His inex- 
 haustible goodness ? We may safely assert 
 there is none. Oh let us but accustom our- 
 selves to look up to, to cling to our God as our 
 own Friend, and Father, and Saviour, like whose 
 unfathomable love we shall find none on earth.
 
 48 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 who is to each one as He is to all, whose heart 
 and ear are open to the lowest, the poorest, the 
 youngest, the oldest of His creatures ; who 
 gathereth each tear, and numbereth each sigh ; 
 who daily and hourly foldeth His arm around 
 us and calleth us individually His own ; can we 
 think upon Him thus, and yet refuse the heart's 
 pure love, the only meed He asketh ?
 
 49 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 DEFINITION OF THE WORD SOUL. LOVE OF GOD CONSIDERED 
 AS IT REGARDS THE INTELLECTUAL AND VITAL PRINCIPLE 
 OF MAN. 
 
 &} universally rendered in English soul, 
 we find by its various applications in the Bible 
 to signify breath, life, mind, the essence or spirit 
 of life and its desires. It is clear, therefore, that 
 HEART and SOUL are not used in this divine com- 
 mand, merely to strengthen the emphasis of the 
 idea by repetition, but to convey a somewhat 
 different meaning ; viz. to bid His people to 
 devote alike intellectual and vital principles in 
 His service. 
 
 If we seek to give Him as He desireth our 
 whole heart, it follows, that we shall as a mat- 
 ter almost of necessity, obey the second member 
 of the sentence. 
 
 We cannot know Him, to love Him, as the 
 preceding chapter describes, without employing 
 our intellect, the whole energy of our minds, in 
 the study of His law ; not alone of the Penta- 
 teuch, but of our religion generally; of all, which 
 
 5
 
 50 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 will assist us in becoming firm and consistent 
 followers of the faith we profess, and enable us 
 to mingle amongst those of another creed, with- 
 out fearing to imbibe it. To do this, the Bible 
 must be our constant study. Nor will that be 
 of itself sufficient. The Bible is the reflection 
 of that fountain of light dwelling with God on 
 high, and prayer alone will give us the emana- 
 ting ray, which will illumine the darkness, in 
 which to natural man that blessed book is 
 plunged. Faith* indeed is the golden key to 
 
 * If in the outset of life we commence the reading of the Word 
 in the spirit of self-sufficiency, and in order to doubt, because our 
 reason does not suffice to comprehend all the works and words of 
 God : it is evident that we cannot receive any benefit from a pe- 
 rusal of the sacred Text ; its language speaks discouragingly of 
 human reason, it teaches to place little reliance on human help or 
 power. What then does the doubter or the presumptuous find 
 therein to love or to admire ] He is told to mortify the flesh in 
 obedience to the will of One whom he does not fear ; to forego the 
 dictates of his own reason in deference to a Wisdom he does not 
 recognise, although he may be convinced, as every reasoning being 
 must be, that there is a creative Power far, far superior in power 
 and wisdom to any thing which humanity can reach even in ima- 
 gination. If, therefore, the recognition of divine power does not 
 go the whole length of subduing our reliance upon self, but little 
 or no benefit can result from a perusal of Scripture, especially if 
 at every miracle we find recorded or at every passage gainsaying 
 our usual views, we stop and say, " I do not believe this ;" or 
 " this cannot be true because I do not understand tilings so as they 
 are here recorded." But how different a result must arise when 
 we in lowliness of trust in divine Wisdom, or in other words, in 
 the simplicity of a childlike faith and trust, open the pages of the 
 Bible for instruction and light ! O then each word is received as
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISiM. 51 
 
 unlock its stores, for without faith its pages are 
 in truth " sealed ;" and prayer will strengthen 
 that faith, and teach us through that book to 
 know the Lord, ourselves, and our duties. 
 
 The Bible is the foundation of religion. In 
 it we find the history of the past, the present, 
 and the future ; laws to guide us ; threatenings, 
 awfully fulfilled ; promises to soothe, console, 
 and bless us. Those who deny its divine truths 
 are neither Jew nor Christian ; for the acknow- 
 ledgment of its divinity is equally binding to 
 the one as to the other. But the great evil un- 
 der which the Hebrew nation is still suffering, 
 is not so much the denial as the neglect of this 
 precious word. We are in general perfectly 
 satisfied with reading the Parasas and Haftorahs 
 
 an emanation of the Supreme Wisdom, as the recorded will of the 
 highest Power ! Doubts vanish, because whilst endeavouring to 
 mistrust our own wisdom we are willing to be guided by the Au- 
 thor of our soul and being, and because even human, worldly, 
 wisdom will gradually stand astonished more and more every day 
 at the profound springs of truth and holiness which bubble forth, so 
 to say, from every rock which apparently lies as a hinderance in 
 the way of the humble inquirer. Prayer for light, or the humilia- 
 tion in spirit of the creature before the Creator, of the child before 
 the Father, will tend to complete what faith has commenced ; and 
 subdued alike in mind and will, the soul-stricken believer will 
 walk humbly before the Lord, seeking and obtaining light from his 
 revealed word, and scattering blessings of peace and truth around 
 him among all who may be drawn towards their God by the ex- 
 ample of purity which the life of the truly righteous must present 
 in all vicissitudes, be they light or darkness, joy or sorrow. I. L.
 
 52 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 marked out as our Sabbath portions. The other* 
 parts of the Bible rest utterly unknown. Brought 
 out on the Sabbath for the brief space of half an 
 hour, the portions are read, and hastily dis- 
 missed, as a completed task, bringing with it 
 no pleasure and little profit. Even this is but 
 too often neglected, and we adhere to the forms 
 and ceremonies of our ancestors, scarcely know- 
 ing wherefore ; and we permit our Bibles to rest 
 undisturbed on their shelves not even seeking 
 them, to know the meaning of what we do. 
 Others again, earnest in the cause, yet mistaken 
 in the means, search and believe the writings of 
 the Rabbis, take as divine truths all they have 
 suggested, and neglect the Biblet as not to be 
 compared with such learned dissertations. 
 
 And why should this be? Why should the 
 Bible be so shunned by that people, to whom it 
 was so peculiarly intrusted 1 Surely they cannot 
 bring forward the too often quoted and un- 
 
 * The above remarks are rather too sweeping, at least for the 
 Israelites of America ; still there is a great deal of truth and force 
 in them ; and happy indeed would it be were our people better ac- 
 quainted with their religion. I. L. 
 
 t Again I must remark that Miss A. has relied too much upon 
 the calumniators of the Jewish character as authority. If there 
 are any who place the Rabbis above the Bible, they are unknown to 
 me ; far different a thing it is to take their views as explanatory 
 of and above the holy Text. The first is the general view of our 
 nation, the latter a doctrine utterly abhorrent to every reasoning- 
 mind. I. L,
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 53 
 
 founded assertion, that the English translation 
 is imperfect, and not fitted to be placed in the 
 hands of Hebrew youth, that it would confuse 
 and rather lead them to embrace the Nazarene, 
 than strengthen their adherence to the Jewish 
 creed. The evidence of learned men of either 
 faith, convince us of the fallacy of this reason- 
 ing. It is not the actual words* of the Bible, 
 but the view in which they are taken, which 
 gives weapons to our opponents. There is 
 scarcely a word mistranslated, and the Hebrew 
 of obscure passages, is generally placed in the 
 margins, underlined by a literal translation. 
 The heads of the chapters are the only portions 
 likely to mislead ; but they are perfectly harm- 
 less to those unto whom the Jewish religion has 
 been taught, and whose youth has not been suf- 
 fered to imbibe religion as they could. 
 
 Mournfully they err, who thus preserve the 
 English Bible from the hands and hearts of their 
 children:!" It is this great error, which prevents 
 
 * In some instances there are certainly mistranslations in the 
 English version ; but not enough to jeopard our religion. I. L. 
 
 t I must remark here, that in America we are not chargeable 
 with this erroneous procedure, the English Bible, on the contrary, 
 is almost universally found in every house. Still it would be ren- 
 dering a service to the cause of truth and religion, if a revised 
 translation, edited by a society of learned and pious Israelites, 
 without any of the headings Miss A. alludes to, could be issued ; 
 for then no one even in England could hesitate to make it a house- 
 hold book for his children. I. L. 
 
 5*
 
 54 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 the spirit of piety from taking possession of the 
 heart, and binds us to cold and lifeless forms ; it 
 is this which is the real cause of so many Israel- 
 ites having embraced Christianity.* If, as it 
 only too often happens, young minds are first 
 led to think on religion at all by the example of 
 pious Christian friends, and are engaged to read 
 or rather study the Bible, for the first time, un- 
 der their direction, and come to them for en- 
 lightenment on passages or chapters that may 
 seem obscure : must it not follow as a natural 
 consequence, that the ideas they thus imbibe 
 must favour the Christian and not the Hebrew 
 creed ? How can they produce arguments 
 against arguments, if they have never been 
 taught to read the Bible according to the belief 
 of their fathers? Why do we only too often 
 hear even amongst professing Hebrews, that the 
 morality of the New Testament infinitely sur- 
 passes in beauty and charity that of the Old ? 
 
 * I believe Miss A. overrates the number who have left our 
 church ; certainly few have left it from conviction, which fact is 
 easily susceptible of positive proof; at all events the number of 
 conversions in America is very small, and these consist for the 
 greater part of those who have been contaminated by a too close 
 intercourse with Christians, to the neglect of their own peo- 
 ple, without sufficient knowledge of their own faith to withstand 
 the arguments or flattery of those differing from us. Names of in- 
 stances of this kind could be mentioned, if there were any neces- 
 sity for it ; but my word may be taken for the truth of what I 
 allege. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 55 
 
 Why ? because they see the effects of the one 
 on the lives and characters of its believers, and 
 they see it not in the other ; because they adopt 
 as the doctrines of Christianity the beautiful 
 moral sentences and proverbs they chance to 
 hear, wholly unconscious, that these very sen- 
 tences which so much attract their admiration, 
 have all, without exception, their original foun- 
 dation in the pages of the Old Testament either 
 in the law, the Psalms, or the prophets ; nay, 
 that the whole system of morality preached by 
 the founder of Christianity is that, in which WE 
 were instructed by God Himself, either in direct 
 communion with Moses, or through His chosen 
 servants the prophets ! Its only change is from 
 the lofty language of inspiration which the 
 chosen of the Lord alone could be supposed to 
 understand, to the brief and simple phrases* 
 better suited to the comprehension of the hea- 
 then to whom it was addressed. The Christian 
 divines themselves acknowledge this ; and shall 
 we, descended as we are from a race whom God 
 so peculiarly blessed shall we, by our whole 
 
 * And even this was in accordance with the opinions of the 
 Rabbis of that age ; witness the many moral sentences scattered 
 in the Talmud and kindred works, some without any doubt ante- 
 cedent to Christianity. For proof, if any were needed, see the 
 Proverbs of the Fathers, one of the books of the Mishna. I. L.
 
 OD THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 lives deny it ? and declare the Christian Ethics 
 are the best, when we know nothing, seek to 
 know nothing of our own ? 
 
 We are told in Deuteronomy, chap. xvii. that 
 in case the Israelites should elect a king, he 
 was to write a copy of the law himself, that he 
 might read therein all the days of his life, and 
 learn to fear the Lord his God, and keep all the 
 words of this law and do them. The importance 
 of studying this law we also find insisted upon, 
 alike by David, Solomon, and all the prophets, 
 almost always followed by the promise of bless- 
 ings unto all who are thus employed. Over and 
 over again we find in the Psalms verses to this 
 effect : " Blessed is the man whose delight is in 
 the law of the Lord." " The law of the Lord is 
 perfect, converting the soul the testimony of 
 the Lord is sure, making the simple wise the 
 statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the 
 heart the commandment of the Lord is pure, 
 enlightening the eyes." And if its study was of 
 such importance in the time of David, when the 
 Lord still manifested Himself to His people, 
 when they were still under His immediate gui- 
 dance : how much more important must it be 
 now, when the prophecy of Amos is in literal 
 and actual fulfilment, " Behold the days come, 
 saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 57 
 
 the land, not a famine of bread, nor of thirst for 
 water, but of hearing the words of the Lord." 
 (Amos, chap. viii. 11.) 
 
 Now, when surrounded by nations who know 
 the Lord and serve Him, though not as we do: 
 we are daily in danger of being lured to desert 
 our faith, or of being called upon to arise and 
 defend our belief, not against the sword of 
 slaughter, but against that kindly though mis- 
 taken zeal which would endeavour to convince 
 and to convert, by the means of that very book 
 we have wilfully neglected.* We stand defence- 
 less, for our own weapons are turned against 
 ourselves. Now, more than ever, should our 
 children be taught their religion from the Bible, 
 and led to regard that blessed book as the foun- 
 tain of living waters, for all who thirst ; not only 
 as it regards mere paints of doctrine, but as the 
 only book which will teach them to know and 
 love their God. 
 
 Do we require fresh incentive to the task ? are 
 not the words of the Lord in Jeremiah all suffi- 
 cient ? " Let not the wise man glory in his wis- 
 
 * If my friend's picture of the ignorance of our blessed religion 
 among her countrymen and women is not highly overdrawn, 
 which much to my regret I cannot believe to have been done, how 
 fearful a responsibility does rest upon them, if they do not arise in 
 their might and counteract by a thorough system of religious edu- 
 cation the evil so eloquently exposed in the text ! I. L.
 
 58 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 dom, neither let the mighty man glory in his 
 might let not the rich man glory in his riches ; 
 but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he 
 knoweth and understandeth ME, that I am the 
 -Lord, which exerciseth loving kindness, and 
 judgment, and righteousness in the earth, that 
 in these I delight, saith the Lord." (Jer. ix. 23, 
 24.) Will natural religion teach us this ? Will 
 the aspect of affairs as they appear to mortal 
 eyes in this world, the constant triumph of the 
 wicked, the sufferings of the righteous, the 
 misery of thousands, the prosperity of those that 
 know not the Lord will these things teach us 
 to know Him as He is ? Will even the medita- 
 tion of Him through His glorious works enable 
 us to " understand Him ?" No, we can only 
 learn to know Him in the word that He has 
 given us ; and even there that blessing will not 
 suddenly be granted us. 
 
 It is no light task we undertake when, in 
 lowly faith and earnest prayer, we commence 
 the study of the Bible. The wisdom of philoso- 
 phy, its acute perception, powerful reasoning, 
 the deep research, the toiled for knowledge of 
 the student, will not avail us here. We must 
 come, lowly minded, and simple hearted, even 
 as little children, who read and believe. Much 
 we know there is, which in our present imper- 
 fect state we cannot hope fully to understand ;
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 59 
 
 if all were open to our eye and mind, there 
 would be no exercise of faith ; and we know 
 that " faith is accounted righteousness." But 
 much that at a first reading may seem obscure, 
 becomes clearer every time we read. No one 1 
 can say he has read the Bible, who has pe- 
 rused its pages once. The evidence of those 
 who have made that book their companion 
 through threescore and ten years,* who have 
 perused and reperused it, and each time found 
 something new, some new consoling promise, 
 which they had observed not in former readings, 
 is an unanswerable proof of its inexhaustible 
 fulness. It is not one perusal which will open 
 to us the fountain of living waters contained in 
 the Bible nay, the first, the second, and to 
 some minds, perhaps, even the third reading 
 will end in discouragement and sadness. We 
 may have found little to reward our toil, little 
 to afford us strength or consolation, or to con- 
 vince us it is a message of mercy addressed to 
 us, not as a nation alone, but individually. We 
 must persevere, we must read on and on, still 
 in trusting faith and prayer ; and the answer 
 
 * And in this spirit spoke the Lord to Joshua : " This book of the 
 law shall not depart out of thy mouth ; but thou shalt meditate 
 therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to 
 all that is written therein ; for then shalt thou make thy way pros- 
 perous, and then thou shall have good success." (Josh. i. 8.) I. L.
 
 60 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 will be given ; the blessing of the Lord will be 
 upon us, " converting the soul, making the sim- 
 ple wise, rejoicing the heart, and enlightening 
 the eyes," even as He hath promised. No one 
 has ever thus read the word of his God, who 
 will refuse his evidence as to its holiness and 
 beauty ; Hebrew and Christian will alike unite 
 in proclaiming it DIVINE. 
 
 There is no contradiction in asserting that 
 the constant employment of our intellectual 
 faculties in the study of God's Word, is obeying 
 His command to love with all our soul, and yet 
 declaring the wisdom of the philosopher or the 
 knowledge of the student will avail us little in 
 the acquirement of its inspired truths. It would 
 seem as if the one contradicted the other, as if 
 to come as little children, and yet to use our 
 intellect, were things incompatible one with the 
 other ; but yet in this case they are united. Hu- 
 mility and true wisdom are ever found hand in 
 hand. Those that really know the most, that 
 have studied deepest, are ever those who think 
 least of themselves ; for the more they know the 
 more they feel, how little capable is their finite 
 wisdom to understand the things around them, 
 the workings of infinity. The Bible cannot be 
 dearer to the philosopher, the poet, or the stu- 
 dent, than it is to the poor unlettered peasant, 
 who perhaps can read no other book. Their
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 61 
 
 simple faith should read a lesson to the proud 
 in heart, the mighty in knowledge, who pass it 
 by as unworthy of their regard. Their simpli- 
 city, and lowly-mindedness, is a proof that it 
 needs not philosophy to comprehend the Bible. 
 Yet those, whose aspiring minds grasp eagerly 
 all that can exercise the intellect, will find 
 enough to satisfy that restless craving much, 
 very much, to gratify the ardent desire for re- 
 search, the unceasing longing for acquirement. 
 
 The history of ancient nations, their curious 
 notions of religion, their remarkable traditions, 
 all bearing a marked resemblance to the striking 
 points of early revelation ; researches in the his- 
 tory of the eastern nations whose manners and 
 customs of the present day bear the strongest 
 affinity to the manners, customs, and peculiari- 
 ties mentioned in the Bible, many of which in- 
 deed are almost unintelligible without reference 
 to these explanatory volumes ; the history of 
 prophecy awfully fulfilled, found in the evidence 
 of every traveller to the east Moab, Edom, 
 Babylon, Egypt, Pathros, Ethiopia, Ammon, the 
 Land of Promise herself, all, by their present 
 desolation, literally and fearfully fulfilling the 
 threatenings of the Lord ; these are works which, 
 while they give full scope to the intellectual 
 faculties, add new and glorious beauties to the 
 Bible ; these will shed a new and yet lovelier 
 
 6
 
 62 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 light upon its pages. In such researches the 
 philosopher and the student will find ample 
 subject for the exercise of their powers ; and the 
 poet, the enthusiast will their flight be checked, 
 if they pause awhile to linger on such pages ? 
 No, their wings will soar higher and higher 
 still ; for the fount of inspiration hath shed its 
 light and life upon their path. 
 
 Though to read and comprehend the Word 
 of God be the first great desire of our hearts, 
 and our intellect should there be continually 
 exercised : it does not follow, that to love the 
 Lord with all our soul comprises that exercise 
 alone. 
 
 As His loving kindness decked this beautiful 
 earth with an inexhaustible variety of the love- 
 liest flowers, to afford pleasure and recreation 
 unto man in the midst of graver duties, bidding 
 them spring up on every side, even in wastes 
 where it would seem the foot of man has never 
 trod decking alike the lonely wild and the cul- 
 tivated ground, the secret stream and the wa- 
 tered nook, the peasant's cot and the monarch's 
 park ever fresh and ever lovely, ever raising 
 their meek heads towards the sky, as in adora- 
 tion of Him that tendeth them, or bending down 
 their graceful clusters, as too lowly to meet His 
 smile ; shedding on His winds their luscious 
 breath, as thus to speak their silent praise ;
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 63 
 
 even as His love gave unto earth these lovely 
 things, so hath He stored the mind of man with 
 fair and precious gifts, not to take the place of 
 graver food, but to give joy and recreation to his 
 fellows, to shed new joyance on his home, to 
 give new energy to love in those around him. 
 and lift up his own heart in increased and grate- 
 ful adoration to his God. 
 
 These are the hallowed uses of talent and ac- 
 complishment, in those circles where they are 
 cultivated as resources of pleasure, not of main- 
 tenance. 
 
 Our minds are stored with a variety of beau- 
 teous flowers, which it is God's pleasure we 
 should value and improve. He hath not given 
 them to wither and to die ; but to be brought 
 from their hidden cells, and by assiduous culti- 
 vation be reared and cherished, till they are 
 worthy to be employed in His service, by the 
 pleasure they afford to our fellow-creatures, and 
 the sources of gratitude they open in ourselves. 
 The earth needs culture to bring forth her love- 
 liest flowers, even though the seeds are God's 
 own gift ; and so it is with the mind of man. 
 The Lord hath planted it with precious seeds, 
 He watereth and tendeth them unceasingly ; yet 
 we must use our own persevering efforts to bring 
 them into perfect flowers ; and that these efforts 
 after knowledge and wisdom are acceptable to
 
 64 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 Him who alone can crown them with success, 
 we have Solomon's prayer and God's gracious 
 answer as unquestionable proofs. 
 
 Wisdom does not mean the knowledge of the 
 Lord ALONE, although " the fear of the Lord is 
 the beginning of wisdom," and there is scarcely 
 
 C3 J 
 
 any study which, if pursued in a faithful spirit, 
 will not lead us in the end nearer Him. Sacred 
 history informs us that Solomon's wisdom con- 
 sisted also in the knowledge of man, in such 
 perfect discrimination, that justice was always 
 as exact as it was impartial ; in jurisprudence, 
 in every branch of information necessary for the 
 civil, military, and religious government of a 
 great kingdom, and in that lively fancy, and 
 ready apprehension which enabled him to give 
 instant and satisfactory answers to all the diffi- 
 cult questions, on every subject, put to him by 
 Queen Sheba. No one will deny that Solomon's 
 wisdom was inspired of the Lord, granted to 
 him in answer to his prayer. " Ask what I shall 
 give thee," were the gracious words of the Lord. 
 The mind must have been truly great, which 
 under this temptation, this perfect freedom to 
 ask what he pleased, preferred " an understand- 
 ing heart," above all earthly glory, wealth, or 
 power. True, it is not now as then ; the Lord 
 does not thus manifest Himself to His people ; 
 nor may we hope such a direct and speedy an-
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 65 
 
 swer to our prayers ; but when we read "that 
 this speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had 
 asked this thing, and He said unto him, Because 
 thou hast not asked for thyself long life, nor 
 riches, nor the life of thine enemies, but hast 
 asked understanding to discern judgment, be- 
 hold I have done according to thy words, I have 
 given thee a wise and understanding heart ;" 
 we know that the prayer for wisdom is pleasing 
 to our Father, and that our efforts to obtain it 
 will be blessed. 
 
 It may be urged, Solomon was peculiarly situ- 
 ated, he was the son of the man after God's own 
 heart, the head of that peculiar people whom 
 God proclaimed his first born, that the duties 
 devolving on him demanded extraordinary wis- 
 dom ; and therefore his example can be of little 
 consequence to individuals. 
 
 We are wrong to think thus. We are all and 
 each of us members of this people, individually 
 as much under His care and love, as those se- 
 lected servants, whose lives and thoughts are 
 written in the Bible, to give us encouragement, 
 and hope, and life, now that we may no longer 
 commune face to face with God. We have not, 
 indeed, the mighty charge of a great kingdom ; 
 but we have each some duties to fulfil, some 
 talent entrusted to us, for which, at the awful 
 hour of judgment, we must all account. God 
 
 6*
 
 DO THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 hath not entrusted us with precious seed to lie 
 useless and neglected, till it is blighted and de- 
 stroyed. There is npt a station in life, however 
 lowly or unseen, the duties of which will not 
 become lighter and clearer from reflection and 
 prayer ; not a talent, however small, which will 
 not add to our own happiness and that of our 
 fellow-creatures, by cultivation and improvement, 
 even if this scene of action be confined to our 
 own domestic hearth. As the mind becomes 
 enlarged and its ideas matured, its views of God 
 and man are purified and exalted ; it flings aside 
 those grosser particles of sense and worldliness 
 which surround it when withering in neglect, 
 and rising higher and higher in the pure ether 
 of infinity, for such is wisdom, creates a happi- 
 ness for itself of which neither sorrow nor care 
 can deprive it ; and this is the answer to our 
 prayer for our Father's blessing on His gifts, this 
 is the proof that even in this fallen and imper- 
 fect state He hears and answers us. 
 
 In the present state of society, however, it is 
 not so much the neglect as the abuse of these 
 glorious gifts, against which those who seek to 
 love their God with all their soul must be care- 
 fully guarded. The cultivation of mere accom- 
 plishment and improvement of natural talent 
 have of late fallen into deserved disrepute, from 
 their complete absorption of time, to the exclu- 
 sion of all graver thought and severer study.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 67 
 
 It is not devoting six hours to music, as many 
 to painting, and all that are left to the transla- 
 tion of all the fashionable modern languages, 
 not for the sake of their valuable literature, but 
 simply to skim over their new works, and fill 
 the mouth with words the mind with ideas of 
 but too often doubtful import ; it is not these 
 things which will draw the soul nearer to her 
 God, or prove that knowledge is power, or wis- 
 dom happiness. Their effect is, but too often, to 
 fill the heart with pride, with a desire to surpass, 
 to triumph, with a distaste for all pleasures and 
 amusements save those which grant opportuni- 
 ties for admiration and display. Love for talent 
 in itself, desire for wisdom because of its own 
 intrinsic beauty, or knowledge for the vast stores 
 it unlocks these are emotions unknown to those 
 whose education has been conducted as above. 
 Their acquirements bring not joy ; for, unless 
 they have a field worthy of their display, listeners 
 they deem worthy to be captivated, excitement 
 sufficient to draw them forth, their boasted ac- 
 complishments lie unused and wasted, and their 
 lives drag heavily and unprofitably along. Ne- 
 glect were almost better than such abuse ; but 
 there is a middle course.* 
 
 * Of course these observations have no reference to those chil- 
 dren of genius, whose peculiar gifts point out a path for themselves. 
 They cannot give too much time and study to the perfection of the
 
 68 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 The cultivation of such gifts, the superiority 
 their acquirement appears to bestow, certainly 
 exposes us to some degree of temptation ; but 
 we should not shun them on that account, our 
 duty while on earth is, not so much to fly from 
 such temptation, as to resist it to seek the 
 praise of God above that of man ; and this we 
 do, if accomplishment and talent be cherished 
 and fostered as His gifts, and love and gratitude 
 to Him accompany the sources of happiness 
 they open to our grasp. If His blessing be 
 sought upon their improvement, His guidance 
 as to their best uses, they are not likely to puff 
 up the heart with selfishness and pride ; but, by 
 the constant and grateful communion they open 
 with our God, they lead us to cling yet closer to 
 His love, to love Him more and more, and be 
 ready to resign them at His call. 
 
 The flowers of the earth, beautiful in their 
 lowliness, heart-speaking in their silent witness 
 to universal love as they are, yet they supply 
 us not with food for the support of life ; that 
 land were a houseless desert, which possessed 
 but them. And so it is with the mind devoted 
 to accomplishment alone. Music, painting, 
 poetry, indiscriminately as they are scattered 
 
 art or science to which they lean. God has manifested Himself 
 in them, has Himself pointed out their path, which it is alike 
 erroneous and unhappy to disregard.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 69 
 
 now over our domestic hearths, they will not 
 give us that bread of life and sustenance, for 
 which, at one period or another of our mortal 
 career, the soul will surely seek. In the hour 
 of lonely sickness, of pining sorrow, of worldly 
 misfortune, will these things satisfy the spirit, if 
 our youth and energy have been devoted to them 
 alone ? Will they not rather take wings and 
 fly, and leave a dreary void behind ? Oh ! 
 without the heavenly manna, the corn which 
 angels eat, THESE are but withering flowers, but 
 reeds, which pierce when leant upon. That 
 heart, that home alone, is truly blessed, which 
 seeks to unite the two, the bread of life with 
 the flowers of love ; cherishing the one, to 
 strengthen, to support, to purify the other, to 
 give fresh charms, fresh loveliness, to the ties of 
 earth, to give new zest to that love which is 
 commenced on earth to end in heaven. 
 
 If we regard the intellect thus, (and surely 
 we are permitted so to do,) will it not heighten 
 the love we bear our God, and enable us to 
 obey His emphatic command, to love Him with 
 the whole soul, even looking on it as the vital, 
 as well as the intellectual principle of man ? As 
 the vital, we know the love we bear Him must 
 continue constant and unchanging ; and nothing 
 is more likely to assist us in this, than that con-
 
 70 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 tinued reference to Him, which the earnest and 
 religious use of our intellect engenders. The 
 one brings forth the other. We cannot love the 
 Lord without thinking how best to serve Him, 
 without associating Him in His every gift. Nor 
 can we so employ our minds without increase 
 of devotedness and love. 
 
 In the affection we bear a fellow-creature, we 
 frequently find this emotion wavering in its force, 
 not entirely deserting us, but increasing and 
 decreasing in warmth ; at one time filling our 
 hearts with intense delight, at others with lin- 
 gering sadness, according to the caprice of those 
 we love, or from the variable current of life in 
 our own veins. 
 
 In the love we bear to God, we must guard 
 against these feelings, or we shall find ourselves 
 at one time buoyed up by a species of religious 
 fanaticism, leading us into all kinds of extrava- 
 gance ; at others, bowed down even to the earth 
 under a sense of despondency and wretchedness 
 almost overwhelming. 
 
 We must check these enthusiastic fits of de- 
 votion, to which youth and happiness are liable, 
 and rouse unceasingly the flagging spirit, where 
 there is an unwillingness to pray ; till at length 
 we are enabled to preserve a more even frame 
 of mind which, tempering our earthly emotions,
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 71 
 
 will naturally heighten by its calm, constant 
 influence, the fervour of devotion in its stated 
 hours. 
 
 To obtain this happy frame of mind to any 
 extent is a blessing, which in our present spirit- 
 less and fallen state is almost impossible. Per- 
 severance will do much ; but even the best and 
 holiest have to mourn their " iniquity in holy 
 things," the imperfection of their prayers, the 
 painful mutability of their heart, even when 
 they most desire to fix it on their God. There 
 are, indeed, moments when the spirit of devotion 
 seems kindling within us, when appropriate 
 petitions flow as it were spontaneously from 
 our lips, when we feel as if for the love of our 
 God we could make any and every sacrifice, 
 and follow on unshrinkingly in the path He 
 hath laid down for us, whatever trials it may 
 include : then, then is the time to tremble, to 
 dash down these vain and idle dreams ; for they 
 are but illusions which fill our heart with pride 
 that we can pray so earnestly, praise so elo- 
 quently, and resign ourselves so implicitly to 
 our Father's will illusions, that have no foun- 
 dation, but which, if encouraged, will lead us 
 into sin ; for we are then ready to look down on 
 all who appeal less gifted in prayer, and to ar- 
 rogate to ourselves a much greater portion of 
 God's favour than we either possess or deserve.
 
 72 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 Then are the times to " remember the days of 
 darkness," for they shall be many ; to pray that 
 these excited feelings may be sobered down to 
 that lowly and tempered spirit, far more accept- 
 able to our Father ; or we shall find that, even 
 as our taste is palled by a succession of sweet 
 food, and we loathe it if we take no other, so 
 will our thoughts revolt and turn in sadness 
 from what has too long and too excitingly oc- 
 cupied them. Satiety and aversion frequently 
 follow close upon too highly excited feelings ; 
 and carefully should we guard against these 
 emotions in our communion with our God. 
 Enthusiasm is natural to early youth, particu- 
 larly when first awake to the call of religion, 
 and if that enthusiasm be placed under a gentle 
 restraint, its rays will long enlighten and revive 
 our affections ; whereas, if we give vent at once 
 to its full light, we shall find it, for a short time, 
 dazzle, if it do not blind, and then sink in utter 
 darkness and desponding gloom. 
 
 But dangerous as is enthusiasm in religion, 
 we encounter it less often than that heavy slug- 
 gish feeling which only too often creeps over 
 us, and renders our prayers a task so painful 
 we would gladly turn from them, for we feel as 
 if we could not pray. Here then instead of 
 checking, we must persevere. It is a mistaken 
 notion to believe that in our present weak,
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 73 
 
 wavering, and sleepy state of mind, it is better 
 not to address our God, that such imperfect peti- 
 tions can only be sin in His sight. If once the 
 sacred duty of prayer be neglected, on the spur 
 of such thought, its difficulties will increase day 
 by day, till at length it will be well nigh impos- 
 sible to overcome them. If we cease to pray 
 till affections become warm, and a devout state 
 of mind return, we may be sure that time will 
 never come. Perseverance alone will conquer in 
 time this wretched feeling. A determination 
 still to seek, and trust in the grace of God. to 
 supply the deficiencies of our own hearts, which 
 we earnestly, penitently deplore, will bring com- 
 fort in His own good time. It is to try our 
 faith, our merciful Father sometimes deprives 
 our prayers of all comfort, as if he heard them 
 not, and put a chain upon our hearts and lips 
 till they can frame no words ; to try our faith, 
 to convince us that of ourselves we are nothing, 
 that without His grace, we cannot even pray 
 with fervour, that, however moral and outward 
 religious duties may be performed, however 
 guarded we may seem to have been from pre- 
 sumptuous sin, yet when we prostrate ourselves 
 before His throne, it is as if a sudden blight had 
 fallen upon us ; thoughts the most incongruous, 
 fancies the most unconnected, rise and mingle 
 themselves irresistibly with our prayers; and 
 
 7
 
 74 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 when we rise up, it is as if we had not prayed, 
 and we stand humbled and abased before Him, 
 conscious that we have sinned.* But if at such 
 
 * Without sharing altogether the ideas of Miss A. on enthusiasm 
 and indifference expressed above, I must admit that from personal 
 experience her observations are generally true. There are, indeed, 
 moments when prayer proceeds from an exuberance of devotion, 
 and we are, so to say, elevated above the world and its trials. Still 
 if I might be permitted to hazard an opinion, I should say, that 
 these feelings of an entire surrender to God of our whole selves 
 should not be called misguided enthusiasm ; but should be encou- 
 raged, if possible, as the guiding stars of our lives, without being 
 allowed to lapse into the sinful pride of piety mentioned in the text, 
 which, whilst it ostensibly claims the merit of religious devotion, is 
 only another cloak for the love of dominion and disregard of the 
 rights of our fellow-men; but to be a deep seated conviction of our 
 entire dependance on the Lord for all that we are and all that we 
 have, which emotion will then enable us to be at all times ready 
 to sacrifice every thing to our Maker's will, nay, even to surrender 
 our life rather than renounce his service ; as our wise men say on 
 the very passage of Scripture under consideration : " What is 
 meant by ' will all thy soul V even if He takes thy soul." And so 
 did the great Akiba, who, whilst expiring under the slow and al- 
 most unheard of tortures of the persecutor, dwelt with holy enthu- 
 siasm on the acknowledgment of the Unity of God, till his pure 
 spirit took its flight. In short, enthusiastic feelings of devotion, 
 if they proceed from humility, are holy feelings ; but certainly 
 care should be taken that they never take the shape of an inflamed 
 zeal, which is the parent of the hatred of others differing from us 
 in opinion, of uncharitable censoriousness and self-elevation. On 
 the other hand, an indifference or carelessness in prayer is unfor- 
 tunately much more frequent than the opposite extreme ; cares 
 and avocations of life dwell too strongly in the mind to be laid 
 aside even in our communing with God ; and were we only to 
 pray when our soul is altogether free from extraneous thoughts, it 
 would be but seldom indeed that the offering of prayer could be
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 75 
 
 moments we are conscious of, and deplore such 
 wanderings in devotion, if we still cling to Him, 
 and feel, " Yea, though He hide His face from 
 me, though He deprive me of all comfort in 
 prayer, yet still, still will I put my whole trust 
 in Him, still fold to my heart the blessed truth 
 that faith in Him is accounted righteousness:" 
 then indeed may we feel assured, that our im- 
 perfect petitions are as acceptable, perhaps more 
 so, as when from some outward or inward cause 
 our petitions flow readily and lightly from our 
 lips. But if, on the contrary, the disinclination 
 to pray is indulged in, and we cease to address, 
 because we find no comfort, no manifest reply, 
 because the sacred exercise is never perfectly 
 
 sacrificed upon the altar of the heart. It is, therefore, an admirable 
 institution, that we have set forms of prayer, or petitions for al- 
 most every thing we need, and fixed times to address these to our 
 God. For if we take up our prayer book for the sake of worship, 
 unless it be altogether from mere outward show, which is to be 
 hoped not to be often the case, we at once render homage to our 
 Maker ; and if but one idea is uttered in sincerity and dovoutness 
 of conviction, then is this one idea an acceptable sacrifice to Him 
 who hears all our cries. And who knows, but that, if even we com- 
 mence to pray without being properly prepared, we shall as we 
 proceed become fired with a becoming ardour, and pour forth our 
 spirit in real sincerity before the Lord ? And are not the words of 
 the Psalms and of our own prayers eminently calculated to im- 
 press the mind and to arouse and enchain the attention ! Much 
 more might be urged ; but the limits of a note forbid more enlarg- 
 ing, and enough has been said to arouse the thinking Israelite to 
 reflect yet more deeply on this important subject. I. L.
 
 76 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 performed : we voluntarily deprive ourselves of 
 grace, and sinking deeper and deeper into error, 
 at length forget there is a God. The perfec- 
 tion* of prayer has never yet been attained on 
 earth ; but the soul which restrains the first wild- 
 ness of enthusiasm, and ceases not in its LOVE 
 for God to urge and rouse its affections, when 
 they flag and turn darkly and sorrowing from a 
 duty which in this life of trial is frequently made 
 distasteful, that soul is framing for herself a 
 calm, holy, and blissful temper, which the frowns 
 of the world cannot shake, nor sorrows from a 
 Father's hands for any length of time disturb. 
 
 To love the Lord with all our soul, we must 
 not pour on earthly idols the essence of our af- 
 fections ; and in the devoted love we bear hus- 
 band or wife, children or parents, or friends, 
 forget Him, whose gifts they are. God is love, 
 and from Him the intense delights, the change- 
 less blessings of earthly affections spring ; yet 
 our frail nature is but too often apt to forget the 
 Creator in the creature. The earthly beings 
 demand and receive the whole. We see them, 
 hear them, years of intimacy increase the depth 
 
 * This assertion appears somewhat too sweeping ; for surely 
 there must have been perfection in prayer when Abraham prayed 
 for sinful Sodom ; when Moses asked for pardon upon a rebellious 
 people, and when he prayed for a shepherd over the Lord's flock ; 
 when Elijah stood alone on Carmel the sole remaining 1 prophet of 
 truth, when all around was error. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 77 
 
 of our feelings ; when they are absent there is a 
 blank alike in our hearts and our hearths ; and 
 when our Father said, " It is not good for man 
 to be alone," He knew that this would be so, 
 ay, intended and blessed it. He meant His 
 creatures to love one another ; but He meant 
 not, that He should be forgotten in that love, 
 that His service should be removed so far, His 
 holiness be deemed too great for domestic altars. 
 " I the Lord God am a jealous God," He saith 
 again and again, and unless our dearest and 
 purest earthly love is traced to, and enjoyed in 
 Him, we love Him not as He commandeth, and 
 our fond affections may prove " the whips to 
 scourge us." Oh none that has once felt the 
 blessing of purifying earthly affection by the 
 love we bear its beneficent Giver, tracing up to 
 Him the delights it engenders, worshipping 
 Him, hand in hand with a beloved one leading 
 his children to His footstool, and teaching them 
 to feel the same deep love, and trace their young 
 affections to the same immortal source : none 
 that has once experienced this, will say that 
 such willing sacrifice of the heart to God tends 
 to decrease the force of earthly affection ; he 
 will acknowledge it is inexpressibly heightened, 
 purified, exalted, rendered immortal ; for such 
 love ends not with death. Was it not this love 
 which Abraham bore to Isaac ? Hannah to 
 
 7*
 
 78 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 Samuel? enabling the one to offer up his be- 
 loved in death, the other to part with him that 
 he might " serve the Lord ?" Nay, was it not 
 this which bade Ruth cling to Naomi, and in- 
 cited her to follow, tend, and love, with a purity, 
 a devotedness, few instances have equalled? 
 And shall we say such spiritual love is a mere 
 illusion ? a beautiful fable impossible to be re- 
 alized ? Alas, it is not easy thus to devote heart 
 and soul to our God ; frequently will our hearts 
 rebel and our lips murmur ; often shall we de- 
 spair, and still more often despond, and feel it 
 vain to bid the breath of life, the heavenly 
 essence breathed into us by our merciful Crea- 
 tor, triumph over the corruption of the earthly 
 vessel which contains it, and soar in thought 
 rejoicing to its natural home ; constantly we 
 shall fall back ; but still oh let us persevere, 
 and pray, and trust; pray alike for ourselves, 
 and for each other for till we " love the Lord," 
 oh how may we hope for the delivery of Israel, 
 the restoration of Jerusalem !
 
 79 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DEFINITION OF THE WORD MIGHT LOVE OF GOD CONSIDERED 
 
 AS IT REGARDS OUR DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL DUTIES. 
 
 THE two preceding chapters having treated 
 the love we should bear to God at so much 
 length, it would seem as if little were left for 
 farther consideration. We shall find, however, 
 as we proceed, there is still something more in- 
 tended in this divine command, or Moses would 
 have framed it differently. As yet we have only 
 considered the love of God, as it concerns our 
 own heart, as a duty confined in its operations 
 to ourselves individually. The word "INQ might, 
 as it is here used, appears to extend farther, and 
 teaches us to serve the Lord in a somewhat 
 wider sphere. 
 
 Had Moses used this word "JNQ as an adverb 
 (very or greatly) as we find it in many parts of 
 the sacred writings: we might look upon it only 
 as very greatly increasing the force of the pre- 
 ceding words, and render it thus, " and thou 
 shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart
 
 80 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 and with all thy soul, to an exceeding great de- 
 gree,"" "JXD as a particle signifying exceedingly, 
 intensely. Nor should we lose sight of these sig- 
 nifications, even while we regard it as the noun 
 expressing great strength, ability, power, in 
 which sense it is evident from the pronoun ?J 
 being attached to it, that Moses used ^"l^P thy 
 might. We only find it so used twice in the 
 whole Bible, indeed we may say only once, for 
 the second time, (2 Kings, xxiii. 25,) it is but a 
 repetition of the words of Moses, " And like 
 unto him (King Josiah) was there no king be- 
 fore him that turned to the Lord with all his 
 heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, 
 according to the law of Moses." There can 
 therefore be no doubt as to the deep solemnity, 
 the forcible appeal contained in the brief com- 
 mand we are considering ; the fact that the He- 
 brew expression ^"lNp~7p? " with all thy might" 
 is never once used, but in the imperative man- 
 date to "love the Lord," is quite sufficient proof 
 of its holiness to authorize our ragarding it as 
 distinct from " heart" and "soul ;" and to endea- 
 vour to explain its meaning as will best assist 
 our efforts, not only to love but to " serve the 
 Lord." 
 
 It is in this light I look upon it principally : 
 we cannot love the Lord without the exceeding 
 great desire to serve Him to the very best of OUT
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 81 
 
 ability, to use our utmost influence in His cause, 
 and make obedience to His will as light, and 
 dear, and precious to our fellow-creatures, as 
 we find it ourselves. We cannot truly love Him 
 if we do not feel this, if universal love and cha- 
 rity (the terms are synonymous) towards all 
 around us, be they of our own or of the stranger 
 creed, do not fill our hearts to the overflowing, 
 and we long to make manifest to those who 
 know Him not the blessedness of His restrain- 
 ing yoke. 
 
 There are many who will take fright at these 
 words, as tending to destroy liberty of conscience, 
 and seeking to enslave the multitude, and yoke 
 them to the opinions of the weak-minded vision- 
 ary, who believes that only to himself is the 
 enlightening grace of God vouchsafed. A little 
 patience will convince them they have started 
 at shadows. That is not religion, that is not 
 love of God or of man, which confining itself 
 within its own narrow sanctuary, condemns the 
 whole human race to perdition, save the few, 
 the very few, who can be forced to think the 
 same. Alas ! for the children of Adam, if such 
 were the awful sentence of our God ! Where 
 too is His long suffering love, His tender ever 
 acting mercies, if such were the economy of His 
 heavenly kingdom, and all were deemed cul- 
 prits, and sentenced to everlasting misery, save
 
 82 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 those who loved and worshipped Him alike f If 
 such were His judgment, should one of us be 
 saved? Should even one have a demand upon 
 His favour ? Where, even amongst those ear- 
 nestly and sincerely united in essentials, are 
 there two who think precisely the same on mi- 
 nutiffi ? And shall we, sinful and finite mortals 
 as we are, dare to say the aspirations of one 
 pious heart are more acceptable than those of 
 another, because they come nearer ourselves? 
 Was it not from this belief sprung the awful 
 miseries attendant on the times of persecution, 
 not only as endured by our own nation, but in- 
 flicted by Christian upon Christian, as the re- 
 peated massacres of the Vaudois and of the 
 Huguenots, on the fatal 24th of August, 1572, 
 would give only too terrific evidence ? This is 
 but the mockery of religion but profanation ; 
 for not thus would our merciful Father, that we 
 should evince the fervour of our love, the zealous 
 ardour we should show in His service. Even as 
 the beams of His sun shed heat, and light, and 
 joy on all alike, so may we believe His gracious 
 eye looks down on the truly pious of every creed : 
 demanding an extent of service according to the 
 measure of light He has vouchsafed, and ac- 
 cepting, ay, and answering, the lowly prayers 
 of all who seek Him in love and truth, in what- 
 ever faith they may be offered. And while we
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 83 
 
 shun the errors of belief, which is easily accom- 
 plished by a clear comprehension of our own, 
 instead of scorning, as too many do, and believ- 
 ing every act and appearance of piety counter- 
 feit, because their actual creed is mistaken, and 
 yet more, because we feel it not ; we might learn 
 many a lesson of lowly wisdom and simple piety, 
 and feel our hearts swell in increased love to our 
 universal Father and to His creatures. 
 
 It is not in compelling others to think as we 
 do, which is comprised in the duty to use our 
 utmost influence in the holy cause of God. It 
 is to make manifest the superior blessings of 
 religion over mere worldly pleasures, to prove 
 that those, who earnestly seek to fix their affec- 
 tions upon their God, are provided with a never 
 failing, never changing source of joy, in which 
 " a stranger intermeddleth not," that they need 
 fear neither the pangs of absence, nor the hour 
 of death ; for their God is with them, wherever 
 a harsh duty may lead ; He is ever present, ever 
 near them, and death is but a dark passage 
 which will end in eternal light, and lead them 
 to His throne. To use our influence in His ser- 
 vice, is to make manifest these things ; to prove 
 that be our lot trial or joy, these thoughts are 
 ever shedding their mild radiance on our hearts, 
 strengthening them in trial, tempering them in
 
 84 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 joy, and guiding and inciting the simplest action 
 of domestic life. 
 
 In some respects the power of proving the 
 beauty and comfort of a religious life is to the 
 Hebrew painfully contracted. It is not now as 
 in those joyous times when " the field, the vine- 
 yard, and the altar" alone occupied the sons 
 and daughters of Israel, when their every thought 
 was connected with their universal Father ; for 
 it was His law they obeyed. The first fruits of 
 the vineyard and the field were laid aside, not 
 as tributes to an earthly king, but as an accepted 
 offering even to the King of kings. If we were 
 asked why we were so careful " to leave the 
 gleanings of the harvest, and the olive, and the 
 grass, for the poor and the stranger ;" or where- 
 fore " we rose up before the hoary head, and 
 honoured the face of the old man ;" or why " so 
 watchful to prevent unrighteousness in judg- 
 ment, weight, or measure ;" the Hebrews would 
 reply, because our Father in heaven so com- 
 manded ; and thus the simplest action of cour- 
 tesy was blessed and hallowed by its connexion 
 with the Lord, its obedience to His will. Such 
 intimate communion was forfeited by the sins of 
 our fathers ; nor is it now even as it was in the 
 dark ages of persecution, when the Hebrew 
 clung with yet greater firmness, more endearing
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 85 
 
 fondness, to the faith for which he suffered. The 
 determination, in secret to adhere unchange- 
 ably to the Law of Moses, incited many to live 
 a holier life, and ponder frequently on Him, in 
 whose service their very lives were risked. 
 When occupying posts of high trust and favour 
 in the Spanish court, their lineage unknown, 
 their race unsuspected, though they could 
 scarcely keep the forms, the SPIRIT glowed more 
 warmly within. In those times, when torture 
 and death were ever hovering round them, was 
 a son of Israel ever tempted to become a Chris- 
 tian ? Did we then hear of conversions, of aban- 
 donment of that belief which we received from 
 the Eternal ? Nay, was it not then, many turned 
 from abodes of luxury and ease, deserting the 
 cherished hoards of years, exposing themselves 
 to every imaginable misery by becoming wan- 
 derers on the face of the earth, rather than ac- 
 cede to the conditions of their persecutors, and 
 desert their faith ? Was it not then the sons of 
 Israel in deed and thought obeyed the command 
 of their Lord, and in very truth loved Him with 
 all their heart, and soul, and might? Would 
 we do this now ? 
 
 Through the infinite mercy of an infinitely 
 merciful God, the inexpressible horrors of per- 
 secution are over: not alone are we granted 
 toleration, and permitted to dwell in safety, and 
 
 8
 
 86 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 undisturbed to continue the practice of our re- 
 ligion, but by the truly sincere and pious Chris- 
 tian the consistent Hebrew is ever esteemed, 
 honoured, even loved ; and how do we repay 
 our Father in heaven ? Has that faith so be- 
 loved in adversity become less beautiful, less 
 glorious, less loveable in prosperity, that we turn 
 from it to embrace another? "Is the hand of 
 our Father become shortened that it cannot 
 save ?" that we live as if we needed His blessing, 
 His saving mercies no more ? " Is His ear heavy 
 that it cannot hear," that we cease to call upon 
 Him, save with careless lips and wandering 
 hearts? Reposing in security, we hear not or 
 heed not the imperious call breathing in His 
 law ; or, engaged in the heartless repetition of 
 antiquated form, forget the antiquated spirit, 
 without which it is a void. We neglect to in- 
 struct our children in the religion of their fathers, 
 to enforce the necessity and the comfort of con- 
 stant communion with their God ; it is enough 
 if they fail not to do as we do ; and is it strange 
 then that those whose hearts thirst and hunger 
 after divine love, divine instruction, should at 
 length fly to that fold where they believe there 
 are shepherds to guide and to console ? Or that 
 some ambitious spirits, imagining the spiritless 
 forms, to which alone their attention has been 
 directed, are so many chains which confine them
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 87 
 
 to one spot, one employ, and permit no enlarging 
 of the mind, no ascendency in worldly honours, 
 that they, too, should turn from their fathers' 
 God, and become either forswearers of religion 
 altogether, or embrace the first creed which 
 promises distinction or increase of worldly gain ? 
 If the love and duty they owe their Father in 
 heaven has never been impressed upon their 
 infant minds ; if their childish reverence and 
 adoration have never been excited by the love 
 He bears to them : is it marvel worldly interest 
 and earthly ambition should fill their hearts to 
 the exclusion of those better and holier thoughts 
 which, as the chosen people, should be pecu- 
 liarly their own ? 
 
 It is this melancholy state of things which 
 renders the Hebrew's powers of exalting his re- 
 ligion, in the minds of men, so painfully con- 
 tracted. Yet his influence should be exercised 
 not only to exalt his faith in the views of his 
 more worldly-minded brethren alone, but in the 
 sight of the whole Christian world. He is pe- 
 culiarly situated ; comparatively speaking, he 
 stands alone amidst a vast multitude ; on his 
 conduct, his constancy, depends whether scorn 
 or admiration shall be excited towards the reli- 
 gion which stands forth embodied in himself. 
 According as his life is actuated by its principles, 
 BO will it be deemed divine or otherwise ; and at
 
 88 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 the present time, when to prove the superiority 
 of the Christian religion is the avowed or secret 
 determination of all its earnest members, en- 
 deavouring thus to obtain converts : has not the 
 Hebrew a double incentive to make manifest 
 the spiritual beauty, the unfailing comfort of his 
 own ? This would be a far weightier proof of 
 the divinity and sacred nature of our faith than 
 the most convincing argument with regard to 
 actual points of doctrine. This would be evin- 
 cing our love to our universal Father, and our 
 desire to exalt His glory, much more to the im- 
 proving of our own hearts, and to the enlarging 
 of charity towards our fellows, than the endea- 
 vour, too often made in scorn and hate, to found 
 the truth of our own belief on the falsity and de- 
 gradation of the Christian.* Religious argument 
 
 * Miss Aguilar has in the above failed to convey her thoughts 
 as clearly as they might have been. She surely does not mean 
 that all the Jews do not enforce a holiness of life, and that they 
 base the truth of their belief upon the falsity of the Christian. I 
 should regret, greatly regret, if this were the prevailing error 
 among our English friends. But in America and Germany, where 
 I am somewhat acquainted, we neither are so careless of spiritual 
 religion, nor intolerant towards those holding adverse opinions. I 
 will not say, that sufficient attention is paid to the truths of faith 
 and charity ; because the scattered state of our people presents ob- 
 stacles to the accession of a sufficient number of spiritual guides 
 among us ; but I have still to learn that we are as a mass less 
 awake to the love and goodness of God than are our gentile neigh- 
 bours. And as regards toleration in spirit, it needs no argument 
 from me to prove that gentiles have a greater disrelish, to use no
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 89 
 
 never fails to breed dissension and abuse. Though 
 our faith be not shaken, there are the remains 
 of a raging storm within which it is long ere we 
 can calm. If we have loved the person with 
 whom we have argued, the painful emotions are 
 yet stronger, and the confidence even of affec- 
 tion is awhile disturbed. If he have been indif- 
 ferent to us, that indifference is too often turned 
 to contempt and dislike, and we quit the field, 
 conscious of having done no good to ourselves or 
 to our adversary, and we turn with a ruffled and 
 angry heart from all who dare to differ from us. 
 And is this the way to serve the Lord, to prove 
 the beauty of the faith we adore? "Have we 
 not all one Father? Hath not one God created 
 us ? Why do we deal treacherously, every man 
 against his brother, by profaning the covenant 
 of our fathers?" 
 
 To love the Lord, to serve Him, the Hebrew 
 should prove by his whole life that he is indeed 
 one of a peculiar people whose faith is " holy 
 
 harsher word, toward us than we have to them. We may pardon 
 the ignorant for their over zealous contempt of Israel ; but the 
 learned can have no excuse for their wilful disregard of the fact 
 that our religion is based upon a morality as pure as theirs can 
 possibly be. Again, I say, that I would deeply deplore if a similar 
 state prevails among our own people in England ; and it is to be 
 hoped that Miss Aguilar and others engaged in similar pious 
 labours may with Heaven's blessing succeed in bringing about an 
 improved state of feelings and conduct I. L. 
 
 8*
 
 90 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 unto the Lord." Is he accused of having no 
 faith, let him prove he has more need of faith, 
 and feels it yet more deeply than the Nazarene ; 
 that as he looks upon the present condition of 
 his brethren, he has faith, or he must disbelieve 
 the past and doubt the future. Is he told his is 
 a stern, cold, spiritless religion, that can only 
 look to a rigid and exacting Judge, in whom 
 mercy is lost in justice: let him bring forward 
 his Bible to prove that a God of love was re- 
 vealed to the Israelites, many centuries before 
 the birth of him the Christians call their messiah. 
 Is he referred to the beautiful morality of the 
 New Testament to prove the divinity of its au- 
 thor : let him again turn to his Bible to prove 
 from what fountain that morality originally came. 
 And this influence can be used without one word 
 of reference to points of doctrine. Let the He- 
 brew's every action be guided by the love he 
 bears his God ; let him adhere to every form as 
 bringing him closer to his God, by manifesting 
 the obedience of a loving child, not of a terrified 
 slave ; let him find so much delight and comfort 
 in his religion that retirement and poverty are 
 preferable to riches and distinction, if these are 
 only to be purchased by its relinquishment ; let 
 him respect his religion himself, and he will never 
 fail to find it respected by others. Let the He- 
 brew attend more closely to these things, make
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 91 
 
 more evident his love to his God, his reverence 
 to His ordinances, the comfort he derives from 
 this communion : and we would hear no more of 
 attempted conversions, no more of wonderful 
 converts ;* and this indeed would be seeking to 
 serve the Lord, to love Him with all our might. 
 
 But it is not to the Nazarene world alone we 
 should make manifest the comfort and the beauty 
 of our Father's faith. Many who are hesitating 
 and lukewarm might be led to think more seri- 
 ously on this all important topic, were the ex- 
 ample of its professors such as might win the 
 heart and attract the affection. The humblest 
 member of a domestic circle might thus forward 
 the sacred cause of God. His sphere of action 
 is possibly contracted ; but home is the spot where 
 the influence of true piety is most strongly felt, 
 where the blossoms of that lovely plant shed the 
 rarest fragrance, and bring forth the sweetest 
 fruit. What so likely to check the impatient 
 reply, the unavoidable irritation, the peevish 
 
 * This and a few other similar expressions, used before by my 
 friend, I believe to allude to an unfortunate case of the conversion 
 of the daughter of a highly honoured family, under the plea that 
 she had never been properly impressed with the spirituality of re- 
 ligion, till she heard it propounded in an episcopal church. I be- 
 lieve, however, the case to be a solitary one almost, at all events 
 very rare ; the name of the convert is withheld because of motives 
 of delicacy for her pious mother, and because it could add no 
 strength to these remarks. I. L.
 
 92 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 temper, as religion? What will teach us to 
 bear and forbear, to forgive the unkind look, 
 the hasty word, to give up our dearest wishes 
 at the call of duty, save that blessed spirit which 
 springs from the love of God ? Secret and con- 
 stant communion with Him can alone bring the 
 duties of submission, patience, charity, forgive- 
 ness, gentleness, to any perfection ; and these 
 virtues, like the silent stars, are more needed in 
 the holy shade of home, than in the broad sun- 
 shine of society. There, fear of the world's con- 
 tumely, of earthly disgrace, is often sufficient to 
 keep us on our guard. It is easy to govern our- 
 selves for a time, to behave with studied cour- 
 tesy, to speak with polished ease ; the rules of 
 society are enough for this ; but to practise such 
 virtues at home, requires a higher and holier 
 motive. Even the duty we owe our parents, or 
 the love we feel towards those with whom we 
 continually associate is not of itself sufficient. 
 If we look into the Bible we shall find lessons for 
 home, as well as for our conduct in the world. 
 
 In submission to the prejudices of the aged, 
 humility to our superiors, charity* towards the 
 
 * " Rabbi Me'ir said : Every one who engages in the study of 
 the law from a pure motive, will attain many things; and not 
 alone this, but he is worthy to enjoy all the world ; he is thereby 
 called friend, beloved, a lover of God, a lover of mankind, rejoicing 
 God, rejoicing man, and he is clothed with meekness and fear of
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 93 
 
 failings of our equals, patience with our inferiors, 
 forgiveness (that cheerful forgiveness which for- 
 gets as well as pardons) of provocations which 
 are unavoidable even in the fondest intimacy ; 
 in that control which puts some check on the 
 irritation and ill-temper occasioned by those 
 numberless petty provocations from which no 
 domestic circle is free ; in the cherishing of that 
 holy gentleness which never fails to render us 
 beloved : if in these virtues the influence of piety 
 be silently at work, much will be done for the 
 cause of God. Others may be led to examine 
 into the secret cause of this heavenly peace and 
 blessedness, which perhaps they envy ; and if 
 they trace it to the ever-working influence of an 
 earnest love for their Father in heaven and a 
 desire to serve Him, they too may wish to follow 
 
 the Lord, and is enabled to become pious, righteous, upright, and 
 faithful, is removed from sin, and brought near to a meritorious 
 course of life, and he will become like a stream that grows 
 stronger as it progresses in its course, and a river whose waters 
 never dry up ; and he will be modestly retiring, long-suffering, 
 willingly forgiving insults offered him, and be raised and exalted 
 above all creatures." This is in part the beautiful idea which one 
 of our ancient sages conveyed of an enlightened piety. Are we 
 willing to follow this guide in our own intercourse with God and 
 man ? Is our public exhibition of character, where the eyes of the 
 world are upon us, the same as when we are alone in the bosom of 
 our family, or even solitary in our closet, with no eye to see save 
 that of God, with no ear to listen to our words, unless it be the 
 Providence above, whose ken is ever on us 7 I. L.
 
 94 
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 in His paths, and deem that yoke indeed light 
 and glad which can produce such happy effects. 
 Precept is too often doubted ; we look on pro- 
 fessors of religion with a jealous eye ; and if they 
 fail, the effect of their most eloquent appeal is 
 lost entirely. But very different is the effect of 
 discovering religion to be the secret source in 
 each and all of those gentle and loveable quali- 
 ties which in the first instance attracted us. At 
 first we admire and revere at a distance, then 
 as we draw near and love, comes the question, 
 why cannot we too " go and do likewise ?" 
 
 In this manner the humblest member of so- 
 ciety may serve the Lord, and benefit his fellow- 
 creatures, may make evident by example, far 
 more forcibly than by mere precept, the beauty 
 and solidity of his internal piety ; and if there 
 should be an opportunity to manifest the bene- 
 volence and philanthropy with which his heart 
 is filled, his words may fall with a powerful 
 weight ; for they will be traced from the same 
 source as his actions, and the blessing of leading 
 one soul to the fount of life may at length be 
 his. 
 
 There can be no true religion without benevo- 
 lence, without the ever active desire for others 
 to taste the comforts and blessings we enjoy, not 
 alone corporeally, but spiritually. This is one 
 unfailing proof of the heart's regeneration, of its
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 95 
 
 springing up from the cords and chains which 
 have attached it to sin, and faintly reflecting the 
 " divine image in which man was made," 
 faintly indeed, yet truly, as we trace the glori- 
 ous image of the sun in the quivering dew-drop 
 which melts before his beams. In those that 
 love, that serve, that perse veringly seek to re- 
 semble their Father in heaven in universal 
 charity, forbearance, beneficence and love, be- 
 nevolence is very strongly marked ; it is the 
 virtue which assimilates us most with His divine 
 image ; the virtue which should be the peculiar 
 characteristic, the loveliest inheritance of His 
 chosen heritage ; for more repeatedly, if possible, 
 more powerfully than any other, is it inculcated 
 in the book of life. 
 
 Why are we instructed so particularly in the 
 slaughter of those animals granted us for food ? 
 but that they should be killed in the quickest 
 and easiest manner. Why forbidden to yoke the 
 ass and the ox together ? because that which 
 the ox could bear would injure and hurt the ass. 
 Why so expressly threatened with awful retribu- 
 tion, if we forbore to assist the overburdened ass 
 of one we hated ? Why to let the parent bird go 
 free : if benevolence even towards the brute crea- 
 tion were not to be the first and dearest moral 
 virtue of the Israelites? What code of laws,
 
 96 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 save those of a perfect, holy, and glorious God, 
 would so care for the very lowest of His crea- 
 tures, would enter so minutely into instructions 
 for moral duties, that if obeyed as they were in- 
 tended to be, would even now mark the Hebrew 
 as in truth the follower of a divine law, and 
 exalt his religion far above every other ? Where, 
 save in the law of Moses, do we find benevolence 
 so emphatically, so continually enforced, in the 
 care, alike of the brute creation, and of all ranks 
 and conditions of men, the aged, the blind, the 
 deaf, the poor, and the stranger, perfect in their 
 equity and love, as the nature of Him who 
 framed them ; yet so suited to the heart and 
 temper of imperfect man, so home-speaking in 
 their universal appropriateness, that never could 
 the Hebrew excuse himself from obedience by 
 the plea, those laws were framed for angels and 
 not for men, or at least for better men, than 
 he is? 
 
 Those who are so desirous to exalt the code 
 of Jesus above that in which their fathers be- 
 lieved and trusted, and who declare the simple 
 sentence, " Do unto others as ye would be done 
 by," is worth all the Mosaic precepts, would do 
 well to refer to Leviticus, xix. 18, where in the 
 divine precept, " Thou shalt not avenge nor 
 bear any grudge against the children of thy peo-
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 97 
 
 pie, but thou shall love thy neighbour* as thy- 
 self," they may chance to find the origin not 
 only of the above quoted sentence, but of many 
 others in the gospel, whose excellence is indeed 
 undeniable, seeing that they proceed from the 
 same pure fountain ; but as the Israelites pos- 
 sess the original unadulterated spring, they have 
 no need to quit the belief of their fathers to dis- 
 cover it. 
 
 In one respect benevolence is still a beautiful 
 characteristic of the Hebrew nation, and that is 
 the open ear, and the open heart to the cry of 
 poverty and sorrow, not confined to the distress 
 of brethren alone, but a case of Christian dis- 
 tress is as promptly and generously relieved. In 
 a small village near the metropolis/!" many 
 Nazarene families learned to call down blessings 
 on a Jewish benefactress, and to feel that true 
 charity was not confined to the Christian heart 
 alone ; many poor children, clothed, fed, in- 
 structed, by her goodness, might have been seen 
 gambolling on the lawn of a Hebrew dwelling, 
 rejoicing in the sunshine of that ever acting be- 
 
 * So likewise, speaking of a slave who has escaped from his 
 master to seek the protection of the Hebrew laws, the Bible says 
 (Deut. xxiii. 16) : " He shall dwell with thee in that place which 
 he shall choose thou shall not oppress him." In Lev. xix. 34, 
 we are commanded to love the stranger as ourselves, because we 
 had been strangers. I. L. 
 
 t London. 
 
 9
 
 98 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 nevolence which, as some suppose, can be found 
 in the Christian alone. And when it pleased 
 God to remove the wealth which had permitted 
 her to do these things, the bitterest drop in her 
 cup of peculiarly aggravated sorrow was the 
 thought, that the poor little Jewish and Chris- 
 tian children could no longer bless her name. 
 Time, which has softened other trials, and re- 
 conciled her truly noble yet lowly heart to indi- 
 vidual privations which would have bowed less 
 faithful spirits repining to the dust, has had no 
 effect in this. Still is the tear called forth, the 
 kindly spirit wrung even to anguish, when dis- 
 tress comes near her door, and she has no longer 
 power to relieve it. How blessed then the 
 thought, that her earnest wish is known to the 
 Searcher of hearts, and that in His sight the 
 starting tear and quivering sigh are dear, per- 
 chance dearer than many gifts of gold.* 
 
 Nor is this a solitary instance of Hebrew cha- 
 rity. Yet while we admire and revere the relief 
 the rich and powerful, ay, and not these alone, 
 are ever ready to bestow : the truly pious Isra- 
 elite may often in secret wish, the spirit of piety, 
 the earnest desire to love and obey the God of 
 beneficence, which was the secret source of that 
 
 * I regret that the author has not mentioned the name of this 
 noble daughter of Israel ; as surely the memory of one so worthy 
 ought to be blessed. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 99 
 
 benevolence exemplified above, were more inti- 
 mately mingled with it. We do not love the 
 Lord with all our might, and seek to serve Him 
 and exalt His glory : if charity merely proceeds 
 from the kindliness of our own tempers, or ten- 
 derness of our own hearts, or a yet stronger 
 motive in the more opulent and more ambitious 
 ranks, from a secret, yet no less ardent desire, 
 by a display of liberality to obtain honour and 
 consideration in the Christian world. 
 
 Liberality is not benevolence, any more than 
 the act of giving money is true charity. Benevo- 
 lence is truly a religious principle, it begins and 
 ends in religion ; it lifts up the heart to God, at 
 the same moment it expands it towards man. It 
 seeks to expend its love and adoration for Him 
 in the service of His creatures ; and therefore it 
 is. that charity cannot be perfect unless it seeks 
 the amelioration of the moral and religious con- 
 dition of the poor, as well as the relief of their 
 more crying and immediate wants. 
 
 The desire to improve our needy brethren, 
 spiritually as well as temporally, can only pro- 
 ceed from the firm conviction within ourselves 
 of the necessity, as well as the blessing, of serving 
 the Lord. Our power in this respect is pain- 
 fully limited, compared with the nations around 
 us. Yet, were the desire more strongly felt, some-
 
 100 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 thing might in time be done, and the Hebrews 
 throw off the dark shackles of blinded supersti- 
 tion and of prejudices founded on a deplorable 
 state of ignorance, which is to be feared is only 
 too often found amongst them now. The poor, 
 even as children, need instruction in their reli- 
 gion ; it will not come untaught, nor can its 
 mild consoling lustre beam from the trammels 
 of tradition,* which must increase in incompre- 
 hensible obscurity with each new generation. 
 The clear conception of our heavenly Father 
 will not come of itself; it can only reach the 
 mind through that word in which Infinity was 
 revealed, according to the comprehension of 
 finite man. 
 
 The human mind needs enlargement and im- 
 provement for the reception of the simple, yet 
 sublime truths of religion, even for the consoling 
 belief in a God of love. For this purpose even 
 the best directed charity, if it consist only in 
 alms or similar relief, will not avail. There are 
 
 * I am not permitted to alter the text so as to destroy the mean- 
 ing- ; or else I should certainly have altered this sentence ; for 
 without claiming for tradition all that some assert for it, there is 
 doubtlessly found laid down therein nearly the whole of our own 
 manner of interpretation and mode of life. How else are we to 
 read Scripture, unless it be in accordance with the views of our 
 predecessors 1 What else forms the distinction between us and 
 Christians'?!. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 101 
 
 difficulties, barriers around the Jewish poor, al- 
 most unknown to other nations. Confined to 
 one quarter of large cities, often to trades of the 
 meanest and lowest kind, without the power of 
 seeking employment in other parts of the coun- 
 try, even if their inclinations so prompted : their 
 minds must become narrowed, prejudiced, and 
 puffed up with a sort of pride, or self-conse- 
 quence, which sets at defiance every benevolent 
 intention, and frustrates all attempts for their 
 spiritual and temporal improvement. A super- 
 ficial knowledge of the Hebrew tongue, just 
 sufficient to repeat their prayers and blessings 
 at stated hours, conscious they are doing a ne- 
 cessary duty, but utterly unconscious of the na- 
 ture of Him they thus address ; well versed in 
 traditional lore, but wholly ignorant of the spirit 
 of the Bible, of the peculiar duties which as 
 members of God's chosen people devolve on 
 them: these are the abuses which those who 
 " love the Lord" and have His service at heart 
 should most earnestly seek to remedy, and at- 
 tend to particularly in those establishments, 
 which the benevolent have founded for the 
 education of the rising generation. 
 
 A strictly moral education is not sufficient for 
 the real improvement of the Hebrew poor. They 
 need religion, simple, heartfelt, yet ever guiding 
 religion ; and this can only be obtained by 
 
 9*
 
 102 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 teaching them their English* Bibles ; by seeking 
 books to assist them in their comprehension ; 
 by employing those of their own class, in whose 
 advancing youth a good discrimination may 
 trace abilities for the task, to select portions out 
 of standard religious works, which will give 
 weight to the words of Divine love, by render- 
 ing them more adapted to the minds of their 
 younger companions ; and if there be not suffi- 
 cient of these good books by Hebrew writers, 
 there are many, very many excellent aids to the 
 spirit of religion found in books written indeed 
 for Christians, which to separate from the actual 
 belief might form a pleasing and laudable em- 
 ployment for the benevolent Hebrew whose 
 limited means prevent any more active partici- 
 pation in the charitable acts of his richer and 
 more influential brethren. Why should we be 
 startled at selecting portions from Christian 
 authors ? The morality they inculcate, the spi- 
 rit they breathe, come from the fount in which 
 we both believe, the Old Testament. They may 
 believe that Jesus first preached the doctrine of 
 love and saving mercy ; but we know it was ours 
 
 * Being as we are inheritors of the Hebrew language no less 
 than the Scriptures, it is evidently our duty to make ourselves, if 
 possible, familiar with the original, so as to enable us to judge with 
 some knowledge of the correctness or otherwise of the translation 
 which is offered to us as a transcript of the word of God. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 103 
 
 many centuries before, ours by right of primo- 
 geniture and of that redeeming love which, de- 
 livering us from cruelty and bondage, marked 
 us as the first-born of the Lord. 
 
 Knowing this, imprinting it from the very first 
 on the yielding heart of the child, bidding him 
 look to the word of God, to the Law of Moses, 
 a^ the mainspring, not only of the religion in 
 which he believes, but of every other which ac- 
 knowledges a God of salvation and mercy, de- 
 spite the difference of creeds ; as the fountain 
 of life and light, typical of that which flows in 
 the presence of the Lord for ever more, and 
 from which springs that universal spirit of reli- 
 gion which, utterly distinct from creed, or form, 
 or service, dwells in every pious heart : there 
 can be no danger in selecting and appropriating 
 portions of those Christian writers earnest in 
 their cause. The Hebrew thus employed would 
 find benefit to himself arising from benevolence 
 towards others ; nor need he fear his mite is too 
 lowly to be acceptable to the Giver of all good. 
 We do not think enough on the good we may 
 do our needy brethren by leading them to read 
 and understand the word of God, by supplying 
 them with aids for the proper acquirement of 
 that knowledge, and inciting them to rise supe- 
 rior to the superstitions of tradition and preju-
 
 104 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 dice which have shackled* them so long, and to 
 look to their Bibles alonet for support and com- 
 fort in affliction, for the guidance and direction 
 in every social, domestic, moral, and religious 
 duty, for the removal of every lingering terror 
 contained in the anticipation of death and judg- 
 ment ; in a word for their instruction how to 
 live and for their hopes of immortality. 
 
 Till this is done, till the poor are taught reli- 
 gion as well as morality, and reading, writing, 
 and other necessaries towards gaining an honest 
 livelihood : the benevolent Hebrew can never 
 hope to behold the regeneration of his indigent 
 brethren ; he can never hope to behold them 
 occupying a respectable and respected situation 
 in the world, as long as petty meanness, cringing 
 servility, or presuming insolence, mark their in- 
 tercourse with the Christian ; he can never 
 hope to see his religion loved and respected in 
 
 * It is not tradition which has shackled the Jewish mind, but the 
 cruelty exercised by Christians, pagans, and Mahometans towards 
 our bodies and spirits both. Prejudice against others is the result 
 of oppression ; remove this, look upon us as equals, and the evil 
 will speedily be removed from our minds also. For kindness will 
 beget kindness, as cruelty begot hatred. I. L. 
 
 f The word alone strikes me as not quite proper ; for if we re- 
 ject all information in this great inquiry except what we can draw 
 from our own experience, we must evidently be but indifferent 
 judges of Scripture. No, we must of necessity " ask our fathers 
 who shall tell us, and our elders who are to inform us." I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 105 
 
 them, till they have learned to love and respect 
 it themselves. To do this, even simply to desire 
 this, charity must be intimately mingled with 
 the love of God. To serve Him, to exalt His 
 glory in the eyes and hearts of men, to make 
 the ignorant and the destitute share His bless- 
 ings and promises, to impart to them His love, 
 and strengthen them for their lives of trial by 
 the conviction they are all and each, indivi- 
 dually, objects of His tender care : this is the 
 charity springing from and ending in Him, and 
 this should be the incentive of every Hebrew 
 heart. If, while we interest ourselves in the 
 poor, we think not of Him who hath said the 
 poor and the stranger must be cared for, can 
 we hope our good works will be accepted ? Is 
 it not rather to be feared some secret motive, 
 some unconscious selfishness may lurk within, 
 and, filling up our hearts, entirely prevent the 
 entrance of the image of God, and rob our ac- 
 tions of that sweet savour which would other- 
 wise ascend to heaven, and be accepted as the 
 burnt offerings of old? 
 
 " Cast thy bread upon the waters, thou shalt 
 find it after many days ;" this is sufficient proof 
 that we are not to " withhold the good that it is 
 in the power of our hand to do," because of the 
 doubtful merit of those we would relieve. As 
 the running waters bear from our view the bread
 
 106 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 we have cast upon them, so too may the good 
 we have wished to do be hidden from our sight ; 
 but as a renewed current or a change of wind 
 may bring back to us what we have cast upon 
 the stream, and looked upon for many days as 
 lost, so will the blessing of the Lord return into 
 our own bosoms the good which we may have 
 failed to bestow on others. The fruit of bene- 
 volence may not be found on earth, the blight- 
 ing wind of ingratitude, the nipping frost of 
 deceit, may have outwardly destroyed the goodly 
 tree ; but within our own bosoms it shall bloom, 
 nourished, cherished by the blessing of the Lord, 
 and we shall find its fruit in heaven. But this 
 comfort can only be realized by those who are 
 benevolent, simply because they seek to follow 
 the path of their Father in heaven, who desire 
 to do good to others, because the ever acting 
 love they bear their God urges them to serve 
 their fellow-creatures, and bids them share the 
 blessings so lavishly bestowed on them. Charity 
 proceeding from any other motive is far more 
 likely to end in pain and vexation of spirit ; for 
 if the love of God hath not been associated with 
 the endeavour to do good, the thought that His 
 love saw and blessed the deed cannot console 
 us in its failure. 
 
 Let a child be accustomed to set aside a por- 
 tion of his pocket-money, be the pittance ever
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 107 
 
 so small, and only perhaps sufficient to scatter it 
 in halfpence amongst the miserable objects who 
 appeal to him in his daily walks. Let one half 
 hour be reserved for our little girls from the 
 more showy and fatiguing avocations of the 
 daily school-room, for the simple purpose of 
 working for the poor and desolate of their own 
 age ; and if the love of their beneficent Creator 
 be associated in both the reservation of their 
 mite and the employment of their hands, we lay 
 the foundation of that true benevolence in the 
 infant mind which is in itself an offering unto 
 God. We bring them closer to their Father in 
 heaven ; for by comparing their lot with those 
 they seek to relieve their young hearts are filled 
 with gratitude and love to their God, with a 
 desire to honour Him by having mercy on His 
 poor ; and we prepare them for an increase of 
 benevolence and good deeds with increase of 
 years and means. Above all, let us not chill the 
 warm expanding heart of childhood, by caution 
 against the fraud which so often lurks in the 
 garb of misery ; better let the willing copper be 
 given ten times in vain, to the passing by of one 
 true case of suffering. It is time to caution 
 when there is more to give ; but not in that 
 beautiful spring of life when all seems as true 
 and guileless as the young heart itself. The 
 sums squandered on expensive toys, expensive
 
 108 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 dresses, are not regarded, nor is the selfishness 
 they engender in any way considered ; yet how 
 many good feelings and kindly charities might 
 be engrafted, if part of these sums were laid 
 aside for the inculcation of benevolence, even 
 granting that the undiscerning charity of chil- 
 dren should be more than once abused. Let 
 them sometimes be encouraged to give up a de- 
 sired pleasure or favourite toy for the superior 
 gratification of relieving a fellow-creature, and 
 proving that they desire to love their God ; and 
 we need not fear but that as their character 
 matures, benevolence will form no inconside- 
 rable part. If we need farther incentive, farther 
 proof, we have but to search the pages of Holy 
 Writ to feel that in relieving the poor we glo- 
 rify the Lord ; or the blessings on the benevolent 
 would not be so continually, so emphatically 
 promised ; and we shall scarcely fail to remem- 
 ber, that however guarded may be our lives, 
 however closely we may adhere to the precepts 
 of the Lord, however we may feel assured we do 
 love Him with all our heart and soul and might, 
 that love is not perfect or acceptable in His sight 
 unless " we have mercy on the poor."
 
 109 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 BRIEF REVIEW OF THE COMMANDMENTS AND THE SOCIAL 
 DUTIES THEREIN COMPRISED. 
 
 MANY Hebrews may perhaps object to the 
 lengthened consideration of the second verse of 
 the SHEMANG, which the three preceding chapters 
 contain ; that it is following the false lights of 
 the Nazarene, and spiritualizing and mystifying 
 a simple truth ; that the command to love the 
 Lord with all our heart, and soul, and might, 
 simply means to pray to Him and praise Him, 
 and obey His laws as far as lies in our power 
 that is to say as far as we conveniently can, 
 without interfering with our more pressing calls 
 of interest and ambition ; that it is folly to sup- 
 pose that such a short sentence, such a simple 
 command can mean any thing more than a mere 
 religious injunction, or that it interferes in any 
 way with the moral duties. Alas! that such 
 should be the calm and rational belief of any 
 who bear the name of Israel ! that any member 
 of that nation to whom God revealed His glory, 
 
 10
 
 110 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 that nation He selected as His own, to be His 
 witnesses, His peculiar treasure that any one 
 should seek so perseveringly to divide our duties 
 to God from those to man, that even amongst 
 the strictly moral, the truly honourable, who 
 bear the Jewish name, the belief should exist 
 that the service of God is distinct, too holy, too 
 sacred, to be our guide in the world, that His 
 word only refers to our duty to Him, not to our 
 fellow-creatures. Surely those who thus believe* 
 can either never have studied, or have never 
 implored the divine blessing on the study of the 
 book of life. " For this commandment which I 
 command thee is not hidden from thee nor is it 
 far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldst 
 say, Who shall go up for us to heaven and bring 
 it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it ? 
 Neither is it beyond sea, that thou shouldst say, 
 Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it 
 unto us, that we may hear it, and do it ? But 
 the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, 
 and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." 
 
 And is it not still as near us ? is it not in our 
 
 * I trust that the number of Israelites who understand their reli- 
 gion so erroneously is small indeed ; that there are some is no 
 doubt true ; but there are many more, equally erring and sinful, 
 who fancy that charity, benevolence, and mere morality, is suffi- 
 cient for them. Both these classes are only halfway religious; 
 our duty is only fulfilled when piety and philanthropy are intimately 
 united in us. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. Ill 
 
 power still to do it ? Yet so sad is the natural 
 corruption of the human heart, that perhaps 
 were it more difficult to be attained, were there 
 some great thing we were desired to do in devo- 
 tion to the Lord, we should be eager and ready 
 to prove our obedience ; whereas the simple com- 
 mand to associate His love, His glory in all we 
 do, to make religion the mainspring of life, is 
 looked upon as the mere dream of a visionary,* 
 who would turn and twist the words of Scripture 
 to the furtherance and support of his own ima- 
 ginings. 
 
 How then, (surely the question is allowable,) 
 would these strict moralists explain the meaning 
 and extent of the command which has detained 
 us so long ? Can they bring forth sufficient evi- 
 dence from the Book of Life to prove that Moses 
 meant less to be included in his words, than we 
 allow ? Would not his minute command for the 
 right regulation and religious government of 
 individual, social, and domestic life, rather em- 
 brace our side of the question, and give some 
 shadow of truth to the suggestion, that in his 
 
 * As an illustration of the truth of this assertion the reader is 
 referred to the exercise of faith demanded by Elisha, the prophet, 
 of the leper Naarnan (2 Kings v. 1-15), where the servants of the 
 latter said to him : " My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some 
 great thing, wouldst thou not have done it, how much rather then, 
 when he saith unto thee, wash and be clean 1" I. L.
 
 112 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 book of repetition,* 1 being unable again to enter 
 into the minutiae already so emphatically en- 
 forced, he threw them together in this brief sen- 
 tence, fully conscious, that were that solemn 
 injunction to love the Lord obeyed to its full 
 extent, all would be therein comprised ? 
 
 But, it may be urged, Did we so govern our- 
 selves, so control our affections, we should be 
 perfect beings, and that is impossible to be on 
 earth. Yet on this are we to found an exemp- 
 tion or reprieve, for seeking after righteousness? 
 Are we to sit down calmly and contentedly in 
 the natural corruption of our hearts, because we 
 cannot hope to realize perfection ? 
 
 It is this tacit agreement with unrighteous- 
 ness, this unconsciousness and carelessness of 
 what God's law imperatively includes, which 
 renders us so satisfied with ourselves, so startled 
 when we hear or read, that our best actions 
 need God's infinite mercy to purify and render 
 them acceptable. It is this which makes us 
 vehemently protest against having committed 
 sin, or having done any thing that can be dis- 
 pleasing unto our Father in heaven. It is 
 enough to do all we can, and He will not expect 
 more. 
 
 They are right, He will not expect more if 
 
 * Deuteronomy.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 113 
 
 we do all we can ; but it is not enough to do all 
 we can for the furtherance of our own interests ; 
 not enough, to refrain from injuring man, to 
 adhere strictly to moral duty ; for will these acts 
 acquit us in His sight for forgetting Him ? for 
 not thinking of His command to love and serve 
 Him ? to do all things for the sake of remem- 
 bering and glorifying Him ? Oh ! if these things 
 were sought ; if we pondered sufficiently on our- 
 selves, and on our Maker, or the love He bears 
 us, and the little return we make on the con- 
 tinued wanderings of our heart in prayer, in 
 meditation on all holy things how we shrink 
 back from His service, and give Him not the 
 love of children but the fear of slaves, forgetting 
 that He demandeth LOVE and not servile obedi- 
 ence : we should feel at once our own sinful 
 nature and our Father's inexhaustible goodness ; 
 we should be more ready to hear, more willing 
 to receive all that would aid us in seeking after 
 righteousness, and render easier the commands 
 of the Lord, and the comprehension of His word. 
 There are those who, trusting entirely in their 
 own strength, and judging others from their 
 own feelings, laugh to scorn, as unnatural or 
 hypocritical, any exalted feeling, extraordinary 
 goodness, or perfect disinterestedness. They 
 know not the strength that lowly religion gives; 
 
 10*
 
 114 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 they would deem it but an overstrained saintly 
 notion which urged that those, who seek their 
 God and love Him in prosperity, are sometimes 
 endowed under extreme adversity with a strength 
 which may and will appear unnatural to those 
 who know not, believe not, God cares for each 
 and all. 
 
 Those who are in reality nearest perfection, 
 are farthest from it in their own minds ; the 
 more advance they make in goodness, the more 
 clearly shines forth the perfect holiness of God 
 in their own blemishes. They judge not of 
 themselves by their fellow-creatures, they seek 
 not to compare their faults or virtues with those 
 of men ; but they look at their deeds through 
 the light of their God ; they regard their acts 
 and omissions as they are in His sight, and trust 
 not to them for salvation. But to those who 
 know Him not, who think not of Him, but as 
 One far off, who knows not, heeds not, the daily 
 thoughts of individuals, it is enough to compare 
 themselves with other men, and if they covet 
 not, rob not, injure not if they are widely dif- 
 ferent from those unhappy beings under the pu- 
 nishment of the laws, why, that is all-sufficient, 
 they are free from all thought of sin. 
 
 But if those nearest perfection in the opinion 
 of their fellow-men, are farthest from it in their 
 own : what good either to themselves or others
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 115 
 
 can accrue from it ? What good ? Let the true 
 believer himself reply, and he would tell us, the 
 blessing vouchsafed him can only be felt, it is 
 too deep, too heart-springing for words. The 
 humble endeavour, the fervent prayer, to follow 
 in the path of light, has been mercifully blessed 
 to him, it has been no power of his own ; and 
 he has found comfort in the conviction, that his 
 prayers and efforts, however lowly, are accept- 
 able. He hath but sown the goodly seed in the 
 firm faith of reaping the fruit above ; and he 
 would tell us also, the seed cannot be sown, nor 
 the plant flourish, without toil and perseverance. 
 Disappointment and trial will attend its growth ; 
 we shall feel at times as if its budding blossoms 
 were all destroyed, blighted, never to bloom 
 again ; but perseverance and prayer will tend 
 and nourish it to health again ; and on the bed 
 of death its clustering flowers will encompass 
 us with their sweet fragrance, and give fair 
 promise of the fruit which waits for us on high. 
 And then, is it not worth while to toil on despite 
 of pain, and persevere regardless of disappoint- 
 ment? 
 
 It is never too late to tread the path of salva- 
 tion ; but the earlier its commencement, the 
 smoother is its road. It is the blessed union of 
 piety and morality which the law of Moses 
 teaches, which alone can enable the true be-
 
 116 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 liever to glorify the name of his God, by exalting 
 his religion in the estimation of the world, and 
 proving that the Hebrew faith is as full of hope, 
 and peace, and comfort of salvation, and of 
 spiritual joy, as is the Christian. 
 
 The notion that the third verse of the She- 
 mang, " And these words which I command thee 
 this day shall be in thy heart," refers also to the 
 preceding chapter, is also liable to the censure 
 of the rigid moralist, who looks no farther than 
 the actual words of the prayer book, and con- 
 demns all enlarged and spiritualizing views of 
 religion. Yet it appears almost impossible to 
 read the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy, without 
 observing how completely connected it is with 
 the fifth, knowing also, that as Moses originally 
 wrote, there was no division of chapter or verse.* 
 In the fifth our great lawgiver enlarges on the 
 covenant which our God made with us on Horeb, 
 repeating the ten commandments, as he there 
 received them, emphatically concluding with 
 the words : " And these words the Lord spake 
 unto all your assembly, in the mount, out of the 
 midst of the fire, of the cloud and of the thick 
 
 * This is true to a certain extent : the modern division of chap- 
 ters is not discoverable in the original Hebrew text ; nevertheless, 
 the division in sections is undoubtedly the work of Moses as much 
 as the writing of the Pentateuch itself proceeds from him ; and the 
 Shemang forms incontestably a section by itself, whatever refer- 
 ence it may have to what precedes or follows. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 117 
 
 darkness, with a great voice, and HE ADDED NO 
 MORE." Then he describes the fear of the peo- 
 ple, the great awe that fell upon them, and that 
 which they said ; their acceptance in the sight 
 of the Lord, His yearning affection towards 
 them, and His choosing Moses to receive His 
 law. lest the sight of His glory should terrify the 
 people. Thus we perceive the fifth chapter is 
 a lengthened detail of " words," which the sixth 
 in a few brief eloquent verses exhorts us to obey. 
 The one is in strict connexion with the other ; 
 and thus in all probability Ezra and Nehemiah 
 thought, when they compiled for their captive 
 brethren the prayers, which were to supply the 
 place of the daily burnt offerings, which in 
 Babylon* they were unable to sacrifice. 
 
 The first compilation of prayers originated in 
 the Babylonish captivity. The sacrifices had 
 ceased, the Jewish nationality was becoming 
 lost, in the sinful intermixture of the Hebrew 
 
 * There is a slight inaccuracy in the above ; no doubt exists 
 that the chief parts of our prayers owe their present general ar- 
 rangement to Ezra and the great Synod ; yet they were not alone 
 for those who remained behind, but for the inhabitants of Palestine 
 also, who could participate in the temple service. Farther, though 
 we have no direct account of its being so, other than the ex- 
 ample of Daniel, who prayed three times every day, there can be 
 but little doubt that a form of prayer comprising benedictions, the 
 Shemang, and petitions like the Amidah, were in use before the 
 Babylonian captivity. I. L.
 
 118 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 with the heathen ; and their children, according 
 to Nehemiah, spoke neither in the language of 
 Ashdod nor of Jerusalem. Ezra beheld and 
 trembled lest the knowledge of the sacred lan- 
 guage should become at length so completely 
 lost, they would be unable, to address their God 
 therein. He saw that a regular form of prayer 
 was becoming more necessary than it had ever 
 been before ; and instituting an academy, known 
 by the name of the Great Assembly, and ho- 
 noured by the names of Daniel, Haggai, Zecha- 
 riah, and Malachi, he compiled, with their 
 assistance, the prayers we now repeat. They 
 formed morning, afternoon, and evening service, 
 to be repeated in lieu of the daily sacrifices 
 which they were then prevented from offering as 
 in Jerusalem.* 
 
 It is therefore evident, those portions of the 
 Bible were selected, as were best adapted to sup- 
 ply those ceremonies now denied them. To re- 
 peat the whole law of Moses every day was im- 
 possible ; and yet, scattered as they were amidst 
 idolatrous nations, it was more than likely it 
 would at length be completely forgotten. The 
 only remedy was to bring together those por- 
 tions which would briefly, yet solemnly, remind 
 
 * See the preface to the Rev. D. A. De Sola's elegant edition of 
 our prayers, the translation and type of which are worthy their 
 exalted subject.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 119 
 
 them of their duty to their God and to each 
 other ; Ezra perceiving by the context that such 
 was the intention of Moses. 
 
 Such was the origin of the Shemang : it is the 
 only part of our prayers* which neither addresses 
 the Eternal, nor relates to His glorious attri- 
 butes. Each division speaks directly to the peo- 
 ple ; enforcing commands brief indeed, but yet 
 which, if obeyed, would comprise obedience to 
 the whole law of Moses. 
 
 D'"m translated words, we find by a refer- 
 ence to every verse where it is used, always 
 relates to commandments or statutes ; and there- 
 fore to regard it in the third verse of the She- 
 mang, as referring to the commandments pre- 
 ceding it, not alone in the sixth, but in the fifth 
 chapter, cannot surely be charged with either 
 spiritualizing or mystifying the sense in which 
 Moses used them. We cannot be wandering 
 very far, if in making them bear upon the ten 
 commandments, as a charge to let them be upon 
 our hearts, we endeavour to discover what in- 
 
 * Without endeavouring to gainsay any part of what is advanced 
 above, I will merely remark that, according to the views generally 
 prevailing among us, the Shemang is looked upon as the daily ac- 
 knowledgment and acceptance of the yoke of the heavenly king- 
 dom ; by it we are to be reminded to whom, and why we pray ; it 
 is to impress us at rising up and lying down with the conviction that 
 we are the children of a beneficent and all-powerful God, to whose 
 service we ought to devote the life He has given, the soul He has 
 breathed in us, and the blessings which He bestows. I. L.
 
 120 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 dividual, religious, or social duties the decalogue 
 includes. 
 
 The duties of the first and second have been 
 already detailed, in the chapters relating to the 
 first and second verses of the y&&. In pro- 
 claiming, and believing in the unity of God, in 
 seeking to know the various duties that belief 
 includes, we prove our obedience to that first 
 commandment, which so solemnly declares, I 
 am the Lord thy God, &c. We cannot love 
 with all our heart, and soul, and might, if we 
 make unto ourselves any graven image, or be- 
 lieve in any other god ; consequently, obedience 
 to the second verse of the Shemang comprises 
 obedience to the second commandment. And 
 the third do we amongst refined and polished 
 society amongst the moral and honourable 
 world do we disobey this third commandment ? 
 Surely that too may be dismissed unnoticed ! 
 Yet we disobey it when carelessly and irreverently 
 we use the sacred name of God; when, with pro- 
 fane and heedless lips, we attach that ineffable 
 name as a common interjection to our most un- 
 guarded conversation, as an interjection attached 
 to every sudden emotion, be it of surprise or 
 grief, or more sinful still, of anger ; often, too 
 often is it used, when passion takes off the guard 
 of courtesy from our lips, when our hearts swell 
 with every feeling that is inimical to the reve-
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 121 
 
 rence due to the pronunciation of that name. 
 We disobey it, when thoughts the most incon- 
 gruous, and vain, mingle with our prayers, and 
 we resist them not ; for our lips mutter that 
 sacred name, we call upon it, proclaim our trust 
 in it, yet know not what we say. Is not this 
 taking the name of God in vain, and are we not 
 only too often liable thus to do perhaps uncon- 
 sciously, thoughtlessly, scarcely aware of the 
 solemnity of the word we speak ? Yet the same 
 great Being who in thunder spoke, " Thou shall 
 not kill, and thou shalt not steal," also said, 
 " Thou shalt not take my name in vain," and 
 the disobedience of the one is in His sight as 
 great as the disobedience of the other. 
 
 He did more to mark its holiness He knew 
 that a breach of the sixth, seventh, eighth and 
 ninth commandments, exposed the malefactor to 
 the severity of human law, but the third might 
 be disobeyed with impunity, at least with regard 
 to man it exposed not the transgressor to cor- 
 poreal punishment; and therefore, He saith, "for 
 the Lord will not hold him guiltless who taketh 
 His name in vain." The Lord will not hold 
 him guiltless ; and shall we think less of the 
 Lord's anger, the Lord's chastisement, than that 
 of man, because it is deferred, because pros- 
 perity and joy attend us and days, and weeks, 
 and years pass on, and the taking that name in 
 
 11
 
 122 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 vain is apparently as totally disregarded by our 
 Father in heaven, as it is by man ? Shall we 
 still continue to disobey, and believe that the 
 words "the Lord will not hold him guiltless," 
 mean nothing, can concern us but little, and 
 only threaten vengeance upon those poor crea- 
 tures who swear falsely 1 
 
 If it only related to this last means of dis- 
 obeying, there would have been no need to 
 specify so clearly that it would expose us to the 
 anger of the Lord ; for the man that swears 
 falsely is guilty in the sight of his fellows, even 
 as he that kills or steals, and if guilty in the 
 sight of man is trebly so in the sight of God ; 
 but man attaches no sin to the profane use of 
 that name if confined to private individuals, and 
 therefore is it our Father himself threatens ven- 
 geance. The refusing to revere, and love, and 
 honour that glorious name rests between man 
 and his Maker, and unhappy is he who believes 
 there is no sin attached to using it thus in vain, 
 because chastisement is deferred, and this life is 
 free from irritation. 
 
 It is easy to avoid this disobedience, par- 
 ticularly in the rising generation. Let the 
 infant mind be impressed with the solemn na- 
 ture of religion, with true and clinging love to 
 his God, who is alike Father, Saviour, and 
 Friend. Let him be taught to read Him in His
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 123 
 
 works, to gaze with awe and reverence on the 
 fair things around him ; fill the young heart with 
 ideas of those glorious attributes which belong to 
 his Father in heaven ; and we need not fear the 
 third commandment will be disobeyed. He will 
 love and reverence too deeply for that awful 
 name to be profaned. That name will bring 
 with it too many deep emotions, too much in- 
 tense devotion, to be uttered even carelessly ; 
 and he would shrink from using it as an inter- 
 jection, even as he would from more palpable 
 disobedience. That which is held dearest can 
 never be mentioned lightly, and therefore is it 
 that vital religion is somewhat doubtful in those 
 on whose lips that ineffable name so often rests. 
 They can scarcely love Him with all their heart, 
 and soul, and might, if thus irreverently or 
 thoughtlessly they forget the last member of the 
 third commandment, and take His holy name in 
 vain. 
 
 The fourth commandment is indeed a solemn 
 injunction ; it is to keep that day holy which is a 
 covenant between our heavenly Father and His 
 first-born, the children of Israel, for EVER ; a day 
 set apart, a day sanctified not alone by words, 
 but by miracles, a day peculiarly ours, coeval 
 with creation, continuing through ages, ending 
 in eternity, for such is the signification of the
 
 124 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 word D7i# which, in the emphatic sentence, 
 
 " And the children of Israel shall keep the Sab- 
 
 bath, observing the Sabbath throughout their 
 
 generations as a perpetual covenant, it is a sign 
 
 between me and the children of Israel for EVER," 
 
 is translated perpetual, and for ever. Intrusted 
 
 as it is to us, since we alone amidst all nations and 
 
 all religions adhere to this solemn covenant, thus 
 
 standing forth indeed as the Lord's witnesses, as 
 
 still the guardians and followers of the most 
 
 holy law, a law immutable as Himself: it should 
 
 be our pride, and boast, and joy, indeed to keep 
 
 that day holy, indeed to devote it principally to 
 
 Him who gave it, and sanctify its rest and joy by 
 
 teaching that all should tend to and end in Him. 
 
 It was not the fourth commandment that first 
 
 instructed us in the deep holiness of the seventh 
 
 day. We find the first reference to it is after 
 
 the six days of creation. " And on the seventh 
 
 day God ended His work which he had made ; 
 
 and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, 
 
 because that in it He had rested from all His 
 
 work." Here we perceive its origin. God did 
 
 not rest because He needed rest ; but he knew 
 
 the creatures He had formed would require it, 
 
 that it would be to them a blessing and a joy, 
 
 and therefore he set apart that day, in which He 
 
 rejoiced in the completion of His great work,
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 125 
 
 and rested to behold it. We do not hear of it 
 again till the sixteenth chapter of Exodus ; but 
 that it must have been always observed and re- 
 membered and kept holy by all the children of 
 Abraham is very evident from the circumstances 
 which this sixteenth chapter relates. 
 
 The cruel bondage in Egypt had in all pro- 
 bability obliterated the remembrance of this 
 solemn day. It was not possible that, suffering 
 as they were in the land of Mitzraim, they could 
 in any way adhere to it. Yet so great was its 
 sanctity, so blessed was that day in the sight of 
 the Lord, He waited not to issue His command- 
 ment concerning it, but at once marked it as a 
 day set apart by a miracle which proved alike 
 His power and His love. The manna, that an- 
 gels' food, which was sent down direct from hea- 
 ven to nourish and revive His people, which, if 
 preserved on the week-days became putrid and 
 unclean, as if thus to chide the misbelieving 
 race for doubting God's providence for the mor- 
 row, yet not only fell in double quantities on the 
 Friday, but remained perfectly clean and whole- 
 some on the Sabbath, for on that holy day there 
 fell none. It was the Lord's Sabbath, He, the 
 glorious, omniscient, omnipotent, and eternal 
 God He rested on that day and commanded 
 His people to rest also ; He sent sufficient pro- 
 vision for the two days, and they were to gather 
 
 11*
 
 126 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 it, and bake, and seethe it on the sixth day, that 
 on the seventh there should be no need to kindle 
 a fire or to do servile work in their dwellings. 
 They were to rest and to rejoice ; not in the 
 pleasures of this earth, not in the indulgence of 
 sense and appetite ; but to rest and rejoice in 
 the contemplation of their Father and their God, 
 and set apart that one day in the seven to forget 
 the toils and labour, sorrows or cares of the past 
 week, to rise up from the chains in which sen- 
 sual pleasures may have held them, and rejoice 
 that day in remembering the Lord and seeking 
 to realize those spiritual joys and blessings which 
 await the true believer in the world beyond the 
 tomb. 
 
 Already sanctified by a miracle, yet the Sab- 
 bath of the Lord must be still more emphatically 
 set apart ; and in the midst of thunder and light- 
 nings, when the earth quaked, and the clarion 
 from heaven sounded long, and waxed louder 
 and louder, the same awful Voice that forbade 
 idolatry, and murder, and adultery, and theft, 
 also said, " Remember the Sabbath day to keep 
 it holy." From the master to his slave, even to 
 the stranger, whatever might be his faith, to the 
 ox and ass, all were to rest, all were to hallow 
 and to bless that day. 
 
 Four times, in addition to the two already men- 
 tioned, do we find the Sabbath day emphatically
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 127 
 
 enjoined, not only in connexion with others, but 
 spoken of and enforced alone. What can be 
 more emphatic than the 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 
 19th verses of the xxxi. chapter of Exodus, where 
 we also see what is omitted in the command- 
 ment, namely the awful chastisement which 
 awaits the breaker of the Sabbath ? " Every one 
 that defileth it shall surely be put to death ; who- 
 soever doeth any work therein, that soul shall 
 be cut off from among his people ;" and thus not 
 only temporal but eternal death is threatened, 
 that, if the cords of love are not sufficiently 
 strong to bind us in holiness unto this solemn 
 day, the chains of fear shall urge us to obedience. 
 And not only do we read the threat of punish- 
 ment, but its fulfilment, in the death of the 
 Israelite found gathering sticks on the Sabbath 
 day. It was not so much the act it was the sin 
 of disobedience ; and therefore those little things, 
 some are apt to imagine, can be no harm, can 
 be no desecration of the Sabbath, are sinful in 
 the sight of God, for they are disobedience or un- 
 belief in the truth and sanctity of His word. 
 
 And again was the holiness of the Sabbath 
 day proclaimed when the Lord passed before 
 Moses and revealed His glory and His attributes. 
 In that awful hour when the Eternal stood in a 
 cloud, in communion with His faithful servant, 
 when the reflection of His radiance, thickly
 
 128 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 veiled as it was, fell upon Moses till his face so 
 shone no man could look upon it: even then 
 was the holiness of the Sabbath enforced. And 
 Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, we find re- 
 peating and enjoining it again and yet again. 
 With the sole exception of the commandment 
 prohibiting idolatry, we find the fourth repeated 
 and enforced more often than any other which 
 the decalogue contains. If the Sabbath be disre- 
 garded, the feasts and fasts our holy law enjoins 
 must also fall ; for they are described and given 
 as days of holy convocations, as Sabbaths of rest 
 and rejoicing in all our dwellings ; and if we 
 refuse to keep the Sabbath, the first and holiest 
 of all, how may we hope adherence to the other 
 festivals can be accepted ? 
 
 In Nehemiah we find the desecration of the 
 Sabbath severely and justly censured as one of 
 the most fearful effects of the captivity ; and the 
 vow to sanctify it by refusing to buy and sell or 
 do any business on that day, was one of the very 
 first proofs of repentance which the elders of the 
 people demanded. In Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, 
 the three greatest and most important prophets, 
 we not only find how the anger of the Lord had 
 been excited by the disobedience of the fourth 
 commandment ; but to lead us once again to Him, 
 to turn us from our iniquities His never failing 
 mercy, His unutterable love, held forth gracious
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 129 
 
 promises of salvation, of blessings as unnumbered 
 as undeserved, if we would but " turn from doing 
 our own pleasure on His holy day, and call the 
 Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord honour- 
 able, and shall honour Him, not by doing our 
 own ways, finding our own pleasure, speaking 
 our own words," and glorify Him by hallowing 
 His Sabbath. 
 
 How much then does the Sabbath include! 
 Not only is it an everlasting covenant between 
 Israel and their God, not only is it a witness 
 to other nations of the truth and beauty of the 
 word of God ; but on our observance of it as that 
 word of God commands, on our remembering it 
 in very truth to bless and keep it holy, depends 
 in a measure the redemption of our scattered 
 and sorrowing race, the coming of that blessed 
 shepherd who, inspired and summoned by the 
 Lord, " shall gather the lambs with his arms, 
 and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently 
 lead those that are with young." 
 
 And when we think on this, when we see how 
 much depends upon our own efforts, our own 
 prayers, when serious contemplation, aided and 
 quickened by the spirit of the Lord, has enabled 
 us to realize the deep solemnity, the awful sanc- 
 tity of this glorious day : shall we think it enough 
 merely to abstain from doing what we have been 
 taught is wrong? enough merely to read our
 
 130 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 morning prayers and weekly portions, and with 
 the books put aside all thoughts of our Father 
 and His works ? enough to tell our children 
 they must not work, nor write, nor cut, nor ride, 
 and yet leave them to amuse themselves as they 
 like best, without one thought of Him whose 
 day it is ? enough to contrive to attend some 
 Friday night assembly, without riding or being 
 driven there f Shall we think it enough to pass 
 the Sabbath hours at a race, or public breakfast, 
 or afternoon concert, if we can contrive to do so 
 without using our cattle ? enough to pass the 
 day in doing our own pleasure ? Oh surely not ! 
 surely, if meditation and prayer have done their 
 work, we shall feel these things are not enough 
 to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 
 And yet it need not be a day of gloom. True 
 religion, the faith of Moses and David, knows 
 not sadness the Sabbath may be a day of re- 
 joicing, and yet holy unto the Lord. If we have 
 little time during the six days of labour, then it 
 is well for us to think of Him, to realize His 
 presence and His love, to talk of Him to our 
 children, to exalt Him in His works, His attri- 
 butes, His word, to speak of Him in our homes, 
 till our domestic hearths become His temple, to 
 recall His providence, His blessings of the days 
 just past (for is there one day in which He 
 cares not for us?) to look within ourselves and
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 131 
 
 deplore that which we have left undone, and 
 praise Him for all that we have done, to read 
 books which will lead our thoughts to rest on 
 Him not sermons alone, whose very name 
 sometimes terrifies the young, but tales, that 
 through the pleasant medium of well selected 
 fiction, would lead the youthful spirit to contem- 
 plate his God, and adore His never ceasing love, 
 and trace His providence in the events he reads 
 for what are tales of domestic life but relations 
 " of the thing that hath been, or that which shall 
 be ?" to assemble around us every beloved mem- 
 ber of our domestic circle, whom the week-days 
 may have seen toiling on their separate ways : 
 and feel that various as may be the dispositions, 
 the tempers, sympathies, virtues, and faults, 
 there is yet one golden link that binds them to- 
 gether, one faith, one God, one universal love 
 for Him and acknowledgment of His unceasing 
 care. We all know these things cannot be on 
 the days of labour, not at least to the extent for 
 which the awakened spirit yearns. How blessed 
 then the Sabbath day which is thus employed ! 
 Begun and concluded in prayer, evening, morn- 
 ing, and evening again ; every beloved member 
 of each household hearth, from the aged man to 
 the lisping infant, meeting in solemn prayer, in 
 addressing Him, or communing with His word ; 
 and the intervening hours employed in all that
 
 132 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 would enable us to realize His presence and His 
 love this is remembering the Sabbath day to 
 keep it holy ; this would be regarding it as it 
 was intended, a type, though a faint one, of that 
 rejoicing rest* and fadeless pleasures which are 
 at the right hand of God for ever more. 
 
 O 
 
 Beautiful, most beautiful is the injunction 
 contained in the fifth commandment, touching 
 even in its brevity, heart-speaking in its simple 
 eloquence, proving simply, yet forcibly, that na- 
 ture by herself was not sufficient for the young 
 to honour their parents; for had it been, this 
 command would have been omitted.t Why is 
 it that the decalogue speaks not, commands not, 
 aught relative to the duties of parents to their 
 children? Because there the yearnings of nature 
 are sufficient, there natural affection is enough ; 
 
 * So also says the prayer : " May He who is most merciful, 
 cause us to inherit the world which is entirely good, and the rest 
 in the life everlasting." Indeed, according to the opinions of our 
 doctors, the Sabbath is an emblem of the repose and felicity of the 
 righteous in paradise ; and its noiseless observance has been bor- 
 rowed by the Nazarenes for their weekly rest. I. L. 
 
 f Without dissenting entirely from this view, (and as editor I 
 am not called upon to state in every passage whether I agree with 
 the author or not,) I will merely remark, that, even granting that 
 nature alone demanded in its full extent obedience to the paternal 
 will, the sanction of the will of God would not be superfluous ; 
 since His sanction would add holiness to the effect of natural feel- 
 ings, and thus He would bless us for obedience, provided it pro- 
 ceeded from pure motives, although by it we were but gratifying the 
 finer feelings of our own disposition. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 133 
 
 for so deep, so intense, exhaustless, is a mother's 
 love, that its figure is frequently used to demon- 
 strate the love borne to us by our Father in 
 heaven ; His love alone exceeds it. " Can a mo- 
 ther forget her sucking child, that she should not 
 have compassion on the son of her womb ? Yea, 
 she may forget, but I will not forget thee." 
 
 The Eternal knew the nature of His crea- 
 tures. There was no need to bid a mother 
 cherish her child ; but the wild exuberance of 
 youthful spirits, the desire to fling aside all ap- 
 pearance of parental yoke, the liability to forget 
 in manhood the love, the cares, lavished on 
 helpless infancy, even setting aside selfish in- 
 terest or false pride, all these needed the precept 
 to honour our parents. Nor sorrow, nor poverty, 
 nor even the absence of all attractive qualities, 
 will shake, nay, perhaps they will rather in- 
 crease a mother's love. It matters not that 
 marriage or other circumstances remove her 
 children from her hearth ; they cannot remove 
 them from her heart. Seas may roll between, 
 and long years pass ; still, still, it matters not ; 
 stronger than death maternal affection lingers 
 to the end ; and though age and its attendant 
 evils may diminish bodily strength or mental 
 resources, yet if sickness, or sorrow, or shame, 
 be the portion of her beloved ones, is she not 
 
 12
 
 134 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 the first to fly to them still ? But lovely as is the 
 perfection of filial love, its nature is not thus 
 constant, thus devoted ; if it were, we should 
 not meet with children whose better education, 
 or more prosperous ways have raised them to a 
 higher rank than that in which they were born, 
 often fearing to confess their lineage ; we should 
 never hear of neglect or unkindness on the part 
 of the child, of ingratitude, forgetfulness of duty, 
 till silently, and the cause unsuspected, the pa- 
 rent's heart bleeds and breaks. These things 
 have been, though their occurrence may be rare ; 
 but they have been ; even the book of life will 
 provide us with examples, proofs, that there was 
 a cause for the fifth commandment, or it would 
 not have been given. If the love of a child for 
 his parent were as perfect as his parent's love 
 for him, there would have been no more need to 
 give directions for the conduct of the one, than 
 for that of the other ;* and therefore it is wrong 
 to dismiss it disregarded as a command all must 
 obey, if they would not be hated and contemned 
 
 * There are nevertheless directions for the conduct of parents 
 towards children to be met with ; one, preeminent, is the duty of 
 imparting religious instruction, or in other words, fitting them to 
 hecome servants of the Lord, and this precept is contained in the 
 very words of the Shemang, " And thou shall teach them diligently 
 unto thy children ;" another relates to the exercise of equal justice 
 to all the children of a man, for which see Deut. xxi. 17. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 135 
 
 as monsters of nature. It is not always obeyed, 
 even when gross or palpable disobedience to its 
 beautiful ordinance is most carefully avoided. 
 
 Continued blessings of whatever nature very 
 often render us insensible, if not quite uncon- 
 scious of their existence ; and therefore is it, 
 that we frequently find the deep anguish in- 
 flicted by the death of a parent painfully ag- 
 gravated by the thought, the full value of the 
 blessing was never known till it was lost ; and 
 instances of neglect, unkindness, disobedience, 
 rise up to appal us, and we wonder they could 
 ever have appeared so small as to blind us to 
 their recurrence. Death in connexion with a 
 beloved object is an awful subject of contempla- 
 tion ; yet would it be better sometimes to dwell 
 upon it thus, and permit its recollection, sor- 
 rowing as it is, sometimes to check the ebulli- 
 tion of ill temper or ill will, sometimes to rouse 
 the indolent and calm the impatient, than allow 
 it to come upon us unawares, and bear from our 
 detaining grasp a blessing which, when with 
 us, we knew not sufficiently to value which we 
 loved not, obeyed not, revered not as, when past 
 away seemingly for ever, we feel we ought. 
 
 It may be, that the constant intimacy, the un- 
 interrupted intercourse, and the regular employ- 
 ments of home, deaden us to the sense of all we 
 owe our parents. It may be, that we receive
 
 136 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 their tender cares, their unceasing love, as 
 things of course, which are too common to be 
 felt, too necessary not to be missed ; and the 
 unselfish devotedness, the patient assiduity, be- 
 stowed on helpless infancy, on all its little griefs, 
 and sufferings, and tempers the time, labour, 
 fortune, often health, expended on opening 
 youth, to store the mind with seeds of intellect 
 and wisdom, to bestow every pleasure, sympa- 
 thise in every grief: these things are not always 
 recalled at a time when they might urge on to 
 more active, more endearing obedience to the 
 fifth commandment. Gratitude, affection, re- 
 spect, obedience, all are included in the word 
 honour. Yet not one of these beautiful attri- 
 butes of youth will come of its own accord. 
 That is not love, which consists in passive com- 
 panionship. It is an ever active principle urging 
 on to those little attentions, to the silent desire 
 to alleviate care, to give pleasure, to obey a 
 wish even before it is expressed, to save from, 
 or insist on sharing fatigue, to those numberless 
 little offices of kindness which love feeds upon 
 even as it excites. Gratitude is not a mere 
 name ; it is the deep sense of all we owe our 
 parents, of all they have done, are still doing for 
 us, heightened and hallowed by filial love. Re- 
 spect surely will not fail us, if we meditate on 
 their age, their experience, those qualities in
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 137 
 
 individual character, which have excited our 
 love long before we could define them. Obedi- 
 ence is seemingly the most difficult of all the 
 duties enumerated ; yet, why should it be so ? 
 We cannot truly love, if we can hesitate one 
 moment to give up our own wishes for the gra- 
 tification of theirs, to abstain from a desired 
 pleasure, because their experience knows its 
 folly and its hollowness, and their love would 
 shield us from its excitement and its pain. We 
 cannot be truly grateful if we feel no desire, by 
 the sacrifice of our own wishes, when obedi- 
 ence demands it, to return, as far as is in our 
 power, all that they have done for us. 
 
 And yet to honour our parents needs no ex- 
 traordinary effort, no public display ; obedience 
 to the fifth commandment is best proved around 
 our domestic hearths, and in little things. The 
 influence of real affection, of that true unselfish 
 love which parental care demands, is silent and 
 invisible, and only felt, and only known by the 
 peace and joy it throws around. Childhood 
 may implicitly obey, and by a thousand little 
 winning arts, endeavour to show its love ; but 
 youth it is which can best evince it. When the 
 powers of thought, and intellect, and observa- 
 tion have shaken off the sluggish sleep, which 
 chained them in childhood, when the affections 
 begin to feel their depth, and warmth, and solid 
 
 12*
 
 138 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 education arid graceful accomplishments have 
 heightened the playful vivacity of childhood, by 
 the addition of more lasting charms : then it is 
 youth can best prove its love. Perhaps the 
 health and vigour of our parents are then be- 
 ginning to decline, whilst youth with buoyant 
 heart and bounding step ascends the hill of life, 
 by a path which knows but sweets and flowers, 
 which fancy decks with such bright and glisten- 
 ing hues, when hope is smiling and beauty 
 points upwards to the radiant summit, where 
 glory, honour, fame, stand ready to enfold him 
 with their lucid rays ; perchance the tender 
 guardians of his infancy are beginning to de- 
 scend that path which, rough and craggy, offers 
 no allurement and ends but in eternity, whose 
 golden promises are sometimes but faintly traced 
 through the blackening shades that gather round 
 the dream of death. 
 
 Then it is, we should indeed honour our 
 parents, and by untiring attention, watchful 
 thought, prompt obedience, and willing submis- 
 sion, evince our gratitude and love. 
 
 The principal comforts and joys of home de- 
 pend on youth. Care may have graven its deep 
 furrows on the brows which in our childhood 
 had been gay ; disease may have fretted the 
 temper which in former years had been serene 
 and joyous : then is it the grateful task of youth,
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 139 
 
 by innocent gaiety and invisible efforts, to drive 
 away care and bring forth smiles, to soothe the 
 pains of disease and restore peace and comfort. 
 Nor are these duties difficult to be performed. 
 It is but to desire to obey the fifth commandment, 
 to think how best to evince our love and grati- 
 tude to the beloved guardians of our infancy, 
 and we shall not fail. Often are the duties of 
 domestic life neglected from mere thoughtless- 
 ness, from the received opinion it matters not 
 how we behave at home, so we conduct our- 
 selves with propriety abroad. Yet were half the 
 labour now expended to please the world, to ob- 
 tain the hollow applause of strangers, given to 
 increase the joys and comforts of our homes, to 
 obtain the praise and rivet the love of the near- 
 est and dearest to us on earth : how changed 
 would be many a domestic scene. Those accom- 
 plishments, those graces of the mind so often 
 regarded as by far too precious to be employed 
 for the benefit and recreation of a domestic 
 circle, to whom do we owe their attainment and 
 their cultivation but, under our God, to our 
 parents ? and to them their first fruits are due. 
 Oh ! if the young daughters of Israel, for on 
 them even more than on their brothers depends 
 the comfort of home, would reflect on these 
 truths, trifling, unimportant as they may seem : 
 how beautifully would they show forth the glory
 
 140 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 of the God of Israel through the perfection of 
 His law, and draw down upon their own heads 
 the blessed reward promised to the observers of 
 the fifth commandment, " that their days should 
 be long in the land which the Lord their God 
 giveth them." The land of promise may be no 
 longer theirs ; but if they need the promise of a 
 reward, let them fear not, but believe, and they 
 will find it in heaven. 
 
 And are there yet other commandments which 
 can bear upon those social and domestic duties 
 peculiar to individuals of refined habits and cul- 
 tivated minds? Even the ninth and tenth may 
 be unconsciously and thoughtlessly disobeyed, 
 unless the spirit of piety have purified that 
 grosser part of our frame, have released the soul 
 from those heavy chains of corruption and sin 
 which surround and stifle that glorious image of 
 God in which He made man. 
 
 Covetousness or envy is not only a vice in it- 
 self, but it is always the commencement of 
 grosser crimes ; and therefore the Lord in His 
 infinite wisdom and mercy warned us against 
 this root of evil. We ENVY persons, we COVET 
 things; yet their meaning is so similar, their 
 effects so very much the same, they may well be 
 regarded together. In persons of a lower grade, 
 of irregular passions, of unrestrained tempers, 
 and uneducated minds, the disobedience of the
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 141 
 
 tenth commandment leads to the committal of 
 all the crimes which the sixth, seventh, eighth, 
 and ninth prohibit and include. In more refined 
 society it tempts to those numerous petty arts of 
 provocation, rivalry, slander, and scandal, which 
 at once lower and debase the transgressor in his 
 own eyes, and those of his fellow-men, and expose 
 him to the wrath of his God, not the less certain 
 because as yet deferred and unseen. 
 
 " We are, in the first place, guilty of bearing 
 false witness, when we say things to the dispa- 
 ragement of another which we know to be un- 
 truths ; this is most properly styled calumny. 
 Next to this is the raising or spreading scanda- 
 lous and injurious reports without sufficient evi- 
 dence, or upon slight and doubtful grounds. 
 Next come those loose imperfect accounts picked 
 up by officious tale-bearers, who are so eager to 
 get and propagate a new story that they are 
 easily deceived, and must of necessity lose or 
 pervert many material circumstances. Another 
 branch of the vice here prohibited is detraction ; 
 for we are most evidently guilty of bearing a 
 false testimony against our neighbour, when we 
 derogate from his general worth or endeavour to 
 lessen the particular merit of his good actions ; 
 and lastly we must individually involve ourselves 
 in the same guilt, when we aggravate another's 
 faults."
 
 142 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 And whence do calumny, scandal, detraction, 
 originally rise 1 Most frequently from an unac- 
 knowledged dislike of others that, if traced to its 
 source, might be principally discovered arising 
 from the poisoned springs of envy, that we covet 
 their superior station in the world, their wealth, 
 their capabilities of doing what they please ; 
 or we envy the superior grace and beauty of 
 .person, the expansive intellect, the exalted vir- 
 tue, the estimation in which they are held by 
 their fellow-men. Why do the highest moral 
 characters, the most consistently religious, find 
 so many enemies, so many detractors in this 
 world 1 Why has it become almost a proverb 
 that the lowly followers of God's law, the sin- 
 cerely good, so seldom meet with the love of the 
 majority in the world? Why are their smallest 
 actions observed and cavilled at, their words and 
 manner turned, if possible, into weapons of 
 scandal and detraction ? Why ? because envy 
 is unsuspectedly and silently at work ; because, 
 unknown to the detractors themselves, envy is 
 the secret cause of their undefined, perhaps un- 
 acknowledged dislike, or that they unconsciously 
 covet some advantage which they may possess. 
 
 Guardedly should the human heart be watch- 
 ed, that forgetfulness of the tenth commandment 
 find not entrance through its many openings, its 
 many avenues, to sin. The evil which its dis-
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 143 
 
 obedience includes cannot be summed up, can- 
 not be encouraged by the thought that " so far 
 it shall go and no farther." Once entertained, 
 and the barriers of a naturally good disposition 
 and unstained morality fall at once before it, 
 and it rushes on. ending but in eternal anguish. 
 Truth, a strict, unfaltering adherence to truth, 
 will guard from a breach of the ninth command- 
 ment. Truth, not consisting in the non-utter- 
 ance of, or non-acting on a deliberate falsehood ; 
 but truth, that beautiful attribute of morality 
 and piety, which originally sprung from and 
 ends in love and reverence for Him, whose most 
 glorious, most consoling attribute is that He is 
 a God of TRUTH ! But to obey His other com- 
 mandments needs more than the mere adherence 
 to truth! Truth will not bear upon them. It 
 must be the constant realization of His presence 
 within us, the constant thought of Him who 
 gave these laws and commanded their obedience 
 for ever, the constant watchfulness over, and 
 examination of the human heart. And therefore 
 was it that Moses said " and these words which 
 I command thee this day shall be in thy heart," 
 and that Ezra selected that portion of his books 
 which would remind us of ALL the laws of God 
 in a few brief but emphatic words ; that in the 
 morning we should be reminded of our duties ; 
 in the evening their repetition should lead us to
 
 144 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 look within our hearts, and examine impartially 
 the tale they tell. By doing this the sacred laws 
 become more indelibly fixed within us, and by 
 looking on them as guides and rules, not for 
 social communities alone but for individuals, the 
 remembrance of Him who gave them, will more 
 often occupy the mind and heart, and the union 
 of religion and morality be at length attained. 
 Love will incite to and welcome obedience as 
 the desired proof of its depth and truth.
 
 145 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HINTS ON THE RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION OF THE HEBREW 
 YOUTH. 
 
 THE seventh verse of the sixth chapter of 
 Deuteronomy, and the fourth of the yjj>0, con- 
 tains so much important matter in a few words 
 that each member of the sentence demands to be 
 considered separately. In the preceding verses 
 we have been desired to reflect on and lay up the 
 words of the Lord in our own hearts, in this to 
 teach them to our children. " And thou shalt 
 teach them diligently unto thy children," i. e. the 
 love of God and all that is therein comprised. 
 
 To instruct young children in the dull routine 
 of daily lessons, to force the wandering mind to 
 attention, the unwilling spirit to subjection, to 
 bear with natural disinclination to irksome tasks, 
 all this, as a modern writer very justly observes, 
 is far more attractive in theory than in practice. 
 It is a drudgery for which even some mothers 
 themselves have not sufficient patience ; but 
 
 13
 
 146 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 very different is the instruction commanded in 
 the verse we are regarding. To speak of God, 
 to teach the child His will, to instil His love into 
 the infant heart, should never be looked on as a 
 daily task, nor associated with all the dreaded 
 paraphernalia of books and lessons. The Bible 
 alone should be the guide to, and assistance in, 
 this precious employment. There are moments 
 when children are peculiarly alive to emotions 
 of devotion. The Hebrew mother who desires 
 her offspring to say their prayers morning and 
 evening, to abstain from writing, working, or 
 cutting on the Sabbath, to adhere to particular 
 forms and observe particular days, as she does, 
 has yet not wholly fulfilled her solemn duty. 
 This will not be enough to make the Hebrew 
 child love his God or his religion ; not enough 
 to restrain him in manhood from becoming a 
 Christian* if it favour his interest or ambition so 
 to do. 
 
 Far more depends on Hebrew parents than on 
 Christian ; the latter have their places of public 
 
 * Or restrain him from neglecting, from motives of unbelief, the 
 dictates of his religion. This alternative is more to be dreaded 
 than the one in the text ; at all events if we take America and 
 France as a criterion. In fact, we may say without fear of contra- 
 diction, that conversions are rare indeed where the Jews possess 
 liberty of conscience. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 147 
 
 worship wherever they may dwell, their minis- 
 ters whose whole lives are devoted to the service 
 of their God, to the moral and religious welfare 
 of their fellow-creatures. In their earliest years 
 Christian children attend once a-week the house 
 of God. They join in prayers which, if not 
 wholly understood, are yet sufficient to impress 
 some feelings different to the impressions of the 
 six days of labour. They hear the Bible ex- 
 plained, they see it regarded as indeed the book 
 of life ; and though they may not understand 
 why ? some portions attract their ear which, in 
 after years, are recalled with peculiar pleasure. 
 The intervening days may weaken the impres- 
 sion, perhaps it is entirely forgotten ; but their 
 next Sabbath they go again, and the feeling is 
 renewed and rendered stronger. They see a 
 large concourse around them engaged in the 
 same solemn service, praying in a language fa- 
 miliar to them, and this would be of itself enough 
 to chain a child's attention. They feel it as a 
 privilege thus to seek their God ; and this feel- 
 ing follows the child to youth, to manhood, and 
 almost involuntarily religion is imbibed. Even 
 those deprived of religious parents have yet ad- 
 vantages peculiar to themselves, in the fact that 
 the faith they profess is the faith of their coun- 
 try and of all around them. 
 
 The Hebrew child has not these advantages.
 
 148 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 Debarred from the public exercise* of devo- 
 tion on his Sabbath day ; never hearing public 
 
 * My friend draws, indeed, a melancholy picture of religious 
 debasement, and if this is universally the case in England, the men 
 and women of Israel inhabiting that land ought to arrest almost 
 every charity sooner than let such an ignominious state exist any 
 longer for want of pecuniary means to obtain labourers in the field 
 of regeneration. What 1 no religious instruction ] no books 1 no 
 expounding of the Text 7 no spiritual guides 1 no men of whom 
 people could inquire the way of life 1 All the defects Miss A. 
 enumerates can be legally remedied, and we have yet to learn that 
 there are not means and men at hand to effect this. The only 
 thing my friend complains of, which admits of no alteration, is the 
 public worship in the Hebrew language. (Miss Aguilar agrees 
 mainly with the view here expressed, in the sequel, which see.) 
 But why should that language of ancient Israel not be also the 
 language of modern Jews 7 why not establish schools in every 
 town and village where the children may learn to read the Bible, 
 not from a translation made by Christian prelates, and authorized 
 to be read in churches by a Christian king, and which is no doubt 
 erroneous in many passages on which our opponents rely for the 
 establishment of their doctrines, but in the original language in 
 which it was first announced ; so that they may be able to form a 
 correct, unbiassed judgment of the word of their God. If this course 
 were adopted to any extent, the child of eight years old would 
 know understandingly the major part of his prayers, and before he 
 arrives at the age when he could pray with devotion, all the words 
 of his lips in his address to the Lord of life, would flow from an un- 
 derstanding heart and a willing spirit. It is ignorance alone that 
 disfigures our worship; and, in the name of Heaven, let it be re- 
 moved ; at all events let the effort not be wanting to remove it. 
 As regards a public expounding of Scripture, it is no new thing 
 among us ; for in olden times the law was publicly taught, even 
 from the days of Moses downward. (See DeuL xxxi. 12, 13.) It is 
 no argument to say that sermons are a custom of gentiles ; for if these 
 have adopted our modes, it would be folly in the extreme to banish 
 them from among us. A jealousy of innovations is highly proper,
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 149 
 
 prayers in a language he can understand ; 
 having no public minister on whom he can call 
 for that instruction he may not have received at 
 
 for we too " might fear the Greeks (gentiles) even if they bear 
 presents" (Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes) ; but we must take 
 care that this jealousy is not carried too far. In America, how- 
 ever, children of all ages, say from three years and upwards, of 
 both sexes, are attendants in Synagogue ; occasionally, at least, the 
 law is expounded ; efforts have been made to publish books solely 
 for the education of the young, and there are also persons in every 
 town almost, of whom questions can be asked with regard to the 
 deeds we should do. Moreover, for the last three or four years 
 schools have been commenced in different towns where religious 
 instruction is dispensed gratis to all who may come on the first day 
 of the week ; and efforts are now making to extend the system by 
 forming day schools, where every Israelitish child may obtain a 
 general education, coupled with a knowledge of his religion. Let 
 us hope that this effort may not be fruitless, and that the results 
 may not disappoint the projectors. But to our friends in England 
 let us address the admonition not to be indifferent to the blessed 
 results of education witnessed in Germany and elsewhere ; they 
 are charitable to profusion ; strangers from all parts of the world 
 claim, not unheeded, their assistance ; the cry of anguish is not 
 heard unmoved by the princely merchants of Israel domiciled in 
 Britain ; and can they be blind to their own defects ? can they re- 
 fuse to aid themselves, their children, their friends, out of the pit 
 of religious ignorance which is said to exist among them? All that 
 is required is an effort, undertaken not in the spirit of fault finding 
 and hasty reform, but in an humble striving to magnify the Lord. 
 I will not mention any one by name ; but there are those whom 
 God has greatly blessed ; fugitives, some from the bondage of the 
 Czar, former residents of oppressed Germany, and others again in 
 whose veins flows the blood of many a martyr from the persecution 
 of the inquisition. Surely they all feel their duty ; let them feel 
 it more deeply and not rest till they have restored the law among 
 their brethren, and glorified the Lord by their faith and deeds. I. L. 
 
 13*
 
 150 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 home ; never hearing the law expounded, or 
 the Bible in any way explained : to his mother 
 alone the Hebrew child must look, on his mother 
 alone depend for the spirit of religion, the incul- 
 cation of that faith which must follow him 
 through life. 
 
 Few in number, scattered amongst the nations 
 without a land to claim as our own, a king to che- 
 rish and protect us, we are daily thrown amongst 
 those believing in and following another creed. 
 " And ye shall be left few in number, whereas 
 ye were even as the stars in heaven for multi- 
 tude, because ihou wouldst not obey the voice of 
 the Lord your God ; and the Lord shall scatter 
 you among all people from one end of the world 
 even unto another." (Deuteronomy xxviii. 62, 
 64.) Such was the awful doom pronounced by the 
 great prophet whose words we are considering. 
 We knew the word of the Lord was never known 
 to fail, and yet we disobeyed. Our own wicked- 
 ness called down on ourselves the vengeance so 
 long, through an infinity of love, deferred ; and 
 therefore these facts cannot be brought forward 
 to excuse negligence in the instruction of our 
 children. Our Father knows every difficulty 
 and every circumstance that combine to render 
 the Hebrew mother's task more arduous, more 
 responsible than the Christian. He expects not 
 more than weak humanity can perform ; but He
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 151 
 
 will not accept the plea of disadvantages, of dif- 
 ficulties, as acquitting us of a parent's duty. 
 
 Were love and gratitude to Him banished 
 from every other human heart, surely they would 
 swell in a young mother's breast, as she gazes 
 upon the little creature undeniably His gift, and 
 feels the full gushing tide of rapture ever atten- 
 dant on maternal love. Surely in such a mo- 
 ment there must be whisperings of devotion, 
 leading the soul in gratitude to the beneficent 
 Giver of her babe, or swelling it with prayer to 
 guide that precious charge aright. It may be 
 that doubts of her own capability of executing 
 a task, as solemnly important as inexpressibly 
 sweet, may naturally arise ; but these doubts, 
 instead of leading her to give up the task in de- 
 spair, should lead her to the footstool of her God 
 in prayer ; and her petition, even as that of Han- 
 nah was, will be granted. 
 
 That truly pious Jewess not only devoted her 
 child to God, but so devoted him, that but once 
 in the year she could behold him ; and at first 
 he was her only child the little being for whom 
 morning and evening she had implored the Lord, 
 implored Him in tears, in fasting, in bitterness 
 of soul. Her prayer was heard ; and how fer- 
 vent must have been her gratitude, how great 
 the love she bore her God, how implicit her re- 
 liance on His love for her, that she stilled the
 
 152 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 yearnings of a mother's tenderness, and as soon 
 as the boy was weaned, brought him up to the 
 high priest and left him there. And was not 
 her pious faithfulness rewarded ? Three other 
 sons and two daughters did she bear, and her 
 eldest, the joy, the hope of her heart, became 
 the favoured prophet of the Lord. 
 
 To part thus from her child is not now de- 
 manded of the Hebrew mother ; nor can there 
 now be such a blessed consummation of such a 
 self-conquering struggle. Yet the example of 
 Hannah should be treasured up by all the daugh- 
 ters of her race, whom the same beneficent God 
 has blessed with children. It must be remem- 
 bered that in the present state of Israel the 
 word of God cannot and must not be taken lite- 
 rally as it regards the immediate answers to 
 prayers, or punishment of sin. The lapse of 
 years, the difference of position, must not be 
 forgotten. All the pious actions there described, 
 cannot now be performed, nor dare we expect 
 the same direct manifestation of our Father in 
 reward : yet this is no cause of, nor excuse for, 
 the neglect of the Bible. Vouchsafed in love 
 and mercy as an unfailing guide, it at least 
 teaches what is pleasing in the sight of our God, 
 by the blessings that directly follow or are pro- 
 mised. We learn too that " The Lord is mer- 
 ciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 153 
 
 in mercy ;" that, " As the heaven is high above 
 the earth, so great is His mercy towards them 
 that fear Him ;" and therefore if the examples 
 set before us in His book are followed according 
 to our ability, aided, and strengthened, by con- 
 stant prayer : it is certain we too shall be 
 blessed, if not in this world, in that " where they 
 shall teach no more every man his neighbour, 
 and every man his brother, saying, Know the 
 Lord, for they shall all know me from the least 
 of them to the greatest of them, saith the Lord ; 
 for I will forgive their iniquities and I will re- 
 member their sins no more." (Jer. xxxi. 34.) 
 
 We cannot devote our sons to the service of 
 the Lord as Hannah, nor even if we could, 
 would we all be required to do so ; but we may 
 teach them to know and to fear Him, and to 
 guide their every action by their love for Him. 
 We may teach them, by their conduct to display 
 His glory, the honour of Jerusalem, the comfort 
 of the Hebrew faith. Even scattered as we are 
 amongst the stranger, we can do this ; and this 
 is devoting them unto their God. The same 
 reward may not be ours, as was bestowed on 
 Hannah ; yet we shall be blessed. The Lord 
 will forsake us not ; and as we behold our chil- 
 dren grow around us in true piety, and conse- 
 quently in the exercise of every virtue : will not
 
 154 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 every Hebrew mother feel that the word of the 
 Lord is true and she is blessed indeed ? 
 
 To do this, to obtain this desirable end, reli- 
 gion must not be learnt from a book, nor be re- 
 garded as a severe restraint. A mother, whose 
 heart is in her work will find many opportunities, 
 which properly improved, will lead her little 
 charge to God. Our prayers are long, and not 
 applicable to childish wants and feelings ; but a 
 mother may find a sweet employment, in throw- 
 ing together some well selected passages, either 
 from our ritual or the Book of Life, to form short 
 but impressive prayers for both morning and 
 evening. A mother's lips should teach them to 
 her child, and not leave the first impressions of 
 religion to be received from a Christian nurse. 
 Were the associations of a mother connected 
 with the act of praying, associations of such long 
 continuance that the child knew not when they 
 were implanted: the piety of maturer years 
 would not be so likely to waver. 
 
 There is a peculiar sweetness in the remem- 
 brance of a mother. When a young man has 
 raised himself by his own virtues and talents in 
 the world, when he feels himself esteemed and 
 beloved by his fellow-men : he will still think of 
 his mother, if it have been from her lips, the 
 first lessons of virtue were imbibed ; and if reli-
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 155 
 
 gion were as zealously and carefully implanted, 
 would not her memory have equal influence in 
 guarding him from temptation, strengthening 
 him to walk on in the paths she loved ? It may 
 be that continued occupation, perhaps arduous 
 labour, or severe thought and study have with- 
 drawn his attention awhile from his God ; or 
 that the paths of pleasure, encircling him with 
 their delusive rays, conceal from his eyes the 
 light of eternity. Some sudden association re- 
 calls his mother to his mind ; the days of his 
 early infancy, his happy boyhood, rise before 
 him, and with it the remembrance of duties he 
 has neglected, the hours of prayers that have 
 passed by unheeded. He hears again the sweet 
 and gentle voice which first spoke to him of God ; 
 he sees again those happy hours when, seated 
 at her feet, he rested his little hands upon her 
 lap, and repeated with her the words of prayer, 
 or listened with tearful eyes, and swelling heart, 
 to the tales of sacred love, her gentle accents 
 told. Few hearts could remain cold and un- 
 moved in the midst of such recollections ; he is 
 more likely to prostrate himself before the God 
 that mother worshipped, and pray again even as 
 in childhood. And will the Hebrew mother ne- 
 glect this solemn yet blessed duty ? Will she 
 refrain from thus associating herself in the heart 
 of her child, when, far more than the Nazarene,
 
 156 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 the sons of Israel require it ? Will she not teach 
 the religion of the heart unto her children, in- 
 stead of merely inculcating peculiar forms, and 
 desiring them to observe peculiar rites ? Will 
 she not teach them to fly to the footstool of 
 their God for guidance, instruction, strength, 
 and grace, to resist temptation blessing on all 
 they undertake comfort in affliction modera- 
 tion in prosperity : will she not teach them 
 this, instead of so banishing religion from the 
 early education that her sons in manhood stand 
 and act as if all depended on themselves, on 
 good and evil fortune acknowledging indeed 
 a God, yet living as if of Him they had no need ? 
 her daughters, either wholly occupied with the 
 affairs of this world, living as if there were no 
 eternity, and consequently trembling at the very 
 name of death ? or needing comfort, strength, 
 hope, and finding them not in the religion of 
 their fathers : are tempted to seek it, where they 
 fancy, no spiritless form restrains the soul, and 
 consolation is more easily attained ? 
 
 It is not merely hearing of God in the stated 
 hours of devotion, which will remedy this evil. 
 When a child is more than usually happy, ren- 
 dered so perhaps by some indulgence or reward : 
 the kindness of earthly friends should be made a 
 secondary cause, the blessing and love of his 
 Father in heaven, the fast. The mind of a child
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 157 
 
 when thus excited would not easily forget the 
 impressions then engrafted ; his very affections, 
 judiciously directed, would draw him nearer God, 
 for it is His love which hath given him the 
 friends, it gives him so much joy to love. Joy- 
 ous emotions are natural to childhood, and then 
 is the time to instill both gratitude and love. 
 In times of disappointment or in sorrow why 
 should not the little heart be soothed and ca- 
 ressed into submission by associating even this 
 trial with a God of love ? Petty as the sorrows 
 of childhood may seem to those of riper years : 
 yet we do wrong to smile them to scorn, they 
 are as severe to the little sufferer as the graver 
 sorrows are to maturer years. If discontent 
 darken the brow or create ill temper : instead 
 of an angry reproof, the attention of the child 
 might be gently drawn to the multitude of poor 
 helpless children, who know not the very name 
 of many blessings lavished around him ; and he 
 might be asked how he can pray to his Father 
 in heaven for a continuance of His love and 
 kindness, when he thus indulges in fretfulness 
 and discontent ? If superior talent, superior 
 beauty, be the portion of a child : the young 
 heart may be taught they are the gifts of his 
 God, and demand yet more thanksgiving, humi- 
 lity, and prayer to Him, than is required of those 
 less gifted ; for if more hath been mercifully 
 
 14
 
 158 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 granted him, more will be required ; and that 
 pride and self-conceit, will turn those rich gifts 
 into a curse instead of blessing, 
 
 Were such the education of early childhood, 
 increase of piety might be hoped and looked for 
 in manhood. But these lessons must come from 
 a mother, and can only be impressed in the ear- 
 liest years ; it will be too late to wait till the 
 character is formed. On a mother depends 
 greatly the formation of character ; and there- 
 fore she would be wrong to fancy she has time 
 enough before her. Religion should grow with 
 our growth, increase with our years, and thus 
 become so completely part of our being, that 
 the child would find it difficult to recall when 
 he first heard of God, when he first was taught 
 that the love of God must be the mainspring of 
 his life. If in childhood his joys and sorrows 
 have been made sources of communion between 
 him and his heavenly Father : instinctively he 
 will in manhood bless his God in prosperity, and 
 fly to Him for comfort in affliction. If in child- 
 hood he has been taught to pray for aid, in the 
 tasks and temptations of the day, so too in the 
 weightier affairs of manhood will he seek the 
 guidance of the Lord. If he have been corrected 
 when a child, because he had offended his hea- 
 venly, yet more than his earthly Father, and led 
 to pray for grace in the removal of his faults :
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 159 
 
 in after years he will guard against error and 
 sin, not for fear of the judgment of the world, 
 but of that of a higher Judge. He will walk 
 on feeling his own lowliness, his own depend- 
 ance on his God ; yet in the sight of his fellows, 
 virtue and honour will encircle him with their 
 robes of light ; for inward, yet ever-working 
 piety, will be the shield, against which the ar- 
 rows of guilt and temptation will be blunted 
 the mainspring from which his every action will 
 revolve with heightened and unfailing lustre. 
 
 To the mothers of every faith and every class 
 these hints may be equally applicable ; but to 
 Jewish mothers more particularly. We have 
 but to study the Book of Life, and every history 
 of our nation : and we shall not fail to perceive 
 that the religion Moses taught was intended to 
 unite the thought of God with our every action. 
 If a Christian writer finds sufficient foundation 
 for the assertion that " there can be no half 
 measures in devotion, religion must be all or 
 nothing :" how much more powerfully should we 
 feel it, we who are a peculiar people, the first- 
 born of the Lord, thus called by the Eternal 
 Himself, and therefore absolutely set apart, to 
 exalt by our conduct His glory amidst the na- 
 tions. It is urged perhaps, our situation is not 
 now what it was, that it does not depend on us 
 alone, " to magnify the Lord," that we are but
 
 160 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 as a handful amidst the nations that now wor- 
 ship Him ; yet this fact in no way decreases our 
 responsibility. It is rather increased ; for it was 
 easy to divide the worship of the one true God 
 from idolatry, many civil as well as religious 
 customs did this ; but now mingling intimately 
 with the nations that worship God, though not 
 as we do, living under the same civil jurisdic- 
 tion, acknowledging the same sovereign: unless 
 the adherance to the laws of Moses be even 
 more exact, it is more than likely our nation- 
 ality would be entirely lost, as well as all pride, 
 all glory in the Hebrew faith. 
 
 To prevent this great evil should be the He- 
 brew mother's aim. The youngest child may 
 be taught that he is a member of a distinct and 
 peculiar nation. The great mercies and un- 
 changing love of the Lord will, if well related, 
 find very early an answering chord in the youth- 
 ful heart. The wonderful providence, the stu- 
 pendous miracles, the innumerable instances of 
 our Father's long suffering and loving kindness, 
 which our eventful history records, might be 
 related as interesting tales in those many leisure 
 hours that the child looks up so clingingly and 
 fondly to his mother for amusement. Vividly 
 and interestingly might these narratives be 
 opened to the young and eager mind, till almost 
 insensibly he feels it a privilege, even at this
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 161 
 
 long lapse of years, to belong to a nation so 
 peculiarly blessed, so singularly the object of 
 God's gracious providence ; and that false shame, 
 now alas, but too familiar to the Hebrew, would 
 never flush the cheek, or lead the tongue to 
 falsehood. Never would manhood descend to 
 mean subterfuge, or weak evasion to conceal his 
 faith. If the path of ambition be confined, he 
 will not wish to enlarge it at the price of his 
 religion. It will be his pride to prove to the 
 nations the spirit of his faith, that even in our 
 captive and degraded state, we are still the 
 peculiar treasure of the Lord. He will not 
 throw off the bondage of our forms, he will not 
 condemn their dictates ; for he will trace their 
 minutest regulations to the same merciful Fa- 
 ther, whose love supports, whose arm sustains 
 him. He will not deem their restrictions hard- 
 ships, but hail them with delight, as proofs of 
 the obedience and willing service, his love urges 
 him to pay unto his God. He will feel to his 
 heart's core, that weak, corrupted as he is of 
 himself, it is by obedience alone, implicit, un- 
 questioning, untiring obedience, he can manifest 
 that in very truth he seeks to love his God ; and 
 therefore whatever he may fancy, of this he is 
 certain, that if he disobey, it is but spurious af- 
 fection that he feels he cannot love the Lord. 
 Much will the Hebrew mother have accom- 
 14*
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM, 
 
 plished, if she thus teach her children to love, 
 obey, and glory in the faith of the one and only 
 God. Yet this will not be quite enough ; she 
 must do more. She must relate the fearful apos- 
 tacy of Israel. Even as she sketched his glory 
 must she depict his sins, ingratitude, rebellion, 
 such as no other people knew. She must show 
 forth the retributive wrath of the Lord, and all 
 the wretchedness we drew down upon ourselves. 
 As her children increase in years and under- 
 standing, she might study with them the wri- 
 tings of the prophets, particularly marking those 
 passages relative to her subject ; and by inte- 
 resting references, both to past and present his- 
 tory, prove how literally and how completely 
 these awful threatenings have been fulfilled. It 
 would be a pleasing task to intelligent parents 
 to select passages from many standard works on 
 the prophecies, and fit them for the comprehen- 
 sion of their children. The Christians seize 
 with avidity the fulfilment of prophecies, parti- 
 cularly those relating to Edom, Egypt, Moab, 
 Ammon, Palestine itself, as proofs and evidences 
 of the truth of their religion. How easy would 
 it be to select portions from these very books 
 for the instruction of our children ; for the ful- 
 filment of these prophecies only proves the truth 
 and eternal nature of our law, of the whole 
 Book of Life, according to our belief.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 163 
 
 By laying this foundation in childhood, care- 
 fully guarding against the very smallest approach 
 to bitterness or scorn towards any other creed : 
 we instill their religion with their growth ; con- 
 version cannot take place when released from 
 the parental yoke ; for the very weapons which 
 the Nazarene would use against them, have be- 
 come in their hands weapons of defence. Proofs 
 of the truth of Christianity are to the young 
 Hebrew, proofs of the truth of Judaism. Con- 
 version cannot take place on either side ; but 
 mutual esteem and charity will take the place 
 of such desire ; for if both religions appear to 
 have the same foundation, it is evident God 
 alone in His own good time can remove the veil 
 which each believes flung over the other. 
 
 There is yet another most important reason 
 for impressing carefully and deeply the awful 
 sins of Israel on the youthful Hebrew. He sees 
 the present degraded and wandering state of his 
 nation ; he perceives our condition is widely dif- 
 ferent from that of other kingdoms ; he is ready 
 to feel and acknowledge we are cast off from the 
 favour of the Lord, that His countenance is for 
 ever darkened towards us ; and if he have not 
 been instructed in the cause of this, if he have 
 not studied long and deeply the history of his 
 nation and read there, in our continued rebel- 
 lions, apostacy, transgressions as varied as they
 
 164 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 are innumerable, disobedience to every given 
 law, the real and only origin of our dispersions 
 and fearful sufferings : he is quite prepared to 
 embrace the creed of the Christian, and believe 
 with him, that all our miseries originate in our 
 rejection of their messiah, that the Eternal has 
 cast us off because, according to the creed and 
 charge of the Christian, we crucified His son.* 
 
 * Without the least intention of weakening 1 the force of the evil 
 depicted as arising from the want of a Jewish education, exhibited 
 in the text, I cannot help remarking that the non-adoption of our 
 system by no means opens the way for the embracing of Chris- 
 tianity. It is possible that there are some, for argument's sake I 
 will say many, who are so struck by the pretended fulfilment of 
 the gospel prediction with regard to our dispersion, as to admit 
 the truth of the dogmas embraced in the new testament. But for 
 a philosophical mind, or one well versed in Scripture, such a re- 
 sult must seem very singular. For, what is Christianity as under- 
 stood by nine out of every ten of its followers'? nothing but an 
 absolute belief in a plurality in the Godhead, and a faith in a for- 
 giveness of sin through the intervention of a mediator, and this a 
 being descended from an incarnation of the divine principle in the 
 body of a man. We will not discuss either of these points whether 
 they be possible in the nature of things or not ; but merely confine 
 ourselves to their contradiction of Scripture. Let us but view the 
 idea " The Lord is one," and what does it say 1 but that in the 
 Deity there is no division. " The Lord is long-suffering, forgiving 
 iniquity, transgression, and sin;" this too is a Bible doctrine; 
 where is here a mention of a mediator 1 Lastly, it says : " I the 
 Lord change not;" but is an incarnation not a change 1 ? Now even 
 assume that the Israelite on being questioned cannot account 
 satisfactorily for the dispersion of his people : it is almost impos- 
 sible that he will admit its being owing to the refusal of his fore- 
 fathers to give credit in the mission of one who assumed to be a 
 part of the Deity, a mediator between God and man, an incarna-
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 165 
 
 From this supposed connexion of cause and 
 effect, more converts have been obtained than 
 from any other. And why is this? simply be- 
 cause the true reason of our rejection has not 
 been taught ; because the history of the past has 
 never been brought forward to explain the pre- 
 sent and instruct us for the future. Then care- 
 fully indeed should the sad story of Israel's apos- 
 
 tion of an essence which admits of no change. Miss Aguilar no 
 doubt knows of instances where a conversion was the result of 
 reasoning based upon such insufficient grounds ; but if it were not 
 that some worldly advantage, real or imaginary, were connected 
 in their mind's eye with a casting off of ancestral opinions : few 
 Jews indeed could be found to do so from absolute conviction. I 
 do not mean to say that a conviction is impossible ; for the human 
 mind is at tunes strangely constituted, perverted judgment, accord- 
 ing to the views of many at least, is not so rare as to excite asto- 
 nishment; but this much we may assert without fear of offending 
 our Christian friends, or of asserting an untruth, that legitimate 
 convictions or where the converts can give a reasonable account of 
 the reasons which sway them for the abandonment of Judaism, are 
 very rare indeed ; or else we should not hear so frequently of re- 
 cantations, or returnings to the fold of Israel. I say again we need 
 not fear conversions as much as hypocrisy or indifference. Many 
 may pretend to a change of religion for the sake of a tangible ad- 
 vantage, such as office, high-standing, or an advantageous matri- 
 monial connexion ; but we have yet to learn that persons acquainted 
 with Scripture, who have enjoyed the benefits of a Jewish educa- 
 tion in ever so moderate a degree, could by any possibility be in- 
 duced to adopt the doctrine of a trinity with the accessory belief 
 in a mediator. We do not deny nor gainsay that Christians of late 
 have had a plentiful harvest of apostates ; but they were apostates 
 in very deed, apostates deniers of their God for worldly gain. 
 Solitary exceptions may perhaps be adduced ; but they will be 
 found to proceed from the individual's having been always under
 
 166 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 tacy be taught her youthful followers ; carefully 
 and tenderly guarded against, yet prepared to 
 receive the connexion drawn by the Nazarene 
 between our present state and the rejection of 
 their messiah, and to answer it by the many 
 evidences presented in only too many pages of 
 the Jewish history of its fallacy. 
 
 Christian tuition or exposed through ignorance to some unfortu- 
 nate influence of friends who took advantage of moments of weak- 
 ness to urge their views with a success which they themselves 
 could hardly have expected at another time. So well are Euro- 
 pean governments, anxious as they are from political purposes to 
 consolidate their empire over the minds of all their subjects no less 
 than their bodies, convinced of the uselessness of mere preaching, 
 that they attach political advantages in some shape or other as 
 bribes or bounties for conversions ; no doubt under the persuasion, 
 that though the parents will make bad Christians, the children 
 will be like those of other Christians, that is believers in the popu- 
 lar system from the ignorance of the principles and hopes of the 
 Jewish faith. Hence it is that, though we hear much of conver- 
 sions to Christianity in Prussia, Poland, and England, such events 
 are extremely rare in France, Holland, and America, and unheard 
 of in the Ottoman countries. In the catholic countries of Spain 
 and her former colonies, the Jew hides his religion ; under govern- 
 ments where he is free to act as he pleases he cares for no belief 
 if he values not his own. Let the experiment be made of treating 
 Jews and converts alike, and but few of the latter will ever be 
 obtained. Interest is a powerful stimulus, but conscientious con- 
 viction a thing of slow growth, too slow indeed to convert a Jew 
 into any thing else. The same is also the case with the re- 
 verse; Christians by education are not apt to see error in their 
 creed ; our views to the contrary notwithstanding. Hence Miss 
 A. says truly in urging mutual charity and forbearance whilst en- 
 forcing steadfastness in the path we have been pursuing from the 
 time of Moses to our own days. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 167 
 
 The youthful mind, already touched by the 
 relation of the inexhaustible love and great for- 
 bearance of the Eternal, will feel, as this history 
 of iniquity and retributive justice is presented to 
 his view, overwhelmed with the magnitude of 
 sin and the awful nature of the Lord's power 
 and justice. Then is the favourable moment to 
 open to his heart and eye those glorious pro- 
 mises relating to our final redemption and re- 
 turn unto His favour. We might quote innu- 
 merable passages to elucidate our meaning, but 
 it is far better to refer to the fountain-head at 
 once ; and vain would be the attempt to tran- 
 scribe even a quarter of those beautiful verses 
 which Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Micah, 
 and Malachi, and indeed all the prophets con- 
 tain, those we have mentioned, abounding in 
 them, perhaps, the most.* Past and present ages 
 display the literal fulfilment of every threaten- 
 ing ; and wherefore then should Israel doubt the 
 future ? While therefore the young and bound- 
 ing heart deplores, it may not, cannot despair ; 
 for yet more powerfully, more appealingly, do 
 these passages enable it to cling and rejoice, 
 and trust in a God of truth and love ! 
 
 The Eternal hath said Not for our sakes but 
 
 * See the sixtieth chapter of Isaiah to the end of his sublime 
 prophecies.
 
 168 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 for His, even His own sake, He will do this great 
 thing; but while this extraordinary mercy is 
 impressed on the young heart, we must not 
 forget to instill how much depends upon our- 
 selves. A reference to the twenty-sixth chapter 
 of Leviticus would be a great assistance to this 
 instruction. There we read the blessing and the 
 
 O 
 
 curse ; and history shows the fulfilment of both. 
 And in the last seven verses we find that, un- 
 bounded and unfailing as is the mercy of the 
 Lord, He will not renew his covenant with us, 
 unless we confess our iniquities and the iniqui- 
 ties of our fathers, acknowledge that our present 
 captivity and dispersion are the punishment of 
 our sins, and humble our uncircumcised hearts 
 till we indeed find renewed favour in His sight. 
 If these prophetic verses be impressed on the 
 heart, and memory, and understanding of the 
 child : each year he will become more and more 
 sensible of his responsibility alike to his God, 
 his nation, and the world. To his God he will 
 evince and feel his consciousness of complete 
 unworthiness, his desire to bring down the 
 blessing and avert the curse, his yearning to- 
 wards that promised land, and that blessed state 
 of things, when all shall know and love the one 
 sole God. To his nation he will remember 
 that in our present scattered dwellings, the con- 
 duct of individuals is often the criterion by
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 169 
 
 which the whole nation is judged ; and therefore 
 the Hebrew must live not for himself alone, but 
 as the representative of a belied and hated body 
 whom his conduct will either depress or exalt. 
 To the world instead of seeking to deny his 
 lineage, which the finger of God upon our brows 
 will ever prevent, he will seek to be known, to 
 be recognized as a Hebrew, not by his counte- 
 nance and peculiar form alone, but by the supe- 
 riority of his social and domestic character, 
 emanating from a spirit of religion which can 
 only be divine. 
 
 Even if the religious instruction hinted above 
 should sometimes fail to bring forth such blessed 
 fruit: the Hebrew mother will yet have done 
 her duty ; and not on her head will fall the care- 
 lessness, disobedience, or apostacy, of her chil- 
 dren. She will stand absolved in the sight of 
 her God ; for He will have seen her struggles to 
 lead her offspring in the right way; and if earth 
 brings no reward, she will find it at His right 
 hand for evermore. Oh! let but the Hebrew 
 mother persevere, and far more likely is it that 
 she will find a sweet foretaste of heaven upon 
 earth in the conduct of her children, than that 
 her efforts will all be blighted. She has in- 
 structed them thus in obedience to the word of 
 God, to His commands found repeatedly in the 
 Pentateuch, and, nowhere more impressively, 
 
 15
 
 1 70 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 than in the six last verses of the chapter which 
 contains the Shemang. The words " and ye 
 shall teach them to your children," are but a 
 repetition, a remembrance, of commandments con- 
 tinually given before ; and therefore the most 
 literal Hebrew cannot accuse us of taking too 
 enlarged a view or of spiritualizing its meaning. 
 We cannot read the Book of Life without per- 
 ceiving how intimately the spirit of religion was 
 to mingle with other instructions, how com- 
 pletely it was to be the first, the most precious 
 of all studies ; and if instruction in piety was so 
 necessary in the time of Moses, how much more 
 necessary is it now, when, unless learnt from a 
 parent's lips, it can never be learnt at all. And 
 oh ! will any mother expose her children, her 
 beloved, to the miseries attendant on living 
 without their God ? Can she think on the im- 
 mortal spirits, whose eternal blessedness or ever- 
 lasting death is, for the first years of their lives, 
 in her keeping, and yet not tremble ? Will she 
 not rather prostrate herself in daily humiliation, 
 daily prayer, to the God of love for blessing on 
 her arduous yet blissful task ? for aid, for 
 strength, to guide and assist her through her 
 path, however rugged it may seem ? Can she 
 think on the storms, the temptations, that will 
 assail her son on every side when he enters the 
 world, and yet make no effort to provide him
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 171 
 
 with an armour of proof, and a shield of de- 
 fence ? Can she reflect on the sorrows that must 
 encircle the lovely girl at her side ere this life 
 is past, and yet leave unopened the well of com- 
 fort, provided for the afflicted by our God Him- 
 self? Oh ! can she leave her, to seek it herself 
 when sorrows come, and risk her seeking it in 
 a stranger fold ? Can she think a moment, that 
 death is ever ready to snatch some beloved 
 away, yet shun the theme as if it were enrobed 
 in gloom ? Can she think on this fearful part- 
 ing, yet breathe no word of immortality ? of that 
 glorious world, where the loved that meet shall 
 never part again ? of that blest sojourn, where 
 those first called away await the arrival of each 
 one beloved ? of that bright mansion near our 
 Father's throne ? till those gone hence, are 
 looked on as departed, not as dead ? 
 
 Man needs religion to strengthen and to hum- 
 ble ; woman, to comfort and uphold : man, to 
 keep him firm, despite of temptation or of scorn ; 
 woman, to fill her yearning heart with love : 
 man, to moderate his pride, to keep him humble 
 in prosperity, and firm as the ocean-rock, when 
 the waves of misfortune beat around him ; wo- 
 man, to teach her her own dignity, her mission 
 in prosperity, her anchor of refuge, of hope, of 
 faith, in sorrow. 
 
 It may be, that in this world, man may con-
 
 172 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 trive to live, ay, and be happy without religion, 
 till the hour of death awakens him to a con- 
 sciousness of a God and another world ; but 
 alas for that woman who knows it not ! There 
 are trials peculiar to her heart, not the less in- 
 tense in their anguish, because in many cases 
 they are unrevealed, too often unsuspected, and 
 therefore never open to the consolation and 
 sympathy of her fellows ; then, oh ! what must be 
 her agony if she know not Him whose love sur- 
 passeth the dearest, most precious, upon earth ! 
 if she know not Him whose arms are open to 
 receive her sinking frame, whose love demands 
 her confidence, who will soothe and bless, if yet 
 awhile He will not heal even as she poureth 
 forth her sorrows on His breast ! How may she 
 go forth on her lonely and unblest path alone 
 to meet the trials, petty and great, the cares, 
 temptations, peculiar to her lot : if she feel she 
 have no Friend, if she know not the comfort, the 
 blessing of a Father and a Saviour's eye, of an 
 Arm of love around her ? How may she enter 
 on the sacred duties of a wife and mother, if 
 she know not God ? and oh how dare she love, 
 if she looks to this world only to perfect and re- 
 tain it ? how may she give her heart, her hap- 
 piness to the keeping of a mere mortal, whom 
 one little hour may lay in dust ? Surely surely 
 -"-reflection on this life as it is should urge a
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 173 
 
 mother to teach religion to her children, even if 
 she did not look on it in the light of obedience 
 to her God. Adherence to instituted forms will 
 not be sufficient of itself to make religion a 
 vital principle, or open to the youthful heart its 
 ever-springing fount of comfort and of love ; 
 but if the spirit of piety contained in that brief 
 command to love the Lord with heart, and soul, 
 and might, be inculcated in the minds of our 
 children : we obey every one of the precepts 
 comprised in the Shemang ; and in raising the 
 affections of our children to their gracious and 
 beneficent God, we cannot fail to strengthen 
 our own. 
 
 Ere we proceed to the remainder of this verse, 
 may we be permitted to hint on the importance 
 of making the Hebrew language familiar to 
 every Hebrew child. It cannot be considered a 
 dead language, for the nation to which it origi- 
 nally belonged continues to exist, and will exist 
 for ever. It is not indeed spoken as it would 
 have been, had we remained in our own land ; 
 yet it might still continue the link uniting the 
 sons of Israel wherever they may be. The so- 
 journers in England, France, Austria, Spain, 
 might be enabled to converse or to commune 
 with each other in their own native tongue, 
 though of the language of their respective homes 
 each might be ignorant. 
 
 15*
 
 174 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 But this end cannot be attained if the Hebrew 
 child is merely taught to read and translate his 
 prayers, as was formerly the case, and his apti- 
 tude in the language judged according to his 
 proficiency in following the service of the Syna- 
 gogues. Why should Hebrew be the only lan- 
 guage which is never learnt grammatically ? Why 
 should it not be taught the infant Hebrew even 
 as the language of the land in which he is a 
 sojourner? Hebrew is scarcely more difficult 
 or complicated than English ; but the latter is 
 attained so gradually, we are so prepared for its 
 grammar when we arrive at it, that we are 
 never aware of the difficulties its acquirement 
 presents to a foreigner ; and in the same manner 
 the difficulties of Hebrew would vanish were 
 the child equally prepared to encounter them ; 
 and the gradual acquirement of familiar words 
 and sentences in this ancient language would 
 do this far better than charging the memory 
 with portions of prayer which only succeed in 
 divesting the sacred words from all holiness, and 
 cause the prayer-book to be regarded as a hated 
 task instead of being welcomed as the blessed 
 means of communion between man and his 
 Maker. Never may we hope for the perfect at- 
 tainment of this ancient and glorious language 
 till the present system has given place to one 
 more calculated to engage a child's fancy, till
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 175 
 
 the prayer-book is not the first which we place 
 in an infant's hands, till other than words so 
 sacred as prayer are the first we teach our 
 children to repeat. Our aim indeed should be 
 to enable them to address their Creator in the 
 language of their ancestors, to read His word 
 pure and unaltered, even as it came from hea- 
 ven ; but by placing it too early before them, 
 we frustrate our own desires. 
 
 We would think it strange if, as soon as a 
 child had acquired his letters in French or Italian, 
 the Henriade or Dante should be placed before 
 him, and he should be desired to learn passages 
 by rote with merely the assistance of a subjoined 
 translation. We would not hesitate to dismiss 
 a master who thus taught ; for we should know 
 the impossibility of his pupils obtaining either a 
 familiar or grammatical idea of the language. 
 How then can we expect to succeed in imparting 
 Hebrew, if this same plan be followed ? for the 
 poetry of Dante and Voltaire is not more diffi- 
 cult than the sublime strains of the Hebrew 
 poets. What are the Psalms which form our 
 prayers but poetry the most inspired, most diffi- 
 cult poetry ? and we might as well expect that 
 charging the memory with them will teach our 
 children Hebrew, as the making them repeat 
 Milton, as soon as they had learnt their English 
 letters, would teach them their native tongue.
 
 176 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 Gradually and pleasantly we should pave the 
 way, that difficulties may be encountered and 
 overcome singly ; that, when they do approach 
 the sacred volumes, it may be to understand and 
 to enjoy them, to find new pleasures, new truths 
 in every page ; and not to fling them aside with 
 distaste and loathing, as soon as the chains of 
 the school-room are broken, and the young 
 aspirants are set free. 
 
 Liable as we are to religious arguments with 
 the Nazarene, it is absolutely necessary that 
 Hebrew should be part of the education we be- 
 stow on our children. The English Bibles are 
 translated by the Christian divines, and though 
 the text is generally correct, the heads of the 
 chapters are very likely to mislead. There are 
 also some passages which mysteriously written 
 in English may appear capable of a double 
 meaning ; and it is more than likely, the young 
 Israelites would refer to the head of the chapter 
 for the explanation of the text, and thus become 
 confused, and either waver, or throw aside the 
 sacred volume, as tending rather to destroy than 
 to give peace. A perfect knowledge of Hebrew 
 would banish this evil without interfering with 
 the solid comfort found in the perusal of English 
 Bibles. It would confirm them in their faith ; 
 for it is a known fact that, when an Israelite is 
 thoroughly acquainted with Hebrew, he under-
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 1 77 
 
 stands it much more fully and perfectly than an 
 English divine. He will understand the peculiar 
 structure of the language, not only to discover 
 its real meaning, but also to trace how the 
 Nazarene has been enabled to turn the same 
 passages to favour his own belief. He will be 
 enabled to produce argument for argument, and 
 guard against those errors in the translation of 
 the Bible which have been permitted to remain 
 as favouring the Christian creed. Many words 
 in English allow of a double meaning, and very 
 many also in Hebrew ; therefore we cannot won- 
 der the Christian translators should adopt those 
 renderings bearing most upon the revelation in 
 which they believe. 
 
 Instead of condemning them for this, and 
 being positive they are wrong and we are right, 
 simply because for many generations we have 
 been so taught : how much better would it be to 
 refer to the Hebrew Bible, to find our belief and 
 comfort there, and be prepared to answer every 
 argument founded on some particular transac- 
 tion, by a reference to the passage in its ori- 
 ginal language, and explain the sense as we 
 regard it. 
 
 Then indeed might the chosen children of 
 God be enabled to cope with those English di- 
 vines, who have made the word of God the study 
 of a life. How few amongst us now can do so !
 
 178 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 How many shrink from all argument, and tacitly 
 allow the truth of the mistaken doctrines pressed 
 upon them ; because they feel they can bring 
 forward nothing to support their faith; and 
 others even depart from the strict line of truth, 
 because there are so few amongst the Jewish 
 nation to whom they can refer. 
 
 Yet it is sometimes thought, that religious 
 knowledge should be the business of priests or 
 ministers, not of the laymen of a nation. The 
 observation is just, regarding other nations ; but 
 not to the first-born of the Lord that one peo- 
 ple so peculiarly set apart that it was to be a 
 " nation of priests ;" even the king himself was 
 to " write a copy of the Law in a book, to be 
 with him that he might read therein all the days 
 of his life, and learn to fear the Lord his God, 
 to keep all the words of this law and these sta- 
 tutes to do them." (Deut. xvii. 18, 19.) 
 
 If these were the commands of the Lord in 
 our own land, and when His spirit still dwelt 
 amongst us : how much more requisite must it 
 be now to attend to the preservation of our law 
 in its original purity ; how requisite that every 
 child of Israel, male or female, should per- 
 fectly understand the language of our ancestors, 
 that in which the awful yet invisible Voice de- 
 livered His dictates to Moses, that we may indeed 
 feel, Hebrew is bound to Hebrew by a link nei-
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 1 79 
 
 ther oceans of water nor spreading wastes of 
 land can sever. It matters not, that it is the oppo- 
 site ends of the world in which they are domes- 
 ticated. The sacred language is the silver link 
 which, uniting them to each other, separates 
 them from other nations, and makes them feel 
 that they are indeed the witnesses of the Lord. 
 And while they read in rejoicing faith the Book 
 of Life in the language in which it was given, 
 or in humble adoration prostrate themselves be- 
 fore God's throne : must not a glowing of the 
 whole soul attend the addressing of the Eternal, 
 in the same language in which His awful voice 
 addressed His favoured servants ? 
 
 Thousands of years have past away yet that 
 language and that nation still exist ; can they, 
 oh can they then, doubt its truth? Surely they 
 must feel their religion comes indeed from their 
 God ; that they are members of a people, to 
 whom such extraordinary mercies have been 
 vouchsafed, and that they are the FIRST-BORN, 
 the chosen of the Lord !
 
 180 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 THE SPIRIT OF RELIGION REGARDED AS PERVADING AND 
 GUIDING OUR CONVERSATION, PROFANE READING, ADMIRA- 
 TION OF THE WORKS OF NATURE, ETC. 
 
 THERE is such a marked distinction in the 
 two Hebrew verbs used in the fourth verse of 
 the SHEMANG, that it would be barely possible to 
 give them their proper weight, were they con- 
 sidered together. Df)^^' 1 ) rendered in general 
 " and thou shalt teach them diligently," &c. is in 
 the original a remarkably forcible expression, 
 signifying to repeat over and over again to 
 inculcate with diligence and constant care. It 
 is not enough to talk of the commandments to 
 our children : we must repeat them again and 
 again, till the law and love of their God is in 
 very truth impressed on their yielding mind, 
 " that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord 
 their God as long as they live." (Deut. xxxi. 13.) 
 How to seek this desirable end and obey this 
 emphatic command, we have already considered. 
 The second member of the sentence remains to 
 be regarded.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 We find the root of D3 fna"tt " and thou shalt 
 speak of them" to be "IIH to utter one's senti- 
 ments aloud, to speak or to converse together : 
 and we are told in this command to speak or 
 converse of them " When thou sittest in thy 
 house, when thou walkest by the way, when 
 thou liest down, and when thou risest up." It 
 is not therefore enough only to teach the word 
 of our God unto our children ; it is not enough 
 even to make it the object of individual and 
 secret study ; not enough even to love Him : if 
 that love swell in individual hearts alone, and is 
 never made the subject of sweet communion 
 around domestic hearths, or to those friends we 
 love the best. 
 
 The two ordinances which close the She- 
 man g are generally observed. There are few 
 who, educated as sons of Israel with some little 
 care, but will don the peculiar dress for the 
 hours of prayer denoted in these precepts ; 
 few Hebrews whose residences are not adorn- 
 ed by the little scroll of the law upon " the 
 door-posts and upon their gates." And why 
 then, in steadily adhering to one command, 
 should they not be equally consistent in seeking 
 to obey the other ? Both proceed from the same 
 Divine Author ; one is of equal importance with 
 the other ; nay it may be that in our present sad 
 and captive state to love the Lord, and speak of 
 
 16
 
 182 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 Him, His attributes, His gracious providence, is 
 even more necessary than the mere forms which 
 the next verses inculcate. 
 
 Yet when we do speak of these things ? When, 
 even amidst a domestic circle, does conversation 
 turn upon those topics which would enable us 
 to obey this command ? When is religious con- 
 versation ever introduced except to fortify our- 
 selves in our own opinions, to exalt our own 
 glory, not the glory of our God, to cry down 
 the belief of others, to condemn as saints and 
 hypocrites all whose opinions are somewhat 
 stricter than our own, all whose notions of piety 
 are too exalted, too spiritual, for the worldly to 
 comprehend ? When is the word of God brought 
 forward, except to argue on points of doctrine 
 in themselves of little moment compared to the 
 spirit which should pervade them ? Better, far 
 better should religion never be spoken of than 
 become the subject of wrangling and violence ; 
 for very few are the tempers which can argue 
 calmly. To condemn, to scorn, nay, even to 
 hate, is but too often the effect of religious ar- 
 gument ; and the whisperings of piety are lost, 
 they are too faint, too spiritual, to breathe amid 
 such stormy scenes ; and charity, universal bene- 
 volence, and love, the touchstone by which true 
 holiness is tried and proved, how may they exist 
 in argument where contempt is in general so
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 1 83 
 
 thinly veiled ? The Christian boasts of his 
 charity ; but far more should it be the watch- 
 word of the Jew. The handmaid of piety she is 
 indeed, and with the sincere and lowly professor 
 of either creed she is ever found ; but to the 
 nominal religionist* she is a word unknown. 
 
 To be convinced of the truth of his religion, 
 so as to be ever ready to defend it when called 
 upon, is the bounden duty of every Hebrew ; 
 but to converse of the law means not to enter 
 unchallenged on the trackless field of religious 
 argument. We have been previously com- 
 manded to love the Lord ; to let His words be 
 upon our hearts ; to teach them to our children ; 
 and then to give such thoughts vent in the sweet 
 communion of home. Were mental meditations 
 never spoken, human nature is such that they 
 would either fade and die, or, finding a contrary 
 extreme, become so intense and continual, that 
 the mind would at length revolt from their con- 
 templation, harassed and exhausted. 
 
 Conversation strengthens thought ; and yet 
 prevents the mind from wearying. Individual 
 sentiments are imparted, and others are received 
 
 * If this is universally admitted, how small a number of truly 
 religious can then be found among the Christians. The idea of 
 charity is not by them extended to the Jews, and the truly ortho- 
 dox do not admit that one who believes not in an atonement 
 through a divine personage can be a child of salvation. We have 
 our tanks, faults tuo glaring to be concealed, but our neighbours 
 have equally many to answer for. I. L.
 
 1 84 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 in return. New ideas are thus given, and they 
 at once refresh the mind, and prepare new mat- 
 ter for reflection. 
 
 We are not to attend to the very letter* of the 
 law and speak of God at the times specified ; but 
 simply that our thoughts and love for Him are 
 to be warmed, revived, and strengthened by 
 means of conversation one with another ; not on 
 His word alone, but on His works, His provi- 
 dence, His love. 
 
 Nor is this conversation intended to take the 
 place of real consoling piety. It must spring 
 from an overflowing heart, not consist in elo- 
 quent words, which have no resting save on air. 
 It is to relieve the overcharged heart, not puff it 
 up with pride. When well-selected words flow 
 glibly from eager lips, and an ardent eloquence 
 appears to bear all its hearers along with it : the 
 spirit is ready to condemn others, as far its in- 
 feriors in religious fervour, simply because they 
 cannot speak so well ; and yet, while the lips 
 may speak so piously and well, the heart may 
 remain stubborn and unmoved. 
 
 That religion is often only too questionable, 
 which can speak its sentiment, can converse 
 
 * According to my view it should in a measure be literal. Our 
 customs also conform to this idea; for the reading of the Shemang, 
 or the subjecting of ourselves in words to the heavenly rule, is a 
 duty performed thrice every day, at rising, when the sun sets, and 
 when we intrust our spirit to God before we lie down to sleep. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 185 
 
 eloquently on such holy things to strangers, or 
 in every mixed society in which it may be thrown. 
 That which we hold dearer than life itself, the 
 thoughts, reflections, feelings of a truly pious 
 heart, which have been cherished so long and so 
 closely, they can be scarcely traced to their 
 source, are painfully difficult to clothe in words, 
 except to those beloved ones to whom the heart 
 is ever open. They shrink from the pain of 
 misconception ; they are felt as too pure, too 
 holy, too ethereal, to be exposed to the rude 
 breath of a world ; and so closely are they en- 
 twined round the fibres of the heart, that the 
 eye of affection alone may see, the ear of love 
 alone receive them. Nor would the command 
 we are considering unclasp with a rude hand 
 these precious links which bind man unto his 
 Maker. It refers but to the communing at home, 
 the intercourse with our domestic circle, with 
 our dearest, most intimate companions. 
 
 Precious is that friendship whose supporting 
 link is a mutual love of God. The pure happi- 
 ness of affection, the consolations of sympathy 
 and confidence are His gifts, and if felt as such, 
 there will naturally arise some moments when 
 the surcharged heart must speak of its God. 
 Then indeed might its conversation be devoid 
 of that argumentative spirit which would con- 
 demn. Innocently, gratefully, how continually 
 
 16*
 
 186 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 might we speak of Him ; how many new ideas 
 might be imparted ; how many passing reflec- 
 tions strengthened and improved. Were the 
 word of our God and works relating to, and 
 pleasantly elucidating it, amongst the mutual 
 studies of intimate minds : how calmly and 
 blessedly might the spiritual views of each be 
 exalted, the affections of each increased in 
 stability and worth ! How consolingly would 
 they feel the words of the inspired minstrel, 
 " To him that ordereth his conversation aright, 
 will I show the salvation of God." But is it 
 so 1 is the love of God indeed the uniting link 
 of friendship ? Is not such conversation, only 
 too often, alas! banished as entirely from the 
 intercourse of friends as from strangers ? It is 
 a peculiar pleasure to some to read the same 
 books, to compare notes on mutual studies, to 
 find the opinions of those they love agree with 
 their own ; and oh ! how much that pleasure is 
 enhanced when the same affection is borne to- 
 wards that sacred book, in which simple pathos, 
 eloquent narration, descriptive beauty, inspired 
 poetry all all, are combined to mark it as a 
 thing apart, a book like which there is no other ! 
 What inexhaustible food for reflection does it 
 contain! What mutual comfort, mutual hope, 
 does it bestow ! 
 
 There are few words more abused than that
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 187 
 
 of friendship. Connexions of pleasure, of frivo- 
 lity, of interest, deserve not the name. Intended 
 to be the union of immortal spirits whose affec- 
 tions die not even when earthly love is over, 
 what can be so likely to purify and cement that 
 love as a mutual reverence for, and belief in, a 
 God of love, and in the sacred nature of His 
 word? Friendship is the only earthly tie which 
 can exist in purity and warmth, even if the 
 actual creeds should differ. If the same spirit of 
 religion, the same deep reverence for the word 
 of God, the same strivings after righteousness, 
 and desire to do His will in all things however 
 contrary to our own, the same trust in His deep 
 love and redeeming mercy actuate the heart : it 
 matters not that in actual belief we may not 
 think alike. Often, very often does it happen 
 that a sincere and heartfelt follower of one creed 
 finds a deeper, dearer answer to his secret feel- 
 ings of piety and love in the heart of one equally 
 devoted to his own peculiar religion, than is ever 
 granted to him amongst his own ; and there may 
 be many opportunities for that pleasant com- 
 muning which friends so love, on the word, and 
 works, and love, and providence of a mutual 
 Father : and yet there need not be one syllable 
 of argument to disturb their harmony or to 
 diminish the affection of either. 
 
 It is not so with the ties of love. Unhappy is
 
 188 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 that union which cannot join heart and hand in 
 the religious education of their children ; which 
 sees the father pursuing one path and the mo- 
 ther another ; which causes every infant trea- 
 sure to be hailed with a sigh instead of smile, 
 and generally ends in bitterness and strife, and 
 causes, that the offspring of such unions know 
 not revelation, follow not the belief of either 
 parent, knowing perhaps there is a God, but not 
 His attributes. Oh ! such a union is indeed an 
 awful curse, bringing with it neither the happi- 
 ness of earth nor the hope of heaven. How may 
 those, who have thus thoughtlessly taken upon 
 them the marriage vow, or wilfully dared the 
 evils attendant upon it, answer at the footstool 
 of an offended God, for the immortal spirits com- 
 mitted to their charge ? No, the same spirit 
 the same form the same private and the same 
 public worship, must be the links of love, or it 
 will prove but perishable joy. 
 
 The friendship of David and Jonathan is an 
 exquisite trait of nature and character in the 
 eventful life of the minstrel king. There is a 
 devotedness, an unselfishness in the affection of 
 Jonathan, that must excite the warmest feelings 
 of the heart towards him. He knew that David 
 was destined to be the instrument of the Lord 
 in removing his father and himself from the 
 throne, that David's preservation and success
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 189 
 
 preceded the downfall of Saul's house ; and yet 
 he loved him still, ay, risked his own life and his 
 favour with his father, to warn and save the 
 friend he loved. What can more emphatically 
 describe the strong affection of the young prince, 
 suddenly excited as it was, than the simple 
 words of Holy Writ, " When he (David) had 
 made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the 
 soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, 
 and Jonathan loved David as his own soul ?" No 
 jealousy, no petty meanness clouded the exalted 
 nature of this love ; Jonathan was himself a 
 warrior of no mean repute, beloved by all his 
 father's subjects ; how few thus situated would 
 have so directly and so earnestly loved the un- 
 known shepherd-boy, whose extraordinary deed 
 of valour so suddenly eclipsed his own, and who 
 bade fair to more than rival him in the affec- 
 tions of the people, and was destined by the 
 Lord even to supplant him on the throne ? Little 
 as we know of him, there are few characters 
 more intrinsically beautiful than that of Jona- 
 than ; and well did David know how to appre- 
 ciate his virtues and love in return. Surely 
 Solomon thought of this immortal friendship, 
 when he wrote : " A friend loveth at all times ;" 
 " there is a friend that sticketh closer than a 
 brother;" "Faithful are the wounds of a friend ;" 
 " Thine own friend, and thy father's friend for-
 
 190 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 sake not ;" "As iron sharpeneth iron so a man 
 sharpeneth the countenance of his friend," mean- 
 ing that as iron by close friction sharpeneth 
 iron, so the mutual conversation of friends shar- 
 peneth or improveth their intellectual faculties, 
 by bestowing on each the ideas of the other. 
 And in what is improvement so desirable as in 
 the love and knowledge of our God ? When the 
 spirit of piety is the supporting link of human 
 ties, death loses half his terrors ; for then we feel 
 and know that love is not confined to this world 
 alone. Death, though it may divide us awhile, 
 will prove in the end, the commencement of 
 eternal love. The same hopes, the same spi- 
 ritual desires, the same holy spirit which per- 
 vaded our intercourse in this nether world, will 
 obtain perfection in the next, and love, purer, 
 brighter, unchilled by doubt, unchecked by those 
 petty trials and alloys, which harass even the 
 purest friendship here love, immutable and 
 blessed, will await our souls on high. 
 
 But may we hope, that such will be the 
 termination of connexions made for earthly 
 pleasures ? for frivolous amusements ? for im- 
 provement only of the mind and talents, in which 
 there mingles not one thought of Him who gave 
 them, and who demands to be remembered and 
 loved? Yet, all and each of these is dignified by 
 the term friendship. Alas, they are but perish-
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 191 
 
 able flowers, sweet for the time, but whose 
 fading blossoms are only wreathed for earth. 
 And should not this awful consideration deter 
 us from forming connexions, either in love or 
 friendship, with those who know not, seek not 
 to know God, though fascinating may be their 
 outward attractions, their intrinsic virtues? The 
 more we love below, the more dreadful must be 
 the thought of death, if we may not hope to 
 meet hereafter. And if the love of God exist 
 not in our dearest and most intimate connexions, 
 how is that verse of the Shemang to be obeyed, 
 which commands us not only to teach His words 
 to our children, but to speak of them continually 
 to one another? 
 
 And yet it is easy to do this. The works of 
 the Lord are in truth inexhaustible ; His provi- 
 dence is daily shown around us, to ourselves, 
 our friends, in events continually recurring. 
 And when we see not His hand in all things, it 
 is because we will not see it. How many love 
 to speak of chance, and fortune, and fate ; and 
 yet reject with scorn the belief, that nothing can 
 occur below without the permission of the Eter- 
 nal, who, without interfering with the free-will 
 of His creatures, makes all things tend to His 
 wise though secret government above. To ex- 
 plain this apparent contradiction is not in the 
 power of man ; it is a belief which can only be
 
 192 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 felt ; yet blessed in very truth are those to whom 
 it is vouchsafed. Those who believe it not, can 
 scarcely love their God, can scarcely dare ad- 
 dress Him ; for if the affairs of earth are wholly 
 divided from the economy of Heaven, if all events 
 depend on man, and not on God : we cannot feel 
 that we are each and all individual objects of 
 His care ; we cannot be soothed in sorrow by 
 the thought, it is a Father's will, and His will is 
 love. The fatalist, and he who denies the ever- 
 active providence of God, are alike fettered by 
 invisible yet not the less painful chains ; and to 
 neither* of these can the hopes and ordinances 
 of religion refer. 
 
 There is scarcely any profane history which, 
 if read attentively, will not afford matter for in- 
 struction, thought, and subsequent conversation 
 on the wonderful providence of the Lord. Here 
 events can be traced from their very embryo to 
 their final completion, either in success or over- 
 throw. The airy trifles, so often the hinges on 
 
 * To the thinking mind it is a matter of astonishment how any 
 one can deny an overruling Providence. If any thing could grow 
 by chance, if any event could occur without plan or arrangement, 
 then indeed the unbeliever might find support for his doubt. But 
 is there any thing without an origin 1 Besides, do his doubts re- 
 move him from the operation of the chance, luck or fortune he 
 speaks of? Surely there is hope, and life, and consolation in the 
 belief, in the acknowledgment that there is a Being, high and 
 holy, who knows all our deeds, measures all our steps, and grants 
 us that success only which is best for our ultimate happiness. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 193 
 
 which great events turn, the almost invisible 
 seeds of mighty revolutions stand revealed on 
 the pages of history, and if properly considered 
 often serve as keys to the continual incongrui- 
 ties passing around us. " The history of human 
 affairs," an intelligent author observes, " is but 
 the history of Divine Providence ;"* and the re- 
 mark is perfectly correct. Did the spirit of piety 
 pervade, as was intended, the intellect, those 
 very works read for profane instruction would 
 assist to promote obedience to the command we 
 are regarding. 
 
 Nor is it only history that may do this. There 
 are tales, simple, domestic, highly moral tales, 
 which, though as a whole fictitious, are in the 
 main point but narrations of what, could we but 
 lift up the veil of the world, is continually pass- 
 ing around us. " Truth is strange, stranger than 
 fiction ;" and were this fact more considered, 
 the very tales read for recreation and enjoyment 
 might be made of service in the promotion of 
 piety. There are many who deem the perusal 
 of such works but mere waste of time and in- 
 tellect, creating evils even worse, in filling the 
 mind with romance and folly. Nay, so far is 
 this mistaken prejudice extended, that all books 
 
 * Bigland. His Letters on Ancient and Modern History clearly 
 and forcibly illustrate the truth of his remark. 
 
 17
 
 194 THE SPIRIT or JUDAISM. 
 
 but those of instruction either in history, geo- 
 graphy, arts, or sciences, are excluded from the 
 child's library. The infant mind is crammed, its 
 intellect exhausted, while the moral training 
 and the guidance of the feelings are left to their 
 own discretion, instead of permitting them to 
 expand, in admiration of the good and detes- 
 tation of the bad, whose actions and feelings 
 are recorded in tales* relative to children of 
 their own age. 
 
 It is the same with youth. Formerly indeed 
 light works were not fitted either to attract the 
 eye or engage the heart ; and there are very 
 many now, too many alas ! far more likely to 
 produce evil than good. Yet while England 
 may boast the names of Edgeworth, Hemans, 
 Hall, Mitford, Ellis, Sinclair, Ferrier, Opie, and 
 Howitt, amongst her female literati, and Scott, 
 and James, and Fay, to swell the brilliant list, 
 the young can never be in want of recreation at 
 once as improving to the heart, as delightful to 
 the fancy ; and if the mind has been properly 
 trained, the spirit of piety indelibly infused, even 
 
 * Miss Aguilar is right in the main regarding the usefulness 
 of tales properly told. But in permitting such works to be placed 
 in the hands of children, especially in our novel, romance, and story 
 writing age, great care must absolutely be exercised in the selec- 
 tion ; so that no distorted or extravagant view of life be early im- 
 planted in the youthful mind. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 195 
 
 the perusal of such works will strengthen and 
 improve it. 
 
 Few will believe this: a fanciful hypothesis 
 it will in all probability be deemed ; yet it is 
 nevertheless true, as a reference to those whose 
 minds have not been cultivated alone, but regu- 
 lated, and are ever under the guiding influence 
 of a spirit not of earth, would prove. To them 
 it is not the romance and sentiment which are 
 alone devoured and treasured up and thought 
 upon, to the forgetfulness of all the rest. The 
 same tale perused by the pupils of diverse 
 schools, would be productive of completely op- 
 posite effects. They who have been taught to 
 drown all feeling, to conceal every emotion, to 
 contemn as romance and folly every exalted sen- 
 timent, will be the very minds to which such 
 food will bring evil instead of good ; for they 
 will seek in the pages of fiction the indulgence 
 of all those whisperings of romance and high- 
 flown sentiment which has become the stronger, 
 from its ever being kept restrained and con- 
 cealed. They condemn as vapid and dry, or as 
 saintly sermons, all that would speak of morality 
 and piety ; they seek for no moral, laugh at the 
 notion of good being derived from such works; 
 and as a necessary consequence derive none; 
 and their mind, becoming palled from such a
 
 196 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 continued succession of sweets and excitement, 
 at length rejects all other food. 
 
 Very different is the effect of such pleasant 
 recreation on minds which, educated in the 
 school of piety, and of feelings, regulated not 
 contemned, are ever accustomed to seek for the 
 good, to cull flowers where others may see but 
 weeds. They deem it no sin to trace the ope- 
 rations of an ever acting Providence, even in 
 the events recorded as fictitious tales. They 
 know that the cause of seeming incongruity and 
 mystery in human affairs only originates in our 
 being unable to trace them from their com- 
 mencement to their completion, from the num- 
 ber of years they take in their fulfilment ; while 
 those more striking events, which chiefly form 
 the basis of tales, generally pass unnoticed in 
 real life, from the multiplicity and confusion 
 ever attendant on human affairs. In a well 
 narrated tale, these obstructions to the tracing 
 of providence are removed. Sorrows, proceed- 
 ing from ill regulated or irreligious minds, are 
 traced to their source. Virtue and vice stand 
 more strongly drawn before us, than they ever 
 can in life. Our own faults or weaknesses fre- 
 quently strike the mind, by their reflection on 
 the pages which we read. Humility is frequently 
 strengthened by the contrast, the well-guided
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 197 
 
 heart discovers between itself, and those whose 
 actions excite our admiration and love ; for it 
 does not drown the still small voice by the com- 
 mon excuse for evil, that perfection is only found 
 in books ; it knows that often, unsuspected and 
 unseen, yet more exalted virtue dwells on earth 
 than ever fiction can portray ; and when it 
 dwells on faults and passion falling before temp- 
 tation, led astray by pleasure and success : it is 
 often led to look within itself, and silently and 
 voicelessly send up the prayer for grace and 
 strength, not to stumble through the like means. 
 
 And thus, can it be considered impious and 
 profane to render even recreative reading sub- 
 servient to the cause of piety ? to the immortal 
 interests of the soul ? will it not rather lead the 
 youthful student to look yet more diligently 
 within his own heart, and prepare his mind to 
 recognise in a measure the ever acting Provi- 
 dence which guides and governs the actions 
 alike of individuals, and those of the whole uni- 
 verse around him? 
 
 There are others again who, continually eulo- 
 gizing Nature, yet never seem to cast a thought, 
 or speak a word of God. Rapturous are the 
 exclamations about the beauty of the works of 
 Nature; of the delights attendant on gathering 
 wild flowers, in preference to those of the gar- 
 den, because planted by the hand of Nature ; on 
 
 17*
 
 198 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM- 
 
 walking forth amidst an uncultured country, to 
 watch Nature in her changeful dress, and woo 
 her undisturbed. And refreshing and delicious in 
 very truth are such feelings, infinitely preferable 
 to the pleasures of the world. Yet might they 
 be exalted into sentiments more glorious, more 
 rejoicing still. The mind thus capable of ad- 
 miring Nature for herself, is peculiarly fitted to 
 adore and love her God. Nature is not in her- 
 self a deity. She is the frame, not the FRAMER, 
 the created, not the Creator, 
 
 " Nature is but the name for an effect 
 Whose cause is God ;" 
 
 and while we gaze with rapture on her varied 
 scenes, on her glorious beauties, may we not 
 literally and figuratively obey the mandate that 
 bade us speak of our Father " When thou 
 walkest by the way ?" Was it not at His nod 
 this world of loveliness arose from a dark, im- 
 penetrable chaos? And well may nature be 
 deemed His temple, the sanctuary in which 
 we can worship with the greatest fervour ; for 
 on all sides we behold but the work of His hands, 
 from the tiniest flower smiling at our feet, to the 
 towering mountain which raises its rugged sides 
 on high till its head is veiled in overhanging 
 clouds; from the silvery rill, that ripples softly 
 and refreshingly between the green and flowery
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 199 
 
 banks, to the vast and boundless ocean whose 
 depth we cannot fathom, nor its tumbling waves 
 enchain. These are indeed scenes which com- 
 pel us to think of the Eternal, to behold Him in 
 His works ; and if our companion be one bound to 
 us by the magic ties of sympathy and love, or the 
 parent from whose lips we have first learnt to 
 know Nature as she is, or the child to whom we 
 would reveal her mysteries and lead up to her 
 Creator : to each, to all, might we relieve the 
 swelling heart, and speak of Him on whose glo- 
 rious works we gaze. Delightful as are the emo- 
 tions with which we look on Nature for herself, 
 they are tame, and cold, and lifeless to those which 
 elevate and purify the soul when it looks 
 
 " Through Nature up to Nature's God." 
 
 The age of miracles is considered over. Those 
 extraordinary manifestations of Divine provi- 
 dence towards the children of Israel are indeed 
 past ; for the first-born of the Lord is yet an 
 exile, till penitence and amendment shall ap- 
 pease the anger of his merciful Father, and He 
 our God may indulge those yearnings of love and 
 tender pity towards His son of which His book 
 assures us. " But that the sun has shone unre- 
 mittingly from the day that God created him, is 
 not a less stupendous exertion of power than
 
 200 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 that the Hand, which fixed him in the heavens 
 and marked out his progress through them, 
 should once say by his servant, ' Sun, stand thou 
 still upon Gibeon ;' that he has gone on his unin- 
 terrupted career, and rejoicing as a giant to run 
 his course for six thousand years, is a far more 
 astonishing exhibition of omnipotence than that 
 he should have been once suspended by the Hand 
 that first set him in motion."* 
 
 And thus, that the boundless ocean which sur- 
 rounds us should continue as unchanged in mo- 
 tion as when the hand of the Lord " gathered 
 the waters in one place and the dry land ap- 
 peared," is even yet more wonderful than the 
 dividing of the Red Sea or the passage of the 
 Jordan. But these things, even as the blessings 
 of individual lives, are unperceived and unac- 
 knowledged, because they are constant. They 
 continually surround us, and we therefore see 
 not their magnitude. Day giveth place to day, 
 and night to night ; the tides of ocean ebb and 
 flow ; the planets float along the sky ; the stars 
 remain suspended in their orbits ; but we notice 
 not these things, or if we do, it is but to observe 
 " They are the laws of Nature," and to laugh 
 at the idea of deeming such common things 
 miraculous. 
 
 * Hannah More's Spirit of Prayer, chap. iii. p. 28.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 201 
 
 Yet, what is the precise definition of a miracle ? 
 " An effect above human or natural power, per- 
 formed in attestation of some truth." Can hu- 
 man power create a sun ? or bid the waves roll 
 on in their unchanging course ? Can human 
 power create darkness? or command night to 
 descend or day to appear before their appointed 
 time ? and what term we natural power ? are 
 the planets, the skies, the winds, the works of 
 Nature ? No ! whether we regard nature as the 
 compass of natural existence, the regular course 
 of things, or the state and operations of the 
 material world : Nature is not the cause, but the 
 effect, she is herself a miracle. And if we are 
 asked, in attestation of what truth that miracle 
 has been performed? we answer: of the most 
 sublime, the most important, most glorious truth, 
 the existence of an omnipotent, omnipresent, 
 omniscient, and eternal Being the unanswera- 
 ble proof that THERE is A GOD ! We have then 
 even in things inanimate enough matter for 
 contemplation, enough sometimes to converse 
 on, as " we are walking by the way." Nor shall 
 we fail to find a glorious example of this holy 
 duty even in the Book of Life. 
 
 It was thus David meditated on the Lord ; 
 he did not only address Him in prayer for him- 
 self he magnified His nature by the relation of 
 His works. Who can peruse his rich treasury
 
 202 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 of psalms, without feeling how completely this 
 exalted monarch associated the Eternal in all 
 His works, and praised Him, not only for indi- 
 vidual mercies, but for the blessings shared by 
 the whole world ? How truly sublime is the ex- 
 clamation in which he breaks forth : " Oh Lord, 
 how manifold are thy works, in wisdom hast 
 thou made them all, the whole earth is filled 
 with thy riches." And again in what a beautiful 
 spirit of humility does he follow up the verse : 
 " When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy 
 fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast 
 ordained : what is man that thou art mindful of 
 him, and the son of man that thou visitest him?" 
 How continually do we find him acknowledging 
 the providence of God, alike in nature as in 
 man ; how repeatedly dwelling on the tale of 
 Israel's redemption, of mercies shown to the 
 nation, returning thanks and praise, as if such 
 gracious care had been displayed to him alone. 
 Deeply did the prophet king feel the truth of 
 the inspired strain with which a later* psalmist 
 concluded the cvii. Psalm, " Whoso is wise and 
 
 * It is unknown to me from what authority Miss A. would main- 
 tain, that the last verse of this Psalm is by a later writer. This 
 species of criticism which refers parts of Scripture, though stand- 
 ing together, to different hands, is not approved of by Israelites in 
 general. Perhaps Miss A. means that the whole Psalm is by a 
 person who lived after David ; if so, this would be a hypothesis 
 more consonant with our views than the former. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 203 
 
 will observe these things, (the wonderful provi- 
 dence of the Eternal,) even they shall under- 
 stand the loving kindness of the Lord." How 
 great a reward, for the simple act of using the 
 senses and faculties, which a merciful Father 
 had bestowed, in the contemplation of His great 
 works ! To feel the full force of the sentence, it 
 would be well to consider the nature of the pro- 
 mised reward. 
 
 " To understand the loving kindness of the 
 Lord," needs no spiritualizing, or rather the 
 charge of spiritualizing to explain ; it simply 
 means to behold the decrees of the Lord in their 
 correct light, to disperse the darkness generally 
 clouding the affairs of men by the golden rays 
 of faith ; to behold mercy and love where others 
 can only see chastisement and misery ; to trace 
 all things to an almighty Hand of love, where 
 others sink into despondency, reproaching them- 
 selves for not doing better in the world, and 
 envying those who are more successful. In a 
 word, it signifies the attaining, as far as is pos- 
 sible in this imperfect state, that which is pro- 
 mised when the captivity is at an end. " Then 
 shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray 
 unto me, and I will hearken unto you ; and ye 
 shall seek me, and FIND me, when ye search for 
 me with all your heart." (Jerem. xxix. 12, 13.) 
 " And it shall come to pass, that before they call
 
 204 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I 
 will hear" (Isa. Ixv. 24.) And can there be a 
 clearer, more precious reward? and shall we 
 cast it wilfully aside ? Oh ! even now we shall 
 be heard ; God will be found if we seek Him 
 with all our hearts ; even now a foretaste of that 
 rich blessing may be ours. We may understand 
 the loving kindness of the Lord, if we will only 
 obey the precepts of the Shemang, and hallow 
 the forms which were instituted to keep us dis- 
 tinct from other nations, by the spirit of piety 
 springing from the Lord. Form alone will not 
 bring down upon us this desirable blessing. 
 
 Could David when wandering a miserable 
 fugitive from the enmity of Saul attend to the 
 ceremonials* of his faith? and yet he was a 
 favoured servant of the Lord ; he was in very 
 truth an Israelite, and the spirit of the Hebrew 
 religion filled his heart. He loved the Lord, 
 and the Lord loved him ; not for lifeless adhe- 
 rence to instituted forms, but because his heart 
 was full of piety. And can we find an example 
 more worthy of imitation than the son of Jesse ? 
 
 * Probably he could, to a great extent, at all events. Neverthe- 
 less, he complains of not being able to participate in all the duties, 
 as we may judge from his address to Saul : " But if they be the 
 children of men, cursed be they before the Lord ; for they have 
 driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, 
 saying, Go, serve other gods." (1 Sam. xxvi. 19.) Did David then 
 think ceremonies essential or not 1 I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 205 
 
 Yet the faith that Moses taught is accused of 
 possessing no comfort, of breathing no holy 
 spirit, that it is neither a consoling nor a spiri- 
 tual religion. Shame on those Israelites who 
 permit this reproach to gain ground without 
 once endeavouring to prove by deeds, its falsity ! 
 Too often it is even permitted to appear as the 
 truth by the stern and rigid observance of rites 
 and ceremonies, as if religion consisted in them 
 alone. There are some who would deem it a 
 sin to omit the repetition of the Shemang twice 
 every day ; yet are utterly unconscious of all the 
 precepts it enforces, except the last, and they 
 go on their way rejoicing, without one thought 
 of natural unworthiness, which needs far more 
 than the mere observance of form to be washed 
 away ; obeying, secure in supposed righteousness, 
 the laws of their religion which divide them from 
 others, yet mingling in the world without one 
 thought of God ; condemning with fierce invec- 
 tive all those who think differently from them- 
 selves, casing up their hearts in the icy bondage 
 of form, without permitting one gleam of com- 
 fort, one spark of holy fire to enter therein, 
 which, drawing them nearer to their universal 
 Father, would render them more charitable to 
 their fellow-creatures.* 
 
 * There are in all probability some few such bigots among us ; 
 but our forms are not to be charged with their wrong doing ; nor 
 
 18
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 Yet such men, when they come to die, have 
 found no comfort. And can we then wonder at 
 the reproach cast upon the Jewish faith ? Is it 
 strange the Christian should believe his religion 
 the right, and look down with scorn or pity on 
 such followers of Israel ? Is it strange that, when 
 they see the Hebrew religion of the present day 
 so different to that which David practised, and 
 Moses and the prophets taught, they should be- 
 lieve the one a type of their saviour, the other, 
 as more regarding themselves than us ? Oh ! 
 that Israel would awake from their lethargy, 
 and prove there is a holy spirit in the Hebrew 
 faith. David was a Jew ; and if his religion 
 were not spiritual, whence did he derive com- 
 fort in his life of trial ? Every prophet was a 
 Jew : and how comes it, if the Christian religion 
 alone possess holy fire, that the prophetic spirit 
 should so entirely have ceased ? If there be no 
 hope, no comfort, no faith in immortality in the 
 religion of Israel : what supported the Hebrew 
 martyrs in the hour of torture and death, and 
 enabled them to die as rejoicingly upon the 
 stake, as those Christian sufferers who have so 
 often been held up as the witnesses of the hope 
 
 are Rabbins responsible therefor ; because their doctrines enforce the 
 religion of the heart, they teach : " As we bless God for the good, 
 BO ought we to bless Him in evil." Is this an icy, unfeeling 
 worship'? I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 207 
 
 and comfort of their faith ? No, it is not the 
 faith of Moses which is at fault, it is the morbid 
 state of many who bear its name ! The Eternal 
 in mercy has permitted peace to descend upon 
 us. He tried us in the ordeal of persecution, and 
 He saw our love and faith were strong; we 
 clung yet closer and closer unto Him; and the 
 spirit was purified, even as the difficulty of ad- 
 hering to form increased. And then He would 
 try us in the far more dangerous ordeal of pros- 
 perity and peace. And oh! are we not found 
 wanting ? are we not torn by inward dissension, 
 because with the nations we are at peace ? are 
 not party spirit and all its attendant evils filling 
 up those hearts, which should seek only the 
 glory of God, the amendment of their own ways 
 and of those committed to their especial charge? 
 While this state exists, can we ever hope for the 
 advent of God's Anointed, the accomplishment 
 of those glorious promises, which await the re- 
 pentant ? No ; while, with the sickening anguish 
 of hope deferred, we behold years roll on, and 
 there seemeth no end to our captivity : instead 
 of failing in trust, did we look into our hearts 
 and behold their iniquity, wonder would be at an 
 end ; or if we did wonder, it would be at that 
 infinite, that inexhaustible mercy, which yet 
 keeps us alive, yet guards, preserves, and blesses 
 us, despite of that sinful ingratitude, that com-
 
 208 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 plete departure from the spirit of Judaism which, 
 were it not for that promised mercy, would of 
 necessity condemn us to annihilation. 
 
 There is yet another way of obeying the com- 
 mand contained in the second member of the 
 verse we are considering one that can meet 
 with no objection, even from those who, advo- 
 cates for the very letter of the law, may believe 
 we have enlarged on it more than was Moses's 
 intention, and that we have erred in dividing 
 the verse. It is strange that, while so many 
 rites and forms have been added to the pure 
 worship of Moses, and permitted to become part 
 of the religion without question or reproof, not- 
 withstanding the precise command of the Lord, 
 " Ye shall not add unto my law nor diminish 
 therefrom," the endeavours, to define and en- 
 large the spiritual* views of the Hebrews are 
 
 * I must confess that it is something new to me to learn, that 
 such could be the state of any part of the Jewish community. 
 Spiritualizing in the Christian sense of the word, that is adopting 
 the words of Scripture to events so as to make them agree, though 
 the ostensible meaning is nowise the same, is confessedly abhor- 
 rent to us ; but the spiritualizing of Miss Aguilar, or the seeking 
 of a higher meaning in connexion with Scripture and ceremony is 
 by no means very rare, on the contrary the excess of it has led to 
 the establishment of the Cabala, which consists in detecting the 
 mysteries of the law in every word and every act. A remarkable 
 explanation of this kind is given of verse 17, Psalm cxv.: " ' The 
 dead shall not praise the Lord,' what is meant by the dead "? 
 the wicked who are dead (in spirit) even whilst living." It
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 209 
 
 generally subjected to condemnation and scorn, 
 as hypocrisy or saintly novelties, for which we 
 have no foundation. Alas, that it should be so ! 
 that the wrath of the Lord has flung such a 
 dark obscuring veil over the minds of men, 
 blinding them to the deeply spiritual nature of 
 their faith. But, if to think and speak of the 
 Lord at all times be to some minds incompa- 
 tible with the holiness which would set Him at 
 a distance, save in the hours of devotion : why 
 should not this command find its obedience in 
 the morning and evening public worship of a 
 family ? Why is family devotion so completely 
 banished from the Jewish nation? Except on 
 the Sabbath, and sometimes on other festivals, 
 when do we see a Hebrew family assembled to 
 
 strikes me that my friend has met in her intercourse with society 
 with persons who had not been properly educated in the duties of 
 the law of Jacob ; and that she gives too much credence, without 
 sufficient investigation, to the invectives of Christian writers. The 
 ignorant among us may attach more importance to form than 
 spirit ; but this is not the fault of our ancient teachers, such as 
 Maimonides, Bechaye, Happenini, and a host of others, nor of the 
 moderns, such as Mendelssohn, Wesseli, Hirsch, and others whom 
 it is needless to enumerate. I do not by saying this wish to ex- 
 onerate us from fault, but I am for one not willing to assume more 
 than comes to our share. Besides, the death-bed of Israelites is 
 full of hope and faith ; and many instances could be enumerated, 
 within my brief experience, of hopeful joy of the righteous, and of 
 confiding repentance of those who sought the Lord in the sincerity 
 of conversion and the lowliness of a contrite heart I. L. 
 
 18*
 
 210 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 pray ? When do we see the father of a family 
 read aloud the prayers, and take pride in read- 
 ing and explaining the Bible to his children ? 
 He may sometimes tell them the meaning of 
 peculiar forms ; but is the Bible made applica- 
 ble to their daily lives ? is its solemn nature, its 
 ever-acting comfort impressed on the yielding 
 heart ? We have very few opportunities* of 
 joining public service ; and therefore are we 
 doubly called upon to make the temple of the 
 Lord within our own domestic hearths. It would 
 elevate their religion in the minds of our chil- 
 dren ; it would strengthen devout affection in 
 our own ; we would be imparting the purest, 
 most precious knowledge to those dearest to us; 
 and they would feel that employment indeed 
 sacred and delightful in which they felt that 
 their parents shared and sympathized. 
 
 Why then should the Hebrew nation wilfully 
 deprive herself of what may be termed the pub- 
 lic devotion of a family ? Why should she break 
 asunder the link that, were it carefully cherished, 
 would bind the cords of domestic affection yet 
 closer together? The youthful members of a 
 little domestic congregation would look back 
 with warm emotion, in after years, to that pe- 
 
 * This must be the fault of individuals, not of our system. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 211 
 
 riod when, with their brothers and sisters, they 
 thronged around their parents to listen to the 
 word of God, and made known to Him their 
 common wants together. The companions of 
 earliest infancy, who have grown with them from 
 childhood into youth, may be scattered far and 
 wide from their common home ; but the remem- 
 brance of that holy hour of prayer will be a 
 precious link in the hearts of each. Their reli- 
 gion will be associated with all those who were 
 dearest to them, and time will lessen not that 
 charm, while in such associations religion her- 
 self will attain a more elevated nature. Early 
 impressions generally follow us through life ; 
 and while the infant mind is filled with such a 
 variety of ideas and correspondent knowledge, 
 why should religion be the only thing left to find 
 its way to the heart unaided and untaught ? 
 Why should there be no sweet associations at- 
 tached to religion alone : when so many and 
 varied are the flowers with which the path of 
 literature is decked, so many sweets from know- 
 ledge culled to tempt the child along ? And 
 family devotion, strengthening and hallowing 
 the lessons of piety continually received from a 
 mother's lips, is more than likely to produce 
 this wished for end. 
 
 Blessed in truth are those parents who join
 
 212 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 heart to heart and hand to hand in the religious 
 education of their children. Even when the 
 pressing cares of business may interfere with 
 the father's attendance to the public devotion of 
 his family, the mother's task is blessed ; for she 
 feels, though absent, his spirit recognises the 
 hallowed hour as the evening and morning come 
 round, and communes with them still ; and when 
 he is permitted to return to lift up his voice in 
 prayer and thanksgiving, how blessed to him 
 and all those dear ones round him is that sweet 
 hour of reunion sweet and holy even as a 
 shadowy type of family reunion in that world 
 where the wo of parting is unknown ! 
 
 But when this may not be, when the spirit of 
 piety finds its home only in the mother's heart ; 
 when the all-absorbing love of interest or of 
 ambition bids the father forget the immortal 
 spirits of his children, and renders him careless 
 of all instruction save that which, tending to 
 earthly aggrandizement, will raise them in the 
 estimation of the world; when the claims of 
 Jerusalem are forgotten, and he looks upon him- 
 self only as a son of that land in which he is in 
 reality but a " stranger and sojourner, even as 
 his fathers were," for it is not his own: even 
 when such things are yet let not the mothers in 
 Israel be disheartened, they may still call their
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 213 
 
 children round them, and obey the spirit of the 
 prayer they repeat so often. They may watch 
 with a jealous eye the dawnings of piety in their 
 children, and pray for and with them ; and it 
 may be theirs the glorious task, to raise up a 
 new and better race to support the falling 
 temple of the Lord.
 
 214 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE SPIRIT AND THE FORMS OF JUDAISM CONSIDERED 
 SEPARATELY AND TOGETHER. 
 
 THE concluding verses of the Shemang bring 
 us to a subject on which, in the preceding chap- 
 ters, we may have often been accused of touching 
 too lightly ; the peculiar forms and ceremonies 
 of our religion. The frontlets and bracelets al- 
 luded to in these verses were ornaments pecu- 
 liar to the Eastern dress, and the very fact of the 
 children of Israel being commanded to associate 
 the word of God with their very ornaments, to 
 bind them upon their hands and between their 
 eyes, and to go a little further, to make a fringe 
 and place on it a thread of blue, " that they might 
 remember the commandments of the Lord, and 
 do them ; that man might not seek those things 
 which his heart and eyes incline after, and in 
 the pursuit of which he may be led astray :" all 
 these directions, trifling as they may seem, are 
 but unanswerable proofs of the close and inti-
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 215 
 
 mate communion which man was to hold with 
 his Maker ; proofs, how entirely and completely 
 religion, the spirit of religion, the whisperings of 
 the Eternal, was to be associated with the ac- 
 tions of man to follow him through life, to be 
 bound upon his heart not to be kept at that 
 immense distance which is by some deemed the 
 only way to retain holiness, for the alleged rea- 
 son that such frequent communings only lessen 
 the trembling awe in which we should approach 
 our God. It is not as a Judge we are to behold 
 and approach Him ; but as an ever-watchful, 
 ever-loving Father, an ever-faithful, ever-sym- 
 pathizing Friend, to whom we may pour forth 
 every sorrow, every joy, our cares, our hopes, our 
 wishes ; for He alone can know the extent of 
 their influence upon our hearts, He alone can 
 comfort or can aid. To think continually on 
 all the precepts contained in the preceding 
 verses of the Shemang, was in all probability 
 the origin of this command, to bind them on 
 our hands and eyes, and place them on the door- 
 posts and gates of our dwellings. Gradually 
 and beautifully each verse links into the other. 
 The binding the word of the Lord on our hands 
 and eyes is connected with the precept, " these 
 words which I command thee this day, shall be 
 upon thy heart" referring to ourselves individual- 
 ly ; the other, when obeyed, aids us impercep-
 
 216 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 tibly in thinking or speaking of the Lord at all 
 times ; for surely His word cannot be seen upon 
 our gates in walking out, or coming in, without 
 a thought of Him who, " unless He build the 
 house, they labour in vain that build it, unless 
 He keep the city, the watchman waketh but in 
 vain." 
 
 It is not the mere obedience to the letter of 
 the law, the mere adoption of the ancient dress 
 in the hour of prayer, which will render our 
 prayers acceptable. Their purpose is to aid the 
 mind in withdrawing itself from its mere worldly 
 occupations, to tempt the Hebrew youth to seek 
 and know more of the law, a portion of which 
 he bears upon his brow and hand ; to employ 
 his mind, or intellect, of which the brow may be 
 a significant figure, in the study of that precious 
 word ; his hands in those things acceptable to 
 his Father in heaven. " A clean hand and a 
 pure heart," the frequent repetition of those 
 words in the Holy Scripture is sufficiently con- 
 vincing of the peculiar meaning attached to this 
 rite ; and by studying the will of the Eternal, 
 the Israelite learns how to obey it so as to have 
 a beneficial effect on his spirit. 
 
 Such must ever be the intent of religious cere- 
 monies. They are given to aid and strengthen 
 the spirit of piety, resting within this spirit, yet 
 NOT to take its place. The Eternal saw the
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 217 
 
 heart of man and knew that, when Adam sinned, 
 the inclinations and desires of his children would 
 be for the evil, not for the good ; and, therefore, 
 that if religion were left to the promptings of 
 natural man, she would speedily fly from this 
 fallen world, and resume her native seat above. 
 THAT MAN therefore who, despite the wicked- 
 ness and heathenism darkly reigning round him, 
 lifted up his affections and his intellects to his 
 God ; devoted his whole soul unto His bidding ; 
 believing, without question, the word of the 
 Eternal, even to the resigning his only and his 
 darling child, that man was peculiarly the ob- 
 ject of God's love and care ; for it was human 
 righteousness shining forth clear and unmoved, 
 as a bright star amidst surrounding darkness, 
 dispersing 'neath its rays the clouds of natural 
 sin and corruption which in Abraham's heart, 
 even as in his fellows, had originally birth ; and 
 it was his own pure, simple, trusting righteous- 
 ness which excited the attention, and called 
 down the blessing of the Lord. And for this 
 faithful servant's sake, His love and mercy re- 
 solved on giving his descendants a law of light, 
 and life, and joy, to aid them in knowing and 
 serving Him, in governing the evil of their own 
 hearts, so that the better principle, being the 
 stronger, might bring forth good ; to teach 
 them the God that framed and loved them ; to 
 
 19
 
 218 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 give them, once more, tests of their obedience 
 and their love ; to leave them no longer to 
 their own imaginings, but to set before them 
 the hopes of immortality, veiled, perhaps, and 
 shrouded, yet still gleaming through the reli- 
 gion which came to them through Moses, softly 
 and silently, even as the invisible soul breathes 
 through the every action, word, and thought of 
 man ; we see it not, know not its nature, yet do 
 we doubt that it is there ? and even thus is its 
 immortality the spirit, life, breath, and glory of 
 the Mosaic faith. 
 
 For the sake of Abraham was the law be- 
 stowed upon his seed, displaying throughout its 
 whole extent the compassionate tenderness, the 
 ever-fostering affection of its glorious Framer. 
 
 The spirit of piety, that yearning desire after 
 holy things, and clinging love to God, are still, 
 even as in the time of Abraham, direct gifts 
 from the Father of all ; His grace* acts still 
 imperceptibly upon natural man, though un- 
 perceived by our outward senses, but the dic- 
 tates of the law, the acts of obedience therein 
 commanded, the revelation of the Lord and of 
 His glorious attributes, the numerous aids to 
 becoming worthy servants in His sight, and 
 conquering evil propensities by the clear ex- 
 
 * " Whoever comes to purify himself will be aided from hea- 
 ven." Talmud.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 219 
 
 planation of right and wrong which, through 
 Moses, He has so mercifully set down : all 
 these are now common to us all ; and therefore 
 man's natural depravity and unenlightened ig- 
 norance can never be brought forward as excuses 
 for sin and disobedience. The principle of good 
 within us was naturally as powerful as that of 
 evil, the example of our first father occasioned 
 the fearful prevalence of the latter ; but the 
 principle of good is not even now extinguished ; 
 and, aided by the strength and grace of God 
 which we have called down by prayer, it is yet 
 enabled to conquer the evil, and walk on in the 
 way of the Lord. It will not indeed obtain for 
 us salvation ;* but it will be pleasing unto our 
 Father, and incline His heart mercifully and 
 favourably towards us. 
 
 This is one of the great distinctions between 
 the Hebrew and Christian creeds. The God of 
 the Christians does need a saviour and mediator; 
 but the God of the Hebrew needs it not. They 
 look on our beautiful law as one of fire and 
 blood ; that even when God gave it He knew it 
 was impossible for man to keep it ; that man's 
 
 * Miss A. probably means that no nets of man deserve salvation, 
 inasmuch as no one is righteous on earth who does good without 
 sinning ; nevertheless there is merit in every deed done in honour 
 and the name of the Lord, and the multitude of true acts of piety 
 will open for us the way to the tree of life, and make us partakers 
 of the joys at the right hand of our everlasting Father. I. L.
 
 220 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 depravity would entirely prevent his obedience ; 
 that all under the law are subject to misery and 
 curses, are chained down to a heavy, lifeless 
 weight, to redeem them from which our Father, 
 at the same time the law was framed and given, 
 resolved on the holocaust (sacrifice) of one who 
 knew not sin, to take away the sins of men, to 
 remove the curse of the law, and institute a law 
 of love instead of the law of fire, and the awful 
 dispensation revealed in the Old Testament. 
 
 According to this belief, the law was framed 
 to be destroyed ; given to be removed ; sent as a 
 curse instead of a blessing ; and the descendants 
 of Abraham, instead of being peculiarly blessed 
 above all nations, according to the solemn word 
 of the Lord, must have been marked out from 
 the very first as the objects of His wrath. But 
 the God of the Hebrew is a God of TRUTH, whose 
 words fail not, nor change, in whom there is not 
 a shadow of turning ; and therefore is it that we 
 reject this doctrine. When so repeatedly we 
 read words to this import, " My covenant will I 
 not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out 
 of my lips," we dare not depart from that cove- 
 nant ; for we know that it is to last to eternity. 
 We cannot recognise our God in the Being who 
 would impose a law upon His people, simply 
 and solely to destroy them ; who would mock us 
 by unmeaning ordinances ; who would desire
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 221 
 
 obedience when He knew the nature of man 
 could NOT bestow it ; who would fetter instead 
 of freeing ; fetter with infinitely more oppression 
 and cruel bondage than the chains of Egypt 
 from which He freed us ; who with such deep 
 solemnity, such majestic power, yet with such 
 beneficence and tender love, would frame a law, 
 and proclaim it eternal, yet at the same moment 
 fix the period of its continuance and look to its 
 annihilation. We cannot recognise the God of 
 truth and love in one that would act thus. 
 There is not one portion of that law which, when 
 it was given, man could not obey ; not one com- 
 mand, one ordinance, to which man could not 
 implicitly adhere ; and that man fell from it 
 was not the fault of the law or the ordinance of 
 the Eternal. The law, as we have before said, 
 was given to teach man his duties, to assist him 
 in conquering natural depravity, and permitting 
 the principle of good, also placed within him, to 
 obtain ascendency. He had thus the free will 
 to choose his own path, to seek the favour of his 
 God, or to reject it ; and that he chose the latter 
 was not because he had not the power to choose 
 the former, or that he could not obey the law ; 
 but because, like Cain, he loved the evil more 
 than the good, and resisted the still small voice 
 which the love of our God has placed within 
 every breast, resisted its entreaty to fly from 
 
 19*
 
 222 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 temptation, and implore the infused strength of 
 the Lord, till its soft, yet piercing whisper was 
 drowned in the roar of transgression and de- 
 bauch. 
 
 Still, therefore, do we hail with delight, and 
 wear with rejoicing the mild and gentle yoke of 
 a law in which infinite love and mercy shine 
 pre-eminent ; still do we gladly acknowledge 
 ourselves under the law ; nor will we shake it 
 off even now, that we are prevented from adhe- 
 ring to many of its ordinances. We know, and 
 we are blessed in the belief, that our merciful 
 Father knows the nature of His creatures far 
 better than we know ourselves ; and that if we 
 cleave to His law, as far as it is in our power, 
 during our captivity ; if we earnestly seek after 
 righteousness, and endeavour with heart, and 
 soul, and might, to cherish the spirit of piety, 
 to love the Lord : His infinite love, and long-suf- 
 fering compassion will fill up the deficiency.* 
 
 * The Scriptures say : " Cursed be he that observeth not the 
 words of this law to do them" (Deut. xxvii. 26,) which would im- 
 ply blessing upon the faithful servant according to his means. I 
 cannot avoid observing, that in this very verse is a gross mistrans- 
 lation in the English Bible, for the word all is inserted in italic 
 letters before " words," so as to make it read " all t^ie words," and 
 this false interpretation has been made the basis of invective 
 against us, because no one can keep all the law. For a more ex- 
 tensive view of this question I must refer the reader to my second 
 Series of Discourses, Lecture ix. pp. 98-109. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 223 
 
 We have no need to look to a suffering* saviour ; 
 our God is too just, too full of love for all His 
 creatures, to demand the sacrifice of one for the 
 sins of many, even were that one a God and not 
 man. To know that we sin, to acknowledge 
 our transgressions and the transgressions of our 
 fathers, and look to, and trust in our Father's 
 love and mercy, who, for His own sake, hath 
 sworn to blot out as a thick cloud our sins we 
 have His holy word as guarantee, that this is 
 enough ; we therefore look to Him alone ; and 
 in His righteousness, if we seek it with all our 
 heart, we are made righteous. 
 
 If we thus acknowledge the beneficent pur- 
 pose of the law, how completely appropriate is 
 it to our need ! how evidently is it the work of 
 an all-wise, all-merciful Father, who had but the 
 good and everlasting welfare of His children in 
 view, when He ordained it, and selected Moses 
 to make it known. We cannot but feel an ear- 
 nest desire to obey its every dictate, to adhere 
 to it, as strictly, as closely as ever our scattered 
 and fallen state will permit ; and not strictly 
 and closely alone, but freely, unconditionally, 
 
 * There is not the most distant reference to such a being in the 
 whole law ; and we contend that, if such a belief were necessary 
 for salvation, it would have been revealed in direct terms, and not 
 been left to mere inference from a single sentence in the book of 
 Isaiah. I. L.
 
 224 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 lovingly, giving the heart, not the servile obedi- 
 ence of slaves. And this is still in our power to 
 do, though to very many of our rites and cere- 
 monies we cannot adhere in our dispersed and 
 captive state. 
 
 When men are drawn together to attend to 
 peculiar rites, and keep holy particular days : 
 their thoughts naturally revert from their indi- 
 vidual concerns, to the combination of interest 
 which draws them thus together. They are 
 forced for the time to leave their temporal af- 
 fairs, even though the thought should still cling 
 more earnestly to these than to their spiritual 
 welfare ; they feel conscious of some obligation 
 binding them to a Higher Power, and by degrees 
 they attain some portion of holiness. To others, 
 again, public observance of forms gives the op- 
 portunity to ponder on their God, which they 
 might otherwise seek for in vain. And to other 
 and yet more exalted minds it strengthens and 
 supports the inward piety, it gives them that 
 which they so earnestly desire, opportunities of 
 proving their love by a willing and perfect obe- 
 dience. Religious ceremonies also attract the 
 attention of children, and sometimes lead them 
 to ask and search for that which, through ne- 
 glect or irreligion on the part of parents, they 
 might never know, Many condemn form en- 
 tirely; but if the rites and ceremonies of religion
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 225 
 
 were not intended to bring forth good, the God 
 of goodness would not have ordained them. 
 Subordinate to the spirit they were to be indeed ; 
 to assist the worship of the heart, but not to take 
 its place. Ordained to preserve us wholly dis- 
 tinct from other nations, many of the minor laws, 
 relating only to the customs of the nations un- 
 der God's wrath, cannot of course now be ob- 
 served ; but they are not to be pronounced 
 trifling and unimportant on that account ; nor, 
 because we cannot attend to them, are we to 
 disregard others ; for these are the words of the 
 Eternal : " Ye shall not walk in the manners of 
 the nations which I cast out before you ; for 
 they committed all these things, and therefore I 
 abhorred them : but 1 have said unto you, Ye 
 shall inherit their land, that floweth with milk 
 and honey ; I am the Lord your God which sepa- 
 rates you from other people : and ye shall be 
 holy unto me for I the Lord am holy, and have 
 severed you from all other people, that you 
 should be MINE." 
 
 We need go no farther than these beautiful 
 verses, to perceive the origin and necessity of 
 our peculiar ceremonies. We were to abstain 
 from some to sever us from wickedness, and ad- 
 here to others to mark us as the holy of the 
 Lord. Instead then of seeking to find excuses 
 for their non-performance : should we not rather
 
 226 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 glory in the minutest observance which would 
 stamp us as so peculiarly the Lord's own, and 
 deem it a glorious privilege to be thus marked 
 out not only in feature and in faith, but in our 
 civil and religious code, as the chosen of God? 
 Had we been thus selected by an earthly sove- 
 reign, who would not have gloried in the dis- 
 tinction ; and shall the Hebrew think less of the 
 favour of his God ? 
 
 True, the heathen nations, against whose evil 
 example we were warned, no longer surround 
 us ; but we live in the midst of others with 
 whom we are still more likely to become assi- 
 milated if we relax, in the very smallest degree, 
 from our adherence to the law of Moses. With 
 regard to this blessed law, the Bible is the only 
 unerring guide ; nor should the end and intent 
 of its statutes ever be forgotten. The spirit of 
 love, so beautifully breathing through the pre- 
 ceding verses of the Shemang, must hallow the 
 observance of the two last, or obedience will be 
 of little avail. If, when the Hebrew arrays him- 
 self in the Tephilin, he thinks on all that is com- 
 prised in the brief passages he has bound on his 
 brow and hand, and earnestly and faithfully he 
 seeks for strength to obey their dictates through- 
 out the day, and he asks for grace that his 
 hands work not evil, his feet turn not astray, 
 his thoughts cleave not to transgression : the
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 227 
 
 command of Moses is indeed obeyed, not only 
 in form, but in spirit. If the scroll of the law, 
 fastened to the door-post of his house, remind 
 the son of Israel of a preceding command, " to 
 speak and think of his God when he sitteth in 
 his house or walketh by the way ;" if it evince 
 to the strangers around that he is not one of 
 them, however intimately he may mingle in 
 social intercourse ; that he glories in standing 
 thus apart as the chosen of God : the form has 
 done its duty, it springs from, and yet assists the 
 spirit resting within. 
 
 Thus should every Hebrew rite be considered, 
 and reason, not superstition, be traced as its 
 foundation. The Mind, from whom every law 
 in the Pentateuch originated, far exceeds in 
 wisdom those which that celestial Mind has 
 framed ; and therefore, in love, He threw a veil 
 over that overpowering light of wisdom ; and, 
 choosing from among the seed of Abraham the 
 best and meekest of His favoured servants : He 
 delivered through his means laws which, though 
 proceeding from the most profound wisdom, were 
 yet couched in words suited to the weak com- 
 prehension of His creatures. 
 
 Not one of these laws has a mysterious, or 
 admits of a double meaning. All who seek to 
 know the Jewish ethics, will find them in the word 
 of God ; for it is to the ordinances of Scripture
 
 228 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 alone we refer. There may be some observances 
 which superstition and bigotry have introduced, 
 some which tarnish and choke up the law of 
 love which came direct from Heaven ; but to 
 them we allude not. The Bible and reason are 
 the only guides to which the child of Israel can 
 look in security. The laws for which we can 
 find no foundation in the one, and which will not 
 stand the test of the other, need no farther proof; 
 they are not the dictates of the law, they are 
 wanderings from the true and only law, the in- 
 ventions of man, and not the words of God. 
 The Bible gives us a cause, a reason for every 
 statute it enjoins. It would have been sufficient 
 had man been desired to obey simply because 
 God willed it ; but the Eternal would not thus 
 blind His children ; He would not the obedience 
 of ignorance and fear ; and therefore He con- 
 descended to inform us wherefore each law was 
 given, that we might obey more willingly, and 
 give the homage of the intellect as well as the 
 sacrifice of the will. 
 
 It is therefore 'evident that those observances 
 which not only confine the soaring spirit, but 
 frequently occasion ordinances of far more 
 weight to be neglected, and for which no reason 
 can be assigned save the ideas of our ancient 
 fathers, cannot be compared in weight and con- 
 sequence to the piety of the heart, which but
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 229 
 
 too often they supersede. To explain the words 
 of Moses and adapt them to the comprehension 
 of all classes amongst their brethren was, in all 
 probability, the sole intent of the Hebrew elders, 
 an intent equally judicious as praiseworthy; but 
 they would have shrunk back in sorrow and 
 alarm could they have known that in future ages 
 their words would take the place of the word of 
 God ; that they would be made the means of 
 superstition creeping in amongst us, of bigotry 
 raising her dark and lowering standard, till to- 
 gether they had well nigh expelled the pure 
 spirit originally pervading the religion of Moses ; 
 that the very rites and ceremonies instituted to 
 keep up a lively remembrance of the Lord 
 should be the very means of bidding us forget 
 Him, as if religion consisted only in outward 
 form. 
 
 When we think on the many inconsistencies 
 discoverable in the mere formalist ; the contra- 
 dictions which his strict yet lifeless adherence to 
 mere ceremonial things and neglect of the spirit 
 generally comprise ; when we know that they 
 who depart from the faith of their fathers are 
 ever* those reared in the severest obedience to 
 
 * This is certainly a sweeping clause, though there is a great 
 deal of truth in it ; an education which merely looks to the enforce- 
 ment of blind obedience, and is not sedulous to impress reasons for 
 outward aids to religion upon the mind, cannot from its very nature 
 
 20
 
 230 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 mere forms : we have quite sufficient evidence 
 that such are not the consequences of obedience 
 to the law of Moses, that they proceed not from 
 the spirit of religion, which the forms were given 
 to aid and strengthen, that they come of weak, 
 capricious, changeful man, not from the immu- 
 table and eternal God. And their universal 
 obedience generally proceeds from the Hebrew 
 following in the steps of his fathers, without 
 
 shield an Israelite from the temptations which surround him when 
 he is no longer in fear of paternal or magisterial rule. His obser- 
 vance of religion hitherto was based on fear, not knowledge ; and fear 
 being removed, he falls an easy prey to the whisperings of interest, 
 gain, or worldly enjoyment. Hence my friend has doubtlessly seen 
 many examples among the converts of the Society for Evangelizing 
 the Jews of men who were reared in the strictest observance of 
 forms who, despite of a fund of knowledge of religious lore, such 
 as it is, had not their soul imbued with the spirit of the heavenly 
 light. But are they Christians 1 By no means; they are con- 
 verts from convenience or interest, and many doubtlessly would 
 gladly embrace again the faith of their ancestors, did not pride or 
 fear of starvation withhold them. Let it be observed, that Chris- 
 tians are unfortunately too much inclined to extend the helping 
 hand to such pretended converts, believing them sincere in their pro- 
 fession of a change of sentiment. And when these converts have 
 therefore once tasted the bounty for their apostacy, the door is 
 closed against their return, whilst the necessity for this bounty 
 exists, or whilst they are, as is generally the case, disinclined to 
 labour for their own support. 
 
 The cause of these conversions does not lie in the forms, but in 
 the absence of spiritual education. Could all the teachers and 
 guides of our suffering people be only induced to teach the why 
 and wherefore when propounding the observance of the duties : 
 these would be executed from love of our faith, not from fear of
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 231 
 
 knowing the why and the wherefore. Nor is it 
 extraordinary that, when the spirit is not incul- 
 cated, succeeding generations should either be- 
 come yet more severely bigoted and darkly 
 superstitious, or, disgusted with a religion which 
 brings no comfort, no support, throw it off en- 
 tirely, embrace another, or live as if they had no 
 God. And is not this an awful consideration ? 
 Can it be one moment imagined, the God of love 
 
 parental authority. And thus armed with knowledge of what is 
 demanded of Israelites and imbued with a firm reliance on Provi- 
 dence, our young men and our maidens might be exposed to the 
 siren notes of proselyte-hunters without falling into the snare laid 
 for their feet. 
 
 As regards the reasons for abiding by ancestral custom, it is not, 
 as has been at times asserted, without cause ; our wise men found 
 the people in danger of being overwhelmed by the flood of gentile 
 opinions, owing to a compulsory intercourse with the nations in their 
 captivity ; and they therefore prescribed rules as a fence for the 
 law, to preserve its spirit from the assaults of outward danger. 
 Without going the whole length of claiming permanency for all 
 these ordinances of the elders, we may assert that it would be un- 
 wise and unsafe, even if it were legal, to pull down the bulwark, 
 thus erected, with rude and unskilful hands. Such a reform would 
 be destruction, not improvement Better far is it to leave the 
 gradual change to time, upon the good old principle of the ancient 
 Hillel : " Let Israel alone ; for if they are not prophets, they are 
 the sons of prophets !" Indeed we are not quite so blind as the 
 Christians assert we are; we have our faults and know them too; 
 all we ask is, let us alone, leave us to regulate and improve our 
 condition ; and it would be wonderful if, with Heaven's blessing, 
 some good fruit will not be produced under the hands of labourers 
 who have never been wanting when the exigencies of the times 
 demanded their aid. I. L.
 
 232 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 will accept the religion of petty ceremonies in 
 lieu of the heart which He so continually de- 
 mands ? Will He, who hath desired the love of 
 the heart, and soul, and might, be content with 
 the mere offering of outward form? What are 
 the words of his righteous servant David, when 
 monarch of Israel, and it was in his power to 
 attend to all and every rite enjoined by Moses ? 
 " Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give 
 it ; thou delightest not in burnt-offering ; the 
 sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken 
 and a contrite heart, oh God ! thou wilt not de- 
 spise." 
 
 Two most important facts are contained in 
 these beautiful verses. In the first place, the 
 Hebrew who thinks, feels, and acts, as if his sal- 
 vation depended upon form alone, as if his ac- 
 ceptance with his God depended entirely and 
 solely on lifeless rites in which the spirit has no 
 part, tacitly allows the truth of all that the 
 Nazarene would urge with regard to the neces- 
 sity of a mediator. If it were the mere formula 
 of priests and sacrifices,* wholly distinct from the 
 religion of the heart, which made atonement for 
 him, and procured him salvation and accept- 
 
 * Let it be remembered, that this is not the idea entertained by 
 our elders, but only by those whose ignorance of our tenets makes 
 them look upon outward aids as the essentials of religion. " The 
 Merciful demands the heart" is the Talmudic doctrine. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 233 
 
 ance : the Nazarene has some room for his idea 
 that, unless we acknowledge and feel the neces- 
 sity of an everlasting high priest, and the grand 
 atonement of a bleeding saviour, we must be 
 utterly cast off and abandoned, we can have no 
 hope, no refuge ; and that, unless we cling to and 
 acknowledge him, whom they allege to have been 
 made an atonement for the sins of man, we must 
 die in sin and be doomed everlastingly. 
 
 It is impossible for the mere formalist to bring 
 substantial argument against this specious plea ; 
 and therefore is it that, when converts are made, 
 or rather when departures take place from the 
 faith of Israel, (for those cannot be termed con- 
 verts who know nothing of the religion they 
 leave,) they can always be traced to the off- 
 spring of those who inculcate the form, to the 
 entire neglect of the true and pure spirit which 
 our God demands. 
 
 It is otherwise with those who look on the 
 above quoted words of David, according to their 
 real meaning ; who can trace in them, not alone 
 the religion of the minstrel king, but the real 
 intent of the sacrifices enjoined by Moses,- that 
 they were to be secondary to the sacrifices of the 
 heart and will, that, of themselves, they were 
 even as nothing. If it were in the power of the 
 priest to make atonement for sin, to wash away 
 the guilt of the transgressor in the blood of 
 
 20*
 
 234 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 sacrifices : we should have a long account of 
 David's formal acts of penance, of his seeking 
 instantly the priest, of all the goats and sheep 
 he brought up for sacrifices ; instead of which we 
 have the most exquisite description of Nathan's 
 appeal, of the instant confession and remorse of 
 the king, and of the touching events which fol- 
 lowed : his forgiveness, yet his chastisement in 
 the death of his beloved and innocent child. No 
 doubt he strictly attended to those rites and 
 sacrifices which Moses has instituted in case of 
 sin ; but we clearly perceive how completely se- 
 condary they were by the absence of all allusion 
 to them, and by t'he emphatic and touching sim- 
 plicity of the exclamation in which he shows the 
 insufficiency of all sacrifice for sin, save that of 
 the heart. We are sometimes apt to marvel, 
 that even the best characters of the Bible are 
 not exempt from sin ; yet that very fact is a far- 
 ther proof of our Father's infinite love and con- 
 descension. If the character of David had been 
 wholly good, we should not have seen so clearly 
 the perfect equity and love displayed in God's 
 dealings with his creatures. It palpably and 
 ocularly proves all that the prophets of later 
 years sought so perseveringly to inculcate ; that 
 to repent humbly, sincerely, earnestly, to give 
 the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart, to 
 turn from the error of former ways, and seek
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 235 
 
 after righteousness with heart and soul ; firmly, 
 yet with a lowly spirit, trusting in the fulness of 
 God's love and tender mercy to fill up the defi- 
 ciency, and in His truth and righteousness to 
 make us righteous, to bow submissively and re- 
 signedly to whatever trials He may inflict : that 
 this is all sufficient, He needs neither " the flesh 
 of bulls, nor the blood of goats," He requires 
 obedience, and no other atonement nor sacri- 
 fice ; for the merit of these consisted in obedi- 
 ence, and simply as a test of that obedience they 
 were instituted; consequently, the plea of the 
 Nazarene is of no avail. We have no need of a 
 dying saviour, our God is all sufficient, more 
 than sufficient for our need. And if we give 
 Him that sacrifice, which we can still give, if 
 we obey every statute, which in our present 
 captive and wandering state we can obey : our 
 worship is as acceptable in His sight as it was 
 in Jerusalem ; for it needed the same mercy to 
 purify and perfect it then as it does now. 
 
 Yet while we feel and acknowledge the insuf- 
 ficiency of form alone: the sons of Israel must 
 beware of the contrary extreme, and, deeming 
 that all consists of spirit worship, fail in that 
 most important article of their faith, a willing 
 and perfect obedience. If they adhere not to the 
 rites of their forefathers, they cannot take unto 
 themselves the gracious promises made to the
 
 236 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 children of Israel ; for their religion degenerates 
 into that, which is termed, natural theology ; in 
 a word, they are Deists not Hebrews, and they 
 deprive themselves alike of faith, hope, and 
 comfort. 
 
 The origin of this far-spreading evil consists 
 in the fatal desire to draw a line between past 
 and present Jerusalem, and the countries in 
 which we are scattered. In some things, indeed, 
 we may be compelled to do so ; but certainly 
 not in all. There are many, very many laws, 
 which, if the Hebrew would still manifest him- 
 self as the first-born of the Lord, he can still 
 implicitly obey. 
 
 Obedience to the fifth and sixth verses of the 
 Shemang has fallen into disrepute, because it is 
 supposed pharisaical, and only assumed to at- 
 tract attention. But, when not thus abused, the 
 very act of robing ourselves in an appointed dress 
 must in a degree prepare the mind to address 
 its Creator : the Hebrew has withdrawn from 
 the world ; he is for the while divided from his 
 fellow-men ; his thoughts are turned to another 
 and holier object ; he does not rush unprepared 
 and unthinkingly in the awful presence ; and he 
 may then hope, his prayers are purer, more em- 
 bued with a divine spirit, than had he turned 
 direct from the world unto his God. But this 
 dress was never intended to be assumed, except
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 237 
 
 in the sacred privacy of the closet, or in the 
 stated hours of family devotion. 
 
 In the observance of these minute forms pub- 
 licity should be most carefully avoided. It is 
 enough, if to the world he demonstrate the pe- 
 culiar holiness of his religion by the superiority 
 of his moral conduct. The son of Israel, who 
 has been in early years awakened to the spirit 
 of Judaism, will gladly observe the minutest 
 form, which will assist his devotions, and chain 
 his wandering thoughts ; and though the act of 
 attaching the scroll of the law to the door posts 
 of his house may not be in any way connected 
 with the strengthening of the spirit : he will yet 
 gladly avail himself of this command, to prove, 
 he fears not the scorn of the world's attacking 
 perhaps this public manifestation of his religion; 
 he rather overcomes it as a trial and proof of 
 willing obedience, and glories in thus keeping 
 himself distinct from the nations, and holy unto 
 his God. 
 
 Writing for professed Hebrews, it is scarcely ne- 
 cessary to touch on the laws regarding food ; yet 
 these are those which are generally seized upon by 
 nominal religionists, and declared to relate solely 
 to those Eastern nations where, even to this day, 
 their disobedience is attended with disease and 
 suffering. We have no proof in the word of 
 God that they are, as some declare, simply and
 
 238 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 solely the advice of Moses, a man, to keep his 
 followers in health ; on the contrary we have the 
 evidence of the whole Pentateuch, ay, and the 
 prohibitions of the prophets, to convince us that 
 the same infinite Mercy framed these, compara- 
 tively trivial as they are, as every other which 
 His book contains. Moses could NOT speak for 
 himself alone ; he had no power to make mere 
 human laws ; the inspiration with which he was 
 gifted would have wholly and instantly departed 
 from him, had he dared to frame a single law 
 which was not of the Lord. To preserve health, 
 to keep us distinct and holy, to be a trial of 
 obedience, for these things they were origi- 
 nally given ; and that we are no longer in the 
 country where they were bestowed is of little 
 consequence. The one reason may be now per- 
 haps as nothing, the food in other countries than 
 the East may be sweet and wholesome ; but the 
 others still exist in equal, perhaps in double 
 force. 
 
 The act of eating may be deemed very trifling 
 and unimportant; but when indulged in at the 
 expense of disobedience, it surely must become of 
 weight ; for what first occasioned the influence 
 of evil? what tempted Eve to disobey? Was it 
 not in part the gratification of her appetite ? for 
 " when the woman saw that the tree was good 
 for food" she put forth her hand, took of the
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 239 
 
 fruit thereof, and thereby disobeyed.* The word 
 of the Lord has gone forth, and it is not in our 
 power to alter it. Who dare affirm that the 
 very food chosen in this captive and degraded 
 state, is not a trial of fidelity and obedience ? 
 That which the Eternal hath spoken will never 
 be recalled. It may be that ignorant, short- 
 sighted man, may not know the reason of many 
 ordinances contained in the Bible ; but that 
 lowly, childlike faith which should be the por- 
 tion of every child of Israel, rests satisfied in 
 the conviction that the God of wisdom has some 
 wise, though perhaps secret, end in all that He 
 ordaineth: and consequently the Hebrew's duty 
 is to obey, without question, implicitly and con- 
 tinually. If we once depart from the strict line 
 of obedience, we know not when or where we 
 
 * This argument, originally written in 1837, has lately become 
 peculiarly dear from its association with a young friend and rela- 
 tive from whose lips the same idea proceeded in support of the 
 same argument last summer, and is here recorded simply to evince 
 that the Hebrew, even as the Christian religion, finds its beatified 
 resting in minds of fourteen years. There is peculiar holiness in 
 piety which has shone through long months of suffering ; and when 
 we remember that it was after months of peculiarly aggravated 
 suffering he once emphatically said : " Were I told that eating that 
 which is forbidden would restore me to health some months sooner 
 than were I to refrain from doing so, I would not, I could not take 
 it" Alas, perhaps, ere this little book comes forth to the world 
 that blessed spirit may be lost to earth, for even now it hovers on 
 the confines of eternity. Since writing the above that spirit has 
 indeed departed.
 
 240 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 may stop. It is much easier to resist tempta- 
 tion, to keep our feet from entering the path of 
 disobedience, than to stop the headlong course 
 of evil when once the path is entered. 
 
 This fact is demonstrated alike in the Penta- 
 teuch, the books that follow, and in the Pro- 
 phets. The Hebrew is either commanded to 
 obey, or is shown the evils of disobedience. 
 What occasioned the fall of man ? Disobedience. 
 What turned Lot's wife into a pillar of salt ? Dis- 
 obedience. What caused all the cruel wars that 
 desolated Judea after the Israelites had obtained 
 possession? Their disobedience in not extermi- 
 nating the nations whose wickedness the Lord 
 abhorred. Why did the Eternal depart from 
 Saul ? Because in sparing Agag and appropri- 
 ating unto himself the richest spoils of the 
 Amalekites he disobeyed. And the Lord had 
 said unto his people, concerning the nations 
 around them, " Ye shall not go in unto them, 
 neither shall they come in unto you ; for surely 
 they will turn away your heart after their gods." 
 Yet Solomon, the son of David, Solomon, to 
 whom God had granted wisdom, riches, power, 
 even Solomon, disobeyed this command ; and not 
 only did his glory depart from him, but from that 
 one act of disobedience we may trace all the 
 after miseries of the Jews. Had the kingdom 
 of Israel remained united, and the twelve tribes
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 241 
 
 been acknowledging but one sovereign, it might 
 have defied the power of the destroyer. Had 
 Solomon's heart remained true unto his God : 
 his son would have been blessed for his sake, 
 even as he had been for David's ; and thus the 
 kingdoms of Israel and Judah might have gone 
 on progressing in glory, in the knowledge of the 
 Lord, till it had attained the height of prosperity 
 and blessedness promised by Moses to those who 
 OBEY the word of God. Instead of which the 
 transgressions of Solomon were awfully visited 
 on his son who followed in his evil ways. The 
 greater part of the kingdom was rent from him ; 
 and, from that time, civil wars and their atten- 
 dant miseries desolated Judea, and prepared the 
 way for foreign conquerors. 
 
 Many other examples of disobedience and its 
 evil consequences might be drawn from the 
 sacred Book ; but to do so, would exceed our 
 limits. It may be, that at the present time diso- 
 bedience would not draw down such manifest 
 chastisement ; but it is equally recorded above, 
 equally subject to the wrath of our Father, 
 whose favour and whose blessing we wilfully 
 cast aside. 
 
 The emphatic verse : " Behold I set before 
 you this day a blessing and a curse, a blessing 
 if ye obey the commandments of the Lord, &c. 
 and a curse, if ye will not obey the word of the 
 
 21
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 Lord your God," remains in equal force now as 
 when it was given ; addressed to the people of 
 Israel, it must remain valid and immutable, till 
 that people shall cease from the earth. It is not 
 confined either to place or time. Hundreds, ay, 
 thousands of years have passed away ; yet the 
 nation of Israel still exists, though every other, 
 flourishing when those words were spoken, has 
 crumbled into dust. We to this day remain em- 
 blems of the power, the mercy, the justice, the 
 wrath of the Almighty ; and that verse applies 
 as forcibly to us now, as it did to our fathers. 
 
 Obedience depends neither on country, time, 
 nor situation; it is required whether we are free 
 citizens of Jerusalem, or wanderers and captives 
 in the stranger's land ; whether all things are 
 smiling around us, or dark clouds obscure us be- 
 neath their shades ; whether coeval with Moses, 
 the present time, or a thousand years hence. 
 And would we be still the first-born of the Lord : 
 we must adhere without hesitation or inquiry 
 to the law of Moses the pure, the beautiful, 
 and consistent law, of which the whole Bible is 
 the glorious record. 
 
 Obedience extends over every rank and sta- 
 tion. We cannot now bring burnt-offerings, and 
 sacrifices unto the Lord ; but verses similar to 
 this should be engraved on every youthful heart: 
 " Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offer-
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 243 
 
 ings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of 
 the Lord ? Behold to obey is better than sacri- 
 fice, to hearken than the fat of rams for rebel- 
 lion (or disobedience) is as the sin of witchcraft, 
 and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." 
 
 It is impossible to peruse the holy Scriptures 
 without the conviction striking home to every 
 Hebrew mind, that we may worship and love 
 the Lord our God, as fervently, as steadily, as 
 acceptably to Him in our captive state, as in 
 Jerusalem. And should we not sometimes ponder 
 on these things, and endeavour by individual 
 conduct to uphold the glory of the nation, and 
 assist by example our wavering brethren ? The 
 efforts of one, or two, or five, or ten, will be, 
 alas ! of little avail, save for their own souls. 
 The love of the sons of Israel for their faith 
 should be such, as would urge them to regard 
 her welfare, her interest, her glory, even as their 
 own. If even the Christian regards us as a 
 " living miracle, as the living echo of Heaven's 
 holy tones from generation to generation :" in 
 what other light can we look upon ourselves? 
 Can we doubt that our existence is to be for 
 ever ? " Thus saith the Lord who giveth the sun 
 for a light by day, and the ordinances of the 
 moon and stars for a light by night, who divideth 
 the sea when the waves thereof roar : if these 
 ordinances depart from before me, saith the
 
 244 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 Lord, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from 
 being a nation before me for ever. If the hea- 
 vens above can be measured, and the founda- 
 tions of the earth searched out beneath, I will 
 also cast off the seed of Israel for all that they 
 have done, saith the Lord." (Jeremiah, xxxi. 
 35-37.) " Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, 
 that ye may know, and believe me, and under- 
 stand, that I am He, before whom there was no 
 god formed, neither shall there be after me ; I, 
 even I, am the Lord, and beside me there is no 
 saviour. This people I have formed for myself, 
 they shall show forth my praise." (Isaiah, xliii. 
 10, 11, 21.) And shall we refrain from doing so? 
 Are we so insensible to such blessed privileges, 
 as blindly to throw them off? And although 
 almost every page of the holy Volume teems 
 with proofs, that Israel and Judah are the chosen 
 of the Lord, the people whom He hath framed 
 for Himself, and whose religion will at length 
 extend over the whole world : there are yet 
 some, who wake not from their lethargy, who 
 wilfully permit the Christians to believe, we are 
 indeed forsaken, indeed deprived of all spirit, 
 grace, and blessing, and that theirs is the reli- 
 gion, which alone can promise redemption, hope, 
 and comfort. But how different would be the 
 tenor of their thoughts concerning us : did they 
 behold the glory of the Lord reflected in the
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 245 
 
 social and domestic conduct of every child of 
 Israel. 
 
 Every Hebrew should look upon his faith as a 
 temple extending over every land, to prove the 
 immutability, the eternity of God, the unity of 
 His purposes, the truth of the past, the present, 
 and the future ; and regard himself as one of 
 the pillars which support it from falling to the 
 ground, and adds, however insignificant in itself, 
 to the strength, the durability, and the beauty of 
 the whole. 
 
 That we do not think enough of these things 
 proceeds from that spirit of independence, which 
 would prompt every man to worship after his 
 own fancy. Religion has no more powerful foe 
 than independence. It is contrary to every law 
 of nature. Who is it dare proclaim himself a 
 being independent alike of God and man ? Who 
 dare say we are not dependent beings ? Yet it 
 is of little use acknowledging a God, One who 
 frames, upholds, and guides : if man turn aside 
 from His everlasting statutes to walk in his own 
 ways, his, who himself is but the being of a 
 day. 
 
 Obedience was from the first the great trial 
 of man ; and if we worship God after our own 
 fashion, we rob both prayers and actions of their 
 sweetest savour. Whether Hebrew, Christian, 
 or Mahomedan, he only is sincerely and ear- 
 21*
 
 246 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 nestly religious, who strictly adheres to the 
 statutes contained in the Book which each creed 
 looks upon as sacred. And it should be the 
 pride of every Hebrew to obey the laws of Moses 
 implicitly, so unfailingly, as to give unanswer- 
 able evidence to all around that his religion is 
 indeed divine. 
 
 It may be that obedience is more difficult now, 
 that all worldly distinctions are confined to mem- 
 bers of another* creed, than were we in our own 
 country, and had a king, princes, magistrates, 
 and situations of dignity and honour amongst 
 ourselves. But the Hebrew has still honour to 
 support and glory to exalt; the honour of his 
 faith, the glory of his God ; he is still one of a 
 great fabric which will never fall, however he 
 may desert it. The mighty arm of the Lord 
 upholds it ; and were there but ten Israelites 
 remaining, then would from them spring the 
 messiah, the son of David, " to wipe away the 
 tears from all faces," to teach us the worship of 
 holiness and truth ; then would from them the 
 earth be regenerated. 
 
 Yet, let it not be imagined that, if it be the 
 
 * It must not be lost sight of, that this book was written by a 
 resident of England, where the Jews have not yet been admitted 
 to an enjoyment of equal rights ; the case is different in America 
 and some states in Europe, though there are every where obstacles 
 in our way which render preferment naturally difficult with a due 
 observance of our religion. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 247 
 
 arm of the Lord which supports the undying 
 fabric of His faith, it matters not how His people 
 fall from it : that, whether they remain faithful, 
 or for the sake of worldliness desert it, this can- 
 not change the decrees of the Eternal. No, in- 
 deed, nothing they can do can destroy the law 
 but according to our work so shall be our 
 recompense. Let them, therefore, stand firm, 
 and show forth the glory of their God by adding 
 to the beauty of the temple He has framed ; and 
 His blessing will descend like dew upon their 
 souls, nourishing while it refresheth, consoling 
 while it purifieth. But those that fall away will 
 find their emblem in the fallen pillars of a ruined 
 shrine ; like them, for awhile, they may be ad- 
 mired in their fallen state, as converts are in the 
 church they have adopted ; but then crumbling 
 into dust, despised, neglected, scattered like chaff 
 before the wind, they will be doing dishonour 
 to the fabric from which they have fallen, and 
 will add nothing to their own beauty or utility. 
 Even thus are those who, either impelled by 
 worldly motives, or because they know nothing 
 of their faith, dishonour and degrade the religion 
 of their ancestors, whilst they add nothing to the 
 glory of that which they have adopted. Oh! 
 how great, how inconceivable is that love which, 
 even to such sinners, holds forth both promises 
 and pardon.
 
 248 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 In vain we look for charity in those who have 
 left the Jewish nation.* Delighted with them- 
 selves, or perhaps angry with others for not fol- 
 lowing their example, (for whenever such per- 
 sons come in contact with those who remain 
 steadily firm, conscience raises her voice some- 
 what louder than they approve of, and the anger 
 she excites against themselves they permit to 
 find vent on others,) they seldom lose an oppor- 
 tunity to bring others over to their side, or en- 
 deavour to prove their zeal for their newly em- 
 braced creed by the scorn and contempt which 
 they invariably evince towards the religion of 
 their forefathers. How different is their conduct 
 from that of the sincere and lowly, though mis- 
 taken follower of Christianity, how differently 
 does he regard the Hebrew to those who, born 
 Israelites themselves, may still have relations, 
 even parents, who yet adhere to the law of God. 
 But in vain they thus endeavour to conceal their 
 descent, the mark of God is on their brows, and 
 wherever they may be, they cannot shake it off.t 
 
 * In this, as in every other rule, there are, happily, exceptions, 
 as it has been peculiarly the author's happy fate to encounter. 
 The author ought, perhaps, of all persons, to have avoided this 
 subject having ever received distinguished kindness from some 
 few who are unhappily so situated ; but in writing a theological 
 work, it is the author's painful duty to write generally, not as in- 
 dividuals have experienced. 
 
 t In the midst of all his wanderings, and despite of the effects of
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 249 
 
 There are others, again, who take unto them- 
 selves the supposed glory of being converts, and 
 whom many Christians triumphantly hail as 
 such, who can really boast of no such privilege ; 
 placed by their parents at Christian schools, at 
 a time when impressions are most readily im- 
 bibed, they cannot do otherwise than embrace 
 
 climates and physical changes, the Hebrew has preserved his pecu- 
 liarity of features and cast of countenance. Going over to the 
 army of our opponents marks us, therefore, but as traitors to the 
 noble cause surrendered to us as its natural defenders; and to 
 deny our origin is contradicting the evidence which our own coun- 
 tenance presents. " For unto me the children of Israel are ser- 
 vants ; they are my servants, whom I brought forth out of the land 
 of Egypt : I am the Lord your God." (Lev. xxv. 55.) These are 
 the words of the law ; and no one upon whom the badge of the 
 divine service has been thrown can divest himself of it. The apos- 
 tate may think that his new associates love and respect him ; but 
 he mistakes the truth ; the intelligent Nazarene will suspect his 
 sincerity, justly believing that he would not have quitted our com- 
 munion were ours the conquering and triumphant, and Christianity 
 the suffering cause. His face will mark him as the deserter from 
 his God ; and his great-grandchildren will still bear the evidence 
 that they have sprung from the despised race of Israel. These are 
 not idle words ! they are the words of truth and common sense ! 
 How much nobler a course do they pursue who endeavour to bring 
 honour upon their ancient lineage, who add renown to the blessed 
 name of their ancestors, who magnify the glory of the law which 
 they have received from their Maker ! And indeed how happy 
 would we be as a united people, if we all would contribute our aid 
 to improve the condition of our brothers in faith, and act so, that all 
 might acknowledge that our hopes of better things are well founded, 
 and that the words of the Lord in our mouths are indeed truths, 
 truths as unchanging, undying, as is the Creator himself who pro- 
 claimed them as his will and law. I. L.
 
 250 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 the doctrine which they hear continually ex- 
 plained, the only one indeed in which they are 
 instructed. How then, in after life, can they 
 take any credit to themselves, or deem them- 
 selves converts? The real meaning of which 
 word appears to me, simply, examining, studying, 
 reflecting on both religions, and the choosing 
 that to which their heart and judgment respond ; 
 instead of which the Christian religion is the 
 only one which they have known. They have 
 not been taught the love and veneration for their 
 ancient faith, which could strengthen them in 
 its observance, and enable them to give up all 
 worldly distinctions, rather than desert it. Oh ! 
 why will not Jewish parents instruct their chil- 
 dren in the Jewish faith, or send them to Jewish 
 schools, and shrink in horror from the sinful act 
 of placing them where, imbibing a new belief, 
 they will on their return to the parental roof 
 too often break with a rude hand that holy link 
 which of all others should most closely entwine 
 the hearts of parents and children, the common 
 worship of their common Father, the ONE reli- 
 gion of the ONE and Holy God !* 
 
 * I have really nothing to add to the impressive remarks of my 
 friend, farther than that it appears unaccountable how a Jewish 
 father and a Hebrew mother can surrender their children to the 
 entire guidance of a Christian boarding-school. Religious indif- 
 ference must have gone far indeed, where such a betrayal of the 
 trust which God confided to them in their children takes place.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 251 
 
 In these brief remarks on the great import- 
 ance of steadily adhering to form, (for in the 
 adhering or non-adhering we expose ourselves 
 to the blessing or the curse so emphatically 
 promised by Moses,) our review of the two last 
 verses of the Shemang is concluded ; and we 
 have now but to notice the beautiful union, ob- 
 servable in the six verses, forming this daily 
 
 Do they really believe that, whether regarded as members of the 
 human family at large or as Israelites, they have thus discharged 
 the solemn duty incumbent on them to fit them, their charges, for 
 the kingdom of Heaven ? Do they themselves believe in the faith 
 of Moses ? Do they believe in ONE, unchanging, everlasting, im- 
 mortal God ? Do they believe that He will punish those who 
 forswear his kingdom 1 We have yet to learn that there are pro- 
 fessing Jews who believe otherwise ! And yet they can sacrifice 
 their children to an erroneous system, erroneous as we needs must 
 deem it, simply because they are too indolent to retain them under 
 the paternal roof, and to superintend in their own persons the edu- 
 cation of those who ought to be prized above every thing. And 
 oh ! how can a man who deserves in the least to be blessed with a 
 eon, or a mother whose bosom throbs at all with emotion at be- 
 holding her own daughter how can such think any employment 
 more pleasure-bringing than assembling round them daily their 
 own offspring, and to see their intellect expanding day by day and 
 hour by hour, under their own guidance, at least under their own 
 superintendence. I say not, that the parents should be the teachers ; 
 for as the world is now constituted, especially in large commercial 
 communities, the fathers are too much occupied with business to 
 have sufficient leisure, even if the capacity be not wanting. But 
 surely in the evening hours they ought to rejoice to see their 
 family circle unbroken around them, and to be assured that the 
 instruction imparted during the day has not weakened the attach- 
 ment felt towards the ancient belief of Israel. But the mothers 
 in the house of Jacob, particularly those of the wealthier class,
 
 252 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 prayer. Each is distinct, and forms a complete 
 study of itself; yet each is so connected with 
 the other, that the whole forms a more complete 
 and summary rule of life, than can be found in 
 any other part of the Bible. 
 
 It is scarcely possible for the reflecting mind 
 to remain insensible to the precise and beautiful 
 
 and of them my friend I believe speaks more especially surely 
 they cannot be so much the slaves of pleasure and indolence, as to 
 wish their sons and daughters removed from their dwelling, so that 
 they may grow up without experiencing a mother's love, and caring 
 in return little for maternal authority. But unfortunately there are 
 such fathers, who care not to see their sons around them in the 
 hours of leisure ; mothers, who divest themselves of their daugh- 
 ters' presence that they may not be disturbed in their amusement 
 or be troubled with maternal cares ! But are these Israelites 1 are 
 they not the cause of their children's apostacy ? Yet when old age 
 creeps over them, when they see their own flesh and blood wor- 
 ship at unholy shrines, calling upon gods whom our forefathers 
 feared not : how will they curse the hour when their negligence 
 or pride (that their children might be like those of the gentiles 
 around them) counselled them to banish them, as it were, to a 
 moral desert, where unbelief or false belief had necessarily to sup- 
 ply the knowledge of our blissful belief. One excuse they may 
 perhaps offer, the want of good schools of our own. But even this 
 is no extenuation. If schools are wanting, establish them, place 
 at their head men and women who fear the Lord and tremble at 
 his word ; and as sure as the sun shines for a light by day, Israel- 
 ites will be able to give instruction, and fit out children intrusted 
 to their care with all the light of science and refinement which 
 they can obtain under gentile guidance. Yet even if this were 
 not so, better far would it be that we be shut out from modern 
 civilization, than that one of us should be thereby prevented from 
 bearing his testimony to the existence and rule of the One true 
 and only God and Saviour. I. L.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 253 
 
 arrangement of every sentence, almost of every 
 word. 
 
 Proclaiming the unity of our God, we are 
 daily reminded of our nationality, and all the 
 weighty reflections and responsibilities which 
 that nationality includes. Then desired to love 
 the Lord with heart, and soul, and might. It is 
 morally impossible to obey this command, un- 
 less the spirit of religion pervade our every ac- 
 tion. Affections, intellect, springing from the 
 pure fount of light, and love, must pour back 
 their treasures ; as the sparkling waters of the 
 fountain fall back into the same spring from 
 whence they rose : social, domestic, individual 
 conduct, benevolence, charity, every human vir- 
 tue, are included in obedience to the second 
 verse. In the third, the ten commandments are 
 recalled to rest on our hearts, that we may re- 
 member them to do them. In the fourth, the 
 duty of religious instruction, of strengthening 
 our inward thoughts on this momentous subject 
 by conversation, and of encouraging the spirit of 
 piety to pervade even those amusements which 
 we may deem profane, all are strongly incul- 
 cated. And lastly, lest the spirit thus enforced 
 should fade away and die in our wavering hearts, 
 adherence and obedience to instituted form are 
 positively commanded. We cannot fail to per- 
 ceive by the arrangement of this brief, yet per- 
 
 22
 
 254- THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 feet portion of our law, how closely and firmly 
 the spirit is united with the form ; and that, 
 would we be Israelites indeed, not merely such 
 in name, the command, implied in the arrange- 
 ment as well as precept, MUST be obeyed. The 
 heart must be wholly given to the Lord ; yet still 
 the instituted form must be obeyed, as strictly 
 and steadily as our scattered state will permit. 
 As both are here indivisibly connected : so is it 
 evident, the religion of no Hebrew is perfect, 
 unless the form be hallowed by the spirit, the 
 SPIRIT quickened by the FORM. 
 
 When this is done, when we behold the union 
 of religion and morality, as the God of heaven 
 intended ; when all that is here comprised is 
 indeed obeyed ; when we behold Hebrew parents 
 bringing up their children in the fear of the 
 Lord, and according to the law of Moses, the 
 Bible read, studied, alike in English, as in our 
 own language, and believed by every Israelite, 
 male or female ; when the Sabbath-day is hal- 
 lowed, the love of interest and money, giving 
 place to the pure love of God ; worldly ambition 
 set at nought, when it can only be gratified at 
 the expense of Judaism ; when the Jewish nation 
 glories in her captive state as a proof, she is the 
 chosen of the Lord, and hails the fulfilment of 
 these awful threatenings as convincing evidence, 
 that the glorious promises will be with equal
 
 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 255 
 
 truth fulfilled ; when such things are : then in- 
 deed may we hope that the period of our re- 
 demption is drawing nigh, our release from 
 captivity at hand, the advent of our Messiah 
 approaching, when every remaining prophecy 
 shall be gloriously, blessedly, fully, accomplished, 
 When the ransomed of the Lord shall return 
 and come to Zion with songs and everlasting 
 joy; when they shall obtain joy and gladness, 
 and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." 
 
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