Hebrew Literature. Various

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СКАЧАТЬ state of the Jews at the destruction of the second Temple, and at the future advent of the Messiah.

      6. “Divorces” treats of the laws relating to divorces, also the formalities to be observed both before and after they are given. A man may divorce his wife if she spoil his broth, or if he find another more handsome.

      7. “Betrothing” treats of the laws of espousals and some other previous rites of marriage. It commands sons to be taught suitable trades. It states that all ass-drivers are wicked, camel-drivers are honest, sailors are pious, physicians are destined for hell, and butchers are company for Amalek.

      Book IV

      On Damages:

      1. “First Gate,” so called because in the East law is often administered in the gateway of a city. It treats of all such damages as may be received from man or beast. It assesses damages done by a beast according to the benefit which the beast receives. If it eat a peck of dates its owner would be fined for a peck of barley, as dates are not more nourishing for a beast than barley.

      2. “The Middle Gate” treats of laws of usury and trusts, of letting out on hire, of landlord and tenant, etc.

      3. “Last Gate” treats of the laws of commerce and co-partnership, of buying and selling, of the laws of inheritance and the right of succession.

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      4. “Sanhedrin” treats of the great national senate.

      5. “Stripes” treats of false witnesses, of the law of the forty stripes save one, of those who were bound to fly to the cities of refuge.

      6. “Oaths” explains the laws for administering oaths; when an oath is to be admitted between contending parties who are qualified to take them. In Hilchoth Eduth. ix. 1 it is taught that ten sorts of persons are disqualified—women, slaves, children, idiots, deaf persons, the blind, the wicked, the despised, relations, and those interested in their evidence.

      7. “Evidences” are a collection of many important decisions gathered from the testimonies of distinguished Rabbis. It is observable that the decisions of the School of Shammai are more rigorous than those of the School of Hillel, from whence it is inferred that the former adhered more closely to Scripture, the latter to tradition. The former were the Scribes, and are now represented by the Karaites, who reject the Talmud.

      8. “Idolatry,” or the worship of stars and meteors, treats of the way to avoid this grievous sin.

      9. “The Fathers” contains a history of those who handed down the Oral Law, also many maxims and proverbs.

      10. “Punishment” treats of the punishment of those disobedient to the Sanhedrin (Deut. xvii. 8–11).

      Book V

      On Holy Things:

      1. “Sacrifices” treats of the nature and quality of the offerings; the time, the place, and the persons, by whom they ought to be killed, prepared, and offered.

      2. “Meat Offerings” treats of the flour, oil, and wine, and the wave loaves.

      3. “Unconsecrated Things” treats of what is clean and unclean, of not eating the sinew that shrank, and not killing the dam and her young in one day (Deut. xxii. 6).

      4. “First Born” treats of their redemption by money, and their being offered in sacrifice; also of the tithes of all manner of cattle.

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      5. “Estimations” (Lev. xxvii. 2) treats of the way in which things devoted to the Lord are to be valued in order to be redeemed for ordinary use; also, how a priest is to value a field which a person has sanctified.

      6. “Cutting Off” treats of offenders being cut off from the Lord.

      7. “Exchanges” (Lev. xxvii. 10, 33) treats of the way exchanges are to be effected between sacred things.

      8. “Trespass” (Num. v. 6, 8) treats of things partaking of the nature of sacrilege. It asserts that if a man take away a consecrated stone or beam he commits no trespass. If he give it to his companion he commits a trespass, but his companion commits none. If he build it into his house he commits no trespass till he lives in the house long enough to gain the value of a half-farthing. If he take away a consecrated half-farthing he commits no trespass. If he give it to his companion he commits a trespass, but his companion commits none. If he give it to a bath-keeper he commits a trespass though he does not bathe, because the bath-keeper says to him, “See, the bath is open, go in and bathe.”

      9. “The Daily Sacrifice” treats of the morning and evening offerings.

      10. “The Measurements” treats of the measurements of the Temple.

      11. “Birds' Nests” treats of the mistakes about doves and beasts brought into the Temple for sacrifice.

      Book VI

      On Purifications:

      1. “Vessels” treats of those which convey uncleanness (Lev. xi. 33).

      2. “Tents” (Num. xix. 14) treats of tents and houses retaining uncleanness, how persons who enter them become unclean, and how they are to be cleansed.

      3. “Plagues of Leprosy” treats of leprosy of men, garments, or dwellings, how their pollution is conveyed, and how they are to be purified.

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      4. “The Red Heifer” directs how she is to be burned, and how her ashes are to be used in purifying.

      5. “Purifications” teaches how purifications are to be effected.

      6. “Pools of Water” (Num. xxxi. 23) treats of their construction, and the quantity of water necessary for cleansing.

      7. “Separation” of women.

      8. “Liquors” that dispose seeds and fruits to receive pollution (Lev. xi. 38).

      9. “Issues” that cause pollution.

      10. “Baptism” on the day of uncleanness (Lev. xxii. 6).

      11. “Hands” treats of the washing of hands before eating bread, though dry fruits are allowed to be eaten without such washing.

      12. “Stalks of Fruit which convey Uncleanness” treats of fruits growing out of the earth, which have a stalk and no husk. They can be polluted and can pollute, but may not be compounded with anything that was unclean before. If they have neither stalks nor husks they neither can be polluted nor can they pollute. It also treats of the hair and wool that grows on some fruits, and the beards of barley, etc.

      From the six books or “Orders” the Jews call the Babylon Talmud by the pet name of “Shas” (six). The language in which it is written is Hebrew intermingled with Aramaic, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, Greek, and Latin words. The Gemara was first begun by Rabban Judah's two sons, Rabbi Gamaliel and Rabbi Simeon. It was vigorously carried on by Rabbi Ashé in Sura, a town on the Euphrates, from 365 a.d. to 425. He divided the Mishna into its sixty-three treatises, and every half-year summoned his disciples and assigned to them two fresh portions of the Law and two of the Mishna. At each meeting their remarks on these СКАЧАТЬ