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'When the body is carried to the place of interment, the coffin is opened; and some earth, supposed to have been brought from Jerusalem, is placed under the head in a small bag, or strewed about the body, as a preservative. The relations and friends of the deceased then approach the corpse, one after another, holding one of his great toes in each hand, and imploring him to pardon all the offences they had committed against him in his life-time, and not to report evil against them in the other world: and the nearest relations have their garments rent.'*

Among the Jews in some countries, it is customary, after the coffin has been nailed up, for ten men to walk in solemn procession round it seven times; repeating at the same time, prayers for the soul of the deceased: but this custom is not universal.+

'When the coffin is placed in the ground, each of the relations throws some earth upon it; and as soon as the grave is filled, the persons who have conducted the interment, all run away as fast as possible, lest they should hear the knock of the angel, who is supposed to come and knock upon the coffin, saying in Hebrew: Wicked! wicked! what is thy Pasuk? To explain this it is necessary to state, that every Jew is named after a fanciful allusion to some passage of scripture: such as, if a child is named Abraham, his Pasuk is,-"Thou art the Lord the God,

* Obligations of Christians, &c. p. 33, 34.

+ Leo Modena, ibid. P. v. c. 8. s. 4.

"who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him "forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him "the name of Abraham." Nehemiah ix. 7. This pasuk, in Hebrew, is taught him as soon as ' he can speak, and he is to repeat it every day morning and evening, in order that he may be able to answer the angel when he comes to the grave. If he is not able to repeat his pasuk, the angel, it is said, beats him with a hot iron, till he breaks his bones.*

When the relations return from the funeral, they all sit down upon the floor, and a chair is placed before them, with eggs boiled hard, a little salt, and a small loaf; a small portion of which is eaten by each of them, in order to break the fast which they profess to have kept from the moment of the decease: and ten Jews who have passed the age of thirteen, repeat prayers for the dead morning and evening; and at the close of these prayers, the sons of the deceased, or his nearest male relatives repeat the Kodesh,'t-a prayer which is considered as having sufficient efficacy to deliver the deceased from hell. T

The Jews bury their dead in the professed belief of their resurrection: but the rabbies say that it will take place in the land of Canaan, and that Israelites buried in other countries will be rolled through subterranean caverns till they reach that favoured spot. Hence it is accounted particularly desirable to be buried in Palestine; and it is not uncommon

• Obligations of Christians, &c. p. 33, 34. + Ibid. p. 35, 36. For this prayer, see p. 184. Nole.

for Jews in the neighbouring countries when they think themselves near their latter end, to remove thither in order to obtain that privilege, and escape the posthumous inconvenience to which they apprehend they would otherwise be subject. Upon 'this account,' it is said, 'the Jews in Barbary 'imagine their condition to be much happier than 'those in Northern countries, because they are nearer to Canaan, and therefore have a less way ' to tumble under ground for the resurrection.'*

One of the tokens of sorrow among the Jews for the death of their relatives, is rending their garments. On the decease of a brother, or sister, wife, daughter, or son, they take a knife, and holding the blade downwards, give the coat or other upper garment a cut on the right side, and then rend it about a hand-breadth in length. On the decease of a father, or mother, the rent is made in the same manner on the left side, in all the garments.†

The interment is succeeded by the mourning, which continues for seven days; during which they are not to go out of doors or transact any business; but to sit upon the ground without shoes, receiving the condolences of their brethren, which are generally numerous; for during these seven days there is free access to every visitant, whether friend or stranger. They are not allowed to shave their beards, cut their nails, or wash themselves, for thirty days.I

* Addison, ibid. c. iii. p. 39. Buxtorf. ibid. c. iii. p. 35-38. + David Levi, ibid. p. 174.

Ibid. p. 175, 176.

426

CHAPTER XXV.

Brief Notice of the Caraites :-their Situations,-Number, -Origin,—and distinguishing Principles.

THE people of whose opinions and ceremonies some account has been given in the preceding chapters, may justly be regarded, and indeed they consider themselves, as the successors of the ancient Pharisees. The chief difference between them and their predecessors who lived a little before the destruction of the second temple, seems to be, that the traditions, increased perhaps in number, and trusted no longer to the uncertainty of oral communication, have for many ages been committed to writing by the Cabbalistic and Talmudic doctors. These votaries of the Talmud and Cabbala form the great body of the Jewish nation throughout the world.

Beside these there is a small sect of Jews, denominated Caraites (DP) that is Textualists or Scripturists, persons attached to the text of the scriptures; a brief notice of whom will conclude the present work.

The Caraites are chiefly found in the Crimea,* Lithuania, and Persia; at Damascus, Constantinople, and Cairo. Their whole number is very inconsiderable, and at this time perhaps scarcely equals the number of Talmudic Jews in London only.

* Dr. Edward Clarke gives some account of a settlement of Caraites, which he visited in his Travels in the Crimea, p. 485.

They were very little known to the learned in Europe till the close of the seventeenth century. Some of the rabbinical writers represented them as Sadducees: others asserted them to be successors of the Sadducees, though, unable to contradict their belief of some doctrines which those ancient unbelievers denied, they admitted them to be Sadducees somewhat reformed. This representation was generally credited. Of their own books Buxtorf had seen none, Morin only one, and Seldon but two. Since that time, a larger acquaintance with Caraite writings has enabled Schupart, Trigland, and Wolff, to favour the world with a more accurate account of the principles of this sect than could be obtained from its rabbinical adversaries.

Some obscurity still hangs over its origin. The Caraites themselves assert that the genuine succession of the Jewish church has been preserved only among them; and they have produced a catalogue of their doctors whom they affirm to have flourished in an uninterrupted series from Ezra the inspired scribe.-Rejecting these pretensions, some learned men have referred their origin to the time when the traditional or oral law was first introduced, together with cabbalistic interpretations of the written law, about a hundred years before the Christian era. They think there is reason to believe that these traditions and interpretations were opposed by a numerous body who maintained the sufficiency of the scripture alone in its literal sense, and became a distinct sect under the name of Caraites.-Others think it

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