10 in all the higher institutions of learning-in the offices of state, and in the legal and medical professions. They held recently 70 professors' chairs. The press, the money, and the trade of the country are rapidly passing into their hands. This accounts for the Anti-Semitic agitation. Their scholars are of European repute. Among theologians we have Neander, Delitzsch, Zunz, Kayser, Maybaum, Kalisch; among linguists, Goldstücker, Benfey, Luzzato, Fuerst, Bernays, Frank, Oppert; among political economists, Ricardo; among mathematicians, Sylvester; among astronomers, Beer, and Stern; among historians, Jost, Geiger, Herzfeld, Grätz; among musicians, Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer, Rossini, Benedict, Grisi; among scientists, Bloch, and Hirschfeld. In England, the coveted literary letters, F.R.S., were appended to the Jewish name of Sarmento in 1725. They have given us Sir George Jessel, "the most distinguished of the graduates of the University of London, and one of the greatest judges of our own, or perhaps, any time" (Pall Mall Gazette). We recall the prediction of Zephaniah, six centuries before Christ-"I will make them a praise and a name, whose shame hath been in all the earth" (iii. 19, R.V.) III.-The emancipation of the Jews from Rabbinism and tradition, and their admission to the liberty of Christ. Tradition has held its baneful sway over the Jewish intellect and conscience since the days of Christ. Indeed, it had done so long before His Incarnation. "Ye have made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition" (St. Matt. xv. 6). The Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament have been bound for centuries in the dark dungeons of Rabbinism. "Judaism," declares Professor Grätz, "has been covered and concealed by crusts Sopheric, Mishnaitic and Talmudical, deposited one upon another, and by extraneous matter, that only very few could recognize its true character." "Over these an unsightly growth of fungus, forms a mouldy coating of the Kabbala." "People no longer ask what was taught in the fundamental Sinaitic law." Before the days of Mendelssohn, "the Polish Jews were entirely given to Talmudical studies, and looked down almost with contempt on Scripture, and its simple grandeur." T ey excelled in subtleties, but were defective in moral living." Driven from Poland, they brought their Talmudic studies with them, and through their influence, knowledge of the Bible declined everywhere. The Talmud, and not the Word of God, is the Jewish rule of faith. Judaism holds that Moses received the Oral law on Sinai, as well as the Written, and that this has been handed down by the Rabbis. From the second to the sixth centuries 1700 Rabbis contributed to the Talmud-the written record of ancient tradition. The oral law has superseded written revelation. Thus we find in the Talmud: "He who contradicts his Rabbi, is as if he had contradicted the Divine Majesty." "It is more criminal to teach anything contrary to the ordinances of the scribes, than against the written law." In the twelfth century Maimonides wrote against tradition, but to no effect. Mendelssohn eagerly studied his writings, and created a religious crisis by his translation of parts of the Old Testament and the liturgy into the German vernacular. His opposition to the traditions and sayings of the Rabbis was the birth of Jewish Reform. Thus, "without wishing or suspecting it, Mendelssohn, as six centuries earlier Maimonides, stirred up among his co-religionsts a feeling of void, that nothing but the Gospel of the Son of God could satisfy." (Da Costa.) In 1843 a Council of Rabbis was held at Brunswick, and * Gratz, "Hist. of Jews," vols. iv. and v. afterwards at Frankfort, which determined to have Reform. Permission was granted-(1) To do away with Hebrew in prayer. (2) To eliminate from the Liturgy (a) all mention of the Messiah; (b) all sacrificial prayers; (c) all reference to a return to Palestine. Reform is rapidly spreading in Germany, France, England and America. All are allowed to believe as they wish. One part denying the Divinity of the Old Testament; another accepting what they please; another retaining a little of Scripture and tradition. Jewish journalists write: "This Reform movement is a failure, and does not prevent an alienation from Judaism of the flower of our Jewish youth. Fossilized Judaism is as repugnant to cultured Jews as reform is insufficient and illogical. Between these two facts Judaism is fast losing its hold on the hearts and minds of the young. We must have a Convention of Jewish scholars, who shall represent all Judaism, and who must consider the transitory state in which we now are, and must legislate wisely and well if Judaism shall maintain its historic place" (Jewish Cronicle, Aug. 18, 1882). Judaism is now divided into (a) Orthodox, which retains Rabbinic tradition; and (b) Reformed, a composition of Unitarianism and Indifferentism. The Prophetic Scriptures are not supreme with either section. The Jews number about 10 millions, and may be thus classified according to their habitat—(1) Africa (interior), Arabia, East Indies, and China-Rabbinic and uncultured; (2) N. Africa, Egypt, Palestine, Poland, and Russia— Rabbinic and cultured; (3) West of Europe and N. America— Educated, and becoming alienated from orthodoxy. The Jewish Liturgy holds a supreme place in their religious life. It is the product of many ages, and provides for every usage-social, domestic, and religious. In it fasting and prayer are substituted for sacrifices. Its prominent feature is belief in a national restoration through the Messiah, the Son of David. Our Lord foretold that impostors would demand and would receive their allegiance. "There shall arise false Christs." "If another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive" (St. Matth. xxiv. 24; St. John v. 43.) From the days of Trajan to the time of the apostate Sabbathai Sevi, of Smyrna (1666), twenty-two false Messiahs have arisen. And yet the Jews cling with an intense longing to this hope of Israel. Combined with this belief we find them still expecting their restoration to Palestine, and the rebuilding of their Temple. We listen with heartfelt sympathy and sorrow to these words of faith and petition, in their synagogue worship (cf. "Henry's Prayer-Book"-the Ritual of the German and Polish Jews.-The Jewish Creed. The Ikkarim, compiled by Maimonides, in the twelfth century): "The thirteen fundamental articles of faith which every Israelite ought firmly to believe, and rehearse daily." The xii. is as followsI believe with a perfect faith that the Messiah will come, and although His coming be delayed, I will still patiently await His speedy appearance." (2) For the rebuilding of the Temple. "Let the holy temple. speedily be rebuilt in our days; and let our portion be Thy law; and there we will serve Thee in reverence, as in ancient days, and in former years." 66 May we offer in Thy presence the continual burnt-offering, that it may atone for us." "We know that we have sinned, and there is none to intercede for us." "How can we serve Thee, when it is not in our power, on account of our holy temple being burnt with fire? How can we serve Thee, when there is neither sacrifice, nor meat-offering, because we are not yet arrived at a place of rest; neither have we water to wash away our defilements, while we are on unhallowed land ?" "The shreds of my spirit are Thy sacrifices; O may they be favourably accepted upon Thy altar." (3) For restoration to Palestine. "Sound the great cornet, as a signal for our freedom, hoist the banner to collect our captives, so that we may be gathered together from the four corners of the earth.” "Be mercifully pleased to return to Jerusalem Thy city." "O build it shortly." The chief precepts of Judaism relate to Phylactery, Talith and Mezuzah. These form part of the daily life of the orthodox Jew. "Whoever," says the Talmud, "has the phylacteries bound to his head and arm, the fringes affixed to his talith, and the mezuzah nailed on his door post, is safe from sin." Each morning on putting on the phylactery, and the talith, the Jew prays that he may accomplish "the ordinance with all its details, minutiæ, and sacred intentions, with the 613 precepts attached thereto." These precepts are compiled from the Pentateuch248 are affirmative, and 365 are negative. The rabbis say they correspond to the members and veins of the body. "In vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (St. Matth. xv. 9). "They being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God" (Rom. x. 3). Since the days of the Apostles, until the beginning of this century, the Church of Christ has done but little to tell the Jews, that "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Justin Martyr was the first who seriously attempted, after the Apostles had passed away, to point the House of Israel to their Messiah. About 150 A.D., he wrote his " Dialogue with Trypho a Jew." There were some who, like the saintly Bernard of Clairvaux, cared for the ancient people of God. But persecution, and not conversion, was the rule of those long, and dark, and cruel centuries. The Bishops of Rome occasionally manifested zeal for their spiritual welfare, but it was zeal untempered by knowledge. At the entrance of the Ghetto, and in front of a church, a large wooden coloured crucifix was placed. Over it was written, "All day long have I stretched forth Mine hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people." The Jews were driven into this church with scourges to hear sermons against their obstinacy. Gregory XIII. decreed, that on Sundays and holy days, sermons should be preached in synagogues (in Hebrew if possible), on Christianity, and that one-third of the Jews over 12 years of age of both sexes must attend. They were to pay the salaries of the preachers! In the 17th century, Innocent XI. gave converts a present of money, and assigned a nobleman to act as godfather. The neophytes were dressed in white satin, and driven about Rome to receive congratulations. But they were assured that if they relapsed into Judaism they would be burnt at the stake! The first Society for the Evangelization of the Jews was formed at the close of the last century by Professor Jean Henry Tallenberg of Halle. He employed students to deliver tracts, but the Society soon dwindled away. The next in order is the "London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews." This had its origin in 1809. Since then 47 Societies have been founded in Europe and America for the evangelization of the Jewish nation. These Societies spend about £90,000 per annum. De la Roi (formerly a Jewish Missionary, now a Pastor at Elberfelde), calculates that 100,000 Jews have been baptized during the last 75 years. A most important part of the work of the London Jews' Society consists in circulating the Old and the New Testament in Hebrew. The translation of the New Testament was urged upon the Society, at the commencement of this century, by the Rev. Claudius Buchanan. He brought home from South India, a manuscript translation, made by a Jew, in order to confute his Christian opponents. But, like St. Paul, the reviler became a disciple. This manuscript, however, did not prove of much use. The New Testament was translated by several scholars, and the first edition of 3,500 copies was issued in 1817. A second edition followed in 1838, at a cost of £3,650. This is still the text used by the Society. They also printed, in 1820, a special edition of Van Der Hooght's Old Testament in Hebrew. The Jews are profoundly ignorant of their own Scriptures. "Their slight acquaintance with the Word of God is derived, not from the pure fountain of truth itself, but from the corrupt teaching of the Rabbis, and the unscriptural traditions of the Talmud” (Our Missions). When this Society circulated the Old Testament, "it was impossible for any but the more wealthy Israelites to obtain a copy of the Hebrew Scriptures." Another translation of the New Testament into Hebrew, (perhaps the most classical), was made some years ago by Professor Delitzsch, on behalf of the British and Foreign Bible Society. This has also had a very large circulation. The Hebrew New Testament is widely read in all lands, and, undoubtedly, many are led by it to come to the Lord at night, like Nicodemus. They may never confess Him openly in baptism, but they believe on Him as their Messiah. These men are the modern Marannos, but they conceal their Christianity, not their Judaism. God grant that they may possess the growing boldness of the once timid and secret member of the Sanhedrin ! Two comparatively recent and memorable instances illustrate the marvellous power of the Word of God in overcoming Jewish prejudice. Professor Delitzsch, in his "First ripe Fig," has given the history of Rabinowitz, the Jewish patriot and reformer, in Kischinew, Bessarabia, Southern Russia. Rabinowitz has been the means of leading a large number of his brethren to Christ. A Polish Jew, Jacob Zebi Scheinmann, (banished to Siberia in 1874), read the "Confession of Faith " by Rabinowitz, and, believing on the Lord Jesus, he has convinced 30 other Jews, that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. He writes to the Jews of the dispersion-"Take up the New Testament, the true Torah, which Jesus the Son of God, and our Master has taught us, and give yourselves to the study of it night and day." A learned and venerable Rabbi-Lichtenstein, near Buda- Pesth, lately read Dr. McCaul's "Old Paths," which was written to expose the errors of the Talmud. The Rabbi sought to confute it. He arose from his study a believer in Christ, and has addressed three pamphlets to his brethren everywhere, pointing to the Lord as the Messiah of Israel, and Saviour of the world. The Gospel he terms " that sweet Evangel." Many are thus becoming "complete Jews," in the sense of Disraeli's famous definition" complete in Christ, the Scriptural Messiah." The long dark night of Israel's bondage appears to be drawing to a close. Their Scriptures are full of awful denunciations against the people and the land, in case of disobedience : "The Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest; but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life. In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning" (Deut. xxviii. 64—67). "And I will make your cities waste, and I will bring the land into desolation" (Lev. xxvi. 33). Their Scriptures are also full of glorious promises of restoration, of the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and of national acknowledgment of the Messiah. "When they be in the land of their enemies I will not cast them away. I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors" (Lev. xxvi. 44, 45). "He that scattered Israel will gather him” (Jer. xxxi. 10). "Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for My holy name; After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid. When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the beathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out My spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God" (Ezekiel xxxix. 25-29). Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles. until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (St. Luke xxi. 24). "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built unto the Lord." "It shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever" (Jer. xxxi. 38-40). "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son." "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness" (Zech. xii. 10; xiii. 1). "And so all Israel shall be saved" (Rom. xi. 26). The Wailing Place at Jerusalem is one of the most pathetic sights in the world. In a small quadrangular area, a portion of the wall of the Temple of Solomon is still standing. The wall is about 100ft. in length by 60ft. in height. The stones are magnificent, some of them of great size. Here the Jews meet each Friday to lament the lost glories of their nation. "The heathen are come into Thine inheritance, Thy Holy Temple have they defiled." One of the most plaintive of their lamentations is the Wailing Song. The melody probably dates from the days of Ezra He is great, He is good, He'll build His Temple speedily. In great haste, in great haste, In our day speedily. Lord, build, Lord, build, Build Thy Temple speedily. He will save, He will save, He'll save His Israel speedily. Lord, save, Lord, save, Save Thine Israel speedily. Lord, bring back, Lord, bring back; Bring back Thy people speedily; O restore to their land To their Salem speedily. Bring back to Thee, bring back to Thee, To their Saviour speedily. cf. Let us who belong to the Israel of God, unite in supplication each week, on the day of our Lord's Passion, with these mourners of the House of Israel according to the flesh. And let this be the prayer of our hearts-O merciful God, who hast made all men, and hatest nothing that Thou hast made, nor wouldest the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live ; Have mercy upon all Jews, and take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of Thy Word; and fetch them home, blessed Lord, to Thy flock, that they may be saved among the remnant of the true Israelites, and be made one fold under one Shepherd, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. "Recent Discoveries on the Temple Hill."-R T.S. A MISSIONARY VISIT TO SILOAM. HE Yemenites of Siloam are increasing every year. When they first settled at the colony, some twelve years ago, they numbered about 80 souls. They are now about 400. The greater part live in Almshouses, and therefore are, more or less, under the authority of the rabbis. Some three years since, ten families were turned out of their homes, simply because they were reported to have received Missionaries and obtained pecuniary help from them. Through the aid of the late Miss Blyth, the Rev. A. H. Kelk and other Christian friends, the Rev. J. Jamal was able to give them a lift in buying and building their own shelters on the slope of the rocky land just adjoining the same colony. These ten families were followed by some ten others, who also managed, little by little, to buy and build themselves shelters. "To these twenty families, who are becoming to a certain extent independent of the rabbis," savs Mr. Jamal, "I more frequently go, and they at the same time feel at liberty to receive Missionaries at their homes without fear of the Jews. Often I have an opportunity for bringing the claims of Christianity before them, either individually at their homes or sometimes collectively in their own synagogue. "A pleasant opportunity was afforded to me when on a visit to the colony with the Rev. A. H. Kelk, of entering into conversation with a large party at the synagogue on the subject of the Messiah. They listened with marked attention to the proofs from the Old Testament that the Messiah must have come, and that Jesus of Nazareth is He. We read with them several passages from the Bible in proof that the expressions Angel of God,' 'Angel of Jehovah,' were used for a manifestation of God Himself. It was quite a revelation to them when I asked one of them to read intelligibly, from the Hebrew text, the following passages: Gen. xxii. 11 with 12, and Ex. iii. 2 with 6 and 14; drawing their attention that where He, who is called the Angel of God in one verse, is called 'God' and even 'Jehovah' in those which follow, and accepts the worship due to God alone. We read also Gen. xvi. 7-13; xxxi. 11-13. But the passage which struck them most was that of the triple blessing of Jacob upon his son Joseph, given in the 48th chapter of the same book. 'The God, before whom my fathers walked; the God, which fed me like a shepherd all my life long; the Angel which redeemed me from all evil.' 'It is impossible,' said I, 'that the Angel thus identified with God can be a created angel. Jacob, no doubt, alludes to the Angel who wrestled with him, and whom he called God, the same as the Angel of Covenant (Mal. iii. 1). I pointed out to them the singular fact that the verb bless,' in the triple blessing, which refers to the God of his fathers, to the God who had been his Shepherd, and to the Angel who redeemed him, is in the singular, not in the plural, shewing that these three are but one God, and that the Angel is one with the fathers' God, and with the God who fed Jacob like a sheep. We read together Mr. J. Pick, Missionary at Cracow, reports a Jewish baptism there. Mr. J. Pick also says:- "The pamphlet of Dr. Herzl, 'The Jewish State,' often gives me an opportunity of speaking about the future' of the Jews, and to point out to them God's promises." We thank Mr. J. M. Flad, of Kornthal, very heartily for his kind present to the Society's Library of "Fetha Nagest," i.e., Codex of the Kings." The original existed in the Coptic language, from which it was translated into the Arabic, and from the Arabic into the Ethiopic. The basis of this book is the Codex Constantine M. On the 20th November, 1863, the late Dr. H. Stern was, by the Abyssinian judges, at the court of King Theodore, condemned to death out of this Codex: either to have his hands and legs cut off or to be burnt alive. Mr. Flad had this copy made by the fugitive, Alaca Worke, from Asseso, who is now living at the Swedish Mission Station, Asmara. A wealthy Hebrew gentleman, a convert to Christianity, was baptized in our place of worship a few Sundays ago. The history of his conversion, and of the struggle he had, and the opposition he met with from members of his family, and particularly from his wife, was briefly told by our pastor, who, at the same time presented to the Church this aged gentleman of 62 years. The service was touching and solemn. The new Christian was much moved-and to the question addressed to him as to his having faith in Christ Jesus, he replied with distinctness and firmness, "Most certainly, yes." Before leaving Naples for his abode in Paris, he was most generous in contributing for the erection of the new place of worship and for the schools; and gave also to the poor of the church. May the Lord bless him, and strengthen him more and more in the faith; and may his conversion furnish an example to many of his co-religionists.(Translated from Il Piccolo Messaggere, Florence, June 25th, 1896, page 105). Mr. Priestly, of Liverpool, reports on his work for the month:Nine visits were paid to the two places of embarkation of emigrant Jews for the U.S.A. On one occasion there were 32 Jews, all fresh from Russia, who were easily induced to listen to the Gospel and to accept freely, but not pay for, the tracts offered them. The eight other occasions furnished from one to seven Jews at a time. One who came from London spoke very gratefully of Goulston Street Mission Room, recounting the benefits he had received there from the Medical Mission and from the night classes, where he had acquired a little English; he knew Mr. Bernstein, and spoke kindly of Mr. Zeckhausen too. Another Jew, coming from Leeds, said he would have had to starve there were it not for the kindness of Mr. Spiegel and two other Missionaries, who had maintained him during three months' stay in that place, whence also he had written to a brother of his in New York, who had sent him a ticket to go to him. Of course they heard the Gospel too, which, however, seems still "a puzzlethough Missionaries seem to know all about it-being very clever, and even pious!" Thus each Wednesday and Saturday morning was spent, from 8 till 11.30 on the dock and landingstage very profitably. Most Jews were found on the former place. The visits to the Emigrant houses were in vain: no Jew having been found there this month. As to the local Jews, houseto-house and shop-visiting was carried on as usual with usual results. That is to say, Jews are called upon, whether the admittance craved for be granted or refused. In the former case a conversation is begun, some Christian doctrine attacked by the host or hostess, and while one's poor self is compelled to act on the defence, Divine Grace is generally present, and the attack is not only repelled but becomes the means of bringing the Gospel home to Jewish hearts. In the latter case a short talk takes place on the threshold, and the Jew or Jewess, though reluctant, abusive and even threatening, is, nevertheless, reminded of the "one thing needful" before getting rid of me. The Rev. J. H. Bishop, writing on June 16, in reference to the grant made by the Society towards Missionary work amongst the Cochin Jews, says :-"I fully believe if the Lord opens the door for a development of this Mission, your Committee will be disposed to continue its help. The white Jews are exceedingly anxious that I should try and open a Girls' School for them-but there is at present a difficulty in providing a suitable mistress. I am exceedingly obliged for the grant of 50 New Testaments in Hebrew and 50 Promised Messiah.' I have enough in stock now to distribute to the Jewish community; several are reading both the New Testament and Promised Messiah.' I send by book-post a paper, in which you will see, we hope (D.V.) to make a special effort on behalf of both Jews and Gentiles during the next three years in the dark, densely-populated native state of Cochin (which is north and south of the British town of Cochin.) During April and May two of our evangelists had a successful tour amongst the Jews, preaching to them and selling at a low price New Testaments and the Promised Messiah' in Hebrew and Malayalam. A spirit of inquiry is being aroused amongst the Jews here as in other parts of the world." |