in the place where the pulse of an infant's brain beats, for the four senses, seeing, hearing, smelling, and tasting derive their source from the brain; but to make the Phylacteries for the hand, of one box only, and to put it upon the left arm opposite the heart; for strength is in the arm, and the main sensorium of the whole body is in the heart."

That this is not according to the law of Moses, but altogether a human invention, will appear plain from the following passage, as found in Mishnah Sanhedrin, c. xi. 3.

חומר בדברי סופרים מדברי תורה האומר אין תפילין כדי לעבור על דברי תורה פטור חמש טוטפות להוסיף על דברי -It is more criminal to teach anything con * סופרים חייב

trary to the ordinances of the Scribes, than against the

written law. He, who in order to transgress the written law, says, Phylacteries are not according to the law, is not punishable as rebellious; but whoever says, Phylacteries ought to have five compartments, and thus adds to the ordinances of the scribes is guilty”—according to Rabbi S. Jarchi's Commentary, "guilty of death." The above translation is a Jewish one, as may be found in the Berlin edition. This affords the investigator an instance, from which he may judge, which is held in higher estimation, or veneration, the Word of God, or the word of scribes; which is more adored, God, or the Rabbies. Indeed it is as blasphemous a passage as that of the Popish doctor, who exclaimed, when he could not refute Tindal's Scriptural arguments, "It would be better to be without God's laws, than the Pope's." Alas! both Jews and Papists have gone astray from the word of God, "the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water !”

Likewise many reasons are given for the Shin, which is to be inscribed on the head Phylactery. The Rabbies discovered that it is a law of Moses given on Mount Sinai,

as will appear from the following passage from Zohar;

ש של תפילין הלכה למשה מסיני : וראו כל עמי הארץ כי שם יהוה נקרא עליך וידאו ממך: ואקמו מאי שם ידו"ד אלו תפלין שבראש: שש של תפלין תרין שין שית מאה.

שית דרגין ושבע ענפין דתרין שין הא תלת עשר דכלא תריייג:

227 127

"The Shin of the Phylacteries is a decree of Moses from Sinai, as it is written, And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee." (Deut. 38. 10.) And we stated that the name of the Lord is meant by the Phylacteries on the head [Shin being the initial of Shadai, Almighty.] Two Shins of the Phylacteries amount to six hundred; again, two Shins amount to six, [according to the small Cabalistic numbers, which with the seven branches of the two Shins amount to thirteen: which altogether make up the number of six hundred and thirteen [according to the number of precepts.]."*

* As this kind of Cabalistic doctrine will frequently occur in the course of our investigation, it will be proper to give here a brief view of the method employed by the Cabalists in discovering the various mysteries which they attribute to the law, and the secret meaning of its words. These rules, which are thirteen in number, will serve as a key to our investigation.

1st. Notricon; forming a word from each letter of a word. For instance-from the word yw Sh'ma which consists of three letters, the following words are composed: "Lift up

your eyes to heaven;""To the Almighty and most high King" y "In the morning, afternoon, and evening;" from which the Rabbies infer, that three times every day, i.e. morning, afternoon, and evening, prayers are to be performed. This rule is also used to form two words from one; as from Totaphoth, the words Tat Phath, which they interpret to signify twice two; hence they infer that the Phylactery for the head is to be divided into four separate compartments. Sometimes very curious and ingenious combinations are derived from this system. For instance- the word D' Pasim, used in the passage," And he made him a coat of (Pasim) many colours," (Gen. 37. 3.) is made to indicate the misfortunes which Joseph experienced, in being sold by his brethren to D DOD "Potiphar, Merchants (Sochrim), Ishmaelites, Midian

We will now state the mode of forming the Phylactery for the hand, as laid down in the same book, the "Tree

ites." It appears that the Christian Fathers sometimes made use of the same rule; as for instance-our Lord and Saviour has been called by them IXOYΣ (a Fish), because these are the initials of those Greek words," Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour."

בראשית

2nd. Tziruf, (Anagram); the change of any word into others by the transposition of the component letters, which form various words. Thus B'rayshith, "In the beginning," has been anagramatized, a B'rith Aysh, "a covenant of fire," to accord with Deut. 33. 2, "from His right hand went a fiery law for them." In a Cabalistic book, entitled Tikunion, upwards of seventy combinations of this single word are formed by Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai. The Cabalists say, because the Hebrew letters are spiritual, and simple figures, they can, therefore, be construed different ways; but this can be done in any language. Herbert anagramatized the Virgin Mary into Army, as it is to be found in the following two lines:

"How well her name an Army doth present,

In whom the Lord of Hosts did pitch His tent."

We will take a few English words more; for instance-Astronomers has been transposed into Moon starers; Gallantries into All great sins; Old England into Golden Land; Penitentiary into Nay, I repent it.

3rd. X (Guimatria, or numbering); this word seems to have been borrowed from the Greek yɛwμɛтpia, as it is a mathematical system of interpreting the Scripture. Since every letter is a numeral, the word is reduced to the number it contains, and compared with another word containing the same value, and hence a conclusion is drawn that there must be a close relation between the two words. Thus the Cabalists make out that Saphah Achath, (one language) in Gen. 11. 1, amounts to the same as wTM L'shoun hakodesh, (the sacred tongue); though L'shoun hakodesh is certainly one more in number than Saphah Achath, so that the relation is rather inconclusive. But in many instances the words amount to the same number, and are very interesting. For instance, Tzemach in the passage," for, behold, I will bring forth my servant, the Branch," (Tzemach,) (Zech. 3. 8.) must mean the Messiah; for it amounts numerically to the same as M'nachaim, "Comforter," (Lamentations 1. 16.) So NY yavou Shiloh, in the passage," The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come," (yavou Shiloh), amounts numerically to the same as Messiah; hence

of life."

"The Phylacteries for the hand to be made thus. Take a square piece of wood: its length ought to be

מספר גדול which they call

מספר קטן

Shiloh must be the Messiah. This rule is used in different ways: sometimes an is counted 100 or 1000, and 200 or 2000, and so on; "the great number:" and vice versâ, a n is counted 4, and 3, and is called "the small number." They have also a system of combining the last letter of the Alphabet with the first, as ; next to the last with the second, as , and so on; which is called the At Bash alphabet; so that, when it suits their purpose, they count one, and ✰ four hundred; and so also sometimes artificial words are formed by this rule; see the 6th rule. Baal Hatoorim in commenting on the Pentateuch very often uses this kind of intrepretation. Nor is this rule confined to the Jews alone: it is, in fact, an old heathen doctrine; the same which was taught by Plato and Pythagoras. Some have attempted to count the number of the beast in the Revelation, 13. 18, according to this system; of which the two following, one Hebrew and the other Greek, are examples; Abinu Haka

desha apapa, "Our holy father, the Pope;" and also KAKOΣ OAнгO, "Bad guide;" both of which amount numerically to the number of the man, "whose number is six hundred and three score and six." See Calmet's Dictionary, by Taylor; Article, Antichrist.

4th. Tzurah, (Figure); this depends entirely on the shape of the letters. For instance, a question is suggested, Why does the law commence with the letter? The answer is, Because it is formed by three lines or 's Wavs, as this, which if written in full would be spelt, which amounts numerically to thirteen. Multiplied by three, according to the number of the 's, it will produce thirty nine, equal to

(Jehovah is one), which is also thirty nine. With their usual discernment they say, since this letter has one point above and one behind, it indicates that the Lord created the world, which is represented by the preceding letter, that is, formed by two» youds and a wav, as this N, and making together twenty six, the same number as Jehovah.

The letter written in full is, or Aluf (Lord). transposing the letters, the word N Pele, (Wonderful), is formed.

By

Roshay Taivouth V'sophagy ראשי תיבות וסופי תיבות .5th

Tayvouth. (The initials and finals of words.) This consists in forming one mysterious word either from the initials or finals of certain several words. For instance, an objection was suggested against the book Esther being inserted amongst the other books of holy writ, because the name Jehovah, is not once mentioned therein, which is a proof of its not being

equal to its width, and to be a finger's width in length, or a little more or less as here represented. (See plate 2nd.)

sacred. This objection was soon answered, by shewing that the name

יבא המלך והמן היום Jehovah was found in the initials of the words יהוה

"Let the King and Haman come this day." (Esther 5. 4.) In like

manner, words are formed from the finals, and sometimes from the middle letters, which they term nan Tochay Taivouth.

6th. T'murah, (permutation, or a change of the letters of the alphabet). First reducing the twenty two letters of the alphabet to eleven couples, coupling the first with the last, the second

את בש גד דק הצ ופ זע חס טן ימ כל with the one next to the last, &c. as

ששר

and then forming mysterious words from the substituted letters. They assert that Jeremiah, in order that he might not provoke the King of Babylon against him, by making use of the word Babylon, artfully substituted Shesach (in Jer. 51. 41), and that it is the same as ; for the two 's Shins stand for the two 's Beths, and Caph 7 for Lamed, as they thus correspond. How far this is correct will be seen from the end of the same verse, "How is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!" Thus are the Scriptures distorted in many places.

7th. Chasar Umalay, (defective and complete); which consists in discovering some mysterious meaning in an apparently superfluous or defective letter. Thus the word on Tomim is defective in, in the passage, referring to Rebecca, "Behold there were twins (Tomim) in her womb,” (Gen. 25. 24), whilst it is complete in the passage, referring to Tamar, (Gen. 38. 27). The reason assigned for it is, that one of Rebecca's twins was wicked, (i.e. Esau), and, therefore, is the word Tomim defective; but Tamar's twins were both righteous, and, therefore, Tomim is complete. By this system they sometimes run into the most extravagant absurdities; as in the passage in Gen. 2. 22, the word DIT 'N 7X” "And he brought her unto the man," is defective in, yod. The reason assigned is, "because without the, it amounts numerically to 24, according to the 3rd rule; for the Lord adorned Eve with 24 different ornaments, and presented her to Adam." Baal Hatoorim is very fond of this sort of speculation.

תומים

8th. In Stumoth Upsuchoth, (closed and open); which consists of a speculation respecting the Pe, and ▷ Samech, that very frequently occurs in the Hebrew Bible; the former signifying open and the latter closed. This rule is also applied, where a sentence is apparently incomplete in the Hebrew, as in Gen. 4. 8, the literal translation of which, in the Hebrew Pentateuch is, " And Cain said unto Abel, his brother-and it came to pass, when they were in the field," &c. As