The Jews have long been very numerous and very favourably treated in Poland : it is said that they owe their privileges to Esther a fair Jewess, the favourite mis tress of Cassimir the Great ; but it is probable that this monarch protected and encouraged them in his dominions, rather because in his time, (A. D. 1370,) they were the richest and most commercial individuals in Europe. They still carry on the principal retail trade in all parts of Poland and Lithuania : a poll-tax is levied upon them.
Though it was not till after the Mahomedan conquest that the Jews obtained a place for their feet" in Asia and southern Europe, yet in most of the Mahomedan states at the present day, they are treated with great cru elty and indignity. Mr Semple says, that the insults to which Christians are exposed in the states of Barbary, are nothing when .compared with those which the Jews must hourly suffer. The Jews have larger settlements, and more permanent abodes in India, than they have any where in Europe. In Barbary, there are several thousand Jews, who do not refuse to communicate with the Mussulmans, or to bear arms. • Cashmere also contains a large colony, supposed by Bernier to have settled there during the Baby lonish captivity.
III. The Jewish history is generally divided into two periods : the first reaching from Abraham to Christ ; the other from Christ to the present time ; and the Jews of these two periods have been respectively distinguished as ancient and modern. The same distinction ought to be made with regard to Judaism, or the opinions, traditions, rites and ceremonies, of the Jews. Ancient Judaism may be defined as the system of doctrines and rites prescribed in the Old Testament ; these were retained in their most essential points, though much corrupted, till the time of Christ : modern Judaism comp ehends the opinions, tradi ditions, rites and ceremonies, which began to be received before the destruction of the second temple, were after wards systematised and embodied in the Cabalistic and Talmudic writings ; and have been followed and professed by the great body of the Jewish nation ever since. An cient Judaism is fully detailed in those parts of the Old Testament which treat of the law of Moses ; in the re mainder of this article, we propose to confine ourselves to a brief account of the most important parts of modern Judaism.
The Jews divide the hooks of the Old Testament into three classes : the law, the prophets, and the hagiographa, or holy writings. They have counted not only the large and small sections, the verses and the words, but even the letters in some of the hooks ; and they have likewise reck oned N% hiCh is the middle letter of the Pentateuch, which is the middle clause of each book, and how often each letter of the alphabet occurs in the Hebrew scriptures.
Besides the scriptures, the Jews pay great attention to the Targums, or Chaldee paraphrases of them : it seems probable that these were written either during the Baby lonish captivity. or immediately afterwards, when the Jews
had forgotten their own language, and acquired the Chal dee of the Targums, at present received by the Jews; the most ancient are that of Onkelos on the Law, and that of Jonathan Ben Uzlicl on the Prophets : the former is supposed to be of greater antiquity than the latter, and it approaches in simplicity and purity of style to the Chahlee of Daniel and Ezra. The Targum on the prophets is be lieved to have been written before the birth of Christ, and though inferior in respect of style to the Targuna of On kelos, is much superior to any other Targum.
The Jews also regard, with great veneration, what is called the Talmud. This work consists of two parts ; the Mishna, which signifies a second law ; and the Gemara, which means either a supplement or a commentary. The Jews suppose that God first dictated the text of the law to Moses, which he commanded to be put in writing, and which exists in the Pentateuch, and then gave him an ex plication of every thing comprehended in it, which he or dered to be committed to memory. Hence the former is called the written, and the latter the oral law. These two laws were recited by Moses to Aaron four times, to his sons three times, to the seventy elders twice, and to the rest of the people once ; after this the repetition was re newed by Aaron, his two sons, and the seventy elders. The last month of Moses's life was spent, according to the Jews, in repeating and explaining the law to the people, and especially to Joshua his successor. A prophet might suspend any law, or authorise the violation of any precept, except those against idolatry. If there was any difference of opinion respecting the meaning of any law or precept, it was determined by the majority. 'When Joshua died, all the interpretations he had received from Moses, as well as those made in his time, were transmitted to the elders ; these conveyed them to the prophets, and by one prophet they were delivered to another. This law was only oral, till the days of Rabbi Jehuda, who perceiving that the stu dents of the law were gradually decreasing, and that the Jews were dispersed over the face of the earth, collected all the traditions, arranged them under distinct heads, and formed them into a methodical code of traditional law ; thus the Mishna was formed. It is written in a concise style, chiefly in the form of aphorisms, which admit of a variety of interpretations. On this account, a gemara or commentary was written by a president of a school in Pal estine, which, together with the mishna, forms the Jerusa lem Talmud. The Jews in Chaldea, however, not being satisfied with this gemara, one of their Rabbis compiled another, which, together with the mishna, forms the Baby lonian Talmud.