A Book of Jewish Thoughts

V

⭘ Spinoza: Ethics.

⭘ Guide to the Perplexed.

⭘ See Notes 7–9.

⭘ Maimonides: The Eight Chapters on Ethics, ed. Gorfinkle, New York, 1912.

⭘ Jacobs: Jews of Angevin England, p. 172.

⭘ Ethics of the Fathers: Authorized Prayer Book, pp. 184–209. A good edition, Hebrew and English, with commentary, is by Gorfinkle, in Library of Jewish Classics, Bloch Publishing Co., New York.

⭘ ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’: The Jewish mystic’s Ladder of Perfection. Its author is Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair—a second-century saint and teacher.

⭘ Yellin-Abrahams’ Maimonides, J. P. S.

⭘ The Literary Remains of Emanuel Deutsch, ‘The Talmud’, for a larger selection of Talmudic sayings.

⭘ The Discipline of Sorrow, 1911. ‘The terrible events of life are great eye-openers. They force us to learn that which it is wholesome for us to know, but which habitually we try to ignore, namely, that really we have no claim on a long life; that we are each of us liable to be called off at any moment, and that the main point is not how long we live, but with what meaning we fill the short allotted span—for short it is at best.

As in every battle, so in the great battle of Humanity, the fallen and wounded, too, have a share in the victory; by their sufferings they have helped, and the greenest wreaths belong to them.’ (Felix Adler in Life and Destiny, New York. McClure, Philips & Co.)

⭘ See Note 235.

⭘ Aspects of Judaism, ii, 5.

⭘ Adler: ‘Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild—a Funeral Address’.

⭘ Penini: translation in Gottheil, Sun and Shield.

⭘ ‘The Jewels’—based on a version by S. T. Coleridge.

⭘ Cf. Authorized Prayer Book, p. 318.

⭘ Ethics of the Fathers: The fourth chapter ends with the words of R. Eleazar Hakkappar:—

‘The born are to die and the dead to live on again; and those who enter the eternal life, to be judged. Therefore, let it be known, understood and remembered, that He, the Almighty, is the Maker and the Creator; He is the Discerner, He the Judge, He the Witness, He the Complainant; and that He shall judge in the hereafter, before whom there is no unrighteousness, and no forgetting, no regard for rank, no taking of bribes. Know that all is according to reckoning. Let not thy passions persuade thee that the grave will be a place of refuge for thee. For without thy will wert thou created, without thy will thou wast born; thou livest perforce, and perforce thou shalt at last die, and perforce thou shalt in the future have to give account before the Supreme King, the Holy One, blessed be He.’

Footnotes

1 –	Cf. p. 141.
2 –	The Greek-speaking Jewish communities of antiquity, especially Alexandria, Egypt.
3 –	The word Torah has various meanings—the Pentateuch, the Bible, the Talmud, as well as the whole body of religious study and practice.
4 –	In use in English Sephardi Congregations on the occasion of a lad reaching the age of thirteen—his religious majority (Bar Mitzvah).
5 –	Lived about 10 B.C.E.–90 C.E. See p. 292.
6 –	Lived first century; President of the Academy at Yabneh.
7 –	From The Jewish Encyclopedia, ‘Judaism’ (London and New York: Funk & Wagnalls).
8 –	In the first century, large numbers of non-Jews throughout the Roman world became proselytes to Judaism.
9 –	In Hebrew there is only one word, Zedakah, for both Charity and Justice. Charity to the poor is thus merely justice to the poor.
10 –	From Sermons (London: Geo. Routledge & Sons).
11 –	School, usually for religious instruction only.
12 –	From Anglo-Jewish Memories (London: Geo. Routledge & Sons).
13 –	From Songs of a Wanderer (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society).
14 –	Cf. p. 214.
15 –	Cf. pp. 137–140.
16 –	Name for Synagogue liturgical poet.
17 –	The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation, with the aid of previous versions and with constant consultation of Jewish Authorities. Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia.
18 –	From ‘The Position of Judaism’, North American Review, April, 1895.
19 –	Cf. p. 143.
20 –	Cf. p. 151–4.
21 –	Cf. p. 157.
22 –	Cf. p. 159.
23 –	Only the sudden death of the deranged emperor saved the defenceless population from fearful massacre.
24 –	The Jewish communities in the Rhine region were then decimated by massacre or by self-immolation in order to escape baptism.
25 –	Term for ‘rabbi’ among Sephardi Jews.
26 –	On the day following the expulsion, Columbus set sail for the discovery of America.
27 –	Poetic name for Israel.
28 –	‘Ishmael’ and ‘Persia’ stand for Mohammedan and Christian Powers respectively.
29 –	From Blind Children (London: Heinemann).
30 –	One of the oldest Jewish congregations on the North American continent; founded in 1658.
31 –	From History of the Jews in Poland and Russia (London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons).
32 –	From The Jewish World, London.
33 –	From The Promised Land (London: Heinemann).
34 –	From The Promised Land (London: Heinemann).
35 –	From Stories and Pictures (Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia).
36 –	From Children of the Ghetto (London: Heinemann).
37 –	See p. 184.
38 –	From History of the People of Israel (London: Chapman & Hall).
39 –	See p. 290.
40 –	Cf. pp. 57–63.
41 –	From Passages of the Bible Chosen for their Literary Beauty (London: A. & C. Black).
42 –	The Works of T. H. Huxley (London: Macmillan & Co.).
43 –	Cf. p. 66.
44 –	Cf. pp. 67 and 68.
45 –	The Book of Jonah, together with Isaiah 58, is the prophetical Lesson for the Day of Atonement.
46 –	From History of the Jewish Church (London: John Murray).
47 –	Cf. p. 69.
48 –	See p. 290 for the exact wording of Hillel’s saying.
49 –	Cf. p. 72.
50 –	See p. 268.
51 –	Authorized Prayer Book, p. 317.
52 –	From Daniel Deronda (London: William Blackwood & Sons).
53 –	From Israel Among the Nations (London: Heinemann).
54 –	From Historical Miniatures (London: George Allen & Unwin).
55 –	A book in the Apocrypha.
56 –	From History of Rationalism in Europe (London: Longmans, Green & Co.).
57 –	From A Short History of the English People (London: Macmillan & Co.).
58 –	See foot-note, p. 95. In consequence of the American Revolution, the congregation became extinct. No Jew lived in Newport when this poem was written.
59 –	Cp. pp. 97–108.
60 –	From Democracy and Liberty (London: Longmans, Green & Co.).
61 –	Cp. p. 125.
62 –	From The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg (London: Chatto & Windus).
63 –	Authorized Prayer Book, p. 3.
64 –	From Songs of a Jew (London: Geo. Routledge & Sons).
65 –	Scroll of the Law.
66 –	Plural of Mitzvah, a ritual precept or ceremonial law. Mitzvah also means ‘a good deed’.
67 –	See p. 290.
68 –	Johanan ben Zakkai, pupil of Hillel and leader of Israel after the Destruction of Jerusalem (70 C.E.). He rescued Judaism by founding the Academy at Jabneh.
69 –	From Service of the Synagogue (George Routledge & Sons).
70 –	Term for ‘rabbi’ among the Chassidim or Pietists of Eastern Europe.
71 –	Penitential Prayers before New Year and Atonement Day.
72 –	Temporary group of worshippers; also term for the quorum of ten males required for public worship; see p. 6, last line.
73 –	From Service of the Synagogue (Geo. Routledge & Sons).
74 –	Reading Desk, usually in the centre of the Synagogue.
75 –	From Service of the Synagogue (George Routledge & Sons).
76 –	‘Your health!’
77 –	See 2 Maccabees for the story of the martyr mother and her seven sons.
78 –	Cf. p. 156.
79 –	In The Jewish Encyclopedia, ‘Holiness’ (London and New York: Funk & Wagnalls).
80 –	See foot-note p. 218.
81 –	Greatest of Mishna teachers; mystic, warrior, and martyr (132 C.E.).
82 –	Companion of Akiba; declared the brotherhood of man to be the fundamental principle of religion.
83 –	Most renowned of the Rabbis; born in Babylon about one hundred years before the Destruction of the Temple (70 C.E.).
84 –	Died in the middle of the first century.
85 –	Lived 135–220; ‘Patriarch’ and editor of the Mishna.
86 –	Mishna teacher of the 2nd century.
87 –	Mishna teacher of the 2nd century.