the session beneath" (i. e. the judges), " and through the approbation of the blessed God, and through the approbation of this holy congregation, we set at liberty the transgressors" (i. e. those who have not paid their vows, &c.) "to pray." Then the chanter repeats with a very loud voice, and melancholy tone, the following absolution :

כל נדרי ואסרי ושבוער ונידויוחרמי וקנמי וקינחי וקנסי די נדרנא ודי אשתבענא ודי חרמנא ודי אסרנא על נפשתנא מיום הכפורים שעבר עד יום הכפורים הזה שבא עלינו לשלום ומיום הכפורים הזה עד יום הכפורים שיבוא עלינו לשלום' נדרנא לא נדרי ושבוענא לא שבועי וחרמנא לא חרמי' ואסרנאלא אסרי' כולהון אתחרטנא בהון יהיא רעוא די יהון שביתין ושביקין לא שרירין ולא קיימין (ועונין הקהל) שלשה פעמים) ונסלח לכל עדת בני ישראל ולגר הגר בתוכם כיככל העם בשגגא.

"All vows, bonds, oaths, consecrations, anathemas, etc., which we vowed, and which we sware, and which we consecrated, and to which we bound ourselves from the day of atonement of the last year to the day of atonement of this year, which has come to us in peace; and from the present day of atonement to the day of atonement which shall come to us in peace, our vows shall be no vows, our oaths shall be no oaths, our anathemas shall be no anathemas, and our bonds shall be no bonds. We repent of all of them, and desire that they should be removed, and left to have no dominion and no existence." The chanter repeats this form of absolution three times, which the congregation answer three times in the following words, from Num. 15: 26: "And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them, seeing all the people were in ignorance." This absolution, I think, is not only preposterous, and contrary to Lev. 27th, Num. 30th, Ps. 15: 4, Deut. 23: 22, 23 and 24, and Eccles, 5: 4, but it has, also, a very evil influence upon their moral character. The evening prayer continues till about ten o'clock, and most of the congregation immediately after disperse, though some remain praying the whole night. The service of the day begins very early in the following morning, and continues until evening. The most of the day is spent by the chanters in rehearsing the prayers and poetry said by the congregation, which are protracted in chanting. The strangest part of the service is the imitation of the Temple worship, which is called , Aboudah, when the chanter, with his train of coadjutors, is obliged to strain every

nerve to render it romantic and expressive. To effect this, theatrical tunes and airs, borrowed from musical bands, are employed upon the occasion, appropriate to the respective pieces of tragical poetry, which are scarcely understood even by the best Hebrew scholars, being composed of Hebrew, Arabic and Chaldaic. This part of the service continues from four to six hours. Large sums of money are paid to good chanters on these occasions; and those who undertake the business are obliged to confine themselves to a particular diet for six weeks previous. The chanter is called, the messenger or representative of the congregation to implore and intercede with Jehovah for them. Every town, however small, has a bu, or, which is the same. He is supported by the public from year to year. It might be expected that if the chanters are in the place of intercessors, individuals would be selected who are approved by God and man; but it will excite no surprise when I say, that such are not at all sought after. A fine and sweet voice is the only requisite, and this may just as well be accompanied by immorality and profligacy. This is parti cularly the case in large towns, where they are very eager to obtain a good chanter. He chooses the place which will furnish the highest salary. The chanters usually receive more than they can honestly spend, and the surplus they employ in the most iniquitous manner. One cause of their immorality arises from their being uneducated men, who from childhood have pursued this profession, travelling from place to place with those of the same occupation, whose training had been of the same kind. In my adopted native place, Bausky, in Cunland, where the Jews are not numerous, but rich, a chanter was obtained from Brody, a great distance, at an immense expense, on account of his deep and beautiful voice. They offered him a much larger salary than the people from whence he came could afford to give. His surplus funds being considerable, he pursued the usual profligate course of the profession. He would spend the whole week at a billiard house, only leaving it after sunset on Friday, when he ought to be in the synagogue to perform the Sabbath prayers. He also led astray several young men, who, through his advice, were led to the most atrocious acts. Nevertheless, he was allowed to be , intercessor for the congregation; and when I

every

left my native place, he had occupied his station for about twenty years. Though old, he still continued his profligate course; and when performing the prayers, at the above festivals, (i. e. of the New-Year and Atonement,) he would display the powers of his voice by feigning to weep, the effect of which was so powerful as to bring tears from eye beside. As his face was turned to the wall, which prevented his seeing what was going forward in the assembly, he would inquire of his coadjutors, in the middle of his chant," if the mob were howling," and when answered in the affirmative, he would begin to mock them. And, although the whole congregation knew of his profligacy, hypocrisy, and mockery, they put great confidence in his prayers, because of his fine voice. This evil, as I have before remarked, is particularly incident to large and wealthy towns. This abominable system is introduced through the perversions made by the Talmud, of Prov. 3: 9: "Honor the Lord with thy substance," , which the Talmudists say should be read,, thy throat, i. e. by chanting and singing the prayers. The synagogue services, during the performances of the chanter, now that I have become acquainted with the purity and decency of Christian worship, seem to me like stage playing, and these, representatives of the congregation, like abominable stage actors. I may venture to say that nearly all the chanters of large places in Poland, Russia, and Prussia, are licentious infidels, or, at least, exceedingly careless in regard to morality. When my countryman, Aaron, and myself were travelling through Prussia, we were eye-witnesses of the excessive profligacy of the chanters, which decency forbids me to relate.

The prayers of the New-Year and of the Atonement, are generally disturbed by the boisterous clamor of the women, all of whom, with very few exceptions, are ignorant in the extreme. During the whole year they have no desire to pray, or even to know what prayers are offered in the men's apartment of the synagogue, except on the above-mentioned feasts, when their destiny being, as they suppose, assigned to them, they feel ashamed to remain wholly indifferent. They accordingly hire teachers from among the men to read and translate the prayers on these occasions, but it being a great reproach to assume this mean office, they cannot obtain a sufficient number for their purpose. Conse

quently when one enters their apartment to read and translate for them, he is surrounded by hundreds of women, all striving to get near enough to hear him, and in the crowd thus pressing upon him, he is driven backward and forward, until he fortunately finds refuge in a corner. Sometimes the translator takes with him a tub, in which he places himself, and thus is enabled to read unmolested. But the crowd of ignorant women is always so unmanageable and boisterous, that the translator can scarcely be heard, and in making an effort for this, he raises his voice until he becomes hoarse, when he leaves his audience for the men's synagogue. As soon as he departs, the noise of the women increases to such a degree as to disturb and confuse the services of the men, which makes it necessary for the managers of the latter assembly to go in among the women and restore order, which if they cannot accomplish, they are driven into a remote corner of the building, or put out of it altogether. This evil originates from the strong prohibitions against female education, which are found in the Talmud.

After the above form of prayer which is called or o is over, the prayer of comes. This is repeated by any person, without being chanted, while the chanter and his coadjutors rest, to be prepared for the next task, which is called by, the import of which has already been explained under the feast of the New-Year, when the same farce is renewed by the chanter, and continues for two or three hours. This prayer is usually finished about half an hour or an hour after sunset. Then follows the or evening prayer, which closes the duties of the day. Then each one lights a candle from the tapers which have been burning during the day, and when they reach home they pronounce a blessing over it. Previous to their return to their homes, however, they are obliged to assemble at the outer enclosure of the synagogue, where they pray, or bless the moon, and then they go home and take their meals, after having fasted from 26 to 27 hours, and being much exhausted with the laborious services of the day, which require the perusal during that period of a thick volume of poetry written in Hebrew, Arabic, and Chaldaic, which is scarcely understood even by the most learned among them.

The next morning they rise very early and repair again to the synagogue, and after their return home commence SECOND SERIES, VOL. III. NO. 11.

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erecting booths for the feast of Tabernacles. The reason given for this is, that Satan may not be able to accuse them before God, by saying that their devotion and early rising during the former days were only to obtain a good destiny, and that having secured this they had relapsed into their former carelessness. This however is but for one day, for on the second after the atonement they resume their old habits.

[To be continued.]

ARTICLE IX.

SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRESENT AGE.*

THERE has been a strong tendency, in certain periods of the Christian church, and in some individuals in all periods, to live in the Past. The life of such persons is made up of

*This article is the commencement of a series of Essays, in which the writer proposes to present a view of the ecclesiastical and religious state of England and Scotland, the politi cal position of the Dissenters, the state of Biblical literature, and of Mental Philosophy in those countries, with some of the great questions which now agitate their ecclesiastical and political bodies. After which it is hoped that Germany and our own country will be brought under review. The writer possesses ample materials for this proposed. survey of the characteristics of different countries, and his name, if given, would be a sufficient guarantee of the ability and discretion of his proposed discussions. But he earnestly requests that this series may appear sine nomine. His reasons are, that he will probably have occasion to speak somewhat plainly of living persons, current publications, etc. in Europe, and also of some things in our own country; and he will write anonymously with more freedom than he could do over his proper signature. As the field of these discussions will be somewhat peculiar, we trust the readers of the Repository will excuse us for yielding to the above request, while our knowledge of the writer assures us that he will not abuse his anonymous privilege.

EDITOR.

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