The writer in the Quarterly, while loudly praising the humane spirit which, as he tells us, pervades the "system and institutions set forth in the Talmud," en- deavors at the same time to apologize for those parts of the Talmud which contain, as he admits (p. 12), " gross oflFences against modern taste," by felling us that, when compared with other ancient systems of jurisprudence, "the Talmud will then stand out rather favorably than otherwise." It is not necessary to say much on this painfid and disgusting part of the subject; but we will say this, that it is one thing to point to the existence of mire, that we may warn the unwary, and another to wallow with delight in it. We heartily wish that some of the rabbins who wrote the Talmud had been content with discharging that which may be considered a duty, and not laid themselves open to the charge just- ly brought against them, of doing injury to the morals and minds of those who study their writings, by their unnecessary and improper statements and details, of which the treatise Nidda, which we have here especial- ly in view, and which treats of the " menstruating wom- an," is so full. When, in 1843, Messrs. De Sola and Ra- phall published a translation of a portion of the Mishna, they excused the omission of this treatise by saying, in the preface to their work, " The treatise Nidda, not be- ing suited to the refined notions of the English reader, has not been printed." They did well and wisely to omit it in the list of portions selected for translation. It ma}' be said, But this treatise, bad as it is, is only a commen- tary on some portions of the laws of Moses. To this we may reply, it was manifestly necessary that Infinite Wis- dom should solemnly prohibit many atrocities then prev- alent among the heathen nations. In order to prohibit them, they must of necessity be mentioned. No doubt, the proper feeling which leads us to turn with disgust from the verv thought of the crimes thus forbidden is
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very much owing to those very laws which were given that the children of Israel should be distinguished from other nations, and thus, being cercmouially clean, should be tit to enter the tabernacle of (iod. But is there any proper excuse for writing or printing one hundred and seventy-eight folio pages in order to dotine all the forms in which imagination can suggest that only one of these crimes could be committed. Let us, as the sub- ject is so important, for a moment consider a parallel case. IMurder is forbidden. This law is of inexpressi- ble importance. It is impossible to dwell too largely on the enormity of this crime, or to speak too earnestly of the necessity of watching against anger, hatred, cru- elty, and every possible form in which we can in any way participate in the guilt of this dreadful sin. Just so we cannot say too much about the necessity of per- sonal purity and holiness, for God will be "sanctified in them that draw near him." But what would we say of a man who should write a large volume merely to describe all the various modes in which a murder can be carried out, and the symptoms of decaj' and dissolu- tion which would follow the deed?
On page 2G of the article alluded to we are told: "There are many more vital points of contact between the New Test, and the Talmud than divines yet seem fully to realize, for such terms as ' redemption,' ' baptism,' 'grace,' 'faith,' 'salvation,' 'regeneration,' 'Son of man,' ' Son of God,' ' kingdom of heaven,' were not, as we are apt to think, invented by Christianity, but were house- hold wonls of TalmudicalJudaism, to which Christiani- ty gave a liigher and purer meaning." It requires, how- ever, a verv slender acquaintance with the Bible to en- able any one to reply to this statement that many of these terms were familiar to the Jews long before the Talmud was in existence, for thej' are found in the Old Test, And not only so, but the New Test, itself is a much older book than the Talmud. Our author tells us that the Mishna was compiled about A.D. -200. The Gemara is of still later date. It seems strange, indeed, that it did not occur to the learned author that it is im- possible to suppose that the New Test, had no influence upon the rabbins, who rejected its authority. Unques- tionably the reasonings of Paul and the writings of the other apostles greatly affected the- whole tone of thouglit and manner of expression which prevailed among those who, nevertheless, refused to acknowledge their own Messiah. This is a common mistake among even learn- ed Jews. Because some parts of the Talmud are unques- tionably very ancient, they speak of t//e ichole as a work of very great antiquity. They .cannot altogether divest themselves of the fabulous notion that God gave the oral as well as the written law to Moses himself. Thus they habitually- claim for the Talmud, as to antiquity, a de- gree of respect to which it is by no means entitled.
The most serious error, hdwever, and that against which we must most distinctly protest, is this. We are told that " the Pentateuch remains in all cases the back- ground and latent source of the Mishna" (p. 17). And again, "Either the scriptural verse forms the terminus a quo, or the terminus ad quern. It is either the start- ing-point for a discussion which ends in the production of some new enactment, or one never before investi- gated is traced back to the divine source by an out- ward 'hint,' however insignificant" (p. 19). Now, al- tliough this is literally true as to many of the civil laws contained in the Pentateuch, it is by no means a correct representation of the actual state of the ease as to the rdifjums principles which form the substance and the foundation of the laws of Moses. If those men who wrote the Talmud really understood and followed out the teaching of Moses, why do they almost entirely ig- nore the teaching of the other prophets? It is aston- ishing to see how very little mention is made in the Jerusalem Talmud and in the 5894 pages of the Baby- lonian Talmud of a great part of the Old Test. ; and a perusal of the book called "pHX mbln "ISD, com-