him that he reserved unto Himself seven thousand men in Israel who had not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Elijah then departed on his mission, and found Elisha, the son of Shaphat. As he passed by him he cast his mantle upon him. Elisha left the oxen with which he was ploughing, and, after taking leave of his family, he followed Elijah, and ministered unto him. Thus was one instrument raised up to succeed an

and thus, also, as one by one His servants depart, the spirit and power with which they were endued descends upon those who are appointed to take their place in accomplishing the purposes of God.

L. F. B.

other;

ISRAEL AND THE GENTILES.

THE JEWS IN SPAIN.*

Jewish Writings.

But it is now time to turn our attention, which has been hitherto directed towards the politica relation of the Jews in Spain, to the far more interesting memorials which have come down to us of their literary institutions, and their progress in science, during their residence in that country, before the close of the Middle Ages.

The first thing we have to consider is the theology of the Jews, their schools, and the writings of their Rabbins and commentators.

Even during the rule of the Visigoths in Spain, Hebrew literature was cultivated, and the study

of Holy Scripture and of the doctrines of the Talmud preserved in the synagogues.

In those early days, and in later times, under the rule of the Saracens, the sources from which the Jews of the Peninsula derived their learning were the famous schools of Babylon and Persia, with which they maintained an uninterrupted correspondence. The Israelitish parents of those ages sent their sons into the East to be instructed in theology; and the synagogues sent deputations to ask advice upon questions of law and tradition, and to consult about customs, ceremonies, and institutions. The most ancient liturgies of these synagogues, especially those for the fasts and the great Day of Atonement, were taken from

prayers and formularies composed by Rabbi Nissin, head of a Jewish academy at Babylon.

Among the learned men of the period which preceded the establishment of an independent system of rabbinical theology in Spain, we find much praise awarded to Rabbi Judah, for translating several Arabic writings into Hebrew, and composing a treatise upon Natural Plenomena, as well as to Rabbi Menahem Ben Saruk, a learned Talmudist, and the author of a Hebrew lexicon, entitled the “ Book of the Root.” The manuscript of this work, together with the criticisins of a cotemporary, named Rabbi Donasc, is preserved in the library of the Vatican.

We have mentioned that an entirely new and independent school of Hebrew theology was subsequently established in the Peninsula.

This new foundation, which soon filled the place of the schools in the East, and outshone the brightness of their celebrity, may date its rise from about the middle of the tenth century.

We will notice first, the place held by its Rabbanim in the long succession of schools, or generations of scribes, students of the law, and commentators, which formed the boast of the Jewish nation after the destruction of Jerusalem. At the head of all are placed the Tanaim, the sages and learned men of Israel, who assisted Rabbi Judah Hakkorlesh, in the third century, to commit to writing the Oral Law. The later Rabbins, whose explanations and paraphrases of that Mishna formed the two Talmuds, bear the name of Emoraim, or commentators.

(To be continued.)

THE FIRST-BORN OF EGYPT.

A LYRIC FOR THE PASSOVER.*
WHEN life is forgot, and night hath power,

And mortals feel no dread;
When silence and slumber rule the hour,

And dreams are round the head ;
God shall smite the first-born of Egypt's race,
The destroyer shall enter each dwelling-place-

Shall enter and choose his dead.
“ To your homes,” said the leader of Israel's host,

“ And slaughter a sacrifice : Let the life-blood be sprinkled on each door-post,

Nor stir till the morn arise ; And the angel of vengeance shall pass you by, He shall see the red stain, and shall not come nigh

Where the hope of your household lies.” The people hear, and they bow them low

Each to his house hath flown;

The lamb is slain, and with blood they go

And sprinkle the lintel-stone;
And the doors they close when the sun bath set,
But few in oblivion's sleep forget

The judgment to be done.
'Tis midnight-yet they hear no sound

Along the lone, still street;
No blast of a pestilence sweeps the ground,

No tramp of unearthly feet,
Nor rush as of harpy wing goes by,
But the calm moon floats in the cloudless sky,

'Mid her wan light clear and sweet.
From the couches of slumber ten thousand cries

Burst forth 'mid the silence dread-
The youth by his living brother lies

Sightless, and dumb, and dead.
The infant lies cold at his mother's breast,
She had kiss'd him alive as she sank to rest,

She awakens_his life hath fled !
And shrieks from the palace-chambers break-

Their inmates are steep'd in woe,
And Pharaoh hath found his proud arm too weak

To arrest the mighty blow :
Wail, King of the Pyramids ! Egypt's throne
Cannot lighten thy heart of a single groan,

For thy kingdom's heir laid low.
Wail, King of the Pyramids ! Death hath cast

His shafts through thine empire wide,
But o'er Israel in bondage his rage hath past,

No first-born of her's hath died.
Go, satrap! command that the captive be free,
Lest their God in fierce anger should smite even thee,
On the crown of thy purple pride.

ANON.

London : Printed at the Operative Jewish Converts' Institution,

Palestine Place, Bethnal Green.

THE

JEWISH ADVOCATE.

JUNE, 1852.

THE FUTURE PROSPECTS OF THE JEWS

PROPHECY

VI. “ ISAIAH was the first of those four who are called the greater prophets. He prophesied in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, about the year 760 before Christ.”

VII.

His writings contain many distinct prophecies respecting the restoration of Judah and Israel ; prophecies, which it seems impossible to apply to any other than to the two families into which the Lord's ancient people were and are divided. We shall, pursuing our former course, select some of these predictions, adding also, part of the remarks of a writer of the eighteenth century.

“ Isaiah ii. 1.-The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz, saw, concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

“ 2. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall flow unto it.