reserved? The word of prophecy declares it unto us, "I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness." Jer. xxiii. 3-6. Seeing then so great a blessing is reserved unto that time, how gladly may every christian join in the prayer, "Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old." Micah vii. 14. HIS BIRTH AND EARLY EDUCATION-MARRIAGE-HIS SUFFERINGS 'JEHOVAH! Thou knowest what we are made of, Thou knowest it is impossible for man to overcome in his own strength, Jezer-horoh * and his sinful propensity; Oh, lend me Thy merciful assistance in this warfare; neither do Thou impute to me my former sins, for who can stand before Thee, if Thou wilt impute sin? Who is just, in the sight of Thy holiness? Oh! vouchsafe to send the Messiah, who is appointed to deprive Satan * The Devil. B of his power, that thus every human being may through Him be saved, and purified from sin.' Such was the prayer poured forth with anguish, and a flood of tears, by one of the remnant of Israel, the scattered among the nations; one who, in penance, in prayer, in fasting, in the most ardent petitions, in the severest mortifications, had sought, and sought in vain, for that blessed gift from the Lord-Forgiveness. The son of a Chocham,* the grandson of a Tsaddik,† and early imbued with all the learning of his ancient people, to him every way of salvation, opened to their eyes, appears to have been fully known; but neither the solemn remembrance of the sacrifices of former days, the sense of his deep repentance, his self-imposed sufferings, the sacred services of the New Year, or the devout fast of the Day of Atonement, could lessen the burden which weighed down his soul,or silence the voice which, by night and by day, in public and private, amidst the busy occupations of life, and the secret retirements of joyless prayer, repeated ever in the hearing of his soul, "Thou art a sinner!" This individual, whose persevering struggles to escape from the misery which a sense of sin occasioned him, are thus described, was David Goldberg, the son of a Russian Rabbin at Piatka, a town in the province of Volhynia, in which place he was born, in the year 1805. The religious among the Jews, may still be said in the language of the prophecy to "dwell alone: " inspired from infancy with an utter hatred and contempt for Christians, they live amongst them as a separate people; to learn a gentile language is accounted a sin, and many * Wise man. + Saint. of the most pious among the Rabbins are ignorant of the speech of the very nation in which they live. They have, however, learning and literature peculiar to themselves, and as amongst them, knowledge is a part of piety, great sacrifices are often made by parents to ensure it to their children. 'The traveller through Poland,' says Dr. M'Caul, 'is often astonished at finding, in a miserable Jewish Inn, which presents a picture of filth and wretchedness, a private tutor for the landlord's children.' It is probably known to most readers that the Jews have departed from the law as delivered to them by Moses, and that the oral or traditionary law, is deemed by them of equal, nay, of superior obligation to the Scriptures. This mass of folly and evil, which had began to accumulate before the days of our Lord, and was so severely rebuked by Him, has been registered and collected in the Mischna and Gemara, which together constitute the Talmud; the word signifying learning, wisdom, doctrine. 'The Scriptures,' says the Rabbi Moses Kotsensis, 'comprehends not all that is necessary to be known;' forgetful of the absolute command in Deut. xii. 32, "What thing soever I command you, observe to do it, thou shalt not add thereto nor diminish from it." Not content with adding thereunto, they esteem, as has been before observed, their traditions far above the Scriptures. The Bible,' say they, 'is like water, the Mischna like wine, and the Gemara like spiced wine. The Law is like salt, the Mischna like pepper, the Gemara like balmy spice.' In a talmudical treatise it is observed, that to study the Bible can scarcely be deemed a virtue; to study B 2 |