are so much in ignorance concerning the past, that they do not even know the meaning of the word lights or inauguration. This is remarkable; for the modern Jews affix to this feast another and very solemn origin; namely, that it is in commemoration of Jacob's wrestling with the angel, and of his passing over the brook Jabbok. From the testimony of Josephus, however, we may learn, that it has no remoter origin than the time of the Maccabees, when the temple was inaugurated on the 25th day of the third month, precisely three years after its profanation and pillage by Antiochus.

The following is the account in the Talmud on which this feast rests. (Treatise, SABBATH, chap. ii.)

"When every preparation for the inauguration was completed, no consecrated oil could be found for the sacred lights, and the scrupulous Judas justly feared to contaminate the purity of the temple by using oil which had been defiled by idolaters. In this strait, a small jar of oil, with the seal of a former high priest, still inviolate, was found; and though the quantity which it contained was barely sufficient once to light the sacred lamps, yet, by the special blessing of the

Deity, it proved sufficient for the consumption of a whole week, during which period new oil was obtained and consecrated."

This fully proves the origin of this feast, and explains the term lights by which it is sometimes known. The ignorance of the Jews of Daghistan on the subject proves, in this as in other cases, that their customs and religious ceremonies have been handed down from a period prior, in this instance at least, to the time of the Maccabees.

פורים

THE FEAST OF PURIM.

This festival is observed with great strictness by the Jews on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar. It is also observed amongst the Jews of Daghistan. It commemorates the deliverance of that people from the sanguinary devices of Haman. The decree of Ahasuerus, it will be remembered, extended over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, and doubtless the destruction contemplated by the Jews' enemy was not confined to those of the latter captivities, but

F

to that nation wherever the seed of Jacob was found. But great differences exist in the manner of celebrating it between Jews generally and those locked up in the mountains on the Caspian. They do not observe the fast day noy nyn, like their brethren elsewhere. The spirit and intent of it have been greatly departed from by the former. By the latter the institution is observed.

FAST DAYS.

The following fast days are observed throughout the world by the Hebrew nation; but form no part of the religious observances of the remnant in Daghistan. The seasons of humiliation prescribed by the law of Moses are the smallest constituent of the religious observances of the Hebrew nation. In consequence of natural transgression the number of fast days increased. This serves to show the delight which the Lord has in the happiness and joy of his creatures. The Mosaic economy was eminently social; and if it has lost this characteristic in any degree, the

fault is not in the dispensation but in those who interpreted and altered it.

The following days are observed by the Jews with the solemnity and strictness almost of the day of atonement.

which is the seventeenth ,שבעה עשר בתמוז .1st

of the fourth month, (viz. July,) instituted in commemoration of the destruction of Jerusalem at the period of the great captivity, recorded in the book of the prophet Jeremiah lii. 6, 7; Zechariah viii. 19.

2ndly. anyon, which is the fourth day of the fifth month, (viz. August,) appointed to commemorate the burning of the Temple; for which refer to Zechariah vii. 3, viii. 19.

3rdly., which is on the third day of the seventh month, (or October,) a fast appointed, in memory of Gedaliah whose death it commemorates; recorded in the prophet Jeremiah xli. 4; Zechariah vii. 5.

4thly. na my, which is the tenth day of the tenth month, (January,) a fast instituted to keep in remembrance the attack on Jerusalem, to which there is reference in Zechariah's prophecy (viii. 19.)

None of the preceding fasts are known or ob

served in Daghistan. Nor have they any but the great national one preserved in the law of Moses, the day of atonement. I except, of course, those occasional humiliations which they prescribe for themselves on any casual affliction or calamity. This they do. The absence, however, from the roll, of the fasts observed by the Jews elsewhere, is a striking proof of the habits of the Jewish family previous to the captivity.*

THE SABBATH.

The Sabbath is the most remarkable observance of the Jewish people; one which distinguishes and identifies them wherever they are found. If the Jew, in his own person, fulfils his high calling of witness of the existence and unity of Jehovah, the return of the seventh day emphatically minds every nation in the midst of whom that people are scattered, of their sacerdotal character.

*References concerning the laws of the fast days for modern Jews, see Hilchath Taanioth; Hilchath Tishah Baav Kinath, or prayers for fast days.