Masonic Notes And Queries.

The great reservoir of Jewish tradition is the book , or rather the books , called the Talmud . Of these there are two , one called the Babylonish , and one called the Jerusalem Talmud ; the former is now about fourteen hundred , the latter about sixteen hundred years old . This is also difficult and obscure , that the Babylonish Talmud is that generallimplied

y , when the Talmud is mentioned . This book , which is full of nonsense and impiety , is yet considered necessary to be known , understood , and believed ; aud certainly , if any one can pretend to understand it , he may without much difficulty believe it also . The nature of the book will be best understood from an

account of its origin . At the time of the-Christian era , the traditions , as they were called , of the law ( by which was meant the decisions of the doctors ou disputed points of the Mosaic code , and the extravagant fables with which they adorned their comments ) , had attained so great a bulk , and so high a degree of veneration , as quite to supersede the law itself in the common

estimation . These traditions , which were supposed to have been handed down , some from the era of Moses , and some from a period far anterior , were , for the most part , mere directions for ridiculous ceremonies , questions of stupid casuistry as stupidly decided , and fables which

by their absurdity alone would have disgusted any other nation . * Some of these , in the course of this section , we shall consider . The effect of these traditions could only be to call off the attention from those broad and unvarying principles of moral rectitude which formed the basis

of the Mosaic law . These observations , questions , legends , and philosophical treatises , which had then become so numerous , were at last collected by one Eabbi Judah , who called his collection Misehna . On this book , which was held , of course , in equal veneration with the separate traditions , many learned men wrote comments ; and after some time , a selection of the most valuable of these being made , they were called Gemara ; and thus the Misehna or text , and

the Gemara or comment , making one book , received the name of the Talmud . A specimen of the questions discussed will show the importance of the book , aud a specimen of the veneration in which it was held , will show its probable effect upon Jewish society . Whether it be

lawful to ride an ass to water on the Sabbath-day , or whether he must be led by the halter ? Whether it be lawful on that day to write as many letters of the alphabet as will make sense ? Whether it be lawful to walk over newly-sown land , lest peradventure any grain sticking to our feet we may sow it again ?

Whether , in purifying a house from the old leaven , it be necessary to begin again if a mouse be seen running across it with a bit of bread in his mouth ? Such are some of the questions agitated now , for the estimation in which these things were held . " The law , " says a talmudic treatise , " is like water ; the world cannot subsist without water ; the Misehna is like wine , but the Gemara is like spiced wine , which is better than either . "

It is with the first of men the romances in this book begin , and Adam , of whose knowledge we can hardly form too high au idea , was said to be endued with magic . " God , " say the talmudists , " gave him a precious jewel , the very sight of which would cure all diseases ; this came afterwards into the possession

of Abraham , but after his death , because by reason of its exceeding brightness , it was likely to be worshipped , God hung it ou the sun . " Our first parents were , according to rabbinical tradition , of a gigantic stature ; and this legend has been borrowed and improved by the Mohammedanswho have itthat when

, , Adam and Eve were expelled from Paradise they went to Ceylon , and there , on the " Pico cVAdain , " is a print of Adam ' s foot , which proves the truth of their account .

The transmigration of souls is insisted upon much iu this book , and the soul of Adam is said to have passed successively into the bodies of ISToah and David ; it will also pass into the Messiah . This doctrine they took from the Egyptian mythology , and it is still more ancient than their residence in Egypt .

Abraham was the person to whom , they say , it was first revealed , and he taught that the souls of men passed into women , beasts , birds , and even reptiles , rocks , and plants . The spirit of a man was punished by passing into a woman , received a still greater punishment by being made a beast , and if the

conduct of the man had been very atrocious , it took some reptile or inanimate form : and if a woman act righ-. teously , she will in another state become a man . Thus the ass that carried Balaam , the ravens that fed Elisha , the whale that swallowed Jonah , are all supposed to have possessed reasonably transmigrated souls .

This transmigration gives an opportunity of displaying some of that logic for which the Talmud is peculiarly celebrated . An instance occurs in the case of Cain and Abel . " Cain carried off the twin-sister of Abel , wherefore , the soul of Cain went into Jethro , and the soul of Abel into Moses , and Jethro gave

Moses his daughter Zipporah to wife . " " When Moses was about to ascend , a cloud descended and placed itself before him ; but Moses , our instructor , not knowing whether he was to get upon or lay hold of it , hesitated ! then the cloud was rent asunder , and he went into it , and walked about , as a