GENERAL PREFACE

...one would not find so much refuge in sacrifices and incensing; in feast days and brotherhoods; in the rigors of the body and penances The original Dutch boetoeffeningen refers to voluntary acts of self-punishment or asceticism intended to show repentance. to achieve deficient excesses; in vows and the monastic life, etc. One would give these things their true value, and those who—as Charron Pierre Charron (1541–1603), a French philosopher and theologian known for his skeptical and Stoic-influenced views on religion and ethics. says—carve and cut themselves, and impose a painful labor, would be seen as people who undertake in vain to seek healing herbs—at least when they do not prove an internal purity through their conduct—or like people who are sick of mind, whose bodies one must heal in order to subsequently give to their souls the true Idea of Religion.

III. One would seek within oneself to satisfy the Divinity, and one would find that the love of Virtue and honorability of life are matters alone pleasing to God. It is marvelous that these truths have been known at all times, (a) Even the pagans have recognized them, and we provide only this beautiful passage from Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso, the famous Roman poet. to prove it: "The heavenly powers do not delight in the slaughter of an ox, but in the faith which must be offered, and that without stain." original Latin: Nec bove mactato caelestia numina gaudent, / Sed quae praestanda est & fine labe fides. and yet people have treated them so poorly. Consequently, one could much sooner flatter oneself with a hope for a union in religion, if it were to resume its original simplicity; one would then see a thousand-fold ceremonies fall away which men have invented to give themselves authority and prestige, and which they presented to their posterity as purely Spiritual Acts.

After this preceding Treatise, we let the work of the Rabbi Leon de Modena Leon of Modena (1571–1648) was a renowned Venetian rabbi and scholar. His work The History of the Rites, Customs, and Manner of Life of the Present Jews throughout the World became a primary source for Christians to understand Judaism during the Enlightenment. follow. Formerly it appeared under the title of the Ceremonies and Customs in Use Among the Jews. This work was translated and refined by P. Simon Richard Simon (1638–1712), a French priest and influential biblical critic who translated and edited Leon de Modena's work., who placed at the head a Preface that was both accurate and instructive; which we, in this translation, let follow after this General Preface: he...