FOREWORD

It is also asserted that it is characteristic of the Italian nature to keep what they have understood in their minds, so as to knead the matter together, whereas other nations must be more powerfully affected to achieve their intended purpose. Nevertheless, however small this little work may be, it nonetheless contains many matters that Buxtorf original: "Buxtorf" – referring to Johannes Buxtorf the Elder (1564–1629), a celebrated Christian Hebraist whose works on Jewish customs were the standard for Christians at the time. left untouched.

Since our Rabbi This refers to Leon Modena (1571–1648), the author of the original work, a famous scholar and rabbi of Venice. had no other aim than to be understood, he was content to write clearly, neatly, and in a concise style; therefore it is not necessary to be high-flown in a narrative. To be even more precise in the execution, we have sometimes made two or three sections out of his original ones, and in other places expanded them to make the meaning clearer. His writing style is, however, sometimes a bit obscure, so that one must have at least some knowledge of the subject matter of which he treats, or he would otherwise be difficult to understand. This has forced us to rearrange several sections into their natural order to follow the thoughts of the Author, who generally speaks Synagogal Italian Likely referring to the Judeo-Italian dialect or the specific liturgical/scholarly terminology used by Italian Jews of that era..

Since the Christian religion has its beginning and origin in Judaism, there can be no doubt that the reading of this Book will be advantageous for understanding the New Testament, because of the agreement and connection it has with the Old Testament. Those who wrote the New Testament were, after all, Jews; therefore it is impossible to explain it otherwise than according to the sense of Judaism. Likewise, a portion of our church customs * agree with those of the Jews. The Doctrine is almost the same, and as for Morals, the Ten Commandments are common to them and us. Purgatory itself, which the Protestants do not wish to recognize, is nonetheless explained at the end of this work, as is what we believe regarding Paradise, Hell, the Resurrection, and the Day of Judgment.

The Christian religion also has this in common with the Jewish one: that everyone grounds themselves in the Holy Scripture, as well as in the Tradition of the Church Fathers, and on the customs and accepted usages which we, in our religion, call Church Discipline. What is more, just as our Teachers often say that this arises from Apostolic Traditions; so too the Rabbis always have in their mouths: A Law of Moses from Sinai original: "HALACA LE MOSCE MI SINAI" (Halakha le-Moshe mi-Sinai), This explanation was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. It is true that under the name of Tradition they sometimes serve up some vanities: but this is not so much a flaw of the Tradition as it is of those who possess it.

Regarding the prayers of the Jews, they are very pious, and almost all set on the same footing; although they were composed at various times and places. They are little more than a weaving of scriptural passages that contain God’s praise; and it is likely that Ezra original: "Efdras" – the biblical priest and scribe credited with reconstituting Jewish law and liturgy after the Babylonian exile. was the writer of a portion of these prayer formulas, and that the Scribes who followed him have done nothing but add a few things to them. In the early times of the Church, our ancestors sang hymns of praise to God, as well as Psalms, and read in their assemblies the—

• The Reader should please remember here that the writer of this Foreword, P. Simon Richard Simon (1638–1712), a French priest and critical scholar. His inclusion here highlights that this Dutch edition is a translation of a French Catholic's adaptation of a Jewish work., is a Roman Catholic clergyman.