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by

F. C. Gilbert

(A Hebrew Christian)

An autobiography

Some paragraphs have been split for emphasis

 ^(p48)

CHAPTER IV

JEWISH CONFIRMATION, AND BEGINNING TO WORK

1. When I reached the age of twelve years and nine months, I had to prepare for confirmation. When the Jewish child reaches the age of thirteen, he becomes a member of the Jewish church. This is what the Bible has reference to when it speaks of Jesus’ going up to the temple when He was twelve years old.[1] After the child has passed twelve and is progressing through the thirteenth year, he is to prepare to take upon himself the responsibility of becoming a bar-mitzvah, a son of the law, or a son of the commandment. It is at this time that he is to bear or be responsible for his own sins, and to join the fellowship of the church.

2. One of the first things he has to do is to wear the phylacteries. The phylacteries are long, narrow strips of leather, attached to which are small square boxes containing verses of Scripture. In each verse must be found the words,

“ And thou shalt bind them as a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.”[2]

These are worn every morning at worship, except upon the Sabbath. The reason they are not worn upon the Sabbath is because the Bible says the Sabbath itself is a sign.[3] Inasmuch as the phylacteries are worn daily as a sign, it is not necessary to have two signs at the same time. Therefore on the holidays and on the Sabbath these are not worn.

3. Besides wearing these phylacteries, he must also wear a talith, a shawl, or a prayer garment. These are the things referred to in Matthew 23:5. (a) For three months before confirmation I had to go through this experience every morning, learning the necessary additional prayers which are included with these things, and getting ready for the great Sabbath of confirmation. In addition to this, I had to learn a portion of the law. It should be remembered that the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses, is divided by the Jews into fifty-two sections. They cover the reading of these five books once a year. Each section is subdivided into seven parts, and every Sabbath seven persons are called to the desk to have a part read to them by the cantor. This is what is referred to in Luke 4:16, when Jesus went to His home town and entered into the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up for to read. The minister who handed him the scroll is called the cantor, or cha-zan.

4. It is expected that the Sabbath after the boy reaches the thirteenth birthday, he will be called to the desk where the cantor is, and have a section read to him. Before the portion is read, the called one introduces his part of the service by reading the following prayer:

“ Bless ye the Lord who is blessed forever; blessed be the Lord who is blessed forevermore. Blessed art thou, O Lord, our God, King of the Universe, who hath chosen us from all people, and hath given unto us His law. Blessed art thou who hath given us the law.”

5. Should the boy expect to be a rabbi, he is to read his own portion, in addition to which he has to read the other six portions for that day to those six other persons who are called to the desk. This means that during the three months previous to this time I had to learn to read in Hebrew the whole of the thirty-second chapter of Deuteronomy, from a scroll without any points, or vowels, or punctuation, or anything to guide the tone or the sense, and had to place every word and every letter in its proper setting.

 ^(p51)   6. After the portion was read which belonged to me, my father came to the desk, and repeated the following words : Baruch she-pe-tra-ne. Literally this means, “ I am blessed, now I am rid of you.” The idea is this: Till the boy is thirteen, the father has to be responsible for all his sins. When he reaches this age, the boy bears his own sins and iniquities, and the father makes a public confession of his thankfulness that the time has come when he is free from this burden of responsibility.

7. This is a great event in the family, not only to the parents but also to the lad. At this time friends and relatives are invited, and a feast is made which generally covers several days. The friends all come to offer their congratulations and their benedictions. The youth is usually the recipient of many fine presents, as a sort of encouragement to continue in the study of the law, especially if he has the prospect of being a teacher.

8. Like all other boys at this age who expect to enjoy the privileges of a teacher, I had to be proficient in the law as well as in the prayer-books. So that at this age, thirteen, I was enabled to repeat by heart nearly the entire one hundred and fifty Psalms in the Hebrew; almost the whole of the Pentateuch, large portions of the prophets and the Scriptures, in addition to a great share of the daily, holiday, and Sabbath prayers.

9. But somehow my taste and desire for Judaism and all that went with it did not increase after my confirmation. It seemed such hard work, and there was so much labor and constant effort to be good and to attain to the rabbinical standard of righteousness, that I decided to give the knowledge of the law and rabbinate a rest, and informed my parents that I wanted to work. ^(p52) This was a disappointment to them, as they felt that I ought to be and must be more than a workingman, as a mechanic or laboring man is not very highly regarded by the rabbinical class.

10. As I grew in years my health kept failing, and I seemed unable to do much labor. I began to show some tendency towards tuberculosis, and this was not an encouragement to have me perform hard labor. At this time an uncle who was quite wealthy, and who had flourishing business interests in England and Africa, offered to give me an education, and promised to send me through Oxford or Cambridge if I desired to go. He then wished me to take charge of his business interests in Africa. This I refused, and started to learn the tinsmith business, binding myself to serve an apprenticeship of five years. I had not been at work long before my health became worse, and by the time two and a half years had gone by I was almost a wreck.

11. I was just tasting the fruits of laborious toil in my weakened condition, when I became hungry for an education. I wished I had remained at school, and had not gone to work. But it now seemed too late. I decided, however, to do something towards securing an education, and a way was opened for me to attend an evening school. I was making encouraging headway, when one evening I met with a serious injury that put an end to this ambition. Having worked a little later than usual that day, I was late in getting to school. Feeling that I must hurry to make up time, I fell and shattered one of my ribs.

^(p53) I said very little about it that night to my people, as I feared if my parents knew it they would not let me attend my classes. It passed on to the next day, and though I suffered much, I would not have the matter attended to. On the second morning, however, as I tried to raise myself from bed, I found it impossible, and the suffering was intense. I then told my parents the whole story, and immediately a doctor was sent for. He found that it was too late to do for me what might have been done had he been notified sooner. Though I was in plasters and bandages for a long time, the rib never came together properly. As a result, for years one piece of bone was dislocated, and ever caused me much pain. For several years I spent much time with doctors and hospitals, still my health was getting worse all the time. I could work but very little, and the future did not hold out much hope for me.

12. At times I wondered whether I had done right in not studying for a rabbi, as possibly I might have avoided all these troubles. It looked as though I might not live very long unless I found some way to improve my health. The more I attended the hospitals, the worse I seemed to be, and I could find but little relief. My hopes for an education were shattered; work I could not do; my parents were poor, and my father did not feel friendly towards me because I had given up the desire of becoming a rabbi. To say the least, life did not seem very desirable, and death was not welcomed; for there was no hope. My interest in Judaism was not increasing, and my love for God was not very strong. I was always taught that God needed appeasing, and unless we did a great deal of repenting He would not be pleased with us. ^(p54) Thus it stood with me as I was entering into young manhood.

On to chapter five

EXPLANATORY  NOTES.

PARAGRAPH 3 (a). — This idea is based on Numbers 15:37-39. Back

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