The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Vol 1 - Predestination

since they made it a religious duty not to partake of
its flesh ? Their Sabbath-observance, however it
had originated, was merely an indulgence in
idleness. The fast young Boman literati would find
their amusement in wandering on the Sabbath-eve
through the tangled, narrow streets of the Ghetto,
watching how the dim lamp within shed its
unsavoury light, while the inmates mumbled
prayers * with blanched lips;' '^ or they would,
like Ovid, seek in the Synagogue occasion for their
dissolute amusements. The Thursday fast was
another target for their wit. In short, at the best, the
Jew was a constant theme of popular merriment,
and the theatre would resound with laughter as his
religion was lampooned, no matter how absurd the
stories, or how poor the punning.'
And then, as the proud Boman passed on the
Sabbath through the streets, Judaism would
obtrude itself upon his notice, by the shops that
were shut, and by the strange figures that idly
moved about in holiday attire. They were strangers
in a strange land, not only without sympathy with