seem calculated to awaken doubt in the mind of the most
credulous, and the most ignorant. But the utter want of
evidence to support its claims ought to be sufficient to open
the eyes of even superstition itself. To establish the genuineness
of an oral tradition, an unbroken chain of witnesses, from
the rise of the tradition to the present time, is indispensably
necessary. The succession of persons who received it from
their predecessors, and transmitted it to their followers, must
be clearly and accurately made out; and the want of a single
link, or the existence of a single chasm in the chain of transmission
is quite sufficient to discredit the whole, and to invalidate
the claims to genuineness. To prove the genuineness of
the (
Hebrew characters), oral law, it is necessary not only to
point out a succession of persons, but a succession of Sanhedrins,
for, as we have seen, the Sanhedrin was regarded as the
foundation and pillar of tradition. If a single chasm in history
exists, where a Sanhedrin cannot be pointed out, or if the
assigned succession be inconsistent with the written and inspired
records of the people, the claims of the oral law are
invalidated, and the Jewish nation convicted as the abettors
of a pious fraud, or the unwitting dupes of an imposture.
Now we have already shown that the Sanhedrin was not
instituted by Moses, and was never heard of until after the
Greek conquest of the land of Israel; and hence it inevitably
follows, that the oral law is totally destitute of that chain of
testimony, by which alone its genuineness could be established.
From Moses to the Maccabees there is one continued chasm,
an immense and impassable abyss, which separates between
modern Judaism and truth. But as the rabbies have endeavoured
to fill up the yawning gulf or rather to build a
bridge in the air for the purpose of passing it, we think it
necessary to examine the success of their efforts. They say,
that a chain of testimony, such as is wanted, does actually
exist, and have endeavoured to point out the various links.
If this prove fallacious, then the last and only hope of modern
Judaism is gone; to prove the fallacy does not require much
argument. The chain of testimony as pointed out by the
rabbies themselves, is inconsistent with history, and wants
continuity even at the very commencement. The first part of
the succession is thus described:—
(Hebrew characters)
