George Eliot and Judaism.
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work-people—being of just the opposite opinion with that Rabbi who stood waiting at the gate of Rome in confidence that the Messiah would be found among the destitute who entered there." It is by the piety and tenderness with which she treats Jewish customs that the authoress shows how supreme her cultivation and refinement are; and the small number of mistakes[1] which can be detected
- ↑ One such mistake—unless, indeed, the authoress has had the Sephardic custom in her eye—is to be found in the intimation that Deronda saw the Talith worn on the Friday evening in the Frankfort Synagogue and at Genoa, The "thanksgiving which was carried on by responses" (Book IV., 362) cannot mean the Mesuman, for little Jacob could not have taken part in that. Ezra Cohen's assertion (Book VI., 322) that the Jews thank God every Sabbath that they were not made women needs correction also, since this benediction is in daily use. "Babli," again, cannot be called an "affectionate sounding diminutive" (Book VIII., 238), for in that case we should have to apply that term to "Talmud babli" also, for which the single word stands. Nor is it permissible to speak of the "vast volume of the Babylonian Talmud" (ibid.), since the Talmud actually fills twelve volumes.
