Customs of Jerusalem Jews

Customs of Jerusalem Jews.

Peculiarities in the customs of the Jerusalem Jews are mentioned in various accounts; only a few can be cited here. It was the custom to put on tallit and tefillin during the afternoon; to recite seliHot also in the afternoon; and on SimHat Torah to deck the synagogues with hangings ("Z. D. P. V." iii. 225). Reference has already been made to the custom of reciting Isa. lxiv. 10 and of making a rent in one's garments when approaching the city (ShulHan 'Aruk, OraH Hayyim, 561). The Sephardim were accustomed to have two wives; Nathan Spira was the first German rabbi to follow this custom ("Gannat Weradim"; ShulHan 'Aruk, Eben ha-'Ezer, 9). Only very small tombstones, with no inscriptions, are set over the graves, because they are apt to be stolen by the non-Israelites (Naphtali b. Jacob, "'Emek ha-Melek," p. 14a). To-day the Jews are wont to throw rough bits of stone, on which are written names and prayers, into the Tombs of the Judges, the same as is done through holes in the walls of the Haram of Hebron ("Jour. Bib. Lit." xxii. 172). For further peculiarities, see Luncz, l.c. v. 82; "Sammelband," Mekize Nirdamim, 1888, p. 26; Obadiah of Bertinoro, ed. Neubauer, p. 61. Joseph b. Mordecai ha-Kohen wrote a series of hymns to be sung in praise of Jerusalem ("Sha'ar Yerushalayim," Venice, 1707).

Jerusalem