Book of the Covenant

The ma’amin said: Know that all the good which a man achieves in this world is of two kinds: good works and faith. If I can attribute good works and faith to the Jews, then they have everything. I shall begin to tell of these good works which you cannot deny and I shall start with the Ten Commandments: I [am the Lord, etc.] (Exodus 20:2). The Jews declare God’s unity; You shall have no [other gods beside Me] (Exodus 20:3). The Jews do not make idols; You shall not take [the name of the Lord in vain] (Exodus 20:7). There is no nation in the world which avoids vain oaths as does Israel: Remember [the Sabbath day] (Exodus 20:8). Only Israel keeps the Sabbath; Honor [your father . . . ] (Exodus 20:12); likewise, You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery (Exodus 20:13). Similarly, there are no murderers or adulterers among them. Oppression and theft are not as widespread among Jews as among Christians who rob people on the highways and hang them and sometimes gouge out their eyes. You cannot establish any of these things with respect to the Jews. These Jews and Jewesses, who are modest in all their deeds, raise their children, from the youngest to the oldest, in the study of the Torah. If they hear a vile word from the mouth [of a child], they beat him and chastise him so that he would no longer swear with his lips. They train him too to pray every day. If they hear that he has become accustomed to swearing, they will keep him from [doing] so. Their daughters, with modesty, are not to be seen about nor found wanton like the daughters of the gentiles who go out everywhere to streetcorners. The Holy One, blessed be He, has prevented all this [among the Jews]. Are you not then ashamed and embarrassed to say that you are a good people since you regularly and publicly encourage these sins? [You are] not from a people that will prevent this sort of thing. On the contrary, [your children] become accustomed to sin. [The sins] may be light as cobwebs in the windows of a house. Yet [such cobwebs] keep out the light [as] these sins keep the light from you.

I tell you further that whenever a Jew stops at the home of his fellow for a day or two or [even] a year, he will take no payment for food from him. This is so with all the Jews in the world who act toward their brethren with compassion. If they see their brother a captive, they ransom him; [if] naked, they clothe him and do not allow him to go about begging. They send him provisions in secret. You see with your own eyes that the Christian goes out on the highways to meet travellers—not to honor them—but to swindle them and take all their provisions from them. No one can deny that all these good traits which I mentioned are found among the Jews and [that] their opposites [are found] among Christians. Further, the Jews keep their Sabbaths and festivals conscientiously, while the Christians do all manner of work and travel about even on Sunday which is their holy [day]. What more can you ask for in the way of good deeds found among Jews and bad deeds found among Christians?