In the vestibule, in the meantime, a number of strangers, showing by their appearance and costume to belong to different countries and to different stations of life, had gathered. They awaited there the conclusion of the services to be invited home for the Sabbath meal, for it is considered a sin in Israel if a brother in faith, be he rich or poor, friend or stranger, passes, or is permitted to pass, the joyous Sabbath Eve by himself, alone and forsaken, and it is regarded an act of piety to grace the festive board of the Sabbath meal with the presence of strangers. And so the company of these strangers is pressingly solicited, and the invitation is cheerfully accepted. Moses ben Chanoch, the Rabbi, and Jacob ben Eleasar, the special messenger, who had on that day returned from the Jewish kingdom of the Khozars, and we, who were cordially greeted after we were presented by our friend Dunash ben Labrat, are the guests of the distinguished "Nasi." Through whatever streets we pass, the houses inhabited by Jews vie in their brightness with the brilliant illumination of the streets. A bright and cheery home on the Sabbath Eve is a law unto the Jew. "From the house that is cheerfully illuminated on the Sabbath great minds will issue"[12] spoke the Talmud, and it said still more: "When the Israelite leaves the synagogue for his home, on the Sabbath Eve, an Angel of Good and an Angel of Evil accompany him. If, upon entering his home, he finds the table spread, the Sabbath lamp lighted, and his wife and children attired in festive garments, ready to receive him, and in unison with him to bless the Holy Day of Rest, the Good Angel sweetly speaks: "Thy next Sabbath, and all the Sabbaths shall be as bright and as happy as this. Peace unto this dwelling forever," to which the Angel of Evil says a reluctant "Amen." But if no preparations have been made to greet the Sabbath, if light, and song, and thanksgiving do not cheer the inmates of the house, then the Angel of Evil exultingly speaks: "May thy next Sabbath and all thy Sabbaths be as this. Gloom, misery, dissension, unhappiness unto this dwelling forever," to which the Angel of Good, bathed in tears, stammers forth a reluctant "Amen."[13] [12] Talmud Babli Sabbath 23b. [13] Talmud Babli Sabbath 119b. Upon entering the palatial residence, the very atmosphere breathes holiness and peace. Scarcely has Chasdai ben Isaac crossed his threshhold, when, in accordance with the established custom in Israel, in a joyous but sacred melody, in which his mother, and wife, and children join, they sing the salute to the Sabbath angels at the domestic hearth, repeating each verse three times. Thus it runs: "Peace unto you, ye angels of God, ye high messenger from the King of Kings, praised be He." "May your coming be in peace, ye angels of God, ye high messengers from the King of Kings, praised be He."