abala. Ragon, after describing the Jewish ceremony when the word
Jehovah was pronounced by the High Priest in the Holy of Holies, goes on
to say that "Schem-hamm-phorasch," another term for the Tetragrammaton,
forms the sacred word of a Scotch degree, and that this belief in its
mystic properties "will be found at the head of the instructions for the
third degree of the Knight of the Black Eagle, called Rose-Croix," thus:

Q. What is the most powerful name of God on the pentaculum?
A. Adonai.
Q. What is its power?
A. To move the Universe.

That one of the Knights who had the good fortune to pronounce it
cabalistically would have at his disposal the powers that inhabit
the four elements and the celestial spirits, and would possess all
the virtues possible to man.[433]

That this form of the Rose-Croix was of purely Jewish origin is thus
clearly evident. In the address to the candidate for initiation into the
Rose-Croix degree at the Lodge of the "Contrat Social" it is stated:

This degree, which includes an Order of Perfect Masons, was brought
to light by Brother R., who took it from the Kabbalistic treasure
of the Doctor and Rabbi Neamuth, chief of the synagogue of Leyden
in Holland, who had preserved its precious secrets and its costume,
both of which we shall see in the same order in which he placed
them in his mysterious Talmud.[434]

Now, we know that in the eighteenth century a society of Rosicrucian
magicians had been instituted in Florence which was believed to date
back to the fifteenth century and to have been partly, if not wholly
composed of Orientals, as we shall see in the next chapter; but it seems
probable that this sect, whilst secretly inspiring the Rose-Croix
masons, was itself either nameless or concealed under a disguise. Thus
in 1782 an English Freemason writes: "I have found some rather curious
MSS. in Algiers in Hebrew relating to the society of the Rosicrucians,
which exists at present under another name with the same forms. I hope,
moreover to be admitted to their knowledge."[435]

It has frequently been argued that Jews can have played no part in
Freemasonry at this period since they themselves were not admitted to
the lodges. But this is by no means certain; in the article from _The
Gentleman's Magazine_ already quoted it is stated that Jews are
admitted; de Luchet further quotes the instance of David Moses Hertz
re