248. [251] THE JEWS. Before the Last Judgment, the Jews, for the most part, were at the left in the plane of the heel. I have often spoken with them there. They were then under the middle region where is the Christian world.* But after the Last Judgment they were driven away, and now being removed to the left, they dwell there in certain cities where the streets appear filled with filth and impurities, and where the houses are undergoing continual variation. This arises from the fact that newcomers are ever arriving and departing. They are there explored in order to find out who among them are able to acknowledge the Lord as the Messiah, whom they still look for in the world, and who are not. The former are taken to synagogues where they are instructed. * See T 841.