Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1851-04-10


fast, IN consequence of their piety, that in the
course of single generation, there were several
snyagogues erected in Prague
The 'AitneuSehut as it is called, is the Oldest
synagogue In the quarter. For many centuries il
was entirely choked up and buried in the earth
and only discovered and exhumed in the time o.
Wallenstein. A stone stairway leads downward
It's entrance as to vault; the interior is built in
the old Judean style of architecture. Pillars
ceilings, walls and galleries are as black as coal
The fact has no ordinary significance. The snya.
gogue remains to this day place of wonder, since
1t is reported to have given in the early times Of
the settlers regular intelligence of their home in
Palestine. When Titus led his legions against
the City of David, the pillars of the Synagogue
according to the old legend began to tremble; the
doors Of the Ark flew open with a sound of lament
alton, and the holy parchment upon which the
Books of Moses were inscribed, unroled in itself
until the Chapter of blessings and curses was vsi-
BILE. Then arose great weeping and lament a.
mong the old men and children. The young men,
however, armed themselves and set out to the res
cue of the Holy City, with warlke young Rabbi
at their head Scarcely had they passed without
the gate of their city when the knees of their lead
er began to tremble, and his feet were rooted to
the earth. i am like the ass of Balaam,' he cried;
i see warning visions-they come up from the
earth and down out of the clouds, and beckon me
to return Then exclaimed several Thou hast
not repeated thy morning prayer with due devotion,
or hast omitted sentence therefrom Let us
choose another leader, who is undefled' But it
happened to all as to the young Rabbi, so they
turned sorrowfully homeward and Jerusalem was
lost
When the eventful day came when Zion fell
and jerusalem was destroyed, the synagogue was
suddenly filled with thick Egyptian darkness
The congregation fled in terror from the temple,
but 10! the sky was as blue and clear as ever
Shudderlng, they comprehended the meaning of
the sign; they commenced fast, rent their best
garments and strewed the ashes of desolation up
on their heads. After seven days the mysterious
darkness disappeared from the synagogue but the
white walls remained as black as the charred ce-
dar joists of the Temple of jerusalem The night
of that exile which was thenceforth the doom of
the scattered Children of Isreal remains as a per-
petual admonition upon the walls. Their black
ness is holy; no human hand dares to remove it :;
the blasphemous finger would wither, that dared to
scratch thereon. But on the Day of Redemption,
the stain will disappear of ITSELF and the walls of
the consecrated edifice suddenly beam with dia-
mond lustre like the gates of Heaven. Since the
fall of Jerusalem; therefore, the curse in common
use among the Jews of Prague is BE you black
enedr
Any change in the structure and decoration of
this half subterranean temple is forbidden. Dur
ing the last century, sexton ventured to attempt
driving a nail into the walls The ladder on which
ne had ascended tumbled down, hammer and nails
fell out of his hands, and he remained whole
hour hanging dead in the air. At last he gradual
y lowered to the earth by invisible spirits and on
ly came to life again after he had been dressed in
the garments of the grave. This man, on whose
countenance a smile was never afterwards seen,
saw and heard all that was passing around him
while he lay IN the trance-the lamentations of
his children, the voices of his friends and acquan-
tances, and even the tears and kisses of his wife
which he felt like melted lead on his face, without
being able to move. While hanging in the air,
ne beheld terrible sights with the inward eye
What they were, he confded to no one, except the
celebrated Hook Reb Lob most wise and pow
erful Rabbi, to whom he confessed
Near the graveyard, which stands in the middle
Of the Ghetto, the residence of the great Rabbi is
still pointed out, and the garret where he passed
long summer days and winter nights in cabalistc
studies. Here he was waited upon by 'Golem,' a
slave made Of clay, to whom, with the assistance
of the Mag, he had given life, in order that no one
born of woman no being darkened by the breath
of earthly passion might approach him. So holy
the Rabbi that even in the distance, the gull
ty and impure were troubled by his glance. A
look of his eye compelled liars and slanderers to
speak out their most secret thoughts and crimnate
themselves. The pious Empress, Maria Therese,
once came to Prague, and determined to drive the
Jews out of the land. Mighty advocates high of
fcals even Catholic priests, won by precious gold,
endeayored In vain to soften her heart When
'Roch Reb Lob heard this, he took the huge Chal-
dalc folio In which he had been reading and set
out to visit the Empress He crossed the bridge.
and when ne had reached the city on the other
side, great crowd of curious Christians collected
around him, and cries of contemnt arose ON all