American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-10-11
JEWISH RITES AND TRAITS.

community, as they always do or
each annual return. Among the
most noted of the Jewish rites and
ceremonies, are the Feast of the
Passover; Feast of Penticost, OF
anniversary of the giving of the
Law at Mount Sinai; the Feast of
the Tabernacle, to represent their
wandering forty years in the desert;
the Feast of Trumpets, which an
nounced the first day of the year
aud of each lunar month, and the
expiatory fasts, aud fasts in memo-
~ of their transgressions, punish
ments and pardon.
The singularity of these rites and
ceremonies, and the sOlemnity with
which they are observed, together
with their seeming isolation from all
other people, have combined to
throw around the jewish nation the
mantle of NJ. stery, and excite in
the minds of the curious a desire to
lift the veil of antiquity that seems
to envelop and exclude them from
the rest of mankind. The venera-
ton and sanctity that attach to the
antiquity of their ceremOnials, and
their apparent Indifference to any
thing new, serve to increase the de-
sire to penetrate the arcana of their
singular history. The same man
ners, customs, habits and language
have distinguished them through
out the thousands of years that
have rolled back OF the tide of
time. Even the features, form and
expression of their physical confOr-
nations, together with their utter
repugnance to any alliance with
other nations, are questions that
not only puzzle the curious, but
furnish incontrovertible evidence
of the truth of prophecy. With
them it can be truly said, there has
been no s1variableness or shadow
of turning" The same religious
observances that characterized the
worship of their fathers mark that
of the present day. Amid the
ever-changing current of christi an
creeds, effecting numerous altera-
lions in theory and in action, and
which leave the mind in doubt and
uncertainty, the Jews have re-
NAMED true to the faith of their
fathers; and in rigid and faithful
observance of their religious forms
and ceremonies, have set an exam
pie to the christians worthy of all
emulation.
Another marked popularity is
their great aversion to matrimonial
alliances outside of their own race,
by which they maintain their e1is
tence as a separate and distinct
people. They rarely pursue any
avocations but those of veDders of
merchandise or dealers in money,
and while they may be considered
as behind all other nations in tho
field of enterprise, yet they are
among the most thrifty, Industrious
and successful operators to be found
in all the ranks of trade and COM
meIce' A worthy and commenda-
BILE trait in the Jewish character is
the strict attention paid to their
own concerns, without any officious
intermeddling with those of others.
These characteristics are not con-
fined to any one locality, but dis
tinguish them throughout the
globe. In every cline and in every
land they are the same; and, with
the world seemingly arrayed against
them. they prosper in business, ac-
cumulate immense wealth, aud, in
many instances, have become the
holders of the purse strings of the
exchequers of nations.
Never since their conquest by the
Romans have the Jews, as a people,
been held in higher repute, Or pos
sessed of such advantages as it is
their privilege now to enjoy. In
the most liberal and enlightened
portions of Europe and America,
they labor under no civil disabili-
ties. AS the monarchs of finance.
they may be said to govern the
world. There is scarcely a cabinet
on the European continent where
some eminent Israelite does not
WELD a potent sway and in Iitera
tnre, science and the arts, their in
fiuence is widely disseminated and
most benignly felt. In their indi>
vidual and social relations, many
are held in the highest esteem, and
occupy prominent positions CT hon
or and profit, in the most fined
and cultivated nations of the earth.
There Is one merit practiced by
the Jews that is worthy of all praise,
and that is the tenacity with which
they cling to those of their own
race, 1t matters not what NAV he