The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-09-22
THE DAY OF AToNEMENT.
LECTURES AND OTHER SERVICES AT THE
81 .f5. sYNAGoGUEs.
!" REPENTANCE AND IT'S SATELLITES"
s. The WANDERING Jewess pa beautiful
Legend.

s. The Wandering Jewess n-.A beautiful
| Legend.
'--------.- .----s-------'--- - =,
The Hebrew Day of Atonement, the no
days In the Hebrew calendar, began at sum
set Sunday aud ended at sunset yesterday
At Its commencement there were services at
all the synagogues in the city. and we give
below sketches Of the lectures delivered by
Rev. Isaac 2. Mendes, pastor of the Beth
Shalom and of the Rev. DR.. a. s. Bettel-
helm, pastor Of the Bayth Ahabah. At the
Kenneth Israel (Polish), OF which Rev. A.
L. Coleman is reader, it is not the custom to
have lectures.
At halfpast 8 o'clock yesterday morning
the Hebrews above the age of thirteen years
again repaired to their respective synagogues
land spent the whole day in prayers and sup
plications to God and in memorial service
for the dead. at sunset the services were
lconcluded with the confession of faith /:
/" Hear, o Israel, the Lord our God the Lord
is one;" and the people upon returning to
their homes broke the fast, which had
existed twenty-four hours.
s'The Wandering Jewess"
DR.. Bettelheim had for the subject of his
lecture the last verse of the 10Th Psalm
/" Thou wilt let me know the path OF life;
fullness of joy Is in Thy presence; pleasures
are at Thy right hand" Legends, he said,
were |" the sentiments and belief among ma
tions couched In vivid dramatic form of lam
| guage, coins sofunknown value current among
people" AS such they could not be treated
as entirely empty fictions, but rather Gas re-
presentation of preponderating tenets,
Iideas-nay, notions, as mirrors Of their
times" But legends were undoubtedly of
great use to history. "a legend of great
antiquity, now part of our Biblical canon,
is that of Job. Job, says the Talmud (Bab
Bathra, folio 14), never did exist, butts only
a legend, a myth"
Another famous legend originated in
France during the time of the greatest ene-
my Israel, / may confidently say mankind,
ever had-namely: Pope Innocent Ill, i'm
ported by bishop of Armenia, and is that
Of the "Wandering jew" Cartaphilus-
that is his name, says the legend-has been
cursed by the Saviour Of the Christians and
condemned to suffer and not to die until He
returns and under this condemnation Car
taphilas is still wandering from land to land,
waiting for the return of the founder Of the
Christian religion. Each time that Cartaphi-
luS attainS an extreme age, he is seized by a
strange malady, which ends in kind Of
trance, from which he awakeS as young as
he was on the day when be was cursed. AS
soon as he puts his foot on foreign country
he speaks the language of it.; is man of
holy conversation and great piety seldom
expressing his opinion about Christianity.
only when pressed to it, and is satisfied with
the humblest living and most frugal fare.
The aforesaid Armenian bishop claimed
that he was personally acquainted with Car
ia philus, aud had received him at his table
previous to this his journey. Another
bishop, Paul de Eitzen, relates that in the
winter of 1912 he saw the Wandering Jew
in church at Hamburg, and frequently had
conversations with him.
The last points in regard to the personal
acquaintance of these bishops with Cartaphi-
| lus hope nobody will doubt. as I hope no.
body will question the fact related by Au-
gustine when he says: "When took jour-
ney into Ethiopia, in company with several
other servants of the Church, to preach the
gospel there. I bebeld in the southern pro-
Vinces of that country nation Of people
who had only one eye in the midst Of their
foreheads." Nor the facts related by the
French Bishop Simon Mayole of people
called the Kuno Kephaloi-the dog-heads.
He says: "After passing the deserts OF
Egypt we met with the Kuno Kephaloi, who
inhabit those regions that border on Ethio-
pia. They live by hunting; they cannot
speak, but whistle; their chins resemble a
serpent's head !; their hands are armed with
sharp claws; their breast resembles that of
greyhound; and they excel in swiftness and
agility"
These people, continues the faithful Bish-
op, when the Ptolemies reigned in Egypt,
taught grammar and music namely: Those
men who had no voice and could not speak.
In the same manner we will accept the lat
ter part of the legend of the Wandering
jew" But on the whole this legend con-
tains the great truth, which the world for
Thousands of years has witnessed, of peo-
pie scattered amongst all nations of the
| globe; yet in spite of continual prosecutions
to which it has been subjected, preserving
its character, its creed, its laws, and its pre-
cepts. Israel, which is personiied by Car
!taphIus, never gets feeble by growing old,
but enjoys everlasting youth. Innocent III.
laid down as command in his " "Constitio
iJudaeorum" that the Jews should be con-
stantly molested, kept in poverty, servitude,
and degradation, but not entirely eXtin-
guished so that they might be lasting wit
ness of the curse resting on them. Here
YOU have the legend explained by q horrid
but true picture.
1 Let us divert our eyes from this fearful
picture, and turn rather to legend, flower
which sprang up in Jewish ground in the
lofty fields of our thoughts and feelings,
where SO many wonderful buds have plea
sanity developed. 1t is the legend OF the
I"Wandering Jewess." When, says the Sefer
hajasher (Wayigash), the sons of Jacob re-
turned The third time from their trip 10
Egypt. and had to bring to their old father
the glad tidings that Joseph was still alive
and occupied high rank as ruler OF Egypt,
being afraid that such an unexpected good
message might shake the old father and be
disastrous to him, they employed Serah, the
daughter Of Asher, maiden beautiful, SEN
sible, and skilful in performing on the harp,
to sing before Jacob. and in ame!odious ar
to prepare her grandfather for the happy
event of meeting again his son, mourned for
so long.
Serah sang and played on the harp, sang
with inspiration eXcelled by none, sang OF
the happiness, when father and his lost son
meet again, and the son becomes the prop
and staff of his old father, and the singing
revived the heart of Jacob, and the old
nafriarch blessed her: "May death never
have power over you; mayst thou live for
ever as thou hast revived my spirit" And
Serah never died. but is still living, entering
every house in time of sorrow and aff1ictlon
70 refresh and revive every broken and sor.
rowfuI heart. Serah with her inspired
songs reviyes the heart of the sick, OF the
widows and orphans, brings consolation ana
/ GOOD tidjpes 10 mourners, and sings like an