Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1885-04-10


house of prayer when leaving it, OF
passing by outside. An orthodox
Israelite would no more look be-
hind him when he has once passed
tho 'shool' than glance back into a
cemetery when coming from a
/ funeral.
BY far and away, though, the
most remarkable Of these curious
regends of the dead is certainly
that attaching to the great Syna-
gogue of Posen, one OF the oldest
s,nagogues in Northern Europe.
1t must first be explained that on
the Day of AtOnemcnt-ihc most
solemn of all holy days among the
Jcws-orthodoX people arc accuS-
toned to wear, over their ordinary
attire, their ShrOuds the white
linen garments in which they are
some day to be buried. Further, It
is the custom in all orthodox con-
gregations throughout Europe for
the worshippers who attend on this
solemn occasion to cover their
heads with their talithim, or pray
ing scarves for with his head so
covered, every Israelite, obseryant
or not, is buried. Only in one syn
agogue do the members depart from
this universal practice--ln the ait
shool Of Posen. Here this prac-
tice is prohibited. For upwards OF
three hundred years the Worship
pers have never covered their heads
with their 'tallihim' as in other
Jewish communities. And this ac-
counted for the following legend :
In the last year Of his rabbInlte,
tue famed Rabbi Joseph, the God
ly, then chief Rabbin of P0sen, be-
ing old and inirm, vas led into the
'alt-skool,' or Old Synagogue, ON
the eve Of the Day Of Atoucment.
The hundreds Of large wax candles,
lit in memory of the dead, were
ablaze, and the congregation, all in
white shrouds, and with their
talithim' over their heads, lose as
their chief entered. The reader
took his place, and was just about
to intone the opening prayer, kol
Nidre,' when Of a sudden he found
that some one was standing by his
side. Surprised, he looked round,
and TO his amazement discovered
that the reading gplaiiOrm, which
should have been unOccipicl, was
tightly packed. Or sudden. too,
the worshippcrs became aware that
they were being inconyeniently
crowded. They tried to turn, bat
in vain. There was no moving
either to the right or lett. Den,cr
and denser grew the throng; the
crush was intolcrdblr, and 10 be-
came almost impossible to breathe.
Terrified, the c)ngrcguion cried
aloud to the rabbin, who lifted his
eyes from the prayerb1ok, npon
which they had been intrntly iycd.
gave one swift glance round, AMI
saw that a multitude of dead - of
'meisim were present. crowded
there among the living, the dead
also in their white grave clothes,
also their prayerscarvcs over their
heads, and Therefore not 20 bc dl5.
tinguished from theliylng worship.
pers. High above the clamor Of
the people rose the voice Of Rabbi
Joseph. 'Ye thatare Of the living,
remove your talithim = he cXclaim-
ed. In an instant this was done,
aud then were seen the lead, stand
ing there among the living, and
known by this, that their heads re-
mained cOvered-fOr they dare not
remove the 'talith,' or praying
scarf, in which they are cnyciOpcd
when committed to the earth. In
the name of the Lord God Of Israel,
exclaimed the rabbin, in thcnames
of your PatIiarchs, and in tic
names of your own ancestors. adj
jure you to leave this house Of pray
or of the living, that We, who arC
alive,may worship unhindered here
even as you did in your times I'm
mediately the throDg began TO mel
away, the crowd seemed to dis
perse, and in few moments The
synagogue was occupied only by it,
living cOngregants. In memory o
this terrible eve Of the Day o
AtOnement, the members OF th,
Great Synagogue Of Posen abstain
to this very day from coYering theiI
heads with their praying-scarye'
OH this solemn holiday.
Pm down on roller skates" said
a young lady while with party OF
friends the other afternoon in a
candy store.
Yes, | noticed you were ycstcr-
day when | say yo1 ut the rink.
You seemed to bo down most OF
the time
And then all the spitefal sisters
of Eve giggled at their innocent
sister.
Capt. Il. f. Bradley, Riverton
Md, says in the year 1881 he use'
Powolrs Prepared Chemicals OF
corn, and thinks it is the best ant
cheapest fertilizer on the market
The price of Powell's Prepared
Chemicals is only 5000 per bbI
a sufficient quantity to make on
half ton complete fertilizer. Brown