Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-31
THE DAY OF PENTECOST.
An Ancient Festival That Will Begin at
Sunset To-Day-It Marks the Climax of
Emotional Judaism-A Day of Re-

| An Ancient Festival That Will Begin al
Sunset To-Day-It Marks the Climax OF
Emotional Judaism-A Day OF Re-
unions.
The great and ancient Jewish festival OF
Pentecost will begin at sunset to-day, the
fifteenth day after the first day of Passover,
and continue on Wednesday. 1t will be
celebrated by the Hebrews in New York
and all over the country and throughout the
world. Pentecost marks the climax of
emotional Judaism for the year.
When it is over, most of the
rabbis here will rest till September.
There are extremely rigid rabbis, how
ever, especially among those who minister
to our Russian immigrants, who will not
then rest, as they are engaged every month
of the year in the observance of fasts, feasts,
memorial days and anniversaries of ancient
establishment, many of which are wholly
disregarded by the great mass of American
lied Hebrews
Pentecost Is called "Shabuoth" in the
Hebrew language and occurs on the sixth
day of the month of Sivvan. 1t is the an
niversary of the Sinaitic revelation, given,
as described in the book of Exodus, when
the Lord decended in fire upon Mount Sinai
livered the Ten Commandments TO Moses
The exact date of the Shabuoth Is not
told in the Scri iptures, and Moses
exodus XIX merely says that the revela-
ton was given In the third
month after the exodus from Egypt The
day on which it is held was fixed in the
most ancient rabbinical literature from ira
dition, that ran back for many ages, even
for ages before the Christian era. Biblical
commentators say that it is the day spoken
of by Moses Exodus XIV, 22) as the
"feast of weeks, of the first fruits of wheat
harvest" when the "sheaf of the wave Of
tering" was brought Geviticus. xiii, 15).
Pentecost, or Shabuoth, is referred to sew
eral times in the New Testament 1t is mar
rated in the Book Of Acts that on the day
of Pentecost the Spirit descended upon the
apostles in Jerusalem, enabling them to
speak in the many languages of the people
assembled there. In the same book it is
told how, upon one occasion, Paul made
haste in his travels so as "to be at Jerusalem
the day of Pentecost;" and again, in the
First Epistle to the Corinthians Paul wrote
that he would tarry at Ephesus until Pen
tecost." The feast of Shabuoth was OBJ
served by the Hebrews at that time, as it
had been long before and as it is vet, in
memory of the revelation on Mount Sinai.
Shabuoth is now day of home feasting
and of family reunions. 1t is also day Of
confirmation in the synagogues. In other
times confirmation day for every Hebrew
boy was on the Sabbath after his thirteenth
birthday, but change has somehow been
brought about. In referring to this
change, Rabbi Isaac M. Wise says in
the american Lsrdelite: 'HThe new school
in Israel appointed one confrma-
tion day in every year and admitted the
girls to il, which is by no means the general |
custom in Europe, nor among our American
orthodoxy who live way back in the past.
Among us of the new school it is nearly |
general that confirmation day of boys and
girls together is kept on Shabuoth Most
all of our people celebrate Shabuoth every
year chiefly on account of the confrma-
tion."