The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-09-23
THE HEBREW NEW YEAR.
ITS CELEBRATION IN RICHMOND.
An Excellent Sermon Delivered nj tho syna-
Gegue Beths Ahaba by DIR. T.. n. ca
lisch-A Day Pleasantly Passed.


closed. and tho day was spent in religion
exercises and the performance OF pleasan
social functions. At homes were gathered
the family. while In the afternoon calls wer'
made by those so inclined. and there wer'
number OF informal gatherings about th'
city.
At the synagogues religious services were
held. At Beth Ahaba, on north Eleventh
street. large congregation attended ahu
there WAS excellent music rendered. Inc
text Of the chants weio sung TO se!ect'"h'
by the old masters. and were admirably az
ranged by Professor Reinhardt. ~ -
Bo,tigheiMsr blew the shoiar, OF IaInD
horn. ~.
Rev. Mr.. T.. n. Calisch preached an able
sermon. the full text OF which - az iono"a:
And in thy seed al the nations o the earth
shall be blessed. because thou hast heAl Aeheu
TO my voice -teneas xXli ~
My Friends There was time when to
bavt sprung from Judah's consecraied IONS
was better than to have been born king;
uban the embattied hosts of Israel made
khe world treinble before their martini
sD,rit md men turned for knowledge 10
Ton's h oly hill as the helianthus turns its
face to the rising sun
When our ancestors were brt brutal bar
barisns. cled in skins stripped with sharp
store,s from beasts scarcelv less brutal than
Acme. lives. dwelling III caves. subsisting on
rno,s a nd raw meats with no ASPIRATIONS
abova , ne cTudest creature comforts. no
concenti IN of the mortal soul, no dream OF
mans hi, IN destiny. Solomon was maRng
silver "a 4 tones IN the streets OF Jerusalem.
the Jews were wOrshlplne the Lord on
Hosts fra ming those Jaws which are TO-
dav the II asc principles Of ciYliizaNoD,
NJ DpODlO
sword. com, ,utug the procession OF the
rlanefs and a eaving into the wOOt OF human
history those 'mperish0ble gems truth and
nhilosphv. yl ch the worlds best say
transcend the enius OF man and must. per-
force be the On cious GIT OF God
With theee " JTd5 brave writer begin
an article an tha lconOciast. Austin Texas
on the unvyarr,.nt vi ana century enduring
martvrdoul which the Jew IS compelled TO
undergo. TO Gel y that there is WIDE
spread antipathy ~, linst the Jew were rs
fatuous ~ to deuy tho existence OF the
sun" continues ne. and then proceeds 10
show in burning lanc uage and tn resist
less logic how groundl. IS and unjust Is this
antipathy.
THRESHOLD or TIA NEW YEAR.
The words Of this write. came to mind as
sat down 10 write the thou. 'hts Tor TINS morn
ing. Here we are at the threshold or the
knob 10 open the door into / he chamber of
the next twelve months. VA at there may
lie in store for Us there we CAR not tell.
Though the door be opened TO us. the
chamber 10 darkened 10 US, al q as blind
man feeling his steps, so era" We day by
day INTO the future We know OF whether
our past be leading rs zip the MI TO tue
sunny heights of happiness or WI ether we
shall be plunged III the gloom Of misery.
But though an impenetreble veil Keep the
future from us, the past 10 oars.
As the dwarf seated on the shoulders OF
the giant saw ar and wide. 50 We standing
on the pedestal of the Present gaze Keen
eyed into the past 10 read the lessons there
10 insorib bed, TO decipher duty from the
broken remains of long buried epochs.
A PLEASING TASK.
IT'S most pleasing and fascinating task
thus TO unravel the many threads OF our
present complicated existence, TO trace
back unto their simple origin in the thou
sandfold phases of our social, artistic, fnan-
cial ana religions institutions, TO watch the
tiny bud of possibility expand, unfold and
develop into all the glorious beauty OF real
ization.
To the one who thus pursues his way
there comes tho irresistible conviction OF
the Divine plan that underiss 1t oil. In the
rise of kings, nations, dynasties, people IN
the downfall of empires and the decay OF
kingdoms, amidst all the blind. chaotic
strueglings of past and buried ages one sees
the ine.uctable law laid down by the On
piscience Divine. lis written between the
lines Of history's pages as plainly as IS in
bedded in the mountains the story of Oblit-
Grated centuries.
1T is modern French writer Of greatest
scholarship who saws History Of the peO-
pie of Israel Rensn) that there are
but three histories III tho past Of humanity
that are of any real interest Greek history,
the history of Israel and Roman history
These histories combined constitute what
might be called the history of civilization
No one could have accomplished with
out the aid of tho other two. no tho could
have wrought without the help of the third.
Their united action has set IN motion tie
wheels OF human progress and made posi-
bic the civilization OF this nineteenth CEN
tury. OF these most potent actors in the
drama of human progress Greece played
the intellectual. Rome the civic and Israel
the moral roles. In the giant frame of hu-
man acquisition Greece was the brain, Rome
the Drawn, but Israel the heart.
FOR WHICH ISRAEL STANDS.
Ernest Renen has but echoed the senti-
ment voiced By our prophet. For the law
shall 90 forth from zion and the word of
God from Jerusalem" u is this and this
alone for which Israel stands. this for which
the nations of the world have been and still
are coming unto her. this law of rig hit
eousness, this divine word Israel can
claim nothing else "a essentially her own.
in all other trumphs. IN art. IN invention. in
war. music, drama. mechanics, literature or
discovery, she must yield to others or
take her share as her children indi-
vidually may have wrought, but in this
she stands cOmpl stely and supremely alone.
Yet she has been made 10 suffer for her gu
preInacy.
The world has never recognized its bene-
factors until too late. aud the lot of the one
who has aided humanity has been miserable
in proportion to the good he has done. AS
true as this is of individuals, IL IS only too
unhappily true OF Israel as people. l need
not rehearse 10 you how for twenty centu-
res the Jew has been regarded with suspi-
cion. treated a. il he were an inferior race,
a. though IN Ills bosom beat the heart of an
inhuman harpy. in his veins c0ursed the
blood of q wolf. for twenty centuries he
has suffered the "OppressOcs wrong the
proud mans contumelyn has been the tar
get at which the finger of scorn was ever
pointed. the bunet OF dissou,e princes and
purse-p proud pOtentates, the undeserving
victim of the blind wrath OF the pr0letaran
rabble, the mark against which sectarian
hate and unreasOning bigotry have
leveled their most yindiciiye shafts
despoiled, outraged beaten with many
stripes. expstrlated driven hther
and thither finding no rest for his weary
feet in world which his wisdom has done
30 much to humanize. TO which he has given
happiness here and hope hereafter; alas. too
strong comes the testimony that even this
unhappy period of his martyrdom is not
yet over.