The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-09-20
Impressive Services in All the
Hebrew Places of
Worship.
BLOWING OF THE RAMS HORN
Discourses by Drs. Voorsanger,
Levy, Nieto and Fryer.
Special Music.

to sober enjoyments outside OF 1t. AS
rule. the Jew, more particularly IN the
Tinted States is rather lax in regard to
the observance of the solemn DAYS of his
faith: but with singular nnanimlty OF
purpose, all classes-reformed, conserva-
tive. radical or orthodox-all unite IN set
ting apart as sacred the New Year and the
Day of Atonement.
In this CITY. services were held in the
TEMPLES. Good audiences were noticeable
in all of them, and in many cases extra
benches had to be placed to accommodate
the large crowds that throuGed in. Pre-
vious to the Musaph service, the Shofar or
cornet was blown thirty times with differ
ent intonations. This was supposed to
bring the audience to sense OF the lmpor-
lance of the day. Sermons appropriate to
the occasion were preached by the rabbls,
and the musical programmes rendered by
the choirs took the form OF traditional
recitatives and classical compositions.
The great audience at Temple En-
MANUEL heard exquisite music. and timely
and eloquent sermon.
The new union praYer-book that has re-
Gently been adopted by the congregation
was used for the first time. Much OF the
music was the composition of Cantor E. ].
Stark. Solemn Sounds" a fine quintet
selection, was his production.
The regular choir was REINFORCED by
quartet, and the singers were Miss Daisy
Conn, Miss Jeanette Wilcox, Miss ].
Eastman, Nine. Bernadi, NJ. Jones, j. G.
Hughes, Charles Morrow and W. Heilson:
DR.. Voorsanger presented the lesson OF
the day, as follows: During my recent
travels 1 passed village church which
had sun dial in its tower, and beneath the
dial a German legend was inscribed, which
paraphrased in English would read some
what as follows:
Time flies man remains;
Man dies, hope remains;
Hope dies, God remains.
"The simplicity of these words invests
them with a sentiment appropriate to this
dav. Time, old Father Time, flies and
dies and man watches his passing on.
Time is Gods instrument for making his
tory, Man is million and half years
old, but his historical record covers
but four thousand years of that time. What
an ininitesminal portion of all Infinite
period Within these four thousand years
civilizations were born and have died.
Within these years man never was an in
FAINT; the archaeological museums, the ruins
OF old countries, the earth itself contains
the testimony of the tombs. Every civil
ization was a sign-manual of power. They
passed away, and so man also dies. But
hope remains. Death means change, not
humiliation. The eternal cycles that are
passed shall be succeeded by an eternal
number to come. Man dies, but men live.
RUNS may not be rebuilt, but out of his
experience man creates the new world in
which he is to live. And should the last
cycle really come and hope itself die then
God shall abide and remain. God is not
only the Creator but the motive of life"
Congregation Sherith-Israel worshiped
at the Taylor-street synagogue under most
favorable circumstances. The special music
under the direction of Cantor Davis
and Mrs. H. ]. Stewart was novel
in the introduction of stringed in
struments and the adaptation of Men
delssohn and Mozart music to the service.
Every feature of the music was success.
Rabbi Nieto, in opening his discourse,
said:
All life may be defined as a retrospect and
forecast. Man ever taking under con-
s1deration his past, analyzing his failures and
successes, and gaining experience from them,
wherewith he would endeavor to fortify him.
self for the future. Thus experience became
the stimulus of his hopes the inspiration of
his energies. But while the few that were
earnest and sincere enough to ascribe the
causes which emenated from themselves and
produced defeat to the proper source, the
many overrated their own Intelligence and
were too self-satisfied and oplnlonated to adj
NIT their own incapacity had been their ruin.
Continuing, he said:
The greatest misfortune that besets the ma
jority of men is that their hope is an indefinite
yearning for an underlined something. If in
stead OF this, men would study themselves,
become masters OF their own natures and pos
sess thorough knowledge of their own abili-
ties and plan the successive steps by which
they would mount to the realization of an
defined and
their powers, we would have less OF failures.
In concluding he said:
There is a saying in the Talmud that after
the destruction of the first temple prophetic
insight was taken away from the prophets and
given to fools. At the risk OF being ranked as
one of the fools l will to-day prophesy to you
that in a couple of generations there will be
spiritual revolution. Experience and history
teach US that to the apathetic attitude of the
old Hebrew toward the religion they claimed
to revere was due the progressive movement
that set in. To-day there is the same apathy
apparent. / know that for the past two years
there has been religious revival in the City,
and feel in my Utmost consciousness that
this agitation will go on till at last so great
spiritual height shall be reached as would
verify in great measure all the noble things
the old prophet foretold.
Congregation Ohabai Shalome observed
the ceremonies Of New Years day at its
new synagogue on Bush street. The
CuuICu, 6lLAOuRA 1lOb obllOtAy
is conservative, and as its position was
stated by the new pastor, Rabbi Julius
Fryer, at admits progressive ideas in
keeping with the general welfare of the
congregation"
Rabbi Fryer's text was Numbers 29:i,
ION the first day of the seventh month we
shall blow the cornet (shofar), a holy con-
vocation unto all"
He reviewed at considerable length the
noteworthy events of the past year. 1t
had been an eventful and in many in
stances calamitous year, he said, one that
had brought gloom to many hearts and
made many valiant soul tremble at the
approaching storm. The cornet blowing
that marked the services of the day was
symbolic. 1t was like the bugle blast that
signified to the traveller on the verge of
precipice that danger and aid are both
near. 1t warned him of danger, but like
wise saved him from being hurled into
eternity through the lurking dangers of a
dark and tempestuous night.
The progress of human life was COM
pared to the seasons. Infancy was like
spring, the rejuvenating and resurrecting
time of nature; youth like the summer of
ripening fruits; autumn, the solemn time