Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1895-09-19
THE JEWISH NEW YEAR.
YEAR OF 565e ROLLS ARouNo--THE DAY OF APPOINTMENT MOST
 SOLEMN OF HOLIDAYS.
The Tenth Day Of the New Year-services
 Will be Held at the Synagogue.

financially, of the descendants of the children of Israel in this community until holiday causes their places of business to be closed. 1t is then that their strength is most apparent, for then our city has the appearance of a Christian Sabbath day.
 Today every Jewish place of busi- ness is closed, and at Il o'clock this morning the Temple was filled with a deyout congregation of people who gave the closest attention to the solemn services that were conducted by Rabbi Becker.
 The evening twilight of September 18th was to the Jews throughout the world the commencement of 6 new day and a new year. It will be the dawn of Rosh Hoshona-the first of the year 5656, reckoned from the beginning of the world.
 That the year with it's bright possi- bilities and it's anticipation of hap piness, should begin with the dark ness of night instead of with rosy light of the morning is an imme- moral Jewish idea, based upon the Mosaic account of the creation, wherein it is set down that ''the evening and the morning were the first day"
 The new year comes with the Jewish month Tishri, which is really theI seventh month of the old Hebraic year. The first month is the month Nissan, which is the time of year when the flowers are blooming. The singularity of the fact that the year is reekoned from the first of the seventh month is explained by the origin of the festi- val of Rosh Hoshana. It was es- tablished te celebrate the redemption of the children of Israel from their long Egyptian bondage. While the tribes were wandering in the wilderness on their jouney to the promised land, the Lord gave His command to Moses regarding the institution and celebration of the new holiday. This divine mes- sage out the cloud is recorded in this way in Leviticus, chap. xiii, 23d verse: Speak unto the children of sIsrael saying that in the seventh month on the first day. of the month shall ye have Sabbath, a memoral of blowing of trnmpets, 8 holy con- ventiOn." So the day was estab- lished. Moses and Aaron made it the beginning of the new year. And even to this later time, all through the centuries that have followed since the receipt of that command of the Lord, trumpets have been blown in every Synagogue of the earth and Jews have met for worship when the setting of the sun has ushered in the month of Tishri and the new year that came with it.
 The calender of the Jews is the lunar calender.
 On the evening of September 19 the faint crescent of new moon will hang in the West. It Is the harvest moon, when the fruits of the orch ards and vienyards are ripe and the grain of the fields have been gather ed.
 The special passage of Scripture that it is customary to read is that part of the Pentateucb, which de scribes the intended sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham. Upon that incident is placed one of the funda- mentals tenets of the Jewish faith. 1t proves to orthodox and reformed Jews alike that God does not and never did sanction the sacrifice of life, even as an atonement.
 Between new years. day and the day of atonement are ten days called Pentitential days. They are days of prayer and preparation. The day of atonement is most sol emn and important of all the Jewish holidays. 1t is a day when forgive ness is asked of God and man. The idea underlying it is that no man can be forgiven of God until first he has received forgiveness from his fellowman. It is 8 day of self investigation and contrition. Services are held in the evening upon which the day begins. The next day services are continued from morning until sent of sun. The services of the afternoon are par ticularly impressive. They are memorial services held in remem- brance of the dead. TLey resemble in many respects the Masonic Lodge of Sorrow. The names of those who have passed from life during the