The herald., 1896-11-29
!: SIGNIFICANCE OF Thanksgiving !:
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A SERMON by DR.. s0LonoN

1.-THE Significance Of Thanksgiving
Day. was the title of the sermon de-
livered by Rabbi NJ. G. Solomon at Tenn
pie B'nai Birth on Thursday last, in sub
stance as follows:
My Friends: Has space its land
mark? So has time. You traverse
continent and at once you notice boun-
dairy lines, some of more, others of less,
Importance You venture into Clio
realm, l. e., you open the records OF hl-
manity, and there, too, you behold dl-
visions, epochs and eras of different ma
tions and civilizations. You read the
story of any people, of It's birth ana
growth, of its progress and developments,
and again you see divides, epoch-mah-
ing events.
Such We're the beginnings of the pill
grim fathers; their strifes and struggles
for liberty, both civil and religious;
their strong sense of determination TO
worship God according to the dictat IS
of their own consciences and to be gov
erned by His law, the law of equity, the
law of justice and Righteousness; their
departure from the Fatherand for
climes unknown and unexplored, far
away-beyond the sea-and at last. af-
ter long, untold suffering and many
hardships. their landing from the May
flower on the western shores of the At
lantic, and planting the standard of lib
erty upon Plymouth Rock, that renown-
ed fastness from which all the holy
impulses and noble influences emanated
that made this country what it is-a
haven of freedom, a home for the op-
pressed and prosecuted, a land of milk
and honey, of commerce and industry,
of great progress and high civilization.
The same divine providence that gui1-
ed Abraham, the father of ou"
race and the founder of our religion,
guided and directed also these patri-
archs, the progenitors of this great ma
ton, and the grand republic-America
The same God, the God of freedom,
justice and righteousness. the Father Of
all mankind. "Yahveh," said unto each
and every one of them. as He did unto
Abraham, the first Hebrew: Get thee
out of thy country, and from thy kindred
and from thy fathers house, unto the
land that 1 will show thee. And
l will make of thee a great nation. AMI
I will bless thee. and make thy name
great, and thou shalt be a blessing"
He believed and trusted, In God; so did
they. He prayed and sacrificed to the
maker of heaven and earth, his sup
porter, guardian and protector; so did
they offer up prayers and sacrifices,
of thanksgiving, to the Lord, who had
saved them from their enemies and
delivered them from the greatest of
straits-drought. famine, starvation.
They hoped and feared, and reaped in
JOY Widl lIiSy Hdu sOW IL III lcaIe put
in their JOY they did not forget to praise
and thank Him who is the source of AL
good gifts for the bounteous blessings
He had bestowed upon them.
This. their strong moral sense: this,
their deep religious sentiment, it was
that turned all their manly efforts into
great achievements, that made all
their hard lahore yield the best fruits,
that crowned all their contests with vic
tory and their enterprises with SUCCESS
and rendered them stout and sturdy
free and equal, an Independent and self
reliant nation. Was not Gods word their
guide in all their walks of life?
Their church organization was sim
pie, their church life pure, hence their
name "Puritans." Their church, like
our ancestors, was spiritual, without
pictures, without images or idols of any
kind, for they abhored images image
worship and idolatry. Their hymns
and prayers We're the Psalms Of David;
their holy text was the Hebrew Bible;
they preferred it to the gospel; their
house of prayer thus was, in sense, the
Tabernacle Of Israel-a true sanctuary.
Their family life, like our patriarchs',
was distinguished for chastity and char
ity, for piety and purity for sacred
ness and sanctity; 1t breathed the spirit
of holiness ''Ye shall be holy, for 1, the
Lord, your God, am holy" was their
motto.
ana tnelr pubic life, like that of our
prophets, was fraught with that pro-
round sense of duty and responsibility,
with that deep love of freedom of
thought. speech and action, with all the
stern, yet noble, qualities and civil vir-
tues that characterized those ancient
seers of Israel. They loved liberty and
valued 1t higher than life itself. They
Wouio serve no master but the Lord of
Hosts. TheC polity was based upon the
Biblica! behests: Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God. with all thy heart. with
an thy soul and with all thy might"
AND thy shall love thy neighbor as
myself for they believed in humanity
ana IN democratic theocracy What
wonder that they prayed to God when
IN need and In distress, that they rem
dered praises and thanks unto the
Iather OF mankind for all his dlspensa-
But this strong moral sense. this deem