The herald., 1896-03-30

that you are in the period of your physi-
cal and mental development and able to
shift for yourself. "Let lis therefore re-
joice and be glad at this progress of hui
manity. Let us glory in our mission. As
in the past, SO in the future, let us remain
true and faithful to our cause. Let us
continue to work and labor assiduousIy in
the vineyard of God till that day will come
| when the Lord will be one, and his name
| one. Amen.'
The musical program rendered was
especially arranged for the occasion. II
was in charge of Mrs. Orr Haralson, So
prano and leader; Mrs. j. G. Scarborough,
contralto, and Prof. Theodore Martens at
the organ. Oh Bless the Lord, My Soul,
sung by Mrs. Scarborough, was the feature
of this portion of the service.
DIR. EDELMAN's SERMON
AT the service of the Moses Monteflore
| congregation the men wore their hats, as
is the ancient Hebrew custom. The SUBJ
ject Of Rev. A. NJ. Edelman's sermon was
lsraei's Preservation. 1t was as follows:
The festival which we celebrate today,
aside of being the remembering festival of
the emancipation of the children of Israel
from the Egyptian bondage, has also a most
noble and exaltsd signification, namely,
the educatiun of our children, to lead our
young ones into the paths that are good
and true, to train them for their duties of
life, and to fit them for more honorable.
more useful, and for better course in
active life, Our great success in life is
largely dependent upon the religious train
ing which we receive in our childhood.
Wherever a pure childhood goes before,
| there a pure manhood and noble woman
hood is generally sure to follow after it,.
| Our great legislator Moses commanded
us therefore by saying, when thy son
asketh thee IN time to come, saving, what
mean these testimonies, statutes and judg-
ments, which the Lord our God hath COM
manded you? Then shalt thou say unto
HIM, we wereIbondmen to Pharaoh in
Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of
Egypt with mighty hand. Therefore hath
the Lord commanded us to do all these
statutes, to fear Him, SO that He might
| preserve us alive. And if we do observe
all these commandments, it shall be
counted to our Righteousness. (5.B.M.,
| 6.20.21.)
These scriptual words prove Moses supe.
riorty to all law-glvers and legislators who
| lived before and after him. These words
show that he was greatly interested con-
cerning the unknown future. not only for
the welfare of ithe people who were living
with him at that time, but also for that OF
their children throughout all generations.
Hence. when that great prophet was about
to throw off his mortal coil and to return
his soul to his Maker.he again admon ished
his people, saying: "Take to heart all those
words which I testify among you today,
that ye may command your children after
| this law"
Moses did not only not prohibit search
| ing and inquirlng into religious matters,
but on the contrary he spoke to his people,
saying: ''If thy son asketh thee in time to
| come, what mean ye by these statutes and
judgments which the Lord our God has
commanded?" If thy children should at
tempt to enter into the true spirit of Juda-
ism, they should not parrot-like. initiate
their parents, but become deeply con-
| vinced of the great merits and true worth
of the Aimighty's teachings.
''Even with reference to belief in God.
the great legislator, Moses says: 'sknow
the God of thy fathers and serve Him."
Belief alone is not sufficient, we must also
have knowledge of our Creator.
'The Midrash relates that when Moses
and Aaron approached the first time the
palace of the king of Egypt with the mes
sage of God of lsrael's retention the king .
servants informed him that two old men
were standing by the gate desiring an en-
trance to interview the king. They were
granted admission, and when the king in
quired after their desire they represented
themselves as the messengers of God, say
ing to him: "Thus has said the Lord God,
send out my people that they may serve
me-
"Pharaoh then waxed angry, and asked
who is this Lord God that l should obey
His voice: Wait said Pharaoh to Moses
gods and see whether yours is among them.
Having done 80, he told them that the God
of Israel was not in his list. Il know not
your God, nor will let Israel 60 free.' The
senseless and fanatic Pharaoh did not know
that Israel's God cannot be described in a
book. Israels God cannot be painted
bon paper nor imagined by the human
mind, nor perceived by human senses.
soul, which no one can see. nor
feel, nor comprehend, and yet, no
one will doubt the existence of the soul.
So is the Almighty's existence established
by his great works, by his teachings and
by his attributes. And to know him we
must by all means become familiar with
them, study and learn them.
The rabbis who compiled the services
ritual for the first two Passover nights
different dispositions, the wise. the wicked,
the simple and he who is Indifferent be-
tween the inquiries of the wise and the
wicked and he who has no capacity to in
quire.
The question which is contained in our
text: If thy son asketh thee in time to
come. saying what mean these statutes
and judgments which the Lord our God
has commanded you? He is truly the
very mouthpiece or spokesman of the
wise and understanding Israelite. He does
not deride our sacred religion. He does
| uOt cry uOWu IlOr Ql6Odln LOu b tcaCu1uS8,
nor does he even attempt to obliterate any
of Gods holy law. He merely inquiries
into their true meaning, because he
wishes to observe them.
How entirely different does the naughty,
the sneering, the goddess nominal Israel
ite express his scornful sentiments.
what is this service to you?'' He will
tell you sneeringly that 1srael's religion
was adapted only to the time of bygone
days. and not for our present age. And
thus the goddess regards every religious
performance as hard work. However, he
who in his very question manifests his be-
lief in the Almighty is therefore deserving
our particular attention. And to him we
rejoin by saying: We were bondsmen to
Pharaoh in Egypt. And the Lord brought
us out of there with mighty hand. And
the Lord commanded us to do all these
laws, and to fear the Lord our God, that
he might preserve us alive, even to this
day.
Let us see how this reply may satisfy the
inquisitivenes of the wise and understand
ing son.
You ask, What means these testimon-
les and statutes which the Lord our God
has commanded us? They mean obedi-
ence; they mean loyalty; they mean faith
fulness, and they mean attachment which
we owe our Creator, to our God, and to our
Redeemer.
Since the scriptural accounts of Israel's
redemption from the Egyptian thrall-
dom has been historically authenti-
Gated. since our forefathers' de-
livery from EOvptian aIavarv into