El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-10-06
YOM KIPPUR.
The Religious Festival Being Observed Te
day In the Jewish World.

The Religious Festival Being Observed To-
| day In the Jewish World.
| Good Jews are today observing the
Day of Atonement detailed in the old
testament. All Hebrews in Ell Paso
! and Juarez are observing the day, and
with one solitary exception, all the
Jewish stores in Ell Paso are closed
! A we'll attended meeting preparatory
to the day was held last night in
Odd Fellows hall, with the father of
Sol Schultz officiating. Prayers were
read in Hebrew. Today the Torah is
| being read in the original, and there is
prayer and reai;ng of the Hebrew
scriptures all day in Odd Fellows hall.
, The exercises are well attended, and
much interest is manifested. Con
sidering the fact that there is no rabbi
! p esert to cor ct the exercises. The
/ character of the day is well set forth
! in a recent address by Rabbi Friedman
| in the temple of Emanuel at Denver.
Rev. Fried man is Learned man, and
what he has to cay is worth considera-
ton. In the course of his remarks he
said:
THE Yom Kippur or Day of Acne
ment, the greatest holiday among the
Jewish pt ople, commences Tue. daJ
evening and continues throughout
Wednesday. For THOUSANDS of years
the Jews have observed this sacreo
festival with inspiring so emnity. 1t is
well for us tonight to examine into the
causes of the marvellous influence the
Yom Kippur has welded over the Jew.
All over the world, in Paris and St.
Petersburg, from Cape Town to Stock
holm, the dispersed sOas of Israel Will
listen TO the appeal of this festal tide.
This is the eve of the Sabbath of Re-
turn the fifth in the ten days of pen
itence between the New Year and the
Day of Atonement.
"Penitence implies lapse, pre-sup-
poses sin. What Is sin? II you consi-
DER carefully, you will recognize that
sin?' vary and the solution offered is by
no means unanimously accepted.
''AmOng the Pagans, sin was an Of
tense against the gods, whose good will
could be regained only by gift. Every
disaster that fell upon the individual
was regarded as a punish ment of the
deities, forfeit OF their favor. To
avert continuance OF calamity or to
precipita, e the wrath of the gods, early
man offered sacrifices. The Hebrews
were also under the spell of this belief,
until the destruction OF the second
temple in 20 B. G. Then the rabbis
proclaimed that prayer and the aspira-
lions of the soul substituted sacrifices
on the altar.
"Paul, in formulating Christianity,
retained many Pagan notions, in oroer
to win the allegiance of the ancient
world. He abandoned the many sa-
rifces and substituted the one great
sacrifice of the lamb on the cIo-s. ,
The bl :Od of Him who died for US, ,
alone can cleanse away our sins Sin,
accordic G to Christianity, is theologic-
al. 1t is cor sequence of the fall of
Adam, whose disOb, dience contaminat-
- pL0 e,
a fatal curse on account of the error of
the first parent. The doom would
have been perpetual, had not a second
Adam arisen and in his death he as
sumed the sins of all. A man may be
honest and true, but unless he accept
the doctrine of the atoning blood he
canuot be saved: and man may be
eyer SO depraved, a sudden transfer
nation is effected by the a'oning blood
stand the efficacy of the yicarious o.
fering, go to p-'dition. This view &C
counts for the fallacy that virtue to be
virtue must be Christian. If an I'M
believer and especially Jew. is &C.
easionaily 0 lied virtuous, it is not be-
cause Of his Judaism, but in spite Of it.
| '.Sin, according TO Judaism, is 70.
the olog ical, but ethical. The sinner is
not a creature o: blind chance, who
happens to be born outside of u creed.
Dogma can neither damn nor save. Sin
is Lon ethical action, the violation of
our duties to ourselves and to Others.
cease 10 Cypress your neighbor, care
| for the fatherless, protect he widow
| is the clariea call Of the prophet. Let
| the justice low like water and right
| eouspess run as a mighty river is the
teaching of Judaism. 1t was never
crystalized into a creed. Biblical,
| talmudlcal and philo>ophical, Judaism
has always been fres from the letters
of dogmas Juda:sm disc ards old
e. ro,s, assimilat' new trutl AID
! keeps pace with the demand of adva1 &C.
ing humanity.
IS n is not punt> hnent meted out
| to us on account of the perversity of q
dista Mt ances or. Sin is conduct ope-
| rating to the detriment of soc ETY.. So
clety Is an aggregat on of Individuals.
Each one of the number must be &C. |
corded proper place in the work of the |
| whole. He who degrades himself or is |
degraded by Others falls below the |
plane OF humanity and does not con-
tribute his share to the welfare of all |
Sin is violation of individuality and |
socially. No one can sin for himself |
alone. His wrong lowers humanity |
as his rig hteousness uplifts humanity. !
"Atonement Can only be effected by