Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-09-27
DAY OF ATONEMENT.
THE SOLEMN OCCASION OBSERVED
WITH IMPRESSIVE SERVICES.
An ENTIRE DAY OF WORSHIP.
Rabbi CaIisch breaches Three Ser
MONS in Twenty-Four Hours-A
ThourhtfuI Discourse on "The Ap-
neal of the House of God"

The Day OF Atonement was celebrated
in Beth Ahaba Synagogue yesterday with
all the ceremonies incident TO the peni-
tential season. The first service was held
on Sunday night. and yesterdays service
lasted from 10 o'clock until sunset. with
out intermission. The penitential prayers
were read. as also were the prayers for
the dead one Of the most solemn fea-
lures Of the day. The music was both
beautiful and appropriate.
Yesterday DR.. Calisch preached at 1915
on THE Necessity of Decision" and at
4:3O his subject was, after Penitence-
| What?
APPEAL OF GODS HOUSE.
On Sunday evening he preached a very
able sermon on The Appeal OF the House
of God" He said, in part:
my Friends,-With the setting of this
evenings sun there closes the last of our
| preparatory penitential days. The
| twinkling stars usher in the eve Of the
| great Atonement Day. We are assembled
in our house of worship in greater num-
| bers than usual, for we all recognize the
| power and the sanctity Of the day. Ears
| that are deaf to the ordinary calls OF
| religious observance are keen to hear the
| summons of this day, and feet that but
| rarely during the year follow in the paths
! of religious obligation do tread tonight
| the courts of our house of prayer.
I'VE are all of us responsive to the
touch of this holy day, for we feel that 1t
comes home to each one OF us. 1t is an
appeal to the individual heart, call
| unto each single soul, and we answer by
our presence here-and not only this eve
| ming, but all the day tomorrow, as well.
| From sunset unto sunset we give our
| selves unto conscience and to God, and we
| find refuge in this house of God for many
| hours.
This house of Godl Does 1t mean the
| same to all Of us? Is the note that Is
| struck the same one upon ali our hearts
| strings? The feelings and thoughts with
| which we enter here and TO which we
| shall be subject for the coming day do
| doubtless differ somewhat among us. Yet
the appeal Of this house Of God should be.
in it's results, practically the same for
| all of us. We should, all of us. be al
| fected alike. For this reason let US Try
| to determine tonight what is the appeal
| of our house of prayer.
JEWISH HOUSE OF WORSHIP.
LET US consider what is the real value
| OF a Jewish house of worship, what does
| II stand for to u.s. what does II mean 10
the rest of the world? To do this
| thoroughly would carry us over much OF
| the worlds history, for the house OF the
| God of Jacob has made its influence ieit
during all Of the years of mans Pilgrim
age upon earth. Nor mas 1t stood Tor
the same ideals in every age. with me
dawn of human history Its light had
| begun to shine, though the morning mists
| - and primitive fear huny
heavy before its face But as time
rolled Oh the mists slowly dissolved,
| stronger, brighter, clearer grew It's nSnt
| tiu men began to see, and seeing, 10
understand, and by its guidance grope
their way along the dim-lit avenues OF
moral conduct With widening knowledge
still more fully did men perceive
its value, and with each circling century
shall mans perception grow I'LL that
light shall shine afar and its radiance
penetrate TO the uttermost ends OF the
earth.
"Yet what shall we regard as the pro-
ner vehicle for its conveyance, the true
globe that shall enclose the flame. and
| render that radiance to be used or the
children of men? The house OF prayer
has many forms, as prayer itself mas
many tongues We are told that IN the
days of Enosh "men began TO call on the
name of God" Genesis w., go Ihey
called to Him from groves and hlgh
places, from valley depth and mountain
top, from field and forest, ana thoush
weak, uncertain, and feeble, yet ala not
that call rise up to be heard on hlgh
The Talmud tells us Pesachim 80 that
'by Abraham the house of worship was
called a mountain for God appeared to
him on a mountain. To Isaac it was
field. for Isaac went TO mediate IN the
field; to Jacob house, as 1t is SAID ne
called the name of that place the mousse
| OF Cod Hagar's cry was heard by the
lonely desert rock. and Miriam's paean OF
praise rang out above the sullen surge OF
the returning sea. The wandering taoer-
| nacle of the desert was replaced by SOLO
mons glorious edifce, and on It's runs
was built the later structure OF whlch
Hasgai said d.. 81 The glory OF the Sc
cond house shall be greater than that of
the first Yet when that Respondent
temple Law In ruins beneath the feet OF
the Roman legions, when desolation and
| desnoliation trod hard upon the heels or
| destruction when the bodies of the dead
and the ashes of the temple lay mingled
| in one great, awful horror; when the gold
on vessels of the sacred service and the
noble sons of a sacred priesthood were
carried away TO grace a Roman triumph,
| to be borne amidst the 1eerS ana the JlDes
| of the Roman rabble. it was then there
rose in the consciousness OF Israel the
fash of Isaiah's glorious vision. 'Ihus
| hath said the Lord, the Heaven is My
| throne and the earth My footstool; wnere
| Is the home that you can build 10 Me
where is the place of My restT usalah
Xvi. II
| GODS HOUSE OF WORSHIP.
| The visible universe is Gods house OF
| worship. and In 1t not man alone, out all
| nature. animate and inanimate, Is for
| ever echoing the paeans OF His praise.
| The heavens are the throne of GOD.
| Every orb that wheels in It's uneerlns
circuit every planet that moves on It's
| impeccable path, every glorious constel-
| lation that flashes its radiance TO De-
| wilder the eye OF man; sun. moon. stars,
| and worlds, all the sidereal hosts that
| march end countermarch upon the ever
lasting camping-grounds of the armament,
| these are the stupendous cathedrals or
| the Most High, within whose world-em-
| bracing walls the spheres roll out their
| iubilant harmonies as the anthem OF an
| angels choir. that sing unto their Maker.
| And the loyal earth beneath takes up
| the chorus and joins to 1t its million
| tongued refrain. Poised in the endless sea
| Of ether, its every voice is an harmonious
| note in the universal melody, its every
point a Respondent gem In the grand
| mosaic of the cosmic plan.
Shall man attempt to add to this divine
| architecture? Shall he build with finite