Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-04-14
END OF PASSOVER.
uABBI CALIsCu CELEBRATED THE
CLOSE OF THE FEAST.
SERVICE AT BETH AHABA SYNAGOGUE
Instructive and Interesting SERUM"
.,,,. p,r,i,u Cucstv Delivered
En- , Inrue CONGREGATIONAL Fc"st
of Freedom and of knowledge

,,,orrirg the last day OF Passover oi'
It,, "rhe Parting Guest lie
eoid On mart that the rabbis OF Ola hau
heen accustomed to regard inc ieS'''
of tho faith as guests who came i''' ''o
bouses of the people for longer Vi '"'' ~
noriods. The idea to be cohNeSeu "a'
~, 90 home service, where the fanny
&c tho congregation and the heau oi
the house the officiating minister
o,ot,y was this the case with inc ass
go, which not only began with ri'u"i
90 do,,estic Worship but that each uaS
H., the family gathered fouhu INC
sustaining board there was paip"o'c o''
denc.. in the unleavened D'e"0'
nresence of the festal guest
Now that the feast was ABOUT u 30
tho neople were gathered III their ooi'-
r,unaI home of prayer TO speed h'a 81
ms. and to recall che pleasanthesS u Wv
,,;eit and its incidents. Its parting eni
-, tho lessons that the Passover
called to MIND. rho feast
1. =, cast of freedom. But freedom hhS'll9
80 absence of law but obedience 10 '""'
"a
IA obedience 10 law necessitates hho"
ledge of the law. Liberty ana hsnl
svnonvmous When the Wor!u W.
deemed from chaos its hrst biC 80
tho creator was light Thus' too' A.
dom and knowledge must go manu- ~
hand There can be no mental ii'0o'''
where there is the darkness oil lshotdnOe
and no spiritual liberty where tneiS
the night of superstition. JUDAISM i spr
always permitted the widest l",l'u"I
search and investigation. the lures a.
dom of inquiry, the sroaoSa' ,oId
the acquisition of knoWleuse' - 'o'N
nothing inviolable by scrutiny.
IGNORANCE Is \ BLEMlSH.
The rabbis taught that AN ignorant J,
man cannot be a completely plous one'
for there are many duties Which he ~
not nerform because he does not hho"
- IGNORANCE is a blemish; religious
Ignorance is a sin. The hrst lesson 'iiaO
tbn partinp Passover emphasized Is the
ant IN Gain knowledge in faith, to trim
tho Ianp of learning so that its hshI HAY
he shed on the path OF daily actloh'
Tho second lesson accentuated was thdl
of home worship. There is no pedagogy
as effective as the instruction OF a pa
rent: there is no pedagoglc system no"
over scientific. that impresses the "dNu"
tablets of childhood as does tne ti"ul
zion handed down in the hreslde clicle
there is no preacher however eioquen''
No teacher however gifted. that can
claim the attentive ear oil the ehi'u,ioou
os can the father. who takes his chhd,
titorolIv and iguratively. by the hand
and Loads him on the path OF iellSlous
duty. ,-....,,,,r,
MOI only is the conscious instruction
the most powerful. but that which the
child unwittingly absorbs from MS enNl-
ronment goes further stu. bscause' ~
inc unconscious, it is unreslsted. ne
atmosDhere of reverence, the DlesSeuilesS
90 ,be sniritual communion OF loving
household. will lnger, like the fragrance
Of a crushed rose. long after the actloh
which produced them has ceaseu' L.
then. every home be sanctuary every
beartbstone an altar, every father an
officiating priest, ana the lessons VI
Ngion are impregnably saieguarded'
HOPE IN THE FUTURE
The third lesson that the Passover en-
nhasizes is hope in the future. II Is true
that its ritual deals with story OF the
long buried centuries, with history CON
summated. but ever and anon MIDST us
melody is heard the note that soulua Loi
tho future. "Leshanah habooh' cine
ward 10 with most optimistic sentiment
The refrain runs its quaint way: rms
vear we are slaves, next year we shdIl
he freemen," How this hope upbore our
fathers in the past, when they were hud-
died in ghettoes, bounded throughout
Europe In the glare of stake ana 1uheral
pyre. by rack and gibbet, in the Wearl-
ness of a thousand eXiles, on the blood
red trail of a myriad martyrdomS, ABOVE
the hooting of murderous muttudes ana
the hoarse rawlings of rapaciOus rabies
this tocsin Of their hope was sounded
and to-day vet how it rings the joy
bells of a confident trust in the mai and
ultimate establishment of peace ana
truth and righteousness. AS much as
this peerless past lays claim to our UNI
forgetting loyalty. yet We cannot give II
all our attention. Pride in IL noble an
cestry is pardonable, but ii holds the
deep obligation to make ourselve. worthy
Of that ancestry, 10 make our hNes 10
be so conducted that they shall be de-
serving of as much reverence by our de-
scendants. The golden age lies not in
the past; il rests in the futuEe-in that
"far-off divine event" which is the final
goal of human destiny-when all men
shall be free. because they shall be pos
sessed of knowledge, when rhe torch or
truth will send its undimmed rays 10 llght
the furtherest ends of the earth; when
all men shall know thems elves as bro
theirs. children of the one Father, and
assembling all round the altar of an all
encompassing faith.