The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-03-26
PASSOVER has BEGUN
SERVICES HELD AT THE JEWISH
TEMPLE IN CONFEDERATION
OF THE EVENT
RABBI HESS STRONG SERMON
Rameses and Are Now COntem-
pOraries OF Queen Victoria and
tions Have Fallen and Been De-
strOyed.

Thirty-three centuries have passed since
the departure from Egypt of the tribes of
Israel, but still in the churches of the
faith which existed In Asia before the
birth of the Christ, services in comment
Grafton of that event are held. To the
true Jew the season of the passover is
pregnant with meaning. for the event
which is marked by the festival also
marks the beginning of the Jewish politi-
cal power, which has such a large part
in the history of the world.
The passover began last evening at L
o'clock and at the Jewish temple serv-
ices were held at that hour in comraora-
ton of the event. The temple was filed
early with representative members of
the faith of the city, and the service was
most impressive and solemn, even to
those who were not able to comprehend
the intense significance of the occasion to
the Jewish people
Rabbi Hess conducted the service, and
after the reading of the ritual of the
church, in which those present Joined,
delivered an eloquent and stirring address
to his people. He reviewed the course of
the Jewish people during the centuries
which have passed since their exodus
from the land of Rameses and the
Pharaohs, and made a spirited appeal
that the glorious memories of the men
who led the tribes Of Israel from the Nile
to new country and the splendid heri-
tage which every Jew has in the history
OF his people through the centuries since
then, should remain fresh in their minds
and bear fruit in a feeling that the nation
is not inferior. but one which has a right
to proud position. He said In part:
EFFECT OF THE EXODUS.
I'VE have once more assembled, as is
our custom, to observe the memory Of
an event which was the dawn of our ma
ton. In every Jewish congregation in
the world tonight the history of the Pc
Rod Of our progress connected with the
exodus is being spoken Of Before that
time our people were in bondage to cruel
taskmasters in Egypt, erecting obelisks
and pyramids to the glory of pagan
princes, but since that time wider field
has opened and the Jewish people have
been the builders Of institutions which
shall continue as long as the world
stands. We have been the guardians of
liberty, freedom, purity and holiness, and
through the ages since. our faith In the
great Jehovah has remained the same.
Il shall not need to remind you that
after the departure Of the Jews from the
land of the Pharaohs they entered upon
and conquered a land, which, under the
rule OF wise men, was kept by them for
fourteen centuries When Rome de-
stroyed their power and desolated Jerusa-
lem, scattering the tribes to the four
winds, an emigration took place which
has spread the race through the whole
world. Every emigration since that time
has been but a stage in Israels advance
Greece and Rome crumbled and fell.
nT 1nn Ton -%11l1
kneH. The Franks and Normans ruled
and built vast cities and they too de-
clined and fell, but the Jews remained.
Bonaparte in the prime of his power CON
trolled all Europe and part Of Asia, yet
he too fell, and Israel remained: remained
with the same faith, the same ideas, the
same characteristics as in the dark days
of Egyptian bondage. Our religion had
not changed and one God and one deca-
| logue remained our legacy from ancient
! times.
! JEWS YET A POWER
But the Jews are yet power In the
world. They were the contemporaries Of
Rameses and the mighty princes of Egypt
and are the contemporaries of Queen Vic
toria and President Mckinley All the
misfortunes Of the ages have not extin-
| guished the race. While the Romans
lived. fourished and died away, the Jews
| were, and are still. Our very existence
| exempliies the old principle of the sur
v1val of the f1ttest. We are not an in
ferior race, but one Of power, strength
and might; so powerful that time itself
| has not been able to compass our destruc-
| ton as a people.
1t would be but a mistaken idea to
consider our people merely successful
merchant class. We are not merely that
but race which has survived through
keeping the ancient faith intact. Right
has triumphed over might, intellect over
brute strength and so long as we adhere
| to the faith Of our fathers, so long will
| we be powerful.
| To the Jew, the Passover is analo-
| gous to the Fourth Of July. 1t Is the ami
versary of the liberation of our forefath-
| ers. They went from their homes in
| Egypt, with nothing but one law, one
God and the labor of their hands They
prospered and then began their political
| existence. Since then the race has scat
| tered, but the Jew is a patriot wherever
| he is found, In America, an American; in
France, a Frenchman: in England, an
l