El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-06-24
Laying OF The Cornerstone
Of Mt Sinai Temple Sermon Cohen Tuesday,
June 10th, 1899.
SS<STS<X<SNIN~

| Brethren and Fellow citizens, Ladies
and Gentlemen:
To Jacob lying in the lonely field
with his head pillowed on a stone, dur
! ing the first night after his departure
from home, there came, Scripture tells
US, an inspiring vision. A ladder was
real ed from earth to heaven, on which
angels descended and mounted, and at
its top stood the Almighty himself, Ut
tering words OF cheer and promise to
the lonesome youth. When ne arose
in the morning, we read, he vowed q
vow, saying:
IF God will be with me aud keep me
in this way that ] go, and will give me
bread to eat and raiment to put on, so
That 1 can come again TO my fathers
house in peace, then shall the Lord be
my God, and this stone which 1 have
set up for a pillow, shall be Gods
house, and of all thou shalt give me l
will surely give the tenth part unto
thee" Genesis %, 20 to %.
We are, my friends, about awaken
ing TO the realization of the dream we
have long cherished, of raising lad
der of more tangible communion be-
tween our thoughts and the eternal
enthroned on high. This day God sp-
pears to our hearts, sending to US di-
vine encouragement for we have set
the stone on which the ful6lment of
our MODEST hopes is to be reared. Let
Us, then, on this sacred and suspicious
occasion make our vow in the spirit OF
our primevAl ancestor'that the Lord who
has kept US in all the way we have
gone, who has given us bread to eat
and raiment to put on, who has esta-
blished us in our homes in peace, and |
who has also showered manifold bles-
sins on our lives and continually sends |
tokens of his loving kindness unto US,
shall still be our God; and that the
Temple to be built over this corner
which we have set up, shall indeed bs
Gods house: Gods house, because
herein we shall seek and reverence
lin who is Almighty Father: Gods
,ouse because within its walls shall re-
learsed the divine teachings of truth
md righteousness; God g house, because
rom it shall go forth the inspiration
hat will make our lives purer, nobler
Under, holier, and let not only the
enth part, but the sum total, of our
means and energies be devoted to his |
ervice, to the fulflment of his eternal {
ommaods. t
Every Jewish temple, wherever it c
nay be built, in whatever part of the '
World it may stand, Is but copy of Z
he grand and holy edifice that once /
rowned the heights off, erusalem, the t
rst house of worship erected to the a
rue God by the hands of man. There u
ore have 1 just had my reverend g
rotber read the song of the old time b
ewish pilgrims, chanted by them as "
salm voicing the affection of the t
ncient, as we'll as the modern, Jews "
Dr. the holy city of the world. Yet let a
he say plainly that the divine revela- f,
ion shining through our own ex- a
erience OF the centuries and through t.
be course CT mankind's history, has e
aught us that he whose presence O
ervades all space, cannot be contain F
d within the narrow confines of one %
ity or one laDd. The whole earth is '
is, the world and all that fills it. We
till look upon Palestine with venera- q
ion as the land where our forefathers a
welt, as the soil which the prophets b
rod, who taught US and the world the t
aving truths of religion and pointed a
ut the path of duty aud of virtue. C
But we recognize that God is found in 3
trive to serve him. Every country v
there truth and righteousness are 8
is a holy land. We, t
eecendants OF the foOtsOre tribes that z
'andered through all countries of the a
arth, drivensby relentless cruelty and
ersecut1on, look upon this land of 8
berty as our Jerusalem. In token {
our loyalty to it, we have assem- bled o
, lay the cornerstone of the temple r
! which we hope to worship the God q
our fathers and of all mankind, un- G.
er the folds of the star spaugled "
amer, the beloved flag of our heaven n
vOred land. q
My friends and fellow citizens, we a
'lieve that we are making history to- O.
~, not only in the career of our cou- +;
'egation, but also in the development