New-York tribune., 1901-09-08
THE JEWISH NEW YEAR.
A SEASON WHEN THE PEOPLE ARE
so RELIGIOUS THAT TEMPORARY
SYNAGOGUES ARE NEEDED

The Jewish holiday season will begin on Fri
day evening, when the Introductory New Years
services VIII take place in every Jewish house
OF worship. The Jewish year begins on the first
day Of the month of Tisri The year is com
posed OF twelve lunar months and as the be-
ginning of these months cannot be fixed to anv
certain day Of the Julian calendar, there can
be no Julian date for the Jewish New Year.
The festival fell on September "a last year
month. according to the Jewish calendar.
comprises the period of one revolution Of the
moon around the earth. This yields 354 days
and hours for the twelve months. or about
eleven days less than the solar year of 800 davs.
To avoid the error which would arise and the
confusion OF dates. whole month IS added To
certain years. Thus, within cycle of nineteen
years the third, sixth. eighth, eleventh four
teenth' seventeenth and nineteenth have thfr-
teen months each, and leap years. In or
der 10 ascertain whether a year has twelve or
thirteen months. the number of the wear is
divided by 10. II there is no remainder or 70
lhe remainder is B. o. !. H. II. Il or 49, the year
ls leap year. The year which will begin on
Friday evening will be J662 BY dividing 1890
by ~ there would be no remainder, which shows
that the new year VIII be a leap year having
thirteen months
In the early days OF Judaism. before tbero
were any calendars the coming OF the nav
moon was determined by observation and then
- Was proclaimed throughout the land by means
or hres on the tops of mountains In nIaces
"here these signals could not be seen m4ssen
gers Drought the news that the new moon had
Len p seen ana that a new month had begun
nut these messengers We're sometimes DELAYED
ana the people sometimes did not say the pr0per
prayers until the moon a day old In order
10 DE on the safe side and 10 guard against mis-
maps, the people living outside of Palestine oh
served all the feast days twice They COLI
ment ,e very holiday except the Day OF Atone
Ineht TOT TWO days. This custom became so
hffnly rooted that even now in the largest cittss
"a the world where there can be no doubt as tn
In, 0oIiecbhess or the dates the orthodox Jews
s seilI celeofate the second day." and for that
reason the New Years feast which will end on
tSaluIuay at sunset in all reformed Jewish
houses Of worship, will be Continued a,,o+hn.
day by the orthodox Jews In this cItI, ttnc
are for the most part residents of the crowded
haSi SIDE but there are also many in the upper
residence part OF New York their largest bonsa
tral Park West 'i'lie III Cen
There are thousands Of Jews in New-York
VINO never 90 TO a synagogue exceDt at this tim
oI me year. when the chief religious festivals
eaAe PIaCe, ana TOT that reason the synagogues
49, tdhea t 20 thelr utmost capacity Besides the
IhIse huhdred thousand Jews who live I'm New
ork, room must be provided for tbousande ,ybo
lVe In places where there are no svnapopues
e nu ~i'o "isn s 10 oe united with their people in
PIayeI dL tne New Years festival. The syna-
gosues are inadequate TO hold the peopIe who
@ @Elsh 10 attend. and temporary meeting places
nave oeen furnished for the accommoda ton of
the great overflow. There are some ~ tbasa a.
me tenement house district. but there are more
ih I 1he upper residence part OF New York
Inc Grand Central Palace the Turn halls
Iammany ban Salvation Army Headquarters
nearly all OF the Harlem and Yorlxville dancing
and unoccupied lofts have been engaged b,J On
terprsing people. who have had the halls fur
hlshed with chairs and benches. platforms for
s .Ie cantor. ana IN some instances, with pulpit
Tor a lecturer and space for a chair In The
orthooox synagogues the men sit apart from the
women ana In these temporary houses of Nyor-
snip where there is no gallery for the women
they are separated from the men by an aisle
ana In some OF the halls. by curtain. Tickets
are sold by the managers OF these places AT
prices ranging from 81 TO 50 for the season !"
winch includes the New Yearss. the Day OF
Atonement and the Feast OF Tabernacles SER
two weeks.