The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-06-07
GOLDEN KEY
 IS PRESENTED Venerable David Veil Made Its Custodian. THE KEY OF PUREST GOLD Miss LOttie Greil Made a
 Pretty Speech. Mr. Well and Rabbi Pizer Jacobs Make Interesting Addresses.
 Glorious Strains of Music
 Intersperse Program.

As fitting celebration of the fiftieth | anniversary of Its organization. kahi | gregation of this city. yesterday evening | dedicated it's handsome new synagogue. which occupies an imposing position at the corner of Clayton and Sayre Streets It is called Temple Beth Or. House of Light. and the new house of worship was consecrated to God and truth in words of burning eloquence by the gifted young Rabbi Rev. Abraham J. Mess l ing, Jr. The services began at o'clocl; and did not conclude until s:3o o'clock. The occasion was fraught with mean | ing to the members of the congregation. Indeed, it was an occasion of the great est interest to the people of Montgomery. After years of struggle against difficult 1 ties. after weeks and months and years of endless planning and surmounting ob- stacies that seemed beyond human en- deavor the great temple was secured and its proud dome leaps to the skies. monu- ment to the perseverance, the honest ef-
 fort and the unfailins loyalty of this great people.
 The exercises were grandly impressive,
 and were enjoyed by an audience that
 fairly filled the great auditorium of the
 temple. which holds over 1000 persons It
 was a gathering of persons of all creeds and classes. The Jew and the Gentle were
 there. Men prominent in every walk of
 life listened to the eloquent words. the
 excellent music and gazed in admiration
 upon the exquisite interior decoration If
 the building, the specialization of the
 decorators art.
 Ceremony of the Key of Gold.
 Throughout the exercises there ran
 note of love and affection, tender in its
 suppression, but often manifested, for
 David Well. the venerable but yet vigor-
 ous president of the congregation. who
 has served Kahl Montgomery in this ca
 pacity many years. He has truly been
 the father in Israel of Kahl Montgom- cry, and his labors have not been in 1 vain. The climax of devotion for MT. | Well came when Mss Lottie Greil "a
 beautiful young woman, representing the | young people of the Synagogue. present.
 cd to him a key of purest gold, which
 unlocks the doors to the building. She
 told him of the love and devotion of the young people and to her he renewed his pledge of fidelity to Kahl Montgomery and its people.
 Over and above everything else there | stood two picturesque figures-those of | Rabbi Pizer Jacobs of Huntsville, and | Rabbi Abraham J. Messing Jr., of Mont gomery. Both of them young. alert and eager-eyed. they afforded striking con- i trast to the age-bowed form of Mr. Well. They delivered masterly addresses the one dwelling upon the beauties of Judaism. the other thrilling his hearers with the solemnity and sacredness of the | occasion. It is doubtful if two more scholarly or eloquent addresses have been delivered in Montgomery in many years Temple Beth Or really awakened to | life when Master Lucien Loeb at the | very beginning of the exercises lit the l perpetual lamp, which forever burns in the Temple. Modern achievement en- | abled the arrangement committee to per- ! form this part of tffe exercises In the | most effective manner. As the audience gathered the auditorium of the Temple was dmly lighted and had an appear ance of gloom. After the prelude and processional by the organist. during | which the trustees and committees marched to the pulpit platform and Rab- hi Messing came from his study. Master Loeb recited the first three verses of Genesis.
 Perpetual Lamp is Lighted.
 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth
 And the earth was without form and void: and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, let there be light; and there was light"
 With the conclusion of the sentence the incandescent light suspended by heavy brass rod and shielded by massive globe of red burst into sight. In a second myriads of incandescent lights throughout the great auditorium sprang into life. the | scene being one or lnueScrlOdDlc Drllllan- 1 cy.
 1 Hail. Temple Beth-Or-House of Light. It's awakening had come. Its perpetual 1 light had been given flame to burn for ever, symbolical of truth eternal!
 Almost simultaneously with the light ing of the temple the great organ, under the touch of Prof. E. l.. Merriam, burst into melody and the superb choir began the strains of Schlesingers The Lord | Giveth Strength
 The music throughout the exercises was surprisingly beautiful It was appropri- ate, full of melody and showed careful | training. The regular choir of the temple | was augmented by the choir of St Johns l Episcopal Church.
 With the bursting of the incandeseent l lights into brilliancy the vast audience was better enabled to appreciate the in- | terior decoration of the auditorium which