The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1903-08-06
JERUSALEM MOURNED.
Jews Of World Commemorate Sad
Date in Their History.

New York, Aug.3..- Throughout the
whole world Sunday was observed as
a day of mourning, the saddest day
Of the whole Jewish year, the ami
versary of the fall of Jerusalem and
the destruction of the temple by the
Roman soldiers of Titus. To the
Jew this anniversary means the be-
ginning of the misfortunes of his
race, for from that day, 1888 years
ago, the Jews have been world wan
derers, the prosecuted among ma
lions. other nations have cherished
national days of mourning. The Ro-
mans remembered for centuries the
day at ALA when the flower of their
troops were destroyed and their CAPT.
tai sacked the Servians still wear
in their hats black band in memory
of the fatal battle Of Kossova, when
the freedom Of Servia ended; even
the French remember with sadness
akin to national mourning the ami
versary of Sedan, but it is the jew
ish race, with their wonderful con-
tinuity Of history, that clings most
closely to its ancient sorrow, for all
the eighteen centuries that have
elapsed have not changed the lot Of
the Hebrew.
It is in itself a striking fact that
over on the east side of New York
hundreds of thousands of persons,
many of them citizens of this great
young republic will this week OBJ
serve an anniversary stretching back
over almost the entire Christian era.
But they will not merely observe it;
it is more than a mere ceremony.
Go over into synagogue in the ghet-
to and listen to the ceremony. On
the floor one will see the people with
out shoes, some of them with ashes
on their heads, weeping and sobbing
as they listen to the story of the fall
of Jerusalem. To them it is still a
catastrophe of yesterday, a present
pain, and this vivid sense of personal
bereavement is the most striking
phase of the whole day.
Exercises Are Interesting.
The exercises that attend this
event are interesting beyond those Of
almost any national holiday, they are
SO strange in character. The holi-
day is known as Tisha Bah; that is,
the ninth day of the Jewish month of
Alb. This is a most important Jewish
date. On this same day, the popular
belief is, ACKNOWLEDGMENT sacked Je-
rusalem for the first time. On this
day the legionaries of Titus finally re-
duced Jerusalem, and on this day al
so, it is believed, the decree expell-
ing the Jews from Spain became op-
erative in 1892; and this momentous
day, so the legend goes, also saw Co.
lumbus weigh anchor for the new
western world, destined to be the ref
uge and haven of the Jewish race.
On the day preceding the holiday
the actual observances begin, al
though they did not thus take place
this year, since the day preceding
was the Jewish Sabbath, which can
not be a day of mourning. Ordinar-
lily, the last meal before the holiday
consists of one course, after which
an egg dipped in ashes is eaten, and
with the setting of the sun begins
the fast of twenty-four hours. But
for three weeks previous the ap-
preach of the day of mourning has
been observed in the ghettos Of the
world. On the seventeenth day OF
the Jewish month of TamuZ, which
fell on July II this year, there is a
fast day, and the three weeks that
follow give name to the whole period
in Hebrew, since the period is known
as THE Three Weeks" This marks
the date when the hordes of Nebuch-
adnezzar invested Jerusalem and be-
gan the siege which is recorded in
the Book of Kings. During the peri
cd of twenty-one days following there
is no social life, weddings, festivals,
even new clothes and baths are pro-
hibited, and the orthodox Jew will
not battle during this long interval.
In countries where fruit ripens in
this time it will not be eaten by the
orthodox, since there must be a ben
ediction over it, and this cannot be
said in the period.