Omaha daily bee., 1903-04-13
JEWS HAVE PASSOVER SERVICES.
Rabbi Simon Speaks mt the Temple,
Rabbi Reser in q Hall.

Rabbi Simon Speaks mt the Temple,
abb Reser in a Hall.
Passover services at Temple Israel we're
celebrated Sunday morning by Rabbi Simon.
This celebration is in ommemoration OF
the passing Of the Children OF Israel from
the land OF Egypt-the first recorded EFFORT
Of any people to make a struggle for ma
tional liberty. and a struggle which was
successful without the shedding OF blood.
For thirty-five centuries the feast Of the
Passover has been celebrated. and has al
ways been in the nature of a festival Of
freedom. There was a special liturgical
service and the prayers and invocations
were all in thanksgiving for liberty and
petitions for its continuance. A special
musical ritual in harmony with the idea
was observed. IN the story of the scrip
tural lesson for the day was the command
to the high priest that In the atonement
ritual he should bind together the hyssop
and the cedar with a scarlet thread, and it
was this instruction which served as the
text Of the sermon by the minister.
He spoke of the hyssop, a small shrub or
vine, as typical of the people of Israel and
their aspirations for liberty; this liberty
had been maintained for centuries by the
Jews before the coming OF Jesus, who
brought to the world the idea OF life-the
Christian idea OF Immortality, typihed by
the cedar, the tallest and proudest tree Of
the forest. the hyssop and the cedar bound
together being typical Of life and liberty,
one worthless without the other, while the
scarlet thread which holds them together
is typical of Love. the power which moves
the world to higher and better things.
At the Woodmen hall, at 9 a. m. Rabbi
Reser celebrated the feast of the Passover
after the rites of the orthodox Jewish
church. There is considerable difference
between the ritual Of the orthodox Jews and
that of the reformed Jews. for the former
hold to the central idea Of the restoration
of the temporal nationality of the Jewish
people and a return to Jerusalem. To them
the idea of liberty is not complete, and
Passover, which is a celebration OF the idea
OF liberty, brings with II aspirations for a
return to the land of the glory Of the raoe
and the restoration Of the older rites Of the
church and nation. In this ritual are pray
ers for the downtrodden and oppressed
members Of the race in all lands. They
pray for the restoration OF the sacrifices
such as in an earlier day were made at
Jerusalem. Since the downfall OF Jerusalem
the sacrihcial form Of religious worship
has been abandoned by the Jews because
sacrifice can only be made upon the altar
in the holy city, and for this reason the
! prayer for the restoration of sacrihcial
worship-as the lamb was formerly sacrl-
feed at the feast of the Passover-is but a
prayer for the independence OF the race in
the land OF its glory.
Rabbi Reser's theme at the service was
THE Passover" and he gave an historical
survey Of the feast, telling OF it's institution
by divine precept as a perpetual memorial
Of the power Of Jehovah in bringing His
chosen people from bondage; of it's obser-
vance in the earlier day. and OF the form In
which II has been celebrated since the dis
persion OF the Jews from the sGcred city
caused them to substitute ritualism for
sacrihcial worship. and OF the hope OF the
people for the restoration Of the rites Of
the early church In the holy land.