The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-10-09
TOM KIPPUk BEGINS
GREAT THnoNG or PEOPLE AT TEM-
 PILE BETH OR.
Rabbi Messing Delivered a Brief But Earnest Sermon to His People on Significance of that
 Occasion.

With the sunset of last evening there was ushered in the solemn fast of Is- rael. the great day of Judaism. Tom Kippur.
 Temple Beth Or never presented a more impressive and imposing appear ance. with its great auditorium throng- ed to the doors, its beautiful altar swathed In white. and the arches re- sounding with the solemn notes of the old penitential hymEs.
 The service last evening was merely introductory. The fast lasts twenty four hours, or from sunset to sunset. The day proper commences with a de- votional exercise at the Temple this morning at 10 o'clock. Mr. A. Heil- perm, formerly cantor of the Temple, will intone the ancient chants. The Rabbi will be assisted in the conduct of the service, which will last all day, by Mir. Jacques Loeb, the Vice-President of the congregation, and Mir. Charles F. Moritz. These will read from the sacred literature of Israel, meditations. which for depth of thought and beauty of sentiment, have been handed down through the ages.
 The memorial exercises. a notable fea- ture of every Tom Kippur service. will take place fin the afternoon at o'clock. At these services tribute Is paid to those who have passed out of the con- BICBdblOil lhC JCAi Juot chuCu.
 Two sermons are announced for the day, the theme of the morning dis course being Faith and Service" and of the afternoon "A Song in the Night"
 pleasant feature of the introduce tory service last evening was q solo by MT Max Morgenthen of New York. MT. Morganthen possesses rich basso voice and his rendition of "A Dream of Para dise," by Hamilton Gray, profoundly moved the assembled congregation.
 Rabbi Messing delivered a brief dis course on Prayer" He chose as his text this saying from Talmud, Rabbi Eliezar said to his disciples. When ye pray, know before whom ye arc pray ing.
 The speaker said that the greatest day of Israel was Tom Kippur. What ever might be the plans, the ambitions, CT the purposes of his hearers, they should be laid aside as from sunset to sunset they gave themselves to con science and to God He said that all his people were present, the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak. Those whose hearts were filled with sadness and those whose breasts were full of joyous emotions. There were present those wEo had learned to realize the mean ing of life and those before whom life passed tracelessly, as a bird cleaves the air. There were those 10 whom re- ligion was a near and precious thing and others to whom it was an accident of birth, nothing more. And to all of these there was the same message. when ye pray know before whom ye are praying. The sage who uttered these words took 1t for granted that men were going to pray. He always prayed himself. It was his habit his life.
 gst. IL. un- Jewish, he said, and borrowed with that .facile imitativeness for which his people were noted, to divide the com munity into clergy and laity. Israel is the kingdom of priests, he said. To have someone do your praying for you, to think for you, :he deepest problems of the soul, to have men and systems come between you and God and stand in the place of God was to evade the most sacred laws of nature, to abrogate the highest privilege of humanity.
 Be not afraid to pray-to pray is right. Pray if thou canst. with hope but ever pray. Though hope be faint | and sick with long delay, pray in the darkness if there be no light" said Rabbi Messing.
 Prayer, he said, was adoratlOn, the pouring out of the spirit before a man. ifest beauty and glory. It was thanks giving, the giving of something to God. Beasts do not say or feel. T thank you. Then what of the countless myriads of men and women who daily receive the gifts of God without so much as "I thank thee?" Prayer was confession If anyone could sit imperturbably in his pew and with serene mind say, "l | am sinless," to him the Lord was not | nigh. It was not because God was almighty and could not tolerate this conceit, but because this conceit was almighty and would not tolerate God.
 The speaker closed with most pa thetic story of the sIncerest prayer he had eyer heard. that uttered at the | deathbed of little girl. He admOn- ished his hearers to take the influence of that prayer home with them, and as | they gave themselves to the angels of the night to commune with themselves
 upon their couch and be still Then l on the morrow they would hear and un- derstand the beautiful message of
 atonement. T have Dardoned and have
 redeemed me"
 l THE GAUZA DANCE