Los Angeles herald., 1905-04-15


NAL as a god, showing the progressive
religious undertaking Of our forefath-
ers, not to worship idols, but the one
and only God.
And, lastly, our attention is directed
to roasted egg, which has many sym
bolical meanings. First, II oommetno-
rates the offering of the festival; sec
ond, 1t is a sign of mourning over the
destruction Of Jerusalem; and lastly
the egg is a sign of hopeful resurrec-
tion and progress, for as the chicken
will be hatched out of the egg, so
human progress and happiness VIII
come to deliver the human race from
all religious hatred and all political
oppression.
The Four Cups Of Wine
The rabbis of the Talmud have en-
Joined upon every Israelite to drink
four cups of wine the first two even
ings of the Passover service, because
they represent the four different forms
of redemption from Egyptian bondage.
We drink the first to the glory of God
We sanctify his great and holy name
for havingk chosen Israel to be his
messenger in proclaiming his unity
among all nations of the earth. We
drink the second cup to the glory of
our holy religion, the Ten Command
ments which he gave to Israel on
Mount Sinai and which have become
the base of all other religions. We
drink the third cup to the glory of the
Jewish race, which has withstood all
temptations and hard trials, and we
thank him for his fatherly protection
given us at all times. for the numerous
signs and wonders through which he
has redeemed us from Egyptian bond
age; and for that providential guidance
with which he conducted us through
the desert of dread and darkness,
through dreariness and disappoint-
ment.
And the fourth cup we drink to the
glory and deliverance Of the whole
human race. This cup we lift up very
high and pronounce three-fold hail to
that time which, still surrounded by
mists Of gloom and darkness, is grad
ually looming up in the distance and
promises to be the time which will
usher in a different era of human hap
piness and human perfection. That is
the true time in which the real knowl-
edge of God will be spread over the
whole earth, the time in which the
hearts of the fathers will cling to the
children; that is the time In which
love, justice and Righteousness Will
reign supreme upon earth, in which all
religious and race animosities will be
thrown into the sea of oblivion for
ever; in which all swords will be turned
into plowshares, and spears into prun-
ing knives; a time in which the voice
of God will no more be heard In the
wind and storm of wild and angry pas
sion, nor in the heated outhurst of vol
canic eruptions and earthquakes, nor
in the fire of hostile ornaments and
battleflelds, but where the voice of
God will convey and express through
"the still small voice" of everlasting
peace and everlasting freedom. Then
will this universal song Of redemption
and love bind all men, all creeds, all
nations, and all human beings to one
Heavenly Father, the creator of all and
the lover and redeemer of all man
kind.
Significance of the Passover
Let therefore all Israel celebrate the
Passover festival 5665 with grateful
hearts, and while reading the history of
Egypts injustice and Israels wrongs
redressed by the God of Abraham, let
us believe with true faith that "for
the sake of the fathers God redeemed
the children, and bringeth redemption
of their children's children" Let the
matzos remind us of the bread of affiic-
tion which our ancestors ate in the
land of Egypt; let all those who are
hungry eat thereof, and all who are
needy come and celebrate with US the
sacred Passover.
When we reflect that throughout
Africa, Asia. Russia and many other
uncivilized countries, the Jews are to-
day so cruelty oppressed, what more
appropriate wish or prayer can we
have than the words of the Passover
ritual: "This year we are servants
here, next year we hope to be in the
land of the free
This year we find so many millions of
Israel oppressed and maltreated in
many barbarous countries, next year
we hope to set them all free as we are
here In this blessed country.
Let US open widely our doors, our
hearts and our purses Israel is. and
should always remain. hospitable. Let
every man give according to his means,
and according to the blessing of the
Lord thy God which He hath given
thee" is the command of our great leg
islator Moses. deuteronomy xvi,
~, Remember that the poor and the
stranger have share in the Passover
meal. A crust of bread, the bread of
affliction," is to be divided with the
| stranper Rememher aIso the con,