The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-09-08
WILL OBSERVE
NEW YEARS DAY
RoSh Ha-Shanah Marked by
4 Special Services in Jewish
Synagogues.
SIGNIFICANCE or EVENT
MOST IMPORTANT SOLEMN DAY
OF ENTIRE YEAR.

Inc observance OF ROSh Ha-shanahs
the Jewish new year.. will begin this
evening at s o'clock, when, in the tenn
pie B'nai Israel, services appropriate to
the occasion win be held. Rabbi Freund
viii deliver the sermon. He will take
for his subject THE Passing and the
Permanent" Elaborate choral services
VIII be rendered. The soloist this even
ing will be Miss Sigrid Petersen, who
VIII sing '"The Beautiful City" She
will be accompanied on the violin by
Miss Bessie Barnett. In the morning
the subject will be ''Lifes Testing"
Monday forenoon at 10 o'clock there
VIII also be services
The Jewish new year is an annual
event of first Importance. The observ-
ance Of the first Of Tishri (the seventh
month"; as ROsh Ha-shanah, is uniVer-
sal. 1t Is the most solemn day. next to
Yom Kippur in the Jewish calendar.
1t Is memorial day. a day held holy
unto the Lord and the Judgment day.
The passage in Psalms referring to the
solemn feast which is held on new
moon day, when the shofar, the rams
horn, is sounded as a day of judgment
of THE God Of Jacob" is taken to in
dictate the character of Rosh-Ha-sha-
nah.
The Judgment Day.
In the legendary accounts one reads
that on the judgment day all the in
habitants of the world pass for judg-
ment before the Creator, as sheep pass
before the examination of the shep-
herd. Three books of account are
opened on Rosh Ha-shanah wherein is
inscribed the fate of the wicked.
righteous and those of the inter
mediate class. those who are not
utterly wicked. The names or
the righteous are Immediately re
corded and they are sealed to live. The
middle class is allowed d respite of ten
days, till Yom Kippur, to repent and
become righteous; the wicked are blot
ted out Of the book of the living.
The Tishri zodiac claimed to indicate
the scales of judgment, balancing the
meritorious against the wicked acts of
the persons judged. The first of Tishri
was considered by the best of authori-
ties as the beginning of the creation.
Old Customs Observed.
On ROsh Ha-shanah the means OF
susteDance of every person are appor-
toned for the year. In different coun-
tries the feast on Rosh Ha-shanah
varies. but the custom of eating cakes
dipped in honey, fruits and sometimes
a calfs head is observed. But one may
not eat nuts on Rosh Ha-shanah, as the
numerical value of the Hebrew term
for nut is equivalent to that of sin,
and probably also for the further rea-'
son that the salivary glands are inor-
dinately stimulated to such an extent
as to distract the mind of the right
eOus.
The shofar or rams horn, the instru-
ment blown on New. Years day, must
be free from defect of any kind, such
as a hole, which, affecting the sound,
lenders il unfit for use. The natural
&olor of the horn must not be replaced
10y artificial colOring. The significance
of the use of the shofar is to remind
the faithful worshipper Of the animal
that replaced Isaac as the sacrifice, the
specific chapter in the Bible, Genesis
xxi, forming the scriptural lesson Of
the New Year day. The shofar is used
at present mainly in the synagogues of
the orthodox Jews; the Reform Jews
make use of the cornet.
Greetings Are Exchanged.
AT the conclusion of the services
there are the expressions of greeting.
The form generally used is "Leshono
tovo tikosev" ('@May you be inscribed
for a good year,. .-...-
Late in the nineteenth century it be-
came the custom to send to acquaint-
ances New Years greeting cards of
various designs, cOlOrs and inscTip-
lions. Presents are gladly inter-
changed between relatives and friends.
How great a practice this sending of
cards and greetings has become may
readily be understood from the request
of the postoffice authorities in New
York, where today is the largest Jewish
settlement in the world, to have the
cards and letters sent early enough to
prevent congestion of the mail on the
New Year day itself.
Most important of Year.
The services on Rosh Ha-shanah are
the most largely attended of any dur
ing the year by the faithful and others,
who at other times are lax in ceremo-I
NAL observance. Many of the business
houses conducted by those of the jew
ish faith are closed on Rosh Ha-shanah
and also on the Day of Atonement,
which is ten days later.
At Congregation Mon tefiore services
will he held Monday and Tuesday,