The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1908-04-22
EGYPT DEAD-IsRAEL LIVING
Monumental Egypt and Modern, Israel


tion!" This outburst Of song heard
| on the seventh day of Passover in all
| our synagogs, transports us in fancy
to the banks of the Red Sea where
stood the freed bondsmen of Israel.
land saw the Egyptians dead at the
| Red Sea-"
Egypt dead, Israel living! The OPP
| pressor dead, the oppressed set free!
| What wonder the poet breaks forth in
| rapturous song at this contrast
But that was in very ancient day.
! Has it any force with us? Indeed this
, same startling contrast is brought
wildly home to us by such a sensa-
tional discovery as that which took
| place on the 26th of January, 1907,
! as reported in the Jewish Chronicle"
| Of London. Mr.. Davis and Mr.. Ayrton
on that day succeeded after long and
| continued excavations in entering the
tomb and discovering the mummy of
| Queen Teie, of Egypt. Sons of Israel
Gas I understand them to be-, they
looked upon Egypt dead. A queen
ante dating Moses, her remains intact
in mummified form, the necklace still
| about her neck, golden bracelets upon
her wrists, royal crown upon her
brow! Surely here was vivid pre-
sentauon Of Egypt dead and Israel
alive. :.
Obeying the mandate Of the Hagga-
dab for Passover, each one is to look
| upon himself as having personally
| gone out Of Egypt. How keen then
! Is the sentiment of wonder and what
| mingled emotions we'll forth in our
hearts as we mark that contrast re-
newed today between dead Egypt and
living Egypt.
The artist has set forth this con-
trast in the title page of the new
Union Haggadah," under the caption
Monumental Egypt and Modern Is
rael"
He depicts the gateway Of an an
cient Egyptian temple in ruins. Above
1t is the beetle with outspread wings,
representing the sun, the universal
emblem of the Egyptian religion. On
the lintels of the gateway are carved
| scenes depicting the Hebrew slaves
at work under the lash Of the Egyp-
tian taskmasters. Across the thresh-
old the broken and overthrow image
of Rameses, the Pharaoh of the OPP
preston, lies PROSTATE Types of
modern Israel, oriental and occiden-
tai, surmount the fallen image and
look out upon the great Egyptian des-
ert Mn whose sands Sphinx and Pyra-
mids are embedded
The contrast thus wildly depicted
at once raised the question why did
weak and helpless Israel survive
while mighty Egypt is but a monu-
mental memory" The answer is in
Dictated in the pictre. Looking through
the gateway Of the ancient temple
one sees everywhere in Egypt nothing
but tombs. The Pyramids are tombs
for the Pharaohs The grottos and,
ruins of Sarcophagi fill the land The
whole country is Metropolis or city
Of the dead. The Egyptians brooded
over death. Their temples We're the
open gateways to the sepulchre. Their
Bible was the Book of the Dead"
The pomp and ceremony of their i'm
posing rituals mounted to the fullest
grandeur in the funeral cortege. The
dead were swathed in costly bands
| and the cunning art of the embalmer,
among them reached it's fullest de-
| velopment.
Israel on the other hand was de-
voted to life. Our religion \centers not
about the grave butt about the home,
| Our Bible Is a book of life, devoted
| to the guidance of every act, from
childhood to old age, so Jas to make
| this world more heavenly. It's pur-
pose, Holy shall we be, for I the Lord
| thy God am holy!" laid the emphasis
on purity Of life here, satisfied that
thus the life hereafter would best
take care of itself.
Egypt dead, Israel living! A further
explanation Of this astonishing con-
| trast is offered by the observations of
a friend while travelling in Egypt and
| writing most interesting letters to the
Jewish press. He noted that to the
Egyptian fellaheen-the common la
borers and peasants who are descen-
dants Of the ancient Egyptians-these
great monuments which have with
! stood the storms of centuries, mean
nothing They can not read the in
scriptions, or If they can, no message
| is thereby conveyed to their minds.
! In them the historic consciousness is
dead. But Israel lives. He, whose
cestors Of these lowly Egyptians, still
, hears voice calling to him down the
centuries. That voice has never been
hushed through the ages. It's mes
| sage has grown in power and signifi-
canoe as it passed from Patriarch to
Sages. Never has there been a lapse
of memory. The historic conscious
ness has kept alert through all the
darkness of the trying ages and
ouickens with unwonted brilliancy in