The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1908-09-26
oliday period over tomorrow and Sun

holiday period over tomorrow and Sun
day.
The Jewish calendar contains two
New Year days. Rosh Hashanah Is
held by tradition to be the day on
which God created the earth It falls
either in September, or October. Of the
Christian year, being reckoned by the
new moon Of the seventh month, fish
ri. Abb Is the first month in the re-
ligious year, and corresponds with
March or April, the year dating from
the moon after the vernal equinox. The
prophets speak of the sacred year.
while those in secular employment
reckon it by the civil.
1t seems to have been general Gus
tom among Semitic peoples to count
their year as beginning in the fall syn
chronous with the harvest festival,
and. since all semitic people arrange
their calendar according to the phases
of the moon it can be readily under
stood why, following the ancient GUS
tom, the Jewish New Year occurs In
the fall. And because of this discrep-
ancy between the lunar and solar
years there is a few days variation
from year to year in the date Of the
celebration according to current caleh
dar.
The celebration OF Rosh Hashanah
Is established by Mosaic precept. In
Leviticus xiii "a and Is, it says:
Speak unto the children Of Israel,
saying in the seventh month. in the
first day Of the month. shall We have
a Sabbath, a memorial Of blowing Of
trumpets, an holy convention. Ye shall
do no servile work therein. but We shall
offer an Offering made by fire unto the
Lord"
Different from the ordinary concep-
ton ROsh Hoshanah has a deep relig
ious significance. 1t is called, in the
Bible. the day of remembrance. the day
of Judgment and the day of blowing
the shofar. Or trumpet 1t is more than
anything else really the preparation
for the great Yom Kippur. GOT Day of
AtOnement.
: The days between Rosh Hoshanah
and YOm Kipp"- - known as the
awful days, zen days of peni-
tence, each 80 which is observed as a
half-feast DAY by the more orthodox
Jews, while the Yom Kippur itself is
invariably observed as a complete fast.
The rabbinical allegory that on Rosh
Hoshanah God commands the record
ing angel to open the books of each
ones sins and merits, leaving the rec
ord open to be finally and irrevocably
closed on the Yom Kippur indicates
at once the significance of the day and
the appropriateness of calling the New
Year the day of remembrance, Juds-
ment and of blowing the shofar
Business is generally suspended in
Hebrew commercial circles during the
New Years celebrations. The Jewish
temples and synagogues are thronged
with worshippers. Among the orthodox
Hebrews the festival lasts two days.
The Reformed Jews celebrate it for one
day only. AS the priestly succession
has been lost, the burnt Offering can
NO longer be made. The trumpets are
blown. In the more conservative syn
agogues the shofars or rams horns,
are used. In the Reformed synagogues
brass instruments are often used Ex-
perts are employed to produce the in
harmonious notes. There are three or
four distinct blasts. One is prolonged,
as If the blower were bound to expend
every particle of breath in his body.
Another is short and tremulous. The
third is broken, or disconnected. The
latter has been defined as a reminder,
of the many broken vows and prom
ises of the children of Israel These
blasts are blown at frequent intervals
during the day. They are always fol-
lowed by short melodies, some of
which are sung with great zest by the
members of the congregation
In the law commanded in the TWEEN
ty-third chapter of Leviticus it is said
that God in the observance Of atone
ment day observed: when We. shall
affl1ct your souls" The meaning of the
words is rather obscure, but the early
rabbis interpreted them to mean alb
stinence. from food, hence, fasting has
become the universal custom in the
observance of this day
The Succoth, Or the Feast of Taber-
nacles. which corresponds with the
Christian Thanksgiving, concludes the
cycle of holy days with a weeks cele-
bration, and, as in all such cases, the
first and last days Of the observance
are marked by religious services This
week is really the thanksgiving festi-
val which is largely analogous to the
modern harvest home. 1t partakes in
no wise Of the nature Of the two pre-
ceding holy days and is connected with
them only in time. This feast belongs
rather to the cycle of the three pill
grimages concluding the Passover. the
Pentecost and the Feast of Taber-
nacles.
AS stated in the sixteenth chapter
of Deuteronomy: Three times a year
you shall appear before God" On these
occasions (of course during the exist
ence of the Hebrew state) every He |
brew who could, assembled in Jeru- |
salem, SO they were political, economic |
and social as we'll and religious in their |
character
Added to the forming what might
be called the eighth day Of the Feast of |
was another celebration
known as the Feast of Conclusion,
which in the Hebrew is Shemini Alb
Z6TQtb which oooor1icor IN tho Pihlioh1 II