The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-10-10
EDITORIAL NOTES


At sunset this evening the most sig
niacant day in the Jewish year will .ge
lAshered in with fasting and prayer.
Te1n Kippur, the Day of Atonement,
is; more generally observed than any
other Hebrew fast. Only those who
have definitely and finally severed
their relations with judaism refrain
from some observance of the day.
while. the unorthodox Jew may not
fast for twenty-four hours, nor attend
tina services in the synagogue, he at
least abstains from toll. There is a
general closing of Jewish business
places.
1t is the Orthodox Jewish belief that
with the setting of the sun tonight
the Book of Life is closed, and with
it the opportunity TO atone by good
deeds for the sins of the past pear.
The Jewish theory divides humanity
into three classes Between the sheep
and the goats is a great middle class,
the ordinary run of hum anity, who
ARE neither very good nor very bad,
bat Just $3.50. The big ledger of life
contains the names of some who are
certainly saved, and of others quite
AS assuredly damned Between New
Year and Yom Kippur, every Jew not
a confirmed goat or an upbelever
tries to get a few items entered on
the credit side of his account
Retween sunset tonight and sunset
FtoEnorrow night the orthodox Jew must
idEop all mundane affairs and devote
the period to fasting, penance, pray
er and attendance at synagogue It
is tina custom Of the more devout to
ispend the entire twenty-four hours in
a synagogue. The Reformed Hebrew
congregations do not require SO much
from their members
In the orthodox places Of worship
Xom Kippur begins this evening with
the chanting OF the ancient KoIS Mi
DIRE. petition for forgiveness for
Ell
lows and the service concludes with
prayer and hymns. Most of the wor-
shippers then go to their homes, but
some remain in 5silent supplication
throughput tfle night
Early tonorrow mornig the devout
WIN again assemble in the synagogue.
"A E1ong the congregations that cling
to the ancient customs, the men and
women are segregated and the wom-
en- are dressed in white, while the mas
cu1ine worshipers wear shrouds. Pray
err and singing alternate for several
hours, after which comes the read
ing of the scrolls At the end of the
day the impressive rite of the Niella,
SYM bol3c Of the sealing of the Book
of Life, the closing Of Jehovah's ledg-
err brings the impressive Tom Kippur
service TO q close After a final pray
er. and the Tekeho Gdaulo, or blast
Of the horn, the congregation files out
and is at liberty to break its fast.
Xom Kippur, or Yom -Kfppurinn,
was instituted by Moses as a day of
ipenitence, when Jews may atone for
the sins of the whole people. In the
T41rnud it is called the Day of Great
Fasting The biblical authority for
7 ON Kippur is contained in the verses
in Levfticus:
Upon the tenth day of this sew
enth month shall be the Day of Atone
ment, It shall be the most solemn and
shall be called holy; and you shall Af-
dict your souls on that day, and shall
offer a holocaust to the Lord; you
shall do servile work in the time Of
this day.
1t is further provided that the fast
shall extend from evening until even
ing" and that the sacrifices to be pro
vided shall be two buck goats for the
atnnement of sin and a ram for the
holocaust to the Lord
The first number of the Edinburgh
Review was published III years ago
today, by Francis jeffrey, the Rev
Sydney Smith, Henry Brough and
other Wings. The purpose of the
publication was not prirna rily to make
money. but rather to mold public opin-
Jon Constable undertook the role of
publisher under agreement where
by the writers were to claim no pay
ment until after three numbers had
been issued The plan was so sue
cessfuI that after the first number the
editors and contributors were well re-
munerated. jeffrey, who has been
called 1.-The greatest of all magazine
editors. was placed in absolute con-
troll of the reviews policy, and h. gave
TO the publication an influence that
extended all over the English-read-
ing world. The business ability of
Cons ia bic, combined with the editor
5a1 skill and critical sagacfty of jeff
rey, gave to the Edinburgh Review
in dts palmy days a power and force
never before or since equalled by any
s1rnilar periodical.
One Of the most remarkable figures
In the Roman Catholic church is Car
dinal Raphael Merry del Val, the Pa
pal Secretary of State. Great as is
his position nd power at the Vatican,
he is still comparatively young man.
for he was born October 10, 1866,
and win celebrate his forty-eighth
birthday today. He is a Spaniard, of
Inish descent, and was born in Lon
don, where his father was secretary
to the Spanish embassy. The Ponti-
Heal Secretary was educated at Slough
JshaaE College in Durham, and in
Rome and in his student days was
known as 1.-THE Merry Devil" He is
descended from an Irish family that
settled in Spain about three centur-
les ago.
The eminent churchnaan was only
tTventy-two when he was appointed q
PapaI envoy to Queen Victoria's jul
bilee. and a little later he represented
the Pope at the funeral of Emperor
William I. He was also the Vatican's
representative at the coronation of
bishop OF Nioosia in 1900 and he was
oriIY thirty eight when he received the
red hat of the Sacred College. Merry
del val was secretary to the congre-