The Jewish advance., August 16, 1878, Image 1

About The Jewish advance. (Chicago, Ill.) 1878-1881

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»Gewürz- oder Bfomim-Büchi«e,« l
»verfchüttete Bsonkim-Vücl)sen.« \n\n Execute the Judgment of Truth and Peace in your Gates.
A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO SOCIAL INTERESTS AND PROGRESSIVE JUDAISM.
CHICAGO, AUGUST 16, 1878.
No. 10.
Vol. I
For the Jewish Advance.
EPIGRAMS.
By Philip Abraham, London, Eng.
MUTATUR NOMINE.
Your Jewish birth you would disclaim,
And think it right to change your name;
And there you’re wrong, for all suppose,
’Twere better far to change your nose.
HABITS OF HOLINESS.
“ Thy priest shall clothe in righteousness,”
Thus holy precepts say;
But Nadab wears not, you may guess,
The best clothes every day.
THE SKEPTIC AND THE SAGE.
“ If there no Future be,” the Skeptic cries,
How vain your boasted hope, your self
denying-;
41 If there a Future IS,” the Sage replies,
How dread the cheating thought, your hope
supplying.”
THE SABBATH QUEEN.
- . *
About two o'clock in the afternoon
I bocar’-' lively again. Fruits
and wine, or tea, coffee and cakes were
provided for the friends who might call.
The teacher came to the house to exam
ine the children before their father.
They have a foolish notion about teach
ers in Russia. This class of hirelings is
treated with the respect of scholars and
with the deference of the moral guides
and benefactors of youth. So they are
treated, and they behave accordingly.
Now tliis would be preposterous with
our refined friends. Imagine a Mr. S. or
Mr. M. who are only poor teachers, call
ing on a Sunday on Mr. L. on Fifth
Avenue and being taken into the parlor
where the most aristocratic circle of
friends are assembled and treated with
great courtesy and respect, Lack-a
merey ! This would be a disgrace to
civilization, an unpardonable breach of
propriety. And the idea of a millionaire
father having his boy examined every
Sunday in his house and in the presence
of his friends ! But they are a benight
ed class of people those Russian Jews;
the richest and the best of them commit
such improprieties every Sabbath in the
year, and they imagine that it is a part
of their duty as fathers and as Israelites
to do so. Congregational matters, relig
ious affairs, learning and instruction are
discussed until it is time to go to the
synagougue, for the Sabbath lecture and
for the afternoon service. When the
gentlemen are out on this business, the
ladies have full sway in the house, and
cossip. and dresses, the kitchen, the
schalet and the babies are discussed with
a will. 1 knew a naughty boy who used
to hide himself when the ladies assem
bled to gossip, and listened to their con
servation. The next day he would go
and repeat in the company of gentlemen
the most interesting remarks , he had
heard from the ladies, turning them
most peculiarly into the ridiculous. If
it were not for the fortune he had to be a
good Talmudist (a thing highly respected
by the ladies) and to belong to a good
family, that boy would surely have been
stoned by the injured creatures who
boasted of such affinities to the saviors
of Home.
When the gentlemen came home from
the afternoon service the third Sabbath
meal was served, flic hymns at that
meal were sung louder and with more
zest than those sung at the previous
meals. The company also was more
numerous, for small families of the
neighborhood are invariably invited to
participate with the larger ones at this
meal. Then, if there are married chil
dren or young relatives in the family, it
is customary that they be present at the
house of the senior for the third meal of
the Sabbath. The lecture of the day
affords a subject for loud discussion.
The children are treated according to
the manner in which they have acquitted
themselves of their tasks during the day.
If a boy Wits JhiS'Mixtrrh- on that SayT
bath, he delivered his speech at the third
meal. The company enjoyed itself
hugely till nightfall when the gentlemen
again repaired to the synagogue to recite
a selection of Psalms and to say the
first evening prayer of the ensuing week,
in the Sh'mortali Essreh of that evening
there is a small prayer which I would
recommend for adoption even in our
ultra-reform temples on account of the
richness of its contents. Here is how
I would render it in English :
“ Thou hast graciously vouchsafed
unto us the knowledge of Thy law, and
hast taught us to fulfill the ordinances
of Thy will. Thou Eternal, our God,
hast created the distinction between
holy and unholy, between light and dark
ness, between the enlightened and the
unenlightened, and between the Sabbath
and the six days of work. Our Father>
our King, cause the ensuing days of
work to come upon us in peace that
they bring no sin in their trail, no trans
gression in their vicissitudes, but purity i
love and the fear of Thy holy name.”
Aotwithstrnding my poor bnghsli
translation, you will sec from this short
paragraph what principles the Sabbath
was to inculcate, what lesson it left be
hind for the believer to be guided by
during the week. A more philosophical
prayer can hardly be contrived by our
philosophers. But the terse expres
sions of the original, which are so preg
nant with thought and filing, must be
understood in order that this prayer
should be fully appreciated. After the
Slimonali Essreh a collection of all the
blessings, good wishes and promises
known by the name of
of the
biule is read. And, alter the evening
prayer the master ul‘ the house goes
home to dismiss the “departing Sabbath
queen.' A goblet of wine is again taken
up and held before a lighted torch,
especially prepared for that purpose.
The whole household must stand around
and listen to the recitation, for no work
may be done without it, God is invoked
as the “ Lord of salvation" as the
“strength and cause of rejoicing" to the
righteous ; hence, “I may trust and not
fear.” Blessings are pronounced on
light (mark, please, what a prominence
to this emblem of wisdom is given in all
the ceremonies of the Sabbath), on wine
as the emblem of rejoicing, and on fra
grant spices contained in a box, which
is the emblem of all good gifts as well
as of virtue.
This “spice box” or, as it is called in
Germany,
reminded me of all that I have told you.
My landlord, as I have told you, calls
me “a spilt spice box.' I think he is
right. Every one who lias lived that
life and has given it up. is a box from
which the spices have been spilt. The
causes of spilling the spices may be
various. Sometimes the
Spoiled anil unfit Tcwholti them ; with
others, an outside occurrence or inter
ference may be the cause. As a class,
we liberal-thinking and reformed Jews
are
Let
us hope that fresh and choice spices will
restore us to our original significance.
To conclude my narrative about the
Sabbath (since I adhere so tenaciously
to one subject to-night) let me tell you
that after those blessings of “distinc
tion,”
hymns of hope and rejoic
mg are sung, and a meal is taken in
honor of the Queen’s departure. This
meal is called
Truly, the
sabbath is a day of great significance.
Happy those who have tasted the enjoy
ments and the sanctity thereof. Here
is a stanza of a Sabbath hymn :
“A foretaste of eternal bliss
Is the Sabbath rest,
All who on that clay rejoice
Will with joys be blest;
When troubles great befall mankind
Their hearts with ease are tilled,
Not they succumb to wasting- care,
Not they to trials yield.”
A brother of mine (peace to his ashes.
I l mourn for him for the last four months)
once visited me in St. Petershvrg, after
I had been a student at college for
two years and had become used to the
free and easy life which the college
affords. lie at a glance took in my
position. He understood that I had
relinquished many of the ancient usages,
but he did not speak to me about it.
He was not the man to moralize, and I
rather avoided a religious conversation
with him. lie once came to see the
Library, and found me sitting there with
a book of Hebrew ethics. He watched
me for some time, but I was so wrapped
up in the subject [ was reading, that 1
did not notice him. At last he touched
me gently on the shoulder.
“ Hallo, Solomon ! Are you here ?
said I, turning round.
“I have been here,” he said, “for the j
last forty-five minutes ; have passed.
you several times while viewing the'
library, but you did not notice me. It
seems that these tilings” (pointing to
my book) “interest you still.”
“And will always interest me, Solo
mon. Why do you make such a remark?”
“Because I know that you do not ob
serve all that is written in ^uch books.
You have grown to be a philosopher. I
r»
am sorry tor you. » ,4
“Sorry, probably, for tyy soul, whfbj|
you consider lost,” I remarked, not with
out a sneer.
Js
“Pooh, pooh ! You are sailing off into
metaphysics. You have always been a
little ardant, brother. It is because you
are so sensitive,” he said, calmly. “I
am not uneasy about your soul in the
least, but I am sincerely grieved to see
you lose so much of the enjoyment of
life.”
I looked at Mm b.o'Minn^].
"Yes, brother >- <y*t> »uyU, '
lose much eim u« ’ • Jj .yp ...
«* • • . ' ■ :
From the time- ofS las me the .IsW‘a>
enjoys the Sabbath, which constitutes
the seventh part. All the days of the
feasts constitute again about a thir
teenth part of life. Two hours, on the
average, of devotion every day make
again one-ninth part of life. Occasional
enjoyments of a religious character I
will omit, but you know that they occur
often and make up a substantial portion
of life. Count together the fractions I
have given, and you will find that they
make up more than one-third of a life
which is spent in the purest enjoyments
that the world can afford. If you feel
not the enjoyments of a Sabbath, of a
feast, or of the time of devotion, you
lose it ; you lose it for yourself in this
life, and that is what I am sorry for. 1
am sorry for you, my brother—you must
not feel offended by it."
I could not argue against figures—it
is only the Christians that can do that
—and his words fell like lead on my
heart. Of course, I subsequently tried
to persuade myself that I may sacrifice
my enjoyment for the usefulness I can
acquire in behalf of society, thus mak
ing a sort of a hero of myself, and many
more arguments in my favor have ]
advanced. But those arguments had
two sides each. Solomon’s argument
remained irrefutable. Have not our
forefathers been useful to society ? Have
they not upheld knowledge, both posi
tive and abstract knowledge t Have
they not been truly charitable and good
and beneficial to mankind ? Have they
not known the world and mixed with it,
and worked for it in commerce, in sci
ence, in politics and in literature .; And
they have had all those pure and lofty
enjoyments which 1 am deprived of. and,
what is more, those enjoyments gave
them the strength to endure trouble
which I will never have. Let us drink
a toast to the Sabbath Queen, even if
we are unable to appreciate her virtues