The Jewish South. [volume], December 22, 1893, Image 3

About The Jewish South. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1893-1899

Image provided by: Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA

                
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3he kicked, but it did not help. The other sin
ner would not let go his hold, and the angel,
continuing to pull, was lifting them both. But
lo ! another sinner clung tot hem, and then a
third, and more and more—till a chain of mis
erable sinners hung at the woman's feet. The
angel never ceased pulling. It did not seem
too much for the carrot, and they all were
lifted in the air. But the old woman suddenly
took fright Too many people were taking
hold of her last chance of salvation, and kick
ing and pushing those whe were clinging to
her, she exclaimed, "Let go! hands off! the
carrot is mine."
No sooner had she pronounced the word
" mine," than the tiny stem broke, and they
all fell back into hell forevermore.
This is only a legend, and not a Jewish le
gend at that, but it illustrates so well the atti
tude of many people to the community at
large. With them everything is "mine,"
"mine," "mine." "Ours" is not found in
the dictionary of their lives. Yet by that very
selfishness is the greatest danger brought upon
those who practice it The prophet, was right
when he sounded the word of warning to the
people, " Seek ye and pray for the peace and
welfare of. the city wherein ye shall be exiled ;
for in its welfare will ye find your own."
The very powers and abilities which have
been given to a man, and by which he has
gained success in life for himself, belong to the
community in whose midst he has gained his
success. They belong to the service of God
who has given them. Not to be represented
by a mere proxy, even though it be of gold,
but by the man himsolf, by his labors, bia en
ergies, his abilities, given to the congregation,
to the community, to the common wealth at
large.
Let us, friends, heed the monition of the
prophet Let us turn our lives out of the nar
row rut of selfish, personal advantage. Let
all our energies be united in one broad stream
of noble action, of splendid beneficence, that
shall bless us ourselves, in the very blessing
that it scatters broadcast among the children
of men. For such ia the mission of Israel,
and by God's grace bo shall it be fulfilled
Amem.
Of sixty-seven queens of France only thirteen
have died without leaving their histories a
record of misery. Eleven were divorced, two
executed, nine died young, seven were soon
widowed, three cruelly treated, three exiled;
the poisoned and broken-hearted make up the
rest.
Good thoughts are blessed guests, and should
be heartily welcomed, well-fed, and much
sought after. Like rose leaves, they give out
a sweet smell if laid up in the jar of memory.
— Spurgeon.
Cheerfulness is, in the first place, the best
promoter of health. Repining and secret mur
murs of heart give imperceptible strokes to
those delicate fibers of which the vital parte
are composed.— Addison.
What, indeed, does that word " cheerfulness "
imply? It means a pure heart a contented
spirit; it means a kind and loving disposition;
it means humility and charity ; it means a gener
ous appreciation of others, and a modest opin
ion of self — W. M. Thackeray.
PHEBREWjTYPES OF TUNIS.
Jewish Household Life in this North African City.
[Concluded from last wee*.]
Through the dim haze of the misty tepid va
por the eye gradually becomes conscious of a
confused, moving mass of female forma, whose
long, unloosed black hair only partially
shrouds glittering white skins, and is being
continually pushed back from large, velvety,
laughing eyes. Some of the women, seated on
stone benches, converse together in shrill pierc
ing accents, broken at intervale by a strange
sy bill ant ejaculation uttered in unison in the
highest notes of their combined voices. Oth
ers Btand erect, with uplifted arms, pouring
warm water over their heads, and then rub
bing into their moist hair the red earth of
Manouba, which imparts to it a brilliancy like
varnish. Others, again, anoint themselves
with a special salve or mutually slice each oth
er with showers of water brought in pails by
female attendants. The whole atmosphere
is one of laughter, shouts, interjections and
peals of loud merriment The singular scene
might tempt a painter of the school of Rubens,
if it were possible for one of his sex to gain ad
mission to the Jewish women's hatha.
Outside the city, where the streets have
grown wide and deserted, is an inclosure sur
rounded by high walla—the Israelitic cemetery
The ground is paved with broad marble slabs,
between which the green grass blades flourish
and over which a hushed silence reigns. But
on the arrival of a funeral cortege the solemn
peace of the churchyard departs. The mourn
ers rush in in noisy crowds, bearing aloft a
painted coffin, which is violently thrown from
shoulder to shoulder by the bearers. The pro
cession has hurried at the top of its speed from
the dead man's house, which is at once deluged
with the waters of purification from doorstep
to garret by the female servants left behind.
Deep groans and lamentations arise from the
groups, ever and anon dominated by the same
strident "houhouhou" hoard at the baths,
and uttered by professional women weepers.
Risking many a fall in its transit from one
pair of arms to another, the coffin is at last de
posited by the open grave, into which it is low
ered by the gravediggers. who immediately
jumping in after it proceed to cleverly pull it
to pieces, for as this colli a has served before,
so will it be put together again for future use.
The boards are one by one brought to the sur
face and the corpse, covered only with its
shroud, left on the damp ground at the bottom.
The first shovels of earth are hastily thrown over
it while the elderly rabbi hurriedly mutters
the last prayers, as hurridly responded to by
the mourners, who depart as excitedly as they
came, preceding the women, who once more
utter their lugubrious final waiL
The Jewiah colony of Tunis has in this gener
ation learned French in the schools of the " Al
liance," established in 1830, and ratified in
1881, and apparently forgotten Italian, which
was its habitual language before the proctecu
rate. Educated in French institutions, they
ca s not fail to adopt the views and opinions of
their teachers. It is only the indestructible,
persistent inherent attachment of the Israel
ites to their religious tenets and traditions
which can preserve them from the total oea
tralization and foreign absorption which hare
already exercised so perceptible an influence on
tbe Arabs and Moon of Tunisia.
The province has become so accessible off lata
that it is as easy tor the traveler to go to Tunia,
and from thence to reach Algeria, as it ia to
travel in Europe. A trip to the S*hara does
not seem more adventurous than a journey to
Norway, and the romance of such names as
Biskra, Constantino, El X mtara and the noble
plain of the Chelif has a potent charm which
even the attractions of the most delightful city
»f North Africa—Algiers-cannot diminish. —M.
DcS, in New York Sun.
Israel is the prophet among the nations aad
to day is not yet over. — London Review.
Truth is given not to be contemplated, has
bo be done. Life ia an action, not a thought
— Soberston.
A man's own good breeding is the best ss
mrity against other people's ill manners. — Lord
Chesterfield.
Habits are to the soul what the veins and
arteries are to the blood—the courses in which
it moves. —//. Bushnell.
Love is the refreshing water; the law is the
channel for it to flow in, and the spring is the
bosom of God— McCosh.
The true light of a young man lies in his
vision; in high and right ideals, and in his en
deavors to realize them. — Lyon.
Busy lives, like busy waters, are generally
pure. Stagnant lives, like stagnant pools,
breed corruption.— W. D.Nicholas.
Remember that to every day thou hast thy
work allotted thee, and that sufficient unto the
day are the evils that attend thee. — Bunyan.
There must be brainHservice, hand-service,
foot-service, purseHwrvice, as well as Up-servios,
if we would see the answer to our prayers.
— Studley.
Do not despise your situation; in it you must
act suffer, and conquer. From every point on
earth we are equally near to heaven and to the
infinite. —Amid.
Nothing good bursts forth all at once. The
lightning may dart out of a black cloud; bat
tbe day sends his bright heralds before him,
to prepare the world for his coming.— Hare.
Little pains and little annoyances and little
discomforts are as much a part of our discipline
as the formidable adversities that occasionally
smite us like hurricanes.—Theodore Cuyler.
The earth, like a bird's cage, is covered with
darkness every day, in order that we may catch
with more ease the strains of the higher, gran
der melodies. Thoughts which, in the glare of
of the noon, seems smoke and mist, stand on
in the night with all the forces of a brilliant
flaming light. — Jean Paul Richter.
The world is a solemn fact: we are in it,
passing through it Let us try to understand
its mysteries, let us think much of its responsi
bilities, let us ponder the thoughts of the in
quiring minds of all ages, let us prize all the
light we have from man, from God, so we may
be guided aright amid its perils and changing
experiences.—Alexander Reed, D. D.