A merica 5cwish

Palakiwi eater

CLIFTON ARNO& - CINCINNATI 10, OHIO

PAGE FIVE

jitEfrmorrinosn &ON IC 1.1;

rather venture the suggestion that
the "breaking of • vessel" has been
employed in remote times as means
of ratifying contracts and treaties.
Note, en • Marriage Custom.
The covenant of marriage, like every
By WAS LIEBERMAN
other contract, required some kind of
formality to give it publicity and ren-
• By J. PORTON
I made Narodniek's acquaintance
der it valid. In very ancient times,
at a lecture. All sorts of intellectual
in order to give legal strength 'to a
not
infrequently
happened
It
has
sponges usually attend lectures, and
transaction, it was customary to di-
the chronic breed is uninteresting. in Judaism that certain widespread vide a victim, between the parts of
usages
have
not
only
been
regarded
Information oozes from them too
which the contracting parties passed
freely and it goes out as it came in as sacred and binding but have prece- (lien. xv., 18; Jer. xxxiv., 181—a
Exclusive Hygienic Parlors
without chemical changes due to di. dence over law. I therefore propose symbolical representation of the con-
gestion. But Narodnick was differ- to investigate and trace the origin
sequences which would ensue if there
some of the most popular customs.
ent.
a glass" were no unity of action. At a later
The a Minhag
of ceremony
"breaking is being period this practice was replaced by
It WWI not the fact that he needed when
wedding
a shave which especially distinguish-
a more humane token, namely, the
Formerly of New York L
ed him from the others, nor that his performed has been explained by our breaking of a glass, which pratrcally
forehead was high, nor that he car- sages as a sign of mourning for Zion amounts to the same idea. It is quite
ried three hooks under his arm. Rath- even at the "height of human felic- obvious that such a right (Mould be
Cadillac 6194
2858 John R. St., near Edmund Pl.
er was it the Olympian way in which ity" (Berachot 31). Out of this in- employed on the day when the most
he ignored the speaker. The talk terpretation several queries arise: tiered contract of a man's life is
A complete, perfect, personal, individual service
dealt with "Footpaths in Patagonia;' Why not extend the same practice to formulated. It emphasises the Divine
but I honestly believe from the way numerous other blissful events in our advice: "And Adam cleaved unto his
Special apponitment by mail or phone
Narodnick blinked his eyes at the ceil- life? Why not wear a black band (as wife, and they became one flesh"
ing and twirled his thumbs that he usual in those days) or sprinkle ashes (Gen. ii, 24). The breaking of the
would have ignored even the main- on the head of the bridegroom? glass demonstrates symbollically the
308 Book Building, Washington Boulevard
results if discord and enmity prevail.
traveled road. As for me, 1 was Baba Buthra 00.)
Dr. Isonstadt, in ascribing to this Simultaneously, it utters a curse
gathering data for a special article
Phone Cherry 1928
and was forced to divide my atten- custom a foreign origin, asserts that "that the same fate may befall the
tion in half. One part, through an it is one which was practiced by all party that breaks the engagement,"
effort of the will, went to the speak. ancient races. Primitive man consid- as agreements amongst the ancient
NEW YEAR'S GREETINGS
er; the other, joyously involuntarily, ered even the gods to be jealous of nations were solemn only when sanc-
a mortal's prosperity. Whenever a tioned by an oath or curse. Such as-
roamed toward Narodnick.
After the lecture I went over to man prospered he dreaded lest his servations were permissible when
him. Men of his type du not insist deity should he envious. In order to prompted by religious motives, and
propitiate his gods, he endeavored to similar instances are numerous in
on formal introductions.
diminish his wealth, and, of his own our scared writings. The probability
"You did not listen to the lecture," accord, destroyed a part of his pos -
of this suggestion is confirmed by the
I reproved him.
sessions or something dear to him. custom of some communities where
Long Distance Phone 697
"Listen!" he shrugged. Who goes Can we apply the same reason to the the rabbi, immediately he breaks the
OPEN ALL THE YEAR
to listen?"
origin of sacrifice? The above sug- glass, exclaims: 'This is the sign!"
That sounded interesting . I probed gestion is fully substantiated by the and all present respond: "111azal
story of the ring of Polycrates, as Toy."
further.
related by the Greek historian, Ile-
"Well, what do you go for?"
In conclusion, though we cannot,
rodotus: "Amasis, King of Egypt,
:
Ile whipped out a box of cig.arets. hearing of the marvelous prosperity upon the whole, arrive at absolute
The brand was one that with liberal of his friend Polycrates, the tyrant certainty in this matter, yet the last
AND MINERAL BATHS
premium inducements is exploited for of Samos, wrote him a letter, express- opinion appears the most probable.
five cents. lie offered me one.
ing misgivings at fortune so great The best known religious traditions
"A tsigarettl. No?" I shook my and enduring that it could not fail and customs are very often contained
You go direct from your room to the Famous Medea 11•111. through
head.
to drawn down the envy of heaven. and expressed in a phrase or in one
■ steam healed passageway.
"I don't smoke," I apologized, Ile counseled Polycrates to cast away single word. For instance, the Bibli-
waiting until he puffed contentedly that posession which would give him cal expression "to cut a covenant"
conveys
to
us
that
the
primitive
the most pain to lose. "Cast it away
before I resumed the conversation.
SAMUEL ELKIN & SON, Proprietors
method of concluding a covenant was
"But what do you go for?" I in- utterly, out of the world!" Poly- by the cutting of a sacrificial animal
crates,
taking
the
words
to
heart,
sisted.
MT. CLEMENS, MICHIGAN
rowed out to sea and cast into the into two parts. Similarly ,the Ile-
"To dream," he assured me "Does- waves the most precious thing he had, brew very which means both "to buy
n't Patagonia sound as if a man an emerald ring engrated by the gem corn" and "to break" denotes the an-
might dream about it?" He drifted cutter, Theodorus. A few days later cient practice of breaking a vessel
2532 Twenty-fourth Street, Detroit
into Yiddish and I responded In kind. a fisherman came to his house and when confirming a deal. The word
"I have the most beautiful presented him with a huge fish; the "to buy" is connected with "cattle,"
dreams," he confided. "Come along ring was found inside it. Polycrates and corresponds with the Latin word
0 0 1= 101:10
and I'll show you many more like me. wrote to Amasis an account of what "pecunia," money, from "pecan," cat- 1=0=01=101:70=10
You're not busy, I hope? A man had happened, and Amasis, when he tle. In both languages allusions are
made
to
those
remote
periods
when
must never be too busy to dream. read the letter, became at once con-
26 Monroe Ave.
29 Cadillac Square
12 Michigan Ave.
Have you never heard of me, Vessel vinced that his friend Polycrates cattle were the medium of exchange. O
38 Michigan Ave,
Narodnick, writer of feuilletons?"
75 Monroe Ave.
would come to a bad end; conse- I have collected many nouns and
57 Cadillac•Squ•re
Knowing the sensitiveness of writ- quently broke off the tie of friend- verbs that allude to ancient usages,
ers, I admitted with reluctance that ship." This legend has been adopted but I propose to deal with the ma-
I had never read any of his work.
by the German poet Schiller in his terial in a separate article.
"That's all right, that's all right," famous poem, "Der Ring des Poly-
he reassured me. "Nobody did ex- krates."
The Jews, in all probability, have
cept myself. You see, I have never
P. S. — The Minhag of wishing
been printed. But it doesn't bother acquired this strange belief from "long life" when a man drinks any-
me. I write for my own amusement." their neighbors and instituted the thing intoxicating may refer also to
Be smiled shrewdly. "I have at least practice on the wedding day, the hap- an ancient practice, i. e., to that of
piest in a man's life. They sought to providing a condemned man with a
one sympathetic reader."
Ile led me to a cafe situated where appease God by depriving themselves narcotic in order to blunt his sensi-
Second avenue halts before a Yiddish of something precious. It is remark- bilities (Sanhedrin, 43a). In conse-
theater. It halts somewhat in amaze- able that this coincides with a popu- quence of this it became customary
ment at the fact that each play in lar present day saying when, by sheer that on every occasion when intoxi-
succession is advertised there as "the accident a vessel gets broken, the cating drinks were taken the fervent
greatest success." It was a mild wmoan usually exclaims: "Good for- wish "to lifer should precede the
You are cordially invited to inspect our selection of
evening and there were as many men tune! Good fortune! An atonement act.—London Jewish Guardian.
O
outside the cafe as lounged about at for as all!"
. .
Exclusive
In spite of the feasibility of Dr.
the tables inside. The theater elec-
He who deceives his neighbor
Lsenstadt's assertion, I disagree with
tric
signs
blinked
their
superlative
would
also
deceive
his
god.—The
IMPORTED AND DOMESTIC SUITINGS
it. I do not ascribe this Minhag to a
message into the unresisting night.
degrading superstition, but would Talmud.
Narodnick and I sat down at a
FOR THE COMING SEASON
marble-topped table. The air was
thick with tobacco fumes and a-hum
with conversation.
"Why doesn't the waiter come
over?" I inquired after we had chat-
ted for 15 minutes.
TAILOR
"The waiters never come over,"
said Narodnick in a voice that sound-
Glendale 543
ed like the faint wash of the sea in a
4235 Woodward
distant shore. "They are busy think-
ing about eternal truths. You have
to call them."
We made frantic signs to a benevo-
lent patriarch, who shuffled over to us
apathetically. His eyes were fixed on
the transom above the door.
"Coffee and nusskipfel for two,"
Narodnick ordered.
"Everyone here has some favorite
dream," he explained to me. "You
see that old fellow looking at the
floor and forgetting about his coffee?
He used to be a great actor once—in
Germany. Ile always dreams about
the old days. His life is in the past."
"And those two men in front of us
arguing so heatedly?"
"Harmless," Narodnick assured me.
"Two basting pullers explaining to
each other the right way to reorgan-
ize society. Don't mind that. There
isn't a man, woman or child on the
East Side who couldn't run the gov-
renment. But each one has a differ-
ent method."
"I see," said I, munching at the
nusskipf el.
A tall, stout man walked in just
then, followed by a short. stout man.
The tall one wore a high silk hat and
tapped his cane importantly. Evi-
dently he was a personage followed
by a person. The short one sported a
plebian derby worn at a rakish angle.
The cigar in a corner of his mouth
was slanted toward the rim of his
hat.
"Who are they?" I inquired.
"Dreamers like the rest. The big,
fat fellow is Savelly Taberefsky, the
star actor-manager. He never plays
at benefits like the one tonight. He
dreams he's a great actor and that
the boulevards of all the capitals in
Europe and South America are filled
with people whispering about him.
The little fellow worships him and
dreams that he's walking with a god."
There was a hush of awe in the cafe
as the mikado and his umbrella bear-
**(8:Kt******
0 0000-00t}0000-003:10 00000 001)*
er proceeded augustly up the aisle.
In succession Narodnick pointed
;,
t RAYMOND J. BURNS, Pres. W. SHERMAN BURNS, Sec. & Treas.
out to me a retired opera singer, four
poets of nature, love, satire and welt-
chmerz, the proprietor of a sweat-
— THE —
shop with a passionate desire to play
Hamlet some day, a dentist who had
taken part in the Russian revolution
of 1905, a playright who dreamed of
wealth, another who aspired to three
meals a day, another who fiercely de-
manded fame from posterity and
S A INTERNATIONAL DETECTIVE AGENCY, INC.
scoffed at existing actor-managers,
(The Original Burns Agency)
including even the great Savelly him-
0
self.
Representing: American Bankers Association; Various Stale Bankers
The trades and professions repre-
Associations.
sented in this mixed assemblage were
many. They ranged all the way from
PHONE
CHERRY
2322
DIME SAVINGS BANK BUILDING
buttonhole makers down to lawyers
MAIN OFFICE, LAFAYETTE AND GRISWOLD ST.
Salt Lake City
and vegetarians.
Montreal
Des Moines
Atlanta
"They are all dreamers—every one
San Antonio
, Baltimore
New Orleans
Detroit
of them," murmured Narodnick, as
San Francisco
O Boston
GEO. H. KIRCHNER, President
New York
he puffed away at his favorite brand.
Houston
Houston
Seattle
' , ;!. Chicago
"And you, Mr. Narodnick, what vi-
Paris
Spokane
Kansas City
'i,' Buffalo
sion haunts you in this—this cafe of
St. Louis
Philadelphia
O Cincinnati
• London
dreams?" I asked curiously.
Toronto
Pittsburgh
Los Angeles
Cleveland
"No two nights are alike," he re-
Vancouver
Portland
Memphis
O Dallas
plied. "You see, I haven't worked for
Washington,
D.0
Richmond
Minneapolis
: Denver
two weeks and that keeps me busy
0
dreaming. To night, as I sit here,
General Detective Work of • High Class.
A
my dream is especially pleasant." He
0-0-0
was lost reverie.
g0-O*00
01:1
"Yes," I gently urged, wondering
what rainbow of the fancy was to be
visualized for me in all its prismatic
colors.
"I dream that I'm paying my rent,"
he concluded, sipping his coffee.

The Cafe of Dreams

BREAKING A GLASS

■

bun ',11 ampinans,5k-Ipp

THE EDINBORO BEAUTY H
Wishes You a Happy Ne Y

Mrs. A. Kaufin in

Scientific Treatment of the Skin and Scalp
Shampooing, Manicuring
Waving, Dyeing

ELKIN'S y HOTEL

Selik

To my many friends I extend my Heartiest
Wishes for a
HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS
NEW YEAR

lie

0

U

n

a

SPATER & WALSER a

I

CUSTOMERS

MUST BE SATISFIED

L0=0,=,0=0==.0=0,==.0j

M. DISNER

GREETINGS
to all our friends

Russell Grosslight
Chas. Grosslight

136 Monroe Avenue

William J. Burns

Season's Greetings

On this occasion
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A Happy New Year

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