PAGE FOUR
&Demos; /Ewlmi OEM ICLE
ROSH HA-SHANAH IN
LITERATURE AND LEGEND
A Happy New Year
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No Jewish institution has under-
gone a greater change during the
period extending between the close of
the Old Testament canon and the
compilation of the Mishnah than our
New Year's Day, Rosh Ha-Shanah.
In the Mosaic law the day celebrated
as Rosh Ila.Shanah is designated as
the first day of the seventh month,
and is to be celebrated by the char-
acteristic act of the blowing of the
ram's horn. The first day of every
month was to be celebrated as a holy
day. The reason for the greater con-
secration of the seventh month, which
bears the special designation of
"Yom Truloh," the Day of the Sound_
ing of the Trumpet, or "Zichron Tru-
loh," the Memorial of the Sounding
of the Trumpet probably is that on
the tenth of the month is the most
sacred day of Yom Kippurim, and on
the fifteenth to twenty-second days
the feasts of Succoth and Atsereth,
the oldest and must gladsome feasts
of the Biblical calendar. The Mo-
saic law also provides that every fif-
tieth year, on the tenth of the
seventh month (Tishri), the year of
Jubilee is to he proclaimed through.
out the land by the sounding of the
ram's horn.
That probably was the original
meaning of the blowing of the horn
011 Rosh Ila-Shanah, a memorial,
either to remind the people of the
approach of the other sacred days in
the same month or by analogy of the
blowing of the trumpets on occasion
of war, to be remembered before
the Lord your God" (Num. 10:9).
Additional significance was given
the day by two important events re-
corded in the Bible. The returned
exiles under Zerubbenel began the
sacrificial service on the restored al-
tar of Jerusalem on the first of the
seventh month.
That is all the significance that at-
taches to Rosh Ila-Shanah, as far as
our Biblical sources are concerned.
It is, therefore, a far cry from this
character assigned to it in the Bible
to the statement of the Mishnah
(about the close of the second cen-
tury of our era): There are four
New Year's Days . . . the first of
Tishri is New Year's Day of the civil
year, etc.;" and further on: "The
world is judged at four different sea.
sons of the year . . . on New Year's
Day all human beings pass before
Him like the sheep of the fold." How
to explain this remarkable develop-
ment in the character of the day is
one of the puzzles of Jewish archae-
ology.
The opinion of the Mishnah re-
garding this day is the one that has
prevailed in the synagogue, and in
Jewish life. Rosh Ila-Shanah, togeth-
er with torn Kippur, are the two
holiest (lays in the Jewish calendar.
In the Jewish home and in Jewish
life its aspect as New Year's Day
stands out very prominently, while in
the synagogue ritual its character as
Day of Divine Judgment is empha-
sized. All the customs observed on
this day bear on this its two-fold
character. Beginning with the first
day of the week in which Rosh Ha-
Shanah occurs, special supplications
for forgiveness (Seler loth) are of-
fered up in the synagogues early in
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the morning before the regular pray-
ers. On Rosh IIa-Shanah afternoon
the ceremony of Tashlich (of late
mediaeval origin) is carried out, the
symbolic shaking off and casting
away of the sins into a body of flow-
ing water.
At home fruits and sweets, and
other viands of symbolic value, are
eaten on Rosh Ila-Shanah expressive
of the wish for a sweet and happy
year. Nuts are not to be eaten, for
two numerical value of the Ilebrew
word meaning "nut" is equivalent to
the numerical value of the Hebrew
word that stands for "sin." The cus-
tomary greeting exchanged on this
day is "L'ithonoh tovoh tikkosliv"—
May you be inscribed for a good
year."
The celestial program for thin day,
as elaborated in the exuberant fancy
of the Talmudic rabbis, is very awe
inspiring. Says one rabbi: "There
books are open (in the heavens) on
Rosh Ha-Sheilah, one for the perfect-
ly righteous, one for the utterly wick-
ed, and one for all those who belong
to neither class. The perfectly
righteous are at once entered in the
Book of Life; the wicked are imme-
diately inscribed in the Book of
Death; while the judgment of the
others is suspended until the Day of
Atonement, when, according to their
merit, or lack of it, they are record-
ed with a sentence of either life or
death. A sentence of death, or the
punshrnent, may be averted by re-
pentance, prayer and charity. Hence
the 10 days from Rosh HaShanah to
Yom Kipper are known as the 10
days of penitence.
To enhance the importance of Rosh
11a-Shanah, the following legendry
statements are given currency by the
rabbis: "On the first of Tishri the
universe was created; on the first of
Tishri Adam was created, and on that
(lay, too, he ate of the forbidden
fruit, hence the character of the day
as a day of judgment. In Tishri Ab-
raham and Jacob were born, and on
the first of Tishri Sarah, Rachel and
Hannah, three barren women, were
blessed with child."
FEIGELE
(A Sketch.)
By BERTHA WIERNIK
Feigele's twelve - year - old mind
worked hard. Her childish imagine-
tion shaped and painted Akiba, the '
neglected youth, and the Gehenna. I
Then she cried out:
"Father, I am sure your soul will
never go to the Gehenna; I could
swear by my life that you never did
a wrong, never, never!"
Leaning back in his chair, with his
eyes fixed on the floor, Nochum said
gravely: the all sin at some time
or other. No man leaves the world
as sinless as he came into it. I am
nearing the end of the story and there
are two facts I want you to bear in
mind for always: That the daughter
where there is no son may say the
Kaddish, and that the Kaddish period
lasts eleven months."
It was still in the room; a solemn, ,
sacred stillness. Suddenly Nun-hunt
drew Feigele to his breast, took her
head between his hands and said:
"Feigele, remember, where there is
no son the daughter is to say the
Kaddish. Now comes the minute I
have been waiting for since I first be-
held you in your mother's bed; now
is the minute in which I am going to
prepare you for the keeping of a holy
oath. Swear, Feigele, swear, that af-
ter I'll leave this world, you will say
the Kaddish every day for eleven
months no as to redeem my spirit
from the Gehenna—will you swear?"
For a minute not a sound broke the
stillness. The eyes of the two nun
tiled VSS ligui'vo gleamed like black
stars in a gilt sky . . . The child-girl
experienced a transformation—in that
one minute she changed into a young
woman; she comprehended the mean-
ing of her father's request; she real-
ized that there is life after death.
"I swear, father, I swear," Feigele
exclaimed. The words rang like the
tolling of a silver bell. To Nochum
they sounded like a message from the
Great Beyond. A happy light kindled
in his eyes and he spoke almost
breathlessly: "I know you will not
fail to keep your oth. I will educate
you like Akiba educated the neglected
son, and then, after I am dead, you
will come among a worshipping as-
sembly and say the Kaddish, and peo-
ple will bless you, and they'll say:
"'This is Feigele reciting the Kad-
dish; her father left no sun behind
him. Long life to her." And my
soul will listen and will sing from joy. --
I will assign your first lesson tonight
--memorize the Kaddish. Now say
these words after me;--"Yitgaddal
. • . . weyit Kaddish . . . " etc., etc.
Feigele does nut remember whether
she saw her .mother that night. It was
twilight when she fell asleep.
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Eight months ago Feigele's father
died.
Punctual to the hour, she enters
every morning the nearby Shul where-
in a large assembly is already wait-
ing for the morning service to begin.
"Sh! Ilene comes Feigole to say
Kaddish." they whisper to one an-
other as she approaches the lowest
prayer-desk in the Shul. Soon the
mournful sounds of her voice reach
their ears. They listen attentively,
shake their heads, and Feigele's tears
mingle with their deep sighs. Many
in the assembly stop to look after her
tall, graceful figure as she slowly ad-
rarities toward the exit of the Shut.
"Lang leben sol sie," says one.
"A guten mazel not sie hoben," re-
marks another.
"Der Can-Eden wart auf ihr," as- 1
sures a third.
Billions of seconds are drifting in-
visibly around the angelic figure of,
the (orphan, tenderly shrouding and
carrying away her sorrowful presence'
in to the past
She is beholding
the morning of her life like the earth
beholds the rising sun. It pleases
Feigele to fancy that the sun is under
oath to the earth never to leave her
in darkness! It seems to her that
her father's spirit it looking clown at
her through the sun's rays—looking,
and blessing her for keeping the Kad-
dish oath!—(Jewish Woman's Home
Journal.)
A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL I
The house which was until eight
months ago the home of Nochum
the Mediums), is situated on the side
of the street nearest the synagogue.
It has small shiny windows, and a
narrow door admitting to a low, wind-
ing staircase and to the rooms on the
top floor. The most attractive thing
about the house is the grassy spot i n
front of the ground floor, guarded by
a wooden fence. This adornment, in
strange contrast with the surround-
ing neighborhood, was once the sim-
plest means by which Feigele, the only
(laughter of Nochum, could show her
love for nature. Today the green spot
soothes her sad eyes and frequently
inspires her imagination.
When Feigele, now in her twentieth
year, looks buck over her past life, a
certain (lay and hour glides out of the
darkness and stands out with moon-
light brightness against the dusky
background of her child-life. How well
she remembers a little scene painted
S
on her memory in indelible colors. She
can see it so vividly—evening; th e
little parlor, bright and warm; out-
S
side the snow falling, a soft white
004
shower. Her mother and her aunt
had gone to theater, though grumb-
ling and protesting against the weath-
er, while ()Ober and Feigele had been
left to amuse each other, Nochum
proud of being left in charge of his
104
little daughter. She sat huddled up
on a low chair, her father fondling
her brown locks.
"Father," she exclaimed suddenly,
By MARK TWAIN
"when I grow up I mean to be a man.
Mother says that a man can do great
"The Jew is not a disturber of the
things.'
PC:=-4
A faint smile passed over her fath- peace in any country. Even his ene-
mies will concede that. Ile is not a
er's face, then he replied:
"A girl cannot become a man," and loafer, he is not 11 sot, he is not noisy,
it seemed to her that fur an instant he is not a brawler, nor a rioter, he is
his face darkened. She stretched out net quarrelsome. In the statistics of
crime his presence is conspicuously
her little hand to him and asked:
"Then— then are you sorry because rani, in all countries. With murder
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■0■04■0■0■ 0.am 5
I am a girl?" Her father held her and other crimes of violence he has
-light fingers and she thought his but little to (10; he is a stranger to the 6
1 0.1 ■ 11,‘ M\ 111 0■1 4 1 1 N OW I 1 1 0 1. \\ W IM110 1 I •
Ik\ IIMW M411
hangman. In the police court's daily
niowth trembled as he answeresl:
"Once I regretted it, but now I long roll of assaults and drunks and
disorderlirs,
his name seldom appears.
love you more than life. I am happy
when )i.ou are near me, my little, little That the Jewish home is a home, in
I Fei•ilii," and he kissed her on the the truest sense, is
fact which no
forehead.
oar will dispute. The family is knit-
knit- %
"I wish I could do something for ted together by the strongest litre:- r
you the way a boy would—if you lions, its members show each other
r i
had one," Freigele said after a short every due respect, and reverence for ,
pause,..atal staid up. Everything was the elders is an inviolate law of the
quiet for a minute, them NO011.101 drew house. The Jew is not a burden on the/
her tenderly to his Juices, passed his charities of the State, nor of the city;
,
hand over her floating hair and said: Illesti could cease from their functions 0
r
"There is one thing you could, do, without affecting him. When he is 1 0
well enough, he works; when he is A
and in it at once, i00. "
incapacitated,
his
own
people
take
Her ht autiful eyes were lifted to-
ward hint and with sonie sudden im- care of him. And net in a poor and
Ionise sF.e t •tiched with her soft lips stingy way, but with a fine and large I
t hand he had place tin her shoul- henei.tolentie. His race is entitled to
ier. "Wl at, farther--what is the thing he called the must benevolent of all
I could do?"
the races of men. A Jewish beggar'
"I want you to memorize a short is not impossible, perhaps such as thing
story which I am gluing to tell
You may exist, but there are few men that ig
right away. Anti later in years, per- can say they have stain that specta• • /
haps in !ninths, when you will grasp tile. The Jew has been staged in many
the inner meaning .d the story—I uncomplimentary forms, but so far as .0
want you to use it as a guide for a I know, no dramatist has done him
certain service which you will be the injustice to stage him as a beg-
bound to do me—it is the moral serv- gar. Whenever a Jew has real TINA
ice that all Jewish sons owe 1, par- to beg, his people save him from the A
ents."
necessity of doing it. The tharitable
She threw her arms round his neck, institutions of the JeWs are supported g
and whispered: "I am listening, fath- by Jewish money, and amply. The
er." Nochum began:
Jews make no noise about it; it is 0
,
they do net nag and pi,
"Many years ago there lived a great dune uietly;
Jewish 1`, 111,11t ir whose name was Aki- ter and harass us for contributions;
low. Ile experience d ninny sorrows in they give us pen, e, and set us an ex-
his life, but through all his sufferings ample which we have not found our- ;
he remained kind and just toward ev- selves able to follow. "
ery man he met, and consoled the
NV .1 pel pie as well as the virtuous
YOUR HANDS
ones. Once Media met a spirit in the
guise of a man carrying wood; the
,
bitter t dd Akita that the wita d was
By SAMUEL IMBER
for the in Lehr nna in which he
was burned, daily in punishment for
Tranalated by Marie Syrkin.
hi , iniZ been cruel t , the p nor, an%
---
at he would be released front hi s Child,
the music of y our hands
a vful t !lure if he had a son to !T-
I would hear, soft-playing;
ie•do the Kaddish—a reedtation to
The still mars io of your hands
wihich is ascribed the power of re-
On my hot brow straying.
deeming the dead from the suffering
if Gehenna, and
which is recited be- The still goodness of y cur hands,
fore a worshipping assembly that re-
Child, I would be feeling;
p lids with the praise of God's name. The still goodness of your hands,
N iiv Akil a learned that the man he
All nip anguish healing.
met had utterly neglected his son. So
Akiba cared for and educated the The still splendour of your hands,
youth, so that one day he stood in the
(lhild, I would have shimmer,
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assembly and recited the Kaddish and In my hands with in burnt
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dry
released his father from the Gehenna.
That my sins show dimmer.
Akiba's example strengthened the in-
449 E•st Canfield, Between Brush and Beaubien
fluence of the Kaddish and 'Once then The still prayer of your bands,
it is custemary for every Jewish son
Child, 1 would awaken;
and
grandson to recite the Kaddish The still prayer of your hands
for the benefit of i departed parent."
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