JEWISH NEW YEAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16019, 10 September 1915, Page 5

JEWISH NEW YEAR.

NEED FOR SACRIFICE.

"A PLACE IN THE SUN."

The New Year celehrations for the Jewish year 5676, were held at the Synagogue yesterday by Rabbi S. A. Goldstein, assisted by the Rev. S. Kate. A service was held in the morning, when the Feast of Trumpets took place, the Rabbi blowing the traditional blasts of greetings to the new year on a Jewish trumpet, called a Shofar.

In a stirring address, dealing with the purpose of the day, which they were celebrating, the Rabbi said that" since God had given them life, men should concern themselves as to the best way in which it could be ennobled. The only way to do so was to make it one of sacrifice for their brother men. He need not remind them of the sufferings of their coreligionists in Russia and Poland. The martyrdom of the Jews in the Middle Ages fadea into insignificance, compared with the martyrdom of the Jews in Russia and Poland. It was like the story of the pitcher; whether the stone fell upon it or it upon the stone, it was woe to the pitcher, and so with the Jews in Poland. The latest Jewish Chronicle, bearing the date of July 23, contained the most harrowing stories of men and women being driven from their homes to die lingering deaths under terrible circumstances. Unless they were prepared to give and give and go on giving, it was only a mockery and a sham for them to i meet and ask God's blessing. , The Rabbi held that Jewry was passing through the most serious stage experienced during many ages. Many Jews were acquitting themselves valorously on the battlefield. The vile myth that a Jew was a coward was shattered for ever. Deeds of chivalry and bravery were being per- | formed by Jews. Just as Belgium and other small countries fought for self- i government and existence, so the Jews fought, hoping to win for themselves, at last, a home of their own in Palestine. They might not all wish to go there, but there were millions of their people longing for the day when they might leave everything to make their homes in the land of their fathers. Other nations had cried out for justice. It was to be hoped that the time would soon arrive when justice would be meted out to the Jews. They, too, deserved a place in the sun— the place where the heroes of the Scriptures had lived and worked. It was time that the Jew was regarded as something more than a money-maker, and this great war had proved him to be a man in every sense of the word. The service concluded with a special prayer for the allies.