CONSECRATION SERVICE AT THE SYNAGOGUE.

Evening Star, Issue 3911, 6 September 1875, Page 2

CONSECRATION SERVICE AT THE SYNAGOGUE.

A grand choral service in connection with the presentation of the scroll by Mr Julius Hyman to the Synagogue was held yesterday afternoon. The ceremony was to begin at three o’clock, but long before that hour the Synagogue was inconveniently crowded. Service was commenced by the wardens and choristers entering, and the Rev. Mr Lichtenstein exclaiming, “Open unto mo tho gates of righteousness: I will enter them, and praise the Lord.” The procession then passed up the body of the Synagogue, the scrolls being held by tho minister, the president (Mr Isaac), and the treasurer (Mr Joel). Having halted under the canopy, which was supported by Masters Joel, Ehrman, and Levi (2) the choir, consisting of seven ladies dressed in white, and eight gentlemen, chanted the following verses in Hebrew : “ How goodly are thy tents, 0 Jacob ! thy tabernacles, 0 Israel! 0 Lord, 1 have ever loved the habitation of Thy house, and the dwelling-place of Thy glory. We will come into Thy tabernacles, and worship at Thy footstool.” The procession then passed round the altar seven times, during which time Psalms xxx., xliii., and cxvii were sung alternately by the minister and the choir. The scrolls of the law were then brought to tho altar and a prayer for the Queen and Royal Family was offered.

The Rev. Mr Lichtenstein then delivered a lengthy address, taking as his text Deut. xxxi., v. 24 t" 27. He said that the law now possessed the same freshness and the same vigor as on the day when the Lord first vouchsafed it to us 3,500 years ago, and it will retain that freshness and vigor even until the end of time. God will never alter this law, nor change it for another ; no new dispensation has ever or can ever come to abrogate the law given on fcsinai. There are some who assert that the precepts of the law were intended to he. binding only so long as Israel dwelt in the Holy Laud, hut, to show tin in how untenable this proposition was, ho (Ihe rev. gentleman) nets! but mention that many of the behests of the Pentateuch are enjoined to lie a statute forever. The oniy laws not obligatory upon us at the present. ilay are those the fulfilment of which is intimately eonm eve.l with the existence of the IVuipk, and v. it! i our residence in the Holy Laud, such as the. offering ut sacrifices, the giving of tithes, ihe bringing of the first fruits. All the other commandments are eternally binding at all times and in all our habitations, in strict contermity with the doctrine of Mainiouades all the prophets who predict the future redemption of .Israel announce that the law of Sinai is to be carried out in its integrity. God’s law is to become a truth and a reality in tho_ lives of men. It would ho written in their hearts. God. will not give his people a new law, but lie wi'l awaken within them a new love, a now devotion to his ancient law, so that they shall never more trangress it ; its behests will In* firmly upon the nation’s mind. The commandments will not be written upon tablets of stone, which are liable to break — and which were broken—but upon the tablet*

of the human heart, «o that ho will be our Goil and Israel his people. In consecrating this scroll to the same author by whom it was given he desired to beseech his brethren to devote themselves with renewed love and renewed zeal to the observance of the ancient law, and ordained that the commandment should not be like an ancient enactment which has fallen into abeyance and which no one regards : they shall be like a new proclamation just issued, which everyone hastens to read and to obey. The ancient Greeks had one sentence which they believed to have descended from Heaven, that excellent maxim ‘ 'Know thyself’; and to evince their gratitude and veneration for this gift they caused it to be written in letters of gold in the Temple they held most sacred. The Jews, more favored than they, have not one sentence but one 800k —the Book of Books which in very truthful words has descended from Heaven to us ; how deeply then should its words bo impressed upon the hearts and minds of every man. How heartily should they strive to do according to all that is written therein. He concluded by exhorting his hearers to study the law as revealed by the Lord ; to give to the world the example of unqualified obedience and unwavering attachment to God s law ; to go forth full of trust and confidence; and to await the time when the Law’ of Sinai should burst upon the world in all its divine enlightening irradiating glory—when the whole of mankind shall acknowledge its excellence —when the glory of the Lord shall again be revealed, and when all the people of the earth shall lie down at His feet, and everyone shall obey His eternal and immutable law. The address closed with the following impressive prayer “ Sovereign of the Universe, thou hast revealed unto us Thy holy law, sanctified us with Thy commandments, and hast commanded us to search and study Thy divine w T orks. Grant, O God, that this law may acknowledge the divinity of Thy name, and that w T e may lionor it with loyalty and sanctify it by our deeds. Grant, 0 Lord, that this lav-’ may be our most precious inheritance; attach our hearts to it with love, so that we may faithfully fulfil its behests. May the law be our consolation amid the sorrows of life, and may it sanctify our joys and pleasures here below, and open for us the gates of Heaven, Grant that the light of Thy truth may illuminate the whole human race, when they will all exclaim, ‘ Hear, 0 Israel! The Lord'is our God ! The Lord is one 1’ ” The choir then sang the 24th Psalm (Yihallilu), the scrolls of the law were placed in the ark, and the ceremony concluded by the choir chanting the 110 th Psalm, the solo part being most efficiently rendered by Miss K. Moss. Mr J. Moss presided at the harmonium and acted as conductor. The music throughout was given with the greatest precision and harmony, and the choir reflected the greatest credit on their trainer, Mr Moss, Amongst those present we noticed his Worship the Mayor, Mr H. S. Chapman, Mr Bathgate, KM.; Mr Maitland, KM.; Mr Strode, KM.; the Commissioner of Police, and others. The subscriptions in aid of the building fond amounted to Ll5O odd. Several gentlemen unable to be present yesterday have expi essed a wish the that service should be repeated.