FEAST OF BRANCHES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 270, 15 November 1901, Page 2

FEAST OF BRANCHES.

Mors than 3,000 years have gone by since the first Feast of Branches was celab-ated by tho Wandering Jews in the arid des-ri 8 to the south of Palestine, and still every synagogue has its '' jiuecah," built of boughs interlaced, thio'jgh which the slars may be seen, and under whose shadows lie the harvest gifts of God. The FeusS of Sranchps is the festival of the ingathering of the fruits of the earih, ?,he harvest home uf the Jews. Centuries ago it w-is one of the favourite Jewish festival?. From a'l parts of Palestine the people flecked to Jerusalem in the third we;-k of tbe month Tisri. The work of the year was don 9; corn, wine, and oil were garnered iu, and the Jews crowded to the Temple, bringing the " second tithe," in money or in kind, for the Temple's service. In all lands and with all religions the harvest sen-on is a time of rejoicing ; but to the Jew the Fea-t of Branches brings a double joy, for it falls juss aft6r tho Black Past of the Day of Atonement. The Talmud declares that " he who has not seen the rejoicing a# the Feast of Branches over tho water libation has never seen joy." In Pa'ifli-tine thera were special prayers of gratitude for the gift of water to that thirsty land, and these prayers and the libation are still commemorated in the liturgy for the Feast. To this day tbe Feast of Branches may be slid to rank third among the great Jewish observances. The Diy of Atonement, of course, comes first; th 9 soltian inauguration of th# New Year takes the stcond place; and then, third

in time and third in importance, comes the Feast of Branches, or Tabernacles. For a week past each synagogue has had its little hut or tabernacle of boughs, built either under a glass roof or in the open air, so that the sky and stars may be seen. Many families build a " Succah " of their owd. Kejoicing is not merely allowed, it is a sacred duty. The poorest Je*r in a Whitechapel slum has his chance, and takfs it e»gerly enough to bfar a part in the old festival, Bu. you may go | far and s arch Very diligumly before you fiud one even of the very lowest who indulges too eagerly in the Wine for which he is giving thanks. And yet no Jew is a total abstainer; such a creed is indirectly, if not directly, torbidden by the text blazoned in Hebrew upon the walls of the " Succaih " fiat thy br<ad with joy and drink thy wine; with a good heart, for God has accepted thy work." The hat or boughs is more than a relic of an ancient ritual; or of the old habits of a pastoral people Thfl injunction to dwell in it SaVon days wag intended to remind the Jew< of the years when his fathers sojourned in tents in the wilderness. It is built so that the stars may be seen, with a feeble and frail roof to teach the lesson that wherever a man may be lodged he is equally safe under the providential government of God. Symbolism, indeed, runs through end through the ceremonies of the Feast of Branches in a way that would delight the heart of a Belgian poet. The very bundles of twig , citron, palm, myrtle, and willow that are borne in the synagogues are typical of the union of all kinds of men, each tree standing for a class. Very certainly the charge of meaniogless ritual cannot ba brought against the Festival of Branches; the ignorant may find it hard to discover when they hive roally mastered the whole meaning of it. The.foast concludes with ] the Festival of the Lw. .