THE SYNAGOGUE AND THE PASSOVER

[Music] [Music] to the synagogue as soon as they were old enough to walk the children went too but babies in arms were left behind in the care of an older child the shops were shut and no work was done on the sabath all the people in such a small town would know each other and be interested to see how the baby was getting on the synagogue was usually on High Ground outside the village and on the way to the service the children had to learn that there was to be no playing on the Sabbath steps led up into the synagogue Courtyard here the family separated the men and boys going into the building on the ground floor while the women and girls went upstairs to a Gallery here in the courtyard neighbors would meet and exchange gossip before going into the service each grown-up Jew took his praying Shaw with him into the synagogue usually they went down two steps into the building where they bowed to the Ark on the right as they went in the elders sat in a row before the ark a synagogue would vary according to the size of the town in which it stood but it was usually a stone building with a wooden pulpit and stone benches on which the congregation sat the Verger called the hazan was responsible for good order fathers would teach their sons how to behave in the synagogue up above was a window from the gallery through which the women and girls could look down at what was going on the congregation all stood until the ruler of the synagogue sat down sometimes there was a latecomer he passed behind the row of Elders sitting in line with the ruler and darted across to his place when everyone was settled the ruler would rise put on his praying Shaw and the whole congregation would rise with him to pray then the Haan would open the ark and remove one of the rolls of parchment on which the books of the law and the prophets and the stories of Jewish history were written each rooll was kept in an embroidered case these books were sacred and as the hazan carried it to the pulpit each member of the congregation would touch it with a tassel of his pra Shaw and kiss the tassel as a sign of [Music] [Music] respect [Applause] as the law was written in Hebrew which was not familiar to the Jews of 2,000 years ago for they spoke a language called Aramaic and interpreter learned in Hebrew stood in the Pulpit ready to translate the [Music] law [Music] the ruler would pick out anyone in the congregation to go up into the pulpit to read after the reader had read a sentence it would be translated to the [Music] congregation and the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying [Music] this month shall be unto you the beginning of month it shall be the first month of the year to you when the reading was over the ruler would ask the rabbi to go into the pulpit and preach all Village congregations were not wealthy enough to employ a rabbi but a congregation as large as this would be able to afford one the sermon was an active business as members of the congregation could argue with the preacher if they chose it was this discussion of the sermon that made the meeting in the synagogue such a valuable part of adult education and kept alive in all the Jews a knowledge of the law and a sharp interest in it but some of the younger members were not so interested anyone who wished to discuss the sermon with the rabbi would rise and step forward into the center of the synagogue and all the people present would follow very carefully what was said on each side when one man was satisfied and had sat down another would rise and put his point of view what he said and what the rabbi replied and all their arguments which they put forward would be followed with deep interest by the whole congregation these discussions might take a very long time when the ruler felt that the arguments had lasted long enough he would rise and the congregation would stand while the hazan would hold up the holy book for all to [Music] see it was then rolled up and covered with its embroidered cover while another Psalm was sung [Music] the procession of the book down from the pulpit was a short one when it had been replaced in the ark the ruler the rabbi and the hazan would say a special prayer now the service was over praying shs were removed the congregation would file out into the courtyard outside the synagogue the families would rejoin each other today there has been some talk in the synagogue of the Passover when the boy asks his father what it means his father Stoops down and draws for him in the sand a map of Palestine and Egypt and shows how the Jews crossed the Red Sea on dry land and where their Capital Jerusalem stands where every Jew went in those days to celebrate the Passover at the time of the Passover all the in at Jerusalem were full of Travelers many who came and asked for lodgings were turned away by the landlord for every available Corner was full up The Lodgers were thankful to sleep anywhere the disappointed Travelers would have to leave the inn and do as best they could at Passover time the country around Jerusalem was full of people camping in the fields outside the town here they would put up a tent and cook in the open the most important part of the Passover feast was the roast lamb which was roasted in each household in Jerusalem with great care and ceremony here in a kitchen the Passover Lamb is being turned on a spit over a fire by a little boy who works under the eye of an upper servant this is the the kitchen in the house of a wealthy Jew who was much influenced by Greek and Roman art he and his friends whom he had asked to eat the Passover with him are reclining round a table in a Garden Room looking onto a Courtyard at the beginning of the Passover feast the host Rises and says a graceon then they all drink the first ceremonial cup of wine the host then has his right hand washed and dried by the servant he now leans forward and helps himself from a dish of bitter herbs lettuce parsley and endi and the others follow suit next the host takes a linen cloth in which are wrapped the flat biscuits of unleavened bread the second biscuit he breaks and he wraps up a piece and puts it aside for any stranger who may come unexpectedly Legend said it might be for the Prophet Elijah the rest of the unleavened bread is then handed round and all the Passover guests help themselves to it next the host holds out his glass to be refilled and the servant goes round the table filling up all the glasses then the youngest guest sits up and asks the host why this night is different from other nights and what is the meaning of the feast they are now celebrating and the host tells the boy the age-old story of The Escape of the Jews from Egypt to the promised land and of how their houses were passed over by the angel of death when the firstborn of the Egyptians died by the time he's finished his story all the glasses have been refilled the servant withdraws and the guests then drink a second ceremonial cup of wine next they all rise to sing a Psalm by this time the lamb is roasted to a turn the servant sprinkles it with oil and it is ready to serve [Music] he places it on a dish and carries it ceremonially to the table this is the high spot of the feast as there were no knives or Forks in those days each person helped himself with his fingers using only the right hand which had been washed at the beginning of the feast when the lamb was finished the host Rose to say a second grace at Adonai Haan H the servant then brought him an extra cup which was filled and set on the table for the stranger guest the cups of all the men round the table were then refilled and the third ceremonial cup of the feast was drunk after this they sang another [Music] Psalm the company then lay down once more around the table to drink the fourth and last ceremonial cup together now the Feast of the Passover was completed and the host would rise and pronounce the final blessing [Music] [Music] shalom was