The Yoke Of The Thorah

late color, the former being lined half-way up with book shelves. A student's lamp, with a green shade, burned on the table. The oil in it must have been pretty lo

, as white almost as the clerical collar that encircled his throat, and it looked as though it would feel chilly to the touch, like marble. The rabbi was a very little man, short of stature, spare of habit, with a frame and with features as slender and as delicate as a maiden's. Yet he had not at all

ance the rabbi glanc

h, though amiable, denoted very littl

esign. I've been

ou any pict

'The Song o

it wel

s-on th

me day I must dr

his reading. Elias sank upon a chair, thrust his hands deep into his trowsers pockets, and fixed hi

"Oh, yes-I forgot-I've b

the rabbi, "eat

en killed kosher. But is that such a great sin? Some of our most pious Jews go to Delmonico's. To-night,

os," said the rabbi. "And eating trepha food isn't merely a peccadillo.

presently went on, "tell me, what is

back to his manuscript. Lif

eated his

, which you know as well as I do. They're of equal for

-the worst infraction of the Thorah as it applies peculiarly to Israel. The ten commandment

abbi, "that's an

xample, the desecra

cration of the Sabbath; so would disobedience to parental authority. Bu

rriage with

a Goy-with any one

most unpardonable in the sight of the Lord? For

ject-a sermon written by your own greatgrandfather, the Reverend Abraham Bacharach, of New Orleans, the first of your family who came to America. I wa

the manuscript that

ioned Elias. "W

He denounces it with a good deal of energy. There's one paragraph here

dn't mind," E

ript and began to run over the

a statement of the circumstances, as a sort of summing up

te, if y

t the manuscript close to his eyes,

way to their graves. Oh, let him cast down his face and be ashamed. To his brothers and sisters, to those who were his friends and loved him, to the rabbi, the chazzan, the parnass, and the people of this congregation, and to all faithful Jews from one end of the earth to the other, he is as one who has died a disgraceful death. The ange

y poison in his veins. And his seed also shall be afflicted. From generation to generation, a blight shall pursue those that bear his name. For the blood of Israel mixed with the blood of a strange people, is like a sweet wine mixed with aloes. His sons shall be weak of mind and body. His daughters shall be ugly to look upon. To him and to his the Lord our God will show no mercy, even unto the brink of the grave. They shall be as if touched with the leprosy, shunned

t blue and swollen against the white skin, and behind the thick lenses of his spectacles you could see that his black eyes were flashing fire. He paused for a little, breathing deeply. By degrees the veins in his forehead grew small and smaller, becoming pale, flat lines, like veins in m

The denunciation is bitter-ter

ple statement of the truth, the facts. I'm going to quote it in my own discourse next Sabbath. It's just like every thing else. Break a l

be in proportion to the offense. Do you seriously, literally, believe that t

, or worse. That's what your grandfather has tried to do here. The Lord has expressed in perfectly plain language His desire that the integrity of Israel should be preserved. That was the purpose for which this wor

what would you have him do? Leave her? Never see her again? Give her up? If he lo

sings, is measureless. What would I have the Jew do? Why, of course, I would have him give her up, no matter how much the sacrifice might cost him. But the case you put is not likely to arise. Love for a Chr

ppose that she could-that she had-that the Jew

y sort of communication with her. I would have him pray, also, that his heart migh

ntion to his lamp, the flame of which was splut

guishing it, "I must ha

a match, and

alking," he continued. "Now I'm going down stairs t

go to bed," said E

to bed, nor even

o, and sat down in t

few human beings who now and then passed on the sidewalk opposite, had the appearance of mere black spots in motion. Only the largest of the stars dared to show themselves, and they trembled, and were pale, as if cowed by their luminous rival. In the north-west, the spires of St. George's Church stood in massive profile against the deep, shimmering vault of sky. An impressive outlook, cold, serene, passionless; of

rriculum. "Never forget that you are a Jew, and remember that the world has no honor to bestow upon you equal to the honor that attaches to your birth. To be born in Israel is more illustrious than to be born a prince; the blood of Israel outranks the blood royal; for the Lord our God created the heavens and the earth, the birds and the beasts, the flowers, the trees, the air, the sunlight, for the especial enjoyment of His chosen and much-beloved people. But remember, too, that if the Lord has vouchsafed to you this great and peculiar privilege, so He will exact from you great and peculiar devotion. Though a Gentile-because the Lord pays no heed to him-may commit certain sinful acts with impunity, for you-upon whom the eye of the Lord rests perpetually-for you to commit them, would entail immediate and awful punishment. Though a Christ

o such a wedding. Indeed, such a wedding would be regarded as equivalent to a funeral. The name of the bridegroom would be published among the names of the dead in the Jewish newspapers. His parents, his brothers and sisters, his nearest relatives, would put on mourning for him; and henceforward, if they should pass him in the street, they would refuse to recognize him. In the synagogue he would be excommunicated and cursed. All pious Jews would be enjoined from holding any intercourse whatever with him; from speaking with him; from buying of him, or selling to him; from giving him food, drink, clothing or shelter; from succoring him in danger or in sickness; even from p

d grown up. For hundreds, for thousands, of years, his an

hardly necessary, y

hat among the bett

in America, orthodox

ng them, notwithstand

t; and among the igno

urious circumstance,

s, those very Jews wh

sm, and proclaim them

r what not, retain t

and even their sup

onsequ

still clung in his nostrils, the sound of her voice still vibrated in his ears, the touch of her hand was still warm upon his arm. Even now, as he looked out into the vast moonlit sky, and spoke her name softly to himself, a thrill swept electrically through his body. He loved her, he told himself; and if he could not win her love, if he could not have her for his wife, the world would become a desert to him, his life would be wasted, he would rather die, here, now, at once. Perhaps Christine, too, was at this hour looking out of her window. Perhaps her eyes, as w

he peril that he was running, and avoided it? Henceforth, at any rate, he would never see her again. He would do as his uncle had said, give her up, tear her from his heart. No matter how hard it might be, he would do it, and so save her and himself from perdition. But the resolution had not taken shape in his mind before Christine's face, pale and pleading, with pathetic, passionate eyes, came up visibly before him; and then he was conscious o

his head

l the dawn had begun to wh

is prayer had been answered, he believed. He had prayed that his heart might be purged of the unholy love that had stolen into it. Now he coul

ayer. I am not in love wi

e, drank, slept, painted, chatted with his uncle, kept the Sabbath, precis

lf. "She is a pretty and pleasant girl; but I

e better of the ma