mentioned in Zephaniah i. 14—16, "The great day of the Lord is near; it is near, and hasteneth much—a day of trumpet and of shouting." Ninth,-To remind us to pray for the time when the outcasts of Israel are to be gathered together, as mentioned, (Is. xxvii. 13;) "And it shall come to pass in that day, the great trumpet shall be sounded; and those shall come who were perishing in the land of Assyria, &c." Tenth,-To remind us of the resurrection of the dead, and the firm belief thereof, as the prophet Isaiah saith, "Yea, all ye that inhabit the world, and that dwell on the earth, when the standard is lifted upon the mountains, ye shall behold, and when the trumpet is sounded, ye shall hear." The blowing of the Shophar is a most important act, consequently a person well initiated is selected to fill the office. Four are appointed-three of whom remain stationary, whilst the chief performs the duties. They must purify themselves in water—and put on the Talith, Kitl, and Chegurah, (a kind of shawl used during prayer, a kind of white gown, and girdle) the dress in which Jews are generally buried. Standing on the reading desk, the blower is ready to perform his duty. The blasts are thirty in number-each class having a proper and distinct name, which are to be called out by an appointed individual. As the time draws nigh, the congregation become perfectly calm and silent, and every Jew who has any feeling at all, will endeavour to obtain a hearing of the Shophar. The blast, to a stranger, seems unharmonious and puerile; but to the pious Jew it is awfully important. Before the blower sounds the Sho phar, he repeats the following prayer-"May it be acceptable in thy presence, O Lord, my God, and the God of my fathers, the God of heaven and the God of earth—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob-the great God, mighty and tremendous; to send me the holy and pure angels, who are faithful ministers, and faithful in their messages; and who are desirous and willing to justify Israel-and also the great angel Patspatsiah, who is appointed to represent the merits or Israel, when they sound the Shophar this day—and also the great angel Tashbash, who is appointed to declare the merits of Israel, and confound Satan with their sound of the cornet-and the great princes, who are appointed to superintend the sounding of the Shophar-and the great angels Hadamiel and Sandalphon, who are appointed over our sounding, who introduce our sounding before the throne of thy glory-and also the angel Shamshiel, who is appointed over the joyful sound-and the angel Prasta, who is appointed to superintend pp that they may all be expeditious in their errand, to introduce our soundings before the veil, and before the throne of thy glory-and mayest thou be inclined to have mercy over thy people Israel, and lead us within the temperate line of strict justice-and conduct thyself towards thy children with the attribute of mercy, and suffer our soundings to ascend before the throne of thy glory-and attentively view the ashes of Isaac, heaped up on the altar; for thou, O God, art a faithful King, and rememberest thy covenant. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who rememberest the covenant." After farther repeating half-a-dozen passages of M * Scripture, and another prayer, he says, "Blessed art thou, O Lord, our God, King of the universe, who hast sanctified us with thy commandments, and commanded us to hear the sound of the Shophar. Blessed art thou O Lord, our God, King of the universe, who hast preserved us alive, sustained us, and brought us to enjoy this season. The person appointed to that office, now calls out the names of the different sounds, to which the blower responds one after one. Tekeingah, Shevorim, Terungah, Tekeingah Tekeingah, Shevorim, Tekeingah Tekeingah, Shevorim, Tekeingah Tekeingah, Shevorim, Tekeingah Tekeingah, Terungah, Tekeingah Tekeingah, Terungah, Tekeingah Tekeingah, Tekeingah, Tekeingah gedoulah. The reader then says aloud, "Happy the people who know the joyful sound: O Lord, in the light of thy countenance shall they walk. Blessed are they who dwell in thy house, they will continually praise thee." The remainder of the service consists of blessings, prayers, descants, &c., when the ark, at certain intervals, is opened and closed. On one of these occasions, the following story, concerning Rabbi Amnon, is related:"In a manuscript of Rabbi Ephraim, of Bonn, we find that Rabbi Amnon, of Mentz, composed pin on account of the unfortunate accident that befel him. Rabbi Amnon was a person of great merit, of an *Sam. iii. 56; Ps. cxix. 160, 162, 66, 108. illustrious family, very rich, and much respected at the court of the Bishop* of Mentz: The said bishop frequently pressed him to abjure Judaism, and embrace Christianity; but he was deaf to these solicitations. It happened, however, that one day in particular, when very closely pressed by the Bishop and his courtiers, he, in order to evade their importunity, and to amuse them for the present, answered, "I will consider the subject, and give you an answer in three days." But as soon as he left the palace, and began to reflect, his conscience smote him for the enormity of the crime he had committed, in thus entertaining a doubt of the true faith, so as to be necessitated to consider whether he would deny the living God and Eternal King, or not: therefore he went home greatly cast down, and overwhelmed with remorse. When meat was set before him, he refused to eat or drink; and when his friends came to visit and see him, he refused all consolation, saying, "Alas! I will go down mournful to the grave for this deed." On the third day, while he was thus lamenting his imprudent expression, the Bishop sent for him, but he refused to go. Having thus disobeyed the Bishop's messengers several times, he commanded them to seize him, and bring him by force to him. He then questioned him thus: "Amnon, why didst thou not come to me according to thy promise, and inform me whether thou meanest to comply with my request, or not?." To which he answered, "I will pronounce sentence on myself, and that is, that my tongue which uttered the expression, and thus caused me to lie, ought to be cut out; for the intention of Rabbi Amnon was to sanctify the name of God, which he profaned by the expression." * Roman Catholic, of course. The Bishop said, "I will not cut out thy tongue, but the feet which did not come to me shall be cut off, and the other parts of thy body will I cause to be tormented." He then ordered his great toes, thumbs, &c. to be cut off; and after having severely tortured him, he ordered him to be conveyed home in a coffin, with his mangled limbs by his side; all which the Rabbi bore with the utmost constancy and resignation, firmly hoping and trusting in God, that this suffering would work out his pardon. Shortly after this was the New-year, when he desired they would carry him to the Synagogue, together with his mangled limbs, and place him near the Reader. This was done. When the Reader was just going to commence the Kedushah, Rabbi Amnon desired him to pause for a short time, while he sanctified the name of the Supreme Being. He then began 21, &c. denoting that he had sanctified his name by suffering for his UNITY. He then repeated, "We will express," &c., to acknowledge that he had justly suffered for the crime he had committed, and earnestly hoped for pardon. After this, he suddenly disappeared-for God took him, and from whom, no doubt, he will receive the reward appropriated to the righteous. To commemorate this extraordinary event, the above prayer has ever since been repeated on the New-year, by all the German and Polish Jews, in all parts, wherever dispersed. Then follows the composition of the Rabbi. "We will express the mighty holiness of this day; for it is tremendous and awful-on which thy kingdom is exalted, and thy throne established in grace, whereupon thou art seated in truth. Verily, it is thou who art judge and arbitrator, who knowest all, and art witness, writer, sigillator, recorder, and teller. Thou callest to |