Or if a spark of hatred linger still
Against a brother, sinful though he be,
Oh! Thou in Heaven, how shall we come to Thee?
Vain are the words that spring with empty sound
While the insensate heart betrays no wound,
And we are slaves unto our stubborn will.
But if, oh, Thou eternal God of love,
If we perchance, find favor in Thy sight,
Guide us oh, Holy One! from this our night
And grant remission from thy courts above.
Low in the dust we mourn the fatal sin
That hath beguiled our souls from the true path.
Oh, deal not on our heads thy fearful wrath;
Forgive the past and grant us strength to win
The glorious prize of immortality,
The bliss to dwell forevermore with thee. /
We are thy children—let our prayers arise
Like the sweet incense of a sacrifice,
And from this day henceforward let us be
Bound by love's holiest ties, our God, to Thee.
Day of Atonement
THIS day sublime elect, my God, to Thee
Is gift so grand
That on this morn of grace from sin set free,
I pleading stand
Before Thy holy dwelling place
Where light and beauty interlace.
Oh, that the priceless power were mine
To glorify Thy throne divine!
LORD of Hosts, Thou Only One,
Art radiant in star and sun,
"Thy Will be done!"
All life is Thine ere life's begun,
All life is Thine when life is run,
"Thy Will be done!"
The scarlet thread of sin is spun,
Forgive us, Gracious, Holy One,
"Thy Will be done!"
Prayer for the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur, 5662.)
IF I have failed, my God, to see
That Thy great Love was guiding me; If I have missed the open path
Of Truth, which e'er Thy sanction hath;
If, busy with the passing hour,
I noted not Thy glorious Power;
And, 'mid the boast and pomp of things,
Restrained my spirit on its wings;
Then, Father, show me Grace I pray,
And lead me toward the righteous way;
Then, Lord of Hosts, compassion me,
And let Thy Love my shelter be!
GEORGE ALEXANDER KOHUT.
To Thee we give ourselves today,
Forgetful of the world outside;
We tarry in Thy House, O Lord,
From eventide to eventide.
From Thy all-seeing, righteous eye
Our deepest heart can nothing hide;
It crieth up to Thee for peace
From eventide to eventide.
Who could endure, should'st Thou, O Lord,
As we deserve, forever chide?
We therefore seek Thy pardoning grace
From eventide to eventide.
O may we lay to heart how swift
The years of life do onward glide;
So learn to live that we may see
Thy light at our life's eventide.
GUSTAV GOTTHEIL.
The White and Scarlet Thread
The Message of the Atonement
TURN, O Israel, turn and live;
Thought to thread of warning give.
Lo! the solemn hour is here.
May the thread be white and clear
Though deep sin the conscience darken.
Sinner, pray and God will hearken.
After Yom Kippur
'HE great white fast! the day that solemnly Its clarion-call sent over land and sea,
In gracious summons of the Voice Divine;
That bade the soul before truth's inner shrine,
Clad in the whiteness of humility,
Itself disrobed of all externals be;
What mandate gave the day to you and me?
It is the judgment day of all the year!
Unmasked, life's vices hideously appear,
As conscience struggles with its deadly fear;
With introspection's force by memory driven,
We find the flower-strewn path led far from heaven.
At cost of highest aims flung in the dust,
We have been faithless, merciless, unjust.
As by Thy shrines of prayer, devout we stood, Throbbed heart with will-power's love of brotherhood? With invocations to Thy holy name,
Looked we beyond reward of earthly fame?
Dared we Thy present inspiration seek,
With might of gold's oppression 'gainst the weak?
The glowing friendship, as a meteor's flight,
Lost in the storm depths of swift falling night;
O'er all the beautiful, cast worldly blight.
Shall the reverberating call in vain
Echo throughout the awaiting world's domain?
Nor summon Israel from lethargic sleep,
In broader fields, on grander heights to reap?
The Past is o'er; has justice entered in
The awakened conscience? and the worldly din
Died into silence 'neath the voice of God?
Know we the wherefore of the chastening rod?
That mercy's tenderness our hearts enshrine
Are we uplifted to the heights divine?
Cleansed from the idol worship of our pride,
White robed humility be teaching guide;
And Israel's heart of kinship link the hands,
Of the compassionate throughout all lands.
The righteousness of freedom, understood
Bind all of life in one vast brotherhood.
Palms and Myrtles
(Hymn for the First Day of Tabernacles)
'HY praise, O Lord, will I proclaim
In hymns unto Thy glorious name;
O Thou Redeemer, Lord and King,
Redemption to Thy faithful bring!
Before thine altar they rejoice
With branch of palm and myrtle-stem,
To Thee they raise the prayerful voice-
Have mercy, save and prosper them.
May'st Thou in mercy manifold,
Dear unto Thee Thy people hold,
When at Thy gate they bend the knee,
And worship and acknowledge Thee
Do thou their hearts' desire fulfil;
Rejoice with them in love this day,
Forgive their sins, and thoughts of ill,
And their transgressions cast away.
They overflow with prayer and praise
To Him, who knows the future days.
Have mercy Thou, and hear the prayer
Of those who palms and myrtles bear.
Thee day and night they sanctify
And in perpetual song adore,
Like the heavenly host, they cry,
"Blessed art Thou for evermore."
(Translated by Alice Lucas.)
The Tabernacle
(Leviticus xxxiii., 33-43)
ET us build to the Lord of the earth in each place The Tent, which His glorious presence will grace. 'Twill be hallowed with light that descends from on
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