REPORT OP ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 31 



Taleth. This garment is a survival of the outer robe of the ancient 

 Hebrews. They wear on the corners a fringe or tassel in which is a 

 thread of blue. A garment of the form now used is referred to in the 

 New Testament (Matthew ix, 20; xiv, 36; Luke VIII, 44). They are 

 made of silk, woolen, and even of cotton goods. The grave clothes of 

 a male Israelite consist of a shroud and the taleth. The specimen in 

 the collection is made of silk. 



These objects are used at the Saturday morning service, and the 

 taleth at the daily morning service where this survives. It is also worn 

 at the afternoon service on Sabbath and fasts, and at the evening serv- 

 ice of Sabbaths and festivals by the officiating minister only. 



In addition to the taleth, the male members of the congregation wear 

 at the morning service of week days, phylacteries, and where daily 

 synagogue service is not held, they are employed in private devotion. 

 Certain passages of the Pentateuch (Exodus xtn, 9, 10, 16; 1 Deuter- 

 onomy vi, 4, 9, 13, 22) enjoin that the law should be a sign upon the 

 hand and for frontlets between the eyes. These passages, inscribed 

 upon several pieces of parchment and inclosed in a leather case prepared 

 for the purpose, are bound on the forehead between the eyes. The 

 same passages written on one slip of parchment and iuclosed in a sim- 

 ilar case are bound on the left arm above the elbow. They are called 

 by the Jews tefillin (from tefilla, "prayer"), a word found in the Tal- 

 mud, but not in the Bible. They are referred to in the New Testament 

 (Matthew xxin, 5). The collection contains several sets of phylacte- 

 ries of various sizes. 



Special services call for the use of particular objects of ceremony. 



At the conclusion of the Sabbath there are added some special 

 prayers, and the service known as Habdalah, or separation. The objects 

 used in this service are a cup of wine, a spice-box, and a caudle. First, 

 blessing is said over the wine, next over the spices, and last over the 

 light. The candle is then extinguished by having wine poured upon 

 it. The collections contain a specimen of a silver spice-box, supposed 

 to have been manufactured in Laupheim (Wurtemberg), Germany, 

 about 1740. There is a tradition that at the beginning of the Sabbath 

 a special angel accompanies the worshiper from the synagogue; this 

 angel remains with him until the conclusion of the Sabbath. The de- 

 parture of the angel leaves the man faint, and the spices are intended 

 to restore him. 



The second great Jewish feast is the feast of weeks, also called "feast 

 of harvest" and day of first fruits. The harvest referred to is the grain 

 harvest. Deuteronomy xvi, 9, commands: "Seven weeks shalt thou 

 number unto thee," beginning the day after Passover, when the first 

 Omer was presented. The fiftieth day (Pentecost) was observed as a 

 sacred feast. Since mediaeval times the Jews also celebrate it as the 

 anniversary of the delivery of the law on Mount Sinai. Following 

 Leviticus xxin, 2, the Samaritans observed Pentecost on Sunday. The 

 Hebrew word meaning a handful of grain, a sheaf, is Omer, and the 

 period between Passover and Pentecost is known as the Omer season. 

 The days of this season are reckoned and the number announced each 

 day. For the purpose of keeping the reckoning, a tablet is hung up iu 

 the synagogue. The collection contains a manuscript copy of such a 

 tablet which was employed by a Spanish-Jewish congregation. The 

 tablet is in Hebrew. It contains the words "Blessed" art thou Lord, 

 our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His com- 

 mandments and commanded us to count the Omer." Then follows the 

 count (in Hebrew) and below it the words " May the Lord restore the 



