26 T H E Z I 0 N I S T R E C 0 R D.
l\ly Dear Children,
OME of you may have heard your :\ilummies and Daddies talking about women b ing·
given the vote in synagogues, and you may have wondered why they should think it so im- portant.
T p till now, \vomen in South Africa have be n allowed to work for any l'Ommunal cause thev wanted. But in the s. na-
go~·ue, which, after all, is the
centre of Jewi:;h life, all they've been allow~d to do is to prepare the Succah at Suceoth tim and to d corate the :-;hool at Shevuoth, 01· some such work.
Rccentl\ it \i,,·as decided by a big majority ~f votes that the women mem- bers of the Park and Yeo 'ille Syna- µ;ogue,., in Johannesbmg will be allowed to ~ote when the chairman, president and
other officers are elected.
The understanding which women usually show has always been found to be a great help in a11y communal work, antl I'm sm my nieces will hope that it will be . o in the c· se of the syna- gogu s, too.
And n0w, my clear children, you all go to shool-e\'e1 though some of you may go les often than you should. So I'm going to t ·11 y< u somPthing about how '·e fir:t came to ha\ e synag1)gues.
J >id you knov that t11ere wer • syna- gogues (apart from the Temple) as long J.go as when th Psalms vere written?
In Psalm 71 we ar told that en mies ere troubling I rael, and that tlmse
·n mi "burn d up all th m eting l la s of God in th land." 1 h "m t-
ing pla P. of Gori'' ar , of cour e, . na-
:r g1l' .
You s e, cv n ' hen w lrnd our
•1 empl , not all of the Je\ 1 in Pales- tine could wo.·ship ther • as a 0·ood many of them Jived too far awa~?. Th y used joun,cy up to .J 'TUf:' 1 'm for the High F tival , but t1H~Y ha<l to have some 1.lacc to pray in on ordinar ~ days. For, you know, whcr vcr thei·e ar ten or more Jews living 11 ar ach other, they mu t have a me ting place in which to
pray togetheL
Gradually c rtain prayers were chose•1 to be said at certain times till the ser- vice, as we know it to-day, grew to be the recogni ed on .
It isn't a modern id a to have music ,., ith the synagogue services. The sing- ing in h Temple was accompanied by
instrument , and the music could be heani in the whole of Jerusalem, and then all the people bowed down and ,
i.·or. hipped God.
The melodies of some of the songs we r;:ing now in shool are very old. Yigdal, which you all know, wal3 composed in the thirteenth century.
But t:he synagogue, ven from its a ·lie t <1, ys, wa ·n't ju. t a place where prayers wen said: it was th re that people were taught to studv the Law.
They cam togcth r th -'le to :tudy, and
• lso ju. t to talk and enjoy ach other's company. For in those days people couldn't me t one another in cafes er entertain th ir fri rnL in larg hou. es!
N owaday , too, the synagogu than just a house of prayer.
is more Most
OUR
CHILDREN'S PAGE
Cmtributed by
• AUNT SARAH
Three New Member .
Pearl Gruss, Aberde n, Solly Ifroll, Petrusburg, Bodda Maisel, La Rochell~,
Johannesburg, have just joined
Aunt Sarah's Children
9Page Circle.
shools ha ·e schoolrooms in which boys und girls arc taught Hebrew and the meaning of Judaism.
l\Iost shools are built in th same way inside. They all ha 'C an ark, where the Scroll. of the Law m·e kept. This ark
!s al va• t:; placed on the east side of the building, so that the congl'egation, when it stands to pray, can turn towards the ark anJ so be facing Jerusu1cm and the . ite of th Temple. Then there are the r nding desk from which the Chazan ing · the pray r ', th" pulpit at which
the l\1ini ter tand to gi 'e hi sermon,
a.nu a rall ry upsLuirs in ~hich the
' 011 n sit.
Th synago uc is a 1)Jac • mac.le sacred to God. 11. it th 'r are no ugly hou ht., as there sometimes ar ·n the out idc world. In th synagogue p ople iorget about. any quarrels or wrong thoughts they may have.
That's why it is so fine to go to shool and to r~member as wc pray there that Jews have been saying these same Heb1·cw pray rs to God for hundreds and hundreds of years in a11 parts of the world.
Answers to Correspondent".
Hhona Penn (Johannesburg) .-Thank you for your charming and sweet letter.
1 am glad to know that you came fir t in th term's examination. I am sure that yo:J will keep up your high standai·d of studies.
Ruth Levin (Somer. et Ea t).-Thank you, dear, for sending me 10s. 6d. which you collected fo1· my Fund as . a i·esult of the raff! of a gue~t-towel which you made yourself. It was a very nice a ·tion on your part.
han Shapiro (Naauwpoort Junction).
- I r 11<1 your nice little I tte1 with a great deal of int i·est and will hand over the 1 .. ~ ou have sent m~ to the S.A.
Fund for German Jewry. I am pleased to hea1· that you will fry to get all your friend!' to join my Circle and hope to hear from you again.
Elsie Cohen (P.O. Edenvale, via Ger- miston) .-1 am glad to hear from you that your Granny is teaching· you to
July 21,
1933.
read Yiddish. It i a language to know if you wish to under- stand you1· own people.
A. J{a sel (Marquard).- Thank you so much for sending me the sum of £1 5 -., being a further contribution from the Jewish children of Mal'quard.
It is s-o nice to feel that you are carrying on your splendid work
011 behalf of my Fund.
C. Todcrovitz (P.B. Rietfon- tein, via Pietersburg).-I am glad to learn that you have always taken an interest in my Fund and that you are sending me 2s. as a small contiibution.
Thank you, dear, and do write to me again.
Helen Lipschitz (Petru~ber ~).-I hope that the birthday for .. Iona Rubin wa enjoyable. lt wa. very con iderate of you to think of collecting 5s. for my Fund. I am aL o pleased to welcome Sollv I'roll as a new member. Thank you; little friends fo1· their regards to me, which is \'ery much appreciated.
.\lrs. E~ther Gruss (Aberdeen).- Thank you for .sending me the um cf JOs., being the proc eels of a little conce1 t got up hy Lily Hubin, Sarnh Gilbart, Pearl Gru. s, Hannah 1 olee and G\ven Lo.1.de, who wish thi,' amount to he de-
roted to ni~ Fund. Plea 'C e.·pr .. my gratitude to the ·hildren.
A mt Sarah'!" Fund.
L \in (Som rs t Ruthie
East) £0 1()
l van Shapiro (l ?aauwpoort Jun ·t ion), lor 8.A. GPrman I•und . . . . .J wish hildrP11 of • lal'quaid (per Mi ·s . Ya. s I) .. . . . Toderovitz (P.H. Hictfon-
t.ein, via Pi t.Cl'. bUl'g) Helen Lip ·chitz (PP.tru. burg)
1r . Esth r Grus. (Ab r- deen), p1·oceeds of concert.
3 1 5
0 2 0 5 0 10
G
0 0 0 0 0
- - - - -
£2 13 f) Pr viously acknowledged 355 11 10 - - - - - Total ( Sef'.ond 'l ,000) £358 5
A TVI'SH
I wi.·h that sometimes I could lrn Away from town, bPside the sea, .tnd watch the ll'<tl e.· comt rusltin!J
hy,
And smell the sea-wind blowiny by, And .<;Ometime.'! f1·om. the east u•ould
come
The sltips of Pah'stine. ow· home, Awl one U'Ould slop b side tltc swzd, And take b bl1ck to Ismp/'s land.
IN , YNA GQG[B
When all the meu ore saying pr<Lyet.'{,
I hco 1· anothCJ· 1 oice than theirs, I hear m1otlzc1· l'Oice tliflt sinus, Ancl ,<(cm.;; to lw1•p. a lumd1 <l zciug.;;.
I heal' Kin,11 Da1 d playing lou•, I hear tlrn .Jordan's icatl rs flow, I fct.qte of Zion.'8 go[rJ,,n 1rine, .tlnd sc the domes of Palestine.
Bu Sl11ilomitl1 l8li-Ki.q/1or.
4
