Bible animals : $b being a description of every living creature mentioned in the Scripture, from the ape to the coral.Wood, J. G. (John George)
Religion
Bible animals : $b being a description of every living creature mentioned in the Scripture, from the ape to the coral.
Wood, J. G. (John George)
Animals in the Bible; Nature in the Bible
The trumpeter, who is not necessarily a priest, but may be any pious
man selected from the congregation, prepares himself by bathing, and
at the appointed time puts on the white shirt or shroud in which Jews
are buried. Before the trumpet is blown, a prayer is said, containing
many cabalistic names of angels and _malachim_, or powers. These names
may not be pronounced.
The Rabbi then stands, and gives out the names of the sacred tones in
their succession. By the kindness of Dr. Herman Beigel, I have been
enabled to hear the tones, and to put them into musical notes,--I
believe for the first time since they have been used. The tones are
four in number, and are called as follows: Tekeeah (the blowing),
Shebârim (the repeated notes), Terooah (the note of joy), and
Tekeeah-gedôlah (the lengthened blowing). It is not very easy exactly
to express on paper these ancient tones, but the following notes will
give a good idea of them.
[Illustration: Tekeeah. Shebârim. Terooah. Tekeeah-gedôlah.]
These tones are blown in three partitions, in the following order:--
PARTITION I. PARTITION II.
Tekeeah. Shebârim. Tekeeah. Tekeeah. Terooah. Tekeeah.
Tekeeah. Shebârim. Tekeeah. Tekeeah. Terooah. Tekeeah.
Tekeeah. Shebârim. Tekeeah. Tekeeah. Terooah. Tekeeah.
PARTITION III.
Tekeeah. Shebârim. Terooah. Tekeeah.
Tekeeah. Shebârim. Terooah. Tekeeah.
Tekeeah. Shebârim. Terooah. Tekeeah-gedôlah.
Between each partition a pause is made, during which the congregation
join in a prayer which is full of cabalistic names of the angels who
have charge over the sacred tones. And, according to a beautiful
Hebrew tradition, when the trumpet is blown with the proper rites,
each tone is transformed into an angel, who ascends to join his
heavenly colleagues, and with them forms a crown before the throne of
God. So that, ever since the Jewish ritual was established, every New
Year's festival and Day of Atonement send forth their own angels, as
additional jewels to the heavenly crown.
These tones are the same all over the world, and have been unchanged
for countless generations, so that we may be nearly certain that the
blast before which the walls of Jericho fell were the four sacred
tones which have just been described. The reader will perceive that
all the tones are simply octaves, blown with more or less rapidity,
the short notes of Terooah being taken as quickly as the trumpeter can
blow them, and the concluding note well swelled out, until "the voice
of the cornet waxes exceeding loud." Sometimes fifths are used instead
of octaves.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account