“Destroyed lies Zion and profaned, Of splendour and renown bereft, Her ancient glories wholly waned, One deathless treasure only left; Still ours, O Lord, Thy Holy Word.”[83] The Feast of Tabernacles year after year rekindled their gratitude for the miraculous preservation in the wilderness. The Feast of Dedication reminded them of their deliverance from the Hellenic yoke. On the Passover Eve was read the Seder, most ancient of home services, and round the festive board were then gathered the shades of the gifted men of old who had sung the glories of Israel, and of the brave men who had suffered for the faith of Israel. Then was retold for the thousandth time, with tears and with laughter, to the accompaniment of song and wine, the tale of their ancestors’ departure from Egypt. At the end of the meal the door was opened, and a wine cup was left upon the table. This was done for the reception of Elijah, the harbinger of the expected Messiah. In this and like domestic rites the memory of the past was annually revived, and, if its splendour made the sordid present look more sordid still, it also kept alive the hope of redemption. The magic carpet of faith, that priceless heirloom of Israel, transported the inmates of the Ghetto out of their noisome surroundings far away to the radiant realms of Zion. The Messianic Utopia never was more real to the Jews than at this time. From a favourite dream it grew into a fervent desire. It was firmly held that the Redeemer would soon come in His glory and might, would gather His people from the four corners of the earth, would slay their foes, would restore the Temple of Jerusalem, and would compel the nations to acknowledge the Majesty of the God of the Jews. We have already seen one of these seventeenth century Messiahs, Sabbataï Zebi of Smyrna. His was not the only attempt in which the longings of the race recognised their fulfilment. These Messianic phenomena, whatever else may be thought of them, are the most pathetic illustrations of that immortal hope, which formed the Jew’s only consolation in times of unexampled suffering, and from which he drew his invincible fortitude. But for that hope the Jewish nation would have long since ceased to fill thinkers with wonder at its vitality. Faith in God, which after all means faith in one’s self--this is the talisman which has enabled the Jew, as it has enabled the Greek, to pass triumphantly through trials which would have crushed most other races. The same blast which extinguishes a small fire fans a great one to an even mightier flame. CHAPTER XIV THE REFORMATION AND THE JEWS