"That's true indeed," said all the elders, shaking their heads solemnly. "Then," replied Mr Jacobs, "our greatest duty is to have one thought and one aim constantly in our minds, no matter what our environment may be, and that thought is that God's Holy Spirit is in and around all who try to obey Him, no matter where they are; and it is only by the guidance and help of His Holy Spirit that we can lead true, consistent, Jewish lives, live up to the old familiar words of the Shema, and love our neighbours as ourselves." THE SABBATH IN PALESTINE When Mr Jacobs' family and friends assembled again on Friday evening, he said: "You know what discussions there have been lately in England about the proper way to keep the Sabbath, so it may interest you to hear a letter from my cousin, giving an account how Sabbath was kept in Jerusalem." "My dear Millie,--I will explain as well as I can what it means to prepare for Sabbath here, and how it is spent. About four o'clock on Friday mornings Mother and I get up and prepare the Sabbath loaves. I can tell you it is no easy matter, for, even when the weather is not frosty, the exertion of kneading the dough makes you perspire. If you finish kneading early enough, you get back to bed while the dough is rising. "Early on Friday mornings beggars start going from house to house (especially the Sephardim and Yemenites or Arabian Jews). At each house they are given small, fresh-baked chola, bun, or beigel. No one refuses to give this. Later on, two respectable men or women go from house to house collecting in a large bag whatever anyone gives them, such as cholas, meat, cereals, oil, wine, or money. The Community know that these things are not for themselves, but are to be distributed amongst the sick and the most needy, who cannot beg for themselves. Sometimes we have as many as six or seven people who come collecting, and no one ever thinks of refusing them. In fact, everyone prepares for this, and gives most willingly, knowing that the Sabbath must be celebrated by rich and poor alike with the best one has. "In a future letter I will tell you more about certain people who give up a part of their time to works of charity, and how they do it; for there is no Board of Guardians here, as there is in London. "Then when Father and the boys go to synagogue, we start to prepare for the day's work. First we take all the furniture we can out of the house, so as to leave the rooms free for the lower part of the walls to be whitewashed and the marble floors cleaned. Of course, we try to use as little water as possible, as it is scarce, but even so the floors must be clean and look well polished, and the wooden furniture washed and rubbed well with sand.