The Religious Life of LondonRitchie, J. Ewing (James Ewing)
Religion
The Religious Life of London
Ritchie, J. Ewing (James Ewing)
London (England) -- Religion; Religious thought -- England -- London
Sappho, implies Mr. Pope, at her “toilette’s greasy task,” is quite a
different individual to “Sappho fragrant at an evening mask.” Just as
much does the Jew of the West-end, the Jew of society, rich and
cultivated, the Jew who gives good dinners, drives in a faultless
brougham, on whose fingers diamonds sparkle, differ from the Houndsditch
Jew, toiling along painfully under a load of ol’ clo’ considerably the
worse for wear, or smoking bad cigars in the Effingham Saloon. In the
same way do the synagogues of the West differ from those of the East. In
place of that in Portland Street, the Jews have erected a gorgeous one,
towards which the Rothschild family have subscribed 4000_l._ Those in
the Haymarket and at Bayswater and Islington are clean and comfortable,
and that in Margaret Street is especially so.
On Saturdays service commences there at ten and terminates at one. Let
us go there. As you enter, of course you face the ark. On each side
benches, well cushioned, are placed. On the right of the ark is a
pulpit. In the middle is the raised platform for the readers and the
rabbi, the Rev. Mr. Marks. There is a gallery facing the pulpit, in
which is an organ, an innovation of which the orthodox do not approve, as
it implies Sabbath labour, and there is another innovation I dare say
equally shocking. Actually in the side galleries appropriated to ladies
you can see them. People of an uncharitable turn often insinuate that so
many young men attend at such or such a church that they may see the
ladies. I don’t think the fact that you can see them in Margaret Street
Synagogue adds materially to the male congregation. Yet Hebrew maidens,
some of them, have been and are beautiful as any whose names have come
echoing down to us along “the corridors of time.” However, if the
Christian stranger should let his eyes wander thitherward he is to be
forgiven. Hebrew is a difficult tongue to follow if you are ignorant of
it, and, save where there is no singing, which is very fine, the reading
of the prayers is not very impressive. Nor do the gentlemen around, all
wearing black hats and silk scarfs over the coat, appear to be much
impressed. They sit with their prayer-books in their hands, in
appearance as calm and unmoved as real West-end Christians of
unquestioned respectability. At a certain interval the ark is unlocked,
the roll of the law is taken reverently to the platform, where it is
uplifted on all sides that all may see it, and then, when the reader has
finished, it is borne back and deposited in the ark as formally and
reverently as it was taken out. After a little while, as you begin to
weary, one of the individuals on the platform leaves it. He wears a
black gown and bands, he ascends the pulpit and preaches with his hat on;
that is the Rev. Mr. Marks. He is thought much of by the younger and
more educated Jews. As a preacher, much is to be said in his favour: he
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account