Comes to England
WHEN the Feast of the New Year was over, I purchased a ticket for Hull, leaving Hamburg on Tuesday, September 19th, 1871.
On reaching England I found myself in a strange land, and amongst people whose language was entirely foreign to me. It was the eve of the Sabbath when the boat arrived there, and I walked about the shore, not knowing what to do, for I could neither speak nor write English. At length I went into the streets, and coming to a bookseller's shop, began to speak to the people in German. Finding this of no use I tried Hebrew, then Russian, and then Polish, but not a word did they understand. So I thought I would make myself understood by writing, and said several times, "Gib mir ein pen." The people in the shop thought I begged, and they offered me a penny. So I showed them a shilling, and wrote with my finger upon the counter. They then guessed my meaning, and brought me pen and ink. They did not understand the German words I wrote, but one of them fetched a gentleman who understood German, and he kindly interpreted for me. I desired to buy an English-German and German-English dictionary, to carry about with me, so that if I had anything to say I might find out the words, write them down on paper, and then by showing what I had written, manage to make myself understood.
My first want was to know where the Jews lived, for I was anxious to rest on the Sabbath day, according to the Law. So by the help of the dictionary I made my question known to a young man in the shop, who very kindly took me to the house of a Polish Jew, and he welcomed me, seeing I was a stranger. Very pleasant it was to be addressed according to the manner of the Jews in Russia, Poland, and Palestine, with "Shalem alachem"—Peace be unto you!
I asked him where I could obtain lodgings, and he allowed me to remain with him. In the evening he led me to the synagogue where the Sabbath service was celebrated. This Jewish brother was very pious, and observed every precept of the oral law.
I was very anxious to keep the Great Day of Atonement in London, and obtained permission from the Rabbi at Hull to travel on the afternoon of the Sabbath, in order that I might reach London on the eve of that day; and arrived in the great city on the following morning.
On coming to the London docks, I resorted again to my dictionary, and wrote out a few words, explaining that my desire was to reach a Jews' lodging-house.
I showed this paper to a lad, and he took my parcel of clothes, and led the way. He walked on for some time along the winding paths of the docks, but whither he was going, of course, I knew not. At length we came to a court, at the corner of which there was, as I afterward learned, a public house. Beckoning me to wait a while, the lad went into this building. I waited a long time indeed, but the lad never came out again! Then I began to suspect I had been robbed of my parcel, and went into the house. I noticed that there were several doors to the house, and was sure the lad had got away through one of them with my belongings.
I stood in the public house for some time, not knowing what to do, but managed to make myself understood by the aid of my dictionary and paper, and then a young man offered to lead me to a lodging-house in Spitalfields.
How relieved I was on reaching the lodging-house to find myself once more amongst Jews! They rewarded my guide for his trouble, and spoke kindly to me, and, on my informing them of the way in which I had been robbed, they said, “Oh! you must expect this in England." I replied, "Then I shall not stay in England long." As it was the eve of the Great Day of Atonement, I was anxious to observe all the rites according to the Jewish customs which relate to that holy and solemn season. My first anxiety was to obtain the necessary sacrifice. Having some money, I asked my new friends to procure a cock to be my atonement. This they did in haste, for it was growing late. Then, according to Jewish custom and law, I offered certain prayers, and presented the bird to the Shochad (a man whose duty it is to slay the sacrifices) for him to kill it on my behalf, and to shed its blood for my sins.
These words are used on the occasion: "This is my substitute; this is my commutation. This cock goeth to death, but may I be gathered, and enter into a long and happy life, and peace!”
As the bird was being killed, and I watched its blood flow, and saw its dying struggles, I felt deeply moved. My sins were the cause of its death, and I wondered deeply in my soul, "How can the blood of this bird cleanse me from my sins?”
Here it should be mentioned that, ever since the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and the dispersion of the Jews, the Talmud teaches that every male must offer a cock, and every female a hen, in sacrifice for the Great Day of Atonement, these sacrifices being substituted for those commanded by Moses. The reader will remember how the solemn sacrifices for sin, on that great day, are recorded in the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus, when the blood of the sacrifice was carried into the Holiest of all, and how on God's acceptance of the atoning blood for the sins of the people, the High Priest came forth, and so all Israel beheld through him the proof that their sins had been atoned for. But the Jews to-day have neither Altar nor Holy Place; instead of the priest they have but the Shochad, and instead of the sacrifice appointed by Moses, they have but those taught by the Talmud. Indeed, one of the most touching parts of the Atonement Service for the Synagogue, appended to the description of the former glories of priest, and temple, and service, is this constant refrain, "Happy the eye which saw all these! but verily, to hear only of them afflicts our souls.”
After the blood of the bird is shed, the offerer, in devout prayer and thanksgiving, lifts up his heart to God for the atonement wrought for him, taking it as a matter of course that his sins are put away. Then he takes up the sacrifice, which is subsequently eaten by him as a peace offering, the thought being that his sins are put away by the blood of the victim, so that he can feed upon the sacrifice in peace before God.
The sacrifice being killed, I went to the synagogue, where, washing my hands and taking my shoes from off my feet, I began the appointed prayers. And there I remained for that evening and night, and also for the whole of the following day—the Day of Atonement.
After the services I returned to my lodging, and, as I had been fasting since the previous day, I enjoyed my meal. Yet as I sat over my supper, which consisted of the bird which had been slain on my behalf, there was no peace in my soul; I could not but think of the innocent creature which had been killed for my sins, and was not able to satisfy myself as to how God could require the blood of a poor bird to atone for my iniquity. I expressed my feelings on this anxious question in a letter to my father, which I lay before the reader:—
“I am now in London, with my health perfectly established, for which I thank God with all my heart. I would also inform you, dear father, that I worshipped on the Great Day of Atonement in a synagogue, among our brethren„ the English Jews. On the eve I procured a cork, as you always do, to be killed as an atonement for my sin; I could hardly spare the money, but was glad to do so, knowing, as you have always taught me, this is the desire of JEHOVAH, our Goo. You will, I hope, truly pardon me for troubling you, for I wish to tell you all that crosses my mind; and in my difficulties I wish to tell you only, and then I shall be satisfied. I offered the cock to the Shochad, and when it was killed I was surprised and amazed, for, although I have witnessed it at home every year, I never felt more solemnized about my soul than on this occasion, and never felt more deeply about the atonement which is to take away my sin. Now, I can hardly imagine, beloved father, why God expects the sacrifice of the creatures which are killed for me and others who have sinned.
"Indeed, my dear father, I think that God has not been pleased to manifest unto us all His truth; but I suppose all these difficulties will be made plain to us when the Lord, our Messiah, comes, and takes us unto Himself to make us happy forever, and when the Gentile nations of the earth shall perish.”
Having one great object on my mind-the study of the law-I visited several Jews, and begged them to teach me the ways of the God of Israel. They granted my request, but the result was very unsatisfactory; yet I blamed my own depraved heart, and laid the failure of the Jews to speak peace to me, to the corruption of my soul.
I was so uneasy and unquiet that I began to ask various persons privately if they were happy in their souls, but the answer was always "No," and this perplexed me very much.
My means were now becoming exhausted, and I was anxious to obtain employment to earn my bread. Just at this time a letter, enclosing money, came from my father, and this enabled me to purchase good clothes, and being respectably attired I was successful in obtaining a situation.