| Show thousands of centuries reecho re echo in the blowing of horns to blowing of horns on occasions of oy and festivity has grown to be an established institution in the united states whether the custom as strictly in musical accord with the harmonious feelings of a people who in one voice indulge a celebration which affects all alike Is another mat ter while the custom of horn blowing is growing few of the old heads stop to think of its origin and the youth tul celebrant little dreams that it is all tradition that in those reveling sounds which escape neither nook nor corner loft nor cellar are the echoes reechoed from thousands of centuries ago that momentous period in the world s spiritual and material history when the blasts from the ram s horn proclaimed from mount binal the giving of the ten command ments to the end of time the first mention of it is in the old testament at the giving of the law and all the people saw the and the and the noise of tl e trumpet exodus 18 how well one can picture the scene at mount sinai when the people trem bled and stood afar off when moses bade them to fear not that god had come to prove them and that his tear might be before their faces that they sin not the sounding of the horn on an oc caslon so prolific with divinely poten bial incidents naturally brought the in strument ment into use and prominence during special spiritual exercises and celebrations but later its brazen notes were heard in time of war they were also heard in times of extreme jubilation and in the temples of the jews on their days of rejoicing and on the day of atonement in leviticus xiv 9 Is found the following then shall thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month in the day of atone ment shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land and even in this age of advanced thought the jew following corn man dment and the voice of tradition assembles in his temple to hear the sound from the what effect must such tones issuing from a holy place ave upon the hearers they are not muslam sounds for their loud piercing notes with no range or compass have never been found adaptable to concerted music in numbers chapter 1 we find an injunction as to the use of the trumpet therein the people are commanded on the first day of the seventh month to hold an holy convocation to do no servile worl it being a day of blowing of trumpets unto you a feast of the trumpets here is demonstrated the giving up of all labor and indulging the tones of the as heard in the syna bogues to this day on a like festival the sl eppic may say that to day s outpourings 0 joy lack thought are indulged without the slightest religious sentiment have no relationship with the very same movements and same that characterized the day when the law was given from mount sinai those periods when joy and victory and holy festival influx encee the early peoples of the earth who will say that there is no feeling of thankfulness in the hearts of the nation when with born a blowing and flags waving it gives vent to joy over victory or any great national eventa the ancient new year s service ob served in the synagogues even at this period Is considered one of the most impressive in the jewish liturgy it Is composed of three parts which refer respectively to the sovereignty jus tice and mercy of god and as each part Is concluded the Is sounded from the pulpit the first part Malch loth pro claims god the universal king the second part em pha sizes that god remembers the work of the world and visits all creat ures and that nothing remains con cealey from his eyes the last part Shop heroth speaks of the scriptural and espe dally as it is connected with the div ing of the law on mount sinai when its tone were first heard and also with reference to the time when the great trumpet will be sounded to declare the universal triumph of lib erty and religion in a poem sermon founded on pas sages from the talmond by the hev isidore myers A in montreal in 1897 jewish year the follow ing occurs what solemn thoughts each blast corn at every sound cur bosom swells our soul is stirred by every note that issues from the s throat the first which Malch loth Is named in which god s sovereignty s proclaimed a fact sublime recalls to mind creation s prime when god creating out of nought this world into existence brought this universe by wisdom planned and framed by his almighty hand wl ose order beauty harmony we everywhere can plainly see whose every part below above the impress bears of gracious love the s voice does first record the coronation of the lord thus from its first mention up to the present period has the been given the most profound and grave consideration besides the sounding ot the horn in the hour of religious and joyous test val it was brought into use in time of war to summon and assemble the army and in this respect it Is first mentioned in judges 27 and it cam to pass when he was come that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of ephraem and the children of israel went down with him from the mount and he before them subsequent verses relate the defeat of lusty men and the downfall of moab much resembling the bloody conflicts of later centuries sans ma chinery of modern warfare and here we find the horn brought into military use which Is a long step from its initial requirements when it served to bring the people together to hear the law read amid the thundering and lightning and darkness which after prevailed and filled the assem bled multitude with awe and tear antei all in comparing the past with the present there seems but the difference in the manufacture design and manipulation of material and the advantages in these times of having more powerful and more scientific am clements ts with which to annihilate a foe indeed it Is doubtful whether anything could be more effective on a modern battlefield than the slaying of 10 valiant men as was done by the israelites who answered the s call to arms the has been utilized in other than times of law giving and war for it Is told in isaiah 13 and it shall come to pass in that day that the great trumpet shall be blown and they ahall come which were ready to perish in the land of assyria and the outcasts in the land of egypt and shall worship the lord in the holy mount at jerusalem its sounds were welcomed by those to whom the law was handed down its notes were and are maintained by one denomination to voice the annl of god s coronation by that same people its sound Is re sorted to as an alarm or warning of the approach of the day of atonement and that they should review the ac alons of the past year and prepare to become reconciled to god by means of confession to him of their sins and promise of amendment one other reason tor the blowing of the even at this period is to emphasize to the jewish corn munley the conviction that the time will come will an bounce according to the word of the prophet a universal t when all oppression and tyranny shall vanish and the reign of absolute liberty will be manifested throughout the world |
