The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1887, Page 26

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26 The Lutheran Pioneer.

God be merciful to me a sinner. Luke 18, 13.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners. 1 Tim.-1, 15.

Any Jew attending a Christian religious
service, or becoming a Christian, is not only
excommunicated, but cut off from all chari-
table help. As few of them have business,| What must I do to be saved? Acts 16, 80.
this amounts to driving them to starvation.| Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
You can imagine then the difficulties attending | shalt be saved. Acts 16, 31.
missionary labor in Jerusalem for the Jews.| O that I knew where I might find Him!
Those converted have to be taught trades at| Job 23, 3.. :
once, and set up in business, or they would} Ye shall seek Me and find Me when ye shall
starve. The most of the olive woodwork brought | search for Me with all your heart. Jer. 29, 18.
from Jerusalem is made by these Jewish prose-} Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer
lytes connected with the London Jews’ Society. | Thee? Job 40, 4.

Agriculture has been tried, to give them| Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall
work, but they seem to hate the very thought] be as white as snow. Isa. 1, 18.
of it. A colony of European Jews have a} Create in meaclean heart, O God. Ps. 51,10.
“Model Farm’’ near Jaffa, but they have not A new heart also will I give you. Ezek.
yet made it pay its way. The persecutions of | 36, 26.

Jews in Roumania and Southern Russia drove Iam weary with my groaning. Ps. 6, 6.
quite a number of them into Palestine, but the] Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He
Turks took the alarm, lest a large influx of | shall sustain thee. Ps. 55, 22.

Jews should lead the Jews to claim Palestine} Leave me not, neither forsake me, O God
as their own, and so the Sultan’s Government | of my salvation. Ps. 27, 9.

forbade their coming, and is trying to stop all] I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
Jewish purchase of land and building of houses | Heb. 13, 5.

throughout the Holy Land. Who is sufficient for these things. 2 Cor.

A few Jews have been reached by the Gos-| 2, 16.
pel in Syria. ‘There is in Jerusalem quite 2| My grace is sufficient for thee. 2 Cor. 12, 9.
congregation of Jewish proselytes. ‘The Eng-| My soul thirsteth for God, for the living
lish missionary in Jerusalem is a very devoted God. Ps. 13, 2.
and earnest man, and during our visit to Jeru-| ‘Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty.

salem in April, we heard much of his work. | Isa. 33, 17.
He is himself 2 converted Jew. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than

Last week a young man from Beirut called they that watch for the morning. Ps. 130, 6.
on me here in our Summer home, and blush- They that wait upon the Lord shall renew
ingly asked if I would aid him in securing the their strength. Isa. 40, 31.
hand of Miss Sabat (Elizabeth) in marriage. The terrors of death are fallen upon me.

She was teaching the Arab girls’ school here, Ps. 59, 4. : : :
and he has been teacher in the Church of Scot-| He that believeth in Me, though he were

land’s mission boys’ school. in Beirut for fifteen dead, yet shall he live. John 11, 25.
years. He was born in Damascus of a wealthy Come, Lord Jesus. Rev. 22, 20.
Jewish family of Harari, and was converted in Surely, I come quickly. Rev. 22, 20.
Beirut, and united with our Church thirteen
years ago. This summer he has been here,

The Jews in Syria.

A letter from a Missionary at Beirut, Syria,
states that the number of Jews in Syria and
Palestine is not very accurately known. He
says: I should estimate them about as follows:

Jerusalem, 20,000; Hebron; 500; Safed,
5000; Tiberias, 3000; Damascus, 6000; Bei-
rut, 2500; Aleppo, 4000; other towns, 1500.
Total 42,500.

I may have under-estimated, but we can do
little more than guess in a land where the
census is rarely taken, and utterly unreliable
when taken. .

The Jews in Damascus speak chiefly the
Arabic, as do the other part of the Beirut and
Aleppo Jews. But those in Jerusalem, Safed,
and Tiberias, and the recent addition to the
Israelitish population in Beirut, speak Spanish,
Russian, German, Polish, and-Hungarian, and
one must be a very polyglot to be able to have
anything to do with them.

The Austrian Jews in Safed are proverbially
quarrelsome, and keep the Austrian Consul in
Beirut in constant worry about them.

The Beirut and Damascus Jews, with those
in Aleppo, that is, the Jews of Syria Proper,
are in general industrious, engaged in various
trades and departments of business. They be-
long ‘to old families that apparently never left
Syria, but have lived here since the time of
our Lord. They speak Arabic and are old
Syrians. Many of them are wealthy, and in
Damascus they own magnificent houses. The
Jew palace in Damascus is visited by all trav-
ellers. The Syrian Jews are bankers, money
changers, usurers, pawnbrokers, tailors, tin-
men, cotton-beaters, bed-makers and merchants.
Such a thing as a Jewish farmer has not yet
been seen in Syria. Of, the European Jews
recently arrived, 7. ¢., within the last twenty-
five years, in Syria, the majority are importing
and commission merchants, bankers, and whole-
sale and retail clothing dealers. They are 60! teaching Hebrew to a Harvard graduate tem-
unscrupulous and shrewd that they give even! norarily in Syria. I did what I could for him,
the Arab merchants a close contest for the su-| nq now the engagement is made, and he has
gone to Beirut to secure a house and prepare
for the marriage. He is a faithful and exem-
plary young man, and the young woman isa
good teacher, and was this summer the chief
soprano singer in the Arabic services here. The
young man Da-ood (David) was cast off by his
family on becoming a Christian, but has sup-
ported himself regularly by teaching.

Evangelist.
—_—_—_<—+ 0-9 he
The Soul’s Cry and the Saviour’s Answer. | Previous. When the king finally grew im-
: patient and asked him what this repeated de-
lay meant, the philosopher said: ‘‘The more
I meditate upon this question, the less I know

about it.’’

<>

The First Article.

The heathen king Hiero said to his cele-
brated philosopher Simonides: ‘‘Tell me, what
is God?” ‘*Give me a day’s time for medi-
tation,’’ answered the philosopher, ‘‘and I will
tell you.”” When the day was over, and the
king wanted the answer, he said, ‘‘Give me
two days time, and I will tell you.”’ After two ~
days the king wanted the answer, Simonides
said: ‘‘Give me four days time, and I will tell

ou.’’? In this way the philosopher continued,
giving no answer, but always wanting double
so much time as he had asked for the time

premacy in trade.

In Palestine the Jews are cursed by the worst
form of religious pauperism and mendicancy.
They are about as badly demoralized as the
once lordly Sioux Indians are by our reserva-
tion system. Thousands of Jews have been
sent, through a series of years, from Central
and Southeastern Europe to the Holy Land
and the Holy City, to live on the charity of
European Israel and die on the sacred soil.
Large funds are sent out annually to the
Rabbis of Jerusalem, who act as the treasures
of this colossal almshouse. ‘The wealthy Jews
of Europe and America contribute largely to
the fund. However decent and respectable
a Jew may have been in Europe, it will not
take many years of this almshouse régime to
extinguish every spark of manliness and self-
respect. Quarrels, jealousies, and bitter dis-
satisfaction are the natural and common ex-
perience of the colony.

Lord, be Thou my helper. Ps. 30, 10.

Fear not: I will help thee. Isa. 41, 13.

O Lord, Iam in trouble. Ps. 31, 9.

Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will
deliver thee. Ps. 50, 15. To THE complaint, ‘I make no progress in

Keep the door of my lips. Ps. 141, 3. the Christian life,’ an old Christian made

I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee} answer: ‘‘Take your Bible on your knees,
whut thou shalt say. Ex. 4, 12. plow into it, and you will not stand still.”

——s-+ oo > oe