[Transcriber's Note: Bold text is surrounded by =equal signs= and italic
text is surrounded by _underscores_.]
Our Little Jewish Cousin
THE
Little Cousin Series
(TRADE MARK)
Each volume illustrated with six or more full page plates in
tint. Cloth, 12mo, with decorative cover
per volume, $1.00
LIST OF TITLES
By COL. F. A. POSTNIKOV, ISAAC TAYLOR HEADLAND, EDWARD C. BUTLER, AND
OTHERS
=Our Little African Cousin=
=Our Little Alaskan Cousin=
=Our Little Arabian Cousin=
=Our Little Argentine Cousin=
=Our Little Armenian Cousin=
=Our Little Australian Cousin=
=Our Little Austrian Cousin=
=Our Little Belgian Cousin=
=Our Little Bohemian Cousin=
=Our Little Boer Cousin=
=Our Little Brazilian Cousin=
=Our Little Bulgarian Cousin=
=Our Little Canadian Cousin of the Maritime Provinces=
=Our Little Chinese Cousin=
=Our Little Cossack Cousin=
=Our Little Cuban Cousin=
=Our Little Czecho-Slovac Cousin=
=Our Little Danish Cousin=
=Our Little Dutch Cousin=
=Our Little Egyptian Cousin=
=Our Little English Cousin=
=Our Little Eskimo Cousin=
=Our Little Finnish Cousin=
=Our Little French Cousin=
=Our Little German Cousin=
=Our Little Grecian Cousin=
=Our Little Hawaiian Cousin=
=Our Little Hindu Cousin=
=Our Little Hungarian Cousin=
=Our Little Indian Cousin=
=Our Little Irish Cousin=
=Our Little Italian Cousin=
=Our Little Japanese Cousin=
=Our Little Jewish Cousin=
=Our Little Korean Cousin=
=Our Little Malayan (Brown) Cousin=
=Our Little Mexican Cousin=
=Our Little Norwegian Cousin=
=Our Little Panama Cousin=
=Our Little Persian Cousin=
=Our Little Philippine Cousin=
=Our Little Polish Cousin=
=Our Little Porto Rican Cousin=
=Our Little Portuguese Cousin=
=Our Little Quebec Cousin=
=Our Little Roumanian Cousin=
=Our Little Russian Cousin=
=Our Little Scotch Cousin=
=Our Little Servian Cousin=
=Our Little Siamese Cousin=
=Our Little Spanish Cousin=
=Our Little Swedish Cousin=
=Our Little Swiss Cousin=
=Our Little Turkish Cousin=
THE PAGE COMPANY
53 Beacon Street Boston, Mass.
[Illustration: ESTHER.]
Our Little
Jewish Cousin
By
Mary Hazelton Wade
_Illustrated by_
L. J. Bridgman
[Illustration]
Boston
The Page Company
_PUBLISHERS_
_Copyright, 1904_
BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
(INCORPORATED)
_All rights reserved_
Published September, 1904
Fourth Impression, June, 1908
Fifth Impression, March, 1910
Sixth Impression, February, 1912
Seventh Impression, April, 1914
Eighth Impression, April, 1917
Ninth Impression, July, 1921
THE COLONIAL PRESS
C. H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U. S. A.
Preface
IN whatever direction you may travel,--north, south, east, or west,--you
will doubtless meet some of your little black-eyed Jewish cousins. They
live among us here in America. They also dwell in the countries far away
across the wide ocean.
Why are they so scattered, you may ask. Is there no country which is
really theirs, and which is ruled over by some one they have chosen? Is
there not some place where they can gather together happily whenever
they please? The answer is always no.
They cannot say of this land or of that, "It is ours," for they are
homeless. Palestine, which was once theirs, is now in the hands of the
Turks. Jerusalem, the city they love best in the whole world, is in the
power of those who look with scorn upon the Jewish people.
For many centuries they have been scattered far and wide. Their children
learn to speak the language of the country where they happen to be born.
They play the games and dress in the fashion of that country.
What is it that keeps them Jews? It is their religion, and their
religion alone. It binds them as closely together now as it did in the
days when they worshipped in the great temple at Jerusalem, two thousand
years ago.
These Jewish cousins would say to us, "Our people have suffered greatly.
Yet they do not lose courage. Our parents tell us stories of the
glorious past, over and over again. They will not let us forget it, and
they teach us to hope for the time when Jerusalem will again be ours,
and a new temple, in which we shall be free to worship, will stand upon
the spot where the old one was destroyed."
Contents
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE PLACE OF WAILING 1
II. THE GAZELLE 17
III. THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER 33
IV. THE ORPHAN 42
V. THE JEWS OF LONG AGO 49
VI. QUEER SIGHTS 57
VII. THE CAVE 67
VIII. THE SWEET SINGER OF ISRAEL 76
List of Illustrations
PAGE
ESTHER _Frontispiece_
"IT WAS A DARK, DREARY COURT WITH STONE
WALLS ON THREE SIDES OF IT" 4
LEVI AND HIS CAMEL 26
A WOMAN OF BETHLEHEM 60
A STREET IN JERUSALEM 62
A BEDOUIN 68
Our Little Jewish Cousin
CHAPTER I.
THE PLACE OF WAILING
"COME, Esther! Come, Solomon! I am waiting for you," cried a woman's
voice.
The two children were in the courtyard, but, when they heard their
mother calling, they ran into the house at once.
They knew why they were called, for it was Friday afternoon. Every week
at this time they went to the "Place of Wailing" with their parents to
weep over the troubles of their people and to think of the old days of
Jerusalem, before the Romans conquered the city.
"Esther, your hair needs brushing. Solomon, make your hands and face as
clean as possible," said their mother, as she looked at the children.
She loved them very dearly. She was proud of them, too. Solomon was a
bright, clever boy, quick in his studies, while Esther was really
beautiful. Her glossy black hair hung in long curls down her back. Her
black eyes were soft and loving. Her skin was of a pale olive tint, and
her cheeks were often flushed a delicate pink.
Her mother looked tenderly at her as she brushed the little girl's hair.
"Mamma, grandma says I look ever so much as you did when you were my
age," said Esther, as she trudged by her mother's side down the narrow
street.
"Yes, yes, my child, I have heard her say so. But never mind your looks
or mine now. Think of where we are going."
It was a hot walk. The sun was shining brightly. The street, the stone
houses, everything around shone dusty gray in colour. There were no
sidewalks. When a camel drew near with his load, or a horseman passed
by, Esther had to walk close to the walls of the houses for fear the
animals would rub against her.
She was born in this old city of Jerusalem. She had never been far away
from it, and knew little of the wide streets and broad sidewalks found
in many other cities.
She had sometimes heard her father and mother talk of their life in
Spain. They came from that country before Esther and her brother were
born. It was a long journey, but they had said, "We cannot be happy
anywhere except in Jerusalem. That alone is the home of our people."
Esther's father might have grown rich in Spain. He was a trader. He
understood his business well. But in Jerusalem it was harder for him to
get money.
What a strange name for the place where the family were going this
afternoon! But it well deserved to be called "The Place of Wailing." It
was a dark, dreary court with stone walls on three sides of it. Many
Jews were already there when Esther and her people arrived.
[Illustration: "IT WAS A DARK, DREARY COURT WITH STONE WALLS ON THREE
SIDES OF IT."]
Some of them were seated on the ground. They were weeping bitterly and
rocking their bodies to and fro. Others, with sad faces, were reading
from the Hebrew Bible. Still others were kissing the wall and bumping it
with their foreheads. Some parts of the rock had actually been worn
smooth by the lips of those who had come here week after week and year
after year. For they really believed it was a part of the old temple
wall.
Little Esther, with her glossy black curls, did just what she saw the
others do. The tears began to fall from her eyes as she went close up
to the wall and kissed the cold gray stone.
Did all of these people really feel as bad as they seemed to do?
Certainly. For they were grieving that Jerusalem was no longer great and
no longer theirs. It was now in the hands of the Turks, but, long before
they came, the Romans had taken the city from the Jews, after a long and
bitter fight.
Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath. It is their holy day, and the time when
they rest from work. On Friday afternoon they begin to prepare for the
Sabbath. Hundreds of the Jews in Jerusalem gather at the Place of
Wailing at that time. They not only weep and read from their Bible, but
they also pray to the Lord to take their country out of the hands of
their enemies and give it back to them.
As Esther walked home she looked up at the mosque of Omar. It is the
Turks' grandest place of worship in the city. Her father told her that
it stands on the very spot where Solomon's wonderful temple was built.
"That temple was the most beautiful one ever seen by men," said the Jew.
"Its brightness was enough to dazzle the eyes of those who looked upon
it. Its walls were plated with gold. The very gate was golden.
"A beautiful golden vine, with clusters of grapes as large as a man's
body, was draped over the gate. The floor was paved with gold. Golden
lilies were carved upon the pillars and mouldings.
"There was no door. But there was a reason for this. It was to show that
the heavens are always open. They are closed to no one."
"And now, papa, nothing is left of that beautiful building," said
Esther.
"Not one stone, my dear. But we Jews all hope the time will come when
it will be rebuilt."
"It was not the first temple which was destroyed by the Romans when they
took Jerusalem, was it?"
"Oh, no. The second temple had been standing in its place for hundreds
of years at that time. It was wonderfully beautiful, too. Herod the
Great spent vast sums of money on it. It was the wonder of every one who
looked upon it. But our enemies destroyed it, as you well know."
That evening, while Esther and her brother sat by their father's side,
he told them the story of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the brave
men and women who tried to save it.
The Jews had feared for some time that something dreadful would happen.
They had seen strange visions. While the feast of the Passover was
taking place, the great temple was filled with a light like that of
noonday. And this happened at the ninth hour of the night.
Something else quite as wonderful as this took place. The bronze door of
the Gate Beautiful opened of itself at the sixth hour of the night. Yet
this very gate was so heavy that twenty men could scarcely move it, even
when the great iron bolts had been drawn.
Esther looked up at her father with surprised eyes as he told of these
things. But when he spoke of seven chariots that drove across the sky,
and of the armies the frightened people saw in the clouds, she was still
more astonished.
"I should think our soldiers would have lost courage before they were
attacked," she exclaimed.
"Not so, Esther. But listen, my child, as I describe the mighty Roman
army that soon drew near Jerusalem. Multitudes of Syrians had joined
them, and these led the way as they came marching up the heights.
"Titus, the Roman general, followed the Syrians. The spearmen came with
him. Next came the legions with their terrible short swords and the
trumpets that filled the air with word of their approach.
"Every footman among the Romans was armed with a sword, a lance, and a
shield. Besides these, he carried with him a saw, axe, hook, pickaxe,
and enough food to last him for three days. The horsemen were also
furnished with everything they needed for battle or for a long siege.
"This great army steadily drew nearer and nearer. Do you think the brave
soldiers guarding our city trembled with fear as they looked forth from
the watch-towers and saw them?"
"Not so, father. A Jew fears nothing."
"You are quite right. But now, let us return to Jerusalem as she stood
then. A triple wall, thirty feet high, had been built around the city,
except where it was separated from the rest of the country by deep
ravines. One wall was quite enough to protect it in such places. Many
watch-towers had been set up around the city. It seemed impossible to
take it by surprise at any point.
"The temple stood on Mount Moriah in all its glory. But it was not a
temple alone. It was also a strong fortress."
"How could the Romans take the city, even if their numbers were so
great?" asked Solomon.
"They could never have won, except for one thing. Our people were not
wholly united. A party of them under the high priest, Ananus, felt there
was no hope. They believed it would be wisest to give up at once and
make peace.
"But the others said, 'No, we will fight to the end, and will drive our
enemies from the city.' If every one had felt from the first as these
did, all would have been well. It was too late when the different
parties agreed to work for one end.
"The Romans threw immense stones into the city. They cut down the trees
in all the country round, and made towers from which they hoped to fire
and destroy the buildings inside the walls.
"They succeeded, for they soon made an opening in the outer wall. Then
the second wall gave way before the mighty force. And all this time
those Romans, who were stationed across from the city on the Mount of
Olives, were throwing such huge stones from their great engines that the
houses and people inside Jerusalem were being destroyed, both by day and
by night.
"Worse still! they began to lack food and to suffer from starvation.
They could not hold out much longer. The time soon came when the last
wall was broken down and Titus marched through the streets of the city.
"It was very strange that it was the anniversary of the day when the
first temple was destroyed by the soldiers of Babylon.
"'It is on fire! The glorious temple is burning!' cried our people, as
they saw the flames. A Roman soldier had kindled the fire without the
knowledge of Titus, who had not wished to injure this wonder of the
whole world.
"Some of the priests threw themselves into the flames. Before it was
destroyed, Titus, with his captains, entered the holy place. The Roman
general cried, 'It is more beautiful than I even imagined. Its riches
are a perfect marvel.'
"The golden candlesticks and tables and cups, the sweet spices of which
the priests made incense, the precious stones, were laid at the feet of
the conqueror."
"What did he do with all this wealth?" asked Esther.
"He carried most of it back to Rome. But he rewarded the bravest of his
soldiers with crowns of gold and chains of silver.
"He had fought for many days before Jerusalem gave up. In that time the
country around us had been ruined. The forests had been cut down for the
making of engines of war. The herds of cattle had been killed to furnish
food for the army of Titus. The harvests had been gathered for the same
purpose. As for the people themselves, more than a million were killed
and the rest were made the slaves of the Romans."
"Don't feel bad, papa," said Esther, lovingly. "That was a very long
time ago."
"Yes, Esther, but our people have been scattered over the world ever
since then. We shall never be happy till we are once more the rulers of
this city."
"Mother told me a story, the other day," said Solomon, who had not
spoken for a long time. "It was about a family who lived here when Titus
appeared before our gates. I think she told it to make me brave."
"What is the story, Solomon?" asked his father.
"There was a brave man in our city. He was of noble blood and true to
his faith. He had a faithful wife and seven sons. You shall hear how
brave and true they were.
"The Roman army began the terrible siege. Before it was over, the brave
noble was killed, but his wife and children lived. After Titus entered
the city, he heard of this family. He ordered them to be brought before
him.
"As they stood in his presence he spoke to each in turn. He offered them
freedom if they would give up their faith and bow down before his gods.
But not one of them hesitated. They had not a single thought of giving
up their faith in the one living God. No, not for the sake of life.
"One by one they were led away to death. At last, only the youngest son
was left before the conqueror. Titus was moved to pity for the beautiful
boy. He really wished to save him. He said, 'My child, see! I will drop
my ring for the sake of the gods. If thou wilt pick it up, thy life
shall be spared.'
"The boy looked up at him firmly. He answered, 'It shall lie there where
you dropped it. I am afraid of no living man. I fear only the thought of
life without the One God.'"
"Of course, he followed his brothers. But what became of the mother?"
asked Esther.
"She begged to die with her sons. She said Abraham had built one altar
on which to sacrifice to God. She had built seven! And she spoke
truly."
"It is a noble story of noble people," said the children's father.
"There were many like them in that old time. Let us hope there are still
many in the world."