Our Little Jewish Cousin

"Of course we do," said both children.

"Very well, then. It is about the visit of the Queen of Sheba with her generals and armies. As she approached, the great king received her sitting on his throne in that wondrous palace of which you have heard so much.

"'Is he as wise as people say?' the queen said to her attendants. 'I will find this out for myself.'

"Now it happened that her subjects were noted for their skill in making artificial flowers. Those who made it their business to study flowers could not tell the difference between real ones and these imitation ones, they were so perfect.

"The queen decided to test King Solomon's wisdom in this matter. She ordered two beautiful wreaths to be prepared. One was to be made of real flowers and the other of artificial ones. Taking the two wreaths in her hands, she presented herself before the king.

"'Choose one of these for yourself,' she said.

"There seemed to be no choice as to which he would take, although he looked at them closely. But his wise mind told him there must be some difference. The birds and insects could tell him which one to take. He looked out of a window and saw honey-bees in the garden below. Then he knew what to do. He ordered the window to be opened. The breeze carried the odour of the flowers out to the bees and they came flying into the room.

"You can easily guess they alighted on the wreath of real flowers. The artificial ones did not attract them in the least. Then Solomon spoke.

"'The bees have told me which wreath to choose,' he said."

"The Queen of Sheba found out that the king was truly wise, didn't she?" said Solomon.

"Yes, Solomon, and you who are named for him should always remember what the Queen of Sheba learned, – that there is one thing worth more than riches or beauty."

"And that is wisdom," said Rebecca, softly.

CHAPTER III

THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER

It was the first evening of the seven days set apart to celebrate the deliverance of the Jews from their bondage in Egypt and their safe passage to a new home of their own.

Solomon and Esther were dressed in their Sabbath clothes. So were their father and mother. The house was trimmed as though for a wedding.

"Is the table ready?" Esther's mother asked the servant.

"Quite ready. Everything is in its place, I think," was the answer.

The children's father led the way, and the family gathered around the table. There were lettuce and cress, unleavened bread, wine, and a meat bone which was carefully covered with a fine cloth.

Solomon and his father began to chant. They rocked themselves to and fro at the same time. This motion of their bodies was to express as well as possible the words of the psalm, "All my bones shall praise thee."

When the chant was finished, the master of the house cut a slice from a loaf of bread shaped like a crescent.

"These two pieces of bread," he said, solemnly, "are like the shores of the Red Sea. But now, as I join them together again, it seems as though we could see the waves sweeping over Pharaoh's host."

He then took one-half the loaf and, putting it in a napkin, tied it on Solomon's shoulders. There it remained till the ceremony was over. Everybody drank some wine, and then another chant was sung. After that, they ate some lettuce and jam and chanted again.

Esther's father now took some bread, spread it with jam, wrapped it in lettuce and wound cress around it. He gave some of it to each one to eat. This was done in memory of the ten plagues of Egypt.

The service was not finished until every one had eaten eggs. This was a sign of mourning that their temple had been destroyed.

Solomon and Esther understood the meaning of all that was done this evening. They had been carefully taught the history of the "Chosen People," as they liked to call themselves. But at this festival their father once more repeated many of the stories of the olden time.

He said, "We do not celebrate this festival exactly as our forefathers did. They always sacrificed a lamb. They were also careful to eat no leavened food for the whole seven days. We follow the rule about unleavened bread still, and we look upon the first and last days as holy. You must never do labour of any kind on these two days."

Then he went on to tell the story of the first Passover, and how Pharaoh, as the ruler of Egypt was called, wished to keep the Hebrews in bondage. He was building two treasure-cities, and he needed great numbers of workmen to make the bricks. He did not wish the Hebrews to join his enemies or leave the country.

He was a stern ruler, and he made his slaves work very hard. Yet they had many children. The Pharaoh did not like this. He feared they would become too powerful. So he ordered that every new-born boy among them should be killed.

It happened at this time that a little boy was born in a family where there were already two children. This new baby was a boy, and was given the name of Moses. The mother of the child was fearful lest he should be discovered and killed by the cruel Pharaoh. She hid him as best she could for three months. Then she thought: "The danger grows greater every day. I must make some new plan to save him."

She placed the baby in a little cradle or ark, and carried him down to the shore of the river, where she hid him in the reeds. She told her daughter Miriam to stay near her brother and watch over him. Then she went away.

A little while after this, who should come but the noble princess, Pharaoh's daughter. She was going to bathe in the river. It was not long before she spied the smiling baby in the bulrushes. She was so pleased with the little fellow that she said, "I will adopt the child."

Then the little Miriam came to her side and told the princess she knew of a good nurse. In this way it came about that Moses' own mother was hired to take care of the baby.

As he grew up in the king's palace, his mother told Moses all about himself and his people. He was very carefully taught, and soon showed that he was "mighty in words and deeds."

It happened one day that Moses saw one of the overseers cruelly beating an Israelite. He was so angry that he killed the overseer. Then he had to flee to save his own life from the wrath of Pharaoh. He went into the desert not far from the Red Sea, and there he stayed for forty years.

He became a shepherd. Once while he was tending his sheep, he saw a strange sight. It was a burning bush. That in itself was nothing to wonder at. But the strange part of it all was that the bush looked as though it were in flames, yet it did not really burn up. It was a sign from Heaven!

As Moses looked at the bush, he heard a voice. It cried, "Take off your shoes, for you are standing on holy ground."

He listened in wonder as he next received a command from God to seek the ruler of Egypt, who was now treating the people of Israel with great cruelty. He must give the Pharaoh a message. It was this, – that God commanded Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and into the desert.

At first Moses feared to do this. But the Lord caused some miracles to be performed before his eyes. Then he had faith, and became brave enough to do as God commanded him.

He went with his brother Aaron to the ruler of Egypt. He told him that he had received word from Heaven ordering him to lead the people of Israel out into the desert to take part in a feast.

The cruel Pharaoh did not believe in God. He was angry with Moses and refused to let the people go.

Moses now showed the power the Lord had given him. He lifted his rod and commanded ten plagues to come down on the land of Egypt. This was to punish the Pharaoh and force him to free the Israelites.

One by one the plagues fell upon the country. The waters were changed to blood, and great numbers of frogs appeared upon the land. Besides these creatures, there were swarms of lice, flies, and other pests.

The people of Egypt became sick. The land was covered with darkness. The Pharaoh was frightened and promised to let the Israelites leave his country. Then the darkness lifted and the plagues ceased. But as soon as this happened, the Pharaoh broke his promise.

The troubles began again. Pharaoh made fresh promises, only to break them again as soon as the plagues stopped.

At last, God sent an angel into Egypt to kill all the first-born of the people. The Israelites, however, were not to be harmed. Moses told them to smear their door-posts with the blood of a lamb.

The angel moved from house to house, doing as the Lord had directed. But when he came to a door-post marked with the blood of a lamb, he passed it by, and no one within was harmed.

Esther's father told the story that evening, as though the children had never heard it before. Yet they had listened to it every year since they could remember.

The blood of a lamb! Yes, the people in olden time had good reason to sacrifice a lamb at the Passover.

It was well named the Passover, in memory of the angel's passing over the homes of the Chosen People.