40 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS [July 29

on the Feast of Tabernacles. This will affect, directly and in-
directly, approximately seventy thousand Jews in Baltimore City,
many of whom would be unable to register and consequently, to
vote; about four hundred Judges and Clerks would not be able to
work and a great many polling places would have to be changed
because Jewish houses could not be used for registration purposes.
Some statements have been made that the Jews could register at
the close of the day. This also would be impossible because the
time allotted would be only a few hours and it would be impossi-
ble to register so large a number of Jewish people as live in some
precincts within so limited a time.

For your own information and so that you may on your return
home explain to your constituents the reason why the Jewish peo-
ple cannot register on these days, I feel that a brief explanation
would be of interest. I shall therefore attempt, with jour permis-
sion, to explain the holidays and the reasons why the Jewish peo-
ple would be affected.

The first question that would be asked would be "Why is it that
the Jewish day begins at sundown and ends at nightfall" ? An
examination of the very first chapter of the Old Testament, that
portion of the book of Genesis which deals with the Creation, will
immediately disclose the reason. The conclusion of the fifth verse,
correctly translated, reads: "And it was evening and it was morn-
ing, the first day." So of the eighth verse which concludes, "And
it was evening and it was morning, the second day." And so of
each successive day throughout the story of the Creation. With
this as their precedent, the Jews maintain their calculation of
time today even as it was in the very beginning.

Having thus ascertained the duration of the holidays there re-
mains to be considered their significance. The days of the New
Year, which correspond with the first two registration days as
originally fixed, are extremely solemn in nature, thereby differing
from the first day of the New Year in the world at large. The
New Year celebrated on January first is quite naturally a joyous
occasion, marking, as it does, the Circumcision of Jesus, and car-
rying with it, therefore, the joyous atmosphere always attendant
upon the performance of that rite. The Jewish New Year, on
the other hand, from the most ancient days has been marked by a
number of solemn notes. In the first place, according to Tradi-