Adina.
[LETTER XXII.]
Once more, my dear father, I address a letter to you from this holy city. This morning when I awoke at the sound of the silver trumpets of the priests, ringing melodiously from the top of Mount Moriah, I experienced anew that profound devotion which the children of Abraham must always feel in the city of God and in the presence of his very Temple.
It was a joyous morning to me, dear father, for Æmilius, the noble Roman Prefect, was this day voluntarily to present himself at the Temple to be made a proselyte to the holy faith of Israel.
The morning was, therefore, additionally lovely to me. I thought I had never seen the olive groves on the hillside beyond the king's gardens so green, nor the harvest so yellow, as they undulated in the soft breeze of the opening morn. The lofty palms everywhere appeared to bend and wave their verdant fans with joyous motion. The birds in the palace gardens sang sweeter and louder, and Jerusalem itself seemed more beautiful than ever.
While I was gazing upon the scene and adoring God, and thanking him for the conversion of Æmilius, Rabbi Amos came and said that he would take us to the Temple. We were soon on our way, climbing the paved pathway to Moriah. Oh, how sublimely towered the divine Temple above our heads, seemingly lost in the blue of the far heaven! The great gates opening north and south, to the east and west, were thronged with the multitude pressing through; while from the galleries above each gate pealed forth continually the clear-voiced trumpets of God in ceaseless reverberation. My uncle pointed out to me the massive doors, all overlaid with sheets of beaten gold, and the floor of green marble on which we trod. He bade me notice the costly entablature of colored stones, exquisitely worked with the Grecian's chisel, and especially the roof of fretted silver, set with precious stones, the onyx, beryl, sapphire, carbuncle and jasper. I was dazzled by the magnificence, and awed by the vast extent of the space of splendor surrounding me, while ten thousands of people were to be seen moving towards the altar of sacrifice. From that superb court I was led into a hall nearly a hundred cubits in length, its ceiling of pure gold sustained by a thousand and one columns of porphyry and white marble, ranged alternately.
I was not permitted to approach the sacred chamber, where stood the four thousand vessels of gold of Ophir, used in the sacrifices on great days; and this being a high day, I saw no less than six hundred priests standing about the altar, each with a golden censer in his hand. Beyond is the holy ark of the covenant, over which the cherubim hover, their wings meeting, and between them is the mercy-seat. As this was the Holy of Holies I was not permitted to see it; but its position was pointed out to me within the veil, which conceals from all eyes but that of the High Priest once a year the place of God's throne on the earth, alas now left vacant since the glory of the Shechinah departed from the Holy of Holies!
The air of the vast Temple was delicious with the fragrance of burning frankincense. As the victims bled and the smoke ascended, the people fell on their faces and worshiped God. After a few moments' silence, a startling trumpet note thrilled every soul in the countless multitude. It was followed by a peal of music that shook the air, from a choir of two thousand singers, male and female, of the sons and daughters of Levi, who served in the Temple. Entering from the southern court, they advanced in long procession, singing sacred chants, and playing on sacbut and harp, psalter and nebble, chinna and tympana. As they ascended to the choir their voices, mingling with the instruments, filled all the Temple. I never heard before such sublime harmony; especially when on reaching the elevated choir, a thousand Levites with manly voices joined them, and the whole company chanted one of the sublimest of the Psalms of David.
When the chant was concluded, the whole multitude responded, "Amen and Amen!" like the deep voice of a mighty wind suddenly shaking the foundations of the Temple.