Letter from Isaac Leeser;October 17, 1861 · Isaac Leeser Digital Repository · Legacy Projects from Judaica DH at Penn Libraries

Title

Letter from Isaac Leeser;October 17, 1861

Author

Isaac Leeser

Date Created

17 October 1861

Location(s)

Philadelphia

Format

Letter. 6 page(s).

Type

Letter

Language(s)

English

Hebrew

Physical Characteristics

Unlined Paper

Manuscript

Is Part Of

Arnold and Deanne Kaplan Isaac Leeser Collection

content

(Hebrew)
Peace and blessing from the God of the Universe for our master and teacher,
the candle of
Israel, the glory of his generation and its
beauty, the great Gaon, the truthful searcher,
who reveals wh the depths of the Torah and of wisdom, his honor
and his glory,
Rabbi Shlomo Judah Leib Rappoport, a priest
to the high God, may his light continue to burn with shining
brightness, Chief Rabbi of the community of Prague
and its district.
ש May the kindly God increase the years of your life
ל To the Jews may you continue to be a light, till the moon is no
more
מ May the source of your wisdom drip down like the gentle rain from
heaven
ה Be a blessing forever, revealer of the hidden!
The acrostic spells Solomon.

How glorious is the day when the honored men of Israel
appear before your glory each with the his gift in his hand. The day
you attained a ripe old age, when you reached the age of seventy. The
heart of all Israel murmurs a prayer to God, to
renew your youth like the eagle, that you may continue to be for many
years a prop to the house of Judah and a tower of strength
to the wisdom of
Jeshurun. Pure as the heavens have your years been to
this day. Like shining stars you have shed light upon all the borders of
Israel. You first began to show to every-one the
strong hand of the ancient sages of
Israel. You were the first to remove from our
people's sages, the shame cast upon them by their traducers, when
you revealed to us and to the gentiles which way to find the light which
dwelt in an-cient palaces and the hoary halls of
Israel. The spirit of investigation which you have
chosen was like a combed out the mountains of folly and
religious

hatred, and broke the rocks of foolish-ness. The fruits of your wisdom
have become ripe and risen like a flowering tree, over investigations
of times past, and have become like an enclosing vine which
clothes rejoices God and man who in its vineyard of
beauty. You have accomplished much good for the house of
Jacob from that day to this. There-fore when
Israel heard this news it said announcing
that God had blessed you, our master, and gave you life and strength to
this day, for your seventieth year, they all hurried to bring to
you their blessing, so that, from the ends of the earth, their song
is heard and thanksgiving and praise to God for having granted you life
till now. All the lovers of the wisdom of Israel,
like one man, express their thanks and their praise in your honor,
for all the good which you have done for our
brothers, the children of Israel in general.
With some a cry of joy they call before you

long live the King Solomon And may his Kingdom be
established forever, And let his priestly service continue in its
peaceful way forever.
The wide sea which separates the old world from the new has not separated
the hearts of an Israelite, from his brethren. Our ear, too,
recognizes the value of your words. We, too,
claim our share of their glory. For our head also are you a crown.
American Israel, too, is proud of you.
And shall we have nothing in our hand, now that the Israelites who live in
Europe come forward to greet you with blessings
and praises? Shall we be the last to greet your honored countenance
and bless you in the midst of the throng of your admirers. One thing we
know for certain, that we are incapable of bringing to you a greeting
be-

fitting your glory. There is no in-terpreter in our midst who could
express the feelings of our heart. But let not the greeting of an ordinary
man to light in your eyes. Listen to us, for from the depths of our
hearts we speak to you.
May God renew your youth;
righteous priest
That your days may increase and
your wisdom be multiplied
a tower of strength for Israel
To strengthen all that is just
That you have been always and
that you will be all your days.
Receive, o master, our unworthy greeting, which comes from the
deepest recesses of our heart, and when you cast your eyes upon the
gifts brought to you from
North, South, and
East be good enough to remember us, your
servants,

who dwell across the seas in the land of the setting sun, who bow from
a distance in your honor.
Wednesday 13th of Heshvan (October),
1861
Probably in Leeser's own hand.
Must have been included in the
current issue of the "Occident."
For Rapoport, see Jewish Encyclo-
pedia.

Identifier

LSKAP_NC-6

Date

1861-10-17