Letter from Isaac Leeser to
- Location(s)
- Philadelphia
- Format
- Letter. 3 page(s) on 2 sheet(s).
- Type
- Letter
- Language(s)
- English
- Physical Characteristics
- Unlined Paper
- Manuscript
- content
-
Father of man, whose providence is ever watchful over the works of they Creatures, be with us this day in our assembling for the glorification of thy blessed name. Behold! with insufficient strength and few in number we present ourselves in they presence not relying on our might and our wisdom, but on thy goodness and on thy aid to perfect what we so feebly begin. We feel deeply our unworthiness to assume the task of becoming the teachers of thy word; we are penetrated with the painful consciousness that the best among us needs correction, that the widest requires yet more instruction; yet still be Then with us in the hours we devote to the diffusion of thy faith, teach the ignorant how to expound thy law, and render the feeble tongue eloquent so that we may see blissful fruits to ripening from our exertions, and thy kingdom taking deep root in hearts and the seat of ignorance and vanity. Make us and our scholars alive to the consolations which flow from thy revealed word, the unsearchable streams of knowledge which are diffused over the world through thy spirit which thou didst spread over thy people when they stood trembling before thy glory which was made manifest before their eyes on your Sinai, when thy power had humbled their oppressors and broken the chains of their servitude. Fill us with gratitude for the many benefits which Israel has ere obtained at thy hands, for the many redemptions which so ? us from destruction when strangers to thy law rose up to blot out our name from the face of the earth; and O! bad enchantment and persuasion to our words that we may succeed in ? the young scions of thy household who come to us for instruction with a firm resolu? true and faithful to thee, O God! who hast been so benefi-cent towards their fathers, who have preserved for them up to this day
the treasures which no gold, nor pearl can purchase, which no earthly possessions can equal in value. For great, Almighty Father! That we and our pupils may have a full appreciation of what thy teaching has been to us, that it alone shielded us when the arrows of misfortune flow thick around us, when the burning sun in mid-day seemed to us shorn of his rags and warmth, when the skies appeared to us clothed in blackness; when all joy was fled, and destruction threatened to engulf us for ever. Let us understand it fully, that it was not our perseverance, our obduracy of character against which ? warns of misfortune exhausted their rage in vain; but that it was the strength of they word and the panoply of thy covenant which dwells within us, which made us strong and unconquerable, which imbued us with the resistance to the worlds assaults which the strangers have beheld with astonishment, which our opponents have failed to explain, regarding it, as we do, in the light of a manifestation of thy miraculous power.
Do this, for the sake of thy holiness, for the sake of thy glory which dwells in Israel; so that our sons and daughters may be drawn to thy worship, firmly clinging to thy law, as their tree of life, under the branches of bad clime they can find shelter and safety; and vouchsafe that what we commence this day in fear and trembling very branch out into a nursery of righteousness and knowledge, wherein? mercy may issue to labour for the spread of thy kingdom, as messengers of blessed tidings to many yet unborn. By this, O Father! shall we recognize that we have not laboured toiled for naught, and that our scarce offered in humanity, has been received in favour before thy mercy's throne. And let us beseech thee also, that thou wagest plant in our hearts brotherly love and mutual forbearance, that we support each other's pious coun-sels and travel ?tedly on that road which leads to thy happy mansions, where they are to dwell, who have here on earth fulfilled thy will.
Strengthen our virtuous inclination that we may subdue the evil which is within us, above all the spirit of domination, arrogance and self-suffiency? which misleads mortals to exalt themselves above their fellows who like them are the objects of thy care, like them the children of thy household. And thus let us in humility approach thy presence, ready to labour for thy glory on whatere station Thou wilt assign us, and thus shall we know that we have found favour in thy eyes and that our prayer has been accepted in mercy.
Yea bless our undertaking, not for our sake, but for the sake of the covenant Thou madest with our fathers, Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, that there wouldst be a God with them and their seed for ever. Amen.
Part of Letter from Isaac Leeser to
“Letter from Isaac Leeser to”, Isaac Leeser Digital Repository, accessed September 20, 2024, https://judaicadhpenn.org/legacyprojects/s/leeser/item/67253