Ki-tissa. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. 1894 · Sabato Morais Digital Repository · Legacy Projects from Judaica DH at Penn Libraries

Title

Ki-tissa. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. 1894

Author

Morais, Sabato

Date Created

1894

Location(s)

United States -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

United States -- Pennsylvania

Format

12 pages on 5 sheets

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?

Language(s)

English

Source

Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies

Sabato Morais Collection, Box 9, Folder 16

Has Format

https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/items/ark:/81431/p3707x691/manifest.json

Link to Colenda

https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3707x691

Provenance

Transfer of Custody from the Hebrew Education Society, 10 March 1913.

Is Format Of

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/judaicadh/morais/main/TEI/SMBx9FF16_3.xml

content

S. MORAIS,
546 N. FIFTH STREET,
PHILADELPHIA, PA.

On Parashat Ki Tissa [Hebrew]

"Remember ye the Law of Moses My servant, whom I commanded in Horeb for all Israel statutes and or--dinances. Behold! I send to you Elijah the prophet, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord cometh." Moses and Elijah are in the parting thought of the last Hebrew Seer. Moses and Elijah, the zealous avengers of God's word. Brethren. In exceptional times, exceptional men must rise, and carry into action ex--ceptional measures. Striking illustrations of that truth are the two episodes in Biblical history, offered this sabbath to our contemplation. At Sinai, when loose dancing and carousels usurped the domi- -nion place of devotional awe and veneration pertaining which belongs to the Law, the son of Amram stood up in all the majesty of a righteous indignation anger that burned the wicked un--sparingly. At Carmel, when the parasites of a wretched queen, had made the land of Israel reek with the fumes of corrupt--ion, the Tishbite fearlessly defied crowned heads, and cut off vile seducers. Perhaps the people who demanded of Aaron a representation of the Deity, supposing that the

champion of their liberty and their inspired guide, had died, may not have originally have intended by the molten image a denial of the Omnipotent, and a the raising of a throne to rank idolatry, but simply to possess a medium for consulting oracles like the superstitious Teraphim. Indeed, in that light has their wish request been viewed by very learned inter--preters of our Scriptures. Nevertheless, to have suf--fered so debasing an error to go unpunished, would have been to connive at the violation of the second command--ment of the Decalogue: "Thou shall not make for thy--self any graven image." Nay: Soon that error begot the sin of foul depravity. For we read: "The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play", meaning by the Hebrew word to revel in licentious feasts. At the foot of the holy mountain, the trusty attendant had wait--ed for the return of his master. They meet again, but not to rejoice over the fealty of all who had vowed al--legiance to the covenant. In the thundering noise which rends the air, the shouting of warriors battling against enemies who had assailed the armor-bearers of God's Unity? Or is it the cry of gallant soldiers who fought with prowess valor, but were compelled to yeild to a superior

number? No: the din of riotous merriment over a brute, fashioned in gold, is the unwelcome sound. [Hebrew] "Who is on the Lord's side?" a voice echoes forth throughout the camp. The enormity of the sin must be realized by an act of condign severity requital. Moses, the compassionate saviour of the enslaved, Moses, willing to be blotted out from life and memory, so that Israel might live and enjoy an everlasting remem--brance, is keeps unmoved, when the honor of his God is publicly outraged. A reflection of the man who had ascended the top of Sinaï, was he who journeyed far in fasting and solitariness; hiding in the cleft of the rock, where the archprophet had stood to receive a message of pardon, so dear to his poster--ity [Hebrew] "The Lord, the Lord is a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness and truth" Brethren. Elijah has been called [Hebrew] "the angel of the covenant" and the title is justly applied. If to big to rescue from extinction religious principles, which all have declared irrecoverably lost, is the manifestation of to exhibit noble courage,

if to assert the eternity supremacy of righteousness, is to serve the Lord of righteousness, then the Tishbite deserves the height to which a popular belief has raised him. Not the comparatively few, as in the days of the golden calf, had bent the knee to falsehood. Altars of pollution beclouded with their soul-stifling incense the whole country, ruled over by the house of Omri, illicitly allied to the hea--then house of the Phenician Sidonians. For, none was ever so domineered by a ferocious woman, implacable in her fanaticism, as Ahab by his queen Jezebel. She con--trolled the destiny of the empire. She had forbidden, under penalty of death, the worship of the One spiritual God. Hushed where the sacred songs of the Levites. Closed were the schools of prophets, designed by Samuel of old to keep the fire of the national religion aglow, for, the bloody sword of Jezebel hung over the heads of the disciples of those schools. Where the patriarchs had proclaimed an all-perfect God, now the immortal rites of Astarte or "queen of heaven;" the fierce horrid dances round the brutal Moloch, were alone allowed. But Elijah dared the throne which iniquity personified had mounted. Against royal threats, he set a faith unconquerable. Hunted by in--veterate enemies, he still found secret friends allies within the palace

of cruelty. Despising a protection gained by recreancy and flattery, he made the wilds of deserts his home; his meal a scanty loaf, his bed the naked earth. Austere was his nature, per--haps too stern, when compared with that of pro--phets who before and after him announced the will of the Most High. Perhaps Who can tell but that the vision in which he heard the voice of the Lord not through a whirl--wind, not through an earthquake, not through a consuming fire, but only through "a still small voice" [Hebrew] may have been a gentle rebuke to his impetuosity. But, brethren, I have said it; in exceptional times, exceptional men must arise and carry into action exceptional measures. In the lesson from Exodus, we have seen to-day Moses vindicating the claims of the entire decalogue to im-plicit obedience, by a deed which spread terror upon shameless offenders. The lesson from the first book of Kings, shows us Elijah challenging with irrepres--sible wrath the sycophants that styled themselves "prophets of Baal" and exposing chastising their friend in a fearfully manner.

Four hundred and fifty white robed priests of the sun-god, marshalled by their idolatrous king, faced the man of weird looks, strangely appalling, with his flowing locks of hair, his coarse mantle and a leathern girdle round his loins. He rises to his full height and speaks: "How long hath ye between two opinions, if the Lord be God follow Him, but if Baal, then follow him." So the intrepid pro--phet addresses the multitude assembled to witness the contest. Israel has terribly sinned. All the influences which royal authority and the seductions of a licentious worship could exert have contributed to estrange the progeny of the upright from the an--cestral belief, but still they are still Elijah's brethren. For their redemption he yearned; to restore them to the forsaken covenant, was his ardent longing. Now the occasion had arrived, when he might awa-kened the national sentiment, so long dormant. Upon the eastern slope of Carmel, commanding the last view of the Mediterranean sea, an altar had once been dedicated to the Eternal, ere the im--pious Jezebel had risen to demand its overthrow.

By its side Elijah takes his stand. Opposite to him are arrayed those he invited to an encounter, thrilling but decisive. "You are the many. With you is power. Your teaching is supported by says kingly & queenly decree. Your adherents are countless. I am one, the deserted servant of Adonaï, unshielded in my faith by mortals power; left alone in my confiding trust. Choose you then the offering and present it first. Let the sun-god that you adore, flash his fire and consume you oblation. That shall be the test of the doctrine which you pro--fess. If you fail, I will entreat the God of my fathers to sanctify His belief by His a miraculous inter--position." Thus spoke Elijah. It was early morning, when the prophets of Baal began their wild dances, and their shrill songs, crying aloud and leaping high. The cloudless sun of the Orient poured his scorching rays upon them, best it discharged not its fire across their altars. Frenzied with ex--citement, they tossed their swords and lances, as was their practice in their mad worship, till blood streamed from their bodies. Exhausted, they paused. The sun is now bending now westward.

Elijah rises calmly and gather twelve stones, typical of the founders of a united nation. The kingdom of Israel had sold itself to the idol, but the prophet will not cast off the progeny of the righteous. Let the ten tribes return to God. Penitence will save them. The wood is arranged. The sacrifice is laid. A prayer in which every fibre of a sincere heart joins, ascends to heaven. "O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that Thou art the Lord God in Israel, and that I am thy servant....answer me, O Lord! answer me, that His people may know that Thou art the Lord God". Aye [Hebrew] [Hebrew] "The Lord He is God; the Lord He is God", burst forth from lips long sealed against the utter--ance of the dreaded name, as the sky flashed down the fire that burned consumed the offspring, but purified Israel. Brethren. In exceptional times, exceptional men must rise, and bring into action exceptional measures. The persecutors became the victims. In the deep

channel of Kishon, the prophets of Baal felt their blood flow into the distant sea. at the rising of a storm. "Remember ye the Law of Moses My servant, whom I commanded in Horeb for all Israel statutes and ordinances. Behold! I send to you Elijah the prophet before the great and dreadful day of the Lord cometh." Moses and Elijah were in the parting thought of the last of Hebrew Seers--the two zealous avengers of God's holy word. Grand figures! Magnificent models in human history! Which should we copy? To me, the son of Amram is the archetype of a perfect manhood. Severe when severity is a healing to souls deeply diseased; but meek, forgiving, living only to educate his people, dying with a blessing for that people lingering on his sainted lips. The Tishbite is all ablaze with the love of Divine justice, he, the unyeilding defender of right against might. He, the self denying apostle, forced to become a wanderer, assumes before our vision an aspect unapproachably stern. Yet, it is he whom Malachi invests with the power to turn back the heart of fathers to the heart of children to that of their

fathers, lest division in the household, bring a curse upon the earth. Or, as the Talmudist ex-press it [Hebrew] When Elijah cometh again, his mission will be to bring backsliders nigh unto God, not to thrust them off.
Brethren. They are the modern Elijahs who work to that end. They who lay their fall weight into the balance of righteousness. God's servants are those clothed in purity, not in egotism. Those who value the honor of the Lord above popular applause; above their very life. They need not bear a distinguishing title for to perform the godly work. Are we not all a King--dom of priests? Let us then unitedly enter our realm. Let each of us ascend the throne wrought by the finger hand of God for the seed of His first adorer, Abraham the faithful. From thence we shall proclaim that "Adonaï He is God, Adonaï He is God."

Identifier

p3707x691

identifier

SMBx9FF16_3