Lecture 51. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. Undated · Sabato Morais Digital Repository · Legacy Projects from Judaica DH at Penn Libraries

Title

Lecture 51. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. Undated

Author

Morais, Sabato

Location(s)

United States -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

United States -- Pennsylvania

Format

11 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 12, Folder 5

Has Format

https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/items/ark:/81431/p3ns0mh00/manifest.json

Link to Colenda

https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3ns0mh00

Provenance

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

Is Format Of

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/judaicadh/morais/main/TEI/SMBx12FF5_8.xml

content

S. MORAIS,
546 N. Fifth St.
Philadelphia,

P. B Historical lecture
51
French School

It is now some years since I gave a series of lectures on post-biblical history. At that time neither the "outlines" by Mrs Magnus, nor an English translation of Graetz's comprehensive history, existed. To make the Sabbath-morning worshippers in this Synagogue--more especially the young--acquainted with what they could not read--ily find in a condensed and popular form, I under--took my task. I prepared an account of leading events in our annals from the restoration of the exiles of Chaldea to the Holy Land, to the closing of the Babylonish Talmud under direction of the famous Rab Ashé. Only fifty lectures of nearly the same length I delivered at short intervals, but my original intent--ion had been to proceed till as closely as possible to the age in which we live. Why I did not then carry out the plan, I can scarcely explain to myself. Perhaps, I consti--tutionally lack a determined perseverance in literary labors. Perhaps also, I may have detected a slacking in the attendance of those I particularly wished to reach,

on the absence of general interest in the audience, and I relinquished my design. Be that as it may, I have thought it now of some use to resume it, for a while, at all events, because the work of Mrs Magnus, however adapted for Sunday School classes, is too fragmentary, and that of Dr Graet--a short portion of which alone has yet appeared in our vernacular--is too extended for most readers. Passing from the East to the West, that is, from Palestine and Babylon to the European continent, we may rest our vision on France. The view to which your attention may be drawn, was --formerly opened in the first by a number of the learned, was widened in our days by Elyakim Carmoly, followed more recently by Isidore Loeb, and at present by Madame Darmesteter. It is not venturing too much to surmise that Jews entered France, with the Roman legions that spread everywhere in the world known by to the ancients. If the state--ment of some historians, that as early as a century before the Christian era, Jews were found in Narbonne, be correct, members of our religion may have fought among or against the army of Julius Caesar in his

in his war upon Gallia--as France was then called.
Their social condition varied according to the spirit of the time, controlled by men in authority. At certain periods, Jews were looked upon with favor, because of their medical skill and commercial know--ledge, utilized by persons highly stationed; but the years of suffering and persecution greatly exceeded in number those of comparative ease. What supported sustained our predecessors in their affliction, when allowed at all to live in France? The study of the Law and traditions. Hooted at when walk--ing abroad, pointed at with the finger of scorn every--where, they sought refuge and comfort in the cultivation of that literature which their own Sages broadened by incessant activity. The mention of one of them will suffice as an illustration. Who has not heard of Rabbi Solomon Ben Isaac, known best by the initial of his name and that of his father, as Rashi? Among Jews he enjoys

a notoriety wider perhaps than any of our writers, excepting the inspired authors of the Hebrew Bible. Among Christians some have made copious extracts of his commentaries in Latin and in other languages. That very great man, too humble minded to be con--scious of his greatness, did us lasting services with a pen that never tired. Naturally, round the name life of one so celebrated, legends of various kinds have clustered. I believe none of them. Some are absurd, others refute themselves. Thus, for example, it is not credible that Godfrey de Bouillon, should have consulted our Rabbi about the probable issue of his military campaign for the recovery of the sepulchre of the deified man of Nazareth in Jeru--salem. And who could conceive it possible that Rashi who preceded Maimonides by a century should have held an interview with his immortal successor at Cairo in Egypt? Some, again have thought to exalt Rashi by representing him as a philosopher and a poet. He was neither, but he stands alone and unrivalled in the course that he chose to give us instruction. Rashi was born in Troyes

in Northern France, towards the middle of the eleventh century of the common era. He must therefore have seen the cruelties practised against his coreligionists by the blood thirsty crusaders, kindled into unruly fanati--cism by his countryman, Peter the hermit of Amiens. Taught that suffering is the badge of our tribe, the Jewish Sage did not hurl invectives, but bent his whole mind upon furnishing his people with a learning, that might prove of interest and of use. For it can-not be denied that his commentary, on the Pentateuch possesses that double quality. He may originally have intended at the outset to give us a plain elucidation of the text, and occasionally he does so, but certain it is that most of it the commentary is founded upon allegories and parables of the Talmudists, so pleasing to multitudes. One cannot help admiring his thorough familiarity with them- our Aggadists & Midrashists-- a familiarity unsurpassed; still I confess that I would not base the universal fame which Rashi has gain--ed, upon his comment on the five books of Moses. He himself admitted to a learned grandson of his, that if time had been at his disposal, he would have devoted it to write according to the literal sense of the original.

What I consider priceless among the productions of that French Jew, is not his numerous scriptur--al commentaries, though comprising, with a single exception, the entire Bible, nor his erudite solution of casuistic--al questions reduced into book form. In my mind, Rashi has put the students of Rabbinical literature under eternal obligation by his incomparable notes, or explanations on the text of the Talmud. Not a superfluous word in them. The glossary is always brief, but always clear, undeviatingly faithful to the original. The latter would have remained incom--prehensibly obscure in countless instances, but for the light thrown upon it by the Prince of commentators; our Rashi. At times, when he fears not to have conveyed the meaning of a term explicitly enough, he helps himself with the vernacular which he must have known well. By way of example, he meets a word rarely used, he calls to his aid the French spo--ken at in his time, to render the signification sense obvious to the reader. That a man could singly labor so extensively and so successfully, even if he did reach the ripe age of seventy five, must seem extraor-dinary,

but that was not legendary; it was a patent fact, bordering on the miraculous. He very nearly com--pleted the commentaries of the immense works, contain--ing Mishnah and Gemara, and the little which death made him leave unfinished, was taken up and sup--plemented by such as had drawn knowledge from the fountain of his exhaustless erudition. For, his grandsons and relatives were among the first to pro--ceed in the same line of studies which the illustrious Sage of Troyes had planned out. The want of male descendants was not felt by Rashi. His three daughters had given birth to personages, whose superior scholarship their literary labors incontestably attest. He had married one to a certain Meir of Romero and she became the mother of Samuel, Jacob and Isaac, all of them authors of high repute, all posses--sed of the qualities, which had so distinguished their grand-parent, --unwearied activity in the field of sacred lore and deep humility. Another daughter was wedded to a Judah--the last an unworthy husband of a Jewish maiden righteously brought up. Those who issued from Rashi on his daughter's side founded the School of Tosaphists, or writers of appendixes in his comments. Taking now a general survey

of Rashi's character, we must discover the causes of the deep veneration in which he has been held ever since, so that his comments occupy a place in Hebrew schools and colleges that none other have obtained. The French Jew was the embo--diment of ideas which have stood as a shield, covering our people against the attacks of irreligion. While growing philosophy and science in the middle ages threatened to shake the foundations of revelation, while they made converts to skepticism, that meek writer of the eleventh century kept the bulk of of our scattered race within the bounds of traditional Judaism, by his multifarious writings and his exceptionally noble personality. Chiefly by reason of that, I judge, his name came down to posterity with a halo of sanctity, and the pro-ductions of his pen are regarded with religious pious veneration. I think I am correct in saying that Italy, where Hebrew books began to be published, shortly after the discovery of the art of printing, in the middle of the fifteenth century, honored Rashi's memory by making his commentary on the Pentateuch the first, or surely among the very first that issued from the press. Eight hundred years may have lessened the influence

once weilded by that exemplary Israelite; his name may not be so universally celebrated as formerly, but so long as Talmud will form constitute a study of the Synagogue preach--er--and it ought to be his earnest study in order to entitle him to the appellation of Rabbi--so long will the services of Rashi be recognized as invaluable, and his name will call forth a blessing.

Identifier

p3ns0mh00

identifier

SMBx12FF5_8