Letter from Voorsanger, Jacob to Morais, Sabato. Houston, TX; Nov 1879
- Title
- Letter from Voorsanger, Jacob to Morais, Sabato. Houston, TX; Nov 1879
- Date Created
- 17 November 1879
- Format
- 12 pages on 6 sheets
- Language(s)
- English
- Source
- Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
- Sabato Morais Collection, Box 2, Folder 8
- Has Format
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/items/ark:/81431/p3833nj15/manifest.json
- Link to Colenda
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3833nj15
- Provenance
- Transfer of Custody from the Hebrew Education Society, 10 March 1913.
- Is Format Of
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/judaicadh/morais/main/TEI/SMBx2FF8_39.xml
- content
-
JACOB VOORSANGER,
HOUSTON,
TEXAS.
November 17 1879
Rev. S. Morais
Rev & Dear Sir
![Hebrew] What must you think of me? Two years have actually passed over our heads without I have written to you. To defend the reasons, why I have omitted to do so would be utterly impossible simply because there exists no reason. I have not even the patent "no time" excuse simply because I have had plenty of time at my disposal. What was the cause? Careless,ness, culpable neglect of my best & oldest friend in this country. I am prompted to make this candid & straightforward confession because I am convinced that you rather have me tell the real truth than to exculpate myself by paltry excuses. And I know your generous disposition so well, that even while writing this I feel confident that you will pardon my neglect & reinstate me in your my place as one of your [Hebrew] for I
JACOB VOORSANGER,
HOUSTON,
TEXAS.
2/
187
never forget [Hebrew] etc. I will promise that if you should forgive me, I shall never give you any cause to strike me off the list of your friends & correspondents [Hebrew]. Allow me to make one more confession. Whilst my pen was silent and I gave you cause to believe that I had forgotten you, you were never out of my thoughts. Not one act of my busy life was performed without the consciousness that it would please you to hear that I am benefitting my people. Newspaper praise has no weight with me. And yet sometimes I was grateful to so anyone who publicly praised my efforts, for I knew that you would be pleased to learn I pass not my days in idleness. My literary work, when published, possessed for me double attraction for I knew that it would pass your view & you would pass judgment upon it. And I beg you to believe that this is not a complimentary effusion for the purpose of pleasing you, but the honest ex,pression of a young man, who will never forget
JACOB VOORSANGER,
HOUSTON,
TEXAS.
3/
187
that the first words of encouragement he ever heard in this country were spoken by you And now let me pass on to other matters.
My life is a different one from what it has been. You have known me as the struggling [Hebrew] of a broken down congregation, as a youngster with some know,ledge & no experience whatever. Since that time four years have passed. It seems to me as if in these latter years I have really become a man, for I look upon the world with entirely different eyes, & whilst I cannot presume to yet possess all the requisite experience I yet have learned a great deal of worldly wisdom, which enables me to better understand my relations to the world & my congregation than before. I have not neglected any opportunity to enrich my mind & cultivate my English. I have become more enthusiastic in our holy cause now that by care,ful study I better understand its tenets, I know it will please you when I assure you that not a day passes by that I do not devote some time to the study of Talmud, Midrash & the philoso,
JACOB VOORSANGER,
HOUSTON,
TEXAS.
4/
187
phical authors. After many months of application to modern philosophy I have, tried a confounded, come back to the [Hebrew] & please God I will never abandon them again.
This leads me to a statement of my convictions. It is necessary, imperatively so, for I owe you an expla,nation of my conduct in abandoning time-honored cus,toms for the new & gaudy attire that has been re,commended as the "latest style" of worship. I suffe,red in Washington from too much piety. Every one of my steps was watched, the natural buoyancy of my temperament was taken for wildness and my repen,ted expressions of tolerating innocent innovations as a hankering after reform. Hence my congregation, composed as it was of Poles & Russians of the blackest type, did not appreciate my efforts, inasmuch as we did not harmonize in matters of decorum & worship. I soon grew tired of this constant watching & compulsory attendance at every occasion, where my services as minister were not required, of the cant & hypocrisy, which I perceived all around
5)
me, of the eternal quarrels about [Hebrew] etc., which men The latter wer especially were disgraceful and so against every conception of [Hebrew] that I did not hesitate to publicly express my disgust. Accordingly I hailed the opportunity of severing my relations with them when the Providence com,munity just organized extended me a call which I immediately accepted. Yet I departed from W. with a great deal of reluctance & regret The splendid congressional library, the intercourse with such men as Wolf, Abrahams & Solomons, and the singu,larly courteous treatment of my congregation apart of their bigoted & intolerant conception of religion are not to be found everywhere. I left upon the advice of my friends above mentioned who assured me that the field in W. was too limited & narrow & that my abilities [?] deserved a better & wider scope of usefulness. When arrived at Providence I found, that the congregation, just organized, had adopted Dr. Jas,trows Minhag. I was not displeased with the change, especially as I had learned to believe that one may affiliate with the reform wing of our denomination
6)
without doing violence to his convictions. I spent in Providence a year of blessing & usefulness. I became the means of creating a good, strong, congregation out of three or four independent Minyanim[?] and infusing in them some of the spirit of Judaism. Not once during the year had I been at variance with any one. This re,quires some explanation. I have been a guilty of a great fault, namely over[?] finding so much the [?] culpable as it did not [?] itself against my superiors but against those whom I considered my inferiors. I candidly confess that much of the unpleasantness between myself & my congregations in Philadelphia & Washington was due to my selfish determination to be right always and never to defer to another's or let me say to a layman's opinion. And now, that I am enabled to dispassionately review my part career I know that very often I have been lamentably in the wrong in many in,stances and opposed measures taken for my own welfare from mere conceit & stubborness. When I assumed charge of the Providence congregation I resolved, that, God helping, I should be a
7)
endeavor to merit everybody's goodwill & comport myself with good-will towards the rich & the lowly, the learned & the ignorant equally. God has blessed that resolution, for I have left Providence with all my people bidding me God speed at the depot and an honest tear in many an eye because I left. I am honestly proud of the record I have left in that city. And now why did I again change my position? Because I could not withstand the temptation of becoming the minister of a large, influential congregation. The Houston people had been in correspondence with me for a long time & without an application on my part, without a trial, without ever having seen me, upon the re,ports of many prominent clergymen, who had sug,gested my name to them, they elected me their minister. I am too young to not to listen to the voice of ambition. Financially & socially my pre,sent position is all my limited abilities deserve & I have every reason to thank God for the happy change in my lot. As to my labor here I cannot refer to it without feeling profoundly moved that
8)
I should have become the instrument of so much good. I shall upon another occasion tell you of the work I have done here. Suffice for the moment that I am proud of my people. I live in peace with every one and I enjoy the confidence and esteem of my constituents. Unwittingly I have strayed from the subject. I was to tell you of my convictions & I told you of myself. Careful study has confirmed my convictions above mentioned that a reformer is a Jew to all intents & purposes. The ceremonial law is subject to eternal changes. But whilst at present I am officiating according to new rituals I am by no means contented. Reform has desported[sic?] Judaism of spirituality. That is a crime, which the penalty of which is death. Reform will die. That means the present wishy-washy unmeaning substitute for the grand ceremonies of by-gone days has to make place for [crossed-out] something more sub,stantial, something, in which which will tend to revive the spirituality in Judaism. We are drifting towards materialism, not because we disagree with our masters in their conception
JACOB VOORSANER,
HOUSTON,
TEXAS.
9)
187
of the Deity but because we have desported[sic?] our worship from all the elements of spirituality. We must return to a form of worship that satis,fies the cravings of the heart, whilst doing no violence to the tenets of our faith. Whatever that form may be, it shall have my entire adhaesion and I shall advocate it with all the strength & enthusiasm of which I am capable. It stands to reason that many of the old forms are obsolete, have died of actual old age, but we will always need an historical-conservative form of worship. Nothing else will arouse and keep alive the dorm,ant piety of our people.
I wish I could as conclusively speak of my convictions upon purely religious theological matters. Like all young men who have a mind of their own and a turn for investigation I have been swayed by various opinions & systems. The longer I thought the more I became confused. Sometimes I would deny one thing, again another until I sadly felt the need of some experienced mind to
JACOB VOORSANGER,
HOUSTON,
TEXAS.
10)
187
lead me back from the labyrinth of my [crossed-out] own creation. I cannot say that all my doubts are settled, but I have so far become convinced of all the grand [crossed-out] truths of Judaism that I say with Job [Hebrew]. My speculations rested mainly on [Hebrew]. Alb. And the More' have been of great help to me. I can now preach these doctrines without a single doubt. Upon minor matters I am not settled. For instance I have a strong tendency to believe with the Gnostics that matter is eternal. I cannot conceive that the Deity, eternal & infinite, should have been inactive at any period of His existence. The latter being eternal, his activity must have been the same hence the emanations of His mind & hands, figu,ratively spoken, are co-existent with Himself. I have found in none of the Jewish authors any allusion to this idea, and I am lamentably in doubt whether the doctrine is compatible with Judaism. I am not afraid, that it will interfere with my other settled convictions, but
11)
I am deeply anxious to remove from my mind eve,rything that tends to making me anything but a real, good Jehuda: Will you keep me? By setting my a doubts at rest you will but add to the many obligations under which I am placed by yourself.
I must conclude now. Were it not that I know you to take a deep interest in all young men, who are willing to devote themselves to the cause of which you are so faithful a servant I would not have written so much. As it is, only the fear of tiring you restrains me from writing much more More than ever I feel the necessity of consulting men, my superiors in age and wisdom, and much will depend upon the result of these consultations. Last Thursday I was twenty seven years of age, and please God, a long life of usefulness is before me Thus far all has been well. My daily prayer is [Hebrew] [Hebrew]. With His aid all my doubts will be finally set at rest & there is a growing conviction within me, that I we will my name will yet
12)
be on the great list of those who have deserved well of their people because of eminent services rendered. I ask you to forget my past neglect. Send me again some of the golden words I have been wont to receive from your honored pen. I assure you that words are inadequate to describe my regard for yourself.
A few lines about domestic affairs. I am now the happy father of those children. A fourth one is coming and when a son I shall ask you the honor of allowing me to give him your name. I am doing well financially saving a little and making no debts. Please ask Henry to send me his book as soon as published. A friend of mine, who rejoices in the rather odd name of Koppel von Vloomberg, desires to know whether you think he is improving in style & language. He says, your opinion will have much weight with him. And now [Hebrew] [Hebrew] [Hebrew]
Jacob Voorsanger - Identifier
- p3833nj15
- identifier
- SMBx2FF8_39
Part of Letter from Voorsanger, Jacob to Morais, Sabato. Houston, TX; Nov 1879
Voorsanger, Jacob and Morais, Sabato, “Letter from Voorsanger, Jacob to Morais, Sabato. Houston, TX; Nov 1879”, Sabato Morais Digital Repository, accessed September 19, 2024, https://judaicadhpenn.org/legacyprojects/s/morais/item/90734