Letter from Voorsanger, Jacob to Morais, Sabato. San Francisco, CA; May 1893
- Title
- Letter from Voorsanger, Jacob to Morais, Sabato. San Francisco, CA; May 1893
- Date Created
- 29 May 1893
- Format
- 2 pages on 1 sheet
- Language(s)
- English
- Source
- Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
- Sabato Morais Collection, Box 7, Folder 1
- Has Format
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/items/ark:/81431/p3kd1r53k/manifest.json
- Link to Colenda
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3kd1r53k
- Provenance
- Transfer of Custody from the Hebrew Education Society, 10 March 1913.
- Is Format Of
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/judaicadh/morais/main/TEI/SMBx7FF1_3.xml
- content
-
JACOB VOORSANGER,
RABBI OF TEMPLE EMANUEL
2316 CALIFORNIA STREET.
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. May 29 1893
The Rev Dr. S. Morais,
Philadelphia, Pa.
My dear Sir
The first leisure moments I enjoy after a long season of arduous labor I employ in penning you a few lines. First of all, permit me to inform you that my dear second son, Leon Morais Voorsanger, was a [Hebrew] on last Shabuoth and read the [Hebrew] in a clear, strong voice to the evident delectation of the vast congregation present. In our service we read from [Hebrew] until [Hebrew], nearly two chapters, and the lad proved to be well trained. In view of the fact that about the same time last year we were about to lose our child, of which I wrote you at the time, you can understand how happy his mother and I have been and we pray that we may yet bring him [Hebrew]. The boy has not only fully recovered his strength, but he has never been in such good health and his career in the schools is brilliant indeed. I will take it as a kindly act, if out of your goodness of heart you will send my dear child, who after a fashion is your God-son, a few words of blessing, and coming from you he will thoroughly appreciate them, for he knows you well, since his father often speaks of you. The fact that he read the [Hebrew] should convince you of two things; first, that we have an excellent Hebrew department in our religious school, and secondly, that we are not so radical as perhaps we are made out to be.
You have no doubt already met the Rev Joseph L. Levy. I have made it his duty to call on you on my personal behalf, to be as [Hebrew] and to convey to you my unchanged sentiments of regard and affection. I hope he has done so; but it would not surprise me if he had not. I see from the journals that he has already incurred your displeasure, and I venture to recommend, that you reserve your sage and eloquent words for more dangerous opponents. The young man is an enthusiast, believes that an unbridled tongue is a meritorious thing, and has not the faintest conception of discretion. He possesses some education; half of his reading is undigested, and I dare say, his elevation has com-pletely intoxicated him. He means well enough; and he is a kindly
fellow, who ten years hence will sing a different song. He lacks the conservatism of age, and I beg you to be patient with him. He served three years on this Coast, and left many friends.
And now a word or two about literary matters. May I inquire of you, whether the famous expression [Hebrew] is at all found in the Talmud? I cannot find it after the most diligent search, of course, it is found in Maimonides' [Hebrew], where the [Hebrew] quotes [Hebrew] but that must be a misprint for on that page there is not the faintest suggestion of such a text. The quotation that comes nearest to it is in [Hebrew], where the Talmud tries so curiously to prove that Job has no share in the future world [Hebrew]. What makes me suspicious is the fact that Kohut's Arukh S. V. [Hebrew?] does not quote the passage, and that the passage itself is fashioned after the Talmud-ical [Hebrew], which, if I have not forgotten, is in [Hebrew]. Will you kindly give me information on the subject?
My next query is the following: How do you, from your standpoint, account for the discrepancy in the text of the Ten commandments in Deuteronomy and Exodus? In the fourth word, the text is so variant that it excites the closest inquiry. Much has been written on the subject; but little satisfies me. The most radical difference is that the Deuteronomist bases the observance of the Sabbath on [Hebrew] and the author of Exodus on the creation of the world. Did Moses write them both? The most vexatious part of it is that both Exodus and Deuteronomy attribute the words to God; in Exodus [Hebrew] and in Deuteronomy [Hebrew], where the word [Hebrew] excites my suspicion, inasmuch as the term [Hebrew] is used in Numbers. How do you explain it? Would you object to an explanation that accounts for an original Ten words, which, later on, in ten different versions, found their way to the North and South of Palestine? I am anxious about this matter. I know that you are more liberal with the prophets, so far as text-criticism is con-cerned, than with the Pentateuch, and it is in view of your conservative views that I prefer to have my query answered by you. It will be unnecessary to give me the Jewish views, I know them. I am anxious for a personal opinion.
I have, last winter, prepared and delivered a course of nine lectures on the poetry of the old Testament, which before publication I would like to submit to your inspection. They are radical but [Hebrew]. Would you under-take the task? Awaiting an early reply I am as ever Faithfully yours Jacob Voorsanger - Identifier
- p3kd1r53k
- identifier
- SMBx7FF1_3
Part of Letter from Voorsanger, Jacob to Morais, Sabato. San Francisco, CA; May 1893
Voorsanger, Jacob and Morais, Sabato, “Letter from Voorsanger, Jacob to Morais, Sabato. San Francisco, CA; May 1893”, Sabato Morais Digital Repository, accessed September 19, 2024, https://judaicadhpenn.org/legacyprojects/s/morais/item/90788