Sabbath before Passover (Shabat ha-gadol). Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. Undated
- Title
- Sabbath before Passover (Shabat ha-gadol). Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. Undated
- Author
- Morais, Sabato
- Format
- 13 pages on 5 sheets
- Language(s)
- English
- Source
- Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
- Sabato Morais Collection, Box 10, Folder 4
- Has Format
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/items/ark:/81431/p3dv1d76q/manifest.json
- Link to Colenda
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3dv1d76q
- Provenance
- Transfer of Custody from the Hebrew Education Society, 10 March 1913.
- Is Format Of
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/judaicadh/morais/main/TEI/SMBx10FF4_12.xml
- content
-
For the Sabbath before Pesach
[Hebrew]
[Hebrew]
May I be permitted, after a long silence, to address this audience with the affectionate utterance of former days?...A custom which I dare not disregard, lest I prove false to my vocation, demands that I shall this Sabbath, speak to instruct. I must respond to the sacred call. Not in the capacity of my superiors, who exercise Rabbinical functions, but as one--though the least, of God's servants administering relief to spiritual wants. This mission I did once assume with a trepidation, which time and circumstances have rather increased than abated. Yet, a sense of duty set the misgivings of my heart at rest, and gave my thoughts full scope. I therefore frequently expounded in your presence the spirit of our religion and its behests. But when the solemn season arrived, which directs Israel's vision to the hand, holding the scales of inflexible justice; or, when the memorable period of
our enfranchisement was approaching, my mind received a stronger impulse, and I addressed my congregation on the topic, suggested by the stirring occasions. Beloved hearers! With the cup of salvation uplifted in honor to our Living Redeemer, we shall again, on the second night of the ensuing week, sit at the domestic board. Let us then recall to mind our origin, our destination and our duty. The ancestry which we claim, is not famous because of its remote antiquity, but because it constitutes the true nobility of human nature. [Hebrew] "the princes of nations have assembled together, even the people of the God of Abraham," thus sang the inspired bard, with an outburst of devotional enthusiasm. We are, if I may use the bold expression, we are the aristocracy of the world; for the seal of the Eter--nal has impressed on our brows that mark of distinction. Not to set us up as rulers over the powerless, but as a beacon-light to the wandering.
Not to excite in our breasts vainglory, but to incite us to righteous deeds. [Hebrew] "Ye shall be holy, for I am holy" says the Lord. Each of us is the minister of a sublime faith. The uni--verse is the altar at which we officiate. Here in this regenerated country of our love, and likewise in the benighted climes of the Eastern hemisphere, we burn continual incense to the Father of all mankind, when we proclaim His Unity in the sight of the gentiles. The promised vouchsafed to the sincerest of all believers, was not to be circumscribed within the limits lying between the Nile and the Euphrates. IT was to comprehend a much wider range. Aye, the length and breadth of the habitable globe [Hebrew] "All the families of the earth would be blessed in him;" all would acknow--ledge Abraham the friend of God, and the father of the faithful. From that noble fountain, O my Brethren! we have sprung. Rivulets and streams have branched off from the primary source,
but turbid are yet the waters that course through them. From us alone will issue forth the sea of light, in which the human race will cleanse itself of all impurity. Such is our origin, and such our final destination. Let none therefore charge our Sages with narrow-mind--edness, because they asserted, that "the world was created for the sake of the law, and for that of Israel" [Hebrew] [Hebrew] Those wise teachers of old, saw in the heavenly mandate the germs of a universal civilization, and they regarded the descendants of Abraham as the propagators of that blessing. That their assumption was correct, the history of nearly twenty centuries ir--refutably prove. The legislation upon which the code of morals delivered at Sinai is not engrafted, represents barbarism. The people who do not avow their obligation to the seed of Jacob, have yet to awaken from the lethargy of the dark ages.
But, on the contrary, my dear hearers; wherever the volume which is our peculiar heritage is held in reverence, there, the law of progress is at work; wherever we are recognized as the legatees of that heavenly boon, there, can the path of enlightenment be traced. What shall then, I ask, be the duty of those whom the Almighty "King hath delighted to honor?"...To stand immo--veably at their assigned post, for by so acting they will preserve and strengthen the basis of the social edifice One of our instructors--who was also the last surviving member of that venerable body, headed by Ezra the priest-- was wont to say, that "the maintenance of the world depends, upon the acknowledgment of Divine revelation, upon worship and the practice of beneficence. [Hebrew] [Hebrew]--. A belief in God's manifestation at on the summit of Horeb for the love of man, will inspire the heart with gratitude,
and call forth praises and thanksgivings; while the effect of a holy communion with our Maker, will be to soften our feelings towards all his suffering creatures. Each of those three points is connected with (and it substantially rests upon) the other, and the absence of either of them would endanger society by sapping its main supports. I assert, that if the laws of human governments do not acquire validity from the sanction given by the expressed word of God; if men bow not before the merciful Being, whose providence em--braces all the offspring of Adam, the channels of natural compassion will also dry up, and self-interest will become the ruling power on earth, the lever of all our actions. As for ourselves, my fellow-Israelites, for ourselves whose lives must stand as a bright exemplar; we cannot more significantly evince our conviction of the revelation at Sinai than by our acquiescence in the rites of the approaching festival.
For, our freedom from Egyptian bondage, was but the [?] step to the attainment of a spiritual deli--verance. The result of your redemption, said the Lord to Moses, will be that "you shall worship me at this mountain" [Hebrew] [Hebrew]. Or, as the Rabbis express it, our moral existence depended upon our acceptance of the celestial imparting [Hebrew] To our praise it may now be said, that the celebration of Passoever has scarcely lost any of its freshness and healthful influence. It is hailed everywhere in Israel with a cheerful spirit. Its arrival seems to lend our firesides a more genial and bright appearance. Even to the letter of the Mishná, the most needy obtains the means to observe it in the manner anciently prescribed. And as he shares with his dear ones the symbolic herbs and the unleavened bread in the night of the fourteenth, he forgets the present privations, solely to glory in the con-templation of the feast.
He sees the pillar of fire pointing out to his ancestors the path of salvation, and a hallelujah to the great God bursts forth from his lips. Would that we testified to the truth of revelation by as rigid an adherence to other equally important precepts! for, then we would exhibit a consistency of action, which must needs im--press favorably the gentile world, and add credence to the declarations of Scripture. As it is, the conduct of many Hebrews, in other instances, might be interpreted as a denial of the truths which by the solemnizing of Passover they clearly attests. Of the three grand principles of religion described above, they show unwillingness to carry out any save the last. But the desecration of the day appointed by the Lord, and the neglect of Divine service, is a sin for which the bestowing of charity cannot atone. For our duty to God precedes our obligation to man. [Hebrew] [Hebrew], wrote Simon the Just.
The moral world revolves on three hinges, the first and principal is the acknowledgment of revelation, the next in order is divine worship, the third and last is beneficence. Understand it well: in the religion of Israel we profess, the performance of a single virtue, however great, does not procure us absolution from deliberate transgressions. This is a subject, my Brethren! on which I might dwell at length, and utter some, perhaps, unf distasteful truths. But as I earnestly desire, that my words this day, may not leave a sting in any breast, I will forbear, and trust that a mere allusion to our derelictions may lead to our improvement. Yet what I can--not omit to descant upon this time, is the third cardinal point of all faith creeds; namely the exercise of beneficence. I have already just now declared that to be ever ready to stretch forth a helping hand, is the characteristic of Abraham's progeny. But circumstances have now arisen which will fathom the whole depth of your kindly nature.
From the smouldering ashes of a doomed city a voice of lament resounds. Not long ago, the same voice uttered loud provocations and treats. But He who chastiseth to correct, has turned its boasting into humiliation. What does your generous instinct dictate, omen of Israel? I know it. I feel it already. To rejoice with meekness; to spare the conquered, and to respect his dignity, is the quality of the man of honor. But to clasp our foe to our bosom, to feed him with our bread, to raise to his lips the restorative draught, denotes a mind fraught with rare virtues. These you do possess, and will exercise towards your fallen ad--versary. A sudden glance: and the mystical chain that binds your hearts together is revealed. The memory of past wrongs vanishes away, and the inextinguishable love of Jewish brotherhood is kindled anew. Our Parnass has shown me apathetic appeal on behalf of the Hebrews of Columbia. It pictures the desolation of those whom from affluence have suddenly been reduced to indigence.
The misery of aged sires and innocent infants seeking a shelter, of those who beg good to allay their hunger, & a covering for their flesh. Brethren! Providence has averted from us the woeful calamity which has befallen our coreligionists of South Carolina. Not by reason of our national righteousness, but for the sake and defence of Truth, has He deigned to smile upon our cause, and crown the North with victory.
Let then the tribute of our gratitude be a liberal response to the petition of the necessitous. The means of the Congregation are scanty, but those at the disposal of its component members are ample, and cannot be distributed more philanthropically. Your timely contributions, beloved hearers! will draw forth delicious tears of reconciliation. You will experience the ineffable satisfaction of having cooperated towards that reunion of hearts, which is now the ardent supplication of every good and loyal man. And when celebrating your deliverance from Egyptian bondage, the memory of those whom you will have rescued from
despair and tribulation, will rise as an angelic spirit amidst familiar delights. It will an--nounce that your actions have been approved by the Most High God--the Father of all mankind, but the special Protector of Israel. Oh! let me pray that it may be so; let me pray that the genial sun that now spans our heavens, may dissipate all clouds; bring i healing in its wings, and create within us the warmth of friendship and brotherhood, so that with an harmonious voice we may sing the joyous song of peace and contentment always and evermore. Amen & Amen. - Identifier
- p3dv1d76q
- identifier
- SMBx10FF4_12
Part of Sabbath before Passover (Shabat ha-gadol). Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. Undated
Morais, Sabato, “Sabbath before Passover (Shabat ha-gadol). Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. Undated”, Sabato Morais Digital Repository, accessed September 19, 2024, https://judaicadhpenn.org/legacyprojects/s/morais/item/91160