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
- 12 pages on 4 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/p3s46hs09/manifest.json
- Link to Colenda
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3s46hs09
- Provenance
- Transfer of Custody from the Hebrew Education Society, 10 March 1913.
- Is Format Of
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/judaicadh/morais/main/TEI/SMBx10FF4_4.xml
- content
-
Shabbat Ha-Gadol
[Hebrew]
[Hebrew] "I the Lord change not, therefore ye child--ren of Jacob are not consumed." Is this not, my brethren, a high privilege which we enjoy my brethren--we the indestructible witnesses of God's word-- yearly to hail the season, which verifies beyond denial contradiction, the unalterable promise of the Eternal? Each time that it draws near, we may well pon--flect der on the jubilant utterances of the arch-prophet, who foresaw our destiny. There never was a people of antiquity so portentously drawn out of a grind--ing tyranny like so prodigiously, as the descendants of Israel. Never was there a nation whom a heavenly light illumined so inextinguishably, that it did not become lost in the labyrinths of dark ages of summer ignorance and brutality. The history of mankind fails to present a parallel to that which strikingly illustrates the ceaseless watching of the celestial Eye that neither slumbers nor sleeps. And the reason is obvious, for as the tribe of Levy was charged with the guardianship of the outward symbols of outward religion--the ark and the altar--Israel at large was set apart as custodians
of the inner spirit of religion--the existence and Oneness of God. Hence the declaration of which we are reminded in the Haftorah of this [Hebrew] great Sabbath. "I the Lord change not, therefore ye children of Jacob are not consumed." Still, a perplexing question often startles the thinker in when consider-ing the preference of Divinity given to Israel. Why did the Universal Creator single out a few liberated slaves--so to say--as the depository of civilizing ideas? Was not the whole hu--man race entitled to share with Israel the advantages of being receiving at once a supernaturally enlightenment? The solution of that query, demand that we necessitates our reflecting on man's nature. None can deny that parental propensities, whether good or evil, will, in all probability, be reproduced in their offspring. That education, early asso--ciations and surroundings, may, to a very great extent, encourage or check inborn inclinations, all will unhesitatingly admit. But that those inherited tendencies, will in some measure at least, reveal their
their existence, daily experience demonstrates. Let us then cast a retrospective glance on the moral condition of man in the early stages of history. It has been claimed by some Hebrew authors, that prophecy afflatus, or a spiritual communion intercourse with the Deity, was originally intended by the heavenly Maker, as the prerogative of his the intellect--ual creatures He placed upon earth. But man, carried away by the impulse of lower passions, fell from the lofty station, he was designed to occupy. A Single individuals might rise superiorly, and by a life of unswerving righteousness reach up to the understanding of the Almighty and draw inspiration, but that the bulk of mankind, ha--ving inherited acquired a predisposition to worldliness, should stand in close connection communion with the all-perfect Lord, was not possible. It might be argued, that as every human being is a free agent, he possesses the ability of perfecting his soul, and befitting it for Divine communi-nion -cation. But though God has granted man liberty
of action--and this is a leading principle in Judaism--He has not vouchsafed to endowed every reasoning creature with the same powers, hence we per--ceive that what one can accomplish easily, another finds very difficult. A just God will surely recom--pense all according to their striving after right--eousness, but rare are they whose spirituality towers heavenward. Now, taking Holy Writ as our guide, we will discover that the animal passions which the provoked the all sweeping flood, had swept subdued away, were again engendered in subsequent ages, and they grew fast and ran riot. Says a tradition: in the days of Nimrod--the mighty hunter--soul-debasing idolatry was enthroned, and the pervading spirit of the Universe went unrecognized [Hebrew] Amid it the prevailing seething corruption, one man succeeded to remain incorrupt. Not alone did he avoid a morally infectious atmosphere, but he lifted himself far above it; created around him a region of healthful influences, and by a saintly example, lessened the effects of a de--bauching grading polytheism. Early training,
which in others general acts powerfully, left no visible trace upon his searching mind. He was reared where paganism heathenism and its vices held sway, but by an extraordinary effort of the intellect, he forced truth out of error to appear before his vision, and, all aglow with his grand discovery, set up the banner of his a recovered belief, loftily. Not inappropriately has Abraham been called "the father of the faithful." Better still is the title by which Isaiah designated the son of Terah [Hebrew] "the friend of God," for he laid out for posterity the course of actions in which the Almighty delights. The Rabbinical aphorism that at three years of age, the found--er of our people knew his Creator, must be one of those allegories in which the Talmudists in--dulge. They may have wished to convey the beautiful idea that Abraham's trust in God was child-like, or that the infolding of his extraordinary potent mind began at a very early period of life. Be that as it may, surely, it was by a series of noble deeds
that our venerated patriarch forged the silvery links of the spiritual silvery chain that bound his soul to its heavenly author. But to make it man universally manifest that the missionary of a world-redeeming verity was deserving of the selection, Providence subjected Abraham to crucial trial [Hebrew]. When his conduct demonstrably proved that he had served his Maker with unselfish love, and his fellow mortals with disinterested kindness, he heard the same in speaking voice, which had often com--forted his heart, promise that from him a race would spring up in whom all humanity would eventually be blessed. An ever living protest it should be, as it were, against all manner of falsehood; the silent noiseless but effectual propagator of civilizing truths. Mankind could not be reclaimed in a moment. Not by a single leap with the ladder of progress be mounted up. Ages must can alone work out a regeneration. Phenomena and wonders may perplex and terrify, but they cannot eradicate deep-rooted errors.
A heated imagination misguided fancy had peopled heaven and earth with imaginary gods. Only the example of a race who, amidst all changes, cling unflinchingly to one leading principle, could carry force with it. Such was the designed mission of Abraham's descendants. Religiously set apart from the rest of mankind, they could treasure up the knowledge, which the righteous patriarch had attained. That knowledge, handed down from father to son, prepared Israel for the heavenly trust committed to their safe-keeping at Sinai. Even amidst an abject bondage, the conscious--ness of being the objects of God's care to a high final purpose, must have proved to the enslaved enthralled a source of inextinguishable hope. It is recorded that when Moses first addressed the fettered people enslaved in fetters they believed, and understood that the Lord had remembered them" [Hebrew]
We may then exclaim with the Scriptures [Hebrew] "Far be iniquity from God, and injustice from the Almighty." He did not exalt Israel to rule. The preference shown to the first-born
was not to the detriment of the rest of God's children, but to the advantage of the latter. Because He loved His creatures, He would instruct them by means of such whose inherited aptness fitted the mind for the sublime vocation. The wonderful redemption from Egypt, whose memorial anniversary we are about to celebrate, concerns therefore the whole human family. Let the enemies of positive religion scoff and deny; real civilization lies at the basis of that code of laws, which the enfranchised bondmen of Mizraim received in the desert of Arabia, thirty five centuries ago. And here let me remark, in passing, that those who, disputing the authenticity of such a revelation, point to lives purely moral among their own ranks, are like persons who would give the four-wheeled carriage credit for having conveyed them to their destination, forgetting the men who prepared the way and made the journey possible.
Without the standard of morality unfolded raised as a beacon on the summit of Horeb, the path of social rectitude would remain yet untrodden. A flood of light from above irradiated it for ever, and ours is the glory of having prevented its extinguishment. I emphasize this sentiment; it is our glory, for we braved contempt and did not surrender our charge. We girded our loins with faith, and in the face of engines of torture did not waver. The promise of God infused into us superhuman vigor [Hebrew]. "I, the Lord change not, there-fore ye children of Jacob are not consumed" The enemies of the truths which we have carried far and wide at such a cost a terrible hazard, might combine their forces to annihilate us, but the assurance of our eternity and of a final acknowledgment of the principles we disseminated steeled our hearts and made of us heros. Yes: the Lord will fling aside the covering cast over peoples, writes Isaiah and the veil spread over all nations writes Isaiah, then the tears shall be wiped from our eyes, and
the rebuke of Jacob His people shall be taken away from the whole earth. When and how God's will shall be thoroughly consummated, we do not presume to answer. What mortal can be so arrogant as to think that he can enter penetrate the secret counsel of the Almighty, and compel a revelation of the means by which the future shall crown the past. "My thoughts are not like your thoughts, nor my ways like your ways: Behold, as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall be my word that goeth forth out of my mouth, saith the Lord, it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and prosper him whom I have sent." The declarations of the Most High, should sustain our hopes, and the remem--brance of our mission should urge us on ever to act conformably with the revealed Law, commandments charges received.
Brethren, this day has been emphatically called by the Sages [Hebrew] "the great Sabbath," because it precedes the solemnization of an event which should interest the whole human race. And this great day which, for upward of three thousand years, has seen Israel at one time with manly steps, at others feebly, because bent under a by reason of an oppressive burden, of oppression, but still always proceeding towards the goal of his destination, is the monitor warning us never to falter, never cowardly to relinquish the God-given trust. The echo of the parting words of our last prophet resounds. [Hebrew] "Remember ye the Law of Moses my servant, whom I commanded in Horeb for all Israel statutes and ordinances." Heed the words and you will be eternized, cast them aside and you will be lost in gentilism. But no: We have God's unalterable promise: "I, the Lord do not change, therefore ye child--ren of Jacob are not consumed." When we shall have passed away, the latest generations will gather their offspring round the family board on Passover night, and sing Hallelujahs to the ever living Redeemer of Israel. - Identifier
- p3s46hs09
- identifier
- SMBx10FF4_4
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/91205