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
- 11 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/p3nc5sz4k/manifest.json
- Link to Colenda
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3nc5sz4k
- Provenance
- Transfer of Custody from the Hebrew Education Society, 10 March 1913.
- Is Format Of
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/judaicadh/morais/main/TEI/SMBx10FF4_7.xml
- content
-
A lecture for the
Sabbath before Passover
[Hebrew]
[Hebrew] [Hebrew] "A perpetual fire shall burn upon the altar, it shall not go out."
The burnt-offering was consuming the whole might upon the altar, but the fire beneath it continued to blaze. So likewise, my beloved hearers! ought the flame of religion to remain unquenched within us, though we be sorely beset by trials. our flesh and our bones be wearing away under sore trials. No sufferings could equal those borne by our ancestors in the gloomy days of bondage, but within the bodies scourged and torn, there dwelt souls glowing with faith [Hebrew] "God will surely visit you". The sound of those words reverberated still. Closed in death were the lips that had uttered them, but the hope those words had inspired lived and vivified the afflicted. Israel-- enslaved Israel--believed that the shades of a dreary night, would be chased away by the dawning of a bright morning, and they sunk not beneath under the weight of oppression.
Why then do we so often despond and wail? The tide of prosperity may have momentarily caused to flow. Unforeseen cl calamities may have caused
us sorrow, but if supported by faith, we shall rise above the dismal present, to see that a wise and beneficent Being directs all human events. [Hebrew] "The just lives by his faith". This pithy sentence of the prophet, has been rightly interpreted as the summary of our duties. And our every action, my Brethren! should prove that so we likewise understand it. Unshaken must be our faith in Him the Being, whose eyes know experience neither slumber nor sleep. Then would we cling to Him more than to life. Then would our soul rejoice, though feeble nature weeps.
But this sustaining prop is fast decaying. This faith--which is not blind credulity, but deep conviction derived form the conf contemplation of the universe, and the study of history--this faith which upheld our fathers midst the severest ills of life, is now bartered for a knowledge that profits naught. We are taught the art of divesting of its sacredness what--ever has been heretofore held in regarded with veneration. Our puny minds have learnt to cast doubts on that to which towering intellects bowed reverentially. Aye, even the approaching festivals, once the source of joys
inexpressible, the Passover, I say, the celebration of which, kept afresh the love of home, the love of na--tionality, while it kindled anew sentiments of gratitude to the Supreme, is indifferently observed if not totally disregarded. The unleavened bread is purchased, but what does that avail, when the leaven of religious indifference is still fermenting? Much is done by us, for the sake of conformity, but how much is felt of that inspired narrative, which pictures a people wrested from slavery by the hand of God, guided, nourished, instructed by the Almighty Creator, and miraculously pre--served as the apostles of His truths? How much nearer does the Passover bring us to the Lord, how much closer to our hearth-stones, and to the hearts of our brethren? Yet, the main object of its celebration should be to fasten the bond which links Israel together. Each festival should indeed be a renewal of the covenant between us and our living Redeemer; for, each is an historical testimony of His primeval love for Israel. Our holidays, my beloved hearers! are a silvery chain that connects the present with
the wondrous past. God holds upon His finger, the uttermost end of that chain. To slight those solemn days is to sever oneself from the Lord of salvation. Therefore have our sages numbered among those who forfeit everlasting happiness the Hebrew man who despiseth the festivals [Hebrew] [Hebrew]. For, by the dictum of Holy Writ they stand almost parallel in sanctity with the Sabbath. The permission of kindling fire and preparing the food needed for the day--that domestic peace be not disturbed--ought not to be construed into a license to desecrate them by all manner of work. Yet, how many are there not who deem the festivals, festivities? Every thing proceeds with them as on a day of labor. The usual vocations are followed, the house of prayer is not to be visited; only the table, the luxurious table shall tell that some special season is observed by the Jews. The mind may be left to famish, the palate shall be gratified. But is that to honor God? to eat to satiety, and quaff the choicest wines? Are not the holidays called [Hebrew]? A fitting time for Israel
to congregate, that they may be edified and spiritualized by the sacred communion? True, we learn also that we must gladden on those days our entire household--and a bountiful repast may effect that object--but the performance of that obligation cannot be and is not an exemption from holier duties. The Israelite who contemns the festivals, does injury to his soul, and lowers the dignity of his religion in the sight of the world. I have been told of an instance, in which reckless parents bid their sons attend a secular school on those solemn occasions. The teacher inquired of them a reason for the absence of several of their coreligionists, but they who had in been inspired with no reverence for the institutions of their faith, answered that they knew of none. And how should the child know, whose father does not distinguish between the sacred and the profane? How should the child know, whose mother accompanies him on the festivals to the resorts of vain and idle diversions, but not to the Sanctuary of the Lord, not when
he may learn why he is a Jew, and what is required at his hands as a Jew!
It was once the boast of our people, that their women led their children to the Synagogue [Hebrew] [Hebrew]. The Rabbins have even said, that the redemption of our ancestors from Egypt, must be principally ascribed to the merits of the women who loved in that age [Hebrew] [Hebrew] For, they enlivened the drooping spirits, they filled the heart with hope, the mind with strength. They were the counsellors, the comfort, the joy of enslaved Israel. They infused courage, when to trust seemed sheer madness. They kept the flame of religious faith gloriously glowingly bright, because they believed in the declarations of Abraham's God. Can we also pride ourselves on our wives exhibiting a similar demeanour? Of their displaying before their our sons and daughters the beauty of a life consistent with the heavenly behests?
I concede that when denied our cooperation, they efforts must be greatly hampered in the efforts. But a stead--fast determination on the part of the female parent, to rear her household in the fear of God,
may shame the heedless husband; awaken within his breast the consciousness of his guilt, and he will ultimately join his life-copartner in furthering the holy cause she has at heart. Oh! that the women of Israel knew their power for good, and would unflinchingly exercise it! But when the mother at home, sows the seeds of impiety, and the father abroad plants unrighteousness, the children will need be poisoned by noxious weeds. Such is the lamentable condition of many Hebrew families in America; therefore is a temple raised to infidelity. The law of Moses, which the prophet Malachi bid us this day remember to execute, is declared void only to conciliate a rebellious spirit, ill-at ease under any restraint. In the paraphrastic lan--guage of the author of the Haggadah, the child asks, [Hebrew] "What is this religious service im--posed on you?" [Hebrew] He does not consider himself bound to its performance. The chains that dropped form the arms of Egyptian bondmen, did not fetter his limbs. Free he was born; and around his life has Liberty cast her shield. Thus, the sufferings endured by his progenitors to gain
him that freedom, are totally ignored. He will not reflect that the redemption, which forms at this time, Israel's subject of song, delivered mankind also from the barbarities of heathenism; that unless we had been sent forth to spread abroad humanizing ideas, the atrocities committed in honor to false gods, might yet be ne enacted throughout the habitable globe. And whereas every Hebrew man should be proud of his descent, whereas his breast should swell with gratitude at having been chosen by God as the instrument of universal blessing, and he should evince his feelings by a ready acquiescence in those ordinances intended to remind him of his mis--sion; the child foreshadowed in the Haggadah, and rightly called [Hebrew], says; "the past concerns me not. It is but a tale of sorrow. I will raise a wall that shall separate me from it. The present, only the present must occupy my mind." But, vain thoughts! As well mightest thou attempt to remove the spots from the disk of the sun,
as to efface the marks of thy identity with Israel. Thou art a Jew. When thy brethren walk at large, thou also mayest proceed without obstructions; but if their path be hedged around with thorns, thou wilt, like them, be pricked on all sides.
The irreligious crews thou holdest will not save thee, when the hydra of fanaticism is stirred up. Aye, my beloved hearers! Not by deserting our camp, can we obtain security, but by faithfully watching thereat. Our constancy must ulitma--tely triumph. We may yet a while be made to feel the effects of inveterate prejudice, but who would not prefer to suffer for the sake of God, than to seek honors in defiance of God? The time-ser--ving and the changeling, who is honored to day, may be despised on the morrow, but he who clings to his faith, must at length elicit the admiration of the world. Did I say "of the world"? No, let the world look upon us with abhorrence, mock and contemn us, if so it will: the approval of our conscience, and the love of our God should be our sole aspiration. That must be the reward we shall crave for. And it will most assuredly be granted.
[Hebrew] "Upon you, who fear my name, shall the sun of righteousness shine." The halo of spirituality will encircle the brows of those self-denying beings, who have labored for God. Their ills will be remembered no more, when that refulgent sun riseth [Hebrew] Happy, thrice happy those who unflinchingly adhere to principles; happy the people whose support is the everlasting God. - Identifier
- p3nc5sz4k
- identifier
- SMBx10FF4_7
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/91206