Theological lectures. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. Undated · Sabato Morais Digital Repository · Legacy Projects from Judaica DH at Penn Libraries

Title

Theological lectures. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. Undated

Author

Morais, Sabato

Location(s)

United States -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

United States -- Pennsylvania

Format

8 pages on 4 sheets

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?

Language(s)

English

Source

Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies

Sabato Morais Collection, Box 13, Folder 10

Has Format

https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/items/ark:/81431/p32f7kb1r/manifest.json

Link to Colenda

https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p32f7kb1r

Provenance

Transfer of Custody from the Hebrew Education Society, 10 March 1913.

Is Format Of

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/judaicadh/morais/main/TEI/SMBx13FF10_7.xml

content

G

Contentment is [?] riches in poverty
For [Hebrew]

An abundance of food, but no peace; an overbundance of luxury, but no peace. Oh! what a blessing is a morsel with tranquillity. Words of inspiration, assuming a human voice, speak so in my ears. You cannot have failed, my Brethren! to observe that the Arch-prophet promises as a reward to virtue a rich crop of whatever man may need or wish for. The best of grain, the most delicious fruits, and all in such profusion that what is produced in the spring will engage our full time to reap it till the season of vintage arrives; and thus will again keep us occupied until late in Autumn, when we plough and sow the seed. But of what advantage will that flowing quantity be to us, if the principal ingredient that makes it savory is wanting? Food of prime quality prepared with--out salt will be rejected. Wine of the choicest grapes, which was not given a flavor will be refused. In the same manner affluent means at our disposal will not afford us enjoyment, if our home is destitute of the main charm--tranquillity; if the country we dwell in is bereft of the chief attraction,--security. Therefore Moses, after having declared that a large harvest would follow our attending to religious duties, says [Hebrew]

"I will set peace in the land, and you shall lie down, with more to be make you afraid" Rest sweet--ened by a confiding trust in the judicious government of the wife, and the contented disposition of the children; sleep refreshing the mind by the knowledge of the ability in the rulers to protect all, and allow them the undisturbed fruition of their earnings; aye: such is the blessing for attaining the which we should labor and beseech God. And we can, my Brethren! reach it if we walk in the Statutes of the Lord, and not after our own imaginations, leading us far astray. For many neglect to gather what Providence has with un--stinted generosity laid in their path, because they are intent upon looking on, what they consider, the endless pro--ductions which others store away. "What is our scant pro--vision, compared with the overflowing and varied supply set before our neighbors? They enjoy life, they are truly happy. Could we only bid farewell to our drudging we might also feel once at rest." But is it so as they complain? Has a universal Father denied most of his children the means of rendering existence enjoyable, and unfastened his treasures exclusively for a privileged few? Far be iniquity from God, and wrong from the Almighty [Hebrew]

To me it seems that our market-houses had a thousand tongues rebuking human ingratitude while rehearsing the goodness of God. When I pas through them at this beauti--ful season, and behold that fulness, that exhaustless wealth prepared by an invisible hand and brought within reach of the humblest, I feel that to murmur and repine is absolute wickedness. No: our way is not hedged around; we also can move on and gather more than we actually need, but we must think and thank in order to enjoy what has been generously bestowed. We must carry a high aim before us, when we go forth to work. Then we can enjoy have rest, without considering deprecating hard labor as our tyrant. That aim which smooths the rough edge of toil is love and gratitude. To make the beings who depend on our exertions happy, and teach them by example to look up to a beneficent Providence should be our incentive. So impelled we will not stop short by the way and fold our arms while casting an envious look now on that man who rides in a carriage wit ha powered footman, and a driver in livery; again upon another bowed to by a large number of attendants.

Remembering, that as our Sages asserted, [Hebrew] He who has too much substance has load of care, or the philosopher-king writes [Hebrew] "the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep," we will proceed forward with a steadier step; love for the dear objects at home, a desire to promote the temporal and spiritual welfare of wife and children will quicken and strengthen our faculties. This I say in a way of friendly converse to those of my brethren, who lament that fortune has not smiled upon them, as the phrase goes. The merchant can sit quietly behind his desk, give orders, and draw in the profits; they on the contrary, have to plod for a pittance. Some rise at late hours, and are driven in coaches to their counting-houses, they must walk distances, and stand a whole day to complete their task. Some are dressed in broad-cloth, they in coarse apparel. But you do not know, my friends! how under the diamond brilliant studded shirt, the heart may palpitate ache; how under the semblance of ease, care may eating on the vitals. You see the magnificence of the palace, but not the skeleton within; gay gardens, but not the prickly thorns. The soft bed you envy, may sometime be a rack upon which the opulent are tortured by harassing thoughts, while you--humble workmen, lie down with nothing to make you afraid.

You are rich, my Brethren! in your poverty, if you possess the blessing of a virtuous home. You should feel happy in your poverty, if you are supported in your hard labor by the affection of those who smile tenderly at the arrival in that home of the husband and father. You should be perfectly contented to drudge, if you have every reason to hope that your children will rise and reverence the memory of their mother, and call their father sainted their saintly benefactor; if you can perceive that by your exertions they will gain the knowledge of the useful, through the facilities, which this land country of security offers. For, verily you can experience here, if so you will, the fulfilment of the Divine promise "you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land in safety." But if you engraft upon the tender hearts of your offspring the rank seeds of of pithy jealousies, you breed discontent, you give them an existence destitute of its most important element, of its very salt, of the pleasure flowing from activity of body and mind. Have you, my friends! ever read the 128th psalm attentively? The author describes the home of a God-fearing Israelite. The father of the family is engaged in manual work. He goes to it with alacrity, and returns from it with a light heart.

His wife modestly attends to duty, and craves for nothing higher than the welfare of her household. Like a vine planted on a side, scarcely perceptible, but extending its ramifications further, so does she make her retiring virtues felt beyond her domestic circle. The children cluster around, and cling to their parents. They are compared for the steadfastness of their affection to branches of olive trees, retaining fresh fruit through all the changes of the seasons. Then the place in which the God-fearing man lives, affords him scope for the pursuit of happiness, and, together with a whole grateful people, he enjoys the greatest of blessings: peace. Such is the picture, simple but graphic of the dwelling of an Israelite, who understands how to distinguish real from imaginary wealth.
See, my dear friends in humble circumstances! See! the Psalm--ist does not portray the happiness of the subject he has deli--neated as derived from the possession of vast estates, of summer residences, of fast horses, and of splendid yachts, but from the labor of his hand. [Hebrew]

And what he enjoyed all of you can acquire in this country of plenty and of freedom. Let your habitation and the inmates thereof be the centre of your affection; and raise there a temple of peace, by means of your own endeavours, and of by your own trust in a bene-ficent Providence; even such a temple let your dear ones ralley around it. Let up then a high [?] as Gideon rais an built when reassured and strengthened by heavenly promises. Do you remember the name it he gave it? He called it "Adonaï Shalom." The Lord is peace. And He who loves peace, and of whom it is written that He reigns in heaven the highest with a crown of peace; will abide also in your midst. You will look up unto Him alone, and He will refresh your body, redouble your energies, so that by industry, by temperance, and by attendance to religious duties, you may g gather in abundance provision, be down, with nothing to make you afraid.
And may He vouchsafe to shower down that invaluable blessing upon all of us, rich and poor, the teachers and the thought, the afflicted and the consolers, that in us be fufilled the sentence of the good book. "The Lord g will give strength to His people, the Lord will bless His people with peace".

Identifier

p32f7kb1r

identifier

SMBx13FF10_7