Vayera. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. 1893
- Title
- Vayera. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. 1893
- Author
- Morais, Sabato
- Date Created
- 1893
- Format
- 12 pages on 5 sheets
- Language(s)
- English
- Source
- Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
- Sabato Morais Collection, Box 9, Folder 4
- Has Format
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/items/ark:/81431/p3vq2sw79/manifest.json
- Link to Colenda
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3vq2sw79
- Provenance
- Transfer of Custody from the Hebrew Education Society, 10 March 1913.
- Is Format Of
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/judaicadh/morais/main/TEI/SMBx9FF4_8.xml
- content
-
An exegetical lecture on Vaerá [Hebrew]
Brethren! You may have heard both Hebrews and Gentiles repeatedly ask: "How could the King of Egypt resolve to loosen the chains that bound Israel, if he was not the master of his own actions? Do we not read in the Scriptures that God had hardened Pharaoh's heart? Was he not then a tool in the hand of the artificer? How could he alter his course, when the means by which he might accomplish the task, were withheld from him? To solve these im--portant questions, it is necessary to understand, how a sinful being can atone for his misdeeds, and propitiate the grace of God. When man looks back on his past conduct and feels that he has acted in opposition to the will of the Almighty; when this retrospective examination awakens self-reproach and a strong desire to amend the evil done; when forgiveness is sincerely petitioned for, and righteousness becomes the highest aspiration of the once fallen creature, he then can be called a true penitent, for of him Eze--kiel says "when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed.
and doth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive, because he considerth and turneth away form his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die." Mark, my Brethren! "because he considereth, he turneth away" [Hebrew]. his repentance is not the effect of fear; nor does the increase of suffering compel him to relinquish his sinful habits, but compunction actuates him. He considers that the path he has trodden, is hated by the Lord, and he gladly avoids it. But there are men who will desist from sinning, but who will not never repent. Not because they have not been endowed with freedom of will, but because they misapply that divine gift. Such are those who deny God. Those of whom our Sages have written [Hebrew] "the impious even on the verge of death will not repent." They refuse to admit their accounta--bility to a higher authority, and how can they discover in their actions anything reprehensible? Should one endeavour to withdraw them from their sinful
way, he would only succeed in calling down upon himself their ill-will. They do not acknowledge a Supreme Ruler of the universe, and how could the admonitions of a human instructor find access into their hearts? His words will appear un--meaning; his denunciations will excite their derision. Were he even so supernaturally gifted, that he could confirm his teaching by miracles, the unbelievers might marvel, but still persist in their incredulity. Their corrupt minds would fancy to discover in the wonders they witness, the effect of some natural causes, which a dexterous hand knows how to apply. For, to draw such an inference would appear to them more sensible than to arrive at the conclusion that an Almighty Being has given to2 nature existence1 by his immeasurable wisdom, and he can by the same wisdom, invert the laws of nature, when necessary to teach mankind justice and truth.
Should the miracles that the unbelievers behold, affect them personally with great severity; should a life of ease, change through them into one of
bitter treats, the sufferers may seem humbled, but their subdued appearance is not the consciousness of guilt; it is the result of the extreme pain they endure. For, no sooner shall it have abated, than they will relapse into their former habits. They will charge them--selves with cowardice, and obdurately follow again an evil course.
Now, my hearers, what I have said in plain language, that I might be well understood, will furnish every one of you with a ready answer for him who might cavil about the causes of Pharoah's obstinacy.
God, before whose vision the future must necessarily be open as the present, knew that the Ruler of Mizraim would not yeild of his own accord to the request of Moses. And this fact He communicated to his inspired servant at the outset, when He asked him to assume the mission of liberating Israel. [Hebrew] [Hebrew] "I know that the king of Egypt will not suffer you to go, unless by a strong hand." Repeated chastisements of a fearful nature, might at last force him into an unwilling
compliance; yet he would cling to his errors. His mind and that of his subjects would remain unimproved. But the Almighty who would teach all coming generations that tyranny is a hateful sin, hardened the heart of Pharoah, that he might endure what he could not have naturally borne any longer, until he acknowledged his crime and the justice of the divine decree. For even so we hear him exclaim after the inflinction of the eighth plague [Hebrew] "I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you." But contrast, my Brethren! this utterance with the response he made to the first demand of Moses. [Hebrew] he then arrogantly said "Who is the Lord, that I shall hearken unto his voice to send Israel free, I know not this Lord, neither will I let Israel go"; implying that he could not believe in the existence of an avenging God whose ears were open to the cry of those he tyrannized over, and that he could not so be daunted by threats, as to give liberty to a race of men whose toils enriched his land.
And if you will moreover consult the Hebrew text you will perceive, as I once before explained at large, that not until the sixth plague--that of the boils-- had been brought upon Egypt, does the phrase [Hebrew] [Hebrew] "the Lord hardened the heart of Pharoah", occurs. During all the preceding strokes we read [Hebrew] "Pharoah's heart hardened" or [Hebrew] "Pharoah made his heart obdurate" and similar expressions. But in addition to this fast, proving that the su stubborness of the king of Myraim was for a long period occasioned by his inherent wickedness, the concurrent testimony of history shows that it was so generally understood and admitted by the people of ancient days. Thus, when the ark of the Lord was cap--tured by the Philistines, and they desired to return it with tokens of repentance, they were exhorted to do so by their priests in the following language "Why will ye harden your heart, as the Egyptians and Pharoah did hea harden their heart!" Yes, the unbending will of the King of Myriam made him stand a series of disastrous events, which would have broken the spirit of any
one less persistent in evil rather than loosen the chains of his bondsmen but when total ruin stared in his face, and he would have yeilded to avert it, then a superhuman strength was given him that he might receive the full measure of his iniquities. Accordingly we read in the lesson of this Sabbath "For now I might have stretched forth my hand, and smitten thee and thy people with pestilence, and thou wouldst be cut off from the earth, and but in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth". Twofold was the object which the universal Judge would compass by hardening the heart of Pharaoh; firstly, He would continue as He had begun to suit the punishment to the nature of the crime committed [Hebrew]. The water of the Nile had been redeemed with the blood of innocent babes, therefore it ran blood for seven consecutive days, to the sorrow of all the Egyptians. The latter sought to extend and embelish their country by the hardship of a whole race of men, therefore was their country laid waste by vile reptiles. They had bowed their head at the
throne of fulsome objects, they were therefore tormented by loathsome objects insects. They had inhumanly torn the flesh of the offspring of Jacob, therefore were they torn by ferocious beasts. They had dispossessed Israel of what their ancestor Joseph had legally acquired, therefore their own riches consisting of herd & flock was consumed by a pestilence. They had denied God a power over nature, therefore He changed its order that they might be chastised by a substance the lightest in nature, even the soot of the furnace. And when their pertinacious will began to flag He lent it vigour that they might witness not only his boundless power, but the justice of his ordinances, the heavenly compassion He bestows on the oppressed, and the destruction He reserves for the oppressors. Secondly: He would teach generations yet unborn, that He alone is everlasting, all-mighty and all-wise; for when they shall be told of the marvellous deeds wrought in Egypt; how a land on which the heavens never rain was ravaged by violent hail, how the locust that had never before visited the Egyptian coast, turned that
fertile province into a barren soil; how the sky where the Sun reigns in all its brightness was impenetrably darkened for three consecutive days; how in one night those who had embittered the lives of the first-born children of God; saw death cut off their own first-born, they shall learn that as clay in the potter's hand, so is all mankind is the hand of their great Maker; that He judges the universe with righteous--ness, and people with rectitude [Hebrew] that if he allows the wicked to live, it is to accomplish thereby some ultimate good. If he calls hence the pious in the spring of life, it is to shield them under the wings of his mercy, against the day of wrath; that the unworthy may long enjoy his bountiful gifts; but their latter end will be endurable misery, that his faithful ones may bear trials and persecution, but interminable a glory which is never obscured awaits them. Such, my dear hearers! was the design of the Almighty when He hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and delivered us from slavery, and such lessons it is our duty to instill into the minds of our children.
But you will ask: "[Hebrew]" Who stood in the counsel of the Lord?, that he may tell us with cer--tainty why events which appear to us as clashing with our ideas of justice happen in the world? No one, not even his inspired messengers could explain to us what only pure spirits can comprehend, but when our own history, and the laws of nature attest the wisdom, the benignity, and the long-suffering of the Most-High God, should we not argue from them that even what is too recondite for our thoughts springs from a fountain of goodness and mercy? Should we not put on the armour of faith the armour of faith, and instead of destroying the fence of our mind by investigations too audacious, meekly petition the Lord, like the Royal shepherd [Hebrew] "O God! send Thy light and Thy truth that they might may guide me?" We will, my friends! Like our fathers who believed in the Lord, when crushed to the earth with
unutterable afflictions, we will believe in Him, [?] to his commands, and hope in await for his temporal and eternal salvation now and evermore. Amen. - Identifier
- p3vq2sw79
- identifier
- SMBx9FF4_8
Part of Vayera. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. 1893
Morais, Sabato, “Vayera. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. 1893”, Sabato Morais Digital Repository, accessed September 18, 2024, https://judaicadhpenn.org/legacyprojects/s/morais/item/91283