Vayesheb. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. Undated
- Title
- Vayesheb. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. Undated
- Author
- Morais, Sabato
- Format
- 15 pages on 5 sheets
- Language(s)
- English
- Source
- Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
- Sabato Morais Collection, Box 9, Folder 7
- Has Format
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/items/ark:/81431/p3fj29z8f/manifest.json
- Link to Colenda
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3fj29z8f
- Provenance
- Transfer of Custody from the Hebrew Education Society, 10 March 1913.
- Is Format Of
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/judaicadh/morais/main/TEI/SMBx9FF7_3.xml
- content
-
A lecture for Vayesheb
contrasting the characters of
Joseph and Absalom.
Brethren! The heroic actions, which delivered us from the lowest state of human bondage--idolatry--. The events which gave the family of the Asmoneans a bright page in history, and occasioned the feast called Hanuc--cah, or Dedication, are household words with us Israelites. Even those among my coreligionists, who have not read the portion of our annals, which contains a detailed ac--count of the wards waged in the defence of our sacred rights, find it condensed in the simple language of our ritual. I shall therefore advance ideas that struck me in reading last week's section, in lieu of those, which I have yearly set forth. I am urged to this course, moreover, by the circumstance that I have promised to lecture to-morrow twice upon the subject of the present celebration. In the morning before a gathering of Hebrew children; in the evening at a meeting of a literary association. But in order not to ignore altogether, the recurrence of a season, which must call forth thanksgiving, I shall make allusion to it in a prayer at the close of my discourse.
The aim of my speaking to-day, will be to direct the eyes which brighten up at the prospect of a long and successful career towards the object which will safely conduct man in the way he should go.
Youth! How charming is thy look of self-depend--ence; that quick step with which thou movest, as to the conquest of a world! Hope walks before thee, and carries thy banner. Wherever thou settest foot, fields appear carpeted with flowers; the air is clothed with a mantle of light; joyful voices echo around; pleasures are seen coming to meet thee by the way. In whatever place thou showest thy countenance, sadness must flee away, and make room for mirth. Yes, dear hearers! Beautiful is blooming youth, which manifests that warmth of feelings; that open-heart--edness of a nature overflowing with generous emotions. It is a mirror of the first days of creation; of that short space of time, when happiness weaved garlands for innocence. Can it then be so, that the many gifts which youth displays, change notinfre--quently--into so many defects? Can out of blossoms
so promising and lovely, grow only bitter fruits of a late repentance? Alas! the history of a number of human beings, proves that possibility. Here, a son who might have filled the cup of his mother's joy, im--bittered the spring of her delights, with the vile dregs that poisoned his own happiness. There, a daughter who formed a father's pride, made his head to bend under the weight of shame, while she sunk whelmed with the world's contempt. Why such baneful results from such glowing anticipations? Because the incautious youths left behind the chart necessary to be consulted in the journey of life. A ship without the rudder, must suffer wreck. A youth who proceeds in his career, without the fear of God, must end in degradation. That heavenly escort, says the book of Proverbs, is man's strong support. Accompanied by that fear, con--tinues the same inspired volume, we shall avoid the snares of death. A model of a youth, that may be very profitably copied is Joseph, the childs of Jacob's predilection. A figure of a youth, that
you all must shun like fire is Absalom, the favorite son of David. Both of an exterior strikingly handsome. Both endowed with bright talents, both possessed of manners, at once genial and engaging. Yet how immense the difference!! How immeasurable the distance which separated the inmate of a palace, from the lad reared in a shepherd's cottage! The comeliness of Joseph's face, did not lead into temptation. If it was perchance a cause for self-gratification, it could never have become the arm of self-destruction. For, the feelings it may have aroused, were under the absolute control of a more powerful sentiment--the fear of God. Divine Guide! pointing out the dangers into which they run, who allow the imagination complete sway. Laying bare to our view the serpent hidden, where we thought we would lie down at ease. Showing grief, disgrace and remorse close by the spot, in which we fancied to have discovered ever-new delights. Joseph was beautiful, but the gift, which to some has proved a bane, was in him an instrument to work therewith for the welfare of other men.
They who saw that countenance read upon it honesty, and trusted the guileless youth. So I interpret that sentence of the Scriptures, which connects the description of the confidence placed by the Egyptian master in his Hebrew bondman, and the picture of the goodly form and handsome appearance of the latter. I believe there is truth in the theory that features are indicative of character. And Holy Writ gives it support, when it writes that "a man's wisdom maketh his face to shine." But it must present the reflection of what the sacred Word calls wisdom, that is, "the fear of the Lord". A reverential awe for the Parent of virtue; a dread to offend the Divinity, whose image we bear. Such a quality softens every lineament, bespeaking in man a heart, which is ever open to noble instincts, but closed, firmly closed against the admission of wicked passions. For, to say it again, as Solomon tells it, wisdom imparts a moral force ten times greater than royal powers. Through the possession of that quality, Joseph was a freeman, while unjustly laden with chains.
For the want of that quality, Absalom was a slave, while bearing the tokens of princely rank. Absalom, the handsomest of all men in Israel; Absalom, of whom we read, that "from the sole of his foot up to the crown of his head, no blemish could be found on him" had not one redeeming feature left; because his own impure hand effaced the impress of beauty. Having cast aside the fear of God, he proceeded in the race of life destitute of a guide, and he met ambition coiling itself round his heart like an asp. He found a spirit of revenge, advising treachery, unruly appetites inviting to wantonness. David's son also could win con--fidence and gain favor. But not by candor, shining in every look of his sparkling eyes; not by the guilelessness of his persuasive tongue, but by flattery, by dishonest promises, by covert falsehood. He that buried the sword to kill in cold-blood in his sinful, yet defenceless brother; he that brought defilement to the home of his birth, used the capacities with which he had been endowed, to poison with the seeds of dis--loyalty the subjects of his royal father.
Joseph in a dungeon, rose in the morning to the task, which is his confiding superior hand imposed. To attend to the wants of the prisoners, and cheer them in loneliness was his occupation. Gifted with a keen perception, and a mind br lighted up by a supernatural knowledge, he made those talents subserve noble ends. See him enter the ward, where Pharaoh's officers had been confined. Concerned by reason of their sad looks, he inquires of into the cause, and speaks of God, who may render him the means of calming their agitation.
Absalom awoke the dawn, and took his stand by the way-side. He cared naught for his neighbor's troubles and woes. Himself was the central point, towards which all must tend. That object once reached, he would soon cast off the mask of bene--volence and humility. "Could I wear the crown, I would do justice to all". So he was heard often to cry by the Israelites, who passed the gates of Jerusalem. He let the honey of his language flow, that the unwary might gather it, and return for more. A master in cunning, he knew how to persuade alike the defe
plaintiff and the defendant, that the king would not even grant them an audience. And affecting making pretensions of a love for the people, which he entertained only for himself, he would reach out his hand, and clasp in his arms whosoever paid him obeisance. Thus he succeeded in stealing the affection of a multitude, that he might created dis--affection among the defenders of his father's throne. A monster with a beauty unsurpassed. A savage with a high degree of refinement. A madman full of worldly knowledge. Absalom! Absalom! What did change the qualities, with which nature had so lavishly enriched thee into the arrows, that pierced thy heart, and the hearts of thousands of thy countrymen? You do not need his answer, my young friends, you see it written in the conduct of that illustrious youth, who did hold fast to the fear of God, wherever he bent his steps.
Joseph's well proportioned limbs, and well-stored mind, were directed in the way of truth, by wisdom. Therefore he avoided the meshes of sin, and the stones of wickedness.
Absalom rejected the companionship of real wisdom. Absorbed in the thought of self-aggrandizement, he never heeded the obstacles to his right promotion. He sought to reach the highest point of human greatness, by a leap of artifice, but through a fatal misstep he fell never to rise. The son of Jacob earned glory by sagacious deeds, and works of righteousness. He became great, because he exemplified human greatness in all the relations of life. To forgive offenses; to bear with sinners, to return good for evil; to postpone self-interest to honesty of purpose. To give his father the fondest cares, and his brothers their daily sustenance; To teach thrift and industry; the principles of govern--ment, and the rules of social progress, was the aim of his whole life. Joseph lived long,and gained a name before which nobility pales. The son of David labored during the existence to sow mischief, and soon reaped a full harvest of destruction. Early cut off, he passed away unhonored and unwept by the people he had foully deceived. Joseph's remains were carried, as precious relics, by Moses and Israel during forty years, and at length, were laid
in a distinguished spot, which his patriarchal father had brought in Shechem. The slain body of Absalom, taken down from the high bough of the oak, in which his luxurious hair became entangled, was thrown into a pit, and like an anumal that perishes, covered with a heap of stones. Neither the royal valley he had destined for his future resting place, nor the monument he intended to perpetuate his memory, held the corpse of him, who had hatched rebellion and schemed a parricide. In the unnatural son of David was fulfilled the Scriptural sentence, that "the way of the wicked is like thick darkness, they know not against what they stumble." In the upright child of Jacob have been verified the words which declare that "the path of the righteous, is a brightness itself, continually shining to the perfect day."
That is the path which you, O Young hearers! must early choose. While treading it, beauty never fades, the endowments of the mind are more brilliantly set off.
Not the fruits of repentance, but the flowers of self-approval, you will gather in that path. For, chastity and temperance meet there together, good--ness and esteem kiss one another. Follow that path, in which Joseph found a name sweeter than precious ointment. Flee away, flee away from that which hides destruction, under the cover of seduct--ive pleasures. You that have begun of late the journey of this life! Keep the fear of God as your guide. It does not hold back the honest and lawful pleasures, which nature benignantly offers. He could be wrong, and misunderstand duty, who thought you are denied all the enjoyments, which your age notably ap--preciates, and which add strength to your freshness, buoyancy to your spirits. The fear of God deters you only from seeking those pleasures which will mar your goodly appearance, deform the intellect giving pro--mises of a vigorous existence. God has inspired your hearts with sentiments of admiration for what is lovely; with hope for a future towards which you move on with alacrity. Let such sentiments be not crushed by false apprehensions; but let them be guided,
tempered, purified, and sanctified by the fear of the Lord. It becomes your age to feel the warmth of enthusiasm. Yours is a period of life, the most happy, for it has not suffered yet the difficulties of rising equal to the demands of onerous callings. Nor has it experienced the withering effect of bitter disappointments. Let then that felicity be an incentive to confess and thank supreme Goodness. With that head you carry aloft; with those eyes casting rays of a pure light, with those steps firm and rapid, enter the first ranks among the servants of God--the adherents of virtue and beneficence. You are, O youths! the best interpreters of the love, that brought forth creation. Bend the knee before the sovereign Maker of heaven and earth. Like Joseph let your watchword be. [Hebrew] "I fear God".
Saviour of Israel! Worker of wonders! Few and feeble were they who feared Thy name above the mighty hosts of a heathen King. But Thou madest each man,
a thousandfold strong; and the stroke of his sword more terrific than the clap of the rolling thunder. As smoke is driven off by the wind, as wax melteth before the fire, so were the enemies of Thy Law, dispersed at the uprising of Thy servants; consumed by their burning zeal. Mattathias and his five sons, who called to the breach a residue of the faithful, and rolled away reproach from Thy land and Thy people, we hold in grateful remem--brance. But to Thee, O Lord! who didst breathe I hope, when all looked hopeless. To Thee, who didst not suffer the truth of Thy Unity to be buried under the stones of pagan altars, we give thanks and ascribe everlasting glory. For, the world which has moved onward, by the light we shed on its way, would not have advanced, if the tyrannic Antro--chus had succeeded in causing our fathers altogether to bow to his idolatrous belief. Thou who dwellest in heaven!, sawest his machinations, and hildest them in derision. The decrees he issued forth to set aside Thy commands, were, by Thy rebuke, turned into chaff. The Sabbath he would abolish; the Abrahamic covenant he forbid, and the reading of Thy inspired book he interdicted ,are to this day kept as the cherished observances of the Hebrew race, and they will still
remain as such to the end of time. May it even be so, O Most High! Grant that the religion which persecution could not destroy, may stand proof against the blandishments of a misapprehended and abused liberty. Let every return of Hanuccah, give us more light on the discharge of our duty, as the witnesses of Thy word, and the instructors of all Thy creatures. Amen. - Identifier
- p3fj29z8f
- identifier
- SMBx9FF7_3
Part of Vayesheb. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. Undated
Morais, Sabato, “Vayesheb. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. Undated”, Sabato Morais Digital Repository, accessed September 18, 2024, https://judaicadhpenn.org/legacyprojects/s/morais/item/91334