Yithro. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. Undated
- Title
- Yithro. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. Undated
- Author
- Morais, Sabato
- Format
- 9 pages on 4 sheets
- Language(s)
- English
- Source
- Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
- Sabato Morais Collection, Box 9, Folder 13
- Has Format
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/items/ark:/81431/p3wm14d53/manifest.json
- Link to Colenda
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3wm14d53
- Provenance
- Transfer of Custody from the Hebrew Education Society, 10 March 1913.
- Is Format Of
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/judaicadh/morais/main/TEI/SMBx9FF13_7.xml
- content
-
For Sabbath Itró
[Hebrew]
A woman in Egypt became once the mother of six hundred thou--sand children. This announcement made in a college, existing during the days long gone by, startled all the students. But they soon learnt that it was a moral under cover of a fable. That being through whom we derive a higher knowledge of the aim of life, than of what we share in common with lower animals, may rightly claim the title of our parent. The wife of Jo Amram, in giving the world her second son, supplied the means, wherewith to create a nation. The number of male adults issued from brutalizing slavery, received a new birth from the vitalizing influence of that child of Jochebed. How he exercised his superior faculties for good, we have just read. From morning till evening Moses sat to adjust men's difficulties, to teach men the duties of life. Long he bore the fatigue, unweariedly he endured it, upheld by the thought which will always prove the strongest incentive; the mightiest support in a righteous undertaking: the belief that he worked for and with Almighty God; that in striving to improve indivi-duals, he led the van of social advancement. With justice it has therefore been written, that of the merits
of the ancient champion of Israel, could have been placed on a scale, they would have outweighed all those acquired by the six hundred thousand men he delivered from degrading bondage [Hebrew] For, every action ennobling human nature, every deed of goodness and charity thus performed, redounded again to the honor of the zealous instructor. You remember, my Brethren! his answer to Jethro. The latter astonished at a self-imposed task, most onerous and responsible, undertaken without help, inquired into its object. Moses said: "When the people have any matter of dispute, it is brought to me, and I judge between man and his neigh--bor, and impart the statutes of God, and His laws." From his own lips he would that all, without wondrous distinction of grade or standing, might hear what it is means to conform to the will of the universal Father. To spare himself by drawing a dividing line between one Hebrew and another; To attend personally to affairs deemed of high importance, and leave to subordinates the decision of cases considered of less moment, did not agree with his keen sense of pastoral duties. And though he Moses deferentially listened to the advice of his father-inlaw, who suggested that plan, you will observe that we have no proof of his having practically followed it till long after.
During his absence of forty days on the mountain, he ap--pointed Aaron and his nephew Hur as his substitutes, and only in the second year of his administration, when our an--cestors, stirred up by the mixed multitude of unbelieving Egyp--ptians, became too unruly and too importunate in their demands, did their indefatigable leader allow myhimself some respite by the choice, Divinely made, of seventy coadjutors. Now, I cannot say what others who have assumed the spiritual guide of a Congregation think, but to me the model conduct of the greatest shepherd in Israel stands as both as a lesson and a rebuke. Slight, insignificant, indeed, as the work I am bound to perform is, in comparison with that which he accomplished single-handed, yet, weariness will at times creep all over my being. Fain would I then slip lapse into a state of inertness. Is it ambition ungratified which as takes that form shape? Perhaps so. My aspirations to are too lofty. I am eager to acquire the merit of creating a generation of high-toned Israelites, all noblemen in society, every one a shining star in our religious horizon, a band of brethren clustering together to ap--raise the standard of Sinai, and glorify the living God.
And feeling how much faster the wish can travel than the reality, I let fatigue steal away my energies. Shame upon any, who having voluntarily taken the lead, grows faint by the way. From morning till evening the righteous son of Jochebed bent his powers to the grand object in view. From morning till evening, he served the cause he had been called upon to promote. Did success always come forward to meet him with radiant smiles? Did it never turn its back on his unremmitting efforts? Among the six hundred thousand male adults, whose wrongs he righted, and whose mistaken notions of the aim of life he corrected, did none give him occasion to grieve over said disappointments? Listen, my Brethren! When Moses was about to quit for ever his work labors and the people he had loved so well the pen forced to write what inspiration dictated, traced this words sentence: [Hebrew] "He executed the justice of the Lord and His judgments with Israel" That is the highest testimony of unswerving fidelity. The tried servant did not falter in sight of obstacles, he did not flinch despite the impediments with which a desire to discharge his full duty must have presented. A lesson is that and a rebuke to all, who in the ministration of religions
suffer hindrances to awe them back into a state of inac-tivity.
But do you imagine, my Brethren! that I address you this Sabbath, simply to make a clean breast of my own shortcomings? No: the drift of my speech is to let you feel that if I am not up to the mark, many of you fall very short of the point. All of us have been furnished with the instruments to work salvation. You have, in common with me, a high mission. I may be bound to show the way to the altar, but there you are all each of you is an officiating priests. To fancy contend that I must actively serve, and you may passively look on, would be to falsify the message which the son of Amram brought us from above. He was directed to "say to the house of Jacob," and not to a few, to "tell the children of Israel" and not to some privileged individuals, that the observance of the Sinaic covenant is the badge of honor by which the descendants of the people set apart for as the patriarchs must be distinguished the as ministers of truth. But does the congregation of the Lord wear that token of a divine selection? I cannot deny that quite a number of my brethren, consider the Dene Decalogue a fitting ornament. Their very chambers seems to illustrate that thought. But, Alas! What decorates the walls,
fails to adorn the heart, and beautify the mind. The fine print engraving of the ten commandments, and the elegant frame are not substitutes for the obedyence due to the law. Tear down, I would cry to such tear down the picture and palpably show love for the object it represents. Bend before God and not to idols of gold; be never guilty of profanity; give the seventh day to whom it rightly belongs; Treat your parents as your superiors. Do not destroy your neigh--bor's character, or domestic happiness; deal honestly; Let not greed close your ears to the demands of justice. Let all see To Your relations of life you must prove yourselves descent and your labor as that you, the priests of the Almighty. Care nothing about being recognized as Jews from certain Hebrew characters bedecking the walls of your dwellings, if they stand there as dead letters. Chase away the prevailing idea, that a strict conformity to the precepts is the business of one clothed in a the robe of a religious office. Whence the all subverting notion emanated, I know not, but it is utterly false, and subversive of the cardinal tenets of our faith. You all, like myself, form an integral part of that body
styled by God [Hebrew], meaning, a nation devoted to a grand purpose. And this is surely to be carried out by personal endeavours, and not by proxy. Were I a Moses, and had I seven hundred, instead of seventy elders to teach with the me, sacred obligations, I would accomplish nothing, if you believed it is my concern and not none of yours to hold fast to the Constitution written with the finger of God. You need, of course, expect that the appointed watchman will always be seen uplifting that stand--ard with unsullied hands, and if he aims at being [Hebrew] [Hebrew] the promoter of righteousness, he will make his deeds exemplify his words, but verily I tell you the humblest among my coreligionists, is like the highest an ordained minister; and as such he dares not as such refuse his cooperation in rendering the Torah honorable, and the name of the Giver glorious. All stood at the foot of Sinai, and declared that they would do hearken and obey. Who among us will perjure himself, who among us, being a professing Jew, will let the barrier of heavenly truths trail the earth, because he does not wish to rather than put forth his hand and upraise it? To you my Brethren who abide in lowliness, I direct my word, and in the
language of paternal affection say, that you can extol your religion and gain the lasting merit of serving your Father Israel's Legislator. You can verify the prophecy of Isaiah "Their seed shall be known among gentiles, and their offspring amidst peoples" Cling tenaciously to the ten berities you have heard this day; be not lured away by false appearances, by the tinsel of riches, value the title bestowed upon you by the Almighty, more than the asso--ciation of the worldly, and through you will be fulfilled the promise "Ye shall be called priests of the Lord; the ministers of our God shall be the appellation name applied to you" Oh! my hearers! since we are the chosen of our Parent as missionaries of the Most High, since we have a common parentage, and we are the coheirs of the same truths, the possessors of the same traditions, and of the same indestructible hopes, let us band together without distinction of grade or station, and work for the elevation of our faith. And may let us pray that when the Supreme Lord grant that which He visits His flock he may still find, a remnant among us a remnant of the Judaic tree whose stem is rooted in the ground, and will yeild a holy seed [Hebrew] for ever. Amen - Identifier
- p3wm14d53
- identifier
- SMBx9FF13_7
Part of Yithro. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. Undated
Morais, Sabato, “Yithro. Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA. Undated”, Sabato Morais Digital Repository, accessed September 18, 2024, https://judaicadhpenn.org/legacyprojects/s/morais/item/91386