|
A Sermon.*
O
Lord Supreme, who art the Fountain of all grace and goodness, look down,
we beseech Thee, upon thy servants the house of Israel, in all the
places of their dispersion, to bless them with the abundance of grace
and peace from before thy holy throne. Strengthen them in their
pilgrimage, that they may walk uprightly in thy presence, and guard
their steps that they may not hurry away into the path of sin, where man
meets thy indignation. But above all, we pray Thee to teach us to feel
our insignificance and unworthiness, that we may be able to subdue the
pride and arrogance which cling to human nature, which counsel us to
value ourselves above those who like us are thy children, like whom we
are servants in thy holy house. Yea, inspire us with that meekness which
is the best ornament of thy adorers, which sees in Thee one universal
Father, in every man a neighbour, in every Israelite a brother; so that,
united heart and hand, we may hasten to promote the spread of thy
kingdom, and lead sinners to fall down before the footstool of thy
glory; and in this shall we know that Thou art our Lord, and that indeed
we have found grace in thy eyes. Do this for thy sake, for we have no
merit to deserve this blessing; do this for the sake of thy holy name
which is profaned among the nations; and do this also for the sake of
the covenant which Thou madest with thy adorers, Abraham; Isaac, and
Jacob, who walked before Thee in the days of old, whose seed Thou hast
promised to bless, and whom Thou hast redeemed to be unto Thee a
peculiar treasure, to proclaim thy glory unto the ends of the earth.
Amen.
Brethren,
A
glorious lot is ours, a blessed task has been imposed on us. Ever since
our forefather wandered forth from Ur of the Chaldeans even unto this
day, we have stood the representatives of high principles, the defenders
of truths, everlasting as the Source from which they sprung. Ask of
history what have been the Jews? And you will not be referred to
magnificent temples, nor to beautiful works of art, nor to scientific
discoveries as the evidence of our existence, but to the code of laws
which we have received from the Almighty himself through the hands of
his servant Moses. There indeed have been nations more numerous and more
powerful than we, nations whose architecture, whose wisdom, whose
refinement, whose arts are the themes of all the world of this present
day. But they all have been, to speak emphatically, they have
been, and now they have passed away from among the families of mankind,
and the ploughshare of destruction has passed over their lands, the wand
of oblivion over their mighty achievements. But Israel? they have indeed
endured hardships at which the heart recoils when calling them to mind,
sorrows have fallen to their portion which harrow up the soul when one
recounts them; but with all this we exist, no one can say we merely have
been; no, we are, here, there, in every land where freedom and
toleration reign, and here, there, and wherever enlightenment has passed
over the soil, we are present to proclaim aloud, that we are the
servants of one God, followers of one law, a law which came from
the Lord, which is the brightest chain which entwines in one holy union
the creature that obtains life and asks favours from the highest Source,
with the Source whence all, that is, has sprung into being. It is a
principle which marks our life, it is a principle which we must uphold;
hence we place not our fame upon perishable things, though these be the
adamantine rocks of Egypt’s pyramids, or the marble statuary which
graced the temples of Rome and Hellas, which adorned the mighty
structures of a primeval world, and which excites the emulation of after
ages; but upon the inspiration which has been entrusted to our charge, a
gift which is ours, and which is inseparably connected with our name.
— Darkness rested on the face of the mind, as did chaos at the
beginning upon the face of the waters, and nations walked in the
ignorance of their soul after vanities which are the works of their
hands, and called upon gods which are powerless to save. Wherever you
turned you beheld the inventions of a disordered intellect enshrined in
the hearts of the multitude, and wisdom was fled far from man. It was
then that, as at the first creation, God said “Let there be light,”
and “there was light;” for the earth was blessed by the appearance
of Abraham, who feeling the greatness of his Creator’s ways,
proclaimed to all around him that the works of man’s hands are not the
beings that can demand his worship, that nothing which springs from
matter can be otherwise than perishable and decaying. It was
he who first felt, when others who had been taught refused to
believe, that there is indeed an Almighty Power who called forth the
earth, the sea, the sky, and all that fills them, from the depths of
non-existence, and that it is He to whom man should turn in all hours of
joy, in all the moments of sorrow, since it is by His will that we are
at ease, since it is by His dispensation that we are wounded. It was
this teaching which we may aptly style a new creation which
characterized the mission of Abraham, it is this instruction which
constitutes the structure on which we rest, to which we point as our
best, as our only monument which we have erected in the world’s
history. For, when in the course of events the state which we had
established by the labours of centuries, which at one time seemed fated
to bid defiance to a united world, fell under the assaults of enemies
that overran with fire and sword our beautiful inheritance, all that was
perishable in human greatness fell and vanished, just as had vanished
Assyria, and Babel, and Persia, and Egypt; the flames seized upon
whatever offered food to their devouring fury, and men who had boasted
of their unbridled freedom wandered forth in the chains of slavery to
bend their necks under the rule of ruthless conquerors, of those who
mocked the misfortunes of their captives. Yea, all that the world calls
greatness, all that man calls glory fell on that frightful day when the
blades of ten thousands of swords gleamed in the hands of Rome’s
countless legions, when severed heads filled up the streets, O fallen
Jerusalem! when thy courts, O sacred Zion! were choked with the
scattered limbs of the brave defenders who perished sooner than yield
the fane which was the glory of their nation. Yea, on that day fell the
power of Judah’s sons, on that day sunk the crown of Judah’s
daughters, and ended was the dominion of those who bore rule in Israel.
But precisely that which would have marked the death-hour of every other
nation, became the point of revival of our own race: and even whilst the
temple’s lurid flames yet shot up to the skies before the agonized
view of those who had so often worshipped in its precincts, the light of
its rebuilt splendour flashed before the hopeful view of those who
felt themselves strengthened by the promised salvation of their God,
whose chastisement they had evoked by their manifold sins. And thus
while they with awestruck hearts watched in mute despair the progress of
the destruction, which henceforward marked them as wanderers and
outcasts, their unveiled eye beheld their temple rise again from its
ashes in renewed and hitherto unapproached splendour, and their own son
of David sitting on his throne, the pillars of which are righteousness
and justice, establishing on earth a kingdom which is to stand unto
eternity, encircling them with the armour of heavenly protection, and
subduing the world by the potent spell of the divine wisdom, which was
handed down to their forefathers on Horeb from the midst of the fire on
the day of the assembly, when truth descended from Heaven and took up
its abode among the children of man. The Israelites thus saw their
outward symbols fall into the abyss which had swallowed up so many other
nations; but they felt that a new life was given them; they felt that
now they had to endure privation, contumely, scorn, because they were
marked with the seal of the Lord’s covenant, because in their features
they carried the lineaments of a once renowned now hated ancestry,
because by their deeds and their belief they bore a decided testimony
against the deeds and opinions which other nations professed. They felt
then, that if it was impossible for them to triumph, it was still
granted them to suffer all that man could inflict on them for defending
the noble truths which were in their safekeeping; and they resolved
thus to be patient and submissive to what they considered to have been
decreed from Heaven, and they took up the pilgrim’s staff which was
handed to them, and they glorified in their sorrow the Hand which in
mercy had struck and wounded them, in order to recall them from their
sinful ways, and to cement, by the blood which was shed freely by the
saints, the union which had been loosened in the hours of peace and
prosperity.
I
need not tell you, brethren, how many
sufferings we had to endure for eighteen hundred years, for no other
reason, than because we were Jews. History tells the sorrowful tale, how
oppression exhausted its malice to invent new inflictions wherewith to
crush the spirit of Israel’s descendants; how false accusations were
constantly brought forward in order to afford some pretext for the
cruelties which were heaped upon us; how every honourable pursuit was
caused against us, and we were compelled to resort to mean and degrading employments, in order to find the
wealth, which was the only thing which at the same time excited the
cupidity of our tyrants and afforded us the only opportunity of
appeasing their unholy thirst for the life’s blood of our best and
wisest members. I could detain you for hours, were I to paint for you
the agony which met us at every turn during the centuries of darkness
which have passed over our heads, and which stain the annals of all
those nations almost who profess to follow what they term a religion of
peace, of good will among men; but I forbear, I will not descant on what
is known to all. All I want to do is to call your attention to the
miraculous constancy which was displayed on all occasions, and in every
country, and under all circumstances, by our suffering people, and that
nothing ever caused them to despair of better times, and that nothing
could induce the mass, whatever individuals might do in their agony of
despair, to embrace, even in appearance, the opinions of the gentiles,
and to sever their connexion with the house of Israel. Let me entreat
you to carry your view back to the scenes which were enacted in
Palestine, in Egypt, in Spain, in Italy, in France, in England, in
Germany, to crush the spirit of our people, and to compel them to
renounce their faith or die by the sword, the gibbet, the rack, and the
flaming fire; recall for a moment the dungeon filled with those who,
like yourselves, were guilty only of worshipping the one God who created
heaven and earth; look back upon the ships which fled from Spain’s
bloodstained coasts, laden with those who were cast forth in poverty and
indigence, for being followers of the God of Jacob.—and then say
whether you can otherwise than glow with admiration for the noble
martyrs who thus sacrificed all, because they would not, could not,
renounce the faith which they had inherited from their fathers. It must
strike you, that it must have been a holy thing which fortified their
hearts, which could induce the aged sire to bid farewell to the sacred
spot where reposed the earthly portion of a beloved wife who had
preceded him to the mansions of glory; which could impel the tender
maiden, who had been reared in splendour and luxury, whose hands had
never toiled, whose feet had scarcely touched the ground, to fling from her the jewels which were to grace her on her bridal day, to
venture forth alone amidst brothers who wandered into foreign climes,
alone, without him whom she had chosen as the lord of her young
affections, because he had forsaken his God in the fear of the sword
which the oppressors of Israel wielded,—that it must have been a holy
thing which rendered such as these, and many others like them, wanderers
upon the wide face of the earth, which armed them with fortitude to
endure all the privations, all the toil, which they might have avoided
by claiming the new associations which their tyrants offered to their
acceptance. Think of this, and then answer to yourselves, whether, with
the change of circumstances, with the improvement in our condition, the
principles for which our fathers fought and suffered have undergone any,
nay the least change; whether the blessed belief in the unity of our
gracious Father in heaven is less true now than during the reign of
Ferdinand and Isabella in the Spanish Peninsula; whether the obligation
to be true and faithful in our allegiance to the law of Sinai is of less
binding force now than when the persecutions of European kings were
braved, and their power defied, in order that we might not transgress
voluntarily a single one of its glorious precepts! Surely there has been
no change in our relative position to our God; He is precisely the same
He ever was; He is as unerring in his wisdom as in the days of yore, and
He has never repealed or altered the least of the precepts which he once
communicated to us as the expression of his will. Nor has our obligation
been removed. We have never
received any dispensation to do away with, or to alter any of the
commandments; no one can aver that any of our duties have in any wise
been removed or diminished; nor can it be alleged that the march of
enlightenment has destroyed or abridged the national allegiance which we
owe to God, as subjects to their sovereign, as scholars to their
teacher, as children to their father. No! God has not changed and we are
yet, to this day, to this hour, to this moment, Israelites, children of
the same patriarchs, defenders of the same principles, which we were,
from the first moment of our institution as a nation, separate in our
descent, different in our belief and conduct among the other families of
the earth.
A
wonderful change has, it is true, come over our condition within the
recollection of the generation yet living, in the manner with which we
are treated by those who differ from us in religious opinions. In many
countries the gentiles have learned to respect the Jews, and to
appreciate their conduct and principles by a different standard from
what they were formerly wont to do. In others again all civil
disabilities have been removed; and in the country where my lot has been
cast, and in this noble land where you, my beloved brethren, have
erected the first house of prayer to the living God, the Lord of hosts,
whose name be blessed, the laws know of no distinction between the
Israelites and their fellow-citizens, and they are free to go and free
to come, to assemble for prayer, to meet for instruction, to, congregate
as believers in their own faith, with no one to let or hinder them, with
no one to question the legality of their so assembling. In these lands,
too, they can act as their law demands of them; there is no
disqualification attached to the observance of the Sabbath, there is no government tax for the food which they
prepare in accordance with their customs; there is no exclusion imposed
on them for introducing their sons into the covenant of Abraham, for
sealing them with the sacred sign of circumcision, the outward token of
the covenant between God and Abraham’s seed; there is no one can
prevent them from erecting houses of prayer, and establishing schools in
which to proclaim and teach their religion. There, therefore, we ought
all to be zealous to stand firmly in support of the sacred cause
entrusted to our charge; there should we show by our every act that we
are worthy of the freedom we enjoy, not undeserving of the mercy of the
Lord who has given us enlargement from our sorrows! But, alas! in modern
times the bonds have been loosened; with the freedom from oppression,
our adhesion to the principles of Judaism has become constantly more lax
and uncertain; and in modern times men have learned to set themselves
above the law, and to interpose their own will and their own
interpretation between the doctrines of religion and their observance of
them. Besides, with the increase of the tranquillity from without, we
have not learned to maintain peace within ourselves. The truth must be
spoken; in many communities individuals have obtrusively offered their
own sentiments, and if not able to rule according to their own views,
have sown dissensions in the midst of our congregations. But, brethren!
all this is not well; it is unbecoming to us as men who owe gratitude to
our benevolent Father, who has wrought so many great things in our
behalf, that we do not emulate and surpass our forefathers in devotion
and attachment to the law. They could be obedient only in terror and
apprehension. Whilst they commenced the Sabbath, they knew not but that
before its termination they might, because of it, be led out to
execution; whilst the child was carried forth to be received into the
covenant, they knew not but that a cruel death might be impending over
the faithful father and the devoted mother. Still they persevered, and
acted up to their duties, rejoicingly, with undismayed courage. Yet now,
where is our devotion to principles? to those principles which mark our
place in the history of mankind? to those blessed monuments upon which
we have been labouring unceasingly since the calling of Abraham?—But
why should we not rejoice, as did our fathers, at the approach of the
holy Sabbath? why should we not welcome its arrival as the heavenly
bride which brings peace and rest in her train to those who are weary
with labour? whose weekly toil calls them to rest on the Lord’s day
from their unceasing pursuits? why should we not be sedulous in
abstaining from those things which the Lord declares unclean, and render
our body holy as the earthly temple of God, by this means consecrating
our soul as the habitation of his holy spirit? why should we hesitate in
offering our children to be impressed with the sign which is to mark
them as servants of God? servants chosen from among men to be the
bearers of truth and salvation to the ends of the earth? Why will we
endeavour to sow dissensions in our communities, which have suffered,
alas! too long from outward pressure, that they require all the healing
and care which internal tranquility alone can produce under the blessing
of Heaven? What matters it to the individual “who rules,” provided
the cornmunity be well governed, and the glory of God be promoted by
each one acting in unison and harmony? Why will we forget that every one
cannot rule? that every one must yield something, if the public is to be
truly benefited, if the good cause is to be really promoted, if we
sincerely desire to see our religion respected and its precepts obeyed?
It is true, that in all this continent, with but one or two exceptions,
our congregations are yet small, are, so to say, in their infancy; but
for this very reason ought each sincere Israelite to contribute his
share of influence; of means, and of personal service, to lay the
foundation in such a manner that, in progress of time, the small may
become a thousand, and the younger one a great and mighty nation. But
two things are required to promote the best interests of our people,
especially in America,—union and forbearance. Nothing can be
accomplished if each member of the community acts independently and in
opposition to the others; never did any cause prosper under such
circumstances, nor can ours do so unless by the especial interposition
of the favour of Heaven. It is true, so many dangers have already passed
over our heads, that we may freely assert our religion to be in no
permanent danger from any thing we can do to injure it. But such a
flattering of ourselves will hardly excuse us in our own eyes, not to
mention, in the estimation of good men, but especially in the judgment
of the Lord, who sees the inward working of our sinful heart. No, we
must alter all this, if we have even once acted so; it is no sign of
weakness to amend an error, it is no evidence of an unsound judgment to
yield if we are convinced of having been to blame in our former conduct.
Though it is, therefore, true, that our religion can advance in spite of
our own supineness and wrong-doing, though I can bear a cheerful
testimony, that despite the misdoing of many individuals, our cause has
progressed rapidly within the last ten years on this very continent,
nay, if I err not, in this very city: there can be no doubt that it will
progress much faster if we all unite for the same end, with one will,
with one heart.
Shall
our religion, beloved brethren, appeal to you in vain for aid, for
countenance, shall she always be suffering either from the wounds
inflicted by her foes or the treachery of her faithless defenders? is
Judaism always to be the suffering cause, never the triumphant? Yea,
triumphant or suffering, Judaism will be dear to the souls of those who
fear the Lord, whose eye can penetrate into the recesses of futurity,
and behold the Messiah on his throne and the knowledge of God spread
over all the earth! Judaism will be dear to the true Israelite, whether
it is oppressed, or marches in glory over the fallen ruins of systems of
error in the Lord’s own appointed time. Still let us hope that there
are many, many among the sons and daughters of Israel, who are here this
day, who are zealous for their God and his law, and who will resolve to
unite in acts, to be one in belief, in order to extend among the
household of Jacob, the love of the Lord, and the fear of his holy Name,
by observing themselves all that their religion asks of them, and to aid
all who come under their influence to follow in their footsteps in
sincerity and simpleness of heart.
Of all the endearing epithets with which we address
the Deity none appeals more strongly to the heart than that of Father.
He is our Father in heaven. No term is more full of kindness as applied
by Him, who is so pure and so holy, than his calling us his children. Of
our own accord we could never have assumed the title of God’s
children; still, in the record of his will, written by his servant
Moses, God addresses us as such in the following words, which we find in
the commencement of the fourteenth chapter of the book of
Deuteronomy:— בנים אתם
לה׳ אלהיכם׃ דברים י״ד א׳׃
“Ye are children to the Lord your God;” by which we are
certified that we are objects of especial care to our Creator, who, in
order to render us proper subjects of his kingdom, has sanctified us by
his commandments that we might walk before Him and be perfect, as He
spoke to Abraham. If we all, as individual Israelites, are especially
the children of the Most High, chosen to be the bearers of his glorious
standard of truth and faith before the sons of man, it follows as a
necessary consequence that we all ought to regard each other as brothers
in faith, in hopes, in duty, and are therefore bound by the ties of love
to walk together in due affection, and to aid each other in the
attainment of the utmost perfection of which our nature is capable in
this state of probation and sin. Perfection, absolute and unconditional
is not asked, our Father knows our frame, knows that we are dust. He
requires only that we do all which lies in our power; but we also must
not expect too much of one another; we must bear with each other’s
failings, and endeavour to improve others by gentle means and brotherly
admonition, where we see that a wrong has been done.—Do you feel the
full weight of this? beloved hearers! Are you penetrated with your
relation to your Maker, with your relation to all Israel? Remember, God
is your Father; it is not to injure you that He gave you a law of duty
and precept, but to render you more worthy of his favour and mercy; not
to exclude others who may differ from you in religion, but to preserve
you each and all as parts of a holy people who are to lead by their
presence, silently, but surely, many who do not now believe, to fall
down and worship the Holy One of Israel. Remember, too, that all
Israelites have received the same mission, from the highest to the
least, they are all servants of the Most High, messengers of his mercy.
Aid them therefore, in their endeavours to be obedient; encourage the
faithful, confirm the wavering, and assist those with advice and
instruction who are ignorant of the ways of the Lord. Look upon the
Creator as your Father, whose mercies claim your gratitude; regard all
the world as your neighbours, whom you, as children of God, are bound to
love and serve, no matter what may be their country, what their faith;
with all, however, you are bound more to the Israelite, you must act
with him, for him; you must endeavour to induce him to be a true and
faithful servant in the same cause in which you are engaged, and draw
him towards your common Parent by the ties of kindred and of
love.—What a delightful picture of union and blessedness presents
itself thus to our view! One God our Father! the whole human family the
object of our tenderness! the whole house of Israel our
fellow-labourers! and each individual guided by those around him unto
the gates of righteousness! entering therein by the accomplishment of
the good which his God assigned to him in his sphere of action. Do you
feel it then to be your task to be thus engaged? are you willing to be
Israelites in deed more than in name? If so, which we fervently trust to
be your will, resolve from henceforward to devote yourselves to the
glorious task of self-regeneration, in order that the glory of the Lord
may be spread over the earth, and his precepts be obeyed by all who are
with us of the seed of Jacob, the chosen of the Lord, the servant in
whom He has found delight.
And may the goodness of the Lord guide us unto the
light which is undeceiving, and permit us to enter his presence with
songs of thanksgiving when our spirits return to his holy throne, when
our race is run and our task is ended. May this be his will. Amen.
Montreal, August 9th,
Ab 24th, 5604. |
