STACK 
 ANNEX 
 
 z ^ 
 jl o/' ' Swm 
 
 If WITH LONDON SYNAGOGUE. 
 
 N?16 
 
 
 
 
 
 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 
 
 ASERMO N 
 PREACHED BY THE 
 
 . Dr llermtttt 
 
 CHIEF RABBI. 
 
 3 
 
 duly 13 th 5661 -1901. 
 
 Printed for the Wardens of The North London Synagogue, 
 
 FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION 
 
 c 
 
 
 "OOOOOOOOOCK
 
 OUR 
 PROVINCIAL BRETHREN 
 
 A SERMON 
 
 PREACHED AT THE 
 
 NORTH LONDON SYNAGOGUE 
 
 ON 
 
 J?CEI moo 'e p"tr 
 SABBATH, JULY i 3 th, 56611901. 
 
 I!Y THE 
 
 THE CHIEF RABBI. 
 
 PRINTED BY REQUEST. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 ALFRED J. ISAACS & SONS, 
 16, CAMOMILR STREET, AND BURY STREET, E C. 
 
 1901.
 
 OUR PROVINCIAL BRETHREN. 
 
 s *ox 'm i i-a 
 
 " But thy servants will pass over, every man armed for 
 war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord saith. Ntunbers xxxii 27. 
 
 MY DEAR BRETHREN, It is recorded of Samuel, 
 the faithful leader of his people, that " he went from 
 year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and 
 Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all these places."" This 
 statement is of considerable archaeological interest and 
 value, as it constitutes, I believe, the first record in 
 history of that wise arrangement, which has worked so 
 beneficently in this realm the appointment of Justices 
 in Eyre i.e. f itinerant judges, an institution from 
 which have sprung the Assizes held periodically in each 
 county for the purpose of administering civil and cri- 
 minal justice. 
 
 I endeavour humbly to follow the example of 
 the illustrious prophet, and go from year to year " in 
 circuit " to the several communities under my pastoral 
 charge. And the subjects which primarily engage my 
 attention on the occasion of these visits are those 
 
 < : 'I Samuel, vii., 16. 
 
 2096984
 
 indicated by the names of the towns visited by 
 Samuel, ^N fi'2 the house of God, nVfin the watch- 
 tower the school-house of the community, and h&in 
 the circle, its social relations. I have been recently 
 engaged upon such a tour of inspection, and am 
 anxious to communicate to you some of the impressions 
 which these visits make upon me. 
 
 THE METROPOLIS AND THE PROVINCES. 
 
 I deem it advisable to do so, for there are too 
 many in our midst, whose mental horizon, nay whose 
 sympathies seem to be bounded by the Metropolitan 
 area. We hear complaints made at public meetings 
 of our charitable societies, usually with low mur- 
 murings, but, at times, with loud disapproval, that 
 our brethren in the provinces afford too scant an 
 aid in maintaining institutions, the benefits of which 
 they are readily admitted to share. And I again have 
 often to listen to angry reproaches, that the London 
 Jewry does not come forward with sufficient alacrity to 
 the help of poor, struggling congregations in the 
 country. There is of course grave injustice in sweeping 
 charges such as these. But the fact, I think, must be 
 admitted, that the average Jew of the Metropolis pays 
 but scant heed to Provincial Judaism, unless he be 
 startled by hearing of an impending suit in a court of
 
 law, or by reading a sensational, exaggerated state- 
 ment in the sober Ecclesiastical Intelligence of The 
 Times, such as that which magnified some unruliness 
 at the choice of an official into " disorderly scenes at 
 the election of a Rabbi." I would speak to you 
 to-day of Provincial Judaism, its claims and titles to 
 our active sympathy. 
 
 BIRMINGHAM. 
 
 Now, it would of course be altogether absurd 
 and preposterous to comprehend into one group all 
 congregations outside the Metropolis. The community 
 in the capital of tha Midlands needs neither sympathy, 
 advice, nor financial help. London could learn 
 much from Birmingham. Although numbering a 
 Jewish population of nearly five thousand souls, it con- 
 stitutes one undivided congregation. It has, I believe, 
 undertaken to subsidize a Beth Hamedrash for the 
 benefit primarily of the foreign section of the community. 
 By the help of a munificent legacy, it is erecting an 
 Infant School, such as we need, but have hitherto 
 failed to establish, in connexion with our Westminster 
 Jews' Free School. 
 
 MANCHESTER 
 
 In Manchester we encounter all the difficulties 
 and anxieties that confront us here in the East and 
 the West. But happily that community possesses
 
 men and women, though by no means in sufficient 
 numbers, who are eager and able to cope with those 
 difficulties. Synagogues are springing up in every 
 quarter of the City. Some degree of union has been 
 effecled in dealing with the religious, educational and 
 charitable needs of that community. The residents are 
 happily able to work out the.r own salvation. And 
 this description applies also to the prospe:ous congre- 
 gations of Liverpool and Glasgow. In the latter city 
 a United Synagogue has been established, amalgamat- 
 ing the places of worship of every section of the 
 community. 
 
 LEEDS. 
 
 But matters wear an entirely different aspect 
 when we come, to a city like Leeds. The number 
 of our brethren residing there is, it is computed, not 
 less than 15,000. The condition of the community 
 is almost identical with that of the London Jewry 
 about one hundred years ago, ere a United Syna- 
 gogue was contemplated, when there was not even a 
 treaty or compact between the three then existing 
 "German" Congregations. Besides the Great Syna- 
 gogue, there are three places of worship, and a Beth 
 Hamedrash. Every effort to bring about concerted 
 action, with the view of communal duties, religious, 
 educational and charitable, being discharged in
 
 common, have hitherto failed, despite the untiring 
 labours of the, local Minister. As the bulk of the mem- 
 bers are working men in humble circumstances, the cost 
 of maintaining t heir places of worship, and of supporting 
 the Rabbis whom they separately appoint, weighs 
 heavily upon them, and has become the cause of much 
 regrettable strife.. 
 
 In Hull and in Sheffield we have to deplore 
 the same absence of harmony. As a result, Hull with 
 a population of 2,000 is still without a suitable Syna- 
 gogue. It possesses an efficient girls' but no boys' 
 school. The provision for religious instruction in 
 Sheffield is, for the same reason, entirely inadequate. 
 
 OTHER CONGREGATIONS. 
 
 Now I gladly record the fact that there are a 
 number of smaller congregations, the spiritual con- 
 dition of which presents a gratifying contrast. Not 
 wishing to weary you with a full list, I would only 
 instance such towns as Brighton and Bristol, Mid- 
 dlesbro' and Newport, Nottingham and Swansea. 
 Each of these congregations possesses a well-appointed 
 Synagogue, a cultivated Minister, with due provision 
 for the religious training of the young. But there are 
 a number of smaller communities that lack everything 
 that is needed to engender and to maintain in the 
 hearts of young and old, love and attachment to their
 
 ancestral faith. Services are held in localities that are 
 entirely unsuitable ; the access to the place of worship 
 in Stockton-oa-Tees is by a ladder-like staircase, 
 almost perilous. Words of spiritual counsel are but 
 rarely heard. And when tidings reach us of such con- 
 gregations it may be unhappily, in connection with 
 some deplorable difference, "a controversy not in the 
 name of Heaven." 
 
 FOREIGNERS, YET BRETHREN. 
 
 Some of you may probably plead, We admit 
 this unfortunate state of the case, but it should be 
 borne in mind that the men guilty of such proceedings 
 are not Englishmen, but foreigners. Let me ask you, 
 Are they on that account any the less our brethren ? 
 In chronicling the doings of an Israelite, do our fellow- 
 citizens draw a distinction between one native born and 
 a stranger ? Are we justified in indulging a sneer at the 
 expense of the Russian or Polish immigrant ? What 
 would have become of several of the country Kehilloth 
 without these immigrants, sometimes poor and uncul- 
 tured, but with few exceptions, ardent in their faith and 
 ready to incur privations and to make sacrifices in 
 upholding it. 
 
 It is alleged that foreign members are over-fond 
 of quarrelling about petty affairs. Is not this a racial
 
 failing dating from the days of our sojourn in Egypt '? 
 When Moses went forth to look upon the burdens of 
 his brethren, we are told, " behold two men of the 
 Hebrews strove together. "* And this failing has 
 been fostered rather than repressed by the degradation 
 and persecution the Israelite had to endure during 
 many centuries and in many lands, when Kehilla 
 politics became his only amusement and distraction. 
 But we know that this unlovely disposition makes 
 " for our shame among our enemies." 
 
 "WHAT IS IT TO ME?" 
 
 Dare we then fold our hands and say, We cannot 
 help this ? We have sufficient to do here in London ; 
 we cannot trouble ourselves about the country. An 
 ancient legend relates, that a sage once saw Elijah the 
 prophet in a vision, and enquired of him as to the 
 cause which had led to the destruction of the holy 
 temple. And the prophet rejoined, " What is it to 
 me ?'' And when the sage awoke at early morn he was 
 greatly perturbed, and asked himself, Could these 
 words have been spoken by the godly man whose 
 heart was enkindled with fiery enthusiam for his God 
 and his people ? And the Rabbi bethought himself, and 
 
 -- Exodus ii., 13.
 
 JO 
 
 the true meaning of the reply flashed upon him. These 
 words, " What is it to me ? " this base selfishness, this 
 haughty aloofness had compassed the downfall of the 
 nation. 
 
 OUR DUTY TO OUR PROVINCIAL BRETHREN. 
 
 This is not the attitude which the word of God 
 approves. We read in to-day's Sedra, that when the 
 sons of Reuben and Gad pleaded, that solicitude for their 
 children and the care of their multitudinous flocks 
 and herds would not permit them to join their brethren 
 in the imperding campaign, Moses warmly remon- 
 strated with them, saying : "Shall your brethren go to 
 war, and shall ye sit here ?" : ' : so that, stung to the quick 
 by this reproach, they resolved. 
 
 m 'JIN -.fc'jo nan^nb 'n *&h N^V p"?n hi Tny "payi 
 
 "And thy servants will pass over, every man armed 
 for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord 
 saith." 
 
 What then is our duty to our brethren outside 
 the Metropolitan area ? The worthy Minister of the 
 Birmingham Congregation, in an article on Provincial 
 Judaism, contributed td 'the Jubilee Number of the 
 
 s xxxii. 6.
 
 II 
 
 "Jewish Chronicle, "* laments the fact that the country 
 congregations stand apart, each solitary and alone. 
 He proceeds to ask, "How long shall this isolation con- 
 tinue ? Look at the great Dissenting bodies in this 
 country with their admirable organization, their close 
 union, their annual conferences, their great common 
 funds for great common objects, ministerial activity, 
 educational work, missionary effort. While the Jewish 
 body only, consists of fractions, each struggling as best 
 it may." And he asks, why the United Synagogue, 
 instead of embracing twelve Metropolitan Congrega- 
 tions, should not, with a more elastic constitution, 
 include every congregation in the British Empire. This 
 is an ideal, which, I fear, is at present unattainable. But 
 there are capable men in our midst who would desire 
 such closer union accomplished by means of the Board 
 of Deputies of British Jews, a body, the constitution 
 of which provides for the representation of every com- 
 munity in the British Empire. 
 
 THE PROVINCIAL MINISTERS' FUND. 
 
 There is, however, one organization, which, if 
 its scope were widened and enlarged, might fitly under- 
 take this task. The Provincial Ministers' Fund has been 
 founded t assist the smaller country Congregations 
 
 ---November 13, 1891.-
 
 12 
 
 in providing a sufficient income for their Ministers. 
 Considering the small means at the disposal of the Com- 
 mittee, not more than ^"500 a year, it has proved itself 
 a powerful instrument for good. It enables less 
 prosperous congregations to obtain the services of 
 cultured Ministers, and sends them forth to preach 
 and teach periodically in the smallest and poorest 
 communities. But it needs ampler means so as to 
 render its work more systematic and comprehensive. 
 
 EXTENSION OF ITS WORK 
 
 I would suggest that the existing Committee be 
 strengthened by inviting representatives from the pro- 
 vinces to take part in its deliberations. It is ardently 
 to be desired that this body should charge itself with 
 greater powers and wider responsibilities. It should 
 inquire into the needs of the various communities that 
 invoke its help. It should afford counsel, smooth differ- 
 ences and give practical help in establishing and 
 maintaining the necessary religious, educa ional and 
 charitable institutions. I am well aware that the 
 carrying into effect of this project needs the utmost 
 caution, if we are to stimulate, and not to enfeeble, 
 local effort. But we happily possess men in our midst 
 able to cope with the complex problems which this 
 question presents..
 
 13 
 
 THE PROPOSED CONFERENCE OF WOMEN. 
 
 Meanwhile I gladly welcome every step by which 
 some union may be brought about between the 
 Metropolis and the country. I am glad to hear that 
 our London sisters intend inviting lady representatives 
 of each community in the United Kingdom to confer 
 with them in the spring of next year. The questions 
 that will engage them, I believe, are mainly in con- 
 nexion with social work, the more efficient care of the 
 poor and neglected, the training of the young 
 and kindred questions. When our women thus 
 claim their rightful share in the service of humanity 
 we may apply to them the Divine approval recorded 
 in the section recently read, "The daughters of 
 Zolophehad speak aright. " :: 
 
 NO DULL APATHY. 
 
 Aye, my brothers and sisters, if the house of 
 Israel is to occupy its rightful position before the world, 
 if prejudices are to be uprooted and slander silenced, 
 there must be no dull apathy, no frosty indifference, 
 no craven isolation. There must be a union of hands 
 and hearts. Each one of us must cheerfully bear his 
 burden of work, saying " And thy servant will pass 
 over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to 
 battle." And the Lord in His mercy will bless and 
 crown with success every honest effort put forth in His 
 name and in His cause. Amen. 
 
 ;: ~ Numoers xxvii., 7.
 
 A 000 066 297 3