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 135 
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 1897
 
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 of S£rm/)nS' ded^^^^ttne. 
 NORTH LONDON SYNAGOOUK 
 
 H?9. 
 
 A SERMON 
 
 PREACHED AT THE 
 
 NORTH LONDON SYNAGOGUE 
 
 Sabbath June Z6'^ 5657-1897 
 
 BY THE 
 
 CHIEF RABBI 
 
 
 $;v,. Printed for ihe Wardens of 
 
 FOR PRIVATE
 
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 ^ 
 
 
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 The Library 
 University of California, Los Angeles 
 
 The gift of Mrs. Cummings, 1 963
 
 THE JEWS DURING THE 
 VICTORIAN ERA. 
 
 A SERMON 
 
 PREACHED AT THE 
 
 NORTH LONDON SYNAGOGUE 
 
 ON 
 
 SABBATH, JUNE 26th, 5657-1897. 
 
 15 V THE 
 
 Very Rev. Dr. ADLER, Chief Rabbi. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 ALFRED J. ISAACS & SONS, 
 
 16, Camomile Street, and 19, Bury Street, E.C.
 
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 P5 
 
 209698.')
 
 n^x D.p^p^p \^ns.i D.???^ MriwS n-inn wX^i oris Dn^b'yi 
 
 " And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that 
 you may look upon it, and remember all the 
 commandments of the Lord, and do them ; and 
 that ye seek not after your own heart and your 
 own eye, after which ye use to go astray. That ye 
 may remember, and do all my commandments, 
 and be holy unto your God." — NUMB. xv. 39, 40.
 
 THE 
 
 JEWS DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA 
 
 On the Thanksgiving Day, celebrated in our 
 Synagogues with much outward pomp, but, I 
 hope, also with sincere inward devotion, the 
 preachers dwelt primarily on the wondrous pro- 
 gress and expansion of the Empire during the 
 reign of our beloved Queen — a reign rich in 
 achievement and fruitful in promise beyond any 
 other. It is meet that to-day I should ask you, 
 my dear Brethren, at this great and memorable 
 turning point in English history, to reflect with me 
 on the position occupied by Anglo-Judaism during 
 the Victorian Era, tJie ideals tve should pursue, and 
 the perils ive should avoid. 
 
 There is no need for me to dwell at any length 
 on the progress wc have achieved during the 
 present reign. The Jewish Press has published a 
 series of articles, in which this theme has been 
 ably and exhaustively handled. The contrast 
 presented between our condition in the year when 
 Her Majesty ascended the throne and our position 
 at this Jubilee is indeed striking and suggestive.
 
 In 1837 the Jews of the United Kingdom scarcely 
 numbered more than 25,000, the great bulk of 
 whom were Londoners, and the rest scattered in 
 Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol and a 
 few other towns. There were then not more than 
 six synagogues in London. Almost all the 
 learned professions were closed to us. Even in 
 trade and commerce many restrictions existed. 
 No Jew could occupy a post of trust in the 
 municipality or the state. How mighty a change 
 has been effected ! The number of Jews in the 
 United Kingdom is probably not below 150,000. 
 They no longer confine themselves to a single 
 district, but have spread over the whole Metropolis, 
 and wherever they settle they build a place of 
 worship. The number of synagogues in the 
 Metropolis is not less than fifty. In addition to 
 these there are at least one hundred and twenty in 
 the British Empire. I have myself, since the 
 time that Rabbinical duties devolved upon me, 
 consecrated as many as forty houses of prayer. 
 There are but few of these places of worship which 
 are without regular and systematic pulpit instruc- 
 tion. Every post of honour and responsibility has 
 been entrusted to the English Jew. He is no 
 longer regarded as an alien, but as an integral part 
 of the nation, and as closely identified with its
 
 interests as any other Englishman. He has 
 achieved distinguished success in the various 
 learned professions, in the senate, and at the 
 Universities, in science, art, and literature. We 
 have reason to pride ourselves on the efficient and 
 zealous administration of our places of worship, 
 our charities and schools. Our United Synagogue, 
 our Board of Guardians, our Religious Education 
 Board are organizations, which, while not free 
 from human imperfections, reflect the highest 
 credit on their founders and managers. An 
 earnest desire is manifested to provide for every 
 form of suffering and need. Thanks to the 
 whole-hearted generosity of the Baroness Clara de 
 Hirsch we shall soon possess in a salubrious part 
 of the country a Convalescent Home for sufferers 
 in the earlier stages of consumption. Within the 
 present year the foundation stone of a new Home 
 and Hospital for Incurables will be laid in South 
 Tottenham, and of a Home for our Deaf and 
 Dumb in Wandsworth. It is proposed to establish 
 a Jewish Dispensary ; and if it will be administered 
 on strictly provident lines the evils apprehended 
 from such an institution will not be realized, and 
 much good may be effected. I also earnestly 
 trust that at last strenuous endeavours are being 
 made, that the East End Scheme be no longer
 
 8 
 
 allowed to remain a dream, a plan and project, 
 but that our anxiety for the spiritual and moral 
 welfare of our foreign poor will assume a practical 
 and tangible shape. 
 
 But if we scan our internal status carefully 
 and with an unbiassed eye, can we aver that there 
 has been progress all along the line, and that there 
 is nothing but cause for jubilation and glad com- 
 placency? It is true, we cannot sufficiently 
 praise the self-sacrificing zeal with which a small 
 band of workers throw themselves heart and soul 
 into the administration of our institutions, cheer- 
 fully surrendering their scant hours of ease and 
 leisure. All honour to that inner circle of philan- 
 thropists who never weary of giving and toiling in 
 every good cause ! But where there is so much to 
 admire, is there not also much to deplore ? Is not 
 the number of workers and givers woefully out of 
 proportion to the muster-roll of the community ? 
 What grand things could be achieved, if, when 
 some good work has to be accomplished, there 
 would be no need for canvassing, soliciting and 
 persuading, if there would be no pleas, no evasions, 
 no refusals, if each one would feel himself stirred 
 to bring his offering for all manner of work which 
 the Lord has commanded — offerings of time, of 
 substance, and of loving and matured thought ?
 
 And if we examine our condition with a closer 
 scrutiny, can it be asserted that there is no weak- 
 ening in the tie that binds the Jew to his faith, 
 that there prevails no religious declension, no 
 inertness, no indifference? Are there not houses 
 of prayer in which the attendance of worshippers 
 on the Sabbath is woefully scanty ? In some 
 instances the abstention may be due to the syna- 
 gogue members imagining that the Divine worship 
 does not satisfy their spiritual cravings. But must 
 it not be confessed, that in most cases this absten- 
 tion is due to love of ease, and but too often to 
 the mournful circumstance that the heaven- 
 ordained Sabbath is no longer uniformly hallowed ? 
 The struggle for existence has become so fierce, 
 and our resistance to temptation is so feeble and 
 flaccid. 
 
 I have spoken of the Judaism of the synagogue. 
 How is it with the Judaism of the home ? How 
 stands it with the observance of those precepts 
 intended to preserve and maintain our religious 
 identity? How fares the education of our 
 children? It is well that religious classes have 
 been established in connection with many of our 
 synagogues. But do the children of all the 
 members attend those classes ? And even if they 
 participate in the instruction, can they gain an
 
 10 
 
 adequate knowledge of our prayers, our sacred 
 language and the Bible, of the principles and 
 duties of our faith within a few brief hours on the 
 Sunday morning ? And can the instruction, how- 
 ever intelligently imparted, exercise any abiding 
 influence if it is not aided by parental example 
 and influence — the indispensable teaching without 
 words — in the home ? What is the secret spring 
 of this religious decadence, the existence of which 
 cannot be gainsaid ? Is it not the deplorable fact 
 that there are too many in our midst who allow 
 themselves to be entirely absorbed by low, selfish 
 materialistic tendencies? Are there not those who 
 talk of nothing, think of nothing, care for nothing, 
 I might almost say pray for nothing, save money 
 all day long, valuing it chief among all earthly 
 goods, looking up to those who have won it as 
 though they were gods, measuring the sole success 
 of life by it, marrying their sons and their daughters 
 with main reference to it ? And why is it desired 
 that the stream of gold should pour into their 
 coffers ? Not as a means of beneficence, not for the 
 good it may accomplish, but because it will enable 
 the possessor and those about him to live in 
 luxury, to indulge their expensive tastes, to satisfy 
 every caprice, and to gratify every folly ? And thus 
 it comes that their whole mental horizon is bounded
 
 II 
 
 by the money-market and the card-table. Hence 
 arises an entire lack of ideal aims, a deplorable 
 absence of spiritual aspirations. I would not for a 
 moment class these people with being' bad and 
 vicious. But their action is based on an altogether 
 false view of life. I was conversing with a highly 
 respectable man the other day, who told me that 
 he was accustomed to spend his weekday evenings 
 as a rule in playing cards. I asked him, " Do you 
 think this the right way of spending all your 
 time ? " He answered, " We only live once." " Ah, 
 my friend ! " I replied, "just because we live only 
 once, do you not think that you should make a 
 worthier use of your leisure ? " 
 
 I have read of a great living physician who was 
 once attending the deathbed of a rich man, and it 
 seemed as if he could not die, for, with aimless and 
 nervous restlessness, his hands kept opening and 
 shutting over the counterpane. " What is the 
 matter?" the physician asked. " I know," the son 
 answered ; " every night, before he went to sleep, 
 my father liked to feel and handle some of his 
 banknotes." The son slipped a ten-pound note 
 into the old man's hand, and — feeling, handling, and 
 clutching it — he died. Ah, me ! Is it not terrible 
 that by their love of money men should deprive 
 themselves of all that makes life worth the living,
 
 12 
 
 health and happiness, should suffer their hearts to be 
 filled with passionate hopes and fears, their characters 
 and consciences to be sapped ? With all earnest- 
 ness and all affection I would exclaim to you 
 
 : nrj'irijA q^j: nm "^f^i^ D5"';\y *^nxi npnn^ nnx -n-inri iibi 
 
 " Ye shall not seek after your own heart and your 
 eyes, after which ye use to go astray." 
 
 The Scriptural passage from which this text 
 is taken is read twice in the ^'^'f rix''")p^ in the 
 Morning and the Evening Prayer. It is recited 
 aloud by the Chief Rabbi for the time being, and 
 there is ample justification for this practice, for we 
 may regard this text as the gist and quintessence 
 of the Torah, as containing, in a few pithy words, 
 the great message which it was the mission of 
 Israel to declare to the world. The voice that 
 comes from within our heart and conscience is a 
 most vivid and powerful reminder of God's 
 Presence and Will. But it does not always sound 
 with sufficient potency to make itself heard, and 
 we, weak mortals that we are, are apt to forget 
 and set at nought even the most momentous 
 duties, unless we are reminded of them from time 
 to time. The Divine Law has, therefore, insti- 
 tuted certain signs and mementos. And one of 
 them is the '""V^V — the fringes or tassels which
 
 13 
 
 we place on the J"ii2p5 l?5'l^^, and the TalHth. 
 And our text teaches us, with an emphasis that 
 cannot be mistaken, that the outward observance 
 of the precept is of no value unless it exercises a 
 5 great spiritual and absorbing moral influence. 
 " And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that you 
 may look upon it and remember all the com- 
 mandments of the Lord, and do them ; and that 
 ye seek not after your own hearts and your own 
 eyes, after which ye use to go astray." 
 
 There is one point on which the teachings of 
 Scripture, of all history and philosophy are in 
 accord, that man by his nature is inclined to evil. 
 n-\2V nimo nn mh) xry " The eye and the heart 
 are ever ready solicitors to sin." His heart whis- 
 pers to man " Walk in the ways of thy imagina- 
 tion and in the sight of thine eyes. Do whatever 
 thine own sweet will dictates. Acknowledge no 
 master save thine own desire, no other rule but 
 the gratification of every passion of the moment." 
 It was to conquer this tendency, to correct this 
 imperfection of our nature, to bridle our evil pro- 
 pensities, that God spake from Sinai, laying down 
 the eternal basis of the moral law. 
 
 This one grand doctrine permeates the whole 
 of Scripture from end to end. We pass from 
 prophet to prophet under every difference of cir-
 
 cumstance which a common soil and a common 
 language left possible, and we are not sensible of 
 any change of key. One deep monotone is heard 
 throughout their music. The God of Israel is a 
 God of holiness who demands righteousness and 
 holiness on the part of His creatures as the only 
 means of gaining His favour. 
 
 nnx x^N losj x!? Dnx Dn\s"ii 
 
 In every ordinance we fulfil we must recognise and 
 look upon Him who is our Ideal of Goodness and 
 Mercy and Truth, and seek to mould our little 
 lives by His example, in His image. We must 
 not make the acquisition of wealth nor the pursuit 
 of pleasure the end-all and the be-all of life, but 
 strive for high aims. We must find our delight in 
 knowing and in keeping the Law of God. And 
 this same consideration must govern us in the 
 training of our children. Their material success 
 must no longer be our paramount consideration. 
 W^e must induce them to devote their lives to the 
 service of the community, to that service which 
 pious Hannah viewed as the greatest privilege — the 
 ministering before the Lord. We must stimulate 
 them to devote themselves to professions, to 
 science, to productive industry, to art and litera- 
 ture, to work which requires the power of patient
 
 15 
 
 research. We must account it a higher honour if 
 a member of our faith has loyally and faithfully 
 served his community and his country, if he has 
 made the slightest addition to the sum total of 
 human knowledge, if he has won distinction in 
 a seat of learning, than if he had piled up untold 
 millions. Yes, my brethren, I appeal to you all, 
 young and old. " Do not seek after your eyes, and 
 your hearts after which ye use to go astray." Prove 
 yourselves servants of God, not slaves of Mammon, 
 faithful observers of the dictates of our religion, 
 not mere keen competitors in business with a con- 
 genital knack, as has been said, of getting the best 
 of a bargain. Prove that you have not aban- 
 doned that devotion to spiritual aims and ends 
 which once has been, and should for ever prove the 
 undying privilege, the highest glory and the purest 
 joy of every true Israelite, so that you may be 
 enabled to look forward to the future of Anglo- 
 Judaism without fear and misgiving. 
 
 My dear congregants. You will agree that it 
 would be unbecoming for me to bring my dis- 
 course to a close, without consecrating some 
 words of appreciation to the memory of an 
 Anglo-Jewish worthy, who has just passed away. 
 We gratefully acknowledge that the late Sir John
 
 i6 
 
 Simon did not seek after his own heart and his 
 own eyes, after which too many in our midst 
 allow themselves to go astray. He was ever 
 actuated by high ideal aims, and endowed with a 
 lofty scorn for all that savoured of mean and 
 sordid materialism. Fired, as he was, with a 
 devoted love for his race, he was unwearied in the 
 House of Commons in lifting up his eloquent 
 voice on behalf of our oppressed brethren. It 
 was mainly due to his initiative and organization, 
 aided by one very dear to him, that those 
 memorable meetings were held at the Mansion 
 House and in the Guildhall, at which the voice 
 of England pleaded with no uncertain sound on 
 behalf of the Jews of Roumania and Russia. 
 And when, nine years ago, failing health com- 
 pelled him to retire from Parliament, he addressed 
 those touching words to the Anglo-Jewish Asso- 
 ciation, " My heart, as you know, has always been 
 in the cause of our people, and it is a matter of 
 deep regret to me that I shall no longer be able 
 to advocate it in the House of Commons." May 
 his bright example be a spur and an incentive to 
 us all ! May his righteousness go before him, and 
 his memory abide as a blessing ! Amen.
 
 DS135.E5 A56 1897 
 
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