BM 
 744 
 A237f 
 
 ADLER 
 
 FIDELITY TO THE DEAD
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 FIDELITY TO THE DEAD. 
 
 H Sermon 
 
 PREACHED 
 
 AT THE NEW SYNAGOGUE 
 
 ON 
 
 'S JW, FEBRUARY gth, 56551895, 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. DR. ABLER, 
 
 CHIEF RABBI. 
 
 bg Kequrst. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY WERTHEIMER, LEA & CO., 
 
 CIRCUS PLACE, LONDON WALL. 
 1895.
 
 FIDELITY TO THE DEAD, 
 
 H Sermon 
 
 PREACHED 
 
 AT THE NEW SYNAGOGUE 
 
 ON 
 
 'fl JW, FEBRUARY gtk, 56551895. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. DR. ABLER, 
 
 CHIEF RABBI. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY WERTHEIMER, LEA & CO., 
 
 CIRCUS PLACE, LONDON WALL. 
 1895.
 
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 FIDELITY TO THE DEAD. 
 
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 " And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him : for he had 
 straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will 
 surely visit you ; and ye shall carry up my bones away 
 hence with you." Exodus xiii. 19. 
 
 THE triumph of a victorious general was celebrated 
 in ancient Rome by a pageant of great pomp and 
 gorgeous splendour. There were to be seen trains 
 of carriages laden with spoils taken from the 
 conquered nation, gold and silver, arms and 
 weapons, statues, pictures, vases, precious stones, 
 elaborately wrought and richly embroidered stuffs, 
 every object which could be regarded as valuable 
 or curious. There followed bands of captives in 
 fetters, the white bulls destined for sacrifice with 
 gilded horns. And then there appeared the 
 general, attired in a gold embroidered robe, and 
 flowered tunic, sceptre in hand, his brow encircled 
 
 2071 604
 
 with a wreath of laurel, seated in a state chariot 
 drawn by richly caparisoned horses. A slave stood 
 behind him, holding a jewelled crown over his 
 head. The whole body of infantry followed in 
 marching order, their spears adorned with laurel, 
 shouting hymns of victory, singing the praises of 
 their great leader. 
 
 The time had come when Israel would have been 
 justified in celebrating such an imposing triumph. 
 The stubbornness of Pharaoh had, at last, been 
 broken ; the Egyptians could no longer lord it 
 over them. The children of Israel had quitted the 
 land of oppression with a high hand. They also 
 might hold aloft the rich spoils they had gathered, 
 the vessels of silver and of gold which their former 
 masters willingly gave unto them as a recompense 
 for the severe toil they had so long endured. 
 They also, no doubt, felt impelled to vaunt the 
 wisdom and heroism of their great leader. But 
 we hear naught of all this. One trophy only is 
 borne in this joyful march. As our text verse has 
 it : " And Moses took the bones of Joseph with 
 him : for he had straitly sworn the children of 
 Israel, saying, God will surely visit you ; and ye 
 shall carry up my bones away hence with you." 
 
 The Talmud comments upon this verse as 
 follows : * " Come and learn from this act, how 
 dear was the fulfilment of duty unto Moses our 
 Sotah, p. 13.
 
 5 
 
 teacher. All Israel were engaged in the collection 
 of treasure, but Moses bethought himself to carry 
 out the last dying wish to which Joseph had given 
 utterance hundreds of years before. Joseph had 
 now been dead for two centuries. But during all 
 these years the tradition of his dying charge had 
 been faithfully preserved. And in the hour of 
 greatest exultation, when the desire of his life had 
 been realised, when his beloved people had at last 
 been set free, Moses rejoices in being able to carry 
 out this death-bed injunction, proving in this, as 
 he did in all the other acts of his life, that the 
 maxim of the sage king truly applied to him, 
 rri?& rrj9? rft D5q (Proverbs x. 8), that " he who is 
 wise in heart, he that is truly pious and virtuous, 
 willingly receives Commandments," and rejoices 
 in the fulfilment of duty. He proves his anxiety 
 to walk in the ways of the Lord, who " keepeth 
 faithfulness unto those who sleep in the dust." 
 
 With what a wealth of admonition is this action 
 of our great teacher charged ! Oh that we would 
 learn from his example to practise faithfulness to 
 the dead, faithfulness to their memory, their 
 example, their strivings and their hopes ! 
 
 Happily Israel has never been entirely failing in 
 such loyalty. Fidelity to the dead has prompted 
 the reverence which the Israelite entertains for the 
 hallowed soil wherein the remains of our dear 
 kinsfolk are enshrined. It has given rise to the
 
 various observances prescribed for the time of 
 mourning, the period of the ^^, the seven 
 days during which we withdraw from our ordinary 
 avocations, the C^tpbtp, the thirty days and the 
 twelve months during which we keep aloof from 
 every vain distraction, the JaJirseit, the anniversary 
 of death, and the rriBEJ? rn^n, when on the 
 latter days of our festivals and on the Day of 
 Atonement we lovingly remember our departed. 
 We then recall, wil h fervent gratitude, the memory 
 of our beloved parents, and of our dear kinsfolk who 
 have gone to their eternal rest, all that they have 
 done, all that they have suffered for us, the wealth 
 of affectionate care and solicitude they lavished 
 upon us. And as we thus dwell upon their words 
 and actions, their memory is revived within our 
 hearts. 
 
 And the idea of their life does sweetly creep 
 
 Into our study of imagination, 
 
 And every lovely organ of their life 
 
 Does come apparelled in more precious habit, 
 
 More moving, delicate and full of life, 
 
 Into the eye and prospect of our soul-;, 
 
 Than when they lived indeed. 
 
 I have led your thoughts into this groove, for I 
 desire to pay my tribute of friendship to the 
 memory of your lamented Minister and Secretary. 
 I can bear emphatic testimony to the zeal and 
 fidelity with which he served this congregation. 
 He dearly loved this Synagogue and strove
 
 earnestly for its success. The loss of a member 
 was a personal concern, the gain of a new seat- 
 holder a personal joy to him. How staunch and 
 loyal was he in his friendships, ever frank, fearless 
 and outspoken ! How resignedly did he bear the 
 sufferings that shortened his life ! On his death-bed 
 he loved to hold converse touching the welfare of 
 the place of worship in whose precincts he dwelt, 
 touching the fortunes of the community to which 
 he was so deeply attached, thus proving that 
 
 To the latest breath 
 He felt his ruling passion strong in death. 
 
 May God remember his actions for good, and bind 
 up his soul in the bond of life ! 
 
 But I would ask you, dear congregants, to testify 
 your regard for this zealous servant of this house 
 of God by showing faithfulness to his life's work. 
 Although this is termed the New Synagogue, 140 
 years have elapsed since its establishment. It was 
 denoted New to distinguish it from the Great and 
 Hambro' Synagogues which had been previously 
 built. It was originally founded in Leadenhall 
 Street in the year 5517 0757)* on the site occupied 
 subsequently by Sussex Hall. The congregation 
 
 The date 5520 (1760) given in the Introduction to the 
 Bye-laws of the Constituents of the United Synagogue is 
 evidently incorrect, as proved by the "Account of the 
 ceremonial of laying the Foundation Stone of the intended 
 New Synagogue," published in 1837.
 
 8 
 
 prospered and increased rapidly, so that it was 
 found necessary to erect a more spacious structure. 
 The Foundation Stone of this edifice, one of the 
 fairest, if not the fairest of the Metropolitan 
 Synagogues, was laid by the Rev. Dr. Solomon 
 Hirschel, on Wednesday, 5th lyar, 5597 (May 
 loth, 1837). The feeling words spoken, and the 
 brief but impressive prayer offered up by the 
 venerable Chief Rabbi, who was then already far 
 advanced in years, have been preserved. Zealous 
 communal workers have worshipped here David 
 Salamons, the first Jewish Lord Mayor, a doughty 
 champion in the struggle for emancipation, 
 Sampson Lucas, one of the founders and one of 
 the earliest presidents of the United Synagogue. 
 
 But not many years after the consecration of 
 this building the migration to the West com- 
 menced, and with the removal of the more wealthy 
 members, the fortunes of this house began to 
 wane a decadence which gave your late secre- 
 tary many a heart-ache. And now it cannot 
 be denied that a crisis has been reached in the 
 fortunes of this congregation. And I say, unhesi- 
 tatingly, it depends upon you, and you alone, 
 members of this congregation, how this crisis 
 is to terminate. If you will view its conditions 
 with neglect and coldness, with lukewarm in- 
 ertness, then, I say, better to close this 
 building forthwith than to suffer it to languish
 
 and drag on an inglorious existence. And indeed, 
 if the East were depleted of all its Jewish in- 
 dwellers, then I would maintain that closure would 
 be the one inevitable termination of the crisis. 
 But, seeing that tens of thousands of our brethren 
 still reside within a short distance of this spot, 
 it seems to me that the time for removing this 
 edifice to another part of the metropolis has not 
 yet arrived, if only the managers will succeed in 
 attracting members to worship in this Synagogue 
 and to support it with their willing offerings. 
 
 How is this end to be accomplished ? We have 
 heard this day the words of Moses' song 
 vn^vbNm, "This is my God, I will glorify 
 Him," or, as this last verb may also be rendered, 
 " I will erect a habitation unto Him." The great 
 purpose of our assembling for divine worship is 
 to recall us again and again from the cankering 
 anxieties and searing frets of earth by communion 
 with God, by sincere thanksgiving, by humble 
 and heartfelt adoration. The sanctuary should 
 become a quiet resting-place amid the heat and 
 burden of this great city, its wearing labour and 
 its strife of tongues. The services should be even 
 like a cup of cold water to the thirsty, dusty 
 wanderer in the desert, even like unto the shadow 
 of a great rock in a weary land. 
 
 But if divine worship here is to subserve this 
 high ideal, the services must be conducted in a
 
 10 
 
 reverential, dignified fashion, with due order and 
 decorum. The voice of conversation must be 
 sternly repressed, and everything banished that 
 might impair the solemnity of the service. And 
 with this view, it is essentially needed that the 
 voice of earnest admonition and of loving exhor- 
 tation should resound within these walls, that 
 systematic religious teaching be imparted to 
 yourselves and to your children. It therefore 
 seems to me that the official, whom you are called 
 upon shortly to select, should not merely be a 
 Reader gifted with a tuneful voice, not a mere 
 accountant with the pen of a ready writer, but a 
 duly trained and worthily equipped minister of 
 God. A minister qualified to expound the 
 written and traditional law. A minister fired 
 with enthusiasm, who will keep alive in your hearts 
 the thought of God, who will rebuke vice, and 
 inspire effort, who will awaken slumbering con- 
 sciences and keep before you the ideals of 
 righteousness and of piety, the memory of death, 
 judgment and eternity. A minister, who will not 
 content himself with addressing you from the 
 pulpit, but who will go up and down among the 
 members of his flock, sympathising with their joys 
 and sustaining them in their sorrows. A minister 
 who will rejoice to bring your children nearer to 
 God, who will labour actively among the ignorant 
 and the vicious, and who will preach by means of
 
 II 
 
 his life, by his unsleeping energy, his self-denying 
 modesty and his single-minded humility. 
 
 If you will act on the lines of the counsel, which 
 I have endeavoured thus briefly and imperfectly to 
 lay before you, then you may hope that prosperity 
 will again, by Divine blessing, smile upon your 
 Synagogue. Not that prosperity only, which 
 depends on a big roll of membership, on largeness 
 of income, on the amount of surplus paid into the 
 common fund ; but the success which is evidenced 
 in the largeness of the number of attendants at 
 your Sabbath services, shown above all in the Jewish 
 spirit that pervades the congregants, the ready 
 willingness with which you will make sacrifices for 
 the sake of your religion, the sanctity you attach to 
 Sabbath and festivals, your readiness to dedicate 
 yourselves to the great work which Judaism has 
 still to accomplish on earth, your fidelity to the 
 memory of your dead, their hopes and their 
 strivings. 
 
 Almighty and all-merciful God ! We pray unto 
 Thee for this place of worship which is dedicated 
 unto Thy glory. May there be peace within its 
 walls, and devotion in the hearts of the con- 
 gregants thereof. Vouchsafe Thy spirit a spirit 
 of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and of 
 godly fear unto the wardens and managers of 
 this congregation, so that they may administer
 
 12 
 
 its affairs with zeal and discretion. Grant Thy 
 heavenly grace unto the ministers, that they may 
 lead those who are assembled here in the path of 
 piety and righteousness. Inspire the worshippers 
 with fervour, so that they may exclaim, even as 
 did our fathers of old, ^ribtf n>3 n nitSa rtV], 
 " We will not forsake the house of our God," 
 we will toil for the prosperity of our Synagogue, 
 we will join in bearing the burdens of the com- 
 munity, we will seek the welfare of all our 
 brethren in this great city. To this end vouchsafe, 
 O Lord, Thy heavenly benediction. The Lord 
 bless you and and keep you. May the Lord 
 cause his face to shine upon you, and be gracious 
 unto you. May the Lord turn his countenance 
 unto you, and give you peace. Amen. 
 
 WERTHEIMER, LEA & Co., Printers, Circus Place, London Wall.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 DISCHARGE-URL 
 AU6 2 5 1978 
 
 41584
 
 001257600 5