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 SERMON PREACHED 
 AT BAYSWATER SYN 
 AGOGUE
 
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 SERAION 
 
 PREACHED 
 
 AT 
 
 THE BAYSWATER SYXAC.OGUE, 
 
 On the Retirement of 
 
 THE \l\l\ . ISAAC SAMUEL, 
 
 FEBRUARY '21, 1914—5674, 
 
 BY THE RABBI, 
 
 Professor Hermann Gollancz, U.Lit 
 
 ' Prinlai by desire of the Buard oj Mana'^cmcnt] 
 ■r^' T'^i:'-) iNb'2 nS^ 'd:n r[ir\ v.-ci 
 
 I.ONUON : 
 .\l,l!<i:i) J. ISAACS cV SONS, 
 
 I'nnl'jrs, 
 16-'J(), ( .\.M(j.MiM Si Ki 1. 1 , !■; ( 
 191 1
 
 P5 
 
 A JUBILEE OF SERVICE. 
 
 : 7112 ^n'^c*^ y:^h i«^^ nh'C ''r:« n:n 
 
 " Behold, I send an angel before thee to keep thee on 
 the way." {Exodus XXIII. , 20.) 
 
 Amid the mass of material for reflection contained in 
 the Sabbath portion which we have read to-day, the note 
 struck in the words of our text is peculiarly suggestive and 
 personal. But first the question : — Are we to take these 
 words literally or metaphorically ? 
 
 I certainly do not propose on the present occasion to 
 give you a dissertation on Angelology or on Spiritualism ; 
 but I would simply state that we cannot in this as in many 
 other connexions in this mysterious and material world of 
 ours deny the existence of certain phenomena only because 
 we cannot understand them. We, with our limited finite 
 existence, and consequently with our limited faculties of 
 omprehension, are unable to grasp much of that which is 
 round about us and meets our eye daily. 
 
 " There are more things in heaven and earth 
 Than arc dreamt of in your philosophy." 
 
 Would you believe, dear friends, that we ha\'e in this 
 very congregation a member, ninety years old, who has 
 frequently told me in conversation that he is perfectly 
 convinced that he has such an angel, such a jjrotccting 
 genius, accompanying him through life, preserving him on 
 the way and helping him in much that the huuian subject 
 requires help ? 
 
 21 178'! S
 
 Do you think that I should feel inclined to quarrel 
 with that man ? Do you think I would wish to shake 
 his belief in a doctrine which has helped him to go through 
 the vicissitudes of life with such equanimity and peace of 
 mind, that he has been able to reach his venerable age ? 
 
 Let us not laugh or scoff at things we understand not : 
 but let us rather understand how weak and fleeting we are, 
 and how little it is that we really do know. 
 
 But the words of our text will certainly appeal to ail 
 in their metaphorical meaning. " Behold, I send an angel 
 before thee to keep thee on the way." 
 
 Who, in life, in every stage of it, in every department 
 of human industry, does not require the support pointed 
 to in these words ? 
 
 The helpless babe, the joy of its parents, would perish 
 without this Divine protection sent from on high to keep 
 it on the way. The boy or girl at school, the growing youth, 
 requires it ; the young men at our public schools and colleges 
 often succumb, because they heed not ' the angel sent before 
 them to keep them on the way.' 
 
 In the proper provision made for the after-care of the 
 children of the toiling and industrial classes, we recognise 
 the angel sent before them to keep them clean and healthy, 
 physically and morally, on the way of life ; to preserve and 
 keep them from swelling the crowds of those whom vice 
 and wickedness have degraded to the low level of the brute. 
 
 A young man, blessed with the wherewithal to found a 
 home of his own, is about to unite his fortunes with that of 
 a happy maiden. Will his possessions however great, will 
 her attractions however fair, secure to them that satisfaction, 
 that hope, that faith, that joy which is to hold out to them 
 the best prospects in their future career, unless they can be 
 convinced of the force and truth of the promise held out 
 to every child of man : — " Behold I send an angel before 
 thee, to keep thee on the way." 
 
 And the man of commerce or the professional worker !
 
 Something more than mere human effort is required 
 to ply the calHng satisfactorily and securely. The demands 
 are at times so exacting, the temptations are so great ; 
 the course of strict honest}'' is betimes threatened ; even 
 strong moral fibre is taxed to the utmost ; and where would 
 they be if they had not the additional support derived from 
 a source outside themselves, — unless they were helped in 
 their resolves to keep hands clean and hearts pure ' by the 
 angel sent before them to keep them on the way.' 
 
 Speaking of professional men, surely in any 
 denomination, certainly in our own, the preacher, for 
 example, could not work without that element which is 
 so beautifully termed by our Sages n"'dc:}t Nni?"'"^D 
 " the support of Heaven." 
 
 He cannot always say pleasant things to his hearers ; 
 in the discharge of his duty he has boldly and fearlessly 
 to utter unpalatable truths ; he dare not, he will not, cry 
 peace, when there is no peace ; he must endeavour to 
 reclaim a soul-less or refractory generation back to the 
 paths of Judaism, to kindle in their cold and unfeeling 
 hearts some little flame of pride in their race and religion, 
 some thrill of historic sense beating for the trials and 
 triumphs of our people in the past, for brightening prospects 
 and better national work in the future. And for all this 
 endeavour, his own endowments, even faithfully and fully 
 given, would never suffice ; his own strength and courage, 
 however strong, would fail him ; so that, in the words of 
 Moses, our Teacher, he might occasionally exclaim in 
 despair " Wherefore hast Thou, O God, sent me ? ' rroS 
 "'DnnStz? HT ' ' What am I able to effect by my mission ? ' ' 
 He would be unable to proceed, were it not that he 
 were buoyed up by the consoling message of old ■'Ddn n^n 
 -[■ni IicdS T'IidS inSd nhtD " Behold " (says God) " I send 
 an angel before thee to keep thee on the way. 
 
 Aye, dear friends, the worker in every part of God's 
 vineyard looks back with grateful emotion to this blessing 
 of Divine Support. He could never have started his work 
 without it; he can never lay it down without realising 
 its value.
 
 We are thinking to-day of an event ol rare occurrence 
 in the annals of our community, in the annals of any 
 community ; and if I limit my remarks on this head to a 
 few sentences, it is for two reasons : in the first place, 
 because our friend and colleague, the respected and loved 
 Chazan of this Congregation, is happily present here to-day, 
 officiating as has been his wont for the last 50 years, 
 officiating to-day with almost the same vigour as when 
 he was a candidate for the post, and I wish to spare his 
 feelings as much as possible on this memorable occasion 
 when he is about to retire from active work ; and, secondly, 
 T shall be brief, because in the words of our Wise Men of old 
 1"*DD1 a~TN hw ^T^1\2 n!:pQ " 'Tis meet to speak but part of 
 a man's praise in his presence." 
 
 Furthermore, not very long ago on the occasion of his 
 80th birthda}^ I gave expression to the feelings entertained 
 towards him, both b^^ the members of this congregation 
 and the community generally. For I may say that he has 
 endeared himself not alone to the Bayswater Synagogue 
 but to the larger congregation beyond its walls. 
 
 The simple fact that a man has been associated as an 
 official with one Synagogue for upwards of 50 years, speaks 
 for itself. Of the various thoughts which necessarily crowd 
 in upon his mind on the present occasion, I will not say a 
 single word, except this, that no one more than he has 
 cause to appreciate the force of those all-sustaining words : 
 ' Behold, I send an angel before thee to keep thee on the 
 way.' 
 
 As far as we ourselves are concerned, the present 
 occasion reminds us that from this day forward and in the 
 days to come, it will be impossible to mention Bayswater 
 Synagogue without calling to mind with feelings of deep 
 respect and affection the name of the Reverend Isaac Samuel 
 who, for a full half-century from its foundation, conducted 
 the Services of this Congregation in the capacity of First 
 Reader. No, not as Reader (the word itself is stupid, 
 and unmeaning as a Jewish designation), I repeat, not as 
 Reader would he have won the admiration of those who 
 deputed him ; for not merely did he read the Services, 
 but he felt them, and gave them with feeling.
 
 'Tis not singing alone, 'tis not the t\me alone, that 
 has value in the recital of our liturgy. Not the finesi 
 voice will produce the faintest true element in prayer, 
 unless there co-exist a knowledge of the meaning of the 
 words uttered ; unless a stream of feeling well forth from 
 the heart of the Leader in prayer, and help to evoke in 
 the hearts of the worshippers the corresponding reverential 
 and prayerful spirit. 
 
 This our veteran friend has succeeded in doing ; and 
 he has done a great deal more ; for in speaking of his other 
 labours in the congregation and in the community at large, 
 no greater praise can be attributed to him than this, that 
 in all he did, he belonged to the class of workers termed in 
 Hebrew phraseology riDlCNn -i"il!i ''Dn!^! D'^pDli?© ■'Q they who 
 occupv themselves with the wants of the Congregation faith- 
 fully, and in all faithfulness — with honesty and integrity 
 
 Such service deserves, indeed, the reward of leisure 
 and retirement. No, he is not leaving us to-day ; but as 
 the valiant and venerable hero, he is passing from Active 
 Service on to the Retired List 
 
 Our wishes, deep and sincere, go with him. In the name 
 of this Congregation we trust that he may be ' blessed in 
 his going forth.' 
 
 And so, dear friends, we end as we began. We ask 
 not whether there are ' angels ' or what ' angels" arc ; 
 suffice it to know, that — 
 
 ' Man is his own star, and the soul that can 
 
 Render an honest and a perfect man 
 
 Commands all light, all influence, all fate. 
 
 Nothing to him falls early, or too late. 
 
 Our acts our angels are, or good or ill. 
 
 Our fatal shadows that walk by us still.' 
 
 And as, in the words of the Psalmist, ' our days * 
 prolonged though they may be, ' are as a passing shadow,' it 
 behoves us, amid every condition of life, to raise on high 
 the one continuous prayer yih N^lDi >Tin p "iD'^O"^ ni^oS 
 tnoDn "O Lord, so teach us to number (;nr days, that we 
 may get us a heart of wisdom."
 
 On this eventful occasion, however, let us offer up 
 another prayer ; let us offer up on behalf of our veteran 
 co-worker, the following Special Prayer : — 
 
 n«m miin:j nnnnn im^ -j-^n'm pin nrrzn n^nn 
 
 n^i:i>n n^^'ch nrh'j in^cn 1U?^^2^ : in-n-^^i ait^ 
 M2h ^pT2:^>'2'2 ]2 ,jiir, 'C')ipn hr\pn "72 1:10 Ti^nn 
 pi^^ ^:-r^ n^n ^vriipn cvn i:n^cn 7ii:r.>:i i::i:nn ^'•c: 
 vm:i:-n V72^ -|n^^^ 'n : iron ""in mtri:: ^2 lorm My2. h^ 
 n^m n^cn i:*E::n n:i» mt^i^ inr^n inir^u?''") irr^nn
 
 [Translation.] 
 
 May He who blessed our fathers, Abraham, Isaac and 
 Jacob, bless 
 
 the REVEREND ISAAC SAMUEL, 
 
 First Chazan and accredited officer of our Congregation, 
 who, by the help of God, has reached this season of his 
 jubilee, that is, the completion of 50 years' service that he 
 has served in this Synagogue. The Lord hath blessed him 
 ' with strength,' and the time for the rest and quietude of 
 retirement has come for him. Respected and loved is he 
 by all his friends and acquaintances, for all his days he 
 attended faithfully to the duties of office and the wants of 
 the Congregation ; he sought the welfare of men and 
 pursued it. 
 
 And as his prayer like ' the continual offering ' was wont 
 to rise to Heaven on behalf of this whole Congregation, 
 thus from the very depths of our hearts do we, on this 
 Sacred Day, lay our supplication and pour forth our prayer 
 before the Lord of All on his behalf and on behalf of all 
 the members of his household. 
 
 May the Lord lengthen his days in our midst, preserve 
 him, and vouchsafe unto him the merit of witnessing yet 
 much happiness with cheerful spirit and joyous heart. 
 Selah ! 
 
 " Blessed be thou," m}^ friend, " in thy going out." 
 
 A men !
 
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