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At
Columbia, S. C
Came off on Sunday, 5th May, at the Odd Fellows’
Hall, and was well attended by ladies and gentlemen
of all religious denominations.
The school is in a most flourishing condition,
numbering thirty scholars, and is under the
direction of Miss Julia Mordecai, assisted by Mrs.
Charlotte Levin, Miss Rachel Barnett, and Mr. Jacob
Levin. The Columbia Daily Telegraph in noticing this
celebration says:
“The exercises were very interesting, and evinced
great assiduity and intelligence on the part of the
pupils, as well as the most praiseworthy diligence
on the part of their preceptors.
“After an opening prayer by the Directress, Miss
Julia Mordecai, to whose zeal and energy the school
is a great debtor, a hymn was sung by the third,
fourth, fifth, and sixth classes, and another by the
first and second. The examination of the different
classes—commencing with the lowest and rising to the
highest—on Bible questions, the Catechism, and Bible
history then commenced, and was continued for two
hours.
“It was most interesting to witness the readiness
and accuracy of the answers to the questions—ranging
over a wide surface—which was displayed by the
bright-eyed and quick-witted children of Israel, who
answered not by rote, but with a full understanding
of the subject, as the tenor of
<<146>>their replies
indicated. The mode of tuition pursued must have
been most judicious to have produced such results,
and it reflects great credit on the disinterested
ladies to whose gratuitous labours it was due.
“These exercises were succeeded by recitations of
selected Scriptural pieces—chiefly poetical—which
were given with a grace of manner, and beauty of
delivery truly remarkable. Many of the children
exhibited rare powers, and extraordinary aptitude,
for this difficult species of recitation, as the
effect produced in their auditors, and the
breathless silence with which they were listened to,
abundantly testified.
“We have never seen grouped together a collection of
more interesting and intelligent children on any
similar occasion, and a generous spirit of emulation
seems to animate the whole. It would be invidious to
discriminate, or indicate any marked preference for
particular individuals among these youthful
aspirants, and it might moreover create jealousies
among them; and we therefore forbear specifying the
names of those whose performances struck us most,
say, however, that talents of a high order, and the
germs of future excellence were displayed by several
of these young sons and daughters of Zion, whose
recitations could not easily be surpassed, if
equaled, by persons of much maturer years.
“After another hymn sung by the choir, with great
taste and feeling, an address was delivered by Mr.
Jacob Levin, displaying much research and
characterized by good sense and strong thought.
After paying a high but well-merited tribute to the
signal services and devoted zeal displayed by the
Directress, Miss Julia Mordecai, Mr. Levin proceeded
to sketch briefly the outlines of Hebrew faith
and creed, to dissipate the erroneous notions
commonly entertained of both.
“He performed his task in a manner which convinced
all who heard him of the conscientious and earnest
manner in which he had prepared himself to do
justice to it. and exhibited throughout that spirit
of charity and toleration, which binds the
professors of all creeds together as brethren in a
common humanity; all travelling the same goal though
taking different roads.”
The following discourse by Mr. Jacob Levin closed
the labours of the day:
Brethren, Friends, And Fellow-Citizens :
Assembled, as we are, to celebrate the return of the
natal day of the Israelite Sunday School, we exhibit
to the world our adherence to the command of God,
when He said, through his servant Moses, “These
words which I command ye, shall ye teach unto your
children when thou walkest by the way, when thou
sittest in thy house, when thou liest down, and when
thou risest up;” and is fully exemplified in the
examination you have this day witnessed; and,
although our teaching differs from that of our
Christian friends, yet all will acknowledge that
from a religious foundation in education youth must
imbibe all the nobler qualities attending a virtuous
life; to such a consummation do we use our zealous
efforts—to such a consummation will we strive to
lead them. We believe the seed has been properly
sown, and the tender branches now shooting forth
will, at maturity, produce good fruit.
I
have said we meet to celebrate the return of the
anniversary of <<147>>this institution, and whilst
doing so—whilst looking to futurity—let us not be
unmindful of the past; let us turn our serious
reflections to the occurrences of the past year.
Whilst other portions of our country have been
visited with pestilence and sorrow, the destroying
angel has passed us by, permitting, through the
tender mercies of a just and all-wise God, every
member of our little band who were present at the
last to witness this celebration. Have we not then
great cause for gratulation? Then, as accountable
beings, let us ask ourselves the question, Why have
we been thus preserved, whilst others have been so
unexpectedly removed from this stage of existence?
Is it that we have been more free from sin? That we
have adhered more strictly to the commands of the
Most High? That we are more virtuous, or better
citizens? No. It is to afford us a striking example
of what we are, and to what at last we must come. It
is to give us an opportunity for reflection, and to
prepare for the awful change impending over us; to
instruct us that the treasures of this world are but
borrowed to teach the distressed and needy to place
a proper reliance on Divine Wisdom to prove to them
that, as in by-gone days, the humble of God’s
creatures are in his keeping, and that He will not
desert them when He is looked to as the chief good.
Let us then, in the sincerity of our hearts, express
our sensibilities for the many mercies extended to
us for the past, and especially for the blessing we
this day enjoy; so that we may more fully understand
the obligation we owe to each other, as children of
the same heavenly Father, and that our daily acts
may tend to the farther advancement in the knowledge
of the duties we owe to our fellow-men, and a more
strict adherence to God’s command.
To
you, my little children, it is necessary I should
address a few remarks, “Teach diligently unto thy
children my words,” is God’s command. Of our obeying
this injunction, you have this day appeared as
living witnesses. It is true, we teach; but it is
also true, that our instruction should make an
impression on the heart. If, as good children, you
obey the commands of your parents and instructers,
with equal zeal should you strive to obey the
command of that invisible Being, who is the great
first Cause of our existence, our heavenly Father.
We instruct not only that you may know God’s
commands, but to make a lasting impression on your
mind and hear that in after years you may look back
with a proud recollection of your youthful days to
this institution, wherein you received that
instruction which is the groundwork and pillar of
all the nobler qualities of the heart.
<<148>>
To
you, highly esteemed lady, who directs the helm of
this youthful institution, it is proper I should
address a few words.
Six years have passed since, by your influence and
exertion, this institution was ushered into
existence. Six years have we witnessed with pride
your zealous devotion to a holy cause. As one of its
originators, you commenced the duties devolving on
you with a determined ardour, that could neither be
checked nor dismayed. Onward have you pressed; the
glory of God your motto, and the happiness of those
under your charge. Faithful to the cause you engaged
in, summer heat or chill winter’s storm has never
found you absent from the post of duty. The task you
undertook was difficult and responsible, yet how
cheerfully was it performed, amid the varied
contending circumstances necessarily attending the
instruction of youth. Happily, you had
combined patience to endure, perseverance to fulfil,
and zeal to perform. To soothe the passions, incline
the heart to God, and to cultivate the virtues in
its fullest term, was your great object.
Days, weeks, months, years have found you
equally devoted to the cause as when you first
began. Your recompense is the outpourings of all
grateful hearts, and the proud satisfaction of
exhibiting to the assembled throng this day a little
band, who have shown forth with a fervency
consequent on such a direction. It has swelled the
parent’s heart with gratitude to God, the assembly
with admiration.
And when, in after years, your little band will look
back to the days of their early instruction, they
will, with pride and grateful remembrance, record
your name as one of the founders of that institution
wherein they were taught the love of God, to
cultivate the virtues, and their duty to all
mankind.
I
have deemed it most fit and proper on the present
occasion to de fend publicly the principles and
doctrines so diligently and universally adhered to
by the Israelites. In doing so, I shall confine
myself solely to that defence, without casting any
reflection on those who differ with us on those
points. We seek not proselytes, and I regard the
liberty of conscience as too sacred a matter to
condemn others because they believe not as I do.
The fundamental principles of an Israelite’s faith
are thirteen, and as follows:
1.
We believe with a firm faith, that there exists a
Creator, who has created and governs all his
creatures, and that He alone has made, does make,
and will make all things that can, by any
possibility, have existence.
<<149>>
2.
We believe with a firm faith, that the Creator is
one, and there is no unity like Him in any manner,
and that He alone is our God, who was, who is, and
who will be.
3.
We believe with a firm faith, that the blessed
Creator is incorporeal; that no bodily infirmities,
or accidents, can reach Him, and that He can be
compared to nothing corporeal of which we can form
any idea.
4.
We believe with a firm faith, that the blessed
Creator is the first and the last.
5.
We believe with a firm faith, that the blessed
Creator is the only one to whom we should pray, and
there is besides him no being to whom we should
address our prayers.
6.
We believe with a firm faith, that all the words of
the prophets ire true.
7.
We believe with a firm faith, that the prophecy of
our teacher Moses is true, and that he was the chief
of all the wise men that lived before him, or will
come after him.
8.
We believe with a firm faith, that the whole law,
which we have now in our possession, is the same
which was given to our teacher Moses.
9.
We believe with a firm faith, that this law will not
be changed, or will there be another law from the
Creator.
10. We believe with a firm faith, the Creator knows
all the deeds of the sons of men, and all their
thoughts, as it is written, “He fashioneth all their
hearts and understandeth all their works.”
11. We believe with a firm faith, that the blessed
Creator will reward those who keep his commandments,
and punish those who transgess them.
12. We believe with a firm faith, in the coming of
the Messiah, and though he tarry, still do we daily
wait for his coming.
13. We believe with a firm faith, that the dead will
be called to life at the time it may be the will of
the blessed Creator, whose memorial be glorified for
everlasting and to all eternity.
On
this faith we rest our salvation, and I shall now
proceed to discuss the subjects selected, which are
three.
1st. Our belief in the unity of one God.
2d. Our disbelief in the fulfilment of the famous
prophecy contained the 49th chapter of Genesis. And
<<150>>
3d. Our ground for disbelief in the advent of the Saviour, and a firm belief in a Messiah to come.
I
am aware that the subjects selected would seem
delicate and difficult, particularly to one who has
not made the sacred volume his particular study; but
reason and common understanding fortify me in the
undertaking; and if I err, it is because I cannot
understand the plain and intelligible language in
which our Almighty Father thought proper to address
his people.
His decrees were not shrouded in mystery, but were
such as could be easily comprehended by all to whom
they were addressed.
That the Israelites were the first and only people
whom Almighty God gave laws for their government,
cannot be denied; neither can it be denied that He
held them under his own special care and favour, but
for disobedience they were punished.
Of
the fact that we are yet under his special care,
Holy Writ furnishes ample proof.
This sacred volume teaches us to acknowledge the
existence of a Being infinite in time, wisdom, and
greatness, existing before anything else existed,
the Governor of nature, and Preserver of all things.
Yet those who differ with us in faith, regard the
old things as done away, and believe it necessary
for our salvation to take up those of the new order,
or that else we are irretrievably lost. But satisfy
us that the Being who has created all things well,
changes with the rising and setting of the sun;
satisfy us that the order of creation which was
produced from chaos has been annulled; “that the sun
which was formed to give light by day, and the quiet
moon by night;” the starry firmament, with its
myriads of gems of light sending forth their beams
upon us, have ceased to perform the several courses
allotted them, and then, but only then, will we
believe that Israel’s God has also changed.
In
the first place, then, our belief in the existence
of but one God, and no other being equal to Him, is
derived from the conviction that we are bound to
consider, that however great or sublime anything may
be, it is directly derived from a first Cause, the
incomprehensible Spirit by whom all things were
first produced.
Whatever we contemplate, or wherever we seek for the
origin of anything, we must at last come to a point
beyond which our knowledge cannot go, and where we
must admit that our capacities are not sufficient to
allow us to dive farther into the undiscovered
recesses which are hidden from the ken of mortals.
With what powerful feeling does this truth then
present itself, that <<151>>however hidden from our
capacities the first great Cause may be, it is
perfectly uniform in its course; and there does not
exist any one thing which, from its regularity and
the harmony it has when compared with all others, is
not traceable to the same descent.
The Deity, then, truly termed the first Cause, is
uniform in all nature; is in harmony with himself,
and in concert with all creation.
Such being the case, I shall proceed to discuss the
subjects selected in a style and language that I
have been educated in, using no metaphor or flights
of fancy, but such only as I am able to comprehend
myself, in order that, by so doing, it will be
perfectly intelligible to all.
It
is then an impossibility for an Israelite to believe
in a plurality of the godhead. This Holy Book
(without which no religious denomination can
erect a foundation) instructs us to believe in
one God. “I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt have no
other god before Me,” cannot mean that one is more
than one, or that one is three, or that the Deity
divided itself, and occupied different situations,
was actuated by different wills, no matter how
charitable may be the object, whilst either portion
sought and accepted the sacrifice. Where a
submission is necessary there is no unity; where one
emanates from another there is no unity; one
means the same uniform and unchangeable being, and
this the God of Israel is—one in action, one in
might, and one in forgiveness, as He is alone in the
creation and government of the world.
On
the subject of unity, we find that the great Author
of all things cautioned his people, and reminded
them that He was a jealous God, visiting the sins of
those who forsook him upon their children unto the
third and fourth generation. That we are now
suffering for this act of disobedience in our
forsaking God, committed by our ancestors, our
present dispersed condition fully testifies.
And when we turn to Deuteronomy xi. 16, 17, we find
the caution repeated, and the consequence of
disobedience recorded in these words: “Take heed to
yourselves that your heart be not deceived, and ye
turn aside and serve other gods and worship them;
for then the Lord’s wrath will be kindled against
you, and He will shut up the heavens that there be
no more rain, and that the land yield not her fruit;
and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land
which the Lord giveth you.”
When we refer to Isaiah xliii. 1, 3, 11, 13, 15,
what stronger language can there be needed in
support of God’s unity? We read as follows: “And
now, thus saith the Lord thy Creator, O Jacob, and
thy former, O Israel, Fear not, for I have redeemed
thee. I have called thee by name; thou art mine.”
“For I am the Lord thy God, the
<<152>>Holy One of
Israel, thy Saviour; already from the beginning of
time I am the same, and no one can save out of my
hand. I am the Lord, and without me there is no
saviour.” There is no associate who can redeem when
the Lord punishes. “I will work, and who will
prevent me? I the Lord am your Holy One, the Creator
of Israel, your King, I am the Lord, and there is no
god beside me; that they may know from the rising of
the sun and from the west that there is none beside
me. I am the Lord, and there is none else.” “Ye are
my witnesses saith the Lord, and my servant whom I
have chosen, that you may know and believe me and
understand that I am He; before me there was no god
formed, neither shall there be after me.” “I am the
first and I am the last, end beside me there is no
God.”
We
also read in Deuteronomy iv. 39: “Know, therefore,
this day and consider it in thy heart, that the Lord
He is God in heaven above and upon the earth
beneath, there is none else.”
Proceeding to Jeremiah, we find (x. 10-12) the unity
of God thus described: “But the Lord is the true
God; He is the living God and everlasting King; at
his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations
shall not be able to abide his indignation. Thus
shall ye say to them, The gods that have not made
the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish
from the earth and from under the heavens. He hath
made the earth by his power, He hath established the
world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the
heavens by his discretion.”
Yet those who diner with us in faith, contend that
the old things are done away, and that it is
necessary for our salvation to believe in the new
order; but I will endeavour to show, in the progress
of this discourse, that according to our faith such
is not the case, and according to God’s holy word
his commands are perpetual, and will exist even
beyond the time of the coming of him who, as He hath
promised, shall gather his people from the north and
the south, the east and the west.
When I turn to the New Testament, I find Christ
himself instructing his disciples in the permanence
of the old law; for in his Sermon on the Mount, he
says: “I come not to destroy the law or the
prophets.” And again in the 12th chapter of Mark,
28th and 29th verses, we find him acknowledging the
unity of God, as follows: “And one of the scribes
came and asked of him, Which is the first
commandment of all? And Jesus answered, saying, The
first of all the commands are, Hear, O Israel, the
Lord our God is one Lord.” And again, in the 6th
chapter of Matthew, 24th verse: “No man can serve
two masters; for <153>>either he will hate the one or love the
other, or else he will hold to the one or reject the
other.”
By
reference to the sacred volume, we have the evidence
that the laws given, and covenants made with the
Israelites, were to be perpetual throughout all
generations; consequently they must be perpetually
obligatory upon them to observe and to do them.
Almighty God covenanted with our teacher Moses
(Exodus xxxi. 16, 17) as follows: “Wherefore the
children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath
throughout their generations for a perpetual
covenant. It is a sign between me and the children
of Israel for ever.”
In
Genesis xvii. 7, 9, we find the covenant with
Abraham as follows: “And I will establish my
covenant between me and thy seed after thee in their
generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a
God unto thee and thy seed after thee. Thou shalt
keep my covenant, therefore, and thy seed after thee
in their generations.”
Refer to the commandments regarding our festivals,
and you will invariably find this concluding
injunction: “And they shall be observed as a
perpetual covenant unto all your generations,” and
that soul who disregardeth these ordinances “shall
be cut off from among the people” of Israel.
When we turn again to Genesis ix. 9,12, what
stronger evidence can we have of the existence of
these perpetual covenants than that made with Noah?
Do we not almost daily, in the present age, witness
the sign which is the seal of this perpetual
covenant? “And God said unto Noah, This is the token
of the covenant which I make between me and you and
every living creature that is with you for perpetual
generations; I do set my bow in the cloud, and it
shall be for a token of a covenant between me and
the earth.” Certainly perpetual does not mean a
definite period. If then the laws and covenants were
not given for a definite time, we believe that it is
obligatory upon us to observe them to the end of
time.
With regard to God’s ordinances, we find, on
referring to Jeremiah xxxi., the following language:
“Thus saith the Lord which giveth the sun for a
light by day and the ordinances of the moon and of
the stars for a light by night, which divideth the
sea when the waves thereof roar, the Lord of Hosts
is his name, If these ordinances depart from before
me, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from
being a nation before me for ever. If heaven
above can be measured and the foundation of the
earth searched out beneath, then will I cast off
the seed of Israel for all they have done.”
<<154>>
Again, Isaiah liv.: “For a small moment have I
forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather
thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for
a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have
mercy upon thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. For
this is as the waters of Noah unto me; for as I have
sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over
the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be wroth
with thee or rebuke thee. For the mountains shall
depart and the hills be removed; but my kindness
shall not depart from thee, neither shall my
covenant of peace be removed, saith the Lord who
hath compassion on thee.”
I
could multiply texts from the sacred volume in proof
of the oneness of the Godhead, as we understand it;
but sufficient, however, for my purpose are those
already quoted, the object not being conviction but
defence.
I
now approach the second portion of this
discourse,—the prophecy contained in Genesis xlix,
10, which is so often referred to in order to prove
the error of our faith regarding our salvation.
The Israelitish people never did, nor do they at the
present day, deny that the prophecy alludes to their
promised Messiah; but they do contend that the
original Hebrew has been wrongly translated. We are
commanded in Deuteronomy iv. 2, as follows : “Ye
shall add nothing unto the word which I command you,
neither shall you diminish aught from it;” and we
cannot, therefore, admit as authority anything
beyond what is taught in the holy text.
The translation of the prophecy alluded to is in the
following words: “The sceptre shall not depart from
Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until
Shilo come, and unto him shall the gathering of the
people be.”
The translation given by us, as taken from the
original language, is in these words: “The sceptre
shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from
between his feet for ever; for Shilo shall come, and
unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” And
I will now proceed to show upon what grounds we base
our proof of the incorrectness of the translation.
This prophecy was delivered by Jacob before there
was any king in Judah. And the sceptre did depart
from Judah at the dethronement and captivity of
Zedekiah and the destruction of Jerusalem,
consequently if the sceptre was not to depart from
Judah until Shilo come, and unto him was the
gathering of the people to be, Shilo should have
<<155>>appeared before or at that time. As we have
no proof of this coming, we regard that portion of
the prophecy as not fulfilled.
Furthermore, the sceptre has never been restored to
Judah since the dethronement of Zedekiah, nor have
the people been gathered; on the contrary, they were
scattered to the four quarters of the globe since
that event took place, and they still remain so.
Now, the translation we give to the text
before us—“shall not depart for ever”—certainly
conveys a definite period, at which time, alone
known to Almighty God, the sceptre is again to be
restored; and for the support of our correctness in
forming this conclusion, we refer to Ezekiel xxi. 26
and 27, where we find the word of God thus expressed
in reference to that subject: “Thus saith the Lord
God, Remove the diadem. This shall not be the same.
I will overturn it, and it shall be no more until he
come, whose right it is and I will give it him;”
which proves decidedly that our view of Jacob’s
prediction is correct, since the Deity expressly
declares that from the dethronement of Zedekiah, the
crown of Judah should be no more till the coming of
the Messiah, to whom He would restore it. Can we
have any stronger support of our explanations than
that of Deity itself? And that this belief will
exist until he does come, we rely on the language
contained in Numbers iii. 19: “God is not a man that
he should lie, nor a son of man that he should
repent, Hath he said, and shall he not do it? or
hath he spoken, and will not fulfil it?”
Thus, then, our disbelief in the fulfilment of this
prediction extends only to the forced construction
given to the same; but we have a firm belief in its
entire fulfilment, when he comes to whom the sceptre
is to be restored, according to God’s holy word.
Centuries have passed away, and the belief of
Israelites is the same to-day that it was when our
ancestors journeyed in the wilderness; and though in
the dark ages of superstition, fanaticism, and
tyranny, rivers of blood have been made to flow from
their veins; though they were cast forth in poverty
and indigence; though they have suffered by the
sword, the rack, the gibbet, flaming fire, the den
of wild beasts, and every species of invention to
compel them to renounce their faith, we see them
hold out triumphantly as martyrs who sacrificed all
happiness here, property and life in defence of
their belief. The dark ages of intolerance and
persecution have passed away, and with grateful
hearts and swelling pride we are here, equals in
privilege, equals in devotion <<156>>to this great
republic with any other sect; here under that bright
banner, the lustre of whose stars has never been yet
tarnished with the breath of intolerance or
persecution, all are permitted to offer the
outpouring of their heart to the great Creator,
according to the dictates of their conscience.
Can he doubted when I say we look on our faith as a
holy one? a faith which armed our ancestors with
fortitude to endure all the tortures inflicted on
them; all the privations consequent on their
dispersion among the nations of the earth? If, then,
such is our faith, should the change of
circumstances, the improvement in the condition of
the people, cause us to regard the principles of our
faith with less devotion? Our obligation to observe
the commands promulgated on Sinai as less binding,
or our dependence on the Supreme Ruler of heaven and
earth as less in extent now than in the days of
terror and persecution?
I
now approach that subject which is the great
dividing line between the believer in Christianity
and that of Judaism, the Messiah. As I before
stated, we believe with a firm faith in the coming
of the Messiah, and I have endeavoured to show that
at his coming the sceptre shall be restored to
Judah. The circumstances which are to attend this
event are recorded in Isaiah ii. By referring to it,
we find that “in that day the mountain of the Lord’s
house shall be established in the tops of the
mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills,
and all the nations shall flow unto it, and many
peoples shall go and say, Come ye, let us go up to
the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of
Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will
walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth
the law and the word, of the Lord from Jerusalem.
And he shall judge among the nations, and shall
rebuke many peoples. And they shall beat their
swords into ploughshares, and their spears into
pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war any
more,” since peace is to reign for ever.
Until these predictions can be proved to us as
having been fulfilled, we must believe in a Messiah
to come. But have the implements of destruction been
turned into ploughshares? Have nations ceased to
learn the art of war? Has the sword of one nation
ceased to be lifted up against another? or has
peace, universal peace, ever reigned on earth since
these predictions went forth?
<<157>>
Pursuing the subject, we find in Isaiah xi., that in
that day, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf
and the young lion and the fatling together, and a
little child shall lead them; the cow and bear shall
feed, their young ones shall lie down together, and
the lion shall eat straw with the ox.” Where is the
fulfilment of these predictions to be found? Where
is the record of the ferocious natural feeling in
the beast creation having been subdued?
That these predictions will ultimately be fulfilled
we must believe, and then will all the nations be as
one, universal peace will reign on earth, one
language, one creed, and one faith will pervade all
the human family. Then will the Eternal fulfil his
promise contained in Isaiah xliii. 5, 7, 10, 11:
“Fear not, for I am with thee; I will bring thy seed
from the east, and gather them from the west; I will
say unto the north, Give up, and unto the south,
Keep not back; bring my sons from far, and my
daughters from the ends of the earth, even every one
who is called by my name, for I have created him for
my glory. Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that
ye may know and believe me and understand that I am
he; before me there was no god formed, neither shall
there be any after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and
beside me there is no saviour.”
In
conclusion, I call your attention to the
eighty-ninth Psalm of David; which contains the
following promise,—speaking of David; the Lord says:
“My mercy will I keep for him for evermore; his seed
will I make endure for ever. My covenant will I not
break, nor alter the thing which hath gone out of my
mouth. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will
not lie unto David; his seed shall endure for ever,
and his throne as the sun before me; it shall be
established for ever, as the moon, and as a faithful
witness in the heaven.”
We
are styled a peculiar people, and the Lord God has
said to us: “Ye are my witnesses who shall endure
for ever.” Change our faith, and where are the
witnesses? But that this destruction of our race
shall not be, is foretold in Numbers xxiii. 9, where
we find this peculiar passage: “Israel shall dwell
alone, and not be reckoned among the nations.”
Centuries have passed since this prediction was
proclaimed, and how faithfully has it been carried
out; for to this day do Israel dwell alone and are
not reckoned among the nations, Seek them in the
east and in the west, the north or the south, and
you find the same perfect nationality in them, they
being a people, although without a country. Need I
inquire what has established this nationality among
them?—<<158>>this peculiarity of a people? It is
their peculiar doctrine, rites, ceremonies, and
language, which are the same in spirit and intent at
this day as they were before the destruction of the
temple.
It
is by these very ceremonies that we are God’s
witnesses. We are a people in every sense of the
word; and though, as religious body, our great
principle is in the belief of God’s unity, yet as a
people, we are bound by God’s commands to preserve
our nationality. But if we are bound to preserve our
nationality, how can we do so unless we preserve our
peculiar rites ceremonies, and language? And if ye
obliterate the faith of Israel, by destroying the
people which practise the rites and ceremonies
commanded in the Scriptures, you destroy the only
evidence on which you can rely for the truth of
revelation.
I
have thus in a brief manner, and in the sincerity of
one who believes what he has uttered, placed before
you, my friends, this day, the source from which we
derive our belief in the only one and eternal God
without any associate. I have given you our evidence
for the disbelief in the fulfilment of that prophecy
which is said to be our great stumbling-block. I
have given you the grounds on which we base our
disbelief in the assertion that the redeemer has
come, and our firm belief in one whom God will send;
not with a view or expectation of changing the faith
of those who differ with us on this topic, but that
the community may better understand our belief and
the proofs on which we rely.
Note By Editor.—We place before our readers,
in the above address, the reasons which induce a
plain Israelite, “a man of the people,” to believe
the doctrines of Judaism as received by us. Mr. L.
is no minister, and he utters what he feels from
full conviction. As such, we call particular
attention to his words; and though he does not come
before us as a finished orator, we doubt not that
his mode of reasoning will produce more conviction
in the mind of the reader than if he were a
pensioned preacher, who is expected, from his
position, to uphold his peculiar doctrines. Give us
at all times the opinions of the men of sound
understanding; there is a freshness and force about
them peculiarly their own; and though we do not
depreciate learning, we cannot help saying that it
is not the only thing required; but that sincerity
and honesty far outweigh any studied phraseology
which is acquired from the teacher of rhetoric and
the cunning grammarian. |
