Ari Lamm, "Abraham Lincoln and the Shavuot Controversy of 1865"
David Shasha
Ari Lamm Attacks Sabato Morais in the Holy Name of Tikvah
To be honest, I am choking on the apparently-endless Tikvah anti-Sephardi memes.
But Alana Newhouse keeps me working, while she is still cashing her Zalman Bernstein checks.
Again, as we saw with the Mosaic magazine ZOOM Seder roundtable, it is all about Ashkenazim lecturing Sephardim about our history:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/Davidshasha/8SMXb3IvZjM
The following article by YU macher Neo-Con Ari Lamm brings Tikvah Tablet into the Sephardic world of the 19th century:
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/holidays/articles/abraham-lincoln-shavuot-controversy-1865
The complete article follows this note.
Leave it to Lamm to find conflict where it does not exist.
His clever YU Tikvah binary is to pit Sabato Morais against Judah Lyons on the matter of national mourning for Lincoln:
Many American Jews in 1865, therefore, faced what seemed like a stark choice between duty to country and duty to God—between patriotism and piety. As Shavuot drew near, Jewish writers, political activists, and spiritual leaders throughout the United States began in earnest to weigh in on the matter. Out of their respective solutions emerged two different models for how faith communities should serve the public square: compliance and conviction.
The compliance model was best exemplified by Rabbi Sabato Morais, the leader of Philadelphia’s oldest synagogue, Mikveh Israel. In a sermon delivered over Shavuot in 1865, Morais firmly urged his co-religionists to observe the national day of mourning and humiliation without reservation. “Hebrews of America,” Morais thundered, “repress the joyful emotions that thrill your hearts!” Although he maintained that Jews must maintain “unswerving fidelity to the Law of Sinai,” he could not justify fully expressing the happiness that Jewish law demanded on Shavuot. “Great is our joy this day,” Morais conceded, “yet, incomplete, by reason of the dear object so suddenly borne away from our earthly vision.” In this view, religious communities could best serve the public square by complying with the broader, American civic spirit. In order to forge a single, righteous collective, the country’s diverse multitudes should feel responsible to transform themselves for the better.
In diametric opposition stood the conviction model embodied by Jacques Judah Lyons, the rabbi of New York’s legendary Congregation Shearith Israel. Like Morais, Lyons was an ardent patriot who profoundly admired Lincoln. But in contradistinction to his Philadelphian colleague, Lyons insisted that his congregation could not observe a day of mourning and humiliation. In remarks offered on that very day, Lyons argued: “The rules of our ritual prohibit every demonstration of sorrow and all supplicatory invocation on this day of joy. But for this restriction we too, in common with our fellow-citizens of all denominations, would have observed this day of humiliation.”
There is absolutely no evidence that Morais instituted the Tahanun prayers on Shabu’ot, which would be a breach in holiday liturgical decorum. He conducted the eulogy as an addendum to the formal prayer service.
His words were consistent with his devotion to both Lincoln and the Anti-Slavery cause, as can be seen in Marc Saperstein’s excellent article connecting Morais’ view with Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/Davidshasha/morais/davidshasha/sLCaUTRuLTM/N9xOK6TiAQAJ
As Saperstein eloquently states, Morais was deeply devoted to the Union cause:
Morais’ sermon attracted enough attention to be published in a New York Jewish weekly six days later. The headline states that it had been delivered “at the request of the Philadelphia Union League.” This patriotic organization was founded in December 1862 in strong support of the war effort and President Lincoln’s policies. Weeks in advance, the League had urged all Philadelphia clergy to devote their July 5th Sunday morning sermons to a celebration of the July 4th national holiday. Following news of the victory at Gettysburg, the mood of those Sunday sermons was unambiguous. But for Morais, preaching on the 4th, the task was much more complex.
Morais delivered a formal eulogy for Lincoln on the day after Passover, following the assassination on April 15th, showing us Morais’ deep love for the slain leader, couched in the noble values of Religious Humanism.
The full text of that eulogy, along with the formal Synagogue announcement and proclamation of the special service that took place, also follows this note.
This was the context for what took place on Shabu’ot.
The following review of the mourning customs from an Orthodox website provides us with a basic understanding of the Halakhic issues involved:
https://www.shiva.com/learning-center/commemorate/jewish-holidays/shabbat/
Apparently, the Shabu’ot service did not violate any of those laws.
What we have here is not a conflict between the two ministers, but a difference in degree of their public mourning.
Following up on what already took place on Passover, Morais wanted his congregants to have a more pronounced feeling of sorrow on the assassination, while Lyons was somewhat more circumspect.
I am not sure this has any great import, other than to allow Lamm to go all Tikvah on us:
It is unclear whether either model decisively carried the day for American Jews on Shavuot in 1865. But in a broader sense, the pressures of modern American life in the 19th century certainly militated in favor of compliance, much as they do today. Recently, however, the conviction model has gained increasing cultural potency, whether in the careers of Jewish politicians like former Sen. Joseph Lieberman, in the writings of Jewish intellectuals like New York Times columnist and editor Bari Weiss, or in the increasingly widespread popularization of the Daf Yomi—daily Talmud study—among Jews of all denominational and post-denominational stripes. Where American Jewry goes from here is anyone’s guess, but much as in 1865, the answer may hold the key to interpreting not only the Jewish present, but the Jewish future.
We have seen him do it when he was writing for The Lehrhaus:
Lamm’s intention is to distort the history in order to advance his Orthodox Trump polemic, whatever it might mean, and to sow further division among American Jews – for no apparent reason.
I suppose it is the Tikvah way!
David Shasha
Sabato Morais Lincoln Eulogy service
ORDER OF SERVICE AT THE SYNAGOGUE OF THE CONGRAGATION “Mikve Israel,” SEVENTH, ABOVE ARCH STREET, ON WEDNESDAY, THE 19TH DAY OF APRIL 1865.
At the hour of 12 0’clock, noon, the service in memory of the lamented President of the United Sates (ABRAHAM LINCOLN) was solemnly performed by the officiating minister, THE REV. S. MORAIS
After he had recited the usual ritual service of the day. The following Preamble and Resolutions, passes at a special meeting of the trustees of the Congregation, were read—
“Whereas, The President of the United States having fallen by the hands of a
“traitorous assassin, on the night of the 14th inst., therefore
“Resolved, That this Congregation, in common with the whole American nation,
“mourn the loss of ABRAHAM LINCOLN, one of its best and purest Presidents, who,
“like our own lawgiver, Moses, brought a nation to the verge of the haven of peace,
“and like him was not allowed to participate in its consummation.
“Resolved, That the Synagogue be draped in mourning for the space of thirty
“days, and that these Resolutions be published, and entered on the records of the
“Congregation.
“On motion, adjourned.
“L.J. LEBERMAN, President.
“A.HART, Secretary pro tem.
After reading the foregoing, a number of Psalms, in Hebrew and English, suitable to the melancholy occasion, were chanted; the Rev. S. MORAIS then addressed the large audience there assembled as follows:
“Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, ‘O Eternal God! Have mercy upon the people.’”—JOEL, ii. 17.
The stillness of the grave reigns abroad. Where is the joyous throng that enlivened this city of loyalty? Seek it now, my friends, in the shrines of holiness. There, it lies prostrate; there, it tearfully bemoans an irretrievable loss. Oh! Tell is not in the country of the Gauls’ publish it not in the streets of Albion, lest the children of iniquity rejoice, lest the sons of Belial triumph. For the heart which abhorred wickedness has ceased to throb; the hand which had stemmed a flood of unrighteousness, is withered in death. How appalling is the change which one week has wrought! The anniversary of the redemption from Egyptian bondage had opened most auspiciously to Israel of America. When your voice, O fellow believers, was attuned to my psalmodical invocation, every fibre in my being thrilled with delightful emotions. For on the eve of the memorable fifteenth of Nissan the arm of the Lord had also been revealed to these people of his love. By its might was the surging tide of adversity driven back. Its Divine strength upraised the standard of universal freedom here unfolded by the purest hands. Grateful to our ears sounded then the roar of cannons which announced the winning of a bloodless victory. We shared not the intemperate zeal of such who laid against our General-in-Chief the charge of excessive leniency. We, with the nation at large, admired the magnanimous hero, and weaved garlands for his noble brow. Praying and longing for the reign of peace, we hailed the messenger of happy tidings advancing towards us with rapid strides. Thus did our attachment to the ancestral faith and to this dear country of our adoption, obtain for us festive enjoyment during four days of our Passover. The fifth day arrived, and with it Sabbath sanctified to the Creator of the world. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Brethren! If the pulsations of my heart could assume human speech, they would best picture my mental agony upon that never-to-be-forgotten Sabbath. I had never concealed before my love for him who was chosen from among the lowly as a ruler over a great people. Yes, I loved every action every work of that godly man. I loved him for his patriarchal simplicity; I loved him for his incorruptible character; I loved him for his all-comprehensive ideas, for his generous impulses, his forbearing disposition, his tender compassion for all the oppressed. The ideal of Truth imprinted by nature upon my soul, seemed at length realized in that man of homely mien, but of lofty mind. Alas! That many know not his worth, and misapprehended his deeds! They called him ambitious; but his ambition was to redeem a pledge he had solemnly taken. They imputed to him a despotic sway; but he exercised his power to vindicate the law of the living God. They could not see that beneath the crust of apparent dross lay whatsoever is inestimable and precious. But he who grappled with falsehood, and saved America from ignominious death, needs not my defense. He who removed the burden from every shoulder, and wiped off the mark of degradation from human visage, is far above the encomium offered by one so humble as he who speaks on this melancholy occasion. Verily, my friends, did I possess the eloquence of our lamented Everett, I could not extol in adequate terms a man who know so admirably to temper justice with mercy, and who, while practicing humility in the highest degree, was so scrupulously chary of the national honor.
But wherefore shall I portray the feelings which pervade my breast, when they are reflected on almost every countenance? The intense grief which I experience is now, alas! our common participation. From each dwelling, from each hovel, throughout the length and breadth of our Union, is a silent tribute of reverence offered to the righteous memory of our martyred President. As my vision rests upon these sable draperies of woe, unbidden tears streak down my cheeks, and with the priests, the ministers of the Lord, I weep between the porch and the altar, and say: “O eternal God! have mercy upon thy people.” We all weep for the great and good man that has ruthlessly been torn away from us. The execrable wretch who has robbed liberty of its staunchest defender, and nature of its noblest creation, he triumphs over his flagitious crime. But the avenging sword is at his heels. It shall never return to its scabbard until it has consumed, with the assassin, his accessories and abettors. “There is no darkness, no shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.” The mournful nation shall be avenged; they shall behold the dastardly hand which spilled innocent blood, severed from its venomous body.
But whence shall they derive consolation in their sad bereavement? So long accustomed to identify the lamented President of the United States with the principles he represented; to look for the restoration of peace to his conciliatory and merciful measures, where shall they hopefully turn for the realization of his ardent desires; for the consummation of our happiness? . . . . . . . . My friends! It has pleased the Lord sorely to afflict us. But His benign countenance shines yet refulgently upon our holy cause. With almost every vibration of the telegraph wires, He seeks to gladden us with the tidings of fresh victories. Our distress for the irreparable loss sustained, shuts out from our bosom all joyful emotions. Yet, let us be mindful of God’s mercies; let us improve them by a grateful demeanor. Confidently relying upon the Director of human events. Let us strengthen the hands of the man, who, through a sorrowful incident, has been raised to the highest office in the republic. It is just that our minds cling fast to his immortal predecessor; him we had learned to trust, and upon him we gazed with filial affection. But “the Rock whose all works are perfect,” demands that we submit to His unsearchable will. Let, then, the memory of the upright statesman and ruler be enshrined in the innermost recesses of our soul. But let now the structure which he has founded, remain incomplete for the lack of support. If his paternal voice could reach us from the seat of beatitude, it would exhort us to suffer further privations, to endure hardships, to bear even a temporary defeat, but never to pause until the flag of one reunited people shall wave from Maine to California, from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico; for in that event not only our happiness and that of our children is involved, but the cause of human liberty is deeply concerned. If our great Abraham could address us now, he would also beseech us to curb the noble wrath which his murder has aroused within us, lest it may be visited upon the guiltless and the penitent. He would, in his merciful nature, entreat that we prefer magnanimity to severity, forgiveness to vengeance. He would likewise heal our lacerated hearts by the assurance that his mission upon earth was fulfilled, on the day that the supremacy of the Constitution was reassured, and unspotted hands planted again over the ruins of Fort Sumter the banner which is the symbol of independence and freedom, of justice and humanity. Oh, may his kindly words ever re-echo in our hearts, and incite us to godliness and truth.
PRAYER.
Omnipotent God! not for our sake, nor for our sake, but for that of Thy infinite mercy, be with us in our woeful calamity. We dare not rely upon man’s strength, which continually faileth, for “man withereth like grass, he fleeth like a shadow, and we see him no more.” But upon thine arm do we lean, for that which supporteth the whole universe, will also be our stay. Oh, guide us with Thy wisdom, and show us, amid the gloom wherin we are inshrouded, the haven of our national deliverance. Grant, O Lord, that a twofold portion of the lovely spirit with which was endowed the illustrious dead we lament, may rest upon his successor. He supremely needs it. He needs his unflinching rectitude, his generous instinct, his forgiving disposition, his noble forbearance, and discretion to an infinite degree, in order that he may complete the blessed work marked out by our sainted President.
Sovereign Creator! open wide the portals of eternal bliss, and let the righteous Abraham of the Western World enter. Remember his suffering for the sake of principles, and let it be a propitiation for the sins for the people he so dearly loved and so faithfully served, May he ever sit at Thy right hand imparadised in the contemplation of Thy divine Essence. Grant, that from the highest heavens, he may soon behold our unalloyed joy, when the pavilion of peace shall again spread its folds over us, and an indissoluble bond of brotherhood unite together all the inhabitants of this country. And to the beloved relict of one so good, to the bereaved sons and disconsolate household, speak, O Lord, of the unending delights he now enjoys in the land of life. It will infuse into their hearts fortitude and resignation. The voice of religion and the grateful expressions of a reconstructed nation will then be a solace to their minds and a soothing balm to their souls. We now offer supplications unto Thee, for Thy servant, the Secretary of State, stricken by the hand of a traitor. “May he not die, but live and declare to posterity the works of the Lord.” And may all our powers, our energies and endeavors be devoted to benefit mankind, in accordance with Thy will, and that of the lamented Executive of the American nation. Amen.
The prayer for the Officers of the Government, and the benediction for the congregation concluded the services of the mournful day.
Abraham Lincoln and the Shavuot Controversy of 1865
By: Ari Lamm
Abraham Lincoln’s assassination on April 14, 1865, confronted the American public with urgent political challenges that would shape the trajectory of the post-Civil War United States. But a religious controversy that erupted during the subsequent weeks of national mourning would raise enduring social and moral questions about what it means to be both deeply patriotic and religiously observant in America.
Shortly after Lincoln’s murder, President Andrew Johnson declared a “day of humiliation and mourning,” upon which he recommended that his fellow citizens across the country gather in their respective places of worship to lament the late president’s tragic demise. But in doing so, Johnson had unwittingly created a significant dilemma for American Jews. His chosen date—June 1, 1865—happened to coincide with the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which commemorates God’s revelation of the Law at Mount Sinai.
Today, the holiday is popularly observed among Orthodox and various traditionalist Jews but largely ignored by others. In an article for the American Israelite newspaper, leading 19th-century Reform Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise described a similar state of affairs in mid-19th-century America. (Later in the century, American Reform communities increasingly began to celebrate Shavuot as a confirmation day.) But traditionalist Jewish congregations, including some of the most prominent synagogues in the nation, had long observed Shavuot by reading customary mystical and liturgical Jewish texts, many still recited today, that reinforced fealty to the Torah’s commandments—and these congregations often saw large crowds on Shavuot, even inviting non-Jewish dignitaries to attend. So while not all American Jews observed Shavuot at the time of Lincoln’s assassination, those who did considered it one of Judaism’s happiest occasions, upon which Jewish law prohibits any expressions of mourning.
Many American Jews in 1865, therefore, faced what seemed like a stark choice between duty to country and duty to God—between patriotism and piety. As Shavuot drew near, Jewish writers, political activists, and spiritual leaders throughout the United States began in earnest to weigh in on the matter. Out of their respective solutions emerged two different models for how faith communities should serve the public square: compliance and conviction.
The compliance model was best exemplified by Rabbi Sabato Morais, the leader of Philadelphia’s oldest synagogue, Mikveh Israel. In a sermon delivered over Shavuot in 1865, Morais firmly urged his co-religionists to observe the national day of mourning and humiliation without reservation. “Hebrews of America,” Morais thundered, “repress the joyful emotions that thrill your hearts!” Although he maintained that Jews must maintain “unswerving fidelity to the Law of Sinai,” he could not justify fully expressing the happiness that Jewish law demanded on Shavuot. “Great is our joy this day,” Morais conceded, “yet, incomplete, by reason of the dear object so suddenly borne away from our earthly vision.” In this view, religious communities could best serve the public square by complying with the broader, American civic spirit. In order to forge a single, righteous collective, the country’s diverse multitudes should feel responsible to transform themselves for the better.
In diametric opposition stood the conviction model embodied by Jacques Judah Lyons, the rabbi of New York’s legendary Congregation Shearith Israel. Like Morais, Lyons was an ardent patriot who profoundly admired Lincoln. But in contradistinction to his Philadelphian colleague, Lyons insisted that his congregation could not observe a day of mourning and humiliation. In remarks offered on that very day, Lyons argued: “The rules of our ritual prohibit every demonstration of sorrow and all supplicatory invocation on this day of joy. But for this restriction we too, in common with our fellow-citizens of all denominations, would have observed this day of humiliation.”
Lyons was determined, however, to commemorate Lincoln’s memory in an authentically Jewish manner. As he noted, the widespread practice on major Jewish holidays like Shavuot was to recite a prayer requesting happiness for the souls of departed members of the community. “In this spirit,” Lyons explained, “believing that the merits of our departed President will find favor with an all-merciful God, let us pray for the reception of his soul into the kingdom of Heaven.” For Lyons, the American public would not be well served by its Jewish constituents compromising their faith in the name of social cohesion. Instead, the greatest gift that faith communities could give to the public square is to maintain the courage of their convictions and so bequeath their unique traditions of wisdom to America as a whole.
It is unclear whether either model decisively carried the day for American Jews on Shavuot in 1865. But in a broader sense, the pressures of modern American life in the 19th century certainly militated in favor of compliance, much as they do today. Recently, however, the conviction model has gained increasing cultural potency, whether in the careers of Jewish politicians like former Sen. Joseph Lieberman, in the writings of Jewish intellectuals like New York Times columnist and editor Bari Weiss, or in the increasingly widespread popularization of the Daf Yomi—daily Talmud study—among Jews of all denominational and post-denominational stripes. Where American Jewry goes from here is anyone’s guess, but much as in 1865, the answer may hold the key to interpreting not only the Jewish present, but the Jewish future.
From Tablet magazine, May 26, 2020