San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1886-01-16
A STRONG PLEA
For the Orphans and Helpless by Dr..
Lewntha.

i ne lOllOWlng sermon was uellNeIeu
by Rabbi Lewinthal this morning at the
Temple BETHEL:
I'VE shall not anict any widow, or futho rlcss
child. II then aiilict them in anywtsc and
they cry at all unto me, ! Viii surely hear
their cry. Exodus xii; q, -
There is nothing which more clearly
stamps the Bible as Divine than the
compassion and sOllcitude it incalCulates
for the poor, the wretched and forsaken.
The sympathies of the world ar. ever
with the strong, the prosperous and the
gifted; the tender mercies Of God Al
mighty are upon the weak. the miser-
able, and the wounded. He is with
those that are of a Contrite and humble
spirit to revive the spirit of the lowly'
and TO quicken the heart of the contritc
1t is this same loving pity which we are
eXhOrted to exhibit toward those that
are desOlate and helpless. The very
fact that they are weak and without de-
Tense is TO constitute their most power
full claim upon our active kindness.
There are some philosophers who tel
us that this feeling of compassion is in
| born within us. Does history warrant
| this assumption? We are accustomed
to look upon the ediCt of Pharaoh, that
every new born son of the lsraelitts
should be cast into the river, as one #
the most inhuman DEGREES that was ever
| issued. Are you aware that a similar
practice prevailed, to the very largest
extent, among the nations of antiquity?
lnfantiCide is now regarded with abhOr-
renee; it is justly punished as murder;
in former days it was not even looked
ali Il
were the most gifted and greatest OF all
cient empires. Their grandeur and the
wisdom did not save them from commit
ing this atrOcity. In Sparta the law d.
reCted that when a child was born The
father was to carry it to an appointed
place to be inspected by the elders OF
the community. lfthey perceived that It's
limbs were straight and its appearance
healthiul they returned it 10 its parents
to be reared; otherwise it was thrown
into a deep cavern at the foot of the
mountain Taygetus. In the other Gre
elan republics a similar disregard OF in
FAINT life was shown. If the infant was
siCkly, it was instantly killed; ifnOt, the
father was only taken to see it on the
ninth day. and if, on seeing it, he stopped
down and took it into his arms, it WAS
brought up. But if he did not do this.
! Tue lllllt NItth Culitl was tA pOStu III INC
open air upon some hillside and there
left to perish by starvation. unless some
one saved its life for the purpose of rear
| ing it for 4 career of slavery or infamy.
1t was the same in Rome. SOcOmpletr-
| ly had luxury eaten away the natural
instincts in one class; so deep and de-
grading was the misery in another. that
parents continually exposed ana aban-
| dOned their children. Nay, the nUbleSt
of ROmans-COnsuls censOrs and prae-
| tOrs-were guilty of this hideOus crime.
You have often heard the famous line
| quoted with appreciation: lam man,
and nothing that concerns mankind is
| foreign to my feelings" When these
words were first spoken in the Roman
| theatre they evoked the lOudest applause.
| This apOthegm is uttered by the very
father who had rebuked his wife for her
| foolish weakness in exposing rather than
! killing their female babe. And this out
rage of child murder still exists. How
many mothers flung their babes into the
| floods of the Ganges until India came
under English rule? In China. in spite
| of all her learning and the thin veneer Of
her outward polish, this practice still
prevails to frightful extent. A few
| years ago a French nobleman found sew
en- dead children during a short morn
! ing's walk in the envirOns Of Canton.
| Nay. how have modern phIoso-
pliers acted in this respect? ROus-
seau, the eloquent, the impassiOned
who penned so brilliant work
OF education, Rousseau felt no
pity for his own children, their
weakness did not touch his heart. I'm
willing to incur the trouble of training
and the expense of maintaining them,
| IA Of hA .lplp anf Of
abandoning every one of them to the
public charity of founding hospital.
| Contrast within famous actions such
as these the command enacted in our
text: we shall not afflict any widow or
fatherless child. If thou afilict them in
any wise, and they cry at all unto Me, |
| will surely hear their cry" Can any
language more emphatically and fOrCi-
bly, express the tender mercy of the
eternal? His love made the sorrows Of
those who had lost their natural prOtec-
tor, His own. They are His clients in
the Roman sense of the word. He is
their great patron. He identifies him
self with their interests. He will up
hold their cause. The words that fol-
low seem harsh and severe, but there
are times when harshness and severity
constitute the truest tenderness. "And
|
you with the sword. and your wives
shall be widows and your children faith
erless." What more ef1ectual warning
could be addressed to the Israelites
than the threat that their lack of mercy
would recoil upon those dearest to them?
Yet, even though they sinned. Gods
| tenderness would be extended to those
they left behind. Israel incurred the
penalty menaGed in these words. One
of the main causes which brought upon
them the sword of Nebuchadnezzar was
that they did violence to the stranger,
the fatherless and the widow. But
when the desOlation and destruction
were to come upon them when many a
husband and father were doomed to fall
by the sword, the Lord repeated His
gracious promise by the mouth of the
Prophet Jeremiah: leave thy father
less children to me, l will keep them
alive, and let thy widows trust
in me-" Nor did our heaven
inspired teacher content himself with
vague exhOrtatiOns and general admo-
nitions. He did not leave the fate of the
forsaken to the chance sympathy or mo-
mentary humOrs of individuals. He
gave positive enactments which were 10
secure for the orphan regular and GER
tain competence. The nation ut large
was called upon to provide for their
wants. At every festival, at the gather
ing of the harvest, at the beating of the
olive trees, at the gathering of the
grape of the vineyard, when giving Of
the tithes Of the wine, the corn and the
oil, when the firstliDgs of the herds and
Of the flocks, and the first fruits of the
| l.. \ l. I.