Die Lichter am Abend – “The Lights in the Evening” – Rabbi David Kaufmann’s sermon on rising German antisemitism, Hanukkah, Budapest 1880. German. Rare.
A sermon given by Rabbi David Kaufmann (1852-1899, a leader of the Breslau Beit Midrash for Rabbis ) during a period of surging antisemitism in Germany shortly after establishment of the “Antisemitic Petition” demanding legal action against Jews in Germany to cancel the emancipation including limiting Jewish immigration. In his sermon, Rabbi Kaufmann addresses the wave of antisemitism, showing how hatred of Israel has always existed but takes a new form each generation – the new hatred is the same old hatred in new clothing. Using Joseph’s story, he shows how every hatred and persecution does not prove anything against the hated victim, just as Joseph’s brothers hated and opposed him yet he rose to greatness and monarchy. So too is the fate of the persecuted Jews to achieve greatness. He adds the Antisemitic Petition stems from jealousy of Jewish success and inability to accept the Jewish people thriving despite all they endure.
15 p. 22 cm. Good condition.