On page 23 of Sermons and Addresses

Address delivered by Mr. Rabinowitz, Jan. 7^th 1887, at the Annual Tea-Meeting of the Mildmay Mission in Whitechapel.

BRETHREN AND KINSMEN, CHILDREN,

I feel exceedingly pleased to see myself surrounded by hundreds of men and women, the offspring of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in whom all the families of the world should be blessed; of brethren and sisters who are priding themselves in the fact that the blood of their ancestors is running in the veins, and are prepared to undergo any amount of persecution for the sake of that Holy Name of Israel rather than exchange it for another, as Russian, German, etc. But on the other hand, I am grieved to see your sad faces of consternation, on account of seeing suddenly one of your own people, who has thrown off from himself the bonds of the Talmud which you love as your own souls, and the chains of the other Rabbis, and preaching to you in the name of “that well known man,” Jesus of Nazareth, who is still not esteemed, but despised in your eyes; and is proclaiming to you that this Jesus is the Messiah, whom the God of Israel has sent 1887 years ago to redeem His people from their sins, and to subjugate to Himself Satan, who is seeking the destruction of Israel: and that in the Name of Jesus only can Israel be saved.

Brethren, calm yourselves down! Listen to the words that come from the depths of the heart of your brother Joseph, according to the flesh, who speaks to you in his great love to his people Israel, which has been rooted in him for ever so long; and judge for yourselves whether my words are right, or is there any blasphemy in them concerning God and His Holy Law. It is well known that the present time – the nineteenth century –  is full of changes: there are changes taking place in all branches of science, in business; and also there are different periods for every man to take account of his own actions – there is a time to reconsider the deeds of the past, and to consider the future. Each nation, as long as it is alive, strives to choose one point upon which to establish itself concerning its future welfare, both regarding spiritual and temporal things, and to make itself immortal. And that nation which is not concerned regarding its future is responsible for its culpable neglect.

Say ye, brethren, which of your rabbis, or your rich, or your learned, is concerned about the present sad condition of the Jews? Show me the heart that aches for Israel! There is not one spark of love to Israel among them. The rabbis are concerned about a crumb of leaven on Passover, or about a drop of milk that accidentally fell into a dish where meat was; the rich are concerned about the rise and fall of the money markets, the learned about their books and newspapers, on account of having few purchasers; and the name of Israel is falling deeper and deeper. “They have all wandered every one to his quarter, there is none to save thee” (Isaiah 47:15)

Many great and strong nations have vanished from off the face of the earth, because they have not considered their end. Also the people of Israel, when they forsook their God, the Rock of their salvation, and thought of establishing themselves in their own wisdom and riches, have fallen prey to the fate and doom which befell other nations, and become a heap of bones. And did not the prophet Jeremiah lament, “She remembered not her last end, therefore she came down wonderfully?” Notice, brethren, the difference between Israel and the other nations which were lost, is this: while the bones of those other nations have turned into dust, the bones of Israel are still to be found moving about in all the streets of Europe. It is in vain, brethren, to say that you are an everlasting nation, and it is foolish of the enemies of Israel to fear the Jews and say, “Let us take counsel, lest they swallow us up.” In these days, after the God of Israel has hidden His face from you, on account of your sins, ye are no more the people of Israel. There are more than eight million skeletons called by the names Berls, Schmerls, Lemels, and Hershells; but there is not a living people to whom the glorious name “People of Israel” – who sprang from Israel, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, who command his children to observe the way of Jehovah, to do justice and judgment – could be applied. (Genesis 18:18-19).

Do you know, brethren, who has put your glory into the dust? — who has cast down the glory of the people of Israel as from heaven to earth, and made you to be despised Jews in the sight of all? It is those who are wise in their own conceit — the authors of the Talmud, who became drunk with wine, and the vomited upon the Jewish people their laws, rules, and injunctions; and like Mount Vesuvius buried the inhabitants of Pompeii amongst its lava, so the people of Israel are buried alive under the rubbish which the Talmud cast over them. The people of Israel are still lying under the debris of the Talmud, and are unable to behold the great salvation in the light which the prophets, from Moses down to John (son of Zechariah the priest) saw, namely Jesus of Nazareth, “who came to seek and save that which was lost,” and” who is now sitting at the right hand of power.”

It is a wonder to me how you can finish up the Bible with the words, “He had compassion on His people and His dwelling place: but they mocked the messengers of God and despised his words, and misused His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against His people, until there was no remedy,” then commences the Talmud, Volume 1^st with the question, “at what time are we to read the evening prayers,” and then to consider to yourselves to be a holy people who need nothing but to know the time of prayer, and shout the word “Echad.” Why do you not ask yourselves saying, when will the people of Israel, “who were stricken by God until there was no remedy”, be healed and enabled to appear before their Heavenly Father and then say, “Hear, O Israel;” and then ask, who hath healed them from that fearful disease, and wherewith has Israel been healed? Have you not reason enough to consider all that has happened to Israel since the wrath of God arose against His people till now. Can you not see how the Talmud relates to you different stories of Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Ahasuerus, and purposely hides from you all the troubles that happened to Israel during this long period. Do you really believe that through Camze and the son of Camze, Jerusalem has been destroyed by the Romans?  And do you believe that for the sake of the city of Bither it has been destroyed? No! brethren no!

What the Talmudists have culpably hidden from you, our holy brethren according to the flesh, (who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the truth, namely the Evangelists Mathew, Mark, Luke and John) have revealed to us in the New Testament, which they wrote by the dictation of the Holy Spirit. Come brethren and see in these books the medicine which God in His great mercy has ordained for the healing of His people Israel. He, in the fullness of time, sent His Son to redeem the children of Israel, and give them the rights of children, and to make them heirs of God.

At a time when we all had gone astray like lost sheep, He sent the Lord Jesus Christ, who bore upon Him “our griefs and carried our sorrows,” He bare the sin of many, because He poured out His soul unto death, and by the blood He shed procured salvation for the world, an dit is through this work that the words in Isaiah 40:2 are proclaimed to Israel — “Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”

Believe in Him! And ye will be saved, like many thousands of others in many parts of the world, who give glory to Him for their redemption; it is only through the Lord Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life, that we can hope that life will come into the dry bones of the people of Israel, and to make them a people of God as of old. He alone can give true rest to the people of Israel as in former days.

Hasten brethren! And delay not to consider your sad condition in these changeable times. Remember your end, “the end” about which all the prophets have prophesied. Search and learn in the Holy Scriptures like I did, that it is only by faith in Jesus Christ and baptism in His Name, that you can be saved.

Take away from you the ingenuity and subtlety of the Talmud and be purified; look up in faith unto Him whom your forefathers have pierced, and He shall redeem Israel from all her sins. Amen.