Isaac Rosenberg was a turn-of-the-century German rabbi in what now is East Germany. Because of his scholarship, his festival sermons are particularly interesting for more enlightened and well-educated clergy of any tradition who are informed by the critical writing of Max Weber on the history of the professionalization of the clergy.

Two of my most memorable events during my years in the Harvard Divinity School were creative sermons by published rabbis - but delivered live: one was "The Death of the Nazi" by Rabbi Harold Kushner (on how the clergy can look mercifully - during life and upon their death - at those who have been their arch-enemies through their overlapping lifetimes, and the other was the celebration of Rosh Hashanah, given at Brandeis by their Senior Chaplain and Rabbi.

Rabbi Rosenberg's Festival Sermons were on that order - exciting, memorable, thought-provoking, and soul-searching. ( )

Within this slender volume, the twenty predigt (sermons) Rabbi Dr Isaac Rosenberg spoke over a century ago still convey poignant relevancy across time and modernity. Even in translation, each word contributes to a message replete in meaning for today.

Each festival sermon contains a nudge to think upon daily choices and the connection woven among the past, present, and future. Let the words of Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs) 5:2 אֲנִי יְשֵׁנָה, וְלִבִּי עֵר "I sleep but my heart is awake" never be empty words. "Let our actions and our behavior proclaim conspicuously and undeniably that in our inner being resides a genuine, warm Jewish heart" (p. 65, Pesach 5662).

Rosenberg's words are also not empty and his skill at weaving a message that transcends time is one that should be welcome and heard at many a table and can easily be understood no matter the level of learning or current observance.

Much appreciation and thanks to Gottlieb for opening the words of his grandfather to the English speaking world of today.

This book was received directly from the publisher as part of the Library Thing Early Reviewer program. ( )

Twenty Festival Sermons by Isaac Rosenberg (translated by Fred Gottlieb, a grandson of Rabbi Rosenberg) starts from a brief but well developed historical foundation which lays out the background and education of Rabbi Rosenberg, the condition of Jewry in Germany at the turn of the previous century, and the circumstances of religious devotion (or lack thereof on the part of many Jews) that brought about the development of the Rabbinical sermon along the lines of a Protestant homily, and delivered in the vernacular, instead of Hebrew.

The twenty sermons presented in this small but attractive book were delivered between the years of 1897 and 1902, and on special festival days in the Jewish calendar such as Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot and Kol Nidrei. Some sermons are short, others of greater length. But all share in similarities of structure and presentation.

The first similarity that becomes obvious is the gentleness of the presentation. Rabbi Rosenberg addresses his congregants as friends and as neighbors to whom he is elucidating the need for worship and commitment - for their good, not in self-aggrandizement.

This gentleness demonstrates itself in the overall temper of the sermons: they are invitations to the congregation to believe, to understand, to accept. They are not harangues; the congregants are not coerced or cajoled. Instead, what comes across are the words of invitation from a truly good man who is already enfolded in the joy of worship, faith and belief.

In all the sermons there is also an appeal to the intellectual aspects of Jewish history and religion which should, in the eyes of the Rabbi, merit loyalty and support from the congregants. This intellectual approach is eminently accessible and is not meant to be puffery on the part of the Rabbi - instead, it appeals, in an ever more prevalent secular society, to the mind and heart of the congregant as an additional invitation to belief and worship.

My own religious background is Christian as a member of what is commonly known as the Mormon Church. As I read the sermons, I was moved by the content and the clarity of the presentations, the obvious love and concern expressed by the Rabbi. As stated in the introduction, these sermons could well be presented to a variety of congregations and have much to offer in understanding religious belief and man's relationship to Deity.

The sermon entitled "Sacrifices" on page 13, as well "Seeking God" on page 27 I chose to read twice and three times. Other sermons will be re-read in the future, when the topic is relevant to the circumstance I might find myself in.

I now would like to read these same sermons in the original German, that I might experience how Rabbi Rosenberg used that language in expressing his ideas, his deep understanding and his beliefs.

A small but precious addition to my library. ( )

What a blessing this little book is. I know that’s not a very conventional way to open a critical review; however as simple as Festpredigten is, it is no ordinary book (Geffen, 2012). It is a work of love – of grace – of quiet but solid faith. If you expect one of those hefty tomes jam-packed with exposition and explication, the kind I grew up with as a Southern fundamentalist, you’re in for a surprise. This is a handy little volume of 91 pages. The sermons of Rabbi Dr. Isaac Rosenberg (1860-1940) are brief, simple, clear, gentle, gracious, thoughtful, and – for me at least – positively inspiring. Each of the twenty sermons was delivered on a holy day (e.g., Rosh Hashanah, Kol Nedrei, Yom Kippur, Pesach, Shavuot) between 1897 and 1902 in Thorn, Germany (ceded to Poland after World War I). The sermons read like daily devotionals.

Usually I distrust blurbs quoted in books or on their covers; however, in this case, three quotations from original reviews in 1903 still ring absolutely true today:

• These twenty sermons reveal a faithful shepherd transmitting to his flock admonitions and teachings drawn from the living well of life. He is aware of the needs, wishes, troubles, and delights of his people.
• The author knows how to weave in an appropriate Midrashic word, a Talmudic parable, or an illuminating biblical verse in just the right place.
• The language is simple, rich in poetry, without affectation. Nobility of speech, clarity, and order of construction – all of these assure these sermons a place in homiletic literature.

Rosenberg’s themes still ring true today even though we have lost the sense of “holy days” and the sense of community bolstered by the observance of these annual rituals. Even the word for holy days (“holidays”) is spelled and pronounced differently, losing its original meaning altogether. Though some of them trace their origin to religious phenomena or to even earlier pagan celebrations of the seasons (e.g., Christmas/winter solstice; Easter/coming of spring; Halloween/All Hallows Eve/honoring departed saints), these “holidays” have been transformed into secular festivities, emphasizing commercial appeal (a harvest for merchants in shopping malls, mail order suppliers, small urban and suburban businesses) with cute, comic characters (Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, the witches and ghosts of Halloween, and the like).

Rosenberg’s sermons were delivered at a time when and in a location where religious observance was already becoming less strict, was more often disregarded, and even seemed to be disappearing for some families. Nevertheless, he did not lambaste his flock who showed up at the synagogue only for major “holidays.” Instead he reminded them of those timeless themes that hold families and communities together, even in hard times: an awareness of Presence, the spiritual dimension of nature and everyday life, intergenerational and international ties, and the power of ancient symbols (bread and wine, the tents or sukkah, the family table, and the like).

I am not a Jew. I have never been to Germany. I do not speak or read German or Yiddish or Hebrew. I did not live over 100 years ago. I have never been a member of a minority, discriminated against by society at large. Yet Rosenberg reaches across all those boundaries and speaks directly to me.

Upon receiving the book, I was eager to get to the sermons. So I turned immediately to the Pesach sermons because of the time of year. I could not have made a wiser decision. As the spring was breaking around me, I was caught by Sermon #13, “The Family Celebration.” The text is Song of Songs 2.11-12: “For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come.” As spring burst forth all around me – jonquils and tulips, lilacs and forsythia, redbud and dogwood and magnolia –, I was captured immediately by the first sentence of the sermon: “Our own feelings are mirrored in this joyful, springtime celebration from Song of Songs, as we observe Nature blossoming forth its buds, and we see fields and meadows covered, as if by a magical hand, in a festive floral garb.” It was as if Rabbi Rosenberg, there over 100 years ago, was saying for me what I need to say now in 2012, giving words I need for feelings and insights I cannot always articulate for myself.

Eventually, however, I did read the translator’s introduction, and found there the story embedded in these sermons and in their preservation through the years. And the volume is a monument to an extraordinary family, descending from a remarkable forefather. Fred Gottlieb, the editor and translator, is the rabbi’s grandson. “At the time of this writing,” Gottlieb informs us, “his progeny extends into the fifth generation, and together with their spouses, exceeds well over one hundred souls, all Jewish, all Torah-true.” In this day and age, that alone is a tribute to the family’s progenitors and a modern miracle of steadfastness.

Ironically, the history of Jewish people in the 20th century adds a level of depth and a sense of prophetic insight to the sermons. When the village of Thorn was ceded to Poland, the rabbi and his family resettled in Berlin, where he was a teacher and inspector of Hebrew schools for eighteen years. Almost eighty years old, he then had to flee to England after Kristallnacht, where he died in 1940.

Speaking of centrality of family, Rabbi Rosenberg maintains, “As long as the sanctity of the family is maintained, a people’s existence is secure, despite attempts at suppression by outside enemies and destruction of political independence.” He goes on, “Israel surmounted victoriously the most severe suffering and the bloodiest persecution, even if with tearful eyes and heavy hearts. Throughout the millennia, as our people were suppressed and hounded by their neighbors, the family was the paradise in which the Jew too refuge.” (Sermon #13, First Day of Pesach, 1902)

Speaking of the revelation at Mt. Sinai, its past and future significance, he concludes, in another sermon, “God’s rule is not limited to the realm of the stars, but … He is the benevolent Father of each and every one of us; in Him we find refuge from all of life’s tribulations and safety in His protection. “ With hope and trust, we read of his assurance: “And, even if, after the passage of millennia, the world will once again be dug out from under the rubble and confront Israel’s Revelation – never will the message from Sinai be eclipsed. Even in the distant future, God’s word will illuminate man’s path and lead him from the darkness to spiritual heights.” (Sermon #20, First Day of Shavuot, 1903)

Thank you, Rabbi Rosenberg for giving us these quiet words to reflect upon. And, thank you, Fred Gottlieb, for translating them into a modern English that speaks to us all and for us all and about us all.

“I am the Eternal, your God, most holy, loving, and everlasting.”

Rabbi Dr.Rosennberg chooses this scripture as the summary of the significance of the revelation on Mt. Sinai. “From the summit of Sinai,” he insists, “rose the sun that, today, lends spiritual comfort and nourishment to all mankind. . . . Israel established the principle that men are created in the image of God, and that oppression and enslavement of one’s fellow man [and woman] is therefore forbidden.” (Sermon #18, the First Day of Shavuot, 1901) Emanating from this central focus are values that the rabbi frequently calls us to attend to: the foundation of law, human freedom and nobility, care for the poor, the weak, and the needy, peace on earth, the brotherhood of humankind, restraint and self-control, the richness of a prayerful life and veneration of the a divine Presence.

These sermons effectively reinforce my faith and uplift my spirits. Indirectly, I see how they apply to the rituals and tenets of my own particular faith community. But if I were to convert to another community, I am sure it would be to orthodox Judaism. Its holy books and its holy days are bright lights in the firmament of God’s presence.

I really liked this book, and so did my husband. It gave him great inspiration for what to say on the holidays. ( )