1956 Outstanding Manuscript Sermon, The Will to Be a Jew, Written and Orated in Havana, Cuba by Rabbi Dr. Frederick K. Solomon

On offer is a spectacular relic of post WWII judaica, being a 16-page sermon titled The Will to Be a Jew, handwritten and edited by progressive rabbi, Dr. Frederick K. “Fritz” Solomon (originally Solomonski) (1899-1980) [SEE BIO NOTES FOLLOWING LISTING]. Rabbi Solomon delivered this lecture in 1956, while he was rabbi of the Temple Beth Israel synagogue in Vedado, Havana, Cuba. 

In this thoughtfully composed sermon, Dr. Solomon argues that Reform Judaism should be accepted as a way forward for the next generation of Jews, who view religion differently than the orthodox and older generations. However, the sermon is also a meditation on Jewishness more broadly. Solomon opens the sermon by asking that listeners consider the gaps between opinion and fact (and how muddled the concepts often become). He then begins to discuss Judaism throughout history. Next, Solomon reflects on what it is to be a Jew, whether being born to a Jewish mother makes a Jew, the racial and political components of Jewishness, the Nazis’ view of Jews, and more. An excerpt of his discussion about what a Jew is follows:

“Another conception of a Jew is his membership to the Jewish race and his descent from Abraham as teh first Hebrew. This was a principle laid down by the theorists of the 19th century, especially [Arthur de] Gobineau who maintained that the decline of western civilization was caused by the infiltration of Semites into Europe. It was, as you remember, the principle adopted by the Nazis who did not care for a person’s religion at all, and therefore established rule that a Jew is everyone who has at least one Jewish grandparent. This was certainly quite arbitrary as science tells us that even after many generations a pure specimen of the original race can re-appear” (p. 6-7).

On page 9, the Rabbi states that, “a Jew is everyone who [adopts?] the Jewish faith”, and then discusses the essence of the Jewish faith being challenged by the wide spectrum of Jewish people. He argues that Reform or Liberal Jews are being driven out of religion and Judaism by “the religiosity of orthodox Judaism”. He states:

“I am convinced that most of the younger generation who come from orthodox homes join our liberal Synagogues because they realize the discrepancy between observances and religious reality” (p. 10). 

He closes by reading from Micah 6:6-8 then stating: “When all is said and done, it is your heart that makes you a Jew. And nobody can judge whether you are a good Jew but yourself” (p. 13-13a). 

This sermon is a phenomenal piece of Judaica that would enhance any collection. Its meditation on what it means to be Jewish is one that many Jews grapple with now as they have throughout history. Solomon’s progressive take on Judaism feels ahead of its time and this sermon would make an excellent addition to a religious studies program or a progressive organization. 

BIO NOTES: Frederick Solomon (1899-1980), painter and Rabbi, was born in Berlin, Germany in 1899. In 1938, when the synagogue he was serving at was torched by Nazis and he was subsequently summoned by the Gestapo, he left Germany with his wife, Margot, and emigrated to England. Solomonski was interned in the Isle of Man in Hutchinson Square camp in the early 1940s as a prisoner of war along with many other artists. While still in Europe, Solomon had studied art under the German-Jewish artists Max Liebermann, Martin Brandenburg and Eugene Spiro, and German expressionist Willy Jaeckel. In England, he continued his artistic career, exhibiting his religious and expressionistic work at various galleries throughout the country, including the Royal Academy and the Kensington Art Gallery in London, where he had a one-man show. His work is in the permanent collections of the Courtauld Institute, the Bazalel Museum in Jerusalem, and the Ben Uri Art Gallery St. John’s Wood, London (now incorporating the London Jewish Museum of Art). In 1954 he left England to take a position as Rabbi for Temple Beth Ha Shalom in Williamsport, PA. After three years in Pennsylvania, he sought another position and, as a member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, was appointed rabbi at Temple Beth Israel in the Vedado suburb of Havana, where he wrote sermons and hosted religious services for his congregation, a part of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Solomon was also active in the Jewish Progressive movement, frequently communicating with representatives of The World Union for Progressive Judaism throughout the 1950s in an attempt to officially associate his congregation with the organization [Bio Note Credit to East Coast Books]. 

The sermon pages measure 8x10 inches and there are a total of 16 pages of writing. Solomon has numbered his work pages one through 13, with three additional pages tipped in throughout the sermon as addendums. The sermon is unbound. The pages are all intact with some minor bends and tears that do not interfere with the readability of the document. The sermon is written in blue pen with the Rabbi’s changes written in red pen and pencil. The writing is legible, though in a somewhat tricky cursive hand. Overall Good+.