1953 Passover Sermon on the History of Seder Customs Written and Orated in Havana, Cuba by Rabbi Dr. Frederick K. Solomon

On offer is an excellent relic of post WWII judaica,  being a Pesach sermon, typed, edited and signed by progressive rabbi, Dr. Frederick K. “Fritz” Solomon (originally Solomonski) (1899-1980) [SEE BIO NOTES FOLLOWING LISTING]. Rabbi Solomon dated this sermon 1953, which is the year the Cuban Revolution began, and when he was rabbi of the Temple Beth Israel synagogue in Vedado, Havana, Cuba. 

Solomon’s sermon does not tell the story of Passover (Solomon tells his audience to go read that for themselves!). Instead, he gives context and insight into the roots of the many Passover traditions Jews undertake. He explains, “Passover is more than anything else a time for memories, personal as well as historical”. Solomon discusses the Passovers of his childhood and segways into legends surrounding the Seder traditions, drawing comparisons between tradition, religion and modern behaviour. 

An excerpt follows to provide the flavour of the sermon:

“It is the Chad Gadyah with which we end the Seder night’s Service. It has the character of a Nursery Rhyme, and it makes happy singing. But hidden behind the gay form is a serious meaning and a message. All around you you observe that strength and power rule almost unopposed in the world. As the cat eats the kid, and the dog eats the cat, so, it appears, the stronger devours the weaker. Oppression seems a law of nature: until God comes to help, and stops all injustice. You would not stand by if you saw a dog trying to bite a kitten; you would not look on if you saw a big strong boy scaring a little one: if I know you, you would go and intervene, and stop the unequal fight. And this is what God wants you to do, it is what the prophets as God’s messengers have taught us, this is what we must teach the world” [page 5]. 

In 1953, Passover took place from March 30 through April 7th. Only three months later, Cuba would be thrown into turmoil when the revolution began with an armed revolt conducted by Fidel Castro and his fellow revolutionaries on the 26th of July, against the military dictatorship of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista. Solomon, being a progressive (liberal) Jewish rabbi, was in Havana at the time, running a synagogue. This is a special piece of judaica that is as meaningful today as it was in the 1950s as the world was recovering from the second world war amidst ongoing political and social turmoil. 

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 is six pages long and measures 8x10 inches. It is unbound. Rust marks from a paperclip that had held it together are present. The manuscript is typed with a signature by Solomon on page one in pen, and multiple pen and pencil edits by Solomon throughout. No notable bends or tears, normal age toning. Overall Very Good.