It is Shabbos (Saturday), December 10th, 1887 and Delegate Chief Rabbi Dr. Hermann Adler is in the then almost 200 year-old Great Synagogue in Dukes Place in the City of London, the Cathedral Synagogue of Anglo Jewry. The original wealthy families have mostly moved away and his large congregation includes many new immigrants from Europe. No-one can imagine that the Great Shul will not be around for another 100 years.
Hermann Adler, in my opinion, is rather under-rated and was rather more learned than advertised. He had Semicha (his Rabbinical Diploma) and his doctorate from his period of study in Prague. He was to be inaugurated as Chief Rabbi (following his father, Chief Rabbi Nathan Adler, in 1891.
He says: “Dear Congregants… Many of you have, like Joseph, been forced to quit your native land, and have arrived here in a foreign country, without friends, without means. You are all obliged to work for your living. I would earnestly advise you to choose the pursuit of handicraft as your calling.”
Here is the entire sermon, printed by Wertheimer, Lea and Company in London:
Jewish Miscellanies 