Lodge of Research Gvill #82 – Tel Aviv
(Translation: Leon Zeldis, FPS)
"To all poor and distressed Freemasons wherever scattered over the face of land or sea; wishing them a speedy relief from all their sufferings and a safe return to their native land if they so desire" [1]
One of the most interesting and beautiful Masonic ceremonies is, without doubt, the Table Lodge or Festive Board. In all such events, an indispensable part is the brief concluding prayer known as the Tyler's Toast. This does not form part of the traditional Masonic ritual, but is an important addition, and every time I hear it I am moved anew.
The language may vary from one country to another, from one jurisdiction to another, and in some cases it is not known as Tyler's Toast but as the Absent Brethren's Toast or the Toast to Ancient Brethren. The reason for this name is the fact that the brethren can be classified into three different categories:
1. Those who came to the lodge;
2. Those who couldn't come and made their excuses;
3. And those who wanted to come, but were unable to for reasons out of their control, like an accident or illness, being unable to excuse themselves.
In England, some lodges go so far as to pronounce the toast exactly at 21:00 hours, so the absent brethren will know that, no matter what, they are being remembered at that time.
One of the theories regarding the source of the toast claims that the Hebrew prayers are at its origin, and that, with some changes, it appears in the daily payer books ("Siddurim").
Examples are not hard to find. It appears in Hebrew and German in a Siddur printed in Hamburg in 1825, and also in Hebrew and Dutch in a prayer book printed in Amsterdam in 1941. It also appears in many Siddurim of both Sephardic and Ashkenazi congregations. However, this prayer does not appear in the Siddurim of the Jews of North Africa, Turkey, Iraq, and Eastern congregations, where it probably was unnecessary.
The prayer in the Jewish prayer book is recited on Mondays and Thursdays during the morning prayers (Shaharit), which include supplications, and this is the original text (my translation. LZ):
Our brethren of all of Israel, who are in affliction or captive, whether on land or on the sea, may the Almighty have pity of them, and take them from affliction to well-being and from darkness to a great light, and from slavery to redemption, speedily this year, and very soon, and let us say, Amen.
In another Siddur printed in 1522-23 in the city of Venice for the Romanian congregation, the following is included:
Our brethren, sons of Israel who are in affliction or captive in foreign lands, may the Almighty take pity of them and of us, and may they and we be pardoned by virtue of his great name and save us and bring them and us from affliction to well-being, from darkness to great light and from impurity to purity and from misery, and let us say, Amen. [2]
This version is also found in microfilm of a Siddur printed in 1586, found in the central library of Bar-Ilan University, in Israel. On the frontispiece of the Siddur is written: "Prayer book in the tradition of the sacred congregations of Romania printed at the press of Jean Rigera, with Bonvenireni letters, in the year five thousand three hundred and forty-six in Venice".
As explained in Bro. Ben-Zion Ayalon's "Treasure of Offices", the Tyler can rightly claim that his office is one of the oldest in the Masonic structure, since its origin is rooted in a real need, when traditionally the Tyler stood under the roof watching through an opening made by removing a tile, and his task was to warn of all strangers who approached the lodge, afterwards returning the tile to its place.
According to a research paper written by Bro. Abraham Baruch, dated January 1985, among the "Anusim" [3] of Spain and Portugal (who according to Baruch laid the foundation for Accepted Freemasonry), this procedure was indeed needed for reasons of security by those who practiced Freemasonry underground, it being certain that should their practices be discovered they and their families would expect to be condemned to death at the stake.
In 1937, the Jerusalem lodge "Mitzpah" N° 1383 (Scottish Constitution) had a ritual book printed at the Goldberg Press, translated from the English: The "Standard" Ritual of Scottish Freemasonry.
This was the first Scottish lodge in the world which worked in Hebrew, and this is how the Tyler's Toast appears in that version: [4]
"To al our brethren Freemasons, who are in affliction and in captivity, whether on the sea, on land or in the air, may the Great Architect of the Universe take pity of them, and bring them from affliction to safety and return them happily and soon to their native land, if that is their desire." And then all answer "To all brethren who are in affliction or distress."
Today, the most widely used version in the world in the one quoted at the beginning.
The custom of making toasts during Masonic dinners is of long standing; however, no specific date can be ascertained for the start of the Tyler's Toast tradition, owing to the fact that our ancient brethren did not put down in writing their ceremonies.
It is possible to determine that Dr. Desaguliers, the third Grand Master, in 1719 of the Premier Grand Lodge of London is who renewed the custom of proposing toasts, and this is made clear in the number of songs included in the Books of Constitutions of Anderson (for the Grand Lodge of the Moderns), which appeared in 1723 and 1738. In the Constitutions of the Ancients, Ahiman Rezon, written by the Grand Secretary Laurence Dermott in 1756, there are also numerous songs.
These were sung after closing the lodge, often interrupted by rising to toast the health of various brethren, individually or in groups.
On page 143 we find a long song in praise of the Master, and this is the final stanza:
"Toast
To all ancient Masons wheresoever dispersed or oppressed, round the globe, etc."
The use of the abbreviation "etc." hints at that the text was so well known by all the brethren that it was unnecessary to waste good paper printing it in full.
This also appears to be the first written mention concerning the Tyler's Toast, and since the toast does not appear in Anderson's Constitutions of 1738, we can assume that it came into use between the dates 1738 and 1756.
In the book Jachin and Boaz- the Entered Apprentice's Lecture, which was published in 1762, the toast was again mentioned: "To all Brethren wheresoever dispersed…"
The first time that the Toast appears printed in its entirety was in 1840, in the book The Whole of Craft Masonry, by George Claret. It appears in the third part of the first lecture.
Making a further examination and analysis of the subject, we can perhaps find an explanation for the introduction of the toast in Freemasonry in the period 1740-1750. This was a time of Freemasonry's growth in England. The Grand Lodge was 20 to 30 years old and started to spread. Its expansion was the natural result of the expansion of the British Empire, involved in wars both in Europe and in other continents. Many of those involved in the growth of Empire were Freemasons who founded lodges in their new places of residence or on the royal navy.
The brethren who remained at home certainly remembered their absent brethren, dispersed all over the world, on land and on sea… a remembrance that became a tradition, almost a ritual known to all.
An additional point on this subject is a variant conclusion of the toast: "if that is their desire and if they are entitled". The addition of the words "if they are entitled" appears to refer to the measure to which the brethren were entitled according to the norms of the time. On the one hand, many Englishmen were bound and forced to serve in the army, including some Freemasons. On the other hand, among the brethren were some "exiles" - meaning criminals sentenced to banishment according to the law and who served as prisoners. This group, we can assume, was not entitled to the prayer.
Despite not being entitled, we should point out that many of those "exiled" (or "transported") later got together and founded Masonic lodges and became good Masons in their land of exile. A good example is Solomon's Lodge N° 1 Savannah, Georgia (USA).
In conclusion, in the early years of Freemasonry, the toast was not proposed by the Tyler. Bernard E. Jones points out that in some of the early lodges, the toast was proposed by the Senior Warden or the Master.
I could find no authoritative explanation of why the toast became the prerogative of the Tyler. In fact, there is no iron rule that is the Tyler who must propose the toast. While the toast must be delivered around the table, other Lodge officers can propose it if the Tyler is absent.
Possibly, because the Tyler stands outside the lodge room, he was chosen to pronounce the toast for the absent brethren, since he himself was absent from the proceedings.
The story of the Tyler's Toast would not be complete without recalling the poet Rudyard Kipling, initiated in India, who used it as the inspiration for his poem "The Widow at Windsor".
This is the last stanza of his poem:
Then 'ere's to the sons o' the Widow,
Wherever, 'owever they roam.
'Ere's all they desire, an' if they require
A speedy return to their 'ome.
(Poor beggars! – they'll never see 'ome!)
Bibliography:
1. Roy A. Wells, "The Tyler or Outer Guard" Prestonian Lecture of 1977, The Collected Prestonian Lectures, Volume Three, 1975-1987, pp. 52-53. (Also in AQC, Vol. 91 (1978), pp. 194-217).
2. Lewis J. Birt, "The Tyler's Toast", Royal Arch Mason, New Jersey, 1980.
3. Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, Questions & Answers, "Masonic Toasts", Vol. 72, p. 7 (Supplement), "Masonic Toasts", Vol, 85, 1972, pp. 332-338.
"The Toast to Absent Brethren", Vol.. 90, 1977, p. 367.
4. Will Read, "The Final Toast", AQC, Vol. 91, pp. 198-201
5. Abraham Baruch, "Anusei Sfarad Veportugal, Manihei Haiesod lebniah hahofshit hamekubelet", (The Anusim of Spain and Portugal, who laid the foundation for Accepted Freemasonry), Research paper, University Bar-Ilan, January 1985.
[1] Harry Carr, The Freemason at Work, London 1976, p. 183.
[2] Prayers Lexicon of Dodson.
[3] Literally "forced", name given to the Jews forced to convert to Christianity in Medieval Spain, who preserved in secret their Jewish traditions.
[4] Translated back from Hebrew to English. LZ