September 5. On this date in 1990, Emeric Sala, one of the first nine members of the NSA of Canada, died. In 1947, he received a letter from Shoghi Effendi stating "future Guardians: they cannot "abrogate" the interpretations of former Guardians, as this would imply not only lack of guidance but mistakes in making them; however they can elaborate and elucidate former interpretations, and can certainly abrogate some former ruling laid down as a temporary necessity by a former Guardian."
Emeric Sala was born on November 12, 1906 in the small Hungarian village of Havas Dombrovica, which roughly translates as “snowed-in village.” He was the first of four children born to a Jewish lumber inspector and his wife. His parents later moved to Herrmannstadt in Sibenbuergen, now Sibiu in Romania, where he spent his school years.
After the First World War and still in his teens, he made his way to Hamburg, where he landed a job as a ship’s helper and set sail for the west coast of Africa. The ship returned to Hamburg and then sailed for Montréal, where he arrived in 1927.
In addition to his native Hungarian, Sala spoke Romanian, some German, French and Italian, but he did not speak a word of English. Learning the language became his obsession. Rather than simply reading books, he wanted to hear people talk, so he attended every free lecture he could find. He was especially intrigued by one public meeting at which May Maxwell talked about the Bahá’í Faith; this led to his enrolment as a Bahá’í in 1929. He was a founding member of the first Canadian Bahá’í Youth Group in Montréal. They held classes, and attendance soon reached about 60. It was the first organized Bahá’í class for youth in the Western Hemisphere. He soon met his future wife, Rosemary Gillies, whom he married in 1934.
The English language, once his handicap, now became his strength. He established a small import business and travelled coast to coast, giving talks on the Bahá’í Faith wherever and whenever he could. In 1937, at the encouragement of May Maxwell, he extended a European business trip to include Haifa, where he had the privilege of spending an evening alone with Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith. Upon his return, Emeric Sala and Siegfried Schopflocher together purchased the first Canadian Bahá’í property at Beaulac, in the Laurentians, north of Montréal, where the country’s first Bahá’í summer and winter schools were held.
In 1945, as the world emerged from World War II, Sala published This Earth One Country. Both Emeric and Rosemary Sala were elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of Canada in 1948, and they continued to serve until 1953. That year, they responded to Shoghi Effendi’s call for Bahá’ís to arise to serve humanity around the world. Sala transferred his business to his brother, and the couple sold their charming home on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in St. Lambert, Quebec, planning to settle in the Comoro Islands, off the east coast of Africa.
Despite their plans, the French authorities refused to grant them permission to reside in the Comoro Islands, so Shoghi Effendi asked them to settle in Zululand instead. There, they befriended many Africans, who came to refer to Rosemary Sala as “our mother”. Rosemary founded school libraries and organized shipments of books from North America. After returning to Canada briefly in the late 1960s, the couple left for Guadalajara, Mexico, and then travelled extensively throughout Central America.
Rosemary Sala died in Mexico on 24 January 1980. Emeric Sala continued to serve in Mexico and later remarried. His second wife, Donya Knox, became a Bahá’í, and together they travelled throughout America, China, India and Europe.
Emeric Sala died on September 5, 1990, a few weeks after his wife’s death.
On February 19, 1947, a letter addressed on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to Emeric Sala, stated "future Guardians: they cannot "abrogate" the interpretations of former Guardians, as this would imply not only lack of guidance but mistakes in making them; however they can elaborate and elucidate former interpretations, and can certainly abrogate some former ruling laid down as a temporary necessity by a former Guardian."
To Emeric Sala
Dear Bahá'í Brother:
Your letters dated October 16th and December 19th, with enclosures, were both received, and our beloved Guardian regrets very much the unavoidable delay in answering you, caused by pressure of certain urgent matters that arose.
He feels that there must have been some misapprehension on your part of his statements regarding future Guardians: they cannot "abrogate" the interpretations of former Guardians, as this would imply not only lack of guidance but mistakes in making them; however they can elaborate and elucidate former interpretations, and can certainly abrogate some former ruling laid down as a temporary necessity by a former Guardian.
You asked his views about your statement on the Bahá'í Faith and Communism: frankly he feels that the less the friends discuss Communism, and the Faith in connection with it, the better these days, as the subject is a burning issue, and no matter how discreet we are we run the risk of being involved in this highly political issue.
He wishes you to know that he very deeply appreciates the innumerable services you and your dear wife render the Faith. Reports of your South American work have reached him, as well as your own report of your fifth western trip, and he is delighted to see the response you are getting from the public. Your book has, likewise, been a very useful addition to the teaching literature of the Faith in English, and you must rejoice to see the way God is blessing your labours for His Cause.
Tremendous work still remains to be done in Canada before the approaching election of its first National Spiritual Assembly ; he hopes you and Mrs. Sala will devote as much of your time to this field as you can.
Assuring you of his loving prayers on your behalf, and for the success of your services.
Yours with Bahá'í love,
R. Rabbani
P.S. Through Mr. Schopflocher he recently learned of your joint gift of a property to the Cause in Canada for a Summer School. This is much appreciated, and he hopes it will develop into a fine institution in the future!
May the Beloved, Whose Cause you are serving with such zeal, devotion and perseverance, reward you for your labours, guide every step you take in the path of service, and aid you to enrich the record of your meritorious and notable accomplishments,
Your true and grateful brother,
Shoghi
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