View source for Samuel Adler (rabbi)

{{Short description|German-American Reform rabbi (1809–1891)}}
{{other people|Samuel Adler}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Samuel Adler
| image              = Samuel Adler.jpg
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = 
| birth_date         = December 3, 1809
| birth_place        = [[Worms, Germany|Worms]], [[Mont-Tonnerre]], [[First French Empire]] (present-day Germany)
| death_date         = {{death-date and age|June 9, 1891|December 3, 1809}}
| death_place        = [[New York City]], U.S.
| death_cause        = 
| resting_place      = [[Salem Fields Cemetery]], <br />[[Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)|Brooklyn, New York]]
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| nationality        = [[German American]]
| citizenship        = [[United States]] (1856)
| known_for          = 
| education          = [[Doctor of Philosophy]] <br />[[Oriental languages]]
| alma mater         = [[University of Bonn]]<br/>[[University of Giessen]]
| employer           = 
| occupation         = Rabbi
| title              = 
| term               = 
| predecessor        = 
| successor          = 
| party              = 
| boards             = 
| spouse             = Henrietta Frankfurter
| children           = [[Felix Adler (professor)|Felix Adler]] (son),<br />[[Isaac Adler (physician)|Isaac Adler]] (son),<br />Sarah Adler Goldman (daughter)
| father             = 
| relatives          = [[Hetty Goldman]] (grand-daughter)
}}
'''Samuel Adler''' (December 3, 1809 &ndash; June 9, 1891) was a leading German-American [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] [[rabbi]], [[Talmud]]ist, and author.

==Early life==
Samuel Adler was born on December 3, 1809, in [[Worms, Germany|Worms]],<ref name="BDA1906">{{harvnb|Johnson|1906|p=59}}</ref> [[Confederation of the Rhine]] (present-day Germany). He received his early [[Torah study|religious education]] from his father Isaac, who was one of the associate rabbis in Worms and instructed him in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and the [[Hebrew Bible|Biblical]] and [[Rabbinic literature]] of the [[Jews]].<ref name="JE1906">{{harvnb|Singer|1906|p=199}}</ref> When Rabbi Isaac Adler died on December 23, 1822, thirteen-year-old Samuel, his four young siblings, and their mother were left in straitened circumstances.<ref name="JE1906" /> In spite of innumerable difficulties and extreme privation, Samuel continued his studies at the [[yeshiva|yeshivot]] in Worms and [[Frankfurt-am-Main]], while concurrently pursuing a regular course of [[classics|classical]] and general studies at the high schools of those two cities.<ref name="JE1906" />

After graduating from the Frankfurt [[Gymnasium (school)|Gymnasium]], Adler entered, in 1831, the [[University of Bonn]] and later that of [[University of Giessen|Gießen]], where he studied [[Oriental languages]] and [[philosophy]] for five years and awarded the [[Doctor of Philosophy]] in 1836.<ref name="BDA1906" /><ref name="JE1906" />

==Career==
Adler assumed his first official appointment as a preacher and assistant rabbi in Worms.<ref name="JE1906" /> In 1842, he was elected rabbi of the Jewish congregations in [[Alzey]] and remained in this position until 1857.<ref name="BDA1906" />

In 1856, Adler moved to the [[United States]].<ref name="BDA1906" /> At the beginning of 1857, he received an offer from [[Congregation Emanu-El of New York|Temple Emanu-El]] in New York City to succeed [[Leo Merzbacher]]—recently deceased—as its rabbi. At the time, Temple Emanu-El was the leading [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] congregation in the United States. Adler accepted the call and moved to New York in March 1857.  He remained active as the spiritual head of Emanu-El until 1874, when he was made rabbi ''emeritus'' and relieved from active work. He was succeeded by [[Gustav Gottheil]]. During his tenure, Adler continued conducting synagogue services in German (in preference to the traditional [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]), for the congregation mainly consisted of prosperous German immigrant families. Adler also revised the German [[Siddur|prayerbook]] introduced by Merzbacher and authored the bilingual ''A Guide to the Instruction in the Israelitish Religion'' (''Leitfaden für den israelitischen Religionsunterricht)''{{sfn|Adler|1860}} for use in Emanu El's [[Hebrew school|Hebrew Sunday school]].{{sfn|Krone|2020|pp=135–150}}

Adler was not merely a thorough [[Talmud]]ic scholar but also had a considerable command of the knowledge of various issues concerning the Jews, including their [[Jewish history|history]], [[Judaism|religion]], and literature. Adler was committed to translating his scholarship into social action.{{editorializing|date=October 2024}}

During the twenty-one years of his career in Germany, he campaigned for the [[Jewish emancipation|emancipation]] of the Jews from their civil [[Disabilities (Jewish)|disabilities]], especially for the removal of the humiliating oath known as the ''[[more judaico]]''. Adler succeeded in having the Jewish religion taught on equal terms with [[Protestantism]] and [[Catholicism]] in the lower and higher schools of Worms. He pushed for the recognition of [[Role of women in Judaism|gender equality]] within Judaism. Through his influence, the ''[[mechitza]]'', which had segregated the women from the men in the ancient synagogue of Worms, was leveled, allowing the sexes to sit with each other during services.

Adler gave special attention to improving the religious instruction of the young, both in the city and the rural schools he supervised. He sought to enhance the order, solemnity, and dignity of public worship and was instrumental in founding several new [[tzedakah|charitable]] institutions. Above all, with patience and zeal, he persuaded his congregations to let go of the deadening influence of religious literalism. In this endeavor, he frequently drew upon the storehouse of his great Talmudic learning for the arguments that he used in his struggle for progress, always seeking to rest the reformation of manners upon a basis of inward conviction and favoring a gradual transformation rather than an abrupt transition from the old to the new.

He belonged to what may be called the [[Higher criticism|historico-critical school]] of [[Jewish philosophy|Jewish theology]].<ref name="JE1906" /> He was a highly-respected citizen of New York, keeping in touch with modern thought and progress and accomplishing a vast amount of good.{{editorializing|date=October 2024}}<ref name="BDA1906" /> He contributed scholarly articles to several learned periodicals; for example, ''Contributions to the History of [[Sadduceeism]]'', ''Jewish Conference Papers'', and ''Benedictions''.<ref name="JE1906" /> Some of these the author collected and published under the Hebrew title ''Kobez 'al Yad'' (Collections) in 1886, mainly as a souvenir for his friends.<ref name="JE1906" />

==Death and legacy==
Adler died on June 9, 1891, in [[Manhattan, New York]], and rests in [[Salem Fields Cemetery]] of [[Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)|Brooklyn, New York]].<ref name="BDA1906" /> His extensive library of [[Rabbinic literature|rabbinical literature]] was donated by his family to [[Hebrew Union College]], [[Cincinnati]].<ref name="JE1906" />

==Family==
Adler married Henrietta Frankfurter.
* His son [[Felix Adler (professor)|Felix Adler]] (1851–1933), was the founder of the [[Society for Ethical Culture]].{{sfn|Singer|1901|p=194}}
* His son [[Isaac Adler (physician)|Isaac Adler]] was a physician and educator.
* His daughter Sarah Adler Goldman, married to Julius Goldman (1852–1909), [[Ashkenazi Jews|German Jew]] of the [[Goldman–Sachs family]].
* His grand-daughter [[Hetty Goldman]] (1881–1972), was one of the first female archaeologists to undertake excavations in [[Greece]] and the [[Middle East]].{{sfn|Cohen|Joukowsky|2006|p=299}}

==Notes==
{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFSinger1901|CITEREFSinger1906}}
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book |first=Samuel |last=Adler |date=1860 |title=A Guide to the Instruction in the Israelitish Religion - Leitfaden für den israelitischen Religionsunterricht. Thalmessinger, Cahn and Benedicks |location=New York |url=http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30-180013481007}}
* {{cite book |last1=Cohen |first1=Getzel M. |last2=Joukowsky |first2=Martha Sharp |title=Breaking Ground: Pioneering Women Archaeologists |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=2006 |page=299 |isbn=0472031740 }}
*{{cite book |first=Kerstin von der |last=Krone |chapter=Samuel Adler in New York. Nineteenth-Century Jewish Education in Transatlantic and Translational Perspective |editor-last=Isensee |editor-first=Fanny |editor2-first=Andreas |editor2-last=Oberdorf |editor3-first=Daniel |editor3-last=Töpper |title=Transatlantic Encounters in History of Education: Translations and Trajectories from a German-American Perspective |location=New York|publisher=Routledge |year=2020 |pages=135–150 |doi=10.4324/9780429297243 |isbn=9780429297243 |s2cid=241263144 |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781000090864 |access-date=December 1, 2020}}

'''Attribution'''
* {{BDA1906 |wstitle=Adler, Samuel |volume=1 |page=59}}
* {{JewishEncyclopedia  |title=Adler, Samuel |year=1901 |volume=1 |page=194 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.49015002282318&view=1up&seq=240 |access-date=November 2, 2020 |quote=An article about his son.}}
* {{JewishEncyclopedia |title=Adler, Samuel |year=1906 |volume=1 |page=199 |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=830&letter=A |access-date  =November 2, 2020}}
{{The Jewish community of Worms}}{{Authority control}}

{{Portal bar|Biography|Germany|Judaism|New York (state)|United States}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adler, Samuel}}
[[Category:American Reform rabbis]]
[[Category:German Reform rabbis]]
[[Category:German emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:American people of German-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:University of Bonn alumni]]
[[Category:Rabbis from Worms, Germany]]
[[Category:1809 births]]
[[Category:1891 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Rhenish Hesse]]
[[Category:19th-century American rabbis]]
[[Category:Burials at Salem Fields Cemetery]]