The Adler family : Address delivered at the Jewish Institute...on June 6th, 1909, on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Chief Rabbi

The fldler Family

VEEEI.) AT THE JEWISH INSTITUTE,

STRBBT, E.

ON JURE 6th,

On the occasion of the Jubilee of ike Chief Rabbi,

STACK
AVMEX

5

071

933

Mr. MARCUS N, ADLER

Reprinted from the. JEVHSII CHRONICLE,

LONDON :
OFFICE OF THE "JEWISH CHRONICLE,

2, FIKSBUHT SQUABB, E.C:,

1909.

University of California
Southern Regional

tn —

The fldlep family.

ADDRESS

DELIVERED AT THE JEWISH INSTITUTE,
MULBERRY STREET, E

ON JUXE 6th, li>OV,

On the occasion of the Jubilee of the Chief Rabbi,

BY

Mr. MARCUS N. ADLER.

Reprinted from the JEWISH CHRONICLE.

LONDON:

OFFICE OF THE "JEWISH CFIRONICLE,"
2, FINSBURY SQUARE, E.G.

1909.

CHIEF RABBI DR. HERMANN ADLER., D.C.L., C.V.O.

2098193

THE ABLER FAMILY.

ITS GENEALOGY, WITH SOME REMINISCENCES.

PAPER RKAD BY MR. MARCUS N. ADLER, AT THE JEWISH INSTITUTE,
ON THE GTH OF JUNE.

I venture to think that, on the eve of the celebration of the seventieth
birthday and of the jubilee of office of my brother, the Chief Rabbi, it will
be of interest to the community to know something of the history of his
family.

Dr. Hermann Adler was born at Hanover on the 30th of May, 1839, and
was the fifth child of your former Chief Rabbi, my lamented father, Dr. Nathan
Marcus Adler. The United Congregations of Great Britain had elected my
father as their Chief in 1844. He came to England in June, 1845, and
ministered to the Jewish community for forty-five years. He died on the 21st
January, 1890. It was ten days after he had passed his eighty-eighth birth-
day that he felt his end approaching. It was early morning. He arose from
bed and his faithful servant, Joseph Van Gelder, helped him to bathe and to
dress. Then, clad with his Talith and Tephilin, his children around
him, he bade them intone the morning service. At the Shemang
prayer (Deut. vi., 4) his voice was heard, and with the word TriN " The Lord
is one," on his lips, he expired. To him may be applied the words of Scripture,
Numbers xxiii., 10 : — " Let me die the death of the righteous and let my end
be like his." Prior to his coming to England he had been the Chief Rabbi of
the Jewish communities in the Kingdom of Hanover, having succeeded his
father, Rabbi Mordecai Adler, who had acted at Hanover in that capacity
for fifty-two years, and prior thereto had been Dayan at Frankfort. This
city has been the home of the Adler family for full four hundred years.

A Family of Priests.

You know, of course, that our family are Cohanim — of the stock of Aaron.
In olden times when the Temple was standing, one who claimed to belong to the
priesthood had not only to trace his own pedigree up to Aaron, but in
obedience to the precept (Lev. xxi., 7), that a priest must not take a wife
that is profane or of bad repute, he had to establish the spotlessness of his
descent both on the father's and mother's side. So much importance was
attached to this investigation that it was entrusted to a special tribunal
who conducted the inquiry in a large chamber in the Temple, .JTTJH r>DK>7,
"the Chamber of the Hearth." In Ezra ii., 62, we read that the descendants
of a priest who took to wife one of the daughters of Barzileai the Gileadite,
" sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but
they were not found : therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priest-
hood." Now we pray three times a day for the restoration of the Temple
service, which includes, of course, the reinstatement of the priesthood. Is
it not strange that since the destruction of the Second Temple so little
regard should have been paid by the Cohanim to the preservation of their
pedigree ? The reason appears to me to be this. When the Romans laid
siege to Jerusalem, Rabbi Jochanan Ben Sakai and the moderates deprecated
a struggle a I'outrance with the masters of the world, and making their peace
with Vespasian they retirf d to Jabneh and there established the schools of
learning and the seat of the Sanhedrin. When all resistance was overcome

and Jerusalem captured, they were able to demonstrate that the Jewish
nation and its faith could exist without the Temple and its services. They

studiously diverted attention from the priesthood. Such of the priests as
did not resist to the very death kept together in bands in the South of

Palestine. Under Hadrian's persecutions they were widely scattered, but

thanks to the distinctive regulations and the privileges accorded to them
in the synagogue, thanks also to the retention of the name of Cohen, they
always retained their identity.

Early Ancestors.

My father used to tell of a tradition which was current in our family
that our ancestors came to Europe from the Isle of Crete, and his revered
grand-uncle, the so-called ~h^» JTO'1 TDnn ^Tin lEOn the Chasid, or the pious
Rabbi Nathan Adler, who was not given to saying or doing things lightly,
avowed himself WOP Dip1?' ho2 rUirD '•OUT WC, a descendant of the author
of the "Yalkut Shimoni," an accredited priest. If the scholar Abraham
Epstein is correct in his view that the author of the "Yalkut" came from the
South-East of Europe, Crete (which since its acquisition by Venice in 1204
had entered into close intercourse with Europe) might possibly be considered
the cradle of our family. At present both traditions rest on slender founda-
tions. The name of the author of the "Yalkut " was Rabbi Simon Hadarshan,the
preacher par excellence. He did for Homiletics — the Agada, what Maimonides
did for the Halacha (Dr. Horovitz's " Frankfort Rabbis.") He flourished before
1240 and was known in those days as Rabbi Simon " An der Pfort," which
means Rabbi Simon by the Gate.

CHIEF RABBI DR. NATHAN '-'MARCUS ABLER.

Old Days in Frankfort.

After his death the Jews of Frankfort and of Germany generally suffered
from a series of persecutions which reached their climax in 1349, when the
country was visited by the virulent plague called the Black Death, which*
after having devastated Asia, swept over Europe. The Jews, through
their temperate habits, were comparatively immune from it. Then the cry
was raised that they had poisoned the wells, and this led to fearful
massacres and to their expulsion from most of the German towns. Within
twenty years, however, the inhabitants saw how baseless the accusations
had been, and that by driving the Jews away they had brought upon them-
selves commercial ruin. Frankfort felt their absence the more keenly, as
the Jews were found so useful at the periodical fairs for which Frankfort
was noted, and they were consequently invited to return to their old
quarters. They have remained there practically ever since. In 1355 the
German Emperor Charles IV., having granted the country a charter called
the Golden Bull, was induced by the Jews of Frankfort, on payment of 15,000
pounds of silver, equivalent to about £60,000, to issue letters patent safe-
guarding their persons, homes and property, giving them some of the rights of
citizenship. Frankfort had its Bomer where the Emperors were elected and
its Cathedral where they were crowned. There all the nobility of the Empire
had to appear in person to swear fealty. These gatherings gave the Jews the
opportunity of coming in contact with strangers and with cultured people,
and to this circumstance may be ascribed their comparative polish, their
keen business habits and cosmopolitan good sense. Of course, at each
coronation they had to pay hea-vily for the renewal of their privileges as
Kammerknechte. Meanwhile the citizens reaped tte benefit of the
flourishing trade of their free city and the stimulating influence of the
Jews. In the reign of Emperor Sigismund the citizens had prospered
so much that the Burgomaster and Town Council were able to
purchase from the Emperor the ownership of the Jews and the
right of taxing them. An elaborate code of regulations called Stattigkeits-
gesetz was drawn up by the Municipality, which was stringent in the
extreme. The Jews had to wear distinctive badges on their outer garments*
These were circular in form, about four inches in diameter, and yellow in
colour. They were henceforth strictly confined to the Judengasse. Every
house therein had to bear a distinctive sign. They were restricted to 500
families in all, and the annual marriages were not allowed to exceed twelve*
Even the privilege of harbouring a stranger overnight had to be paid for.
The Jews were eni irely at ttie mercy of the Town Council, who really formed
an oligarchy such as existed in many trading cities of Italy.

The Fettmilch Riots.

This mode of government irritated the common folk, and under the
leadership of a confectioner, Vincenzo Fettmilch, riots broke out. On the
22nd August, 1614, the Judengasse was attacked and the houses plundered.
About thirteen hundred Jews who had escaped, were allowed to embark on
ships and found an asylum at Mayence and in the neighbourhood. It was
not till the 10th March, 1616, that the German Emperor Matthias, having

10

taken up the cause of the Jews, sent troops to punish the ringleaders, and
Fettmilch, the Frankfort Hainan, as he liked to be called, was seized, drawn
through the town and quartered according to the then barbarous fashion.
Then, escorted by infantry and a troop of cavalry, the Jews were brought
back in triumph amid the sound of drums and trumpets. At the head of the
band, according to family tradition, marched our ancestor, carrying the
imperial standard with the Reichsadler, the black eagle emblazoned thereon.
This incident, it is said, led to our family assuming the name of Adler. To
commemorate the expulsion, a fast day was instituted and kept up yearly. To
celebrate the happy return to their homes, a day of rejoicing called Vinz
Purim was instituted, and a special service performed on the 20th Adar each
year. The Adon Olam was sung to the tune of the March of Pavia, which
the bands of music played as the Jews entered the Judengasse.

Residences of the Adler Family.

Many familiar Jewish names may be traced to the signs which the
denizens of the Ghetto had to exhibit over their houses. In the lists appended
to the Stattigkeit of 1612 and 1753, we come across the familiar names of
Rothschild, Schwarzshild, Schiff, Stern, Strauss, Ochs, Hecht, Rapp, Hahn,
Stiebel, Leiter and others.

At the entrance to the Ghetto was the corner house "An der Pfort,"
built 1472. An engraving of the Pettmilch riots shows this house distinctly.
This and the adjoining houses were inhabited by members of the Adler
family. After 1650 members of the family lived in the " Schwarz Adler " and
" Goldene Adler," also in the " Biesenknopf." The saintly Rabbi Nathan
Adler dwelt in the " Windmiihl," a house belonging to his wife's family, to
which he was partial, as it was furnished with very high party walls, and the
inmates would not therefore contract impurity through any death occuring
in the adjacent houses. All this shows that the Adler family had no regular
Stammhaus, and that therefore the name Adler assumed by the family may
not necessarily be traced to the sign of the houses, but to the incident
connected with the reinstatement of the community after the Fettmilch riot.

Thanks to the labours of the Frankfort Rabbi, the indefatigable Dr.
Horovitz, the author of a series of interesting essays on the Frankfort
Rabbis, who has deciphered and published more than 5,000 epitaphs on tombs
in the Jewish cemetery, thanks also to the labours of his son-in-law, Dr.
Freimann, I am able to present to you a family tree going back to the
beginning of the sixteenth century.

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12

In the absence of distinct family names, and having regard to the
•practice amongst us (not quite so prevalent now) of giving the children the
same name as their deceased relatives, the task of drawing up a family tree
would have been an impossibility had not the City authorities, for rating
purposes, kept most careful records not only of the valuations, but of the
•dates of admission to citizenship (Stattigkeit) with all particulars enabling
«ne to identify each individual and the house he owned. No-one, unless he
possessed at least an eighth part of a house, could enter the Stattigkeit.
These records have been examined by Dr. Alex.Dietz, and his work, " Stamm-
liucb. der Frankfurter Juden," 1907, has proved very useful for my search.
Prior to the adoption of the name of Adler, our family, to which belonged
also the Schiffs, were simply known as Kahn, spelt in the Civil Register
•*' Kayn." In the year 1505, Rabbi Nathan Kayn, his son. Caiman, and his
'wife, Schonlin, arrived in Frankfort, probably from Nuremberg, whence the
Jews had been expelled in 1499. They were entered in the Civil Register
(Stattigkeit) as non-traders, and must have had ample means. As they
'ollowed no business, they must have devoted their time to the study of the
law. Possibly this Nathan Kayn may have been a descendant of Rabbi
•Simon Hadarsban, whose family must have fled from Frankfort, to escape the
massacres of 1241. They are not included in the lists of the martyrs handed
down to us. Dr. Freimann has kindly promised to make further investiga-
tions. The house, No. 152, Juden Gasse, "Zum Kessel," which had been
vacated through the death of Joselin of Cologne, was assigned to them. In
1515, Schonlin, on her husband's death, became possessed of house No. 1,
•" An der Pfort," which had vacant ground not built on, and her son Meir
-continued to live there. As the family increased, further accommodation
was required, and in 1570 the adjoining house, No. 3, "Zum Wedel" was
built. This was occupied by Meir's son, Uri Feibesch Wedel. In 1600,
another section of the family moved to No. 26, which had the sign
of a ship, and under the name of Schiff that branch of the family
was thenceforth known. In 1604, the house adjoining "Wedel"
was built, and this was called No. 4, " Zur Goldenen Zange," or
abbreviated " Zur Zange." Here, Salman, the son of Uri Feibesch Wedel,
•came to live. Soon after his death, which took place in 1648, his son, who
bore the name of Moses Uri Feibesch Adler, went to live at No. 27, called
the "Schwarz Adler," which adjoined the "Schiff," No. 26. His name is
entered in the notarial books of the community as having bought in 1646 a
seat in the Ladies' Synagogue. This was generally done before or soon after
marriage. He left three sons. His son Nathan's will has been preserved in
the synagogue archives. It is interesting as showing the dislike the cul-
tured Jews of Germany entertained towards their Polish brethren in
consequence of the casuistry that prevailed in the Yeshibahs (academies)
of Poland, which some regarded as lowering the high moral tone the Jews
maintained throughout the middle ages, in spite of oppression and persecu-
tion. Salman, Nathan's eldest son, had settled at Pinczow in Poland,
•evidently to pursue there rabbinical studies, and he induced his youngest
brother Meir to follow him. The father, in his will, directs that Salman,
instead of inheriting his share in the estate, should enjoy the life interest
only unless he returned to Germany.

CHIEF RABBI TEBELE SCHIFF.

15

Chief Rabbi Schiff.

Leser, the third son, had five children. One of them, Mordecai, "was the
father of Baer Adler, our great-grandfather. He married a sister of David
Tebele Schiff, who was Chief Rabbi in London from 1765 to 1792, and had him-
self married an Adler. Before the Rabbi left for London, he had to dispose
of his house, called " Griinschild," No. 148 in the Juden Gasse. This was con-
sidered one of the best houses in the locality, and my friend Dr. Freimann
tells me that it was Mayer Amschel Rothschild who purchased it. It is the
only house left standing at the present day in the Juden Gasse, and
is one of the sights of the town. When the house adjoining Apsley
House in Piccadilly was obtainable, the fact that it bore the lucky number
148 weighed no doubt with the Rothschilds in making it their Stammhaus in
London. But let me proceed to tell you somethinc about the Rev. David
Schiff. The Gentiles called him the High Priest of the Jews, but amongst our
people the bump of veneration is not so prominent. They simply called him
Rabbi Tebele, Tebele being a diminutive of David. The portrait of Chief
Rabbi David Schiff hangs in the vestry room of the Great Synagogue. Mr.
Picciotto, in his Sketches of Anglo-Jewish History, says of this picture : "A
dark and somewhat heavy countenance with a black beard andj square,
massive jaw, indicates a certain strength of will." He showed this certainly
in repelling the advances of Lord George Gordon, who wished to be
admitted into the community as a convert. Happily the blame forkrthe
Gordon riots did not attach to the Jews. Rabbi Tebele was the author of a
commentary and collection of Responsa, called 3HT 116??, Chrysostomus,
which his son Moses induced bis grand nephew, our uncle, Gabriel Adler, to
edit. This Moses Schiff left a will, the executors of which were Asher
Goldsmid and bis sons Isaac Lyon and Aaron Goldsmid. He bequeathed
legacies both to my father and his brothers. Also their sister Hinda or
Hundchen was not forgotten. The English version of the will submitted to
the Court of Probate took Hu'ndchen to mean a little dog, and renders the
passage, " I bequeath £25 to the little dog."

Rabbi Nathan Adler.

Before Rabbi Tebele Schiff bad received the call to the Rabbinate of
London, he had taught at the High School of learning in Worms and sub-
sequently in Frankfort. Of all his pupils he had most reason to be proud of
the saintly Rabbi Nathan Adler, whom I have already mentioned. He was
born on the 16th December, 1741. He was extraordinarily precocious. Before
his Barmitzvah he was considered a Lamdan, and as a youth of twenty he
established a Yeshibah at Frankfort, and gathered round him a band of
pupils, many of whom attained renown, and who literally worshipped him as
a teacher. An anecdote is told of Hayim Aznlai, the Cabbalist, when he
passed through Frankfort. Nathan Adler had the habit of sitting up late at
night studying, and the blows of the beadle's hammer, who summoned the
faithful to the morning service, often failed to rouse Nathan from his sleep.
In fact, he habitually did not turn up till prayers were nearly over. " Ah,"
said Azulai, quoting the Shunamite's remark as to Elisha, (II. Kings iv., 9,)
"Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God which passes
continually " at 13^17, the concluding prayer. D'n^K tT»S '3 TUTT S3 H3H

16

T»n W1M3W Kin tmp. One of the most celebrated of his pupils was the
Talmud ist, Rabbi Moshe Sopher (Schreiber), who later on became the head
of the community of Pressburg. When Rabbi Nathan, the teacher of this boy,
was about to leave Frankfort, having accepted a rabbinate in Moravia, the
pupil would not part from his master. " How can I," said Rabbi Nathan,
" take you from your father's house away to a distant land ? " and with tears
he parted from his favourite pupil ; but imagine the Rabbi's surprise when
the mail coach reached its station in the evening to find that the boy had
kept pace with the coach. So determined was the lad to follow his teacher,
that he had to take him along. In truth, the saintly Rabbi was the embodi-
ment of mildness and piety. His candle did not go out by night ; the study
of the Law went on uninterruptedly. His house remained open day and
night for his disciples. All he possessed he declared common property so
that his pupils might help themselves to what they liked. He was inclined
to mysticism, and held a service of his own in a synagogue which he established
in his house, and which I understand has been carried on even to the pre-
sent day. I have here with me the prayer book which he used. He died
17th September, 1800, near the advent of the Jewish New Year ; but a few
days before his death the leaders of the community asked his forgiveness
for opposing his views. My father, who was born in the following year, was
named after him.

Grandmother Adler.

Our grandfather, Mordecai Adler, married Rebecca, the daughter of the
Chief Rabbi of Hanau, Benjamin Prankel. He belonged to the Katzenellen-
bogen family, and was a lineal descendant of Saul Wahl, who, by a peculiar
conjuncture of circumstances, is said to have acted nominally as king of
Poland for a short time. The family of the late S. M. Samuel and Dennis
Samuel were likewise descendants of Saul Wahl, and were so proud of the
lineage that when they were made barbns they assumed the name of De Vahl.
The late Alderman Sir Benjamin Philips was also descended from that stock.
We consider Saul Wahl as merely a link in the lineage which can be traced
a good deal further back. His grandfather was Rabbi Meir Ben Isaac of
Padua, commonly called the Maharam of Padua, whose Rabbinate extended
over Northern Italy including Venice. He had come from Germany to escape
persecution and proceeded to Padua to study at the celebrated academy of
learning established by the Minz family, who had settled there when they
emigrated from Mayence. Judah ben Eliezer ha-Levi Minz was born 1408,
and officiated forty-seven years as Chief Rabbi at Padua. The Maharam
married his granddaughter. It thus appears that our grandmother's genealogy
extends back to the fourteenth century. She attained the advanced age of
ninety-four, remained in possession of all her faculties to the last and we
cherish many pleasant reminiscences of her. I remember her telling me a
story about the Rothschilds, who were old friends of her husband, Rabbi
Mordecai Adler. One winter night early in the 19th century, they were
disturbed by a loud knocking at their street door. Rabbi Mordecai looked
out of the window and asked what was wanted. The answer was : — " O, it is
R. Mayer and R. Amschel Rothschild passing through Hanover. We want the
Rabbi to bensch us and give us his nD"O (blessing)." When they had been

17

made welcome and bad received their blessing, they confided to their friend*
the mission they were engaged on. It was to interview a Prince, who was about
to entrust them with his wealth. My grandmother was a charming old lady.
Among those whom she captivated was Sir Moses Montefiore. After he had
made her acquaintance in 1847 he never went to the Continent without
paying her a visit. I have here the very portrait of herself that she-
presented to Sir Moses Montefiore and which, on his death, I became
possessed of.

Sir Moses Montefiore.

Pray do not consider me egotistical if I say that it has been the happi-
ness of our family to have enjoyed the friendship and confidence of Sir
Moses Montefiore, who, with Lady Montefiore, were the noblest and most-
kind-hearted couple that ever lived. Indeed it was a treat to be a guest at
his festive table. The Sabbath meal often lasted till nearly midnight, and he
told us of his many experiences and the incidents connected with his missions.
He quivered when telling us of the horrible treatment the Jews had to
endure in the days of Nicholas I., and how the Cossacks used to surround
many villages and snatch from their mothers' arms the most robust and best-
looking of the children in order to devote' them to military service. One
incident he told me connected with the year 1815. At that time Moses
Montefiore lived next door to Nathan Rothschild in New Court. One fine-
morning he was aroused from his sleep by Rothschild sharply knocking at
his door. He entered and told him that the courier had just arrived with
despatches announcing the landing of Napoleon from the island of Elba. " My
duty is to go to the Government at once and tell them." In the
evening the courier was to be sent off with despatches, and Nathan Rothschildr
helping him to a parting cup of wine, asked him whether he knew the news-
he had brought. When told, he uttered a wild cry of delight, and dashed off
his glass to the cry of " Vive 1'Empereur." " Ah ! " said Rothschild to
Montefiore, " I see how the French take it, and I also see what a task
England has before her." Another incident about Sir Moses Montefiore
sixty-three years later is the following : Whilst the Congress was sitting at
Berlin in 1878, Sir Moses had worked incessantly to secure toleration if not
equality for the Jews of Roumania, whose rights, acknowledged though they
were in the Treaty, have been so sadly disregarded since. I remember seeing
Sir Moses Montefiore off to welcome Disraeli back at the Charing Cross
Station, when bringing to England " peace with honour." Sir Moses was the
first to salute him, and a bystander, Mr. Maclure, the then Member of Parlia-
ment for Manchester, described to me the interview. Sir Moses after
embracing the Prime Minister, said aloud : — '• Welcome back, thou son of
Israel." On the 24th October, 1884, Sir Moses celebrated his centenary at
Ramsgate. Amongst the many deputations he received that day was one
from the South Eastern, and Metropolitan (Underground) Railway Companies,
Their Chairman, Sir William Watkin, presented him with a golden pass. "I
thank you," said Sir Moses, " for this valuable gift, but I do not mean to go
underground just yet." I presented him on that occasion with an ivory
pointer for the Law on which were engraved the words Ex. xvii, 11. "And
it came to pass when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed."

18

The Worms Family.

But I must now return to my programme. In giving you the complete
genealogy of your present Chief Rabbi, I ought to adverb to the family of his
mother, Henrietta Worms. As there have been many misstatements made, I
have supplied a family tree of the "Worms family, leaving it to my brother
Elkan to supply similar information as regards his mother, Celestine Lehfeld
Tvho belonged to one of the oldest Berlin families.

GENEALOGY OF THE WORMS FAMILY.

MANNBLB, qualified 1632.
WOLF m. Giidle Vogelgesang, qualified 1618.

BBNB

M08

GABE

MOT, d. 1671.
BS, d. 1729.
IBL, d. 1759.

1
Amschel, d. 16a9.
i
Wolf, d. 1739.
1
Dr. Amschel Wolf, d. 1769.

MOSES GABBIBL m. Hitzel Elsass.
d. 1802. | d. 1800.

Dr. Simon Wolf.
Dr. Anselm Wolf, d. 1847.
Dr. Elias Wolf (U.S. America).

HIBSCH MOSBS m. Sorle Worms,
d. 1829.

Benedict Moses m. Schonge (Jeanette) Rothschild, daughter
of Meir Amschel Rothschild.
1771-1859.

Baron Solomon B., 1801-1882. Gabriel, 1802-1881. Maurice, 1805-1867

I

1 II !

Baron George. Baron Anthony. Baron Henry. Henrietta Landauer.

(Lord Pirbright.)

II I II

Abraham Lob. Esther m Baer Marcus HBNBIBTTA m. Dr. NATHAN M. ABLER. Rnchma m. Fanny m.

1788-1851.
Wolf.

Adler.

1800-1853.

9 children.

1802-1890.

Gumpel Leiser. A. Simon,

Sarah Solomon. Jeanette Stern.

1. Marcus N. Adler. Rev. Dr. HERMANN A DLBB
Chief Rabbi

You will see that our father and his eldest brother married two sisters,
Henrietta, and Esther respectively, the daughters of Hirsch Moses Worms.
He was a brother of Benedict Worms, who married Schonge (Jeannette)
Rothschild, the eldest daughter of Mayer Amschel Rothschild. Her third
brother, Nathan, had settled in England in 1798, and, prospering greatly, he
induced Benedict's sons, who were his nephews, to come over. Their mother,
on the death of her husband, also came to England. Madame Worms, who
lived to 88 years, naturally visited from time to time her mother in Frank-
fort, who nearly attained the patriarchal age of 100, and whom nothing could
induce to leave her old home in the Judengasse, of which I have already
spoken. One day, old Mrs. Rothschild asked her more than middle-aged
daughter whether she was having a good time in Frankfort. "Oh yes,"
answered the daughter, "I have been feasted by my relations ' zum Mittag ' ;

19

I am invited to go to the Palm Garden, ' Zum Kaffee,' and in the evening I
am taken to the theatre." "That is right, my dear," said the mother,
" enjoy your life whilst you are young." Her eldest son, Solomon, married
the daughter of S. M. Samuel, of the Saul Wahl family. S. B. Worms
and his sons were made Barons in 1871. Baron George, his eldest
son, has survived his brothers. The younger son, Baron Henry,
after having held various Government offices, was raised to the peerage
under the name of Lord Pirbright. The Worms family figure frequently in
the annals and records of the Frankfort Jewry.

I ought to say a few words about my father's eldest brother
Baer, who pursued a business career, although a man of unusual culture
and known for his great scholarship. I have here in the handwriting
of the Frankfort Chief Rabbi, Hirsch Horwitz, an attestation of his high
proficiency and abilities which he had found so useful that he could not
dispense with his services on the rabbinate. One of his daughters married
Moritz Budge, belonging to an old Frankfort family. The sons founded the
firm of Budge, Schiff and Company, of New York, whence issued the firm of
which Mr. Jacob Schiff is the head. Another sister of my mother was
married to Alexander Simon, whose son, Moritz, founded and endowed the
agricultural school at Ahlem.

I must not withhold a few remarks relating to the second brother of my
father, Gabriel Adler, the Chief Rabbi of the Schwarzwald. He likewise
married a lady of the Katzenellenbogen family, whose family tree is recorded
in the valuable work of Dr. Lowenstein, " Geschichte der Juden in der
Kurpfalz." He reckoned among his pupils Berthold Auerbach, the author of
"Tales of the Schwarzwald," "Die Dorf Geschichten," also Dr. Gabriel
Riesser, the successful champion of Jewish rights, who did so much for their
emancipation in Germany. I fear I have not done full justice to my task,
as it is possible to frame even a fuller genealogical family tree, when all the
numerous records which may be found in Frankfort have been investigated.
It must be remembered that the terrible fire which burnt down the Ghetto
in 1715 has proved a great bar to my complete success. In any case, I think
I have established that the Adler, Schiff, Katzenellenbogen and Worms
families can be traced back for many centuries.

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