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 Dip 1 ?' 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. -- - s s " ' o _j- s s S 1 D S fl- I ~^2 2 " _ .~2 .a - as 1 d te ^ * * r~ ft a . 00 ' -f. QJ ' S -T *S^ -S " t H *^ s z s ^"S 00 rt"^l *** o "S"? ! o^s i S "3 ;J d "3 a 1 *s s fe I 10 i . tf^ hj "5 ? s B | M s g g s s 5 tied at Pine Nathan, d s| JSl d Friinkel, < lellenbogen 4j -; I g ^ 11 a -I 1 3. lomon (Salman), set d PS Q |J m. Rebecca of Davi Katzei "** II i j-rjfl A -1 l^ll | ? a "^ . Rev. A. M. Stern, Chief Babbi of Hamburg, a (eldest m.Jbev. Dr Cahn Fulda). Eindchildren. CD pq 1 IP g IDS) ADLBE, Hanover, [. Id a > _*-5 a g- * *o 3 2 1 i a < 1 5; (4 *^ rO CO fl 5 a> ^ a S * ' ^J^ : - ~ s -3 . j o2 a s i <* t*- - -.C T3 er- "C "C __o g "O * ' 55 ^'g -o c >< _'gCD__ s 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 for k r the 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 tTS '3 TUTT S3 H3H 16 Tn 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 Rothschild r 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. 16 a 9. 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. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. NON-RE : - ' i-., fe i SEP 2 4 1932 / c DUE 2 WKS TOMW RrC'O LD-URL OCT 15 l F ^ttMlbl prtr- 1 1 iff. ECEIVcD 3 1158 00825 8047 A OOP 051 653 4 STACK